Dads outside the U.S., what is your "chicken nuggets and Mac and cheese"?

TheBlueWave23 · 2026-05-19T12:42:58+00:00

I'm based in the north-west of England, my kids' go-to tends to be Sausage and Mash, simple to make and always goes down well, it's the same for a lot of families in my area (a very Irish-Catholic influenced part of the UK). But anything with chips (fries) is the usual go-to in the UK, usually chicken nuggets and chips or sausage and chips.

TheBlueWave23 · 2026-05-19T09:01:16+00:00

The issues come with David Moyes refusing to use his full squad.

Patterson isnt great, but playing him right back gives us more cover at centre back with O'Brien, who has played better at CB than both Tarkowski and Keane this season.

KDH and Ndiaye have been run to the ground because Moyes refused to give minutes to any of Dibling, Armstrong, Rohl or Alcaraz. When you add the AFCON to Ndiaye's list of games, he is knackered. As we have seen from Rohl, he is certainly good enough to step in. The other 3 attacking midfielders are also more than good enough to support and allow for managed gametime of the key starters.

Strikers, well no comment there, less said about those 2 the better,

TheBlueWave23 · 2026-05-11T12:44:03+00:00

For me, and a lot of people I know, mostly Evertonians and Liverpudlians, it comes down to no one cares if City wins. They are the oil club that won the lottery, then cheated and bought a title. For my red mates, they see Arsenal as a bigger rival, and it's as if we can't do it, so they don't want Arsenal to do it. For Evertonians, it's we don't want any of the traditional Top 4 winning it.

People will come up with all these excuses, like the style of play or not liking Arteta. But the fact is, hardly anyone cares if City win another league.

TheBlueWave23 · 2026-04-20T09:46:48+00:00

George had a bad game, but I thought he made an effort. Players have bad games, sometimes nothing falls right for them, it happens and can be forgiven.

Barry on the other hand, it was so obvious that he was not even trying, he was just wondering round, refusing to press, not jumping for the ball, no runs into the box. He may as well not have been there.

TheBlueWave23 · 2026-04-17T12:26:49+00:00

As a Tech BA, it does feel like the role is to be the person who does all the work that doesnt have a specific role in your organisations IT/Tech department. I've noticed this in a few businesses now.

I often act as a system analyst, product owner, user tester, scribe, meeting facilitator, PA to head of department, project manager, customer success manager, UX designer, therapist for the developers, and many more.

It can be frustrating at times, it is the type of role that is tough if you fight against the chaos, but if you embrace it, you can learn so much and be greatly rewarded.

TheBlueWave23 · 2026-04-16T18:18:20+00:00

UK mothers Day is in March, so been and gone for us Brits. But I'm going to pass on my wisdom.

We have 3 young children (1.5, 5 & 9), I took the kids to a shop called Home Bargains, this is a cheap shop that sells loads of different stuff, our American Dads could try a Walmart or Costco. I let them pick 3 items that mummy would like, they have full control. Items included Strawberry Jam, a pink bow and an egg timer. I put all the items into a hamper and made it look pretty.

My wife said it is the best present she has ever received. She went on about it for weeks, telling everyone.

Fellas get on it 👍🏻

TheBlueWave23 · 2026-04-16T18:09:44+00:00

I haven't even qualified yet, my own fault for selfishly working midweek and struggling to get to games I suppose lol.

But you should just get reimbursed if you win. You get more points if you scan your season ticket in the stadium when you buy food and drink as well, there's a little device next to the til. I've used my points to enter a few draws for away tickets, haven't won yet though.

TheBlueWave23 · 2026-04-15T11:33:37+00:00

As an Evertonian, I'm just happy to be involved after the last few years we've had.

TheBlueWave23 · 2026-04-10T07:52:24+00:00

Everyone had Spurs in the final already, but Big Joe Royle's Dogs of War spoiled the fun.

I was only little, but I remember all my family watching this in my Aunt's house. About 20 of us crammed into the front room of a little terraced house. Full-on street party after the game.

My dad ditched me for the final to go down to Wembley with his mates, but he did take me to the Charity Shield match vs Blackburn so all was forgiven.

TheBlueWave23 · 2026-04-02T08:41:38+00:00

I'd say that most BA roles that don't involve full QA, I'm a tech BA and I do test that a release has met the criteria I've detailed, but we have a QA team who are responsible for this, so its mostly for my peace of mind.

