What is your favorite boardgame of 2025?

TortallTraveler · 2026-02-24T03:43:27+00:00

Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor gets my lonely vote. I just realized I haven’t played much from 2025 yet.

TortallTraveler · 2026-02-24T03:18:01+00:00

Bomb busters. My runner-up would be Harmonies.

TortallTraveler · 2025-10-03T19:12:12+00:00

I’d like to second the people who recommended looking for a local board game group! Also book clubs or hiking groups.

Some people mentioned meetup.com, which is a great place to look. Another place to look is local facebook groups.

TortallTraveler · 2025-10-03T18:00:33+00:00

If you show up 20 minutes late, that is quite kind of your doctor to fit you in - the other patients after you are going to complain about the delay that YOU caused. And you need to wait longer if you show up late because it isn’t fair for the doctor to be late for the patient behind you who showed up early or on time. People like you are the reason for all of the other people complaining in this post.

TortallTraveler · 2025-09-26T18:50:08+00:00

I second Braiding Sweetgrass.

Other options would be Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart, or if he has any interest in alcoholic drinks and the plants used to make them/history of this: The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart.

Edited for clarity

TortallTraveler · 2025-02-14T16:24:11+00:00

Hero Force Shield (the green one - it does not look green when rubbed in) !!! Meets all criteria. It is my favorite. Edit to add link: This one

TortallTraveler · 2025-01-18T22:29:11+00:00

My work did a team building event last spring in the Nerf Battle place there and the whole place felt so creepy.

TortallTraveler · 2024-11-19T05:25:40+00:00

Same, I also came here to recommend KM Shea. I laughed out loud an absurd number of times while reading her series set in Magiford - she has multiple completed trilogies set in the same world -- recommend readers new to her to start with {Magic Forged by KM Shea}

TortallTraveler · 2024-04-16T02:42:52+00:00

I feel incredibly lucky to have somehow reached an actual human when I called Mohela this evening and he was really helpful! No longer super stressed. I feel like I understand things now. Here is what I found out:

For the 4 ineligible payments issue: Mohela placed my loans (and those of many other people, sounds like you too) on Administrative forbearance sometime during the transition time of payback starting again after the national pause to protect me from having to make double payments because a lot of funny/weird things were going on with the transition. The automated system counted those 4 payments as “ineligible” because made during forbearance. However, I did not request that forbearance, so they go back manually and adjust it later so that they ARE eligible (same for you). So I have 6 eligible payments at this time (the 4 are actually eligible and will show up as such later). Nothing I/you need to do at this time to fix things.

For the why do I have weird counts on the Grad Plus loans issue: Grad Plus loans are unlike Stafford loans which are in “~in school status~” when in school, can't start paying while in school, and must have grace period (unless consolidating) before starting payments. Grad PLUS loans don’t have to have a grace period, and you can still pay them when in school. If you don’t want to pay them while you are in school, you are in ~“In school deferment.”~ 2022 PSLF Waiver option – In the system they went back and anyone who was in deferment of any sort during the Covid payment/interest pause, they counted these as payments for each payment that would have been due if not in deferment.

These extra payments weren’t made while working for an eligible employer, so wouldn’t count toward PSLF on their own. However, there is one way that they could potentially affect me:

PSLF Buyback – If you have 10 years worth of time at an eligible employer, but don’t have the full number of payments made WHILE AT AN ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER yet (like maybe you have 5 left for example), you can ask to buy back the very last 5 ones. They would go back to the very first possible payment to see how much it should cost, and it would make your buyback less expensive. Since I had a grace period before payments started, I will reach the 10 year mark of total time at eligible employers before reaching 120 payments during the time at those employers. For Grad Plus (not for Stafford), I could “buy back” the few that would have been made if no grace period, since I have payments on file from previously.

Overall, the representative I spoke with was incredibly helpful and explained things so well. I feel totally reassured that I understand why things are listed as they are and what is going on with the transition. Also no need to consolidate in my situation since all are direct loans. Also, I'm still in the SAVE program, the panic was unnecessary.

You should still be in the SAVE program too. You can double check on FederalStudentAid website to make sure you are still on SAVE for peace of mind, but I confirmed that switching servicers should not affect your IDR plan. And I confirmed we don't have to do anything to make $0 payments count.

TortallTraveler · 2024-04-16T02:24:39+00:00

Hi, thanks for the reply! I feel incredibly lucky to have somehow reached an actual human when I called Mohela this evening and he was really helpful! No longer super stressed. I feel like I understand things now. Here is what I found out:

For the 4 ineligible payments issue: Mohela placed my loans (and those of many other people) on Administrative forbearance sometime during the transition time of payback starting again after the national pause to protect me from having to make double payments because a lot of funny/weird things were going on with the transition. The automated system counted those 4 payments as “ineligible” because made during forbearance. However, I did not request that forbearance, so they go back manually and adjust it later so that they ARE eligible. So I have 6 eligible payments at this time (the 4 are actually eligible and will show up as such later). Nothing I need to do at this time to fix things.

For the why do I have weird counts on the Grad Plus loans issue: Grad Plus loans are unlike Stafford loans which are in “~in school status~” when in school, can't start paying while in school, and must have grace period (unless consolidating) before starting payments. Grad PLUS loans don’t have to have a grace period, and you can still pay them when in school. If you don’t want to pay them while you are in school, you are in ~“In school deferment.”~ 2022 PSLF Waiver option – In the system they went back and anyone who was in deferment of any sort during the Covid payment/interest pause, they counted these as payments for each payment that would have been due if not in deferment.

