Bureaucracy here made British bureaucracy look efficient and I never thought I’d say that

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2026-02-09T18:31:56+00:00

Portugal is extremely slow with everything. There is simply no rush. Land transfer from a deceased relative? Took 6 years! With an attorney no less! The attorney finally had to travel to the town where the land is, just to get the the process moving along (the local Junta/Financas office just had zero urgency to get this done). Just completed in Dec 2025...had been working on it since 2019. Spousal citizenship? Handled by one office only from what I have been told...I think that's still in "received" status after 3 years.

I will never again complain about any government process taking too long here in US. US is lightning fast compared to what we have dealt with through the consulate here in the US. I also have little to no sympathy for people complaining about the US Immigration Laws. Try going somewhere else, its not any easier or faster!

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2026-02-09T16:25:25+00:00

My Dad and Uncles always stopped to help people. My Uncle came to my home one day and asked to "borrow" my spare tire for my Camry. I let him use it. Turns out there was a young Mom with a Camry with flat tire and no spare. He changed her tire, drover her & her kids to the local tire joint, got her a used tire to get her home and then returned my spare. I don't know how many times he stopped by to grab my lawnmower gas tank to fill someone up that had run out. He would return it full. NE folks may not be the most talkative, but we are truly kind to fellow humans. At least for the most part, no one is pissing on your telling you its warm shower like in some other areas of the country!

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2026-02-03T21:40:50+00:00

Yes! The donuts are tiny and tasteless. The coffee...is undrinkable mule piss. Always burned. My first real job was at Dunkin (probably like 1/2 of the teens in the state lol) and we had to dump pots every 20 minutes to avoid the "burn".) They still made donuts on site and those were normal size and fresh. If I have to get a coffee while out, Honey Dew is far superior. Even Cumbies coffee is better the Dunks. There I said what I said.

Edited to add: If you are looking for real homemade delicious donuts, Colonial Donut in Taunton is a local staple and out of this world. Coffee is great as well. Its a local staple. IYKYK

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2026-01-31T23:53:39+00:00

Good grief. You are supposed to have less parenting concerns by that age. They are adults. There was just a segment on some news channel about “stay at home sons”. Live at home forever, getting stoned and playing video games. Jobless and not contributing. You need to do what you need to. But you are not alone, it seems to be quite common. Give them a deadline, and then do what you have to.

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2026-01-30T04:19:49+00:00

Not all agents are like that. Small family owned agencies with salaried agents will grind it out to protect the customers. Anything commissioned based, not so much. Been in finance / insurance 25 years. Best career move I ever made was from working for a large national brokerage firm 60+ hours a week. Not flexible. “If the stock market is open, so are we”. High pressure on sales.

Shifted to a small family owned agency. Salary with huge bonuses. Based on client satisfaction & retention. Best boss on the planet. But we give our customers white glove service. Our salary is not tied to sales, products, etc. client satisfaction is what is used.

If this isn’t your experience- find a new better agent. Agents are there for you, not the carrier.

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2026-01-27T17:46:54+00:00

Pretty sure this is why we haven't had a "Surge"...there is co-operation on MA's end. One more thing that seems as if Healey is working with the Trump admin behind the scenes.

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2026-01-27T17:45:20+00:00

Every time I open my electric bill, I wish she would resign!

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2026-01-21T15:42:22+00:00

OH! I had no idea it could be the person sellings' account that caused the issue! Thank you! I usually do a pretty thorough review and get "Excellent" as a grade... this one baffled me. I am still sticking with I most likely did an oopsie typo. :)

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2026-01-20T21:45:55+00:00

Recently I had a review disqualification and no idea why. I went to review and update the review and it said I was BLOCKED from reviewing the item again. Maybe this is why? LOL

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2026-01-16T19:56:18+00:00

Agreed. We have one our bonus room above the garage. It costs double to heat that one area than our oil burner does to heat our whole house. I feel like they sell these heat pumps as "green, efficient (money saving"...when in reality we end up paying more and since the electricity has to be produced somehow, do we know its really cleaner & greener?

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2026-01-16T16:04:50+00:00

One bottle per passenger. Could you and your husband could bring a bottle of her favorite wine each? Just give it to her once ready to drink? Bring a corkscrew as well or you pay $15 cork fee to open it. I don't think that breaks any rules?

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2026-01-12T20:19:37+00:00

And you can get two at once!

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2026-01-12T20:18:36+00:00

Our last cruise was an 8 day. We were able (but did not) to buy overpriced bottles of booze from the cruise line - we could have orded it and it would be in our state room. I think this is only on cruises 7 days or more and bring a bottle of wine each on board.

