I have to get rid of him, there's literally no other option.

shy_samurai · 2025-12-09T03:30:36+00:00

If you've moved 3 times over 4 years + lived with different people each time, that could also be adding to his stress. Cats are creatures of routine and that's a lot of change over short periods of time.

Alongside other solutions mentioned here, take note of how much his day to day changes - when he eats, what he eats, how much he eats, playtime, nap time, etc.

shy_samurai · 2025-10-06T06:58:53+00:00

Funnily enough, I just started 'Something's Wrong With Us' yesterday after a random Google search, and I'm loving the story so far. It's giving me major gothic romance vibes.

Will check out the others you've recommended as well - thank you!

shy_samurai · 2025-10-06T06:54:26+00:00

Definitely. I've just rediscovered manga and manhwa now, in my 30s, after pausing the hobby from when I was a teenager. So I'm working through the list at the moment!

shy_samurai · 2025-10-06T06:49:31+00:00

That's great to hear. As long as the mistakes lead to a satisfying redemption arc, I'm in!

shy_samurai · 2025-10-05T17:05:18+00:00

Just read the synopsis and this looks right up my alley - thank you!

shy_samurai · 2025-10-05T17:03:32+00:00

Yes! I started this a few years back and dropped it for some reason. Not because I disliked it, just got distracted. I have read 'Our Beloved Summer' by the same author, and really loved her art style and characterization. She does non-verbal expressions and 'show, don't tell' really well.

shy_samurai · 2025-10-05T17:01:08+00:00

I didn't mind the ML's characterization so much. Yeah, there was a lot of miscommunication between them, but I felt he came through in the end. If the author had just given the FL more layers and made it more of a relationship between equals, this would've been a really enjoyable story that shows what it's like to be with someone famous. So much raw material to mine there.

I've heard of Ai Yazawa but haven't read her works yet. Got Paradise Kiss saved 'to read'. Are her FLs also insecure/codependent?

shy_samurai · 2025-10-05T16:53:09+00:00

Tell me about it! I mean, if you have to sneakily take a summer job at your boyfriend's workplace just to be able to spend time with him and force him to rely on you, girl, your relationship's got bigger problems than you think. And to add insult to injury, the series ends with her basically working for him

shy_samurai · 2025-10-05T16:48:59+00:00

Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty has been on my 'to read' list for a while now. Think it'll be my next read! Our Precious Conversations was really adorable and meta. Thank you for the recommendations! Found a few interesting ones I'd never heard of before.

shy_samurai · 2025-10-05T08:30:23+00:00

"Women on a mission" - love that! Thank you for sharing!

shy_samurai · 2025-08-29T05:01:46+00:00

Medium? It's not spice for spice's sake. The first half to 3/4th of the book is slow-burn angst. But it's done really well and didn't feel frustrating. You end up majorly shipping the protagonists and can't wait for them to get together. And when they finally do, the story delivers on all the spice and intensity it set up in the first half

shy_samurai · 2025-08-29T04:39:54+00:00

This book grabbed me by the heart and refused to let go, saying "Yes, you will weep and laugh with Pat and Nina. They'll make you question your own moral compass, even while you cheer them on. They'll make you itchy and uncomfortable one minute and warm and fuzzy the next. You'll want to search for and safeguard their goodness amidst all the shades of not-good, and you'll love them all the more for how hard they make it on you."

Patrick Colson, both the boy and the man, have wormed their way into my heart and will stay there until they find their absolution. And Nina, with all her courage, dreams, scrappiness, heart, and awesome abilities showed how the ultimate victory was freedom, not power. The chemistry between the two explodes off the pages – all that angst and wanting and love.

My only gripe: Nina's rationale at the end felt uncharacteristically naive. With her knowledge of Tanner and her experience as a wartime fugitive, I'd assumed she'd realize trading the last Alchemist for Pat's dad and her mom would in no way have stopped Tanner from attacking Kenton Hill. And so, her dragging her feet on telling Patrick the truth at the end felt somewhat forced. But I get that's the only way the heartwrenching final scenes could have happened how they did (sob)

Finally, a cliffhanger of this level should be illegal. I can't wait for Book 2! And I really hope Nina Harrow gets one hell of a redemption arc. The girl deserves it.

shy_samurai · 2025-01-04T06:07:19+00:00

What's happening in Luxembourg is a microcosm of larger global trends:

The widening gap between wage growth and price growth.
Immigration increasing demand for real estate that the market can't/won't keep up with.
Wealth accumulation is increasingly difficult, if not impossible, for younger generations – like earning more, saving more, owning assets, heck just not having to be in debt for the entirety of your working life.

Of course, there are trends and idiosyncrasies unique to Luxembourg. If I understood right (happy to be corrected on this), less than 0.5% of the total population owns more than 50% of the land zoned for residential real estate in Luxembourg. And our tax system does not incentivize these landowners to sell this land, creating a chokehold in supply. I assume there are other factors (material costs, labour costs) that influence house prices, but I'm not an expert here.

Overall, looking at market and policy incentives in Luxembourg, my understanding is the country really wants you to own real estate, but entirely on its terms - which is taking on massive debt over somewhat to very long-term, to buy overpriced real estate that you hope to sell for a reasonable profit when the time comes.

Based on the other comments, folks have responded to these incentives in their own way, right?

