u/Team503

I second/third/whatever the recommendations for Brother black and white laser, but I honestly question who prints stuff anymore? I think I've printed something once in the last three years (overseas voter registration) and I just went to a local printing shop and paid for them to print the PDF off a USB stick. I got rid of my printers ages ago.

Hilariously, HP laser printers were the gold standard of "buy it once, use it forever" for decades until the enshittification kicked in. They were by far the best in the business for a very long time.

Source: I am an IT professional for almost 30 years.

Please, please, please advocate for Naltrexone and the Sinclair Method. It's vastly more effective (clinically proven) than any treatment program.

There are a variety, but SMART is the biggest one I know of: https://alcohol.org/alcoholics-anonymous/alternatives-to-the-aa-approach/

There is also the Sinclair Method, which makes use of the prescription drug Naltrexone. You take it before you drink (or daily if needed), and it blocks your brain from experiencing the euphoria alcohol induces. You can still drink while taking it, but it's not nearly as fun or interesting. And don't tell him, but a Naltrexone hangover is brutal. You kinda just stop wanting to drink as much when you take it consistently, because you subconsciously realize that it's not going to bring that bliss back. And because you can still drink on it, you don't have to change your habits right away, you can still have that after work pint with the lads, or a glass of wine with your steak, or whatnot.

Honestly, Naltrexone changed my life. r/naltrexone and r/SinclairMethod can provide more details, as can https://drugfree.org/article/sinclair-method/

Naltrexone is FDA and EU approved, and is available by prescription from your PCP/GP. Counseling isn't required, though I'd recommend it because there's a reason you turned to alcohol in the first place, but you don't have to.

Just take one little pill a day. That's it.

They say they're not, but they all require a belief in a deity of some kind. They will tell you "You can just believe in a doorknob, it doesn't matter", and which deity you believe in really doesn't matter, but you DO have to believe in one. Their entire system requires that basis.

I know they last a long time, but they're still maintenance; just like suspension bushings that wear out (that's why old cars ride so badly usually, lots of worn out or rotted bushings) that no one ever bothers to replace because while it's cheap parts it's a LOT of labor.

It's worth pointing out that things don't really fit either. Most European homes are significantly smaller than US homes, and the furniture is sized and shaped differently here than back in the States. Additionally, things that plug in mostly won't work - the US is a 110V system, and most of the rest of the world is a 220V system. The only things that will work are the things that have a power brick (those are usually switching power supplies that can do both voltages). Otherwise, you're buying (very) expensive transformers for everything and they rarely work well.

I have lived in both and used both, and overall the EU style of single payer is vastly better.

No, they really don't.

I question that massively. The boom in the 90s was primarily based on the explosion of computing and the internet. Perhaps the Navy played a part, but I can't see how it was that significant.

I would imagine that if you have lots of money - assets, investments, and income - in multiple countries it's probably a nightmare. But for most folks it's just an annoyance.

And don't get me wrong, I'm opposed to it and I think it's patently absurd that we're required to do it, but I also recognize that it's not some massive overwhelming burden.

Google told me that the famous "Let them eat cake" line was said in 1843, which was one of the many French Revolutions. Fair point, though, that my French history knowledge is nearly non-existent, so I'll take the correction.

My point was just that chopping particular parts off of people was very effective.

No one said you don't have the right to opinions. I said that I understood your political stance based on the specific phrasing you used, as it is a common refrain amongst the "I'm a conservative, not a MAGA." Donald Trump is a convicted felon; sadly, there is no law that prevents convicted felons from being elected to the Presidency.

The fact that you even try to refute such a widely publicized and acknowledged fact tells you that you are not engaging in good faith. Because *I* am, here is proof of my statements:

It is documented fact that Donald Trump was convicted of the rape of E. Jean Carrol. Here is the summary ruling against Trump's appeal: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca2/23-793/23-793-2024-12-30.html

It is documented fact that Trump has been convicted of THIRTY FOUR COUNTS of FELONY business fraud and paid $354 million in fines and restitution: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_business_fraud_lawsuit_against_the_Trump_Organization

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2qqnxnwl7wo

It is documented fact that Trump has been convicted of charity fraud and the misuse of charitable funds in his election campaign, fines of $2 million: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/07/donald-trump-charity-foundation-misuse-lawsuit

The claim I made that it is likely that he is a pedophile is supported by his own admissions of walking into the girl's dressing room at the beauty pageants he hosted as well as his well documented and long time friendship with pedophile, predator, and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. I can't prove that he has raped a child, but it's definitely in character for him and he definitely had plenty of opportunities.