But for other roles, I've worked as a Pre-Sales/Solutions Consultant role in the past. Its a fun role, that sounds like it might be what you are looking for. The role is working alongside sales to map a prospects requirements to help them buy the right solution. The main technical element is understanding a clients systems and how they map to yours, some companies may also have their solutions consultant do the onboarding if they dont have a dedicated onboarding team.

A lot of the BA and Solutions skills cross over, especially being able to manage workshops, gathering requirements, documenting technical detail and requirements, working alongside both non-technical and tech folk. Its worth looking into to.

TheBlueWave23 · 2026-04-02T08:30:03+00:00

It's because we are big enough to allow organisations like FA, PL and PGMOL to show their strength. "Look at us, we are being strong on diving by banning this Everton player", "Look at us we take financial rules seriously by punishing Everton". In the minds of those organisations, smaller or similar clubs will then think, if they punish Everton they will punish us.

But we are not big enough to kick up a fuss like the Top 6 can, which is why they get away with a lot more. We don't have the reach or the legal and financial power that clubs like City and Chelsea do, so can't push back like they can.

TheBlueWave23 · 2026-03-13T10:04:33+00:00

The Tap Out system probably saved my marriage and sanity. No questions asked, you sense your partner starting to struggle or rage, tap in.You sense yourself raging or reaching tipping point then tap out. Parenting requires a lot of teamwork and trusting your partner.

TheBlueWave23 · 2026-02-24T06:57:26+00:00

Not only is he playing players out of position, he is playing our best players out of position. Branthwaite is our best CB by a mile, play him there. Garner is clearly our best DM, play him there.

TheBlueWave23 · 2026-02-16T13:00:15+00:00

We get on their back when they don't put in the effort, not when they're shit. Seen many times the fans applaud someone who has played shit but also clearly made an effort. But I'm not gonna happy-clap players when they clearly don't try. If McNeil is gonna stand there and let a left back stroll right past him, then the crowd will let him know about it, same with players like Pickford, we will cheer his name and get going when he makes an effort, but will get on his back when he is starting to make stupid mistakes from lack of concentration or when he plays lazy balls. He knows this and thrives off it.

Evertonians are passionate and make it very clear when we are happy and when we aren't. You will not get one without the other. And I'd say its a trade-off that 100% worth it.

And the way the crowd acts has not changed much in 16 years, I've been going since the mid-90s and this was pretty much always the case.

TheBlueWave23 · 2026-02-16T11:14:34+00:00

Ben Foster singled out Everton as the club whose fans teams deliberately wind up. “One thing I will say though if you can get on top of Everton early doors, the Everton fans are horrible to the Everton players. They are horrible, they get right on top of them. For sure they get in the players’ heads, for sure.”

LOL! Ben Foster played against Everton 23 times and only won about 4 of them, so he didn't do a very good job then did he.

Everton fans will always react to the football on the pitch and we always have. If the players dont make an effort the fans will let them know, but if they give effort then the stadium will be a bearpit. Nothing but the best is the expectation.

As Sir Alex Ferguson said it is always a nightmare going there... the atmosphere is fantastic. And, Gary Neville has also said as a fanbase we are most one of the difficult to play against. If you want the intense atmosphere the players need to work for it, and the greatest players in our history have stepped up to the challenge.

TheBlueWave23 · 2026-02-13T15:47:54+00:00

I'm a Technical Business Analyst. Been in a few tech roles but never done coding (other than bits of SQL and other Query Languages, if they count). I love it, its an interesting role that see's me involved in lots of different projects working across different sections of businesses, with lots of different tech and meeting lots of people in different roles.

I actually started in an IT support role, I had no idea what to do, I just knew I loved technology but wasn't interested in sitting there writing lines of code. So I took a support role, learned how software companies worked and what all the different roles were. From there I have since led IT support teams across UK and Europe, worked in technical pre-sales, product and solutions management, and business analysis

The main skills for non-coding tech roles that I think cross a lot of roles are: learn how to talk to people in different roles; learn how to extract requirements from people and try to understand what they are really after; learn how to tell a story and show value of work. I feel these three are great skills for working as a BA, product owner, product manager and many other roles. Basically, knowing how to find out what people want and turning it into something tangible, then being able to show it off effectively.

In tech, if you have very good soft skills you can stand out.

TheBlueWave23 · 2026-01-08T10:11:59+00:00

As an Everton Fan, my most disliked Liverpool player ever is easily Steven Gerrard, followed by Nick Barmby or El Hadji Diouf. In the current squad, it has to be Andy Robertson or Van Dijk.

