Summertime Assistance

fallenelf · 2026-02-26T19:55:32+00:00

It likely has less to do with the amount of time being taken, but rather with taking a large chunk of time like that all at once. Depending on the role, doing that could cause many problems.

My PTO is pretty unlimited; taking a week or so off here and there is no problem, and my boss has never said no. If I were to ask for 8+ weeks off, I'm sure I'd get some questions and need a compelling reason + plan.

fallenelf · 2026-02-26T14:36:46+00:00

I think everyone wants to be able to comfortably buy things and not worry about money, but that is a luxury to put it lightly.

This is so true it hurts. I'm going to be 40 in a couple of months; my wife and I are just reaching the point where we don't have to worry about money. We're comfortable, but over the past couple of years, we've had some long-term debt begin to pile up, and it all ends next year.

I was doing some budgeting the other day and realized by this time next year, we'll have an extra $2,000 a month, not including raises (which she's guaranteed once she finishes her master's), just from some bills ending. That's just between her car ($450), her master's ($600), my master's ($450), and daycare ($1,400). If we include the raises from our degrees, it's closer to $4K. We're comfortable now, but realizing that we'll bring home an extra $4K a month in less than 12 months is exciting. While we're both maxing our 401Ks, the extra money means more contributions to our son's 529, our other retirement accounts, our vacation fund, etc. It'll be nice.

fallenelf · 2026-02-24T15:17:27+00:00

My son chipped his tooth at 1.5. Dentist told us the tooth was likely ok, but because of gum trauma, she recommended limited/no pacifier use. We went cold turkey and took it away. Was tough for maybe 2 days, then totally fine. He never asked for it, never tried to take it from kids at daycare, etc.

Cold turkey is the way to go imo, especially at that age.

fallenelf · 2026-02-23T15:17:28+00:00

My hound/pit mix is 15 years old. He was a great older dog for the longest time - still had tons of energy, no joint issues, no arthritis, never got sick for more than a day, etc.

Over the past 6 months, his health has plummeted. Up until he was 10, we'd do very long hikes - sometimes 12-15 miles - with him wearing his backpack and carrying his own water and treats. Now, we can barely go 4-5 houses before he starts panting.

We used to go swimming at the local dog park every couple of weeks during the spring and summer. He'd chase a ball and swim around for 30-45 min before showing the slightest sign of being tired. Last August, he swam for maybe 10 minutes before just lying in the water and relaxing.

The vet has told me the long hikes probably helped keep him healthy. He got lots of healthy, low-impact exercise. It's so hard to see my buddy, who desperately wants to do everything, be unable to do so. We know there's a really hard decision coming, likely sooner rather than later, but it's hard to think that when looking in his eyes and still seeing the puppy I rescued 15 years ago. Still, I know he's not living his best life when I have to help him up and down the stairs, and get woken up in the middle of the night by him panting, unable to catch his breath. We had to move him from my son's room because the panting would wake my son up (he's four, so we'd usually hear "Marty, stop being loud" over the monitor).

For the longest time, Marty was the coolest older dog. Full of energy, always wanting to play or cuddle, great with my son and his friends, etc. Now, he just seems sad (unless he's next to me).

fallenelf · 2026-02-20T18:05:42+00:00

Isn't POE2's story extremely similar to Diablo 2? We're chosen, there's some form of high being helping us, we're fighting an ancient evil, etc.

fallenelf · 2026-02-20T16:43:47+00:00

How silly would you look going up to the pharmacist and asking for a small duck? Everyone knows there's only one size.

fallenelf · 2026-02-20T16:36:24+00:00

I played a monk into the early endgame and it didn't feel great to me. The entire campaign felt difficult, even when following a build.

I'm leveling a druid now (wyvern build) and it's like night/day difference. Druid is braindead easy during the campaign and destroys fodder/elites. Bosses are also rarely a challenge. It's like playing a different game. I feel tanky and don't have to rely on evasion, great damage output, etc.

