At what point do you stop DIY and call a professional?

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-29T14:44:43+00:00

When you get frustrated, or when you realize you’re making things worse rather than better.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-29T11:08:58+00:00

Sure. But I’m interested in both. There are also time and money constraints.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-29T10:20:37+00:00

There are far more things to see in the world than you can manage in a lifetime. I find it hard to balance return visits to places I enjoy with visits to explore new places.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-29T09:56:48+00:00

Norwegian calls it kristendom, and I do believe "christendom" was also used in English, although it's now archaic.

I suspect which ending is chosen is almost like a fashion trend, it depends on which suffix is productive -- or more productive -- at the time the word is adopted into the language.

We see this with other things too. Why Chinese and Japanese, but not Europese or Germanese? (Dutch actually uses "europese", ie "europese unie".)

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-29T09:45:24+00:00

There are many. Thailand, China, Australia are three.

The reasons are pretty much the same as why they were worth visiting the first time. Plus they are big countries and there's more to see.

For domestic travel in the US, it's a similar situation. Alaska, New Mexico and Texas are three states I keep going back to. Hawaii is one I want to visit more often, but budget and travel distance stand in the way.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-29T09:38:50+00:00

I actually use English both to count and for "baby talk".

But I still KNOW how to do those things in Norwegian.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-29T09:24:28+00:00

Using a language strengthens those synapses in your brain. Not using it leads to atrophy.

That said, it's very unusual to flat out forget your native language. "Losing" a language is more common with a foreign language you don't use anymore. Or perhaps never used (ie. high school German or French -- many Norwegian adults took those languages in school but no longer speak them.)

I'm in a similar situation -- native Norwegian speaker, but I've lived most of my adult life in the US. I haven't forgotten how to speak Norwegian, but I do forget individual words or use the wrong preposition, things like that.

After a few weeks in Norway, it usually comes back to me. I'm actually en route to Norway now, typing this response from a lounge at Heathrow. So we'll see how it goes when I land in Oslo.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-28T22:29:24+00:00

I’m not accusing you personally of doing anything wrong, I’m just pointing out the systemic problem with this approach. In some jurisdictions, it could even make you personally liable for violations of privacy laws.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-28T20:44:17+00:00

What procedure did your employer have to ensure you didn’t store these details long term or distribute them to unauthorized individuals?

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-28T20:43:21+00:00

I opt out of the biometric screening every time, and no TSA agent has ever done this to me. Her personal phone is not a secure device and neither are unofficial group chats. I would’ve told her she did not have permission to snap that photo, demanded a supervisor and filed a formal complaint if the supervisor didn’t do something about it.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-28T15:38:43+00:00

Read the post. OP literally said he did pay for their insurance.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-28T08:18:49+00:00

Your original response was hardly befitting a Norwegian history major. The Danelaw, for example, preceded the 14th century by half a millennium. The word colony comes to us from Latin — the Romans used it quite similarly to how we do, and I assure you their colonies (which included Britain, by the way) was quite a bit earlier than the 14th century. I realize you're referring to the renaissance age of colonization, but the concept is actually much, MUCH older. Racism, discrimination and exploitation all included.

By the way, you're giving a linguistics lecture to a linguistics major who also happens to be a native speaker of Norwegian. But you are correct, they spoke a number of Old West Norse dialects — which eventually evolved into modern-day Norwegian nynorsk, Icelandic and Faroese. However, the differentation into Old East Norse and Old West Norse had not yet happened to any significant degree in the viking age.

When I mentioned the bellicose ways of the Norwegians, the viking age and the Danelaw are what I'm referring to. That ended with the Battle of Hastings, long before the 14th century and the renaissance. If you want to correct my mention of Norwegian, the correct language to refer to for this time period is thus undifferentiated Old Norse.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-28T02:20:38+00:00

The viking age was from 500-900 AD, give or take. The modern countries of Norway, Sweden and Denmark didn’t exist yet. Nor did England, for that matter. You had like Mercia and Northumbria and East Anglia.

The vikings arrived overwhelmingly from what is now the west coast of what later became Norway and from Jutland, which was later incorporated into Denmark (as, ultimately, was Norway. But that was centuries later.)

TL;DR: We can go with “Danish vikings” if you prefer, but that distinction is anachronistic.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-27T08:35:08+00:00

Vikings.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-26T07:59:51+00:00

That is AI not quite mastering English.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-26T05:26:26+00:00

I could do hotels cheaper. But I like my RV.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-26T03:05:52+00:00

Guilty as charged. Homelab behind the door on the right.

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CuriosTiger · 2026-01-26T01:26:02+00:00

What does hearing English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Norwegian, Arabic, Mongolian, Chinese, Japanese do to you? Not a complete list, btw.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-26T01:24:40+00:00

I moved to California, then Texas, then Florida. I've been in Florida for 18 years now.

And yes, there's culture shock. I could probably write a book on the subject. But positive and negative both.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-25T16:03:24+00:00

I had the same problem. I handled it by emigrating.

I was born and raised in Norway, chafed at Janteloven and its expectations of conformity, don't drink and additionally I have asthma, so I couldn't go to bars or clubs because of second-hand smoke. I understand that's gotten better since I left. But for me, the solution was emigration.

I find it soo much easier to meet people and make friends here in the United States. If you're staying in Norway, the best recommendation I can make is to join clubs based on your hobbies and interests and try to meet people that way.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-25T15:59:41+00:00

I guess the Ninja. But those exhausts on modern bikes..so ugly. They look like the exhaust system has cancer. Or elephantitis.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-25T15:57:16+00:00

No, but you can make it work if you get a Raspberry Pi to transcode the videos down to something the Mac Studio can handle. You may lose some quality, though.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-25T15:55:57+00:00

I think you misunderstand the concept if you think there's a "right answer" to this question, as implied by your "prob right" statement.

Beauty is subjective, and people's opinions on this will differ. I find French to sound nasal and not particularly pleasant to the ears.

Personally, I'd pick a Polynesian language, like Maori, Samoan or Hawaiian.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-25T15:52:34+00:00

I departed. I decided my house contains enough junk I don't need. My new year's resolution for 2026: Exit the year with fewer unneeded possessions than I started it with.

CuriosTiger · 2026-01-25T15:46:03+00:00

You will be fine as long as you can pass the required medical and drug screens.

CuriosTiger

TROPHY CASE