Posts by driftingstag8

Frank Moore4 said:Ever since those geniuses over at AT&T decided to outsource their billing to Expeditors, I haven't received a single damn invoice. Instead, I'm stuck playing the idiot, manually printing out payment slips just to stay current.

I've called that useless AT&T customer service hotline more times than I can count to complain, but absolutely nothing has been fixed. Honestly, I'm not even surprised. It’s hard to expect efficiency when Expeditors is sending random people out on scooters to navigate rural areas—people who don't know the local roads or the neighbors from Adam and Eve, unlike the folks at the USPS.

I’ve complained plenty of times too, but there's just nobody to talk to

It's a complete disaster, I have to stay on top of my bills because they never show up, yet I'm constantly getting everyone else's mail instead
FedEx is just a total train wreck

Jerry Wright6 said:It was a bad call, alright? It’s my kid’s money, sure, but life moves fast. We had all our paperwork finalized to move out of the country, and you have to get that sorted within six months or you lose everything. You can't just assume things will stay fine. Why would I leave my child's savings sitting in a bank halfway across the world? Who knows what will happen to it—it could vanish just like a collapse at Chase Bank. You think you can just show up and withdraw it later? Forget it. You try going to a social services office and you'll see how they treat you. They look at you like you're some kind of nuisance constantly bothering them, and time is something you simply don't have anymore. I would never, ever recommend this to anyone!

well then don't put the money in the kid's account
but obviously, once it's in their account, the returns are way better than keeping it in yours
and if you're genuinely worried about a bank collapsing like Wells Fargo, then maybe you shouldn't be opening a savings account for a child in the first place

Steven Reed said:That isn't your money—it belongs to the kid because it's sitting in their account. Honestly, I've never heard of a social services agency denying a request to withdraw funds for something as basic as a car seat, so I highly doubt they'll start now.

I can pull a thousand bucks a month without needing any permission from the state, so buying a car seat isn't even an issue

wearynomad122 said:Absolute nonsense. For example, I'm saving up for a car seat and I can't even buy it because I have to practically ask the government for permission... what business is it of the state how I spend MY!!!! money!!!! I didn't exploit my child; the government just swooped into my account without warning. I am the legal guardian, it is MY money, and this arrogant behavior from both the government and the bank—which didn't even send a notification!!!!—is totally unacceptable. And who is protecting those kids whose parents aren't saving anything for them??

Bolded
It isn't yours, it belongs to the kid.
And no, you didn't just deposit it yourself; the government contributed too.
I also have a specialized savings account for my child, and once the five-year term hits, I'm planning on keeping the contributions going anyway.
Basically, if you're saving under a kid's name just to use it for yourself while still claiming child tax credits, you're essentially running a scam.

Richard James2 said:Look, I get it, but in the USA, because faith still plays such a massive, undeniable role in public life and especially politics, Merry Christmas remains incredibly resilient. 😁 Honestly, when people take it too far—like trying to hide a Nativity scene somewhere in Connecticut just so they don't offend non-Christians—that kind of thing isn't seen as progressive or normal; it's viewed as an absolute outrage.

As for me, I’m not doing gifts on the Three Wise Men; that’s just a depressing day to me. 😢 And I won't even bother decorating the house until Lent, mostly because my mother won't let me. 😬

That same kind of rebellion is definitely heading toward Europe, and honestly, they should just keep leaning into it
as fast as possible.
You don't even have to be religious to be annoyed by this constant celebration of everything under the sun while they systematically erase the very foundations our entire civilization was built upon

It’s like teaching a donkey not to eat, and then the damn thing dies from starvation 😁

graniteowl88 said:IT IS TRUTH TO TELL THE STORY, and even we Americans🙏 traditionally decorate our homes on Three Wise Men!

Oh yeah, my priest was already at it by December 2nd because🙄
everyone just jumped on the bandwagon since the city started putting up holiday lights way too early.

graniteowl88 said:Of course Jesus doesn't bring gifts to Himself on His birthday. Otherwise, the Germans exchange gifts on Christmas Eve (which drove me crazy before I started socializing), we eat after lunch on Christmas, and Spaniards (in my opinion, the most correct way) wait until the Three Wise Men!

I didn't even realize that, though when you actually think about it, it's pretty much common sense.

