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.

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

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.

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…

I’m more curious where these people all get RC Cola, I haven’t seen that stuff since the 90s…

I’ll agree on the wine front, but I also don’t care for wine much. Never developed a palate for it.

But liquor, very much disagree. If you’re one to enjoy a scotch on the rocks or something, there’s a huge difference in taste once you splurge and get the good $100+/bottle stuff. And the cheap liquor always gives me a bad hangover.

Essex is to the UK what New Jersey is to the US.

that’s the part that irks me the most about modern American politics.

30% of the current House and 51% of current Senators have law degrees. these are supposed “experts”; you’d think they would be able to write better laws…

I just looked this brand and model up and don’t see it yet, and I don’t see it on the side of the housing, so I’m gonna guess this doesn’t have a UL listing. That’s usually a good starting point to see if it’s reputable.

that was like the first thing he did

Aren’t NDAs unenforceable against illegal conduct anyway?

Yes, absolutely. You can’t sue someone for violating an NDA if they did so to report a crime.

But a lot of people are morons that don’t understand how the law works.

And Gary Busey as Dr. Emmett Brown

The whole internet has devolved into a series of echo chambers now and everyone thinks their own chamber is superior.

We never should’ve killed flash games…

but if you don’t eat the bandaids you can’t have pudding, that’s how this works right?

Which is kinda ironic since most TJs brand stuff is a knockoff of something else. But I get it, because TJs quality is awesome.

But that right there is the issue. Why should a company be allowed to prohibit employees from having a second job if it doesn’t conflict with the first one? And if a company does have that right, does it apply to all jobs? What is the difference in that case between working two jobs in the same industry in different market sectors vs working two retail jobs?

Another POV: if I incorporated myself tomorrow and offered what I do for a living as a professional service, then I become the company and the companies that hire me for my services become the client. Do clients have the right to say I can’t take on other clients? (FWIW I have seen some clients try that and get shut down immediately, and I’ve also never heard of any company agreeing to those terms with a client.)