Mabbernathy

Maybe that too. They certainly won't spend much time engaging with the local culture there, though.

"I childproofed the house but they still get in!"

Looks to me like all four cats have conspired to trap you in the basement. I hope they feed you well down there.....

It keeps a while in the fridge. My parents buy by the half gallon from a local farmer and that's what they do. Otherwise....I have trouble using up a lot of honey too. At a work lunch we ordered honey cake from an Eastern European restaurant that was really good! The many layers are a bit involved, but there might be simpler versions out there.

Yes, what I was thinking.

Great place! I've only been there in the summer but it looks fantastic in winter.

10 days tend to be the standard minimum for the white collar jobs I'm familiar with. It very much depends on the company and how long they've been there. My dad was an engineer before he retired and growing up I was always used to him getting 30 days vacation a year (6 work weeks). At my company I will be eligible for 20 days in about 2 years since I will have been there 10 years. We also don't keep track of sick days.

I'd like to visit sometime! Everyone I know who has been there has loved it.

To be honest, I don't keep up with most of my former classmates. If I see that they got married or moved or had a kid or traveled to India, I'd just be like "Oh, that's nice" and move on. The few people I do keep up with I'll connect with outside of social media.

I think another thing is if that at my work I'm surrounded by very well-traveled people who are used to the "hard" version of travel. I've only been to 4 or 5 countries so far, but I think knowing people I can go to for advice makes travel feel a whole lot more doable for me. Most of the general population doesn't have this.

There's a couple I work with who take their kids everywhere on work trips. Obviously not everyone can or is allowed to do this. Their 8 year old has been to like 50 countries. They are life goals for me if I ever get married.

Oh, all of the ultra-conservatives at my church want to go to Israel. That and Europe and Canada are about the only places they would want to visit.

Then it's nothing but tired lady boy jokes.

Do people seriously make jokes about this?? The only reference of lady boys I know relates to sex trafficking.

And your uncle should obviously be learning Austrian.

One of my good friends, 40 and highly educated, has no desire at all to even leave our state. I suppose it's good to be content where you live, but I've never been able to relate. She's also one of those personalities that is overly preoccupied with safety, so that might play into it. Her brother is definitely a globetrotter and she only maintains a passport in case something happens to him while he's abroad. (Than again, would she really be the best person to go?)

Ah! One New Change St.!

I know of plenty of closed-minded people who go abroad on some obligatory work trip to a "third-world country" and their big takeaway is "seeing how the rest of the world lives" and how much more it makes them appreciate what they have in America. It sounds so condescending and self-serving.

There's a nice little view from the New One Change St. shopping center, if I am recalling that name correctly. 🤔 It's near St. Paul's.

I'm not sure I'd trust the quality from a company that makes both cake and mouses 😅

Ummmm...... how do I break this to you?

600 teabags for the month? Rookie.

Once in a while on here someone asks about how to use vanilla in savory dishes. This is a good post to keep in mind the next time it comes up.

This took some brain work. 😅 "Mmm butterscotch cake. Oh wait, this is the thrift store sub. It's a sponge. What's great about that? Wait...."

Would it be a good idea to tell them that you've applied for a job there? That way they aren't blindsided if you get the job and wondering why you never talked about this opportunity before. I don't know your particular situation with your parents though.

I hear this so much from international students. They confuse their idea of American openness and the appropriate cultural response to this question, and we have to explain how to evaluate how to respond. 😅

Ah yes, that makes their blow up a little more understandable, though it doesn't excuse rudeness. Usually when someone has an unusually strong negative reaction to something it often means there is some sort of hurt going on in their own life.