I’d deadpan “That could be me some day if I chose it.”

This.

It’d be cool if parents would understand that some people don’t want kids and not give them grief for their very personal choices. And, good with kids isn’t a guarantee of good parent.

Branding was actually easy in my case as all my hustles are creative handmade things or graphic design. I registered my business under the freelance name I’ve been using since college, Kern’s Crafts we’ll say (obs not the real name), so everything legal is under that, checks are paid to that name, etc. However, for…

Zeetal gave you a bunch of great info, but I just wanted to pass on that starting the ball rolling is the scariest part :) I work full time but have a side business so that my freelance design/crafts/stained glass/cakes can have a legal umbrella (yes, my business is a hodgepodge). They say that you only get out what…

Bingo. Cake stand only has a few scratches but the Tupperware was in “multiple pieces”. This was actually my mom’s car - my step dad was driving it and he’s still messed up.

Man, glad you’re ok. Your note about the violin made me chuckle though, because two items of mine were in this car when it was t-boned: a ceramic cake stand and a plastic Tupperware container. Guess which one survived and which one didn’t.

There’s a really good explanation here: http://www.sandiegocounty.gov/pds/fire_resistant.html but in short, defensible space is removing the “burn happy” vegetation within 100' of your home and replacing it with hardscape or plants that are more resistant to fire. By removing fuel for fire the hope is that it can’t…

A friend of mine is good as dead without healthcare, and his ACA plan has done a good job at keeping him well so far. He just got notice that his premiums are going to increase next year to more than he pulls in for his pension and SS. Sadly, I suspect that he’s contemplating suicide because he has no other options…

It wouldn’t hurt to go ahead and set important things out so you only have one area to pack. All my love, I’ve been there and hope you’re safe.

I live in San Diego, and we are no strangers to wildfires. I’ve somehow managed to avoid being in direct danger, but there’s been times that the evacuation boundaries were a block or two away from whatever house I was in at that time, and it’s scary as hell. In those cases I packed up my important things and pets,…

Totally - defensible space is a big push here in San Diego and it HAS (along with efficient firefighting) saved homes. A friend of mine actually called code enforcement on a neighbor recently and ended up with a fix it ticket of sorts for her OWN fire risk landscaping. We’ve gotten so much better about being prepared…

My mom is mindful of being prepared for emergencies and typed up a list of things to collect (and where they are) that she keeps on the back of the hallway door. We DID have a fire scare once before she put that list up, and let me tell you, your mind goes flat blank when you ask it what’s important (I remembered my…

If your friends are sharing posts from other sources a workaround is to click the three dots at the top right of their post and then click “Hide all from <source name>“ When Facebook follows their own rules (sometimes they don’t and show stuff you’ve hidden) all the stories from Fox News/CNN/WaPo/whatever won’t…

Yikes - did you ever get your own insurance looped in to put some pressure on them? I mean, you’ve been paying them for years...they could make a few phone calls for you.

Ah, the rental makes sense. My crash involved a rental, which USAA happily paid for once my car went into the shop (it was more than drivable after the crash so there wasn’t an immediate need). The responsible party ended up not having insurance (surprise!) so my full coverage very much came in handy that day.

Educate me - why do some insurers require claims to be looked at by their adjusters and others just tell you to send in an estimate? I was hit last year and all I had to do was call my insurance to start the process and take my car in for an estimate - USAA took it from there (they are a delight). Seems silly to make…

Same, and then I blacklist those stations because I’m petty.

This is exactly how I feel. My tank doesn’t even hold ten gallons, so it’s rare that I even pay attention to gas prices because it’s only going to make $1-$2 of difference anyway. I’ll gladly pay a little more for the cleaner station that’s conveniently located, situated for easy entry/exit, and the damn card readers…

This is such a bummer for the segment of BC users who are on it for valid non-sexytimes medical reasons, like ovarian cysts, endometriosis, and the like.