I work for a large corporate and have been on at least 30 hiring panels in my career.

So sorry for your loss Janeway. That is incredibly sad. As others have said, the tough time is after the funeral. Just be there for her and allow your friend the space to talk. You don't have to offer solutions, only acknowledgement that you hear her. And as others have said, be there for the practical stuff and keep including her in your social life (post Covid).

Have a great time! And treat yourself as much as you can.

We only give gifts to family if we see each other in person, and I have no idea what travel restrictions will be in place and who we might see. Dh and I normally name an experience as our Christmas gift to each other. The girls will tell us what they'd like by about November.

We work from home now and not having a commute and being able to sleep longer hours has been good. We cook every day. As we go grocery shopping once a week only rather than stopping on the way home from work or picking up takeaways. I've learned to meal plan a whole lot better and i think we will continue this. As everyone is home at the same time, we eat together for dinner. We started a Sunday afternoon Zoom with my parents, siblings, nephews and nieces in the UK, South Africa and Taiwan. 10 parties dial in every week. That's been very special.

My grandparents were Dutch. My mother was born in WWII. The family sheltered a Jewish girl who's parents were deported to Auschwitch. My grandmother always shuddered when she heard the word Nazi.

Virtue names: Hope, Grace, Joy, Verity, Amity Justice/Justus, Leon, Tobin, Bastian

This is basically what I do too. I have 5 categories of the main ingredient and within each have recipes that I rotate - not necessarily per day, but just keep going around. During lockdown (We're on day 120), we've eaten only at home. My list Minced beef dish Bobotie (A South African dish) Spaghetti bolognaise Chilli Con Carne Lasagne Sheperd’s pie Chicken dish Chicken stir-fry Chicken pie Chicken Korma Butter Chicken Sundried Tomatoe Chicken Chicken Fajitas Meat (Steak, Chops, Sausages, Sausaties) + Sides (I'll see what's available and on special at the supermarket) + mashed potatoes + baked potatoes + oven-roasted veg + sweet-potatoe ‘nachos’ + butternut & veg spice + beans & chai spice + gemsquash & corn + mielies + creamed spinach + fresh salad etc Seafood Prawn curry Fish cakes Fresh fish + side dish (as above) Takeaway at home Hotdogs Hamburgers Oven pizzas Premade from supermarket I have all of the recipes printed and in a display file. I'll describe myself as a 'functional' cook, not imaginative at all. I can substitute where I have to, but now that I've found tasty recipes, I pretty much follow them as written. I'll experiment with something new maybe once a month.

In a bush lodge adjacent to the Kruger park with my entire family from all over the world - each in their own cabin. It is warm there this time of year - our house was built for summer and is a freezer right now - and we love the bush. We'd get up early for a game drive every morning and a sunset drive in the evening - led by a game ranger with years of guiding experience who'd chosen to stay at the lodge. We'd meet around a campfire each evening and eat our evening meals together. The rest of the time we'd be going for walks within the camp, lazing by the pool or reading a book. The little cousins would be riding bikes and playing on the grass. We would have brought in all of our supplies for the duration, and given the staff off to go to their own families (except for the ranger who decided he'd rather have our company LOL).

My younger daughter is very sad. She watched Mythbusters on repeat for many years. It awaked her interest in science.

I don't prescribe what our daughters do with the money they have earned themselves or with pocket money. We pay for living expenses, luxury items are on them. Thankfully both girls are careful and save and give as we've modelled to them, but there have been frivolous expenses that they've regretted. I bite my tongue as its the way you learn. While at school, for sporting goods we pay for 'good enough' equipment. They will add on their own money for top of the line equipment. This is the same for clothing or personal items. They're good about looking after things, but if an item has been lost, then they have to replace it themselves. We are fortunate to be able to have saved for university for them, so have an agreement that we will pay for their living expenses, books and fees for four years. My daughter is doing very well, but our up front agreement is that if she should fail a course, its on her to fund the repeat. If she wants to continue studying, we'll help find/provide a good loan. My father's agreement for us was that he'd see us through school, as that was what he could afford. We had to find a way to fund our own university/college fees, so I knew this up front and I started saving from my first job.

Oh Melissa, that truly does suck. So sorry for your loss and at such a difficult time. (((Big Hugs)))

Two containers of picture books and favourite read-aloud books Playmobil (very hard to get, and super expensive if available here) Duplo Lego. Dh has about 5 sets that his mother saved for him too. Collection of Schleich horses All of these have had good use already for visiting children.

