And a lot of that false information about Obama birth was pushed by (wait for it…)

Donald Fucking Trump

Oh yeah, Obama straight up broke the Republican party. IMO, that’s the point where our timeline went batshit and started the rapid devolution to where we are now.

They make sailboat yachts too, there’s a whole show on bravo about it.

I’m American and I always get a chuckle from the adoration that people have over raccoons as well. I guess they’re cute but they’re also a menace, there’s a reason we call them “trash pandas”.

But I also went to Spain several years back and saw my first hedgehog. And it was even in a hedge! I took probably two dozen photos and the locals thought I was crazy. So I get it.

Even better, find a picture of what you want, keep it on your phone, and show it to your barber

Hell yeah, it’s my stool stool

WhatsApp is very common if anyone in your inner circle is international (as in lives in another country, not just from there). My family still uses it for our group chat bc one of my siblings used to travel a lot and live overseas, and we’re all American.

I have other friends from other countries who use WhatsApp to talk to people back home, but they also use standard messaging apps for talking to people here.

My gf’s 2020 Tuscon didn’t, and of the cars I’ve seen and window-shopped online you have to add a “smoker’s kit” as an option. They usually still have the 12VDC port for charging but it don’t come with the lil fire pop stick no more

Are they that rare? And do they really know to keep things like this under wraps? It seems like our social filters have all gone out the window the last eight years.

She can’t spell fiancé correctly despite several attempts and having autocorrect. I think it’s entirely possible that she’s just dumb, selfish and insecure.

This stuff? Comes in 1 lb or 2 lbs logs? Maybe a different brand or packaging?

Idk what you call it but I’ve seen it at Acme now.

This is an American problem, but I discovered Amish butter a while back and haven’t looked back.

It has a slightly higher fat content closer to European butter (85% vs 80% for the regular store stuff), so everything you make tastes better. Eggs, cookies, steak, potatoes- it improves them all. I can get it fairly easy from a local co-op and it’s the same price as regular butter, but that depends on where you are in the country.

The scope and visibility of the case is important, as well. Complex cases require lots of lawyers with different specialties to look at it from different angles.

Similar in engineering, you want more engineers working on a really big and complex project than just one person. I worked with a firm back in the day that designed a stadium - they had a whole floor of their HQ devoted to engineers who only worked on that project.

Well I live in Philadelphia, and just in the decade I’ve been here, I’ve seen some shit.

The unsolved Hitchbot murder, and then a local radio station’s attempt to repair our good name before the Pope arrived.

The dumpster pools in Kensington.

“Do attend.”

When the Eagles won the Super Bowl and chaos ensued. I can’t find any source on this in particular, but my gf and I agree we heard on the police scanners that a giraffe had been freed from the zoo and was running down Girard.

Drumline Elmo, who has become as big a celebrity in the city as Gritty.

Gritty, who is a national hero in our eyes.

All of which doesn’t even factor in the everyday life crazy. This place is wild, and I’m all for it.

I felt myself getting a brain tumor while reading that, I’ll have to come back to it later

I take after my mother: I’m a Combat Shopper.

My father, on the other hand, was very much a lookie-loo shopper.

There’s always two types of people, and they usually marry each other.

Your local hot dog vendor must hate you

I take out my neighbors’ garbage cans. It’s a collective home with a unique living situation and nobody really seems in charge of the house itself, including taking the trash to the curb. Since I gotta take mine anyway and they’re all in a shared alley, might as well do something nice for people who might need a hand.

That, and I’m trying to keep bugs and rodents at bay. So it’s not entirely selfless…

If you really don’t like taking to people that much, try for remote work. Once I almost went a full week without hearing another coworkers voice.(I’m not counting Teams chats bc I actually have work discussions there and I can ignore them as needed.)

If that’s not possible, learn to lean into extroversion a little. If someone wants to chat, let them talk a bit. You could let them talk about themselves the whole time, extroverts love that shit.

Give it ten minutes and then tell them you’re on a deadline or something and need to get back to work. If you really can’t handle it at the moment, do that second part immediately when they start talking.

The key is to be polite and respectful, but still assertive. It takes practice to get that mix right, so try it with some friends if you’re not sure how it comes across.

And just throwing it out there - I know you said you’re not looking to make friends, but this is what 80% of “networking” really is; just making friends enough that they’ll be a good reference.

I ain’t seen you round here, stranger…

Ditto. Respect for anyone who not only knows two languages well enough to explain one in the other, but is willing to share that knowledge.