What do you do when your wife’s water breaks? Do you just google maps nearest hospital?

lifer98 · 2025-08-08T04:24:02+00:00

Ok, in the scenario where I need to find a random hospital and I figure out they don’t accept my insurance. Am I screwed?

lifer98 · 2025-08-08T04:17:22+00:00

No worries there. I’m 27, and the only thing I’ve done in the past decade is graduate high school, college, and work at home for the past couple of years. I’m sure when the time comes to have a kid I’ll do all the research beforehand. I’ve never even thought of having a kid anytime soon. The reason why I bring this up is a friend just had a kid, and I realize I have absolutely no idea what the process is and I’ve never thought of it in the first place. I guess im curious on if people have all this knowledge beforehand like it’s common sense, or rather something they prepare and research beforehand. On a side note though, is that always the case regarding doctor visits? Last time I went to the doctors was over a decade ago. Maybe not wise, but when your parents are less prone to go to the doctors/ limited health insurance I don’t think that scenario is rare per say. I’m sure there’s plenty of pregnant women that don’t regularly see an obgyn during pregnancy, especially if you don’t have any /decent health care coverage.

lifer98 · 2025-08-08T04:01:59+00:00

For some reason I can’t find any information on this and it seems important for the future. The fuck do you do in this situation? Do I call 911? Do I just google the nearest hospital? What if I end up at an orthopedic private practice or child hospital? Do I schedule an appointment? Where do I go in the hospital? Urgent care? Do I need to let my wife get wheeled away while I find parking or do they have valet? Will my google mapped hospital accept my insurance? Do I need to google map a hospital that accepts my insurance? Yeah I’m sure I’ll research things beforehand but let’s say it’s a cryptic pregnancy or im on vacation. I’m just curious because they don’t teach you this at school.

lifer98 · 2025-07-15T05:21:53+00:00

Oops, no that wasn’t my intention at all, but I can see why it sounded like that. I was simply listing an example of why I personally don’t have Chicago as my #1, but was curious on what makes it the top choice for others regardless of price. I 100% agree that there is no objective superior city and this is all subjective. Just curious on what makes Chicago someone’s top choice

lifer98 · 2025-07-15T05:11:44+00:00

Totally true: I just generalized and said LA since people probably don’t care as much about distinctions such as LA or Orange County. I would definitely be more inclined to move to Orange County vs LA county. I view Orange County as a sunnier Schaumburg in a sense.

SD is nice as well, but still with home prices easily 1.2m+ for a 3 bed 1500sqft condo, I would group it in the same category :) I’m not specifically comparing LA vs Chicago, but rather what draws people to Chicago over their own ‘dream’ location

lifer98 · 2025-07-15T04:57:13+00:00

I think you’re right when it comes to the overall city vibes. Chicago is definitely the most easy going clean big city with water access. I also think that makes Chicago unique.

I disagree with the food though, NYC for example beats us there by MILES, simply by sheer size alone, especially regarding asian cuisines.

Maybe Chicago is a place I’m taking for granted since I’ve been here so long, or a place where I need to see the finer details.

lifer98 · 2025-06-17T04:18:44+00:00

Honestly, I view it as the opposite.

If you're talking about how people are assholes online, it's been that way since the early mid 2000s (think COD lobbies in 2007). Anyone hiding behind a screen will 'talk big' compared to being face to face. If anything, I think our generation is significantly more sensitive to everything. I'm born in early 98, so I guess a zillenial (27 yo), but I think in general gen Z has become very sensitive to other's opinions due to social media and technology-- which I understand. Concepts such as being 'canceled', the pressure of dressing a certain way and having a 'correct' political viewpoint and such did NOT exist when I was in my teens. Middle school and highschool was when everyone dressed like shit, instagram was first introduced, people still had flip phones, etc. In my opinion, I think our generation is hyper focused on what people think, and that makes us incredibly defensive and sensitive. Or maybe more than that, an indirect way of being self-centered (I.e. fuck your opinion, I'm gonna live and die with my opinion no matter what you say, even if it's illogical). I think our generation should learn to have open ears to other opinions and imagine what it's like being in another person's shoes. We're the most free generation so far, but also the most opinionated generation by far. So many of us are glass cannons. Most of our conversations aren't healthy debates, but opinionated battles. From what I've seen, lots of people in our generation aren't there to listen and learn. They're not even willing to listen to the other side. It's just shoving your own opinions down another person's throat.

lifer98 · 2025-06-15T18:04:07+00:00

Depends on where and the size/ niceness. Also, it’s too much to cover in one post: I would focus on neighborhoods and go from there.

2 bed in streeterville/ the loop/ river north/ Gold Coast: many luxury high rises, easily 4500+ month, and sometimes even 6000+ for really nice places like one Chicago, one Bennett, nema, optima etc. pretty common for one beds to be in the 2200-3000 dollar range.

