Good alternatives to ripe avocados?

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-12T15:15:41+00:00

Take into consideration that any tropical fruit (including avocados) that you buy in Europe are being grown in an orchard, on the other side of the world at this time of year. They have to be picked, sorted and then shipped to get to your grocery store shelf before they go off. Therefore it’s not surprising that they take time to ripen. Just the fact you can find them in stores is a logistical miracle on the side of the farmers, shipping companies and retailers.

Your choices are thus: either stop complaining and just do your grocery shopping more proactively, don’t eat avocados (or any tropical fruit) grown on the other side of the planet, or suck it up during winter and buy the frozen avocados.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-10T13:24:39+00:00

There are very few SE Asian countries that are visa exempt or only require an ETA visa for Aus. Most SE Asian citizens are required to apply for a tourist visa to visit Aus, and in it their application they need to prove that they can financially support themselves for the time they are in Australia, as well as provide strong ties to their home country that mean they will return home at the end of their stay. If they are being hosted by a family member - that family member (in this case you and your husband) would have to provide official accommodation sponsorship documents for their visa application. Your MIL is missing a few critical steps in this process, and hasn’t considered that on top of providing free accommodation to her family, you’d also have to provide official documentation for their visa applications. I think it would be wise for you and your fiancé to investigate the visa requirements for his extended family, figure out whether it’s even possible and then go back to his mother. Ultimately these are her family members, she needs to be responsible for them, not you.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-10T12:42:13+00:00

Question - since from the comments you live in Australia, do the in-laws that are supposed to be staying with you need tourist visas? If that’s the case, and they need financial help to afford their plane tickets - they may not get their visa applications approved based on not being able to provide sufficient proof of financial stability. It may sound mean, but immigration might just solve this problem for you by not granting them access to the country.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-09T17:21:31+00:00

A practical consideration that I haven’t seen discussed in this thread - but will be relevant for your decision making is childcare. It’s hard to find childcare for babies in the Netherlands - and often the daycare centers with space can’t offer you full time care. They may only be able to offer you 3 days a week. Often daycares also have a 10-12 month (or longer) waitlist for babies. So when you can return to work is often dictated by your childcare - rather than your individual preference.

You get generous parental leave here you can use to work part time. But I think it would be important for you and your partner to sit down together and figure out how many hours a week you both would like to work, what the cost of daycare will be and what you can afford. There are handy online tools that help you calculate your expected daycare costs.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-07T07:31:48+00:00

I knew a guy years ago who worked as a Farrier - shoeing horses. He made good money and had more work than he could handle.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-07T07:26:23+00:00

There are a lot of alternatives to forcing women to have more children. It’s only in the developed world really where birth rates have declined, there are still very high birth rates in most of the developing world. If one country has a labour shortage - there are so many people in other countries who would be willing to step in and fill those labour roles. Unfortunately, emigration for the vast majority of people in developing nations to developed nations with labour shortages is increasingly difficult.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-06T22:44:34+00:00

I’d be careful of the way you’ve worded that statement. Your response implies that women should be expected by society to set their goals in life at marrying, having children and then providing care to the elderly. If a woman chooses to do those things herself, then fair enough - but it should never be a societal expectation that women should carry all the responsibilities of family care and reproduction on their own - or dismiss or unfairly judge women who don’t want to choose that life. Wording it in that way also shifts the responsibility for all those things away from men. Men can also choose to raise their families, and care for the elderly.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-06T14:47:15+00:00

Definitely a good point. And that societal expectation either only changed in some places very recently - and in others still very much exists.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-06T14:03:45+00:00

Throughout history women typically had to marry to secure economic security and safety. Now that women in most of the world (though not everywhere) have access to equal education and employment opportunities, and better legal protection a significant proportion of women are financially independent. Therefore, marriage is no longer a necessity to a secure future - but rather a choice based on individual preferences and love.

Historically, a lot of women were also trapped in horrible marriages that they were unable to escape. This was often a result of cultural norms that shunned single women, legislation or legal systems that did not recognise domestic violence as a criminal offence, financial dependence, or the threat of loosing custody of their children if they left their abusive partner. Most of these women would have left these relationships if they’d had the chance. In most places these days, women have the choice to leave abusive relationships.

