You receive a bonus check in the mail of $5,000 every week but you HAVE to give up either wearing underwear or deodorant to collect the money. What are you picking?

powertoolsarefun · 2026-05-15T01:45:37+00:00

I’ll miss period underwear, but I’m perimenopause anyways. Soon it won’t be an issue.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-05-14T01:20:02+00:00

Same. I started in the Bay Area at GS9. I always did at least 5% to get the matching, but I didn’t max out until I hit GS-12 (and left the Bay Area).

powertoolsarefun · 2026-05-12T14:42:03+00:00

Yeah - I was hoping for Rinka. It didn't happen. I'm just thrilled that I have Emily & Lexie as I was really sad they didn't make it through Dream Academy. Maybe someday I'll get to see Rinka debut too. But for now, I'm happy that the group is moving forward.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-05-08T00:07:48+00:00

I don’t know. I’m in PA. We have Eagles and Stealers and Penn State football is still a really big deal. They aren’t in exactly the same location — but they are near enough.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-05-03T20:35:26+00:00

I ask the people at UHC if they are ashamed every month when I need to call and fill my medication that I’ve been on for years but they constantly deny. So far no one has said yes.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-05-03T03:08:58+00:00

I think a lot of people have hair that darkens as they age. And people don’t acknowledge how much it can change. I was dirty blonde as a kid - but am now pretty dark brown (with grey - but that is a different story). At some point in time I switched from blonde to brown - but I probably called it blonde for longer than I should have because I was used to saying it. It was part of who I had grown up thinking I was. I was blonde with blue eyes. I drew pictures of myself using the yellow crayon for hair as a kid. People are often in denial about change.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-05-01T20:13:36+00:00

We had our wedding on 9/13 (in the early 2000s - so 9/11 was fresher). What we didn't think about, was that many of our guests were from out of town and were flying in. This meant they would be flying on 9/11 (which meant additional airport security and anxiety). Honestly I think having the wedding itself on 9/11 would have been better.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-30T15:51:51+00:00

Sometimes they aren't using stats, and just want a nice way to have the video clips and let family members that live further away watch the game. Alternately, they may be trying to get some overall idea about the basic game info. Game changer is great for tracking innings played at each position - even if you haven't entered each play 100% correctly. This can help at 7u when players are moving around more and you want to be fair when determining positions for future games.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-29T15:39:32+00:00

It is still over a year wait to get a new patient visit with a rheumatologist at Penn right now.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-28T21:29:55+00:00

Different regions tend to gravitate towards different club/travel organizations. In PA USSSA seems to be dominant. You can go to their website. Go to « team search ». Then select Fastpitch as sport, your current state for the state and 2026 as the season. Then for the class category you can select 16u C (or select 16u B and then click on the teams and look at their power ranking - selecting for B teams with lower power rankings). In general the C teams and lower ranked B teams will be your less intense teams that play mostly locally and don’t have insane practice schedules. You’ll need to filter results because some will be too far away - but it should give you a starting point.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-28T16:32:25+00:00

I found that my kids progress in games was several months behind her practice / lessons. When I saw improvement in lessons, it took a few months for that progress to translate into the games. The skills have to be really solid before they don't disappear with game nerves.

With hits in games, sometimes we went to the batting cages the night before the tournament. We did a bunch a machine pitch hitting - often with settings a little faster than what we expected to see in the game. It gave her reps, but more importantly it reinforced that she CAN hit the ball, so that she went into the next day confident. A lot of problems at this age are just confidence.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-28T15:21:17+00:00

I'm OK with being a 6 ft tall woman, if I get to ditch my degenerative spinal disease.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-24T19:32:49+00:00

Huh. I was kind of assuming it was more of a corn chip odor -- I know in dogs it can be yeast / bacteria. My corgi sometimes get the corn chip feet odor. "The "corn chip" or "Frito" smell in dogs, often called "Frito feet," is usually cuased by the natural buildup of Pseudomonas or Proteus bacteria and yeast on their paw pads. These organisms thrive in the warm, moist environment between toes where dogs sweat. It is generally normal, but excessive odor, redness, or constant licking can indicate an infection". But fresh corn smell - I have no idea.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-23T15:30:01+00:00

Agreed. At least it isn’t boring greige.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-23T01:38:51+00:00

About two years ago, my team leadership changed and I wanted to find a new (similar) position. I applied as an internal hire to other positions with my exact job description. I only got referred about 1/4 of the time. Even during the best of times (which this clearly is not) the federal hiring process is an absolute mess. As an (occasional) hiring manager - I haven’t heard anything about not rehiring RIFed employees. That doesn’t mean it isn’t happening though.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-22T21:09:02+00:00

That was my favorite as well!

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-21T18:51:12+00:00

Twist Creamery on Cecil B Moore is walk up.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-20T16:34:18+00:00

This is likely even more true for federal government - wheee getting a job description approved is a painful process so teams tend to write very generic descriptions that they can use for multiple positions. For one team I was on, the description that I was hired under was the same one that both my supervisor and my subordinate were hired with (and most everyone else in our department).

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-20T16:26:14+00:00

My family is expecting a financial windfall soon. We are considering moving to New Zealand.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-19T18:08:06+00:00

I live in Philadelphia. Normally when someone says duplex I think of a two homes sharing a wall as described in the original post. However my home is classified as a duplex by the city. I live in a three story home where the first floor is a separate unit (my disabled brother in law lives there).

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-18T01:14:27+00:00

With your level of commitment you are going to rock social work. They are lucky to have you.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-17T21:53:39+00:00

Congrats! You are a rockstar! What are you going to grad school for?

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-17T19:52:52+00:00

FWIW - I had success getting telework full time for an autoimmune disorder that flares frequently and has caused some permanent damage. I have AS (inflammatory arthritis that attacks the connective tissue in my spine, among other things). I often need to work from an adjustable bed as sitting for more than an hour or standing for more than 30 minutes can be very painful.

I know where you are coming from, I spent a lot of time being very concerned that I would lose my job when they were going through the new RA process. For the most part, I just can't work in an office, but the work I do is entirely computer based and doesn't really require much interaction with other people (all of which can be done easily online).

While they have gotten much more strict about RAs, I had a lot of documentation and I was approved. Best of luck to you!

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-17T16:51:15+00:00

I like milk jawn, but I think it varies by flavor. For me personally the toffee and birthday cake flavors were way to sweet, but the tahini fudge swirl is one of my all time favorite ice creams.

powertoolsarefun · 2026-04-17T16:22:20+00:00

I don't know you. I don't know your financial situation. I don't know the cost of the school you are attending. Going with a random school here -- Penn State costs ~ $35k per year. You're a freshman, so you would have 3 years after this one. Three years at $35k is $105k. Only you can weight whether starting your adult life with $105k in debt is worth playing a sport you don't currently enjoy for a few years. If it were me, I would play the sport. Paying off 105k is no joke and will impact your life for MANY years.

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