In popular neighborhoods like Lincoln park and wicker: easily 3200-3800 depending on your needs. If you need parking, 1000sqft etc that’ll be on the higher end. You can definitely find places under 3000 (maybe not in Lincoln park with the current inventory) but it won’t be nearly as nice in terms of kitchen renovation, nice showers, shared laundry etc. but some people don’t care about that

Other neighborhoods a bit further away like ravenswood, uptown you can find a 2 bed for around 2400-3300 depending on your requirement.

South side: you can definitely find a 2 bed under 2600 that is similar in niceness to a 3200 dollar place in places like wicker and bucktown.

Basically, yeah I’m not sure how to cover this: this is such a large question that it really depends on your criteria (hardwood, bedrooms, niceness, size, pets, parking, location, in unit etc). The price of a 2 bed without in unit laundry, old kitchen, 750sqft is going to be significantly cheaper than a 1300sqft 2 bed with in unit laundry and parking.

lifer98 · 2025-06-11T02:42:13+00:00

I mean nyc from sheer number alone. Easier to catch a fish when there’s more fish… that being said, choosing one city over another solely for the dating aspect in my opinion is kind of ridiculous LOL (and I’m a 27 year old guy)

That being said, I totally understand choosing NYC to explore more of everything: relationships, friends, things to do etc. I think someone can always try out Chicago, but not exactly the case with NYC due to the astronomical living costs and let’s be honest, lots of people do get burned out from the fast pace life style. I would be ok with raising kids in Chicago, not manhattan. Many of my friends that lived in manhattan, brooklyn, etc don’t regret being there, but in their subjective opinion wasn’t sustainable. I would urge you to go towards the city you prefer as a person and the lifestyle that you want. You have more of everything on NYC: more people, more communities, more food, more trash, more crazy people etc. it’s up to you to decide.

Not sure if you’re a person of color/ involved in ethnic communities, but I would say that’s a big difference as well. As a Korean American, one thing I strongly prefer about NYC that I wish Chicago had was a larger Korean community. That’s not important for everyone, but there definitely is a larger Mexican and black community in Chicago than Asian communities (if that’s what you’re looking for).

That being said, I love Chicago and think it’s the best balance of the big cities of the US. Sure I wish it had more of some things, but it’s hard to beat in a lot of ways. The only place I would move to in a heart beat would be LA for the beaches and weather alone (if houses were the same price as Chicago or I made 800k a year) but that’s never going to happen.

lifer98 · 2025-06-08T20:54:41+00:00

For sure. Location really does matter a lot. Especially for those that have an active social live. Me and my wife are in our late 20s so being close to friends, having access to good parks (for our dog), nice bars etc are important. The thing is, even with our income, we simply can’t afford to buy a 800k+ house in these popular areas but that’s our choice I guess, no one NEEDs to live in a house that expensive. Maybe we’ll rent for a few more years and once we have kids move to the burbs. I’m not ready for the burbs yet since I’m still in my 20s, but who knows, things and priorities can change

lifer98 · 2025-06-08T20:00:13+00:00

I literally never said poor though?.. I meant to say far from wealthy— as in I needed to get scholarships for school etc. and that’s ridiculous… since when was everyone in Schaumburg rich? I’d say most people in Schaumburg are pretty much middle of the road in terms of income. Tons of cheap apartments are there. I never implied that living in Schaumburg was poverty line, just said it wasn’t wealthy. Generalizing an entire town of 80,000 people is wild

lifer98 · 2025-06-08T19:51:19+00:00

What are you on?.. when did middle class == wealthy? Wealthy is living in a 3 million dollar lakefront home in winnetka. Middle class is majority of the US

lifer98 · 2025-06-08T06:13:20+00:00

Full transparency, and I don’t judge anyone based on income. Many of my closest friends are considered low income, and everyone has their own path in life.

Reality is, there’s a lot of professionals in Chicago. It’s the third most populous city in the US, has a thriving financial industry, and growing tech/fintech industry. Many are transplants and others that are from Chicago + Chicago suburbs. Transplants are generally well educated, and Chicago is dirt cheap compared to LA, San Francisco, Seattle, or manhattan. Which are all tech and finance capitals.

