I’ve never worked for a for-profit company since I graduated college. There is variation in non-profit employers, but there are some that are great places to work.

I got a job at a university after graduation (different university than where I got my degree), and I worked there in different departments until I took a job in the university hospital. I’ve worked here for more than 25 years.

The pay tends to be a bit lower than what you’d get at a for-profit company, but not as bad as some would lead you to believe. I’ve been able to buy a home, raise a family, and live fairly comfortably.

The benefits are very good. There’s a strong focus on education and growth, and work-life balance isn’t just a lie they tell people in the interview.

Sometimes an actual medical condition makes the difference.

At a yearly physical, my doctor noted, “no one could gain that much weight that fast without something wrong”. That’s how I got tested for and diagnosed with a thyroid disorder. It’s also the explanation for why I could never lose weight. I thought the reason I could hardly move was because I was just getting older.

For years I had been unable to lose weight by dieting. After getting my thyroid levels corrected with medication, I became more active. I started casually intermittent fasting, and I lost 30 pounds.

There’s also been research that shows your gut bacteria has a lot to do with whether you gain weight or not.

https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/gut-microbiome-makeup-can-determine-ability-to-lose-weight

We have two guinea pigs.

Very often, guinea pigs are named after food. Our two rescues came with food names. However, everything eats guinea pigs and I feel it’s wrong to name them after food. We changed their names.

We named them after two characters from Downton Abbey: Daisy and Rose. Plants are the only living things that fear guinea pigs, so they are nice, powerful names for them.

Daisy in the background, Rose in front.

anyone doing that would come off like an idiot for a variety of reasons

That probably covers at least half the population of the US.

Guinea pigs are obligate nasal breathers. They only breathe through their mouths when in extreme respiratory distress.

They are also absolutely adorable.

If you’re in business and you don’t believe in DEI, you’re an idiot.

DEI means getting different points of view, different experiences, different backgrounds. All of which are better for the bottom line.

It’s called a circular triangle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_triangle

Absolutely. It’s fascism. There’s no doubt. However, the points I mentioned are, I believe, the ones most relevant to the question of the post.

Check #5, #7, and, of course, #12:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur-Fascism

Representatives for the internet provider she had used in her old apartment initially told her they couldn’t cancel her account because there was no last name associated with it.

She had been paying the company for months. She has since switched internet providers.

Are people this silly? Just stop paying them. They’ll figure out how to cancel the account.

Cats are territorial. You are relying on just luck that they will get along. You’re much better off not trying. Your cat doesn’t want a friend.

Four “add another cat” stories for you:

1. My oldest had a cat and decided to get another cat after quite some time. However, the first cat had already established the entire house as her territory. They followed all the recommendations to try to introduce a second cat, but it made no difference. Now they can’t bring themselves to give up cat #2, so they have divided their home up to keep the cats separated.

2. My second child and his fiancee had one cat. They decided to add two more. Their cats fought. When they tried to keep the new cats in a room and introduce them gradually, their old cat was so violently opposed to their presence that it tore apart the carpet under the door trying to g et at them. However, they ended up moving. Once in the new apartment, all three cats stopped fighting.

3. Many years ago, a co-worker agreed to take a third cat. There was no fighting between the cats, but one of her cats was not happy. He started peeing on every surface he could get to. If you think the cat wasn’t doing it intentionally, he straddled her toaster so he could pee into it. Cats know how to communicate their displeasure. By the time she was able to re-home the new cat, the damage was done. Apart from the small appliances she had to replace, she had to rip up the floor in her house and replace it to get rid of the smell of cat pee.

4. My wife and I added a second cat years ago, but we did it at the same time we moved into our house. There were some fights between them, but they were just because of their personality differences. The new cat was young and wanted to play, while the older cat had reached the stage of life where he wanted to see how much fat he could gain. She would attack him and chase him around and that would piss him off, but they usually got along and he got in better shape. When she got too obnoxious for him, he would chase her under the TV, and make her stay there in time-out.

So, based on my experience, the only time you can safely add a cat to your home is when you move.

Your parents wiped your ass. There’s no reason to be embarrassed about anything.

Just say it quick, like ripping off a bandaid:

“I need to see a doctor about a hemorrhoid that won’t go away.”

It’s not even in the top 1000 worst things kids have to tell parents. If you can’t tell them about a hemorrhoid, how are you ever gonna be able to tell them about the gay prostitute you accidentally knocked unconscious, thought you killed, and then tied up in the basement after they woke up while you were trying to bury them?

If a hemorrhoid is the most embarrassing story you’ve got, you have no reason to be embarrassed.

You might want to try to sleep in some multiple of around 90 minutes.

The theory is that there are natural sleep cycles and if you wake up in between sleep cycles, you’ll be ok, but if you wake in the middle, you’ll be left feeling tired.

So, 6 hours, 7.5 hours, 9 hours… Not 8.5 hours.

https://www.health.com/sleep-cycle-timing-waking-up-8708948

(Nothing special about that link - it’s just the first one that came up in my search after skipping the AI garbage).

Yeah, my wife (optometrist) gave me shit about cleaning my glasses with paper towels because they scratch the lenses.

I wear my glasses into the fucking ground because I have a big head and it’s difficult to find frames that fit. I’ve literally bought multiple identical frames and shifted the lenses in between and swapped parts to not have to get new frames.

I’ve never ever had to replace a lens because of damage from a paper towel. The only scratches I’ve ever gotten in lenses was from dropping my glasses and having them skid across pavement.

The only times I’ve replaced lenses was because my prescription changed or because I no longer had enough functional parts to rebuild the frame.

Having said that, when my wife had her practice, I was basically getting everything at cost, and she could bring frame reps in with their entire catalog to pick through. So, I got used to getting new frames more often (every five years or so). I also ended up with bunches of microfiber cloths, so I distributed them around to everywhere I go. I have one at work, one in my car, one at my desk at home.

So, I do things the “right” way now, but only because my personal experience led to it being easier than going to get a paper towel.

When she got disabled and we had to sell her practice, we kept a couple boxes of lens cleaner too, so we’ll probably never need any more. One large bottle seems to last about 10 years and we’ve got around a dozen. When we die, the kids will each be able to inherit a couple bottles of lens cleaner.

U.S. democracy

Your friend might be a Nazi.

Shouldn’t that be “So are we”?

I found an article:

https://thegrio.com/2025/01/27/a-growing-list-of-the-companies-who-have-either-discontinued-or-committed-to-dei-strategies

Do people do good, spirited debates anymore? Most of what I see would be more akin to wrestling a pig.

Sorry, PA. Philly suburbs.