Richard James2 said:Christmas movies are designed to be, well, whimsical, colorful... totally unrealistic. They lean hard into Santa Claus or Father Christmas, which is fine by me since it all serves as a backdrop for celebrating Jesus's birth anyway; I don't see any conflict there. 🤷 On the other hand, Easter films are built around exclusively religious themes—the full arc of Christ's life from start to finish, featuring his key contemporaries (those who spread the faith later), his family, the crucifixion... and I haven't seen a "softer" alternative yet for people who get triggered by Christianity in any capacity. Tough luck. ☕

Regarding those "culture wars" in the USA, no, it’s not about Jesus vs. Santa. People actually view them as being on the same side. It’s more about what's perceived as a minority terrorizing the majority—basically forcing Happy Holidays! instead of Merry Christmas! and stuff like that. It's mostly just a clash between aggressive hardcore secularists and aggressive hardcore Christians.

Spaniards celebrating the Three Wise Men? I didn't realize that. Honestly, that would make the most sense. But hey, why not just wait until the Three Wise Men show up... 😁

It’s not just an American thing either; those guys over at the BBC act like "Happy Holidays" is their whole personality too. 🙄
Honestly, I’m feeling pretty much the same way about it—he's acting like a total idiot.

So, let's talk about the latest work on this topic.
I honestly don't see why people make such a massive deal out of this whole thing because, at the end of the day, we all know how the sausage gets made and if you're looking for some kind of grand moral awakening or a reason to feel superior, you're probably barking up the wrong tree.

Betty Palmer8 said:For us, it was different—at home, Jesus was the one who brought the gifts, while Santa Claus would show up at my parents' corporate office. They held an event every single year where he’d hand out presents to the kids and we'd all take photos with him. 😁

Christmas is Jesus's birthday, plain and simple. But today? That gets lost in the noise. It’s just a massive flood of Santa Claus, Father Christmas, and all that. I don't remember ever seeing a single Santa Claus movie—the kind they bombard us with every year—that actually mentions Jesus or His birth.

Santa used to bring us gifts at our parents' workplace, and he even showed up at the Hilton, basically arriving by sea loaded down with presents.
And at church, you’d only get stuff from Saint Nicholas—or maybe a switch from Krampus if you weren't good, obviously.
We didn't get presents there on Christmas; we just celebrated Jesus's birth and sang songs, but no gifts.

Look, aside from the Santa movies, they bombard us with Biblical films about Jesus's birth too, so both sides are pretty much equally represented.
But Christmas movies aren't really about the stuff you buy; they focus on love, family, and core values, and they aren't negative one bit.
Frankly, the whole outcry about how the true meaning of Christmas is being swallowed by consumerism gets on my nerves because, honestly, I don't see what's so wrong with families and friends gathering around a huge feast and making each other happy with gifts.
To me, that sounds way better than listening to old ladies moan about how back in their day, kids only got a couple of walnuts or maybe an orange if they were lucky.
Plus, when you consider that kids used to work themselves to death, especially out in the rural areas, I find this idyllic view of "the good old days" kind of hilarious.

Betty Palmer8 said:Jesus brings the gifts—at least, that’s what we were taught growing up.🙂

It honestly saddens me how commercialized Christmas has become; it completely misses the point. Jesus was born into poverty, yet today everything revolves around presents—as if more expensive always means better...

Most people probably don't even realize that Christmas is essentially a diminutive of the word God—a "little God"—instead, they just see Christmas as Santa Claus.

See, that's never how it was explained to us when we were kids
It’s not about how the country was run back then, since we still celebrate Saint Nicholas and Saint Lucy, but nobody ever talked about Jesus being the one bringing the gifts on Christmas; if they did, we'd actually be celebrating his birth.

Ryan Vaughn7 said:I think we all do this. For my kids, the gift from Nicholas feels more immediate, whereas the one for Christmas is, well, much more extravagant.
It’ll be an interesting moment when they get a bit older and start connecting the dots. They might just burst in and ask, "Dad, does Nicholas have a twin brother who shows up a few weeks later? And why is it that in American movies, it's always just the second guy?" 😵

😁
Between Saint Nicholas, his buddy the Krampus showing up with a whip, the more modest gifts for St. Lucy's Day, and Santa Claus, plus having three birthdays in my immediate family all packed into December
you really just gotta power through it all 😁

Ryan Vaughn7 said:How do you actually resist being pressured—especially by all that visual noise—to adopt customs that just aren't yours? It’s even harder when you have to explain it to kids. It’s such a simple thing, really, but what do you say if they ask why Santa Claus doesn't show up at our house with his red suit, huge sack, and reindeer-led sleigh like everyone else? They're constantly being bombarded by that image through marketing.

two gifts 😁

Down here on the coast, besides Saint Nicholas, we also have Saint Lucy bringing gifts on December 13th.