If the market performs. Which is not a guarantee. If the person actually deposits the money. If they don't dip into that investment for other things. IF.

So not, it's not technically correct all the time. It's correct sometimes. If you're unable to understand that everyone's circumstances aren't the same, that not all people are the same, and that the market does NOT always go up, well... there's no real point in further discussing this with you.

Have the day you deserve.

I'll take a look, thanks!

There is always something deeper in jokes. Our sense of humor is based in our values and worldview. Whether you want to admit that or not.

And I suppose lots of people find that kind of humor funny. I just think it’s sad.

No, I’m not. I’m pointing out that your advice might be technically correct sometimes, it comes with a pile of disclaimers and caveats, and you shouldn’t act like everyone should or even can take that advice. Someone who’s undisciplined might THINK they can do it, but in the end won’t, and they’ll have a much worse financial future because of it. You have to tailor your advice to the recipient, friend.

Thanks!

I’m too exhausted to even try to argue with a conspiracy theorist.

You identified yourself as not liberal by saying. “Your liberal politics”, which pretty much states your stances. You want common ground? Sure we can discuss taxes and road tax rates, those are issues on which compromise is required. Basic human rights and basic decency are not values on which I compromise. I don’t compromise on respecting peoples sexual orientation or gender identity. I don’t compromise on whether children or poor people should have food to eat. I don’t compromise on freedom of AND. FROM religion, or bodily autonomy, or equality under law, or keeping religion out of government.

And I don’t compromise on people knowingly voting for a convicted rapist and fraudster who is also strongly likely to be a pedophile for President, either. My values do not include people who should be rotting in jail (or hell) getting the most powerful job in the world.

But go ahead, act like all we disagree on are trade policies and tax rates.

American news tends to be international news these days, but fair enough, not everyone pays attention.

My main point was that the primary reason for the overwhelming majority of people to feel this way isn't long COVID, assuming it exists and has the effects you said. It's financial and political. In the last ten years alone, if you haven't gotten a raise in pay, your salary is worth between 20% and 40% less because everything costs way more. People feel that very deeply in all aspects of life because it defines a lot of life.

Add to that the overwhelming daily amount of political and environmental news that would have been once-a-decade news when I was born, and it's not surprise. The world is measurably, noticeably worse in lots of ways these days, and it shouldn't surprise anyone that we all feel it. You don't need a virus for that, just a bank account and rent to pay.

And my point is that you can't know that number. It's in the future, no one can. Sure, when discussing in hindsight which would've been better you can do that, but when you make the decision you can't.

And the fact is that regardless of your feelings on the matter, the overwhelming majority of people in the world do not have savings, much less investments. I won't get into why that is, it doesn't even matter. What matters is that people for the most part are not disciplined enough to do this.

The average American (the wealthiest country on the planet) has about $8,000 in savings, and I'd point out that is HEAVILY weighted by the top 10%. The bottom 50% have less than $4,000 on average, and most of them have a net negative worth weighted heavily by debt with no assets.

Most people are terrible with money. 67% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, including a decent percentage of six figure earners.

So assuming people are disciplined enough to invest is... presumptuous at vest. I'd agree it's not impossible, but it's NOT certain, or even common for people to have the discipline and knowledge to pull something like this.

Sorry, man, but that's just reality. For the top 50% it becomes less hard, and for the top 10% it's absurdly easier, but you'll note that no one really teaches personal finance in public schools. The rich don't WANT us to be wealthy and use the system the way they do, it only works if they can concentrate the wealth amongst themselves.

