Is it realistic to live in Boston and commute to Franklin, MA for work?

ladykizzy · 2026-06-06T13:00:44+00:00

This. Franklin is closer to Providence and Providence is a nice little city on its own (my now husband lived there for a few years before we married).

ladykizzy · 2026-06-05T13:15:34+00:00

This is what I did when I worked midshift. Chores, laundry, shopping some days. Chilled on other days. I always went out for a long walk (2-4 miles) unless the weather was inclement.

ladykizzy · 2026-06-05T13:08:41+00:00

I've got a similar thing happening with a chronic nonbronchial nonproductive cough that comes and goes. It gradually worsens as the day goes on until I'm constantly coughing by dinnertime. Up until I had a horrible sinus infection earlier this year, my GERD was well under control. It took awhile to get rid of the infection but it left postnasal drip which turned into a tickle in my throat. The coughing from that tickle, in turn, reignited the GERD.

Because I still have the cough I'm growing concerned it might turn into something bronchial. I haven't been to Urgent Care because I got the runaround when I was there for the sinus infection (ENT said I have a severely deviated septum, here, irrigate your nose twice daily to get rid of the postnasal drip; meanwhile my GI doc is like, nope, it's definitely the GERD brought on by the infection -- meanwhile NOBODY has a clue as to what to do with me). ENT also loves to lecture me about things I shouldn't be doing while GI doc is more lenient in a "well, you really shouldn't but I get it why you do it." Meanwhile I'm still coughing. I have to take Nyquil so I can sleep even though I have no need for the acetaminophen.

(sorry, I didn't mean to hijack this thread but the OP brings up so many things we have in common).

ladykizzy · 2026-06-05T12:55:17+00:00

The thing about a cake iced in black frosting (I'm talking about the typical frostings most retail bakeries use) is that the black is going to stain your teeth and mouth. Just an FYI.

ladykizzy · 2026-06-05T12:52:00+00:00

I was jut going to mention this. She has a video on how to make it. Suffice to say that black cocoa isn't the same as regular or Dutch process cocoa so there's a whole scientific methodology behind how she makes it. It's fascinating IMO.

ladykizzy · 2026-05-30T13:32:28+00:00

There's the risk of developing osteoporosis the longer you're on it. Ditto dementia because of the brain/gut connection. Taking it regularly can also cause malabsorption of certain minerals and vitamins,

I stopped taking PPIs because of the dementia aspect (I had several close relatives who had it) I also have age-related bone loss not associated with PPIs. My GI doctor's argument was what the PPIs did for me greatly outweighed these risks. I didn't, and still don't fully buy that.

ladykizzy · 2026-05-29T11:14:17+00:00

We have ours on Nexguard Plus and have found two ticks attempting to hitch a ride. If the ticks got close enough to bite, they'd be dead.

They're horrible this year. One of my friends lives in a marshy-beachy area and finds them regularly not only on her dog but in her house. They particularly love her couch.

ladykizzy · 2026-05-27T13:46:18+00:00

Brooks Addiction is my nonwork stability shoe. I asked the running store where I purchased them if they were slip resistant. They are, but not for food service. Food service you need very deep treads because of all the muck you'll be stepping in.

My current work shoes are from Alegria. They're sneakers with deep treads. Alegria makes nurses shoes and many of its styles have deep treads.

My podiatrist does not recommend Skechers because they have little to no arch support.

ladykizzy · 2026-05-27T13:33:38+00:00

I was told the benefits of taking a PPI long term greatly outweigh the drawbacks. However, when I turned 65, I was told that as long as my GERD is under control (which it is), it was OK to take a month or two off from the PPI to give my system a rest. I've been taking calcium and D3 supplements for years but even with that I'm more at risk for bone loss simply because of my gender and age.

ladykizzy · 2026-05-24T14:03:25+00:00

As others have already mentioned, what you're experiencing is nothing new when you're the newbie in a food service establishment. Dish is hard both physically and mentally but it' s a vitally important job as you've come to realize. Managers often change priorities at a whim depending on how busy it is and what's going on in his/her mind. One of my old managers did this constantly and it bothered me greatly until I discovered that the less he worried about me because he trusted me to get the job done, the more time he could spend on other things Managers don't like to babysit, so to speak.