The whole tradition involves going to see the nativity scenes and the Baby Jesus in the creche, but it's actually Santa Claus who brings the presents on Christmas.

60% guys, 40% girls
this test is totally irrelevant 🙄

Maria Taylor58 said:so basically another doctor showed up at the ER and asked what was going on, and after hearing the whole story
this guy just goes, it’s really nothing to worry about, there’s no reason to panic,claiming he knew the kid could eat just fine, and since other kids got diarrhea and stopped eating, that was basically it—just typical nonsense.

Honestly, someone needs to report that guy to the medical board.
Based on how you're describing your town, it sounds like a total madhouse.

jadebear14 said:A priest from the Rapski parish, Drago Ljubičić, just got hit with an invalid three-year sentence by a local court in Cleveland. And I’m not talking about some spiritual penance in a monastery—we’re talking actual prison time because he was caught abusing five little boys who were only ten and eleven years old.

Seriously, why is the sentence so light for someone who committed five separate acts of abuse?!
Is this on the Democrats (who aren't even running the show right now) or is it the Republicans currently in charge who are to blame here?! 🙄

The Democrats have basically run Cleveland forever, including right now.
He got such a slap on the wrist because, frankly, the sentencing guidelines for stuff like this are usually pretty pathetic.
Most of the time, you're looking at maybe 18 months behind bars.
I think back in 2006, there was actually a proposal to bump those sentences up to somewhere between 3 and 12 years.
Though you wouldn't see a 12-year stretch for simple molestation; that’s reserved for aggravated rape.
I really don't get where people get this idea that pedophilia is somehow tied to which political party is in power.

I can't believe people are still arguing about this like it’s some big mystery when the facts are staring everyone right in the face. kaže:
Look, at the end of the day, I’m sticking to my guns on this one—just let me manage my own damn money. Honestly, if you ask me, I don't even want to touch investing; I'd much rather just hold onto my cash.Living off nothing but rental income sounds like a sweet way to retire, honestly. Let me spend my own damn money, let me invest in my health however I see fit, and let me pay for a second master's degree instead of buying a car. Seriously, I am so sick of this government and their constant interference, especially since they’ve clung to that old-school socialist mentality where you're expected to just sit there like a submissive dog waiting for the state to hand you everything whenever things go south. 🙂

I'm with you on that one.
I’m basically forced to hand over about 15k a year to the government. $0.00 I'm paying for basic health insurance even though I don't use it at all.
From dentists to orthopedic surgeons, I’m footing the entire bill myself.
Just dropped twenty-five bucks on my son. $0.00 I can't get a single cent back for my braces or orthodontic care because apparently, if the government-appointed orthodontist decides I don't need them, then I just don't get any coverage from insurance. 🙄

I don't even get a say in who they assign to me because the bureaucrats make all the calls, and even if I actually made it to the front of the line, I’d be stuck waiting another two years just to hear anything back.
So basically, I’m being forced to cough up cash for something I don't even use.

Look, I’m a total cheapskate and I don't claim to be some kind of financial guru, let alone someone crazy enough to take out a loan just to play around with the stock market.🙄I'm also putting my money into real estate.

I'm not exactly sold on the idea that I'll be pulling in a decent pension from that.
Anyone got a clue how much they're gonna hammer us with property taxes this year? 🤷
Everything from my car to ski trips and summer vacations—I just pay for it all in cash.
If I can't live without it, I'm definitely not buying it.

Whatever, this is just how I'm rolling for now—I haven't even thought about taking out a loan because why would I bother, so I'm just out here doing my thing and trying to stay on top of everything.
Don't go surprising me, you bunch of losers.
I don't even consider real estate to be a totally safe bet—honestly, the only investment that actually pays off is investing in yourself—so naturally, I have zero faith in mutual funds.
They don't inspire any confidence whatsoever.
I'm honestly just wondering what happens if the whole fund goes belly up.
Either the whole thing goes south or people actually walk away with something, there's really no middle ground here.
I’m just not seeing any real quality in the output here.
Not with that kind of mindset.

granitepilot2 said:Look, we're talking about Somalia, not all of Africa—fine, I'm generalizing. But the point is, Las Vegas already has the wealth and the oil to turn into a tax haven, whereas we just have a bunch of uneducated idiots who think they're somehow smarter than Americans because they watch some YouTube morons who can't tell the difference between Australia and Iran. We don't have mineral wealth; our only real resource is a nice coastline.