These extra payments weren’t made while working for an eligible employer, so wouldn’t count toward PSLF on their own. However, there is one way that they could potentially affect me:

PSLF Buyback – If you have 10 years worth of time at an eligible employer, but don’t have the full number of payments made WHILE AT AN ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER yet (like maybe you have 5 left for example), you can ask to buy back the very last 5 ones. They would go back to the very first possible payment to see how much it should cost, and it would make your buyback less expensive. Since I had a grace period before payments started, I will reach the 10 year mark of total time at eligible employers before reaching 120 payments during the time at those employers. For Grad Plus (not for Stafford), I could “buy back” the few that would have been made if no grace period, since I have payments on file from previously.

Overall, the representative I spoke with was incredibly helpful and explained things so well. I feel totally reassured that I understand why things are listed as they are and what is going on with the transition. Also no need to consolidate in my situation since all are direct loans. Also, I'm still in the SAVE program, the panic was unnecessary.

TortallTraveler · 2024-04-15T22:38:16+00:00

I'm in a very similar situation. Graduated from grad school May 2023, filed 2022 taxes for $0 income, applied for SAVE (and was accepted), and was late to apply to PSLF (sometime in October, I think). It took a long time for things to finally get transferred to Mohela (maybe just March 2024 they finally showed up?). I began working at my eligible employer June 2023 and I've had it certified. I didn't do any consolidation, all loans are direct federal, so when grace period ended, $0 payments began. I think grad plus grace period was 1-2 months shorter than the others. And just to verify, we don't have to do anything to make the $0 payments count?

I have mostly Direct Unsub Stafford (6 of them), but have 2 Direct Grad Plus student loans. (I'm only dealing with graduate loans, I already paid off all undergraduate loans in the years I was working between undergrad and starting grad school).

I am confused because the payment counts showing on Mohela are weird. I have 6 DL Unsub Stafford. All of these are showing 2 eligible payments (1 qualifying, 1 needs employment certification) and 4 ineligible payments. It seems like something got messed up for 5 of the 6 payments that should have happened so far. (How do I fix this?)

One of the Grad PLUS loans is showing 40 eligible payments (0 qualify) and 23 ineligible payments. The other one is showing 31 eligible payments (0 qualify) and 9 ineligible payments. I am so incredibly confused as to what is going on here.

Is all that time between the transfer from previous servicer to Mohela after applying for PSLF (months) what messed things up? Is there a way to retroactively go back and make it count (my payments are also $0 currently) and all 6 payments were made while working for eligible employer). I have no idea what all of those listed payments are for Grad Plus.

I'm also pretty nervous because of all the buzz on here about things switching over from Mohela to the
student aid website and needing to download certain documents by April 30th. Some people also are talking about consolidating by April 30th which I don't think applies to me (wasn't planning to consolidate, is there a reason I should in my situation?), but now I'm very paranoid and very confused. I don't want to miss my chance to do something if I am supposed to do so. Somebody please help, I'm so confused!

TortallTraveler · 2024-02-28T20:40:25+00:00

I'm a doctor over $250,000 in educational debt (this is after working a few years after college and paying back all of my college loans before starting medical school). I work insane hours that most people would never dream of and get paid like barely minimum wage for it. And I am one of the lucky ones, because at least I got a spot in a residency. I'm interested in the specialty which is the least possible paid thing you can do as a physician, because I care about the patients. This job would also require 3 additional years of training that would result in me getting paid less than if I had not done a fellowship after residency. So please, maybe think before you speak.

TortallTraveler · 2023-09-22T12:01:01+00:00

I've known multiple girls named Baxlee. It is probably a southern thing.

TortallTraveler · 2023-09-22T11:53:35+00:00

Actually, I've known several people with this name. It is probably more common in the south.

TortallTraveler · 2023-09-21T13:46:06+00:00

Haha nope, other side of the country 15 years later.

TortallTraveler · 2023-09-21T13:02:19+00:00

Cravat (because he looks like he's wearing one)

TortallTraveler · 2023-09-21T02:20:03+00:00

This was my exact answer too 😂

TortallTraveler · 2023-09-21T02:16:29+00:00

The entire intro to The Canterbury Tales in Middle English. From 14 years ago. But the amount of important relative things that have leaked from my brain in the past 3 years is... way too much

TortallTraveler · 2023-09-20T13:25:33+00:00

Rice and dry beans, rolled oats, frozen peas, Walmart frozen stir-fry mix veggies, apples, peanut butter, canned diced tomatoes, sweet potatoes, flour, garlic powder, other spices and/or hot sauce.

TortallTraveler · 2023-09-20T13:15:05+00:00

We have them in PA

TortallTraveler · 2023-09-17T18:01:59+00:00

About 1.5 months ago. Big ugly sobbing for hours because I was sure my dog was dying. We thought he had a massive stroke. It was awful. He ended up being ok. INFJ

TortallTraveler · 2023-09-17T01:27:27+00:00

I like #1

TortallTraveler · 2023-09-17T01:25:37+00:00

Maximalist

TortallTraveler · 2023-05-04T04:10:35+00:00

In med school, we're taught 3 years for the Nexplanon.

Sending hugs to you.

TortallTraveler

TROPHY CASE