I’d never trust anyone who makes money from selling pasta (or whatever) who tells me that pasta (or whatever) is good for me!

I live in Mérida, the safest city in the safest state in Mexico. American friends refuse to visit me despite the fact that you could be in any school, church, place of business, and public venue in the US and be caught up in a mass shooting event. Those things happen anywhere in the US so there is nowhere in that…

The guys with the big guns are the federales and they are generally not corrupt because they are paid very well. They are your friends! It’s the small town corrupt cops who are paid peanuts you need to “worry” about and they are not a problem in a super touristy area because they don’t want to get in trouble for…

In Mexico (where I live), the generally accepted advice is to produce a copy of your license (not the original) and do NOT pay the bribe. Tell the officer you want to go pay at the station and insist on it. Chances are good that you will be let go or worst case, the cop will take you to the station and you will pay a…

How is no one talking about the fact that Harris should be 20ish, not a teenager?

“Wi-Fi range extenders can’t work miracles” I think that depends on your definition of “miracle.” I live in a huge house made of concrete, so my speeds are greatly reduced outside of my office, where I have the modem. They’re okay in the living room (my smart TV streams Netflix with no issues), but forget outside or…

“Wi-Fi range extenders can’t work miracles” I think that depends on your definition of “miracle.” I live in a huge…

Never too late to start! ;)

Speaking as someone who cooks 99% of the time with cast iron and has been burned many times by super hot cast iron pans, do yourself a favour and pick up a pair of Ove Gloves to go with your pizza (and other) experimentation — they are the only oven mitts I’ve found that can handle the extreme heat of a cast iron pan,…

I lived in a tiny Bulgarian village and travelled around Bulgaria for three months. I can’t think of any café I came across that did not have an espresso machine, sometimes the automatic kind, so no need for instant. I just had to ask for “a coffee with very little milk,” a phrase I quickly learned, and I would get…

All the power was off in the room if the key card wasn’t in the slot. Not an ideal system, but I don’t think they have electrical norms in Bulgaria the way we’re used to.

So much this. I look at kids today compared to when I was growing up and I wonder how they will survive when the apocalypse comes.

I remember babysitting a kid about 30 years ago. I was pushing him in his stroller when the stroller hit something and it tipped over. Before I knew it, it was upside down the kid had hit his head and already had a huge goose egg. Mom was unreachable (no cells in those days) so I took him to the ER myself and he…

I spent ten months in Europe recently and encountered this scenario once — at the lovely Amadeus hotel in Nessebar, Bulgaria. Wish I’d known that trick so I could have used the mini fridge!

I’m a fan of Hazel. One of the many tasks she does is keep my desktop clean. Anything that accidentally gets saved to the desktop gets automatically relocated to a folder in Documents marked “to file,” which I go through once a month or so.

Actually, Mexico (most of it) doesn’t change its clocks until April 1st. So as someone living in Mexico who has clients in the US and Canada, I have to rely on an app to tell me what time it is everywhere because it’s too confusing to figure it out when it will change again in a month!

• How do you plan your vacation meals? Do you plan everything beforehand and look up online reviews? Or do you wait until you get there, wander around, and ask the locals? I wait until I’m on site. I like to walk around, identify where the tourists eat, and then avoid that area. I found a wonderful little kebab place…

The “Duet” app to turn my old iPad 2 into a second monitor (http://prntscr.com/iiawfv). I was in another LH thread a little while ago and someone suggested out of the blue that I do that. It has worked brilliantly for me. I have only a 13" display (Macbook Air) and it’s usually sufficient. I can’t justify buying a…

I’m apparently extremely loud and I’m so fast that guests say I make them dizzy and give them headaches. Thankfully, I live alone. :D

I’m a professional typist (transcriptionist) and investing in a mechanical keyboard was a great decision. I’m not crazy about the one I have (Das Keyboard), but even if the next one is a different brand, it will be mechanical.

An important thing is to look like you’re working and are professional. I don’t live with anyone, but the few times that I have guests, I’ve found that the fact that I have a proper office, a schedule, and that I get dressed for work makes a huge impact on being treated seriously. I had a few people over during the…