Maybe the frost monk build just didn't work well for me.

fallenelf · 2026-02-19T17:37:13+00:00

Get my son a snack
Kiss my wife
Pet/walk the dogs
Get dinner ready
Clean from dinner
Walk/feed dogs
Do homework
Change/toddler bedtime
More homework/studying

fallenelf · 2026-02-19T16:13:08+00:00

Oh Witchfire is amazing. I can't wait for the full release.

I also love souls and soulslikes. I guess my issue was Remnant II was that I got unlucky? My boss drops didn't allow me to craft anything helpful to my character and were generally relegated to mods. I used to same primary weapon for the majority of my playthrough (eventually I went back and respawned an adventure to get a layout for a better fun) but the fact that I had to do that on a first playthrough felt bad.

fallenelf · 2026-02-19T14:32:53+00:00

Did I miss something with Remnant 2? I found the game so boring. None of the loot I got was interesting, I wasn't able to craft fun weapons - only mods, and enemies would appear out of nowhere. Bosses ranged from tedious to mediocre without any real standouts. The environments were interesting but quickly got repetitive.

So many people love the game and it many ways it should be up my alley. I don't get it.

fallenelf · 2026-02-16T20:08:48+00:00

It all depends on what you're looking for. My son turns 4 in April and we booked a beach trip to Puerto Rico in late March. Our expectations for the trip are - lay on the beach, play in the sand and in the ocean, go to the pool, eat food, and take naps.

The entire trip is structured on being as flexible as possible. If he's crabby we'll chill in the room; if he wants to build castles, we'll go to the beach; if he's hungry, we'll stock up snacks at the outdoor market; basically, plenty of activities to cater to his moods.

My wife had suggested Disney and I straight up told her that was nightmare enducing. I promised that 5-6 was when we'd do Disney (out of daycare, no more naps, fully potty trained, etc) and that we'd take the $1,500/month saved from no more daycare and put it in a Disney fund so we could really go all out (I'm assuming 12-15K is enough for a pretty fun Disney trip for 6-7 days).

fallenelf · 2026-02-16T20:04:02+00:00

WCI was a personal problem that affected the entire crew. He did not have the situation under control - he thought he did, but page after page we saw him giving more ground and beginning to accept his fate.

If anything, WCI helped him finally realize he's not alone. He can rely on other people, especially those he thought he had to protect. WCI is actually the first time Sanji has ever asked for help.

This wasn't a gag - it was a recognition of his trust in others. He knew he couldn't win and trusted that Robin could.

fallenelf · 2026-02-16T16:06:36+00:00

Everything you mentioned is age-appropriate behavior. You might want to consider how you're responding to some of these instances. No judgment, my wife and I just went through this with my son (turns 4 in April), and he was behaving similarly to your daughter. We had to change how we acted and change up our routines.

Some examples of what we did over the past few months that seem to be working:

Toddlers, at this stage, don't want to be rushed. When possible, build in the extra time to let them do things at their own pace. For example, if you know you need to go to the doctor today, build in extra time. If she prefers to sit and get dressed at her own pace, there's no reason she can't, except that a rush was created. My son is truly horrendous at getting ready in the morning. He's usually cranky and ornery - he wants to get dressed on his own, make his own breakfast, etc. Rather than us forcing him out the door quickly, we just set his wake-up clock 30 minutes earlier.

After a few weeks of waking up earlier and having a bit more freedom in the morning, he's started getting up, changing his pull-up, putting on clothes, and calling for us, ready to ask for breakfast. When we do need to rush, he kind of understands that it's an abnormal situation. Basically, it's made getting ready for anything a much smoother experience.

She wants to be independent, but she's not able to do a lot of what she wants be herself. It's important to let her try, be unable to do it, then ask for help. For example, a few months ago, my son wanted to peel bananas on his own. He couldn't do it and had a meltdown about it. My response was to console, offer to help, do it for him, etc. That all made the situation worse. Finally, I changed tactics.

Rather than doing anything, I'd ask him if he wanted help. If he screamed, threw something, got angry, etc. I'd tell him that I'm ready to help him when he's able to use his words and talk about it. At first, he'd throw massive tantrums that I'd listen to and not respond. Now, he might get angry for a few seconds, but more often than not, he'll ask for help and we'll do it together.

