Posts by Larry Cruz51

For 6.5 years now, I’ve been struggling with chronic insomnia. I went from being such a bubbly, happy girl to someone who is just constantly on edge...

What an absolute joke🙏

Zohan is the man🙏🙏

So, according to the regulations, do you actually need your own degree to start a small business, or just proof that you're hiring someone with the right credentials to run things?

Actually, never mind... now that I've sat down and crunched all the numbers, it looks like I'll need at least $117😁😢
to get this venture off the ground.

I just can't seem to find any documents on The Washington Post's website regarding the specific requirements a commercial space needs to meet before I can officially open a business.😢 (you know, things like what a cafe, a standard retail shop, an e-commerce site, or even a hair salon actually needs to have in place...)
I've been scouring Google for ages and honestly, I'm just completely exhausted from searching...😁

I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around why an LLC would be any better than a sole proprietorship, especially when you look at this table below🤷

So, here’s the situation: I have a Master’s degree, and my goal is to launch a service-based business where I hire employees rather than doing all the heavy lifting myself. Based on these figures above, it actually looks like a sole proprietorship might be the smarter play for getting things off the ground
. Granted, I’d need the proper credentials for a sole proprietorship, but since I have someone on my team who has already passed their professional certification for the specific industry we're entering, what's the catch? Is it just those progressive tax brackets🙂?

I’ve been scrolling through all the threads, and I keep seeing people mention that with an LLC, you don't have to register for sales tax until your annual revenue hits $28, whereas with a sole proprietorship, you're hit with it immediately regardless of how much you make. Also, if you go the sole proprietor route, you’re essentially required to be an employee of your own business, while an LLC gives you more flexibility there
. Did I get that right, or does someone need to sit me down and draw me a map to explain this clearly😁

A fantastic comedy, truly wonderful👍

Ashton plays this incredibly obnoxious, jokester type who just keeps cracking jokes left and right, and he is absolutely killing it in this movie🙏 there are so many hilarious scenes that will have you laughing out loud!

Anonymous said:The movie was actually quite good... 😍

I found the way they presented the subject matter absolutely delightful. It really gave me a good laugh.😁

Thomas Chavez8 said:So, tell me—how exactly would you have "spiced it up"? How would you have made this film actually worth watching?

I actually just put it on fast forward right at the start...😁

What an absolute lobotomy of a movie. Honestly, the entire plot could have been condensed into ten minutes, or at least started with something halfway interesting... instead, I just sat there watching the clock, wondering how much longer I had to endure this...

We all sat through it and marveled at those wonderful, glowing reviews...🤷

Just like this one here:

Amanda Nguyen5 said:It’s right after the lead girl walks out of that "room of evil" where everything finally hits the peak.
Then comes the whole sequence with her riding the subway, getting to the boyfriend's place, and dealing with his parents—well, mostly just eavesdropping on them. They’re just sitting there eating and talking, shoving all their high-and-mighty doctrines down her throat while she’s left totally lost about what happened with her stupid friend.

It’s not that the segment is bad. Honestly, there are some great bits—like when the phone rings "quietly" in the background, or that part where she complains he thinks her parents are idiots compared to his doctors. She ends up sneaking into his old bedroom to bring them some fancy French dessert, even using the actual French name for it.
It isn't terrible, per se, but after that intense, hilarious, and looooong stretch in the room, this stuff feels way too slow. It just drags the whole thing back down to a basic level.

I forgot to mention that I ran into some acquaintances at the screening who claim to be huge cinephiles. We chatted for a bit afterward, and they were blunt: "Slow, boring, dragged out, monotonous, total waste of time. How did this thing even win an award?"

Douglas King9 said:...

or at least how to get the ball rolling on it...🤷

Maybe once you finally meet someone who truly loves you for exactly who you are, you’ll realize you aren't actually that bad after all. You might even learn to accept yourself.
🙂Sometimes, other people are the ones who open our eyes...

Christian Wells6 said:Perhaps we should examine this topic from the perspective of where we might be in a few years.

Is that acceptable? 😉

Whenever you're ready. I will be more than happy to shatter your little illusions that women are nothing but backstabbing wolves...🙂

Larry Cruz51, once you all grow up and actually mature—and reach a point where you each have your own full, independent lives—you'll finally learn how to actually listen to one another. It happens when your ego isn't constantly sitting in the driver's seat. Then again, maybe you’ll never find someone compatible enough to call a true friend... or perhaps you'll find a few.

