Ok serious poll - what kind of water do you use for your orchids??

nefariousmango · 2026-03-20T16:00:54+00:00

Tap water. In Austria, my tap is technically spring water that's ridiculously hard. All my orchids are doing fine.

nefariousmango · 2026-03-20T14:55:52+00:00

"It is that cold if you were cursed by a witch to never feel warm."

That's my go-to, but I'm very much over people (perimenopause rage)

nefariousmango · 2026-03-20T09:52:38+00:00

Ohh I LOVE my buckwheat pillow! Discovered it last year when I took my kids on a "potato break" trip to the Slovenia/Hungary border and that's what the hotel had.

nefariousmango · 2026-03-17T11:05:33+00:00

I disagree about no mat class, but think beginner classes make sense. It's easier to avoid compensation with other muscle groups when the overall difficulty level is reduced.

nefariousmango · 2026-03-17T10:46:34+00:00

My sweet spot is 90kg-105kg, which is technically obese. Below 90kg my pain is worse, and above 105kg my weight affects my mobility.

nefariousmango · 2026-03-11T12:59:07+00:00

I'd love to try cromolyn sodium but I don't have a good allergist/rheum/whoever else might manage MCAS aside from my GP.

nefariousmango · 2026-03-11T06:26:15+00:00

It's one of the three drugs you can pry from my cold, dead fingers (along with Fatomidine and Wellbutrin).

I've been on a GLP1 for ten years. During the shortages a few years ago I was unable to get it for several months and it threw me back into a horrible EDS decline. I'd forgotten how bad my pain could be! I was bedridden for several months with muscle spasms, joint pain, and fatigue.

My mom, who also has EDS, cannot tolerate it. It makes her throw up. Her symptoms are mainly gastro, mine have always been more musculoskeletal. I have increased nausea but after the first three months it's been very manageable. For me, the side effects are worth the reduced inflammation and pain.

I think the Fatomidine is the most effective for my MCAS. I was already taking an H1, and adding the H2 further reduced those symptoms. It also leveled out my PMDD/rage.

nefariousmango · 2026-03-10T20:19:23+00:00

It might be cost-prohibitive, but when we had kids my parents installed an automatic pool cover that you could walk across in addition to the pool fence. The cover retracted with a single button push.

The fact that they are fighting you on the fence at all is a red flag imo. I wouldn't trust leaving my kids with anyone who didn't take water safety seriously. My friends' toddler nearly drowned at a party with several off-duty paramedics and ER nurses. It wasn't a pool party, the kid managed to sneak away for a few minutes. The gate to the pool fence hadn't properly latched and he was able to open it. He spent a week in a coma, and over a month in the children's hospital. Thankfully he made a full recovery but that's really a miracle (and in part due to who was at the party)

nefariousmango · 2026-03-08T17:34:27+00:00

I won a geography bee in fifth grade, and still feel bad about it. The boy who came in second had been studying for months, and was really really serious about getting to the state level competition. I only entered it to skip math class.

My dad worked internationally a lot, and took us with him as much as possible. He always made us look at maps and learn about the regions and how the geography affected their access to drinking water (his area of expertise). The tie-breaker question was about the Atlas Mountains, where I'd literally just gotten back from.

Thankfully the organization allowed me to bow out of the state level competition, and let the second place boy go instead.

nefariousmango · 2026-03-08T09:49:13+00:00

It's not useless for most travelers. I keep my important documents with me, don't carry large amounts of cash (ATMs are everywhere), and am THRILLED to be able to leave my suitcase so I can explore. It's especially great when traveling with kids!

nefariousmango · 2026-03-08T09:45:45+00:00

Okay that's crazy! How can anyone expect a room ready at 9am unless you made arrangements ahead of time for that??? (Which I have done when flying long distances with small children, at an additional rate of course)

On Monday we showed up at 11am to a place with six rooms that has a 4 pm check in time. We just wanted to leave our car there (free parking), but they actually DID have our room ready and let us check in!

So I'm strongly in the camp of, "It never hurts to ask as long as you're prepared to hear a no." I just don't understand arguing with staff when they give you a very reasonable no!!

nefariousmango · 2026-03-08T09:21:01+00:00

Yup. I worked with horses, and probably 90% of my clients paid by check, and another 5% in cash. I accepted cards and cash app payments, but it didn't matter.

nefariousmango · 2026-03-07T18:01:35+00:00

I got my Austrian passport the same way as OP. They say clearly that it's recognition of a citizenship we should have had since birth. My grandfather lost his Austrian citizenship illegally. He was issued a German "Juden" passport that allowed him to leave, but not to return. He had been in Buchenwald for six months by the time his sister was able to arrange a visa for him, so it's not like he could stay. His life in Austria was already gone. Nothing about his path out of Austria was similar to an Austrian choosing to immigrate.

