Thick, foam mat to stand on in the kitchen and at the bathroom sink.

I can run and hike for hours, but standing in one place for 5 minutes wrecks my lower back and the arches in my feet. Been like that since I was a teenager.

So, the foam mat is essential for daily cooking (even 3 minutes for eggs), cleaning dishes, and hygiene (brushing teeth, washing face).

I have one similar to this one, purchased 6+ years ago (before I started limiting Amazon purchases). It’s held up great - it looks brand new. No cracks, or signs of wear. Still just as squishy as when I first got it.

https://www.amazon.com/WiseLife-Kitchen-Cushioned-Waterproof-Standing/dp/B093L2RP56?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&psc=1

Here are the recommended dosages for potassium iodide tablets from the New York State government website.

https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/radiological/potassium_iodide/information_for_the_public.htm #

First - great job!

Take some time to recognize that you did well, even without practicing beforehand. You realized something shady was going on and got yourself safely out of there. You took action when you needed it most.

Ok, now to your questions.

You always want to check around you:

1. What are your exits? Can you get to your car?
2. Are there other people around who can help you?
3. Are there any other threats? (Is there another man coming up behind you?)
4. Do you have cell service to call police?

Once you have those questions answered, you can decide what you want to do.

-Sometimes, the answer is to leave immediately.

-Sometimes, you can go hang out with other people at the park and pretend to know them. Just tell them you’re scared of the guy watching you, pretend laugh for a couple minutes with them, and hopefully he leaves. If he doesn’t, then you can still leave, but he “knows” you were just with “friends.” You can even ask them to walk with you to the exit.

-Sometimes, the answer is to call a taxi so the guy can’t see what car you get into, and come back later for your car.

-Sometimes (as long as there are other people in the park), the answer is to confront him (from a distance). “Why do you keep looking at me? It’s weird.” Or, “Stop looking at me.” Or, “Fuck off.”

If you’re a woman, this isn’t the last time you’ll have an encounter with a guy like this.

In the future, recommend going with a friend or a dog if you can. Or, try to meet up with a local yoga group at the park (or start one!).

Final note - you didn’t deserve this. You deserve to be safe doing any activity in any clothing in any area. I’m sorry that wasn’t your experience. Sending you hugs.

Edit: One other option I forgot - Situation permitting, get evidence. Take a picture and/or video as you walk away. Your priority is still your safety, but getting evidence is helpful too so that you can identify the person later on (and also back up your story when it’s questioned because #america).

You get paid that much PER MONTH? That’s 18,000 per year.

In the US, most people just get tax credits. They don’t come anywhere near $18k.

If you’re poor enough, you’ll qualify for WIC which is state dependent, generally $25 per month per kid under 4 years, ~$50 per month for the mom, and limited to certain food/child items.

Thank you for sharing.

On one hand, it’s disgusting that we don’t have a similar system. Yet at the same time, you’re the “proof” against such a system and the reason conservatives would never support it - that people won’t work anymore if we had this system. Neither of you have a full time job.

There has to be a better compromise.

664 votes.

For a good 1.5 weeks, it was lost. The last couple days it started to get saved. The day before they stopped counting votes, it was only ahead by 45 votes.

I watched it closely.

For ~a week, it RCV was down by 4K votes.

It was only in the last couple days that it started to pull ahead.

Final tally had it win by only 664 votes.

At what point do they tell you what salary they’re offering?

Does your field require extensive tests/interview process prior to being hired?

I was responding to a previous comment that said “Nowhere in the US.” Alaska is still the United States.

I still use Fb because of the groups/pages there.

There are mentorship and professional groups there that aren’t available elsewhere.

Plus, the local groups for my town/state provide crucial information about weather, taxes, traffic, river safety, etc. In general, it’s a good source of knowledge.

I hate that I’m giving up privacy, but there are also no other social media networks that can compete. I can’t message/Signal my closest 5,000 neighbors to find out which local/free berry patch is ready for picking. But, there’s a fb group for that.

