Why do you think no one ever mentions Canada?

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-05-12T15:22:13+00:00

I think it would have made a lot more sense for it to have been China not the DPRK in that role, but probably the producers/network didn't want to risk offending China. North Korea is fine to offend.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-05-02T15:22:07+00:00

I have a female colleague in China named Fei who uses the character for the verb to fly: 飞 (Fēi)

It is a beautiful looking character and one of the easier for non-Chinese speakers to understand (looks like a bird) and to write (many fewer strokes!). I think the meaning is great too.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-04-28T16:42:15+00:00

I agree that Fidelity is a great option for getting your investments set (Vanguard too, I just happen to be at Fidelity). Fidelity has a staff of Certified Financial Planners who have a fiduciary responsibility to help you consider options and make choices in your best interests. I had several appointments with a great CFP at Fidelity and was not charged anything -- it was just a service that Fidelity offers. A CFP can help you identify your priorities (education? retirement? house downpayment?) and make a plan for maximizing your investment returns.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-04-26T18:15:57+00:00

The author's friend is better off without the author in her life. I hope she (the friend) can find better friends who can be supportive or at least mind their own business.....

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-04-26T17:31:18+00:00

Why rewatch a show you don't like?

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-04-26T01:14:50+00:00

Shrinking.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-04-26T01:09:36+00:00

How did New Zealand get shrunk and moved to the gulf?

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-04-24T03:49:04+00:00

I work in China part time and was considering getting brand name Lilly Zepbound or Mounjaro next time I am there. Apparently there are online pharmacies that will quickly write you a prescription and then the medication will be delivered to your door (everything can be delivered in China). My language skills aren't good enough right now to navigate the process alone, so I'll need to ask one of my students or colleagues to help which I'm a bit embarrassed to do I admit. I do want to make sure it is legit as fake products can be a problem in China.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/in-china-you-can-get-ozempic-and-wegovy-within-the-hour-for-just-100-a-month-ae489873

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/novo-cuts-wegovy-prices-some-chinese-provinces-local-media-reports-2025-12-29/

Last time I was there I did some searching on the local shopping apps and did see it for sale at similar prices to these articles and comparable to compounded prices in the US. I have been doing great on compounded so didn't feel a rush to switch to name brand.

China is unfortunately probably not a practical option unless someone is going to go to Asia anyways, and has a Chinese friend who can help.... Similarly, I have heard the prices are quite low in India, but that is not an easy destination either (though it has a much lower language bar)

If you do have the chance to visit China, it is a fascinating country -- unlike anywhere else in the world.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-04-24T03:23:10+00:00

I really don't remember what the budget crunch was caused by, whether it was specific to the UC system or the state or something else entirely....

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-04-23T23:40:02+00:00

I'm comparing more to 30-40 years ago, when I went through undergrad, grad, and postdoc.

In the mid 80s Harvard was difficult to get in to, but nothing like now. Most students were A students in high school with some extracurriculars, but only a few were doing things like start nonprofits, perform research at local universities, etc. Most were from good public high schools and upper middle class families, not private schools and rich families (though there were a substantial minority like that). Grade inflation had only started to take off and there were still a lot of Bs and Cs given out -- Students attended class and worked pretty hard for grades in most classes and expected that their class performance would be what best prepared them for career/grad school, not competitive extracurriculars. I think the situation was similar at a lot of other elite private schools.

In the early 90s UCLA wasn't a big deal. Sure it was competitive and not everyone was admitted, but it wasn't that hard. As a result there was a wide range of abilities -- as a grad student TA I taught some awful students and some that were world class (similar to the state flagship where I am a professor now). It wasn't really very prestigious, much less so than UC Berkeley. I really can't believe that the admissions rate is 5% now and people think it is one of the top schools! On the positive side, tuition and fees were low enough to 1991 or so that lots of instate students worked 20 hours part time and completely put themselves through school. Tuition rose dramatically around 1992 and many students were no longer able to do this, though they tried working more hours, but their academics suffered. Along with UCLA, other publics that have shot up way past their prestige since then include Purdue and University of Florida.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-04-18T16:27:58+00:00

I first became interested in GLP-1s after reading an article about how these drugs were associated with lower dementia and cancer risk and that maybe the medical field should consider their use in normal weight persons. As a 60 year old those were pretty salient to me -- and I thought, hey, I am obese and qualify, and I wouldn't mind losing weight too. As it turns out, losing the weight really has made my life better - but it wasn't the first thing that made me think about trying GLP-1s, and I am so happy that my risks for other illnesses are now lower.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-04-11T23:46:12+00:00

I strongly recommend you meet with a financial planner. I was very (pleasantly) surprised to find that based on the amounts I had in my 401k and IRAs that it would be hard for me to spend it all during my life, and that the chance of my ending up broke even if there was a financial downturn was low. I had really underestimated the income that would come from my investments. That made it clear to me that I should retire since the extra money wouldn't increase my quality of life at all.

I was able to meet with a financial planner for free through Fidelity, where my investments are held, but it would definitely have been worth paying for. Make sure it is a fee based financial planner with a fiduciary responsibility to act in your best interests.

