I am in California and people are not “bothered” unless it is of much higher magnitude where we have collapsed buildings. However, if you use a gas stove or a gas heater, I might wait awhile before turning those on. The utilities companies here usually dispatch people to check near the epicenter for damages.

I donate top sheets and flat sheets since I don’t like sewing that much to be able to make use of them but others could sew a few stitches at the corners and use them

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/99-cents-only-to-close-down-all-stores/#:~:text=On Thursday%2C the company officially,Simoncic%2C Interim Chief Executive Officer. “99 Cents Only will be closing all of its stores as the company announced plans to wind down its business operations. The company, which was founded in 1982, operates nearly 317 stores across California, Texas, Arizona and Nevada. On Thursday, the company officially announced plans to close down, citing financial difficulties stemming from the pandemic, changing consumer demand and rising inflation.”

Per room is for my side of the family. That is because each family typically squeeze into one room. Kids can take the living room and use the sofa and/or sleeping bags. When there are spare bedrooms, we have done a few kids on a queen size bed and the rest sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor. Food would be per person. This is what we did for vacations and for wakes (because ours is 24hrs for almost 5 days typically). For hotels, we tend to book ourselves as we have different preferences for rooms. Some prefer a king size bed, some wants two queens, some like me prefer a suite that can sleep six and has a kitchenette. Some wants a room with a balcony, some prefer not to.

I avoid beef for religious purposes so rely on lamb and seafood for the iron and protein boost. Sardines are a good source of iron too. https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/resources/2020-2025-dietary-guidelines-online-materials/food-sources-select-nutrients/food-1

For me, what works fast is canned oysters (pull tab cans for convenience in emergencies), fresh oysters and mutton soup or lamb chops. When I get dizzy spells, I just grab a can of oysters off the nearest supermarket to eat and feel much better. For fast food, I rely on In-N-Out burger that is wrapped in lettuce (protein style) because I can feel bloated on hamburger buns.

If the primary care doctors are in the same medical group, our insurance won’t pay for an establishing care kind of appointment. The insurance would pay if we are switching from one medical group to another. My kids and I have primary care doctors in more than one medical group because we have a walk in clinic 10mins walk away from our home for one of the medical group. Insurance is okay with that. They paid for the establishing care visit when we met our new primary care doctor in the other medical group. I have medical history so for my case, establishing care would involve the physical plus a more thorough discussion of medical history as well as plans going forward. For my DS19, he has no medical history and the establishing care visit was his annual physical, completing required vaccinations and nothing to follow up on.

We typically face parking fees for hotels in downtown areas. Some hotels charge parking fees even though they aren’t in the downtown area, especially hotels adjacent to convention centers.

My husband does that for meeting friends and ex-colleagues because that’s the best time for brunch (or just coffee) to avoid the peak morning and evening commute. Lunch commute isn’t so bad here, like my husband would take the day off and we would run errands after my early morning doctor’s appointment. ETA: for my volunteer work, the preferred time for a meeting for a few people were 10am or 10:30am. Not too early and just nice for lunch after. One of them works full time in an administrative role at a college.

I would as a courtesy. Sometimes the interviewer did not bring a copy to the interview and sometimes the interviewer does not have access to the emailed copy. I have seen a panel of interviewers where one copy of the resume was passed around. My husband would print the resume of those he is interviewing out if it is in person. On zoom, he has the resume opened on his tablet.

My husband's company use these kind for office pantries but they do leak through if food is oily or with gravy. The Bambu plates that Whole Foods sell have good reviews from friends but are costly. https://www.amazon.com/bambu-Veneerware-Round-Bamboo-Plates/dp/B00AS72U6M?th=1 I second the food truck suggestion if there are no suitable caterers.

There are a few friends I could use that wording to in my country of origin and we are close buddies kind of relationship. When I go back this time, I have a lot of loose ends to tie up and friends that have "booked" my time during my trip for my mom's funeral for the next trip I would be back. The alternative wording that we often use is "I tentatively have nothing on on ... and we could meet for an hour or so". I have close friends from school days that would say "I could slot you in on ..." and that doesn't mean we aren't close friends.

@saraha@TravelingChris Street walker is a legalized profession in my country of origin and some other countries. So they won't need to put such an easily misconstrued ad out. On first impression, the ad sounds more like a small business owner who is looking for an assistant who is a jack of all trades like what @SanDiegoMommentioned would be useful for her daughter or what Scarlett does for her part time job. It might have been written by an ESL who use Google translate to English. For example, relieve stress in chinese won't sound so off because it would have the meaning of reduce the burden of mundane tasks.

My former department secretary was entitled to overtime pay so that was how I interpreted that sentence especially when the "must be on call" was specified. I don't get overtime pay at engineer level but my former boss paid my overtime pay as bonuses. For that workplace, we get 1.5 hourly rate for weekdays after 6pm, dinner allowance and cab home. Saturday was cab fare both ways, 1.5 hourly rate and whatever meals. Sunday and public holidays were 2hr hourly rate, cab fare both ways and whatever meals. Since on call was required, my employer paid for my cellphone and cellphone plan.

