If it’s their money, why should they be any more ashamed of spending it on their pet than people who own multi-million dollar second or third homes are ashamed of spending money to buy more real estate instead of donating it to a sick, underinsured person? Conspicuous consumption of non-essentials (multiple cars,…

Keep in mind that there is a high degree of heterozygosity in the genes responsible for determining whether you are a fast, intermediate, or slow caffeine metabolizer. In lay terms, this means that due to common genetic variations, your body may overproduce the enzymes that break down the caffeine, clearing it from…

“The Anchorage area is not prone to 90-degree days. Please enter another city or town, like New York or New Delhi.”

Came here to say the same thing. Statistically, you are probably more likely to die in a fatal car crash on your way to or from your doctor’s offices for the shot than you are from rabies. Bats get inside houses quite frequently in rural areas. I’ve had bats in various houses several times; have never been in a car…

Federal employees can’t go on strike -- it’s against the law in this county.   Soooo glad I retired after 27 years this past spring, but this totally sucks for all the good people I used to work with.

Take it from someone who flies red-eyes virtually every time she leaves her state: that eyemask is likely overpriced and is definitely not very functional. It appears to lack baffles for the bridge of your nose so light will leak in. Also, it looks very slippery. Between the faux satin fabric and the single,…

Take it from someone who flies red-eyes virtually every time she leaves her state: that eyemask is likely overpriced…

I use my phone when I can, but I also let the airline pay to print my boarding pass by stopping by their kiosk before I go through security. For awhile, the airline I fly most (Alaska) was giving me a discount for printing my pass and bag tags at home, but when they stopped doing this, I figured it was time to start…

I think I’ll wait until a competing site called Burro launches.

You don’t need to travel internationally to experience 6+ hour flights. Just live in Alaska or Hawai’i and visit the East coast. I make that trip several times each year. Going east is easier, both because the flights are shorter (jet stream) and because they are invariably red-eyes, allowing me to sleep away many of…

Lucky you with a woke dad! My father has been retired for 35 years now. He still lets/expects my mother to do the lion’s share of grocery shopping and routine cooking, though, and all of the laundry and house cleaning. My sisters and I chip in when we visit — I have been known to completely clean their entire house —…

Interesting that no one here is even mentioning their fathers when blaming a parent for their own approach to housework. Why is that?  Men eat, too, and lots of us grew up with mothers who worked outside the house.  Adulting means taking responsibility no matter what your genitalia looks like or how your parents…

Yes, but don’t bother if like me you have bony narrow feet and Morton’s toe. The damn things just won’t stay on if I buy them big enough to accommodate my extra-long second toe. They are for high volume feet. I own a similar shoe that surround my entire foot and closes with a velcro strap over my instep for camping,…

I’m here to tell you that contrary to Former Scot’s distorted memories, it does not stay light until 10 PM in Edinburgh in September. Even at very the beginning of the month, sunset is only a little after 8:00 PM. Twilight lasts an hour or so longer, but not until 10. By the end of September, sunset is before 7 PM…

“Being disrespectful” = existing.

The colleague is a person in a position of power over me and my budget . . . and I had no idea she’d be so oblivious to the original intent of the get together, which was social, not work-oriented. Had I known, I definitely would have said “no,” if I could.  I.e. if the domineering colleague hadn’t already touched…

I’m an introvert who really enjoys catching up with my limited inventory of friends via 1:1 events. In addition, many of my friends live far from my state of residence. I recently planned to have dinner with one such friend (who’s also an introvert) when I was coming to her city for a work meeting. But when a somewhat…

So you’re saying flights are OK as long as I chug them? Good, because that’s exactly what I do with all beer.

I’m 63 and still have two of my 3rd molars (16 & 17), with no problems, even though I have a very small mouth. The two on the other side were coming in sideways, undermining the roots of their next door neighbors, so I had them extracted when I was in my early 30s. I like my medical decisions to be based on evidence,…

At almost 5 pounds, it’s pretty heavy for backpacking. Maybe OK for car camping or canoeing etc. I’m a long-time REI member and some of their products are great, but I prefer Big Agnes products for summer backpacking — more expensive, but far, far lighter. If you need a more substantial tent, you probably also need a…

At almost 5 pounds, it’s pretty heavy for backpacking. Maybe OK for car camping or canoeing etc. I’m a long-time REI…

If you can’t taste the bitterness in tonic water, you probably don’t carry the TAS2R38 taste receptor gene.  I do.