Rabid (pun intended) dog people make me mad enough to want to beat them with a well-chewed stick. I swear if you add up all the things you should do for/with your dog and amount of time you should be spending with your dog because ‘dogs are social animals’ you had best be independently wealthy enough to stay at home…

Well as a guy, first off I have to say yes, YOUR BALLS, YOUR CHOICE (but not really because you’re married..... sorry).

No, it shouldn’t, and it just shows that who you work for is too lazy to hire on another person who could pick up all that extra work. Or at least spread the work around to EVERYONE, parent or not. Having a kid shouldn’t be a permanent get-out-of-OT card at every opportunity. But those kind of things come down to lazy…

Let’s get this point out of the way first: Yes, in most of North America, the average employee does not get enough paid vacation time vs job demands. I highly doubt you will find anyone other than office managers/shareholders/corporate titans disagree with that sentiment.

But was her reduced hours compensated in pay so her income stayed the same. Because this seems to be a lot of what I keep reading that people are really after who don’t have kids.

You can, it’s called vacation time. As far as taking time out for mental-health issues, I’m also not opposed to that in theory. But what a lot of people who make your argument tend to go on about is “this person get’s time off because of having a child, why can’t I get time off to do ‘blank’” which is generally in no…

Ballsy to say that to you, because my response would have been “you’re right, I should earn more because I do a lot of his work”.

The ‘no kids=less pay’ math is a new one. The ‘no kids=more work’ is one I’ve heard and seen. I guess any reason to not pay a person more....

I used to read Captain Awkward, but I found a lot of the commenters on there had some very specific blinders on to things and even when further information about a situation came to light that totally turned what the OP had shared on it’s head, would stick with their original opinion suggesting the new information…

The ‘Personal Paid Leave’ that allows you to do with as you wish is called ‘vacation time’. It is not the same as taking leave for personal mental health. You’re not doing that because you want to, you’re taking it because you need to.

I don’t disagree with you on taking time for caring for an ailing parent or sibling. But for pretty much all the other examples hiddenbird gave, you can use your vacation time for take a sabbatical if that is an option in your workplace. In my opinion, outside of whatever vacation time you’re entitled to in your…

Actually, it totally matters WHAT it is you are doing. That you think it doesn’t shows you don’t understand the difference in your own examples. There is no reason you can’t do the things you suggest you want to do on your own time using your allowed vacation time. Maternity leave isn’t additional vacation time,…

On the upside, you have a girlfriend who drives a manual. That’s a rare thing in itself. Skill can be taught - gotta start with something.

I didn’t say it was a scientific theory, just a correlation I’ve noticed. Decreased number of people who can/want to drive stick, increased number of supercars with automatics, more automatic supercars being crashed. As for why a rich person would be less competent with a clutch? That is pretty much true of a lot of…

I have no data to back this up, and am too lazy to do any real research into it, but I have a theory that the increased number of supercars being crashed, especially in such mundane ways, is due to the fact that they all come with automatic transmissions. It used to be, the top-end supercar came exclusively with a…

Other than the sarcasm/hyperbole, the last two quotes really aren’t out of line. Listening to some people talk about the Ridgeline vs what they actually would be using a truck for when asked, generally what the ought to be buying is the Ridgeline (or Colorado or Tacoma). But the quantifiable “it’s wussy”, “can’t haul…

How is the bed “pointless”? It is 3" shorter than what I see most F150-Crew Cab trucks running with (which is 5'-7") and both have 4' between the wheel wells. As far as putting dirt-bikes in the back, even with a 6'6" bed you’re still folding down the tailgate. For what I see most pick-ups at the local Lowes or Home…

Well I cannot discount yours and your friend’s experiences. Are we referring to MazdaUSA in this instance? No idea how good/bad they are.

Yeah, I agree on the YMMV part. I’ve spent enough time checking the car out to know it has more space than my current 6, and I quite like the size of it, though I also don’t disagree the 750 would be more spacious. As for highway noise, I can’t comment as I haven’t taken the opportunity to drive a new 6 yet. I do wish…

Except that the F-35 likely won’t come close to it’s theoretical potential for at least another generation, at exorborant cost if ever. They would be further ahead to build new A-10s and restart F-22 production then continue with the ever-failing vapourware promises of the F-35. Also the military needs to revamp it’s…