Same here. With my kids, I really struggled to get stuff ready for their birth because it gent like tempting fate. Cue scrambling to get everything ready once the baby was back home.
In smaller stuff, always knock on wood. Fake wood counts as wood.
EU here, I was pregnant and gave birth both in Germany and in France.
In Germany, the overall cost was 0€. It included monthly follow ups with a gynecologist, many blood exams and echos, the birth, MUCU for baby for three days, hospital stay for both of us for four days, at home visits for ten days, monthly visits with the gp for a while. Health insurance is through your work, so you pay for it via taxes but significantly less than in the US (I think my partner and I were paying just under 200€/month? It’s a percentage of income) I had 3.5 months of maternity leave at full pay, then I could stay home longer with 60% pay for up to a year cumulative with my husband.
In France, the overall cost was a bit higher (~50€) because not all blood exams are completely free, so over the first 6 months of pregnancy I payed less than 10€/month for some blood tests. Gp and gynecologist visits are free, so are the ecos and the hospital stay. I decided to pay a little extra (50€/day) to have a private room after the birth where my husband could stay overnight. It should still be conferred by my extended health insurance (not mandatory). I was also in sick leave for the white pregnancy, and for the first 3 months I had full salary, then it dropped to 1/3, the got back to 100% when I went in maternity leave (~4.5 months). I decided to stay home a bit longer, without pay. My husband can also choose to stay home without pay, and has one month of paternity leave.
I also lived in the US. Incomparable. On top of not having to pay, when there is a charge it is always stated clearly upfront, while in the US knowing what you’ll have to pay is a wild guessing game. Overall: I moved back to Europe for a reason.
You met three days ago? And you are “basically living together”?
Considering the length, it’s a fling. Considering you haven’t talked about it, it’s a situationship.
My unwanted and unasked advice is to take some distance for at least a day before calling it anything at all. And then talk about expectations.
Honestly (anecdote time!), when I started going out with my partner, I had some weird and totally personal hang ups with the word “boyfriend”. So for a couple of months they were “the person I am seeing” then became my “partner”. We had the conversation about exclusivity and such, talked about where we saw stuff going and so on, but wording was difficult. A word is just a word, as long as you both agree on the rest it doesn’t really matter much.
Absolutely. I am not that good at home improvement (that night already be overstating my capabilities) and I am always worried that touching something will break it even worse. At best I end up researching the problem for ages, then reporting to my partner until they feel confident enough to do it, while I play support (and feel like a self-inflicted idiot)
I would trade my very limited woodworking skills for equally limited artistic skills of any type, ideally music related.
I would trade some other skills (really any pick) for extra house improvement skills. It’s not even that I’m bad at it, I’m just too nervous to fuck it up to even start…
I never traveled solo, and don’t regret it at all. I enjoy more spending time with friends and acquaintances than doing things “my way”. I still had smaller trips on my own, arriving earlier than the rest of the group, but never enjoyed it much. So, I don’t think it’s dumb, do what you feel you will like.
I always find the first moments of movies with famous actors disconcerting. Why is Jack from Titanic here? Oh, he is not Jack from Titanic, just has his body-suit…
In a cinema I used to go to, they used to show the Met’s operas during the Sunday matinee. Absolutely lovely!
Cinema popcorn is 60% of why I want to go to the movies. My local cinema changed popcorn maker and now it’s not as fresh… I am not as excited to go to the movies anymore :/
Taxis and hotels used to be strongly regulated industries. For both, permits were required as well as regular checks. But Uber/Lyft/Airbnb created a system outside of the standard legal framework, allowing them to run an almost lawless business. So I wouldn’t say illegal but ethically grey.
Following others: definitely do not think of avocados as fruit, it’s closer to carrots (has some sweetness, but wouldn’t put it in a fruit salad).
Great easy combos I haven’t seen suggested yet: with bread and feta/salty cheese, with salt pepper and mayonnaise, with oil vinegar and mustard.
I haven’t ever had cooked avocado.
I guess I’m in the minority here, because I quite like avocados on their own. Getting a good one changes everything and getting it at perfect ripeness is important and impacts taste too. If it feels hard, it’s too early. It should have a little bit of give when you squeeze it lightly. If it has black or dark spots inside it’s starting to go. If it has air pockets inside and/or mold you lost your shot - you can still cut off those parts and eat the rest but it will not be at peak tastiness.
I want to upvote twice. Only correct answer!
The “panda effect”!
Good news, environmental agencies know about it and exploit it. They select species that they call umbrella species. The gist is that protecting those species (eg pandas) also protect a lot of other less cute, more resilient, but nonetheless important species and ecosystems (eg bamboo forests).
Why are religious people in charge of medical decisions?!?
There are many aspects of work one could consider. For me, the social aspect is a big one. I have been in sick leave for a while now, will likely be home for a while longer, and I honestly miss the social net that work gives - both friends, friendly coworkers and unrelated coworkers. Plus there daily structure, the feeling of accomplishment and “being an active part of society”. Those are all important mental values that work provides and that can help while dealing with a long term illness.
This being said, there is a gradient between encouraging people to work while sick because out provides mental health benefits and forcing people to work while sick because otherwise they’d be on the streets without health insurance… And providing easy ways to work part time should be part of the equation.
Or some ultra-Christian middle age stuff against nudity even in the bedroom
Poor gynecologists…
There are quite some studies showing that interactivity actually decreases learning on the long term. Basically, the learner gets distracted by all the shiny buttons, looks for new information instead of incorporating the old one. This gets worse the more options are available at any given time, so the learner constantly has to make a conscious choice to keep their concentration. Comparing it with a book, there are less options and less distractions.
Expanding on this: it’s a great time to challenge your assumptions and try building ip different routines! Be mindful to not “get stuck” on routines and habits you don’t like