There are a lot of quotes and memes that are just wrong or at least very situational.

I have not followed the discussion so I may be just wrong. What I wonder is regarding the maga crowd is that they may tend to be more conformist. Also things like loyalty may tend to be more important than honesty with this group. I wonder if seeming weird in that group and being yourself is a lot less acceptable.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. More then likely kids love to play act and role play. It is one way they learn. Is it possible too that some kids have multiple personalities?

Taxes. What can I say, there is always something…

Former employer issues me a random 1095-C saying they offered me health insurance in 2023. Of course this is false. How much trouble this will cause when I try to claim the PTC this year, who knows. Then I get my taxes almost into FTU and find that it will not handle this years taxes. So I have to find another provider that can. On top of that, still waiting on one final set of tax documents from one entity that can’t seem to get its act together. Have no idea if they will by April 15 or not. Feels 50/50 at this point. May have to put in an extension while I wait 3 to 6 months for the wheels to turn on something that should have been done 2 months ago. Of course this means I cannot finish my taxes or get my refund until who knows when. Ironically this year my refund is larger then usual so timing matters more.

Not sure where I am. Makes me want to laugh and scream at the same time.

I have no great answers. My wife likes to say find the intersection of your skills and passion and the world’s greatest needs. I prefer to also add and for which you can get paid for, preferably at least 2X median income if possible.

Of the writers I know one did freelance for awhile then wrote a book after getting out of news. The other ultimately switch to being a producer of radio content. Think both were difficult. I had another writer friend that did technical writing for a large company. Something in the medical R&D area. Another person I know did creative stuff in video production and gave it up to be an executive assistant.

Regarding wage stagnation. I do not disagree. That however does not change the basics of managing ones carrier. OP is trying to work in a dying field. Really questionable if that is a good idea. We have family that are writers and they have had similar issues to OP. The way to get paid well is to either be a specialist preffereably in short supply, be management, own your own business, or be in a union. Working in a growing not a dying industry is important too.

I think people can have multiple views in their head at once. Since I come from the sciences it reminds me of the quantum physics analogy. In quantum theory you make a state concrete by projecting the state onto a representation. There are many choices each a different way of measuring the system or understanding the dynamics. Some are more useful and less confusing then others when trying to answer a specific question but they are all valid. Where you get to human issues is what conclusions you try to draw based on your analysis of course and that is open for debate.

I am guessing but probably about half of the cost of rent is related to true costs and the other half related to the financial mumbo jumbo of capital opportunity cost.

Just based on my experience owning our house.

Even if you do pay cash, housing is expensive. Our little house in a not so good part of town costs about $25K a year. About half that is out of pocket and the other half is capital opportunity cost. One reason many people carry mortgages longer then they need to is the capital opportunity cost. My wife and I both rented until about age 45 and to our surprise we were just barely able to do cash at that point so we did.

The other issue at the moment is high interest rates. Mortgages look less good compared to cash. The other issue of course is the high market price of homes as I said previously. That drives both mortgage and capital opportunity cost and is not directly related to true society wide cost, but is more of a financial mumbo jumbo thing.

Buy your own house or condo for cash. Then you pay maintenance and taxes only. Done.

The big issure is the high cash price of housing. The true total society cost of housing per unit per year is actually the annual maintenance cost plus the cost of new construction per year divided by the total number of units. This is presumably less then the cash price.

General cash price is pretty close to the cost of building a new house. I guess you could annuitize that over a life time to get a set of annual payments and compare. Or you could go the other way and calculate the present value of the annual per unit cost and compare to cash price.

Maybe marketing is not the best work for you. It is by its nature doing the least work to sell the cheapest stuff possible for the most money to people who may not need it.

My wife always says find the intersection of your greatest skills to the world’s greatest needs. I personally add… and that you can get paid for… preferably at least 2X median income. That typically means be a specialist, a manager, or run your own business.

