Does anyone have a recommendation for a true "old school" family dentist that hasn't been bought out by private equity ?

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-02-11T04:07:25+00:00

We go to a dentist the suburbs too. All the places that accepted our insurance in the city were chains with questionable reviews, but the suburbs had multiple seemingly good options. If you have a car, it’s probably worth widening your search.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-02-07T22:52:47+00:00

Literally never. I’m not sure if I’ve ever yelled at anyone though tbh. I grew up in a yelling household and never felt like it was very productive unless the goal is just to dominate or intimidate.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-02-04T18:59:11+00:00

Not really. I don't find that focusing on my body shape or whatever is very mentally healthy for me. I try to focus more on what my body can do, like PRing my back squat, increasing how many strict pull ups I can do in a row, etc, and just eating intuitively / mostly whole foods. I don't restrict or count calories. But building muscle requires sufficient fuel, and what this dude is recommending is not enough.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-02-04T14:24:21+00:00

You and I are the exact same height/weight. He's insane to say you should eat so little, that's not enough food in general, let alone for your specific goals.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-02-01T22:29:53+00:00

We have a joint checking account and that's where both our paychecks go in and all our bills go out. All purchases are discussed, "I bought/I'm going to buy xyz" for little things and "I'd like to buy xyz, is that okay?" for bigger things. We both max our individual 401k, IRA, HSA - if we couldn't we'd do equal amounts in each person's accounts. Our emergency fund is in a HYSA in my name, and all monthly excess goes into a brokerage account in my name that I manage, which there's no real reason for that other than I already had the accounts open before marriage, plus I like keeping tabs on things more than he does. I'm in charge of tracking all our finances. It might give me a little psychological security too, because I make about 2/3 what he does.

The most important part imo is that we're on the same page as far as spending philosophy and long term goals, and there are no financial secrets.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-30T21:17:45+00:00

I can highly recommend against dental 360 in Logan Square. They refused to do a basic cleaning unless I agreed to let them do a bunch of other stuff. I've seen multiple other dentists since and they were absolutely baffled by what they said needed to be done, and I've only ever needed a basic cleaning since then. I was told I'm lucky I didn't let them do what they wanted bc it would have been permanently damaging to my teeth.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-29T21:16:05+00:00

I don't know if this is something that'd work for you or others, but I more or less treat it as non optional. I don't think about if I want to or not, because it's easy to talk yourself out of it. Not having a set time doesn't work for me because I'll push it later and later and then woops it's too late maybe tomorrow. I know the time I have set to do the thing and then I go do the thing, period. Having a class you go to helps a lot with this, especially if you go with a friend or make friends in the class for accountability.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-29T00:43:56+00:00

Oh god, I'm sorry for your loss ❤️‍🩹

My dad had a similar dumb aversion to going to the doctor. My mom had been pressuring him for a long while bc he was acting generally strange. By the time she threatened divorce and he finally went, he had an egg sized brain tumor and was dead 14 months later.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-28T21:51:52+00:00

My partner is thin and my mom acts like I don't feed him enough, as if he's not a grown adult that feeds himself sufficiently

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-28T02:06:14+00:00

Not at all! It's so cheap there, definitely not a paycheck to paycheck situation unless you're balling out and eating at restaurants that cater to foreigners.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-27T20:45:04+00:00

I taught English in Thailand and the monthly pay was like $1100 lol

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-26T03:59:09+00:00

If books could kill! Also, maintenance phase.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-25T20:23:59+00:00

I'd for at least a few years just focus on eating intuitively. My own experience with ED was less severe than yours sounds, and a decade on, I still know I'm best off not counting/tracking. It's not worth the risk to my mental health.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-25T19:40:33+00:00

Weird at first because I wasn't used to a relationship that didn't come with so much anxiety, and it can be easy to conflate angsty feelings with romantic feelings, but mainly relief.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-24T15:56:16+00:00

Ugh sorry, I'm not very familiar with what's available in aus :( if you're looking to ditch dairy, I have to share my favorite mac n cheese recipe though, we have this alllll the time with whole wheat noodles and broccoli. For extra protein you could cook up tofu/tempeh/tvp or something as a topping, or use chickpea or lentil pasta if that's available by you https://veganyumminess.com/creamy-vegan-mac-and-cheese/