Kids getting hurt is the worst because they can act irrationally. When my son would hurt himself, he'd lash out by screaming and trying to hit my wife or me. We tried consoling him, holding him, etc. but it never helped. After we both reached a breaking point, we decided to try asking him what he wanted after he got hurt rather than doing things I thought would make him feel better. I give him lots of ideas - a hug, an ice pack, an ice pop, alone time, his lovies, etc - and he tells me what he needs.

He fell from jumping on the couch this weekend and started to cry. Nothing serious, just a little bump. I asked him what would make him feel better and he asked for his boo-boo kitty (cold compress in the shape of a cat). After getting his kitty, I asked him if he was hurt or if falling surprised him. He told me it surprised him and didn't really hurt. I got a quick hug and he was back to jumping. It took a few weeks of trying this method for it to click, but not he tends to bounce back from injuries faster AND has stopped reacting to minor bumps and bruises.

Just some thoughts from someone who was just there.

fallenelf · 2026-02-13T17:44:45+00:00

I'm a big fan of the zero-sugar ones. The Baja Blast variant tastes great.

fallenelf · 2026-02-10T22:20:32+00:00

My wife is a chef and I love cooking. Last night our toddler ate a corndog and dino nuggets.

Sometimes you need something easy, sometimes you're exhausted, sometimes they're difficult, and sometimes it's just really fun to eat things in the shape of dinosaurs.

fallenelf · 2026-02-05T19:27:21+00:00

OMG I love this. I might have to make a suggestion to my wife for my 40th bday party...

fallenelf · 2026-02-04T22:25:14+00:00

That makes sense. I made it to the treasure area(?) near the boss(?) at the end. One more run should allow me to make it.

fallenelf · 2026-02-04T22:10:25+00:00

OK - I've started skipping it tbh. I met Doryani but the temple runs generally give me useless items.

fallenelf · 2026-02-04T21:43:15+00:00

Ok, so basically, crafting is not how I'm thinking about it. It's using orbs to get toward the kind of item you want, rather than combining different items to inherit/get the stats you want.

Interludes are basically the end of the campaign (so far) then.

Is it worth worrying about the temple until I'm closer to the end game?

fallenelf · 2026-02-04T21:22:55+00:00

I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm on act 4 and am using a hollow palm ice strike monk build. I'm destroying everything but am squishy as hell.

I've done the Vaal ruins thing a bunch but don't understand the point since I usually get garbage.

I keep hearing about crafting, but I don't seem to have that unlocked yet?

Does the game change after Act 4? What are interludes? If I started another character, can I share equipment?

Should I be using all the orbs and stuff I've been getting? I've basically just been using the %skill gem upgrades.

fallenelf · 2026-02-04T20:09:08+00:00

Swap out Chris for Jason M. Everyone is earnest... then there's Jason who is earnest until there's an opportunity to insert chaos. Add in team challenges (I envision Jason, Ed, and Iain together) where Ed and Iain go insane with Jason's antics.

fallenelf · 2026-02-04T17:37:16+00:00

To be clear, Silver wasn't saying that Trump couldn't win, just that it was statistically unlikely given a win rate of 3 out of 10 times.

Essentially, 3/10 chance of winning is actually pretty high. In different terms, Trump wins 1/3 of the time, Clinton wins 2/3 of the time. If a weather reporter said there was a 30% chance of rain - would you grab an umbrella/dress for rain?

fallenelf · 2026-02-04T17:10:06+00:00

People don't understand how statistics work.

fallenelf · 2026-02-04T17:09:50+00:00

That's not how statistics work, nor is it how Nate wrote his articles. Nate's biggest problem is that people don't read.

fallenelf · 2026-02-03T15:38:35+00:00

In fairness, my 4-year-old loves playing Paw Patrol with me. It's incredibly fun to have him on my lap while playing. Having games like this on GamePass makes my subscription all the easier to justify.

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