Why would Arabic be more difficult to learn than Hebrew or Russian or Polish? They mean reading and writing it, not speaking? Even so it doesn't seem worse than Russian or Hebrew.

This happens sometimes. We have wildly successful parties sometimes, and other times it's just a couple of people and way too much food.

I don't complain because I also don't often attend other people's gatherings.

But yes we need to get back into the habit of visiting and entertaining, it's good for people. And it's good of you to offer hospitality even if nobody showed.

Yes. Cats here should be indoor cats. Even in the city there are raccoons, coyotes, alligators, dogs in people's yards, and CARS. I let them out briefly and supervised, sometimes, to catch a lizard if they are watching them out the window. Or as others say, occasionally on a harness to wander the garden, and eat a little grass.

Obviously that's not always possible, there are feral outdoor cats that sometimes show up, the city has a spay/neuter and release program for those.

Wow that looks both delicious and beautiful.

I mean, that is gardening though. I can't baby things (well, except the jaboticaba I'm trying to bonsai), I just plant things and figure out what works. Winners stay and eventually you get a garden.

Okra and watermelon love the heat here, and the trees do fine. Most food plants I grow in winter though. Well from October through April.

It's hard to say without knowing the first name, go with what sounds good together. Or use your first name as your last name. Olivia Olivia or Esther Esther.

WHAT?

Just kidding.

There's a range of actual volume, my boss I cannot hear half the time because he is quiet but a couple of coworkers have voices that really carry, it's not exactly volume or not just volume, it's throw.

Talkative we are, overall. Not everyone of course, but there is a lot of talking.

And pushy and curious we are, overall, too. I think that can read as loud too.

If you are rich, you can self insure for everything. Home insurance costs us 4k a year on average, for 25 years now. They insure up to about 300k. No claims. Do that math. If I had a half million to escrow, no way would I be paying that. I would just hold onto enough to rebuild and let it make money.

Health insurance like I carry should also cost a lot less than it does, but I guess it's the same kind I would have if rich, high deductible but insured against very high cost events.

When I was poor, though, no health insurance and overall we paid less every year, than I pay for insurance now. Yes even the years I gave birth and even the years there was an emergency room visit, not carrying insurance was cheaper than having and using it. But the problem with that here is that unlike home insurance, the possible cost of care is essentially unlimited without any insurance. You could get some disease and end up with tens of millions of dollars of bills. It ought not be like that but it is.

I can't. One of my job requirements is that I need to work someplace I think is at least neutral, or is good. So far it's only been neutral and I am ok with that.

I do think some people can be a force for good in a bad place but I am not strong enough to do that.

Edit to add an example - I heard a story about a guy working in corrections - a prison warden - who was working to change the system from punitive to remedial, and had reduced recidivism by a huge amount, like it's 5%, compared to 50% in most of the nation. I think he is a good person in an evil industry (the American prison industry). Randy Liberty. Not kidding, that is his real name.

For me this has been a curve not a slope. Hard childhood, getting better in later middle age, expect a harder time later but so far things have been easier.

So I think "it gets better" is a reasonable thing to say to kids having a hard time. It can get better.

Old old? Yes I agree. Even healthy old people, your friends are dying around you, it hurts.

I wouldn't worry about being tan here, we are diverse. And I don't borrow trouble. But those requirements are insane for someone just visiting.

If it's for work and he has the return ticket he'd probably be fine - our European/Asian/Australian employees have been coming here for meetings no problem but -

They land in Tampa or Orlando not Miami or Jax

They have round trip tickets and an agenda for what they will be doing (not an hour by hour thing, but a purpose for being here)

I don't think there will be trouble but why risk it, and why not vote with your dollars or Euros and not come? That is the only language the fuckers at the top speak.

(I do not think it's nice to say Caucasian is a standard human though)

I cannot imagine anyone jumping to that conclusion, this has to be a joke. Like, when I first saw the house of my now husband, the front door opened to a big empty room and my first words were "oh, this is wonderful, it's so empty it looks like a ballroom, you could have a big party here!'. Like, sure, he cannot decorate and defers to me on home renovations now because he always likes what I design (I design, he has veto power) but how is that dysfunctional? He was just fine with the open space, it worked and a house is for the people who live there. And a big empty space is such a flex in a way, like look - I have more house than I need. Guys aren't waiting around hoping someone comes and fills that up, they are enjoying the space, right?

If someone compliments your home, I just can't see getting mad about it.