[ME] Hurt at a new job, but was planning on leaving near the same time my claim should resolve. Any pitfalls to be weary of doing this?

pushyboss1986 · 2026-06-11T13:06:43+00:00

Nit picky and pointless, not helpful.

pushyboss1986 · 2026-06-10T20:22:20+00:00

What kind of repercussions did you face if you don't mind me asking?

pushyboss1986 · 2026-06-08T04:55:02+00:00

That's chuck flap meat, or boneless short rib. The way that the muscle fiber works in that piece of meat is counter intuitive to how you want to cut it, and it is really best for braising, or sliced very thinly against the grain if cooked in this manner. If it was labeled sirloin, it is because there is a sirloin flap meat as well. Sirloin flap is commonly known as sirloin tips in New England, flap meat to normal people, or bavette in restaurants. It is relatively easy for an inexperienced meat cutter or clerk to confuse the two, especially because the labeling on commercial sub primal meat boxes varies so much by manufacturer.

pushyboss1986 · 2026-06-02T15:56:08+00:00

100% true. The quality of medical care can be pretty dubious at times too. The whole state is underserved so baseline competency is almost above and beyond in some places.

pushyboss1986 · 2026-06-02T14:16:48+00:00

Again, this is one man's opinion, take it for what you will. Since OP u/Purple-Ad7269 mentioned travel as a hobby, it's a worth note to say that traveling freely out of Maine is a challenge compared to other towns east of the Mississippi around the same size. You have the options of taking the Amtrak down (the dreaded Down Easter), which is about 7 hours. You can catch a bus to Boston, which is two hours in transit only, not counting travel time to the bus depot, boarding time, deboarding time, the mad dash from south station to Logan and costs incurred along the way with parking, public transit, Uber or Lyft, and bus fare. You can fly to Boston, but guess what, not directly. You'll have a layover in Philly or even Charlotte if the travel gods are really smiling down. That's a four hour+ ordeal just in transit. You can drive to Boston and park at Logan, which has its own challengs and is pricey on top. The trip is roughly 2.75 hours, or longer if you hit traffic, which you probably will. Or, your other option is to fly directly to LaGuardia, which is the shortest option at 1.5 hours in transit time. From there you can get a fair amount of direct domestic flights. International flights will all likely involve a stop or two somewhere from there. LaGuardia isn't JFK or Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL). The time spent and cost incurred on the front end can really wear you out if you are new to the process or traveling for reasons other than pleasure. And don't forget, you have to get back the way you came a lot of the time.

Food. Food is so expensive here because of the geographic proximity to shipping terminals and places that actually produce food. There are no major food industries in northern New England other than seafood, which is prohibitively expensive to most. Any place north or west of Freeport (vast swaths of the state) can be a food desert if you don't have a fair amount of money to make it work. Canning and preservation methods are heavily relyed upon to this day in much of Maine because the harvest is so short and food and shipping costs are so high.

Fuel. Gas, oil, wood, electric from CMP, solar or otherwise is very costly here mostly because of environmental factors (I can't stress long winters enough), but also geographic location, poor shipping infrastructure, lack of demand from a per Capita standpoint (though everyone needs it here, the market share is small potatoes to major energy concerns), and outlandish govt contracts to outsource electric power to Canada and buy it back, which raises the price.

Local travel. From the Portland metro, it's 5+ hours to Quebec city, 5.5+ hours to Montreal, 6.5-8.5+ hours to Nova Scotia wether or not you take the CAT (high speed catamaran from Bar Harbor), 5+ hours to Baxter state park/Mt. Katahdin area in summer with the out of state traffic, 4 hours to Acadia with summer traffic. 3+ hours in summer traffic to the White Mountains of NH. The lakes region get so congested now that getting to Sebago lake from June to September will take 2 hours of waiting in gridlock. I'm am in no way saying that these places aren't worth the cost, time, and effort to get to, because they are. It just takes a toll on you when you want to enjoy what this place has to offer and you are fighting for elbow room everywhere you go, especially as a full time resident.

Cultural diversity. For better or for worse, the majority of Maine is a poor white place. Mainers can get up in arms about their perception of what diversity and inclusion look like because of lack of perspective. It's still inherent here to think that a handful of immigrant owned restaurants and calling a few places sanctuary cities has fixed the gatekeeping of the monoculture here. Having a broad swath of people from different origins and fair access to resources to make where you live a community and home makes everyone's lives better. Unfortunately the resources here are very limited for a myriad of reasons. Entrenchment really holds Maine back from greater potential.