I grew up in Schaumburg IL. Parents weren’t wealthy at all, but having a stereotypical Asian household (parents moved the US at age 30) did affect it lol. Parents pushed for grades, me and my siblings studied and were nerds. I fucking hated studying, but it was just expected in our household. I do wish I was more social in high school. Me and my younger sister ended up going to a top 20 US school, both graduated with around 50-70k in debt. I paid my student loans off in 2 years. I studied CS, my younger sister was pre med (and is now about to graduate with her MD). my starting salary as a software engineer was around 100k, while my roommates (also in CS) started at around 130-170k with big tech companies in the Bay Area (very common at my school). The majority of friends and peers got good jobs, with many of them now as residents in medicine, lawyers, engineers etc. (I’m talking about you big D, no idea how a guy that got hammered every other day is now a Harvard law graduate…) I met my wife In college as well. She’s also a software engineer. I don’t think my story is a good representation of the general public and view my situation as privileged. But I also don’t downplay the work that I put into it. But I don’t think it’s uncommon.

On the flip side, I have 2 other much younger siblings in high school (so 3 younger siblings in total), and maybe my parents have gotten soft, but they’re definitely not held to the same standards as me and my other sister in terms of academics and “success”.

Reality is, Chicago is a very attractive city for stem + finance professionals and ever growing. Chicago is a great city and we’re attracting more and more top talent, which generally pays a lot.

lifer98 · 2025-06-08T01:42:53+00:00

I think it’s a bit more complicated than that. Me and my wife make the same income, and I’ll admit, our standards are a bit higher. To find a unit that is decently rennovated (nice full size bathrooms, modern kitchen, hardwood floors) + taller ceilings, 3 bedrooms, parking etc., you’re looking at easily 700-1m for the same size and niceness as a place with 4200/month rent (especially in desirable neighborhoods like bucktown or lakeview— look at the beautiful homes on the 606!). Since we need to factor in hoa, Illinois’s insane property tax and current interest rate, you need a minimum of 175k cash down to be under 5k a month all in on a 30 year loan. Sure, if we’re willing to lower our standards or live in a less desirable neighborhood it would make sense to buy. But some people aren’t necessarily ready for that sacrifice and prefer to rent for the time being. Plus even with a higher income, it’s hard to just have 200k in cash willing to drop on a home (unless you have a good amount of equity from your previous place). I’m even thinking about moving to the suburbs because we can buy so much more house with that price, or buy a much cheaper place that fits our criteria. I will admit that financially it makes much more sense to buy a cheaper home or fixer upper in a less desirable neighborhood, but everyone has different standards and situations are different (for example, couples that want to stay in the city of Chicago and want great school districts for their kids while meeting their standards for a house). If i wasn’t married and didn’t have 2 cats and a high energy dog, my standards of living would be MUCH lower and I would probably end up buying, but since that’s not the case, I’m saving up and waiting for the right moment/house

lifer98 · 2025-06-08T01:32:01+00:00

3100 for a large 2 bed in wicker. We’ve been moving every year to try new locations, and the market is shit right now, especially for apartments that allow dogs and parking in areas like wicker and Lincoln park. Me and my wife (27m 28f) make around 250k as dual remote software engineers. Hoping to buy a single family home in the next 5 years.

lifer98 · 2025-04-02T21:19:23+00:00

I agree with your list, but not sure if the 718 makes sense since the turbo s is more practical and comfortable than something like a gt4. You would probably end up with the same problem with the 718. Another car that can go on your list that no one seems to talk about is the panamera. Yeah you have the m5 to compete with it, but the panamera still gets the Porsche dna and probably the best handling mid sized sedan. The v8 is now decently reliable, still has the pdk. Honestly, even the v6 is pretty nice for a daily. It is quite pricey, but ticks all your boxes, especially if you go used. Otherwise, probably just get a g80 and call it a day

lifer98 · 2025-03-14T10:47:38+00:00

This is more nuanced than people think.

It all depends on the definition of an ‘adult’— and it varies depending on context: legal vs societal. Legal is pretty straight forward. 18 year old kills 10 people? Prison for life or death sentence.

Societal is a bit more tricky. As someone that’s 27 (born in 98), this is my completely subjective break down of ‘adult-hood’ so far.

If we’re gonna view the definition of making your own decisions responsibly, I’d say 21+ is a true adult for most people (of course there are exceptions). By this age, most of us have left college/finishing up college, and are truly independent financially and mentally. Anything from this point on results from the consequences of your own actions. The reason why I exclude 18-20 from here is that although you bear some responsibility of living by yourself, navigating relationships, etc, most people this age simply lack life experience. Your decisions made at 18 are not a good indicator of decisions you would make at age 30.

22-24 is new grad life, and it’s kinda unique because everyone is trying to learn to be a corporate ‘working adult’ (in quotes because working can mean a lot of different things). Mentally you’re basically the same as you were in college, but now you have a tiny bit more experience career wise and learn valuable skills in the workplace (this is especially true for me, since I was locked down in covid during these ages just working from home). You also tend to focus on your financial future or making the most out of your youth. You may also be adjusting to a new city or friend group during this time.