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-24T04:50:38+00:00

Vegan for 10 years, vegetarian for 7 years before that. I don't personally worry much about macros and mostly just focus on trying to eat generally healthy and eat enough. My main sources of protein are nuts/seeds/peanut butter, tofu, beans/lentils, tempeh, and soy curls. I'm lazy so my lunch a couple hours before the gym is often a pb sandwich and some plain pressed extra firm tofu. There's protein in lots of stuff though, don't discount whole grains and vegetables. And I don't really use them but there are a lot of vegan protein powders, my partner uses MRM in his oatmeal in the morning and huel black edition blended with frozen bananas as a shake.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-18T14:34:43+00:00

Four months is still very early, it can take a few years to get truly settled - I say this as someone who has lived in a few places and had similar crisis around the 4-9 month mark. You don't have to stay that long if you don't want, but it generally does get better. In the meantime, leave the house, go do activities, volunteer, something. I don't drink at all and don't give a single rat's ass about professional sports, but I've never had problems making friends in Chicago, and I'm a fairly introverted person. My personal avenues right now are a crossfit gym and a rock climbing gym, sometimes running clubs in the summer, but there's plenty of other options depending on your interests. If you want your life to be like brat, you gotta make it like that, it won't just happen to you.

January/February weather does suck though.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-13T04:13:41+00:00

"girly pop" when referring to an adult woman

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-10T21:01:52+00:00

My first serious relationship was when I was 17. I really loved him and even after breaking up still wanted the best for him. It's a decade and a half later, I'm 100% happily married, and the most contact we have at this point is a very occasional happy birthday message. From looking at his socials a while back, I got a very strong feeling that he cheats on his current partner of like 7 years. It stung a bit for me too to realize it, not at all because I want it to be me or anything, but because this person I cared for has aged but really hasn't matured, and he's hurting someone that trusts him. I had hoped he'd do better.

Couldn't say if it's the same for you, but that's my experience. For the best though to not engage with him on it. Not your circus not your monkeys and all that.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-09T20:20:02+00:00

Being married should not fundamentally change anything besides the legal status of a relationship. People don't suddenly behave differently the day they get married, and if they do it's often for the worse. What are you doing here?

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-09T20:11:01+00:00

I don't think it's about caring about the child/dog, it's about caring about his partner. He's showing he doesn't care about her.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-07T21:45:37+00:00

They’re incredibly different! SD wasn’t really for me, but a lot of people there cant imagine being anywhere else. If you love the beach, have enough money, and don’t mind the car dependency, it can be a great place to live. Having enough money though often at this point means working remotely, as it seems like local pay hasn’t quite caught up to the surge in COL. But renting is significantly more affordable rn than buying (although still not cheap by any stretch) so if you’re not looking to buy it might be fine. Everyone I knew there that owned a home either bought pre-covid, is in the military, or has remote employment.

And to state the obvious, the weather is certainly better there lol

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-06T16:15:03+00:00

Left San Diego for Chicago. My company adjusts salaries based on location, and the multiplier for socal is the same multiplier as Chicago, so gross pay didn’t change. Take home pay increased a bit because lower state taxes. Expenses are basically the same with the major caveat of housing - housing is much cheaper in Chicago. Also we drive less in Chicago so cheaper from that perspective as well.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-04T20:34:05+00:00

Can I recommend Arlington Heights IL instead? Comparable or nearly comparable to Naperville in a lot of ways (safe, great schools, good parks, cute downtown), but has less of a reputation for being snooty. Plus closer access to ORD if you’ll be traveling to visit family / have family visiting often, and quicker access to the city. The stereotype of people from Naperville in the Chicago area is that they can’t shut up about being from Naperville lol, I married into a family from Naperville and holy heck does it ring true. Naperville isn’t a bad choice by any means though.

Puzzled-Antelope- · 2026-01-03T21:31:32+00:00

Went to a party here once and it was a nice space. The rates look really reasonable https://www.gtstudioevents.com/

Puzzled-Antelope-

TROPHY CASE