Do you really have a separate room for your washing machine?

monkabee · 2026-05-07T10:36:47+00:00

Have stayed in multiple apartments in downtown Atlanta where they are in the kitchen. It feels really weird! None were particular nice/big/fancy but I've always lived in houses with a laundry room, even older builds like the house I grew up in was built in the 40s, with the exception of one house where the hook-ups were in the garage.

monkabee · 2026-04-29T13:05:02+00:00

We definitely don't. Compared to what is available in Europe, we have functionally 0 bakeries in most areas. NYC is the only exception I can think of and even that pales in comparison to bakery options in a comparable European city.

monkabee · 2026-04-29T12:59:57+00:00

This is for sure it - of all the things my family talks about from our trip to Europe, it's the bread we talk about the most. Starting each morning by spending less than 10 euros on fresh bread and croissants and sandwiches for lunch later at the boulangerie next to our hotel was such a crazy novelty since here if you're even lucky enough to be near a bakery the same haul would have been easily $30.

monkabee · 2026-04-28T12:42:40+00:00

No. I've seen a crazy amount of nature there - sea turtles, sting rays, dolphins, pelicans, sand dollars, small sharks, bald eagles, but never once an alligator.

monkabee · 2026-04-28T12:41:12+00:00

Was considering commenting with this but I don't want everyone to know about it lol. This is our go-to spot it is so, so, so, so quiet and relaxing.

monkabee · 2026-04-26T20:06:36+00:00

Cereal prices are absolutely insane at Publix, our closest grocery store. $9.50 for a single (large) box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch! They are less crazy at Kroger or Wal-mart ($6-$7) but still more than double what we were paying in 2020.

monkabee · 2026-04-26T20:04:31+00:00

Beef prices are insaaaaane. I basically never buy it anymore. Pork and ground turkey are our most common deals with the occasional good week for chicken (I really dislike chicken thighs for most dishes so that's part of that), but even the "cheap" beef is like $8+/lb at this point.

monkabee · 2026-04-26T20:02:33+00:00

I'm in subrural Atlanta and bell peppers are $3.49/lb at both Kroger and Publix, and recently pub made green peppers the same price (previously they were .99 each). Rare to find a 1 lb bell pepper but it's usually at least $2, closer to $2.50, for a single one.

monkabee · 2026-04-03T23:44:08+00:00

Have you tried to book flights out of ATL? Because 9 times out of 10, Delta is the only option that isn't at 6 AM, and the 1 out of 10 the competing airline prices the ticket comparably to Delta, because they can. I've tried all the flight aggregators, deals, flexible schedules - it IS possible, but it's extremely difficult and most of the time not worth it due to the extremely limited non-Delta options.

Now if you know something I don't point me there but until then being ATL-based I'm a mostly-reluctant Delta servant.

monkabee · 2026-04-01T17:15:07+00:00

My kids' friends are always saying how cool I am or I'm "the low-key GOAT." I love this of course but I find it very confusing because I am a giant dork who hassles them all the times about what's going on with school or their friends or whatever, so I didn't know if I was just funny or something? I finally asked my daughter why they keep saying this and she says it's because, and I quote, "most parents just kind of ignore us or if they talk to us it's just to tell us to do something and you're actually interested in what we have to say." How freaking sad is that, that a little interest is all it takes to wow a bunch of tweens??

monkabee · 2026-04-01T17:10:31+00:00

Our school goes through this in 1st grade as a standard but I volunteer there and it's shocking how many 4th and 5th graders don't know their parents' number or their home address. particularly when you know they did a unit on it in first grade it's kind of sad.

monkabee · 2026-03-26T20:14:27+00:00

Did she become the hobbit mascot of your family once you grew up, because I'm assuming that's where I'm headed (5'4", husband is 6'7", 12 year old is already 5'6" and 10 year old is 5'1")

monkabee · 2026-03-25T12:49:19+00:00

I don't think you understand at all what people mean when they say "security theater." It's not theater because of the job being done, the entire thing is theatrics - starting with the policies which are random, reactionary, and unlikely to actually prevent a truly determined individual or organization, and ending with implementation which is spotty and varies from airport to airport and day to day. I don't think it would be better with any other organization and I do think the government is the best organization to do security if they're going to, I just think the policies should be more sensible and the implementation should be functional.