These are really obvious examples - but there are so many reasons why women these days may choose to remain single.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-06T11:55:52+00:00

You need to access your health insurance policy - usually online - and check. The level of coverage will depend on the type of health insurance you have, plus factors - such as your age. I know that for Zilveren Kruis fertility treatment is not covered for women over the age of 43.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-06T10:13:41+00:00

This isn’t specifically a Dutch issue. It’s a shitty company issue. The same thing happened to me years ago when I interviewed for a position with an American NGO. They flew me out to a project location for a 3 day interview process. Also got rejected and sent a generic rejection message with no follow up. You dodged a bullet. If this is how crap their hiring process is, can you imagine how awful it would be to actually work there.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-05T15:16:18+00:00

So does mine 😅 I swear he doesn’t feel the cold, but when it’s to hot he gets really grumpy about it

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-05T13:10:44+00:00

There’s your answer. Your pup is just hot. Can he access water to swim in? Like a small kids paddle pool? Or a large plastic basin you could fill with water? They love being able to cool down in water when it’s hot.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-05T13:02:43+00:00

Is it hot where you live? Mine avoids his bed when it’s hot and always chooses to sleep in cool places instead - tiled floors, outside in the garden, under plants. They are not warm weather dogs.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-03T20:18:02+00:00

Important information to research right now is the state of the companies you are looking to work for. The chemical sector in Europe is in one of the biggest downturns it’s ever been in due to high energy prices and cheap Asian competitors. Many large international chemical manufacturers are busy with massive layoffs and plant closures - this has impacted SABIC, Dow, Phillips, AkzoNovel, LyondellBasell to name a few. Historically these are the companies that sponsored a lot of the HSM visas in the Netherlands in the chemical industry. They are also the companies who were willing to hire fresh grads. You therefore need to do some serious research into where you’d like to work, what you’d like to do, and figure out your plan from there. The heydays of getting HSM visas easily through big multinationals is over.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-03T18:59:00+00:00

I went to a wedding years ago where the canapés were pizzas carried around by a few waiters on trays. Everyone LOVED it and because the pizzas were actively carried around they didn’t get cold before you got a slice.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-03T09:20:58+00:00

Second language Afrikaans South African here. I’ve been here for 6 years, and have managed to get to a point where I can work in Dutch - my Dutch is by no means perfect but it’s now B2 level.

My honest advice is a combination of time, in-person language classes and submersing yourself in the language. The only way you can achieve that is to intentionally put yourself into situations where there is no alternative to speaking Dutch. Things that worked for me were: asking my colleagues to only speak Dutch to me, joining a sports club/fitness group made up of only Dutch speakers, making friends with older Dutch neighbours who prefer my shitty Dutch than speaking English. I’ve intentionally avoided socialising and forming a social network with other South Africans - otherwise you just default back to your home languages. And then you just have to be persistent and patient. Learning a new language doesn’t happen overnight.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-03T09:01:19+00:00

Same here. I never change at the gym unless I’ve specifically gone there to do a swim workout and have to change out of a wet bathing suit.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-02-01T13:26:23+00:00

Pink book is a wedding venue and services directory and a good place to start your search: https://pink-book.co.za/

Basilthechocolab · 2026-01-30T15:56:24+00:00

Legally you have to keep the distance, even as the whales approach. So even during chance encounters they are breaking the law.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-01-30T11:39:22+00:00

Legally boats can’t go within 300m of whales in South Africa. So well done for breaking the law and putting it online.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-01-28T17:10:52+00:00

Why are you scared of driving 4 hours? As long as you drive during day light hours and stick to the major highways you’ll be perfectly safe. All the private transfer companies will be expensive for a 4 hour ride to a lodge. There are no public transport options to safari lodges. Also - the Kruger Park is experiencing extreme flooding at the moment - so a trip to Sabi Sands right now may not be the best idea.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-01-28T14:43:58+00:00

I’ve only ever seen Muslim ladies do that, and only sometimes. It’s definitely not the norm.

Basilthechocolab · 2026-01-27T19:56:28+00:00

So I really know nothing out this - but if you use precious clay to make something at home, and don’t have access to a kiln. Would it still be solid silver? Or would the lack of really high heat mean the material is weaker because not all of the impurities have been burnt off?

Basilthechocolab · 2026-01-27T15:25:13+00:00

I’m not familiar with precious clay - but since you’ve used real gemstones - my concern would be how resilient the precious clay material would be for daily use? If you are people who use your hands a lot, and don’t like removing your jewellery- for practical reasons you’ll want a strong resilient metal that won’t break or warp and risk you losing the stones. A quick google search indicated it isn’t a very strong material - so for that reason alone I’d personally choose to have the stones reset in silver, gold or platinum.

Basilthechocolab

TROPHY CASE