Actually my last visit last year had pretty good eye pressure. Hoping it is a trend not an anomaly. Just annoying, time consuming, and expensive to have to track as closely. Plus when your border line for maybe 5 years you wonder when things might get worse.

Edit: My vision has been improving with age too for awhile now at least in terms of optical power.

Yes… eye pressure… me too. I have to go in periodically for an OCT and field. Hoping same. Best of luck.

Sorry to hear about you sanitary sewer issues. They are the worst. Never had much issues myself until I moved in with my wife. Before then I lived in mostly newer and pretty well maintained apartment buildings.

Since then it is always something. Every few years. Squirrel dropping a walnut in our stack. Roots in house main line. Long term buildup in various lines that need to be cleared. One bathroom toilet just not flushing that well… I think by design. Now a stinky sink drain.

I sometimes wonder if all this low flow stuff makes things worse.

I kind of feel the same way. I met my wife through friends after I had kind of given up. So I recommend that approach. I never had any success with the dating to meet someone idea. I was more or less clueless too.

I really have had only two long term relationships. An on and off one with a childhood friend which failed for many reasons but mostly location and career issues. The other is my wife which was after my career got going and I had a stable location. There were a few people I asked out… and even fewer that accepted… and maybe only one that was more then one date.

Moral is you may still end up finding someone after giving up. There is something said for being open even after giving up. It also only takes finding one reasonable person.

I met my wife through friends, not through massive amounts of dating. After first date with the woman that ended up as my wife, I mentally gave it two months. Some where along the way it got out of hand and we have been together for 28 years. Who would have known.

Personally I do not believe immediate attraction is more then lust and lust is not a long term thing. You have to get to know people and that takes time. If you know someone and can accept them for who they are your likely to love them. Then there is the question whether you can stand them, do you trust them, are your lives compatible. If your lucky the lust part comes and goes and comes back again over the years but it is not the basis of our relationship.

Check but I believe people in home hospice care are instructed to call a hospice number rather then 911 if they do not want life saving care. Maybe someone else knows the details. There are also procedures when someone dies at home. Not sure what they are.

Just mentioning because best to plan ahead. Hard to think clearly in the moment.

If your in the US then you might look at the Genworth Cost of Care App. Also if they have long term care insurance, this is what it is for. If they do not have it, then it is probably too late to get it. Often end of life care lasts for a couple of years but it can be much longer. For two years nursing facility this is maybe $300K. Typically if you can get away with less then one shift of professional care a day, staying at home may be cheaper. That is if home care is even available. There is an extreme shortage of care in the US. Getting the correct level of care, not too much and not too little, and in the correct setting can both reduce cost and improve quality too. This is hard as it is a moving target and therefore often waiting lists too.

Talk to an elder law attorney and get legal documents drawn up including will, power if attorney, a health directive, and maybe trust documents. They also can talk about asset preservation.

Hospice, an advantage is that care is focused on quality of life not quantity. This can save money too and prevent needless life extension. Things like do not resuscitate orders may help to. Hospice can help avoiding calling 911 too… The emergency responders from 911 will always try to save life not aide in dying. There are rules and processes that their care givers need to understand. Keep in mind that hospice can be part of home care too.

Rather extreme but also some states in the US allow medically assisted suicide for terminal patients.

Lot of the above requires that the patient and their care givers be open and knowlegable about death and end of life so that time and money is applied in the most meaningful and effective way.

Hope you feel better.

Lot of that going around. If it is not the flu, covid, or RSV it is the cold. Our doctor was so backed up my wife had to use the online option provided with our insurance.

There are at least 5 people in our extended family that are sick… maybe more. Thought I was done with masks but I am back to wearing them at spreader like events.

I guess this is the long way of saying your not alone. Get well soon.

As far a marriage having agreement on the big three: Money, sex, kids is helpful. This has long been known.

For me beyond that my only wish is that my partner be herself, cares about me more then my money or what I can do for her, that we like each other and similarly can stand each other, and our lives are heading in a compatible direction.

I have a wonderful wife and we have been together over 20 years and it gets better every year.