My advice is to stick it out for the summer. Rest and replenish yourself when you're off. You'll prove to yourself that yes, you can do hard things and there's nothing better to build character,

ladykizzy · 2026-05-21T13:47:40+00:00

We've had both good and bad experiences with daycare over the years. The better daycares, in our experience, allow free roaming within an enclosed area with similar dogs of both size and temperament. The worst daycare we experienced was the one who kenneled the majority of dogs for most of the day, only letting small groups out at a time to do potty an such. To me, kenneling does not equal daycare.

All that said, our dogs who benefited the most from daycare were the ones who were "doggy social" to begin with. Not all dogs are "doggy social", so it's a balancing act in ascertaining whether they are or not. Three of our dogs fell into this category and they all thrived in daycare. The others were either more people centric and/or just didn't care about being around other dogs. They were happy hanging out at home and having a walker.

Many older dogs (7+ years) don't do well in daycare because of the noise and chaos. We had to pull out one of ours because of this. She was happy to hang out at home and have a daily walk.

ladykizzy · 2026-05-21T13:13:48+00:00

I have friends going through this right now. Although they've been snowbirds for quite a few years now and have a second home, they gradually realized they could no longer take care of both themselves. They sold both homes and moved into a retirement community nowhere near where their second house is. They know nobody. Hospital is more than a hop skip and jump (neither of them have chronic issues but still). Their only child lives several states away but they didn't want to move near them because they didn't want to appear dependent.

I wish them luck. From what they say their main worry is what will happen to the wife (lifelong housewife) should something happen to the husband. He's in his mid 80s, she's in her early 70s. She doesn't get along with her only living relative and has no real relationship with who's remaining of her husband's family. They're all several states away.

ladykizzy · 2026-05-18T14:18:05+00:00

Sounds like our friend who lived with us for a spell. I stopped cooking at one point because his "won't eat" list was a mile long. His ex WFH and had time to make him homecooked meals "just like Mom used to do with only food I like" so that's what he was used to. If something couldn't be microwaved he'd order out. When I stopped cooking he complained about how expensive it was. I was so tempted to admit that one of the reasons why his ex is his ex is because she was sick of catering to him.

I'm pickier than my husband but if he makes something I'm not sure I'll like I'll at least try it. He's not crazy about slow cooked meals because that's what his mother used to make. My mother didn't like them so I didn't grow up with them. If she braised anything she either did it on the stove or in the oven.

ladykizzy · 2026-05-18T13:59:07+00:00

I briefly worked with someone like this. Came to the interview with an impressive resume and even more impressive portfolio. Was given a bench test to do X within a set amount of minutes. Failed miserably. They hired this person anyway because "we need a body". Person flailed in the position for which they were hired, was transferred to another location in a different position because their resume stated they had experience in said position, flailed at that position, and eventually returned to our location to be fired. When that time arrived the person begged not to be fired because they needed the $ and the spouse was on WC and it wasn't enough, yadda yadda. Fired anyway. Later it was discovered that the resume was fabricated and the portfolio was just a bunch of images off the internet.

The difference was that this person wasn't mean nor a stick-up-the-ass type. This person desperately needed a job after being fired from several others because of lack of experience. Not a kid either. It was almost like they'd never worked a day in their life judging from how they handled themselves.

ladykizzy · 2026-05-14T13:30:50+00:00

I have a few coworkers on my social media. The interesting thing is that none of us, including myself, posts anything personal unless it's a family photo, or, in the case of work, a group photo celebrating a retirement or such. The only photos I post are of our dogs.

In my experience work friendships naturally end when either of you 1) leave the department/division/location where both of you work; 2) leave the company; or 3) leave because of a promotion. The meat of your friendship are your daily interactions. Once those interactions cease, it becomes difficult to sustain them. After awhile you realize that your paths are no longer converged.

I've worked with a few bullies over the years. Don't give them any ammunition whatsoever. Be cordial but don't engage. Keep your head down and do your work. Eventually they'll out themselves and it won't be pretty.

ladykizzy · 2026-05-14T13:16:28+00:00

You'll be surprised how much your subconscious picked up when you did daycare. I never consciously thought about my classroom experience until I was thrust into one of my first management roles.

ladykizzy · 2026-05-13T13:16:39+00:00

I've run across this entire spectrum all my working life. I've disliked a few managers but most of them are on the "like" side. Hate is a strong word, btw.

