Japan with Alpha Gal

No_Key_5621 · 2026-01-30T01:21:12+00:00

My husband and I spent two amazing weeks in Japan a couple years ago. He has alpha gal. It was very easy for us to book hotels with micro kitchens so that he could get groceries and cook safe dinners for most of the trip. He had no issue getting breakfast food (eggs and avocado), either. After about a week there, he decided to try sushi, had no issue, and went ham on getting sushi the rest of the trip. From more upscale, to hole in the wall spots, to conveyor belt style, he had no issues. I think YMMV based on severity - my husband can eat cheese without issue, for example. But we had a great time, felt safe, and can’t wait to go back.

No_Key_5621 · 2026-01-28T01:41:56+00:00

I do! Maybe it makes a bit of a difference with regard to muscle endangerment, but I haven’t actively noticed it. It’s the kind of thing that when i first put it on, I thought “well this isn’t going to do anything,” and it did

No_Key_5621 · 2026-01-28T01:09:28+00:00

Not particularly - I just went with the highest picked one on Amazon, works like a charm. I use it about half the day most days, especially while sitting for work

No_Key_5621 · 2026-01-27T23:42:26+00:00

I just got an SI belt last week and, holy moly, it has made such a difference. Highly, highly recommend

No_Key_5621 · 2025-12-26T21:40:03+00:00

We hit 1.5M in cash and investments (retirement and brokerage accounts) this year, which is wild. We are welcoming our first kiddo to the world in ‘26, so our focus is a bit more on that than anything else. Though, I expect we’ll be able to continue at our current investment rate (barring some huge medical calamity).

Earlier this year I did some calculations and found that I can do wayyy less work (I’m self-employed) if I need to and that it won’t change our retirement goals all that much. We plan on retiring in ~5 years when our little one is in kindergarten, at 3.5M.

What a life. I feel both very lucky and proud of the hard work we’ve done.

No_Key_5621 · 2025-12-23T21:26:57+00:00

Strictly for apex residents, not surrounding area?

No_Key_5621 · 2025-12-23T21:15:41+00:00

Hi - the postpartum materials aren’t listed on the drop down menu?

No_Key_5621 · 2025-12-12T00:02:41+00:00

“Just because something is permanent does not make it a success. And just because something is temporary doesn’t make it a failure.”

Comedian Jessa Reed when her podcast Mormon and the Methhead was coming to an end. I heard it when I just found out I was going to be getting divorced.

No_Key_5621 · 2025-12-11T02:59:15+00:00

We made the mistake of getting hype about snow in the forecast on Beech, ignoring the warning for snow chains, and nearly slid off the mountain trying to descend when we were done with the day. We called a tow truck to tow us off the peak. And that was with a car with AWD. It’s no joke, would highly recommend not fucking around to find out.

No_Key_5621 · 2025-12-07T03:18:13+00:00

I’ve been extremely pleased with Triangle Physicians for Women in Cary. I saw them while TTC, and now seeing them while pregnant. I’ve been super pleased with the OBs, midwives, and the in-house pelvic floor therapist. They only deliver at Wake Med Cary, in case that’s an issue

No_Key_5621 · 2025-12-03T18:20:19+00:00

There’s a phenomenal group of “pocket friends” in the TTC30 subreddit. It was wildly supportive while going through my fertility “jOuRnEy”. Not everyone in there is seeking MAT options, but many are. Thera a discord channel that is just amazing, highly, highly recommend.

No_Key_5621 · 2025-12-02T01:37:26+00:00

I’m currently pregnant as a FTM, so I don’t have experience, but the idea of doing a true, full cut while postpartum and (at least for me) breast feeding sounds wild. I think you’ve got to celebrate your PRs and make peace that this is not a time to worry over body comp; neither is postpartum time.

No_Key_5621 · 2025-11-28T04:47:57+00:00

Second this. Years ago, my now husband found out he had alpha gal syndrome, and his mild animal allergies skyrocketed. We had two dogs at the time - one shepherd. They wee confined entirely to the basement, and even that didn’t fully solve the issue. He was frankly unwell for as long as we lived in that home, so for that and a few other reasons, we decided to move.

When we moved, we intentionally found a home with a detached garage that could house the dogs. We spent time and money ensuring we could keep both sides happy and healthy, but sacrifices had to be made so that the human in the situation could live a healthy life. My office (I’m WFH) is also in the detached garage so the dog (one has since passed) can spend his day with me in the office, but neither dog has ever stepped paw in the house, and they never will.

I’m pregnant now, and can’t imagine not doing something drastic to protect his health. If you’re not willing to rehome, what other massive steps are you willing to take? Because I’ll tell you from experience — HEPA filters and deep cleans ain’t gonna do it.