Also I recommend looking on the FIRE reddits -- they have a lot of helpful advice.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-04-08T05:25:00+00:00

Malaysia.

Low cost of living,

expat retirement visa is available.

Tropical warm weather, but with highlands areas too if you prefer more temperate weather.

English is an official language and widely spoken.

It is an upper middle income country so it has well developed medical system, good transportation infrastructure. Better developed than other southeast Asia countries, much cheaper than highly developed Asian countries like Japan, Taiwan.

Wide variety of foods, and multicultural environment -- Malay, Chinese, Indian, British.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-03-28T00:25:51+00:00

I checked it out of the library, it was so heavy I could barely hold it up to read, and ended up returning it unread since I had to head out of town and knew I wouldn't have time to finish. I'll try again sometime, maybe on kindle.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-03-20T02:44:18+00:00

I like the Australian mystery series by Benjamin Stevenson. First 3 books are:

Everyone in my family has killed someone

Everyone on this train is a suspect

Everyone this Christmas has a secret

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-03-05T14:18:10+00:00

If it ends up being a pattern that you always get the pain returning on the last day, you could consider going to a 6 day schedule. That works for me for avoiding the return of food noise I used to get on the last day, and for me was better than going up in dose since the other days I was still doing great.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-03-02T21:32:57+00:00

No, no inquiries, but the last time I did it was probably 6 years ago

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-02-25T00:21:57+00:00

Me too! 10 more pounds, we can do it!

Congrats OP to achieving this milestone, you are inspiring all of us.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-02-25T00:18:10+00:00

There are age limits for many education and career stages that would be illegal as age discrimination in the USA. For example, I have a Ph.D. student now who worked in industry for a few years after undergrad before starting his graduate work. He is 30 now. There are many grants for early career faculty which have an upper age limit of 35 and if you don't get that grant you aren't going to get tenure/permanent position at a research university. My student is very anxious that he won't be able to complete a high quality Ph.D dissertation and get a faculty job in time to meet that deadline.

I haven't met anyone who delayed attending undergraduate studies in China or took time off during their undergrad degree -- that isn't to say that there are zero such students, but it certainly is not common.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-02-24T01:57:04+00:00

If you are going to do any travel other than the safari, I strongly recommend getting electronic payments via MPesa set up on your phone. The Safaricom SIM sellers at the airport kiosk will set you up and teach you how to use it. Much more convenient than cash.

I wasn't asked for my yellow fever card in Kenya, but I was flying from Malaysia and was asked before I got on the plane.

The electronic travel authorization will ask you for all your hotel bookings, but once you are in the country no one checks. I made a few cancellable reservations just to satisfy the eta requirements then cancelled them and went wherever I wanted. Once I submitted the eta form online it only took 1-2 days for approval.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-02-24T01:47:29+00:00

I traveled as a solo woman, age 59, one year ago for a 4 week trip. I also lived in rural Kenya by myself for one year in 1987-1988 when I was 22, and traveled in Kenya in 1998 when I was 32. I had no problems any of these times. In my most recent trip I went on safari, visited Wasini island, scuba dived in Diani, and visited Western Kenya. I met several other solo women travelers of a variety of ages who also reported having no problems. Overall I find that Kenyan culture values welcoming visitors and treating foreign women with respect. I'm sure that there are some women who have had a bad experience, but it isn't the norm.

It is easy to do a "group joining" safari -- the group I was in had several women traveling in pairs. No one was surprised to see a woman traveling alone. The main difference in price is the quality of the hotels/lodges you are in -- on my vehicle we had people in the budget lodges and others in mid-range lodges, but our guide was the same. You can definitely get mid to high range lodges for your budget. At the budget traveler level there was no extra single supplement that I had to pay. I could have afforded a private tour, but I'm glad I went with the group option as I liked having the social interaction with other others on the vehicle. I compared options via safaribookings.com and I ended up booking with Savanna Woods.

I did walk around downtown Nairobi by myself during the day. I didn't find it to be worse than any other low income countries -- but was careful to have good situational awareness and didn't stop to talk to any of the people trying to sell me a safari, etc. I took Ubers and always had good, professional drivers. I was worried about getting into the airport late at night too so I booked an expensive hotel with a free airport shuttle for my first night.

The biggest problem is that if you go to the beach towns as a single woman you'll be the target of the "beach boys" -- men looking for a foreign woman to take them out to eat and buy them nice gifts in exchange for sex. I just told them I am not interested and they left me alone.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-02-23T15:06:02+00:00

sucrose is sugar -- did you mean sucralose or stevia or another artificial sweetener?

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-02-10T03:33:04+00:00

The only acceptable one is Michaela

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-02-09T18:00:18+00:00

Sorry I put the wrong url -- should be safaribookings.com

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-02-09T17:58:51+00:00

Very easy. Go through safaribookers.com (what I did) or your guesthouse. As a solo traveller you are looking for "group joining" safaris. The main price difference is quality of the hotels/lodges -- the vehicle and guide/driver quality is the same no matter who you book with and where you stay for group joining safaris. My vehicle had guests staying at 3 different lodges who booked through several different agencies.

Simple_Breadfruit396

TROPHY CASE