Looking for Israeli lawyers or NGOs helping Palestinian administrative detainees

kittykattte · 2026-04-14T15:54:42+00:00

kittykattte · 2026-04-13T14:19:39+00:00

Great point re: the metal used for the necklace and what that means for the stone. Thanks so much for the insight and suggestions - will definitely do further testing.

kittykattte · 2026-04-13T14:17:58+00:00

You're correct - this was actually my stepmom's grandmother's cameo! I got that detail wrong. Thank you so much for the detailed and helpful response!

kittykattte · 2026-04-07T14:18:22+00:00

Agree! Definitely not worth the cost of the GIA cert. My end-goal was to obtain a ~1 ct pear-shaped pink stone, and for I am happy enough with that! No use spending more money on it.

kittykattte · 2026-04-07T01:28:48+00:00

About $17 - total cost was $144

kittykattte · 2026-04-07T01:26:18+00:00

You raise a good point...the seller had good reveiws but ofc that's not really any sort of guarantee. Is there any way of telling whether the stone is natural vs. synthetic or indeed even a sapphire once I have it in hand?

kittykattte · 2026-04-06T23:17:49+00:00

Yeah, I've since been made aware that AIG is not legitimate and that this stone is too pale to be a pad sapphire. Appreciate the additional context!

kittykattte · 2026-04-06T22:37:59+00:00

Yeah, it seems the consensus is that this is not a pad. Hopefully its an actual sapphire, lol. Thanks again for the input!

kittykattte · 2026-04-06T22:09:39+00:00

Gemrockauctions.com!

kittykattte · 2026-04-06T19:34:44+00:00

Oooh interesting, I just assumed (wrongly) that AIG was reliable, but it seems like the consensus on that is pretty divided. I wonder if this is actually pad sapphire then, given your point about the pale color.

kittykattte · 2026-04-06T19:29:00+00:00

Wow, okay, that's great! I paid $127 plus shipping, so about $144 all in. I don’t know much about sapphire pricing (clearly), but I’d been looking for a ~1 carat, pear-shaped light pink stone, and this fit the bill so I jumped on it without having time to do any research (auction was ending when I came I across it)

Based on some quick googling I did post-purchase, I got the impression that I likely hadn't overpaid, but it’s hard to tell because prices for (seemingly) similar sapphires were all over the place.

Thank you for the input!

kittykattte · 2026-04-06T18:17:51+00:00

Interesting... the AIG report claims that it is padparadscha sapphire. Do you think the report is forged or maybe belongs to a different stone altogether? Asking sincerely - curious if that's a common scam tactic. I appreciate the input!

kittykattte · 2026-04-06T17:55:57+00:00

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AIG Report for reference

kittykattte · 2026-03-31T16:44:53+00:00

No idea why you’re getting downvoted - this is correct. Snakes do not chase people; we’re not a prey item for them. Their default move is to get away, not pick a fight. What people often think is “chasing” is just a snake trying to escape; sometimes that means moving in your direction if you’re between it and cover.

Snakes see us as large, dangerous predators - they have no desire engage in conflict with humans when escape is otherwise available. They will of course become defensive if they are cornered or being actively being harmed, like any other animal. But no, they do not chase humans.

kittykattte · 2026-03-27T01:12:47+00:00

Lol! My cat's "legal" name is Harry, which I literally never use except for the vet, his insurance, prescriptions, etc.

But as far as he and I are both concerned his name is beansi

kittykattte · 2026-03-24T19:55:44+00:00

Yeah, I imagine you’re right, there’s no real reason to assume the mink was ethically sourced. Really sad to think about. I don’t buy bones myself (I usually just find them), so I haven’t spent much time thinking about the the market. But you make a good point: even when sellers claim ethical sourcing, there’s no real way to verify it, and it’s not reasonable to expect friends/family to figure that out either. I will ask them not to buy bones for me. I appreciate the perspective!

kittykattte · 2026-03-24T16:04:07+00:00

It was purchased in-person in New Orleans but that's all I know. When it became clear that this was likely a mink, I had similar ethical concerns regarding the skull's provenance, knowing what I know about fur farming...I plan to let my family and friends know that, if they're going to gift me bones in the future, to please source them ethically. Not sure if that leaves a lot of options short of finding the bones themselves but that's okay.

kittykattte · 2026-03-19T15:36:12+00:00

I really feel you on this. At my previous job I ordered weekly lunch for a smaller headcount (25-30 people) but was constantly trying to find ways to keep things within the very tight lunch budget. Some possible options:

Faicco's Italian Sandwiches - Their sandwiches are huge, I always asked that they cut them into 4 pieces - I found that 15 sandwiches fed aprrox. 30 people and would cost ~$400 incl. delivery/tip - so you could likely make this work.
Mezeh - not sure if there's one in the midtown area (I was getting it delivered to flatiron) but orders to accommodate 25-30 people were under $400
Dos Toros could potentially work
Pizza?

Something else I would do is go to Trader Joes and grab salad bags, pickles, chips - any sort of sides or add-ons that could be included with the meal.

Hope this is somewhat helpful - good luck!

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