I have a friend out here in the Upper Midwest - she was an exchange student from Prague who ended up marrying an American and staying here, though she still tries to get home once a year.  She is of an age where she grew up when it was Communist Czechoslovakia. (She’s got some excellent stories.)

My Dad has been obsessed with NASA missions as long as I can remember. (I made his Father’s Day one year with this as a present - it’s still in a highly visible place in his home office.) So I have always been able to rattle off Collins’ name with Aldrin and Armstrong, and it surprises the hell out of me when other…

On one parent’s side of the family, I’m not many generations off the boat from Southern Italy. Our pre-immigration last/family name was changed upon entering the country, because it was “too hard to say” and “too Italian.” (Pro-tip...it wasn’t.)

PreCheck is still a pretty good option flying out of MSP - you just need to go to the South checkpoint. That’s the one on the other side of the terminal from the Delta check-ins.  Since the aiport is about 85% Delta flights, the South checkpoint is much emptier as a rule.  We showed up on July 3rd and there was only…

My husband and I have Global Entry - we live in the US but he works for a company that’s based in Canada. So he has to go in and out of Toronto several times a year. He said it made getting through US Customs at Pearson a lot faster. (I haven’t gone with him through Pearson yet, so I can’t make the comparison.)

 I’m just saying it’s a good phrase to use when you’re settling in for a customer service melee. (I don’t agree that the customer is always right - frequently, the customer is wrong. But businesses aren’t exactly free from being shady.)

There’s a restaurant here in the Twin Cities that serves red wine and Fanta with an orange slice. That is surprisingly good. I’d prefer the orange soda to the Coke, though.

Oh, yeah, that’s bullshit. Sorry everyone gave you crap.

Sadly, I am not making that up. wickedChacoTans gave you the link I was gonna post, but here’s another one from Mayo Clinic.

So “zoodles” are “ghastly”...but apparently I’m supposed to take your suggestion to try something new because it might be tasty at face value? That makes sense! 👍

I noted to someone above - my sister has that beef-allergy-via-tick-bite thing. The first few years, she couldn’t eat out at all, because any non-beef meat made on the same surface as meat would trigger the reaction.  It has settled down now so its not so sensitive, but it was really difficult for her since my ex-BIL…

My sister was one of the early people to develop a beef allergy after a tick bite. It’s settled down a bit, but for the first few years, if she was cooking beef for her family and made it on the same pan or baking sheet as beef? She’d trigger the reaction. Couldn’t eat out at restaurants for about two years before it…

I can’t find it, but many years ago, Miss Manners received a letter from a vegetarian who thought they were being totally reasonable to suggest to the person who had invited them to Thanksgiving - and made sure there was a vegetarian entree option for them - that they should cook the turkey and other potential…

Oh man, the one time I connected through ATL, that was the day I was sitting next to a German couple on the first, ATL-inbound leg of my journey. A couple who promptly started making out like horny teenagers - we’re talking hands in pants, guy’s hand in woman’s bra, extremely noisy kissing - once the flight attendants…

See also from Mike Satinover - a.k.a. The Ramen Lord - at The Takeout. (He did a whole fabulous series about Ramen over the course of several months.)

The phrase my family uses in situations like these is, “That’s not acceptable.” Even tone of voice, but firm. No apologies, either. Repeat ad nauseum.

No subs - ramen noodles are the base of ramen.  I have to watch my carbs, and I will simply eat 1/2 of the noodles, max.  The nice thing about Hiyashi Chuka, though, is if you make it at home, you can load it up with the protein and veggies.

Hiyashi Chuka is one of my absolute summer favorites.

<sarcasm>Wow, I had no idea about that! We never get any news coverage about that!</sarcasm>

Maybe we’re importing people from places whose values are simply antithetical to ours