Then you tell him "Fuck right the fuck off you rapist piece of shit." He literally told you that he would harass or rape you - that's not even a threat, it's an outright promise.

This is a really shitty situation to be in kiddo, and I'm sorry. And you might not have had a romantic relationship, but you've had plenty of friendships and relationships with family, so you're not as inexperienced as you think.

I think that the core of the takeaway here is this simple idea: "Everyone deserves respect, care, and kindness. If someone is treating you in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable or bad about yourself, that's not okay, and that's not a friend." You can try telling them that they're being offensive or hurting your feelings, but in my experience, people who make these kinds of comments don't tend to care and will laugh it off.

When people tell you who they are, believe them. And when people treat you like that, call them out on it loudly, and report them if you can. Don't let people in your life that treat you badly, and don't let people who treat you badly get away with it.

I don't care what you look like, who you are, what your orientation or gender identity is, who your parents are, what you make, how smart you are, nothing. NO ONE deserves to be treated how you're being treated.

That's a long conversation, and it matters very much your position in life and where you move to. For the record, I'm an upper-middle class IT guy, my title is "Lead Senior Architect" if that helps, and I moved from Texas to Ireland.

First, I make a lot less. After taxes and the pay cut I took to make the move, I make in a month what I used to make in two weeks.

Second, cost of living isn't really any lower, at least here in Dublin. Some things are cheaper, like cell unlimited everything is less than 20/mo and water is free, but electric is about four times what I paid in Texas, and it all ends up being a bit of a wash.

Third, like everyone everywhere, housing has gotten incredibly expensive and salaries haven't changed much, and of course there's general inflation, so everything costs way more and nobody is making any more money (except the super-rich). So we're feeling the same thing. The complaint is different, here it's people complaining about the price of a pint instead of the price of petrol, but it's the same vibe.

In some ways it's more relaxing. What they complain about here seems laughable in a lot of ways - Dublin's crime rate is so much lower than most of the US that when people complain about it I have to fight not to laugh, same with complaints about the Gardaí vs complaints about American cops. Cost of living complaints are shared. But there's decent public transport here, so I don't need a car, and a lot of health care is free (Ireland has a mixed public/private system on its way to being single payer, but isn't there yet) and what there is happens to be MUCH more affordable here.

I have a lot more protections as an employee, and the mindset about work is much more relaxed here too. Most Europeans think Americans are insane as to how much we work, and what our view on living to work is, because they work to live and the first question out of their mouth isn't "So, what do you do?" when you meet someone.

The pace of life in Ireland is much slower in general I think.

Of course, there's the problems of moving to a new place as a 40-something. The older you get the harder it is to make friends, and I miss home something fierce at times. And it's not just the lack of decent barbecue or chili here, it's the people, the social conventions, everything. It's hard to have to remind myself things like "Don't say 'I'll do the steak" and say "I'd like the steak" instead, or to remind myself not to let my conversational volume be that of an American (which is about twice as loud as Europeans), or that it's the "boot" not the "trunk" of the car.

It can be exhausting on some days to force myself to align to social conventions here instead of the rules I grew up with. It's not a bad thing and gets easier as time goes on, but there are definitely days when I want to dig in my heels like a toddler throwing a tantrum and refuse to adapt.

At the end of the day, we've thought about moving back, but it's pretty unlikely right now. Between the political landscape back home and that we're a bit over a year from becoming citizens, it's just better for us to stay.

Am I glad I made the move? Yeah, I think so. If nothing else, I've been able to go so many places I've dreamed of visiting - so many countries and cities! - for way less than it would have cost me from the US. It's nice that work isn't so pressure-filled, and that people are generally friendly.

Would I do it again if I had the chance? I think I'd say yes, I'm not sure my husband (who is struggling with missing his family much more than me) would agree though.

And the far right is trying to rise here (though getting properly slagged by the rest of the incredibly progressive Irish), and is rising all over Europe.

I guess what I'd say is that a lot of the problems you have back in the States are global ones, or at least broadly across Western society, and that includes Europe. Whether it's worth moving depends entirely on you and your specific circumstances.

That doesn't mean Ochi had it made. But I do see your point.