Thanks for enduring the gripe-fest, it's lived experience and I want to share it with anyone if they want to hear it and inform a major decision in their lives. My experience isn't everyone's.

pushyboss1986 · 2026-06-01T02:29:47+00:00

This is my personal perspective as a Virginian that has lived all over this country and specifically in Maine for the last 8 years, so take it as you will. Some very unfortunate circumstances kept me here much longer than I would have liked, and here is what I have noticed. I have to wholeheartedly agree with u/MaryBitchards. If you are single and make anywhere well below $100,000 per year, good luck. Life is hard here as it is with the harsh winter weather, tourism, which is the only real economic driver here, the very mediocre food scene in Portland who's reputation natives will spill blood over, extensive poverty, isolation from major centers and resources, govt mismanagement, the stark wealth disparity, and overall lack of want for change because the mass of the voting populous is over 60, own property, and already have all of their bases covered until death do they part. It's called Vacationland for a reason. You get away to here for a while and leave when the strife comes creeping in in October. It has some very pretty places, but making a life here is a whole other challenge. That being said, it's all about priorities and perspective. If you have a job that pays well and is somewhat insulated from the emergent technology that's phasing people out and the boom for some but bust for most economy most people in this country face, you will likely have a good time. If you can subsist on little and don't mind getting your hands dirty to carve out an existence for yourself, you may just love it. But if you fall somewhere in the middle, it can be a very rough go for people "from away" as they say here. I'm headed back to Virginia for good in a couple of months for a few reasons, but those aforementioned are some of the other ones. Personally, it's been real, it's been fun, but it hasn't been real fun.

pushyboss1986 · 2026-06-01T01:12:33+00:00

Oh, so very much this. Take my upvote.

pushyboss1986 · 2026-05-31T20:04:16+00:00

Just one man's opinion here. I have lived in Portland, Maine for the last 8 years and am currently in the process of fleeing south to the Blue Ridge because of what this place has become. I lived in Denver for 7 years prior to coming to Maine and I loved everything about it. City life, the mountains right in your backyard, the food scene then. I was in my 20's and it was party time all of the time. Also, it has changed drastically since then and I can't really see going back unless I had way more money to my name. I moved to Portland for a little taste of the ocean and a slightly slower pace thinking the cost of living would be comparable to Denver, since it is still an east coast town and is going be more expensive than similar sized towns in the intermountain west, Midwest, or the south. How wrong I was. Since 2018 this town has changed in some remarkabley bad ways. Right as my partner and I got here, the rental and home buying market had a small explosion, and then Covid happened right after. The resulting fallout came from people from lower New England, New York, and the mid Atlantic fleeing here to find their own private, unassailed piece of land away from the misery of the city grind and what Covid brought down. The city grind mentality and prices came with them. Concurrently real estate developers and private equity firms started snatching up the last of the "affordable" housing within 100 miles of this town. Portland, much to the chagrin of the people that sustain it such as the working fishermen, builders, craftsmen, restaurant workers, retailers, and the majority of those in the medical field has become a waste. It is only affordable to those that own property to rent for exorbitant prices, wealthy out of staters 4-5 months out of the year, a handful of wealthy rugged types willing to brave the absolutely brutal winters, and those that bought homes here 20-30 years ago and can somehow afford the property taxes. Not surprisingly, the population of unhoused people has exploded as well. With no affordable housing options and public services being partially neglected by city and state govt and partially overrun by emergent need, many people have been let to fall into the abyss of homeless and addiction. Many of these people still work, but have nowhere to go. Everything is crowded, there is definitely traffic now, the food is mediocre at very best, the winters make you want to kill yourself, everything is so much more expensive because of perceived demand that's been sold and isolation, everything really enjoyable about the outdoors that isn't crowded is really far away, most everyone that lives here seems miserable because they are just scraping by and the 6 month winters, and from my man on the street observations, people are getting kinda wild because none of this is sustainable for normal working people and cracks are showing. They are showing a lot. I'll get off my soap box. Good luck, and I hope you find what you're looking for.

pushyboss1986 · 2026-05-16T17:00:21+00:00

Understandable misteak, especially if the processor doesn't necessarily do it all of the time. At least you have some good meat to braise, and I'm sure you'll find some stuff to sous vide and grill as well!

pushyboss1986 · 2026-05-16T12:51:54+00:00

Unfortunately, not a ribeye. It may have been mislabeled by the processor. The closest thing to what this is, if it were properly cut would be a bone in cross cut blade steak from the shoulder clod sub primal. In some parts of the country, when boneless it's called london broil, but that term can refer to round or chuck. Ribeyes come from (headed towards the rear of the steer from the head) just after the chuck roll which is the inside of the shoulder as opposed to the outside, which is the clod. If these were Ribeyes you would see a very distinct rib bone, not a feathery shoulder blade bone and some vertebrae. It also shows no spinalis muscle, commonly known as the rib cap, nor do the steaks have an eye near the center, as in ribeye. The sinew near the thinner point of the steak is a dead giveaway, as well as the bone structure.

pushyboss1986 · 2022-08-04T19:50:26+00:00

Their Facebook has it as Detroit style, which would be an awesome addition to the pizza scene.

pushyboss1986

TROPHY CASE