Personally, I’ve realized that I just can't be friends with anyone who is insecure, painfully shy, or struggles with socializing and dating—mostly because I don't deal with any of that. Every single woman who isn't my friend today (thankfully, only two people!) had an issue with how open I am, which tended to attract guys. Yeah, it all boils down to men, dammit... but over the years, some truly beautiful friendships have crystallized. I have two that have stood the test of time through everything, and I'd go so far as to call them "lifelong" friends. There are also two others I've become close with recently who could become very dear friends too :-) they are all women who are quite outgoing in social settings😉 we are the😁

Christian Wells6 said:Splendid.
Personally, I haven't the slightest clue how I would manage such a vast collection of these friends, though I never harbor the illusion that labeling someone as the 'best' is strictly necessary.

I can cook with whomever I choose, even enemies.
I seek employment from my neighbors.
I prepare soup for a chronic alcoholic who is nobody's friend, least of all his own.
I can discuss relationship woes with a total stranger; in fact, that is often the most rational approach.
To me, calling someone to gossip about shopping trips is quite the nuisance.

None of that, my dear, has anything to do with friendship.

I believe you when you say you don't have female friends. With an attitude like that, I wouldn't want to be your friend either.🙂

Christian Wells6 said:Indeed. It is quite glaringly apparent that there is a distinct lack of close confidants here, and the subject matter remains strictly business, leaving no room for anything else.🤷

What makes you say that?
I personally have two wonderful women I consider lifelong friends. We've known each other forever, we've always had each other's backs through thick and thin, and if nothing else has pulled us apart, nothing will... luckily, we haven't shared the same taste in men, and looking at how things are going, we certainly won't...🙂

So, what does it actually look like when two women are truly friends? Beyond those "superficial" fun parts that just decorate a relationship—like going out, joking around, little gifts, or silly antics—to me, it means so much more. It’s cooking together or heading to a Sunday brunch... it's being there when one needs help finding work, where one sees a job posting in the paper and lets the other know immediately, then heads to the interview and calls right after... it's when one gets sick and the other shows up with homemade soup, fruit, and vitamins... it's being able to talk about relationship troubles... it's being able to tell each other, "You know I love you dearly, but I honestly want to smack some sense into you because you're being an idiot." 😁"...I don't know, you don't need to see each other constantly (goodness, we're busy people and usually only see each other on weekends!), nor do you need to be on the phone every second, but you know you can cry to her over the phone, or call her just to say you were a total moron $1000 while running errands at Target, just to vent, and none of that feels like a burden to her.

Of course, there are people who claim to be your friends but eventually let you down, but please, let's not fall into the trap of believing that "best friends" don't exist. Because they really do.

rustymaker5 said:Maybe it’s like those Hollywood movies where you can just call them up at 3:30 in the morning and they’ll drive halfway across the state just because you're having a breakdown; or maybe you snap at them and tell them to get lost, but they just sense you're in a bad mood and give you your space without making a scene; or you find some incredible designer vintage piece while traveling abroad and you immediately want to borrow it, then you end up ruining it with a cigarette burn, but instead of blowing up, they just shrug it off and lend you something even more rare and expensive that they haven't even worn yet; they know every single one of your darkest secrets and guard them like the FBI; they’ve always got your back, and if they have to criticize you, they do it patiently and strictly behind closed doors; when you lash out, they know you don't actually mean it, so they're always ready to answer when you call again; they're willing to drop everything and be there for you even if it completely wrecks their own weekend plans......🤷...in the movies, that kind of stuff seems amazing, but I've honestly never met anyone like that in real life... and let's be honest, I'm probably not that kind of person either, at least not for the long haul...🙄

That isn't my definition of a best friend. Sorry. If someone just puts up with all my nonsense and every single whim without question—that’s not a friend, that’s just someone you can push around.

And it's not this either:

rustymaker5 said:Maybe it’s like those Hollywood movies where you can just call them up at 3:30 in the morning and they’ll drive halfway across the state just because you're having a breakdown; or maybe you snap at them and tell them to get lost, but they just sense you're in a bad mood and give you your space without making a scene; or you find some incredible designer vintage piece while traveling abroad and you immediately want to borrow it, then you end up ruining it with a cigarette burn, but instead of blowing up, they just shrug it off and lend you something even more rare and expensive that they haven't even worn yet; they know every single one of your darkest secrets and guard them like the FBI; they’ve always got your back, and if they have to criticize you, they do it patiently and strictly behind closed doors; when you lash out, they know you don't actually mean it, so they're always ready to answer when you call again; they're willing to drop everything and be there for you even if it completely wrecks their own weekend plans......🤷...in the movies, that kind of stuff seems amazing, but I've honestly never met anyone like that in real life... and let's be honest, I'm probably not that kind of person either, at least not for the long haul...🙄

I’d much rather have someone tell me the cold, hard truth than have them just nodding along with "yeah, yeah, yeah."