That is easy to explain. I used to work at MNCs. All executive secretaries have at least a bachelors degree, some have an MBA as well. The executive secretary to the regional manager was paid about $10k per month. Personal assistant on the other hand does not require a bachelors degree. My department secretary is a personal assistant to my department head. So stuff that she doesn’t do my boss would ask me to help. For example, I would do the month end, quarter end, year end financial reports. I would also be the one on call when engineers from our overseas offices need to come in on weekends because I have the key and the alarm system needs to be unarmed as well.

Yes it was issued because the islands are nearby. https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-asia-68720022 “Taiwan's government says at least seven people have died and 711 have been injured after an offshore earthquake struck the eastern coast of the island … Tsunami alerts issued for nearby Japanese islands and the northern coast of the Philippines have been downgraded”

Earthquake report https://www.cwa.gov.tw/V8/E/E/EQ/EQ113019-0403-075809.html news https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68719996 “The 7.4 magnitude quake caused multiple buildings to collapse in Hualien, the city closest to the epicentre. The strongest tremor to hit the island in 25 years was also felt as far as Taiwan's mountainous interior, which was rocked by huge landslides. … "The earthquake is close to land and it's shallow. It's felt all over Taiwan and offshore islands... It's the strongest in 25 years," said Wu Chien Fu, the director of Taipei's Seismology Centre. The National Fire Agency said three have died at a trail around Taroko National Park, named after a landmark gorge just outside Hualien. More than 50 people have been injured, with some trapped in buildings and tunnels around the city, the agency added. … Power cuts and internet outages have been reported across the island, according to internet monitoring group NetBlocks. Wednesday's earthquake hit at 07:58 local time (23:58 GMT) at a depth of 15.5km and has set off at least nine aftershocks at magnitude 4 or larger. The earthquake's epicentre is located about 18km (11 miles) south of Hualien, according to the US Geological Survey. Hualien is located on Taiwan's east coast, in a sprawling, mountainous region. Cities in the area are sparsely populated. With major roads and rail lines connecting Hualien to the rest of Taiwan now down, rescue teams will likely have to enter the area by air. In September 1999, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit Taiwan, killing 2,400 people and destroying 5,000 buildings.”

It sounds like a typical executive secretary ad that my ex-boss who is not a native English speaker would write. Luckily for him, HR would just copy, paste and modify from other MNC’s posted ads.

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/avian-flu-found-in-chicken-eggs-in-texas/3504517/?amp=1 “The largest producer of fresh eggs in the United States said Tuesday that it has stopped production at a Texas plant after bird flu was found in chickens there. Ridgeland, Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. said in a statement that approximately 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets, about 3.6% of its total flock, were destroyed after the infection, avian influenza, was found at the facility in Parmer County, Texas. … Cal-Maine Foods is working to secure production from other facilities to minimize disruption to its customers." The company said there is no known bird flu risk associated with eggs that are currently in the market and no eggs have been recalled. Miller echoed the statement, saying the risk to the public is minimal.“

Maybe she just watched the evening news about the dire weather and is bored enough to call. As for calling her favorite grandchild, my in-laws and some of my relatives are guilty of that. They would see something on the news and call their favorites to make sure everything is fine. As for the solar eclipse warning, some people are just overbearing and loves to put people down. I know my MIL was kind of upset when her adult kids that are not her favorite doesn’t oblige her anymore. She made many snide remarks about how ungrateful they are.

Being the host is also a lot more exhausting than being a guest. Even if you cater the food and everything else, it is still a lot of mental work making sure everything goes well. If it is a family gathering, there is still the “keep the peace” element to tire anyone out. I am used to herding nephews, nieces, grandnephews in family gatherings from a young age because that was my job as the youngest granddaughter. However, I am still a guest and herding and keeping an eye on young relatives is a lot easier than babysitting them.

Physically yes. However I can still lounge around and be a chatterbox.

We called the airport Lost and Found today (not open on weekends), and they called him back later to go get his keys. Key replacement is $400 because he lives in a suite with 4 bedrooms and they have to change all the keys plus the spare key that RSO keeps. Uber is about $40 per trip so still lots cheaper.

I wake up refreshed despite being a toss and turn sleeper since childhood. My kids would toss and turn and still sleep well. However, if you are tossing and turning because your hip hurts or you keep trying to find a comfortable position, what helps my DS19 is having a pillow top mattress while what helps my DS18 is sleeping like a taco wrap in his queen size comforter. He is using a comforter from IKEA https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/fjaellarnika-duvet-insert-extra-warm-80459301/

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/tropicale-foods-recalls-helados-mexico-mini-cream-variety-pack-because-possible-health-risk "Tropicale Foods of Modesto, CA is voluntarily recalling 5,224 units of Helados Mexico Mini Cream Variety Pack with best by date of “MO Best By 10/11/2025”, because the mango bars in the variety pack have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella ... Product was distributed at retail locations in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virgina, Wisconsin, West Virgina, Washington, DC, and certain locations in Europe. The product best by date can be found on the bottom of the retail box.