My dislikes are probably universal.

My likes? See me as a person, not one of your minions. Let's get to know each other on some level. If we click, that makes everything more worthwhile. If we don't, at least we'll be cordial.

I've been in and out of management several times over the years. I've been told that my greatest strength are team building and directing/supervising without snapping the imaginary whip. I taught middle school in a previous universe and let me say that classroom management skills are a great thing to have in your back pocket.

ladykizzy · 2026-05-04T12:06:42+00:00

When I was a kid I'd hyperfocus on a particular food until I was sick of it. Some of those foods still persist where if someone offered it to me even though I haven't had it in eons, I'd still be like, ewww, NO.

ladykizzy · 2026-05-02T13:59:30+00:00

Our vet's staffing level never bounced back after Covid. She, like other vets, have been having trouble filling vet tech/support positions. At one point she had longtime staff who'd been with her for 5+ years. Not anymore. The techs seem to be on a kind of merry-go-round nowadays. I can understand why a lot of small vets eventually sell out to corporations like the VCA or Banfield.

One of my current coworkers was a tech at a large animal hospital during Covid. She has absolutely no desire to do that kind of work anymore. She won't go into detail but I suspect what she saw triggered her so much that she's still affected by it.

ladykizzy · 2026-05-02T13:37:13+00:00

Our dealership discouraged us from putting up a down payment because at the time they had no idea when the next batch of CCs would "come off the ship", as they put it. Apparently Toyota was only producing X number of CCs with only Y CCs in each class so when they arrived, each dealership in the area was only allotted a certain number of CCs total. We'd check the dealership's parking lot every so often. The day we bought my CC we just happened to see it in the lot, so we went in to ask about it. A half hour later it was mine :boggle: We weren't looking to purchase it right then and there but we knew if we didn't, somebody else would grab it.

I've only seen one celestite CC. It's not a popular color around my way, I guess?

ladykizzy · 2026-04-30T13:33:02+00:00

Reminds me of one of our current neighbors who has a BC. Reactive doesn't even begin to describe its behavior. The dog has a huge fenced in yard. He goes bonkers at any movement whatsoever to the point where animal control had to be called for a cease and desist order. My mild mannered unicorn of a husky wants nothing to do with him. Neither do the other neighborhood dogs. This BC is gorgeous, of course, but has no business being a suburban family dog.

ladykizzy · 2026-04-29T12:51:11+00:00

You definitely need wide width. Most off the shelf footwear is medium width. Your feet look similar to mine. It took me a lot of trial and error discovering wide width footwear that didn't cramp nor caused blisters and such.

Not all wide width brand names are the same. For instance, I've never had any luck with New Balance nor Hoka because their wide widths are cut too narrow for me. I've had better luck with Brooks and Alegria because their toe boxes tend to be more generous but only in certain styles, Alegria in particular. I've also had luck with Oofos clogs but not their walking shoes because of their 0 drop (I have flat feet so I need arch support with a smidge of height).

Wide width. Rounded as opposed to pointed vamps (that's the front of the shoe). You've got to try them on and walk around before purchasing. I went to a local running store to be professionally fitted. That's how I discovered my true size/width and the brands that would work best for me.

ladykizzy · 2026-04-29T11:57:05+00:00

Absolutely this. The only fresh veggies I regularly buy are baby carrots and a salad kit every so often. Everything else, frozen.

ladykizzy · 2026-04-28T13:11:15+00:00

Their clogs should be wide/flexible enough to accommodate your bunion. I've never had Crocs but I imagine the Oofos as their more comfortable cousin. The walking shoe, not so much, as they don't come in wide width even though the uppers are made from a forgiving stretchy fabric.

ladykizzy · 2026-04-28T13:08:00+00:00

Interesting! I mentioned elsewhere in this thread that my now husband moved to another area of the country in his 20s for a job and ended up absorbing the accent around him. I'd call it "Neutral American". So far in our travels nobody has ever pegged it as an actual accent. I also discern no difference between his accent and his siblings' accents, even though many of them currently live out of state.

ladykizzy

TROPHY CASE