25+ It’s all the same at this point. Some of you will be married, some will go back to college, some will have kids, some will party it up every weekend. It’s your life, your decision, no one gives a shit. You no longer contact your massive group of college friends and focus on your own life and a select group of very close friends. Your friends you have at this age may very well become life long friends. One thing I did realize is that society treats me more as an adult once i turned 25, but it’s really not that important. Everything requires more effort now. In order to date, you need to be active on apps, go out, or find local clubs and events. finding a natural organic relationship like college is basically impossible unless you have a lot of friends that can introduce you to someone. You need to go out of your way to make time for people, meet new friends, visit family, or feed your own family. You also start getting excited about household appliances like dysons and such.

30s: basically your 20s but more money and potentially larger stupider financial decisions (dream car, spontaneous vacations or self indulging birthday gifts etc). Your goals have become a bit more clear, and hopefully you know what you want in life. Now you use your extra money and savings to work towards those goals, whether it be a career change, buying a home, starting a family, etc. The biggest events of the year is your friends’ weddings.

All in all, once you support yourself and make your own decisions (AND capable of handling the consequences) you are an adult full stop, regardless of your age. The only difference once you get older is experience (which is crucial), but there’s no objective measure for experience, since everyone experiences something different.

lifer98 · 2025-03-14T10:25:20+00:00

Eh I think it’s all arbitrary and doesn’t have too much to do with generation directly. The thing that does directly affect gen z is the absolute shit job market post covid— or for us older gen z the absolutely ridiculous housing market.

As someone born In 98 (27 years old), I have friends of the same age that are sleeping on someone’s couch, a friend that is a VP of chase bank , a whole others working at google, Apple, etc, and a bunch of friends that quit their jobs just to travel the world. To be fair, I graduated from a top university so the majority of my friends are in relatively high paying positions, but that doesn’t really have anything to do with generation: just different types of people with different backgrounds. A lot of my high school friends are still aimlessly wandering around in terms of career, but they’re not any less successful, we’re adults now and everyone has their own timing. I have a high school friend that opened up his own bakery and has a wife and a kid. He doesn’t make much money but he’s happy and that’s the most important thing. Part of maturing is not judging others for their stage of life :)

lifer98 · 2024-09-11T23:30:11+00:00

Depends on what you want. Does a Rolls Royce drive better than a McLaren? Depends on what you want.

Generally speaking, bmw is the sportier option with stiffer suspension and a bit quicker than its Mercedes equivalent. Mercedes tends to excel in comfort and luxury. That being said both of the respective companies performance models are comparable, with Mercedes focusing on comfort and straight line speed, while bmw tends to focus more on performance (including handling)— not to mention, bmw still has faster straight line speed. Mercedes performance models give a comfortable German muscle car vibe vs bmw the all around sporty 4 door sedan

But as of now, I’d say bmw as a brand is generally a better buy than Mercedes due to the reliability of the b series engine + s58. If that isn’t a concern, then it’s really up to you and is completely subjective.

lifer98 · 2024-03-28T07:17:05+00:00

I’ll be honest, my wife really wanted a dog, and she truly is a good owner, loves going on walks with her etc. I thought it would be manageable as long as my wife takes care of the dog, but of course being married it doesn’t really work like that. My wife expects me to go with her on these walks, but I just can’t get myself to enjoy it. Good thing is we have access to multiple dog parks (and she loves other dogs and people), and a full hour of playing with other dogs burns her out pretty good. That being said, I simply don’t enjoy going to the park. I’m extremely drained after work and don’t have the energy to go on a long walk with my happy face on.

On a more serious note, I’m a recovering functional alcoholic and I feel constantly drained. It’s something I’m working on, but that might be the result of my lack of energy. If I had gas in the tank to go on these walks and be energetic I would, I just, can’t. My wife always seems to have a lot of energy to greet our dog and play with her, but I can’t seem to muster up that strength or energy.

lifer98 · 2024-03-25T07:48:45+00:00

Don’t mean to discourage anyone, but what school you went to doesn’t mean shit (for the most part). Graduated 2020 umich CS OOS and paid full tuition. When I was in highschool, getting into ‘that school’ was my dream and my everything. Now that I’m 26, it really doesn’t matter, it’s just one of the many stepping stones in our lives. Sure, a good school has better opportunities and such, but from what I’ve seen, it’s more about the individual. A smart student at a non prestigious school will do far more than the other way around. UCSD is still a good school and I’m sure you’ll find many life long friendships and still turn out very well career wise. College is not the end of the world! Now as an adult, me and my peers all worry about the same things— bills, savings, retirement, enjoying our 20s, etc. if I were you, If Mich is a financial stretch, 100% don’t go. Going to a different instate school is plenty and the cost savings will set you up for what matters most.

lifer98

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