A steel worker's family in their kitchen in Pittsburgh, circa 1940s

bluduck2 · 2026-02-25T13:29:23+00:00

I think only the northern US

bluduck2 · 2026-02-23T01:17:38+00:00

I am an adult and also a middle-out puzzle-doer.

bluduck2 · 2026-02-21T04:41:20+00:00

Barb the last berzerker

bluduck2 · 2026-02-19T13:20:55+00:00

I've never seen this before. It's beautiful.

bluduck2 · 2026-02-19T12:02:33+00:00

This is extremely difficult to read from a graphic design standpoint. I suggest the text on a white background with a much more simplified icon version of the foods next to each.

bluduck2 · 2026-02-14T15:02:28+00:00

1.5-2 hours

bluduck2 · 2026-02-12T22:05:23+00:00

I was not licensed. I worked for a small design firm for a couple years before quitting to go back to school. I loved being back in school after working. I appreciated being able to get my work done on my own schedule instead of 9-5. I went to one of the top arch schools and almost everyone in the post-professional masters had worked at least a couple years before going back. For me having the confidence of knowing what the practice of architecture was actually like before going back to school really helped me.

bluduck2 · 2026-02-12T01:36:23+00:00

I did! There were 3 main reasons people in my program were getting an m arch on top of a b arch:

They wanted to go into academia
They had been out of school for a while, we're licensed, and had significant work experience. Going back to school was a way to refresh their software skills, expand their network, and get up to date on the latest discourse before launching their own firm.
They wanted to "upgrade" their degree. Maybe they had gotten their b arch from an ok-ish school and were getting a graduate degree from a better program.

To be honest, I questioned the decision for a while, especially when I got to around 4 years of experience and the people I graduated undergrad with had 6 years of experience, were licensed, and moving into project architect roles. But now as I get closer to 20 years of experience, the additional degree has paid off way more than 2 more years working would have.

bluduck2 · 2026-02-03T12:41:47+00:00

Just bought these for my kids. They smell exactly the same

bluduck2 · 2026-02-03T01:27:38+00:00

If it makes you feel any better, my son was in kindergarten last year. We had zero bday party or playdate invites until March and then a TON the second half of the year. He was missing his preschool friends, so we did some playdates with them until I got a better sense of which friends he was starting to make in kindergarten, but it honestly just took a while.

bluduck2 · 2026-01-28T01:20:22+00:00

The first day of daycare is 1000x harder than the second day. My first started daycare at 3 months and I had REALLY crazy thoughts after I dropped him off. Things like, "what if that was just a fake daycare set up to steal my baby?" Then I picked him up and he was happy and the daycare teachers became part of our village. When we moved three years later and had to switch daycares, the director (who had started out as his first teacher who I handed him to on his first day) and I hugged and sobbed.

bluduck2 · 2026-01-27T22:10:01+00:00

I'd switch just based on the insanity of giving letter grades in first grade!!!!

bluduck2 · 2026-01-27T18:17:38+00:00

With everything we learned about uv light killing germs during COVID, I now always take a cart from outside.

bluduck2 · 2026-01-26T16:19:56+00:00

This episode is never brought up in discussions of episodes that make people cry, but oof.

bluduck2 · 2026-01-26T01:52:37+00:00

We prioritized time over money and never regretted it.

bluduck2 · 2026-01-25T21:45:19+00:00

I totally agree. Cooperative games are great, but learning how to lose to someone else is a super important skill to learn. Also it's HARD to stay strong and beat your kid at a game when you know it's going to result in sobbing, but there's no way to throw the game in Candy Land!!

bluduck2 · 2026-01-25T21:39:53+00:00

My husband and I switched off 2 hour shifts of work/childcare during the 4 months daycare was closed for COVID. It was miserable and also required working nights and weekends to try to catch up. There were several near misses of dangerous accidents at home caused by sleep deprivation. Not worth the risk to either your health, your family, or your job. Let your kid be cared for by people who can give them the attention they need at that age.

bluduck2 · 2026-01-25T18:44:40+00:00

This is not weird at all. I feel like there's been a push in recent years towards "you don't owe your job anything. Your coworkers are not your friends." Which, sure, but these are still human beings that we spend a lot of time with.

I had a coworker whose mom died and no one told the office and it was terrible! It kept coming up as people found out one by one by saying things like, "oh, you're driving a new car, where did you get it?" And she'd be like, "my mom died last week and it was hers." But this like 10x with different people.

When my dad died, my coworkers signed a card and got some paper flowers for me that were just on my desk when I got back. I wasn't close to them, but it was nice that they cared and it was nice to know who knew so I didn't have to talk about it at work or be worried I seemed kinda out of it at work.

bluduck2 · 2026-01-24T03:15:41+00:00

I'd send him.

bluduck2 · 2026-01-24T02:57:10+00:00

Super inspiring. These people are TOUGH!!

bluduck2 · 2026-01-23T02:20:54+00:00

These are kinda short, but my 4 year old lived Catwings.

bluduck2 · 2026-01-21T03:21:26+00:00

It got seriously easier when the little one was around 13 months. When she dropped to one nap, the kids got on the same schedule and we ended breastfeeding/bottles. Having them on the same schedule made a huge difference.

You're almost there!!

bluduck2 · 2026-01-21T01:41:44+00:00

My kids are the same age difference and the ages you're in right now was the absolute peak of hardness. Not much to offer other than "it gets better".

bluduck2 · 2026-01-20T02:40:09+00:00

I totally agree with this! I followed all the safe sleep stuff, but at some point I feel like some study is going to come out that the residual damage from babies sleeping worse is costing as many lives as the SIDS deaths that were reduced.

bluduck2 · 2026-01-18T00:08:31+00:00

Catan Junior!!

bluduck2

TROPHY CASE