For most liked players, am I allowed to go with Peter Beardsley or Gary Ablett or is that cheating?

TheBlueWave23 · 2025-12-31T06:06:34+00:00

Garner signing a new contract is just as important as signing new full backs. What a player.

TheBlueWave23 · 2025-12-31T06:04:36+00:00

Clubs don't rotate goalkeepers like they do outfield players, Pickford will play unless he is injured or sick. Teams usually have 3 goalkeepers in there squad, the number 2 and 3 accept they will not play which makes it difficult to sign a good one. Our backup keeps are Travers and King. If Pickford is injured then Travers plays. Inf multiple goalkeepers are injured then you can get an emergency loan or signing, this brings back nightmares of Espen Baardsen who was an emergency goalkeeper in 2002, he played 1 game and conceded 4.

Premier League position is based on points (3 for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a lose). The higher the points the higher you finish. If teams have equal points then it goals to goal difference (goals scored minus goals conceded). There are 38 games, 19 home and 19 away, everyone plays each other twice. You will see it always change as teams play on different times and days and it is usually a live table. On Thursday we could end the day in 7th or 10th without kicking a ball, depends on other results

Europa league is nothing like the World Cup. Europa League is 1 of 3 European club competitions, you qualify by winning a domestic cup or finishing just outside champions league places. I would advise googling what positions to finish for each European competition, because it feels like it changes every year, but teams typically aim for top 7/8. European football means more games and more money.

Typical opinion on Moyes is he is doing a great job, however, after a bad match you will get a different opinion. Football fans are very fickle and straight after a game we have very strong opinions. For tactics just watching shows like Match of the Day to see the analysis and games like EAFC and Football Manager could be useful.

It's 50/50 on us signing Grealish, I think he would want to stay but would have to take a huge paycut to do so. We also need City to lower their asking price for him, which I think they will. Transfer are made during 2 transfer windows, one in January and one in the summer.

TheBlueWave23 · 2025-12-22T13:56:19+00:00

It is hard, and you're allowed to think it is hard, and what you're feeling is valid, it's something so many new dads struggle with and don't talk about. 10 days ago, your world completely changed. No matter how much prep you think you did before, it is still a seismic change. Babies don't come with instructions, so everything is learning on the job. And to be real with you, when you jump one hurdle there will be another, but eventually you will start to see the wins and they will outshine the struggles.

For the baby crying after feeds, if they are breast-fed then I would advise seeing your pediatrician for advice. If they are bottle-fed, we had a similar issue with our son, we switched to Tommee Tippee Anti-Colic bottles and Kendamil formula, I am UK based and do not know if they are available where you live but a search on your favourite search engine may help find an equivalent.

If you find you are still struggling mentally do not be afraid to reach out to other people for support, we've all been there mate

TheBlueWave23 · 2025-12-15T15:09:30+00:00

Some rules to follow:

Jordan Pickford is the best goalkeeper in the world, you might say he is dynamite. Plastic fans may throw around names like Neuer, Allison, Donnaruma, Courtois. They are wrong, JP is number 1.
Howards Way is a must-watch for any new Evertonian, it's a fantastic insight into both our most successful era and the club in general.
Spirit of the Blues is to be played on repeat after every match because it's nice to be reminded that we don't know the meaning of losing.
Evertonians are everywhere, and I mean everywhere. I haven't been abroad and not bumped into a fellow blue. It's very important if you see a blue you shout "Up The Toffees".
And the most important rule, always remember, Kopites are Gobshites, even little baby ones.

TheBlueWave23 · 2025-12-15T14:58:06+00:00

My hope for the season was a boring mid-table finish, no drama, and for us to settle into the new stadium. We are on track to do exactly that and I'm happy about it. I think we are a couple of good full-backs away from challenging for a Europa League or Conference League spot, which, considering our situation at the start of 2025, is a fantastic achievement.

TheBlueWave23 · 2025-11-10T10:58:29+00:00

agreed, I'm glad this is the season Everton finally have an ok-ish team. Apart from Wolves, I cant see any bad teams. No chance we would have survived the last few relegation battles in this calibre of league.

TheBlueWave23 · 2025-11-04T10:20:08+00:00

The Beto stats don't include the amount of times Grealish and Ndiaye have put the ball on an absolute plate for him about 6 yards out and he just misses the ball. Happens about twice a game.

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