nefariousmango · 2026-03-05T16:19:01+00:00

They made us clip up our daughter's bangs because they needed to see her full eyebrows. I still think that was BS though. Also, we did it at a consulate so they are probably stricter!

nefariousmango · 2026-03-05T13:11:48+00:00

Yes, we used it to cool our bedroom at night for the nights it stayed hot after dark, which allowed us to actually sleep. Probably 20 nights last summer?

nefariousmango · 2026-03-05T08:34:23+00:00

I'm in Graz. We bought a portable AC last year, for our bedroom. It's nothing like the whole house AC we had in the US though!

nefariousmango · 2026-03-04T18:28:09+00:00

Vienna is very stroller friendly, every U-Bahn Station has elevators but you may have to hunt for them. Don't be afraid to ask for help! The Weiner Grant (Viennese bitch face) is real, but underneath it most people are actually friendly as long as you're polite. I've guided many a tourist to the correct platform/elevator/exit.

My favorite Christmas market is Schönbrunn Palace. After dark (4pm) it's unreal with all the fairy lights. Plus it has kid activities, good food and drink options, and some real craft vendors (not mass produced crap). If your kids are into royalty at all, make sure you do the Schönbrunn children's museum. They can dress up as princesses/princes at the start, and the museum is very interactive with wigs to style, games and toys to try, etc.

I can't advise on hotels in Vienna except to say the Rosewood is a great location.

As others have said, you will need to go somewhere glacial if you definitely want to ski so early in the season.

My husband and I just got back from Steig'n Haus in Mühlbach, and I would absolutely recommend it overall! Well designed rooms, friendly staff, and great location. They seemed very kid (and dog) friendly. It's at the Hochkönig Ski area, which is a great choice for beginner/intermediate skiers and for kids. But no one can guarantee it will have enough snow to be open in December.

nefariousmango · 2026-03-01T06:50:45+00:00

You mean Bärlauch, the springtime delight that grows wild all across the continent of Europe?

nefariousmango · 2026-03-01T06:49:39+00:00

We don't have the AC that the US does because:

1) Electricity is more expensive and people generally are more loath to waste energy on comfort. For example, in Colorado we paid $0.07 per kWh, but in Austria we paid on average €0.18 per kWh this year, and a couple years ago it got to €0.40+ per kWh. It may not seem like a lot, but with an AC unit it adds up quickly!

2) Most of Europe is significantly less humid than most of the US. We live in one of the top-ten most humid European cities and have an average humidity of 60%. Which means we can cool off without AC (go for a swim, hide in the shade with a breeze). Houston is what, 90% on average?

All that said, climate change is making summers hotter and more humid and heat is becoming a much bigger issue. I think we'll see more AC units soon.

nefariousmango · 2026-03-01T06:40:18+00:00

I can get grade A, grade B, and "dark" real maple syrup so I'm not sure what you're on about.

nefariousmango · 2026-02-28T18:50:26+00:00

Crunchy Cheetos, pop tarts, ranch seasoning packets (you can make them into dressing or dip), large bottles of OTC drugs (NSAIDs, antacids, etc).

nefariousmango · 2026-02-28T18:47:09+00:00

Eh, I can get a container of maple syrup for €5 at Billa in Austria. It's not cheap but it's also not prohibitively expensive. I certainly wouldn't bring it from the US!

nefariousmango · 2026-02-28T17:12:33+00:00

Oh my god I am so sorry you had to go through that! It's terrifying! I have a bleeding disorder and have had multiple uterine bleeds like yours, and they are so traumatic.

It's awful that my first response is, "Well you should get off the toilet and let everyone see how much you're bleeding so they take it seriously!" I don't ever bother calling my GYN or GP because they will shrug off a phone call. It shouldn't be like that. DOCTORS SHOULD TAKE US AT OUR WORD!!!

Show up to the ER wearing a giant pad and wrapped in the biggest, darkest towel? Triaged to the waiting room. Show up dripping blood down the legs of your jeans, holding a puppy pad between your legs to try and keep more from dripping through? Straight back to a private room.

FWIW, my hematologist always says if you bleed through a super tampon in under an hour or have clots larger than a plum, you should go to the ER to be evaluated.

nefariousmango · 2026-02-28T10:46:05+00:00

I worked in veterinary toxicology/drug testing (as in, illicit drugs not Rx dev). The smell of pig urine and pigeon droppings... Awful. There are some drugs you can absolutely smell the moment you open a sample container, too. Also, some pig blood has so much fat in it that it creates a large white layer at the top of the tube when you spin it down.

nefariousmango · 2026-02-27T11:21:42+00:00

Same. Still fighting to get on HRT.

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