In South Africa, the academic year starts in February and ends in November. This year, the students were all sent home mid-March for lockdown and the lecturers scrambled to switch everything online. At the beginning of June about a 3rd of the students were allowed back on campus - those in health sciences who have practical in hospitals, and those who need labs. Dorm occupation is also not above 30%. Some people were moved around to other dorms to achieve this. The 2nd semester has been delayed to start in August and the year will run to just before Christmas. All lectures for the remainder of the year wil be online. Fees remain the same. The universities have done a lot to provide free data to students who would normally have access to wifi on campus, but not at home. They also provided laptop loans to those who didn't have them.

For me, "I don't like Mondays" by The Boomtown Rats about the 1979 Cleveland Elementary School shooting in San Diego is one of the saddest songs ever.

Since working from home when lockdown started 12 weeks ago I have only worn a bra when Ieaving the house. its winter here, so I've got a tank top and tightish sweater under and a poncho over - no central heating. When I need to put on my camera, I only show my shoulders up and I still look neat. I'm also wearing sweatpants and slippers. Best workwear ever!

Such an intelligent and happy face!

Kalanamak and I pm'd a few times. She was a really wise woman. When she died I made compilation of her posts and sent it to a person who knew her irl to give to her son. Unfortunately I don't know who that was any more. I came across the file just this week in an old external hard drive and I've often wondered how things are with "Hubby" and "Kiddo". Her son would be around 17/18 now.

What you're describing sounds like hard work! As you say, a trip, but not a vacation. Last year I requested a family weekend away for my birthday - one for which I had to make NO decisions or organise anything - not about budget, where we were going, how to book, what we would eat, or anything else. I packed my bag, got in the car and went along for the ride. It was fantastic!

My dh and I both work for big corporates. We keep each other informed of whom we've had business lunches with and whom we're travelling with. We have both been on international business trips with people of the opposite sex which included social time over weekends. If he were thinking of going into partnership with someone, he would take my advise on their suitability. A business partnership is a trust relationship as much as a marriage in my view. And you probably spend more time with your business partner than your marriage partner, especially a start-up business. If your life partner doesn't trust you with your business partner, its a recipe for disaster. I would NOT go into business with family. I have a very dear friend who is CEO of a very successful family business. She was appointed as his successor by her father. Her older brother also works in the business. It is a minefield when it comes to family relationships.

Absolutely this. We're fortunate that both our daughters come to us for advise and we try to be as non-judgemental as possible of their choices. I like being 'right' and I'm also a fixer, so I need to be very mindful of allowing them to learn through their own (non life threatening) mistakes. I remind myself that the relationship comes first.

Mine was babysitting as well. The neighbour kids when I was about 12. My first 'proper' job was as a cashier at a local supermarket when I was 16 (the minimum age). I worked on a Friday afternoon to 2-6pm and Saturday morning 9am to 1pm. Back then the stores were closed on a Saturday afternoon and on Sundays. I still have the brown envelope in which I received my first wages tucked in a photo album and I've just looked it up. R20.40 in Nov 1984, which at the current exchange rate is about US$ 1.50! And I thought is was a fortune! My student job was waitressing. When I travelled in Europe for a year, I worked as a waitress, laboratory assistant, shop assistant, cleaning holiday homes and picking apples.

We are into week 3 of a 5 week lockdown. My daughters miss their horseriding. They both ride three or four times a week and not having that outlet is catching up with them. Both are in a funk. Other school and university activities, not so much.

Here in South Africa we are halfway through a 5 week lockdown. You can leave the house to go to the supermarket for food and general groceries and medicine. We were in a drugstore yesterday and they are able to sell hair care products, but not hair driers for example. At every shop entrance there is a person spraying hand sanitizer on shopper's hands. Workers are constantly washing down trollies and baskets. Inside the shop we noticed that the assistants have switched from masks to face shields. At first the message here was to save masks for essential workers, but last night the health minister advised everyone to start wearing masks when out. Cars and busses are allowed half of their registered capacity. It seems to be working to flatten the curve. So far 25 deaths in a population of 60 million. We are fortunate that testing for HIV and TB are already established, so now widespread Covid 19 testing is being rolled out, The scary bit is that they will be using cellphone technology to trace contacts of infected people. That opens the door to law enforcement having access to these records going forward.

You deserve a break Murphy!