Agreed, that would be a good first step in the right direction. It shouldn’t remove the requirement for lights.

Reflective tape should also be on the horses’ gear.

Especially because the buggies are black, which blend in at night/dusk.

Daytime running lights are required on large sections of the highway in Alaska. It’s posted on signs on the road and you can get ticketed for it.

“( c ) Every vehicle traveling on a highway or vehicular way or area must illuminate lights when traveling on any roadway that is posted with signs requiring the use of headlights.

(d) For the purposes of ( c ) of this section, lights include low intensity headlights and daytime running lamp devices…”

https://dot.alaska.gov/stwdplng/hwysafety/headlights.shtml

I also have ringing in my ears and took care of them same as you.

I have perfect hearing according to the typical “can you hear this beep” test - which is infuriating when dealing with my tinnitus. The ENTs said the same as yours did (nothing is wrong)- it took going to a specialist who fits people for hearing aids before they did an extended range hearing test and helped narrow down the range that my tinnitus is affecting.

With the new doctor, we figured out that my tinnitus is caused by the other medications that I’m on. They did research on it and found certain classes of meds increase tinnitus more than others.

Working with my other doctors, we changed some of the medications to try and see if that would help my tinnitus. I also noticed that if I don’t take my allergy meds (Zyrtec) then I have less tinnitus that day. If I do need to take it, then I get elevated tinnitus, more pain in my ears, almost can’t hear, etc. for the next 2-3 days.

As an aside, wearing hearing aids helps for two reasons.

A) if you get the right ones, they have a setting that equates to “white noise” so your brain focuses on that and helps drown out the ringing. There are a couple options for what your white noise could be - actual white noise, beach waves, rain falling.

B) this has been proven to re-teach your brain that it doesn’t need to create the ringing in your ears. Ringing in the ears is ultimately the brain trying to compensate for something - and this is teaching the brain to stop doing that. Meaning, the tinnitus gets better over time.

Note - the fancier hearing aids are blue tooth compatible, so you can use them to listen to music from your phone

Hopefully some of this helps!

Europe (Germany specifically) has their own problems with carriers though.

When you notify them that you’re cancelling your service, you still have to pay for 3 MORE full months of service after that. Even if you’re in the military and ordered to move. That’s a long time.

This 3 month period mandatory cancellation notice doesn’t change even if you’ve been with them for 2+ years.

For US carriers, once you’ve been with them more than the initial 2 years, you are pretty much able to cancel whenever.

So everyone knows… the new Apple Card lets you do 0% financing on the iPhone. (You also get 3% cash back for buying from the Apple Store.)

So you can buy an unlocked iPhone and pay for it in installments.

Now there is no need to buy from the carriers, have a locked phone, or pay full price up front.

Source: Me, paying ~$68/month for the unlocked iPhone 15 Pro. Also, I do a carrier’s prepaid plan because I’ve been bested by contracts before.

Do you prefer the shorter day and eating at your desk, or the longer day with the lunch break?

9-5 never made any sense to me.

I thought working 40 hours was the standard, but 9-5 with a paid lunch is less than 40 hours. So, the math never made sense.

The only place I heard of people working 9 to 5 was in Dolly Parton’s song. I’m enjoying reading everyone’s answers though, and I’m hoping someone chimes in that has actually worked a traditional, in office 9-5.

Edit: I meant to say with an unpaid lunch.

I had no idea he had a podcast! Thank you so much for sharing this! I just looked it up and am listening now.

I saw he had a podcast during the 2020 election season too, so I’m going to listen to that while waiting for new episodes to come out.

Edit: Going through all the suggestions now - thank you! I hadn’t heard of these before. I appreciate it!

Agreed, my sibling is superficial. They see muscular males as authority figures (for learned reasons I won’t get into) which is a problem when Rogan (+guests) is spouting nonsense.

That’s why I’m trying to find similar content that they’ll enjoy, and help break old habits. They are capable of growth and improvement.