Dubai actually only pulls about 20% of its revenue from oil.
That’s exactly why it’s the most liberal Muslim city out there.
Even within the same country, Abu Dhabi—which lives off the oil—isn't even half as liberal.
Arabs aren't exactly known for being highly skilled themselves, so they mostly just hire foreigners to get things done. For the high-level brain work, they bring in Europeans and Americans, and for the manual labor, they pull from poorer Muslim nations.
Our engineers built everything out in South Africa on those gas fields, and while the Arabs thought they could handle it solo for a bit, they ended up hiring our people right back—mostly Americans and Australians.
We definitely have capable people here, but most of them aren't interested in fighting an uphill battle against the wind turbines; everyone just looks out for their own interests.

granitepilot2 said:Somalia doesn't have any taxes at all.🙂
As for Las Vegas—a pure free market always looks great in places where wages are basically peanuts. You’ve got the Nauru situation too; people live pretty well off phosphate mining, there's zero tax, and by the time the island actually disappears, they won't have a country left—but they'll certainly have the cash.

To me, Somalia is actually more similar to America when it comes to education levels and natural resources compared to Las Vegas or Nauru.😉Unfortunately,😢

You clearly haven't set foot in Somalia.
I have, just like I've been all over Africa, the Middle East, and even Las Vegas
And every single time, I found myself loving those places the moment I stepped back home.
So it’s not even funny.
At least not to anyone who has actually been down there.

granitepilot2 said:It isn't that simple. People want their cash now, but in thirty years when they realize they have zero retirement savings, they’ll happily vote for some populist party—kind of like how people flock to the Democratic Party today—just so they can lean on the government for handouts.

Is a second pillar really the smartest move here? Considering 90% of Americans don't have a college degree—which isn't even the worst part—the issue is systemic. While the market was booming, nobody complained about the second pillar, but the moment things start sliding, suddenly everyone has an opinion. Honestly, hearing someone argue they "lost money" in this climate just tells me they haven't got the slightest clue what's actually happening in the world around them...

Based on everything we've seen, there's a massive chance those funds won't even exist in thirty years.
Forcing someone to hand over money for you to play around with is nothing short of a total shakedown.

Whether I decide to dump my cash into stocks, stack up gold, buy another acre of land every year, or just blow it all on a wild weekend should be entirely my call and nobody else's.

Joshua Johnson11 said:Why just "let them sit" 🤷

strictly for educational purposes.

San Diego.
It didn't just bounce back; the whole place has absolutely exploded compared to how San Diego looked before the war.

Roger Walker4 said:Exactly 😢
It really caught my eye during my last trip to San Diego. Right next to the renovated stadium and those fancy new training fields, amidst all the new housing developments, there are just two dilapidated houses sitting there in ruins
To be fair, that specific area of San Diego is one of the more neglected parts of town, but they could at least clear away the rubble and tidy up the site
With five new hotels currently under construction in San Diego and so much redevelopment happening, it wouldn't look good to have those ruins staring at tourists; the whole thing looks eyesore-ish
Though, in all fairness, the owners might not even be able to fix them. Usually, when you see houses this neglected, the property titles are a complete mess

PS: To prevent this from becoming yet another endless debate about San Diego, try referencing other cities in former war zones or occupied territories instead

Let them stay there.

silentpanther15 said:look, you aren't exactly the first woman in history to get pregnant, and I've honestly never heard of anyone dealing with actual abdominal muscle deformities because of it.

just speaking generally here:
if your muscles feel all knotty and uneven, stretching is going to be your absolute best friend.
basically, if you hit some stretching for about 20 minutes right after a workout while your muscles are still warm, it can work wonders.

if you're clueless about how to stretch properly, I’d suggest asking someone who does yoga or Tai Chi, since their techniques are way more advanced and high-quality than the basic stuff you see in some random gym pamphlet.

oh, they absolutely can.
I worked out throughout my entire pregnancy, and whenever I wanted to do ab exercises, I made sure to check things exactly the way placidgardener19 described.
Basically, if there's a gap wider than two fingers right down the middle of your stomach, it means you have diastasis recti, and you definitely shouldn't be doing any core workouts.