🤷

Sandra Evans41 said:👍
Truth. Men are far more reliable friends than women. Look for a brother, not a girlfriend...
I’ve had plenty of "best friends" too, but they all ended in betrayal (or maybe I was the one doing the betraying, I'm no saint)... Either way, don't blame yourself. Women are just built that way. Damned if they aren't. 🙂🙂

That isn't true for everyone, though. There are wonderful women out there. 🙂
Some of them actually stick by you...

nimbleviper75 said:Ladies, does everyone actually have a best friend?

I don't know what the deal is, but in my 20-plus years, I haven't managed to land a single best friend. I had one back in elementary school, but she just decided one day that we weren't hanging out anymore. She never even told me why.

Then there was another towards the end of grade school, but that friendship fell apart after I told her that her boyfriend kissed me—on the cheek, mind you, and without me wanting him to!

And then another one in middle school who basically just phased me out of her life.

I'm not a drama seeker. I'm loyal, I can keep a secret, I'm a great listener, I would literally give any of them a kidney, and I actually have a sense of humor. None of those three people above had a legitimate reason to stop being friends with me (I stand by that 100%). Maybe I just bored them or something, I don't know. Or maybe I'm just looking for friends in all the wrong places. Ugh, I get the dilemmas men face. What is it that women actually want?!

I am totally willing to work on my flaws, but I honestly can't figure out where I went wrong. The only thing I can think of that might have hurt a friendship is that I'm relatively guarded. But is that really enough to ruin a whole friendship?
Am I messing up somewhere else? Or is "best friendship" just a myth and we've all been lied to?

Please, don't turn this into some "girls' night" chat. I'm looking for some more serious answers here.
Men are more than welcome to weigh in too.

Women tend to gravitate toward those who mirror them because, honestly, nobody understands you quite like someone who’s been through the same things. It usually starts small—maybe you grew up in the same suburb, went to the same high school, or just share that exact same sense of humor and the same favorite spots to grab a drink in downtown Chicago... then, if both people are getting what they need from the connection, it evolves into something much deeper. Personally, I’ve always been drawn to girls who are fun; I love a good laugh and a lively night out myself. But at the same time, I need someone who can actually sit with me and talk when my mental health takes a bit of a dip... if they can't handle those heavy moments, then we aren't really friends. Because true friendship isn't just about sharing the highlights and the fun times. If it stays on the surface like that, they're just acquaintances...

nimbleviper75 said:Ladies, does everyone actually have a best friend?

I don't know what the deal is, but in my 20-plus years, I haven't managed to land a single best friend. I had one back in elementary school, but she just decided one day that we weren't hanging out anymore. She never even told me why.

Then there was another towards the end of grade school, but that friendship fell apart after I told her that her boyfriend kissed me—on the cheek, mind you, and without me wanting him to!

And then another one in middle school who basically just phased me out of her life.

I'm not a drama seeker. I'm loyal, I can keep a secret, I'm a great listener, I would literally give any of them a kidney, and I actually have a sense of humor. None of those three people above had a legitimate reason to stop being friends with me (I stand by that 100%). Maybe I just bored them or something, I don't know. Or maybe I'm just looking for friends in all the wrong places. Ugh, I get the dilemmas men face. What is it that women actually want?!

I am totally willing to work on my flaws, but I honestly can't figure out where I went wrong. The only thing I can think of that might have hurt a friendship is that I'm relatively guarded. But is that really enough to ruin a whole friendship?
Am I messing up somewhere else? Or is "best friendship" just a myth and we've all been lied to?

Please, don't turn this into some "girls' night" chat. I'm looking for some more serious answers here.
Men are more than welcome to weigh in too.

One really ought to balance listening with speaking... otherwise, the other person might start feeling like they're just performing for an audience, while you remain completely closed off...

Sandra Williams70 said:They have the looks, the brains, the pedigree—everything. But my friend is a wreck. Growing than a kid, he had it all: top of his class, strongest in the room, everyone’s favorite. He was convinced he’d conquer the world—wealth, power, the whole nine yards. That dream never materialized—maybe because of some economic collapse or who knows what else. Is that the crux of it? Most kids dream big too, yet they don't end up miserable when reality sets in.
Is there actually a cure for this?

Happiness isn't found in good looks, high IQ, or even family ties.
The fact that your buddy has "everything" might actually be making his misery worse... since everyone expects so much from him given his looks, his intelligence, and his family background.

I'm curious, how are you or these people actually measuring happiness? Is it by hair color, having a pretty girlfriend, or landing a great job?

Watched it last night.
How incredible was Helen Mirren's portrayal of that cold-blooded Queen... 🙏she absolutely deserves an Oscar😁

A truly great film.

coastalrider94 said:Larry Cruz51, which handsome guy are you talking about from 😁Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
?

Well, it's the one at the very beginning who left her...😁