Are you vaccinated or have you caught it previously (or both)? It’s entirely possible you’ve been exposed but your body fought it off before you could harbor enough to test positive.

We had a houseguest test positive (after previously daily testing negative ☹️), and I was definitely exposed. I felt under the weather for a few days but never actually tested positive. According to what I read in the NYT this means I successfully fought it off. I’m fully vaxxed/boosted.

I’m excited about the idea of Amazon being held more responsible for the crap it peddles.

When science-based healthcare becomes too expensive (or onerous), people turn to quack remedies. Same with homeopathy. The placebo effect and things naturally spontaneously resolving themselves provide enough positive incentive, along with the profit motives of the purveyors. Still cheaper than going to a doctor in the United States.

🤣🤣🤣

I was so confused by the headline as well. Like he’s just a normal looking person, so why are people hanging up pictures of his face in the stalls? (Especially when I’d never really seen ANYONE’s face displayed in the ladies’ room). And who is going to police this new rule?

I keep this short (under 4 min) video bookmarked on my phone’s home page, as if it were an app. Must be decades old but has really helped when I was frozen when running a large project (30-40 people under me). https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S2qHu_1VDEw

It’s called "The Fastest Way To Build Self-Confidence" and is a seriously helpful video, even if the fashion is really dated. Ineffective vs. effective ways to build confidence. Go direct!

This comes up about once every 10 days here. No. The true solution is each person gets their own covers.

We have a king-sized bed and each have twin-sized covers. Picked up the idea when living in a furnished apartment in Europe 8 years ago and never looked back.

Fair enough!

Yep, exactly. Japan is not alone and they are not whaling endangered species. People overblow it.

I see this but about Japanese whaling a lot but without reference to what whales are being caught (and how much or little they are endangered species), nor what other whaling countries are doing.

It’s not like Japan is harvesting Great Blues on the daily. They’re mostly little guys only a few feet long, or smaller.

And a shitty dam is still a shitty dam!

I’m a big fan of sending a text message with a funny greeting picture and a kind note to say I’m thinking of them, or wishing them a happy holiday, etc. And ask how they are doing.

You don’t have to have a huge conversation, but every time you think of a distant friend, take 30 seconds to send a quick note. Why not!

> “Hey, just saw this cool ____ and thought of you. Hope you’re doing well! Send me your news!”

Something like this is always welcome.

I'm not going to argue with you on those points! Just speaking theoretically here. I mean, suppose a healthy baby cow got struck by a fallen tree or died in some other sort of physical accident.

Does "veal" by definition necessitate that the calf is crammed in a box so it cannot use its muscles, or can it in theory include any young calf even if it lived a free and happy life somewhere but just didn't make it past a few months of age?

Sales tax can can vary based on the consumer (e.g., purchasing on behalf of self vs. on behalf of a non-profit), and regions change sales tax seemingly at whim for stuff like paying for a new local stadium. There are more than 10,000 different little sales tax regions in the United States.

Easier to compute at the register than redo a zillion price stickers.

It’s also just the way it’s done. There’s inefficient things in every country in the world. It’s just how it is and it would take too much of an effort to change things for countless shops and stores.

It's not just allergies, but intolerances. I have an intolerance---i.e., an issue when consuming them that has nothing to do with an immune system response---and it's the #1 condition affecting my life.

I cannot eat out of virtually any commercial kitchens (restaurants, food trucks, etc.) because cross-contamination is everywhere. The great majority of foods at the store that say "spices" have paprika in them. I know this because I managed to get a sneak peek at an ingredients list for a major spice company that makes the seasoning mixes for thousands of other food manufacturers. And potato starch shows up EVERYWHERE these days.

Nightshades, particularly tomatoes and potatoes, are cheap and so are used as fillers in a TON of foods. Avoiding them is next to impossible when eating outside the house. So I can rarely socialize with friends at restaurants unless I eat beforehand/after and then during the meal sit there like a chump sort of picking at a bread roll or whatever. It sucks.

Eat them, even trace amounts, and my life basically goes to shit for several days, often culminating in seizures. Not fun.

But besides people like me (there are dozens of us!), a lot of people who avoid nightshades do it for anti-inflammatory purposes, or to tame their arthritis.

Those scouring sponges are effectively sanding the stain out. That means you’re sanding the Tupperware, loosening particles up and making them so much more likely to get into your food the next time you use them. Especially with heated food or things that are particularly oily or fatty.

I’d rather have some slight discoloration, personally.

It’s more the formaldehyde or other preservatives you don’t want to seep into your skin.

> while the baby is sliding out of the birth canal and vagina. They aren't exactly sterile, especially when outlets that shouldn't be leaking start leaking.

They absolutely SHOULD be “leaking” during childbirth, by the way. I suppose you meant that they don’t normally leak when not performing certain special tasks.

Spending time in areas with more nature and less urban infrastructure is healthy for us. Got it.