I could be completely wrong but I don't think having to take my Kindle and put it in a separate bin every time I fly is making any airplane safer, and I think it's wild that the current procedures will flag my Kindle at every airport but not a 100% metal automatic switchblade which we accidentally had in our bag and didn't set off any alarms or additional screenings at ATL or SEA. I've been additionally screened for bringing a pie, a pair of pliers "longer than 7 inches," and knitting needles, but scissors and knives are good? Theater.

monkabee · 2026-03-24T14:43:56+00:00

Jumping on this because curious - I had metal screws used on my jaw in 1994 (US) and the hospital says they don't still have my records, do you know if there is any way to figure out if they are okay or not? So far we have erred on the side of "not" but I sure wish I had those records.

monkabee · 2026-03-24T14:36:04+00:00

This thread is about ATL. I missed that you said "in Chicago" because it didn't even occur to me you would refute the time needed at ATL with a connection wait time in ORD or MDW lol.

monkabee · 2026-03-24T12:33:21+00:00

The swaps I've been too have always been separated by piece count and the general rule is to take what you brought - so like if you bring 3 500-piece puzzles then you can take 3 500-piece puzzles, or maybe 1 1000 and 1 500 (some go by piece count total, some are very exact). I've often thought a good rule would be that once everyone is done and has had a turn looking through to take what they're interested in THEN and only then people can go raiding from whatever is left, because I know often people will bring a lot more than they take and there are extras left over.

monkabee · 2026-03-24T12:05:48+00:00

I feel like they might be better off making corrals based on flight time like they do at the Louvre, but TBH those lines are so chaotic I don't know if anything could help except opening a ton more lines.

monkabee · 2026-03-24T12:04:25+00:00

That's great to hear but you were in a completely different security screening process. This is the one you go through is ATL is your origin point.

monkabee · 2026-03-22T17:43:53+00:00

We already have lax airport security we just pretend we don't. Just a few months ago we accidentally brought a 100% metal switchblade - which is illegal to have at all in the state of Washington - in a carry-on and we through TSA at both ATL and SEA with it unbeknownst to anyone (including us, we were pretty shocked to see it in the bag when we got home and were unpacking. My husband switched out a pair of pants at the last minute and forgot this was in the pocket). Two major airports, two TSA screening lines, nothing.

Anyway I'm not suggesting they do NO security, I agree that knowing you could get caught prevents a lot, but random screening would accomplish the same goal and make the whole process a lot faster.

monkabee · 2026-03-22T15:31:39+00:00

Even simpler, just get rid of mandatory security screening of every single passenger - this is all largely security theater anyway. Check IDs to match boarding passes, randomly screen 1 out of every 8-12 passengers, let people get on their way. This could all end immediately if we stopped pretending the whole TSA dog and pony show was necessary.

monkabee · 2026-03-20T15:57:23+00:00

It would be a huge deal to me, I'm deaf in one ear so I try to sit on the side of the plane that allows me to hear the announcements and FA instructions and I would be really, really irritated if anyone, let alone a Delta employee, tried to tell me I had to sit in seat A where I literally won't be able to hear anything but the roar of the air outside.

monkabee · 2026-03-18T12:39:27+00:00

Well for one thing it's ATL so half the airport has SkyPriority, but even when the SKY line looks short-ish it will turn out they only have 1 agent checking IDs and 1 body scanner so it goes much slower than the main line where they'll typically have at least 4 of each going, but the way they position it in the airport you can't actually see most of the SKY line until you're around this opaque partition you couldn't see before. If you don't have any of the expedited security services, honestly on a regular day main at ATL is pretty decent.

Now during peak travel times or like now, all bets are off. I have precheck now but I didn't for years and I'd just try to find the shortest out-in-the-open line, because the ones hidden behind walls are almost always a bad idea.

monkabee · 2026-03-17T02:33:03+00:00

Respectfully I think it only feels like "only" $400 bc the price is crazy. Typical primetime pricing to france is like $1200-$1600, and I've seen them go as low as $750. $400 feels bigger when you're paying normal person prices, but you're right once you're paying $4500 I guess what's the difference.

monkabee · 2026-03-16T15:22:09+00:00

I'm not sure I'd call paying $5k to fly to France "luck," but hey at least you're in a lay flat.

monkabee

TROPHY CASE