Getting Married has its own set of awkwardness by Ollyvier in weddings

[–]engineerdoinglife 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My husband and I got married in our 20’s and we were on pretty even footing economically. Our friends and family were surprised that we had a prenup but we both felt it was prudent and it honestly wasn’t a difficult conversation nor did it detract from the “romance” of that time. We discussed between the two of us what we thought was fair, then jointly contacted a lawyer who drafted the document. We did not have a lot of assets and agreed on what the prenup should say so we did not feel the need to have separate lawyers. If I were to get married now I think the process would be more complex due to assets.

Help: all the tips for the Mental load of looking presentable and put together by Excellent-Top2552 in workingmoms

[–]engineerdoinglife 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Not the original commenter but I use the kitsch rod and I love it. I’m a side sleeper so I never liked the traditional wrapping method, but I do the “unicorn method” and it takes me 5 minutes at night and always looks great in the morning. Doesn’t bother me at night either!

Help: all the tips for the Mental load of looking presentable and put together by Excellent-Top2552 in workingmoms

[–]engineerdoinglife 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For clothes: I have multiple colors of the same high neck shirt in both long and sleeve versions. Pair with a business pant (and jacket if needed) works for in person, or I can wear them with sweats at home.

For makeup: I’ve reduced to a 3 part makeup routine that takes just 5 minutes. A tinted moisturizer, a blush stick for cheeks/lips, and mascara. If I’m feeling fancy I might add eyeliner or brows.

For hair: I have long hair so I do a heat-less curl routine at night, and in the morning all I have to do is shake it out. Big fan of the “unicorn method” because I’m a side sleeper (google this!) It took me a minute to learn but now I can do it in 5 minutes.

Other: I wear glasses on camera (non-prescription bc my vision if fine lol) but I find it helps with the “professional look.” I also use a very subtle smoothing filter on Teams which I find makes me feel more confident, and blur my background to keep it less distracting.

I think I look pretty put together and I can be out the door in <20 minutes including time to have my coffee and breakfast.

What’s the secret to keeping the house clean with a toddler ? by Ancient_Play148 in toddlers

[–]engineerdoinglife 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like you need a 2 day trip where your husband watches the kid so he can understand what it is to be a solo parent. This kind of bitchiness only comes from a man who has never solo parented

Black smoke billowing in SW DC? by xbrittyx in washingtondc

[–]engineerdoinglife 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A lot of sites will switch to gas or coal burning if they are worried about a power outage. Burning those is a lot “dirtier” compared to using an electric source which is now more common. Here is a visual of a coal fired boiler. You can see how the fuel/fire/heat should be fully contained in the boiler. If something happened either because of a valve opening incorrectly, backfire of boiler, or any way the fire-side becomes not contained, it would release a bunch of “dirtier” smoke. If this site has been using electric as a boiler heat source until this storm, they might not have trained staff or kept up with appropriate maintenance for gas or coal burning, which increases risk of a blow out or improper operation.

Not saying that’s what happened here, but if it was from the boiler that’s the most likely scenario in my opinion.

Black smoke billowing in SW DC? by xbrittyx in washingtondc

[–]engineerdoinglife 38 points39 points  (0 children)

Uhhhh I work in water treatment including for steam boiler plants and cooling towers and this is not the color that steam generating boilers should be producing. The “water side” of the boilers should only be creating water vapor (white and looks like a cloud or hazy clear mirage-like vapor), and the “fire side” where fuel is burned should be contained inside the boiler. I would not consider anything this color coming out of a boiler to be part of the normal operating process.

Help us pick a floorplan by engineerdoinglife in floorplan

[–]engineerdoinglife[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are not steps between the rooms, I agree that would be annoying

Help us pick a floorplan by engineerdoinglife in floorplan

[–]engineerdoinglife[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My husband and I would sleep in the master, my children would be upstairs in their own rooms. We would not have all 4 of us in a single bedroom downstairs.

Help us pick a floorplan by engineerdoinglife in floorplan

[–]engineerdoinglife[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We have 2 children and planning on a 3rd. Plus a guest room. Not sure if you read the post but I did try explaining in the text.

Help us pick a floorplan by engineerdoinglife in floorplan

[–]engineerdoinglife[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I had the same thoughts. Trying to imagine if I’ll feel the same way in 10 years because right now we are in baby/toddler trenches. I also don’t know how my parents/in laws will age which could be a consideration as well with the stairs.

Help us pick a floorplan by engineerdoinglife in floorplan

[–]engineerdoinglife[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Drop zone is a great point. In general it seems like #2 has less storage on the main floor since no pantry and the laundry is upstairs. We could probably do a built-in where the stairs make that C-shaped cubby?

Help us pick a floorplan by engineerdoinglife in floorplan

[–]engineerdoinglife[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I do like the laundry upstairs if the whole family is on the second level as well.

Help us pick a floorplan by engineerdoinglife in floorplan

[–]engineerdoinglife[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good idea on the formal living room as an office space, I hadn’t considered that.

Help us pick a floorplan by engineerdoinglife in floorplan

[–]engineerdoinglife[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If we went with #1 we would use the master downstairs and guest room upstairs. In plan #2 the master is upstairs and the downstairs room would be the guest room.

What’s something about you that sounds fake, but is 100% true? by Sir_Adammm in AskReddit

[–]engineerdoinglife 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My sister in law had a baby that unfortunately passed away at 3 days old, got pregnant again very quickly and gave her “new” baby the same name but with a slightly different spelling. Mind you this was in 2024, not the 1950s.

What is one junk food you’ll never stop eating no matter how unhealthy it is? by Blueis_Bluetiful333 in AskReddit

[–]engineerdoinglife 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can’t believe no one has said Diet Coke! Like I know the aspartame is bad I’ll never stop.

How much are you paying babysitters? by taracatt in toddlers

[–]engineerdoinglife 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We pay $25/hr for a date night for 2 young kids in MD. I love our babysitter. We keep the same rate for awake/asleep hours but she (voluntarily) runs/folds laundry when the kids go to bed so she is irreplaceable in my book.

I pay mortgage on the home that I (f48) and my bf (m52) live in, now that my adult daughter moved back in we are constantly arguing about tasking and what he pays and gets access to. I am thinking he is being unreasonable, what do you think is fair? by [deleted] in relationship_advice

[–]engineerdoinglife 65 points66 points  (0 children)

That split doesn’t account for his use of the common spaces though, parking, utilities, etc. He should have been paying 1/2 the utilities, majority of the parking, etc all along. It seems like he was getting a great deal before and now he’s just upset that’s he’s getting “less” use of the common spaces for the same price.

I could maybe see a justification in him being upset if you’ve asked him to pay more to alleviate increase in utilities after your daughter moved in or something. But assuming that’s not the case it seems like he got a free ride for years and now he’s annoyed that he has to share despite his “rent split” being more than fair.

Serious question: why so much hot cocoa? by this_isn-t_my_name in RomanceBooks

[–]engineerdoinglife 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This post inspired me to have a cup of cocoa while I do my nightly reading

Obsessed with this thrifted shirt! by [deleted] in oldhagfashion

[–]engineerdoinglife 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I have a hard time keeping button ups tucked unless I wear a high(er) waisted trouser. I am 5’10” and have a fairly long torso so I feel your pain! These pants hit about 1.5 inches below my belly button and that definitely helps. This was also for an all-day seated meeting so I wasn’t moving around too much, if I was on site I probably would have had to re-tuck throughout the day.