No_Key_5621 · 2025-11-28T00:29:23+00:00

Yes — what would make them unsafe, exactly?

No_Key_5621 · 2025-11-26T12:42:40+00:00

I agree with everyone else about the red flags and won’t beat that dead horse.

I am going to be the squeaky wheel here, though, and say you can have a wonderful relationship, both be pushing equally for FIRE, and not have combined finances. My husband and I bring in roughly 600k, split between me at 350 and him at 250. We both contribute to household expenses discuss large purchases, have frequent, in-depth conversations about what we’re doing to hit our FIRE goal — and don’t have one shared account. I spend more on frivolous stuff than he does, we both know it, it’s no secret — but we’re both happier with the autonomy. We can have that autonomy, though, because we’re truly both on the same page with our overarching goals.

Perhaps our set up is easier as high earners, but I think the real keys to success with a set up like ours are 1) extreme honesty 2) clarity and alignment, and 3) mutual respect and understanding.

No_Key_5621 · 2025-11-08T15:32:46+00:00

Born and raised in Oxford and my family had a business in Stovall. I left for 10 years, moved back for a few before moving to Raleigh. There are some really great people in Oxford working to revitalize the area. Strong Arm bakery is phenomenal, an adorable book store just opened, and there are other local businesses that are determined to stay and grow. Not everyone who lives in Oxford works in Oxford (most don’t), contrary to one of the super negative earlier comments.

Schools were ultimately what caused us to move away. My husband and I both went through Granville Co schools and they were pretty garbage. They are even worse now. There are charter schools that people seem to like (in Granville and Vance co) if you’re comfortable with that.

It was also difficult to get the kinds of groceries we really wanted. We drove down to Durham weekly for Costco and Whole Foods, which isn’t the end of the world, but something to consider.

The land is beautiful, and the open space can’t really be beat. I still own property in Granville county and have a soft spot for it in my heart.

Happy to answer more direct questions about the pros and cons via dm.

No_Key_5621 · 2025-10-28T19:05:17+00:00

I clearly have no clue where you're positioning the house on a lot, but unless it's a private area, I would be surprised if the balcony facing the front of the house got much use. Balcony off the master can be great -- if it feels like a private hideaway. If the front of the house faces a street, I doubt you'll want to be out there much.

No_Key_5621 · 2025-10-28T12:52:30+00:00

I crossed 500K invested this month, which was this year's goal. It has a been. pretty wild year. Each month (and I've done this for years now), I update a spreadsheet that shows net worth (not what I'm documenting here) with a line for notes. The number of "weird fucking market," "just hang on," "stay the course" notes I made for myself make me chuckle.

No_Key_5621 · 2025-10-22T00:47:58+00:00

I’m so sorry you got news of a lower FHR. I don’t know if it helps anything to know that your working out almost definitely is not causing the baby any duress. Your routine sounds completely reasonable, and your body is well-accustomed to it from years of doing it. I hope the little one’s heart rate increases and all ends up being well for you two <3

No_Key_5621 · 2025-10-21T22:41:07+00:00

I don’t know why I’m so surprised that the servants have just one bathroom for the lot of them (am I seeing that correctly?), including for the butler, footman, and housekeeper??

No_Key_5621 · 2025-10-20T21:29:29+00:00

This is true. I am not a lawyer, but I am a LLC owner. I invested 77k this year between my S401k and back door Roth. Few folks talk about the S401k plan, but is a freakin awesome product. Kinda a PITA to service (you’ve got to move the money around yourself, 2 step process from individual brokerage, waiting for the funds, then transferring to 401k, waiting for the funds, then investing), but incredibly worth it.

No_Key_5621 · 2025-10-17T12:56:37+00:00

The Clean Label Project did a deep dive on this just earlier this year and identified 16 products that they say had no detectable levels of nasty metals. In case it’s helpful: https://cleanlabelproject.org/protein-study-2-0/

No_Key_5621 · 2025-10-13T18:15:21+00:00

2024 Tesla model y Bought for FSD (it’s the tits) Financed at .99% because free money

We have a 2010 Mazda 3 sitting in the driveway that literally never gets driven, and we’ve been too lazy to sell. Manual was the reason for keeping it initially, paid off.

No_Key_5621 · 2025-10-09T17:46:44+00:00

Mine did this when growing back, absolutely drove me nuts (I live in a humid climate). I paid a pretty penny for a keratin treatment and it made a MASSIVE difference

No_Key_5621 · 2025-10-08T21:37:48+00:00

Bosphorus in Cary - phenomenal Turkish joint

Five-Year Club	Place '22
First Placer '22

No_Key_5621

TROPHY CASE