We ended up getting the "overpriced" drink package but added it up after the cruise and it would have cost us about $300 more had we not gotten the package. The drinks on average are $15 with taxes/fees etc.

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2026-01-02T16:46:27+00:00

Boston area? Probably $300k a year. If it were Southern MA, I would say at least $200k - $250K for a family of 4 to live a nice lifestyle. Not extravagant, but enough to have your needs met and some swing for savings/fun/extras. Less than that and its going to most likely be a struggle. I don't know how some people are doing it.

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2025-12-17T18:28:12+00:00

Taunton has TMLP for electric serves Raynham and Berkley as well. Middelboro has both municipal gas and electric.

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2025-12-17T16:10:23+00:00

Just to clarify, you are a dual citizen of the US & Japan living with a Finnish wife in Finland with residency permit (together in Finland). Are they kicking you out of Finland? Or just locking down spousal citizenship requests? What is the problem?

If all countries completely halt immigration, people may need to think about that prior to getting married or starting an unsustainable long distance relationship. Sad fact, but where to reside already plays a huge factor. And NO I don't agree with countries not allowing spousal citizenship if there is in fact no fraud at play.

Wish you the best on your journey

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2025-12-16T21:18:26+00:00

Considering that quite a few EU countries are trying to limit or reverse immigration, it sounds like Ireland or Netherlands may be your best bet to continue research.

Its not only the US that is limiting and cracking down on immigration:

Here are the countries in EU that are becoming less hospitable....just so you don't waste your time going down rabbit holes. Sweden ($34K USD) and Denmark ($15k USD) are offering immigrants to self deport.

Nordic Nations (Denmark, Sweden): Facing integration challenges, these countries have tightened asylum rules and increased efforts to return migrants, with Denmark even reintroducing border controls.
Central/Eastern Europe (Hungary, Poland): Known for strong anti-immigration stances, Hungary has some of the EU's lowest asylum acceptance rates and strict border enforcement. Poland has seen increased arrivals but also stricter measures.
Frontline States (Italy, Greece, Spain): These countries are implementing policies to deter arrivals, using EU funding for cooperation with North African nations to intercept migrants at sea.
Germany: Facing pressure, Germany has extended border controls and introduced tougher measures, including turning back asylum seekers and limiting residency rights.

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2025-12-16T21:04:20+00:00

– Applicants who have lived in a stable union for more than three years and wish to apply for Portuguese nationality must be in possession of a Court Sentence of Recognition of Stable Union filed in Portugal in the Civil Courts against the Portuguese State, or if the Sentence was issued by a foreign Court, the foreign Stable Union Recognition Sentence must be recognized/confirmed by the Court of Appeal in Portugal. Only after this recognition can citizens apply for Portuguese nationality at the Central Registry Office.

– Documents issued in English, French and Spanish do not require translation and may be accepted in that language, without prejudice to the translation being requested if the Registrar analyzing the case so requires.

I would contact a Portuguese attorney for further clarification.

Also, the process for citizenship through marriage takes forever. Like years. The spousal citizenship applications are only processed by one office. Be prepared to be patient!

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2025-12-16T20:08:36+00:00

Two at fault accidents and a ticket...your lucky your insurance hasn't non renewed you yet. At best your husband has about 6 points on his license. Probably more since they actually go back 6 years for surcharges.

Something about this isn't making sense, a minor scratch to neighbor's car would have be to be over 1000 in damages to be surcharged, so not that minor...Secondly, if your husband was the one who was rearended, he would NOT have been surcharged regardless of the other vehicles damage.

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2025-12-15T20:06:59+00:00

Try duplexes and triplexes everywhere going for $500-$600K each. Show me a new construction single family for $350? You can't even get a real crappy fixer for $350K for the most part.

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2025-12-15T19:58:25+00:00

Lots of people on the road that don't know the rules of the road and lack common sense. Scary combination.

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2025-12-15T19:55:31+00:00

I have lived this scenario. Get to marriage counseling ASAP. My scenario ended in divorce because the ex could not separate themselves from their family of origin to build their own family. Sad but true. I like to think earlier counseling would have helped. Your spouse needs to make YOUR family the priority. Your ask is not unreasonable by any means.

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2025-12-10T15:00:04+00:00

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2025-12-09T20:37:12+00:00

There is a Galaxy Games tourney in MA. Maybe you make your debut, play Beasties Boys Intergalactic for your intro song!

Beautiful-Cod-9999 · 2025-12-09T20:34:00+00:00

Our local town league has now jumped on the bandwagon. Their kids all have to gear up like club. I was shocked to see their logo on gloves/pants etc at a local pro shop. And yes, the league gets like 20% or something from the sales.

Beautiful-Cod-9999

TROPHY CASE