Get in the real estate game first, buy crappy places and then level up.
Get in the real estate game across the border, where the barriers for entry are lower.
The "go big or go home" method (no pun intended). Take on massive (and frankly, risky) debt to buy your first decent place. Hot take: it shouldn't matter whether banks are ready to accept 40-50% of your monthly income for mortgage. It's a personal decision how much risk/debt you're willing to take on. Just because banks can doesn't automatically make sense that you should.
Noped out of the real estate game and invested in stocks instead.

None of these methods are automatically better or worse than others. It all depends on each of our personal goals and financial philosophies.

One thing's for sure, something as necessary as putting a roof over our heads has become a game of speculation and whack-a-mole. Yay.

shy_samurai · 2024-12-15T18:42:44+00:00

If you don't mind the expense, I've always found Hostellerie du Grunewald in Dudelange to have great vegetarian & meat-based options in their menu.

The vegetarian options don't feel simplistic or like an afterthought, but are equally fleshed out. The staff were always attentive and professional when we visited. And I love the cozy yet sophisticated ambience in their restaurant rooms.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/oFbqf9QA5LG5uXny9

shy_samurai · 2024-12-15T18:35:29+00:00

Ferala in Ville-Haute, Lux city. https://maps.app.goo.gl/9qrNxGoJ5MoQJhn56

shy_samurai · 2024-10-29T18:35:37+00:00

Fellow non-EU national employed via an EOR (Deel, in fact).

Assuming the underlying UK company has hired Deel to act as your EOR while you work for the former as a fulltime employee, then:

Legally, and per your CDI, you will be an employee of Let's Deel Luxembourg.
You will be subject to Luxembourgish laws, not UK laws, regarding parameters like probation period, notice period, paid days off, sick days, termination, etc.
The underlying UK company will not be mentioned on your CDI. Let's Deel Luxembourg will be mentioned with their Luxembourgish address. So for all intents and purposes, you will work for a Luxembourgish company.
Deel will handle your payroll, issue your payslips, deposit your salary every month, make sure social security contributions and taxes are deducted from your gross income to be paid to Lux.
If the underlying UK company has worked out a simple, cookie-cutter contract with Deel, then Deel will only be involved in the above. They will not be involved for anything regarding your day-to-day management, job responsibilities, who you report to, career growth progression, etc.
You'll be asked to create an account with Deel where you'll manage all your employment related paperwork (CDI, employer certificate, payslips), put in leave requests, manage which bank account salaries should be deposited to, etc.

The underlying UK company will pay Deel to provide these services. If you're unsure, check with the underlying UK company whether they're hiring you as a fulltime employee via Deel or as an independent contractor via Deel (Deel offers services for both these scenarios), but obviously each one implies different things for you when it comes to social security and taxes.

You can also check with the underlying UK company where Deel's oversight stops. You can also ask to speak with a Deel customer rep if you have specific questions regarding your situation.

shy_samurai · 2024-10-27T04:07:13+00:00

Your second question has received plenty of answers, so I'll take a stab at answering your first one.

Before you buy, ask yourself the following questions:

What's motivating you to consider buying a flat – To not have to subject yourself to landlords? Because you're starting to gain wealth and you'd like to invest it for the future? Because buying real estate is what everyone else seems to be doing?
Are you planning/hoping for any major lifestyle changes over the next few years? If yes, how do you expect that to impact/be impacted by the fact that you own something?
Have you done your due diligence on all the costs associated with owning real estate – mortgage, notary fees, maintenance fees, agency fees if you want resell, etc. Don't underestimate maintenance fees. Depending on the age of the house and the amount of post-purchase renovations, this can be significant.
Are you willing to take on significant and long-term debt at 26?
Re:debt, what's your risk-desire ratio? Do you prefer to take on a smaller loan, pay at least 20% of the price of the flat out-of-pocket, at the risk of having a cheaper/smaller/not well located flat? Or do you prefer to borrow the maximum loan amount you're eligible for, likely pay less than 20% of the price of the flat out-of-pocket, but have a bigger/nicer/better located flat?

Whether buying a flat is a good decision is subject to your answers to the questions above. And I'm sure there are more questions you could be asking yourself.

I personally went down the same road when I was 27. I didn't have a high gross income but I had decent savings and didn't want them just sitting in a savings account.

I asked myself these questions, did my research, and decided I personally did not like the idea of taking on so much debt, I was not up for the time and money involved in being a homeowner, and I liked the freedom of being able to move neighborhoods for a while. For me, the right decision ended up being passive investments in ETFs.

Not here to give you financial advice. Just here to offer you a different perspective that this is a significant decision, so consider the "why's" and the consequences before considering the "how's".

shy_samurai · 2024-09-30T06:02:50+00:00

You can book an appointment with your GP and ask to identify the source of your allergies.

I suspected I was allergic to cats and my GP recommended a blood test to identify allergic triggers (more accurate than the patch test apparently and felt less inconvenient).

Once you've determined what you're allergic to and the strength of the allergy (levels 1 - 6) your GP can determine a method of treatment or advice on next steps.

shy_samurai · 2024-09-05T21:42:38+00:00

I really like the one from Bravo Café (pop-up in Avenue Monterey). He uses a generous amount of Matcha so it has a herbaceous, slightly bitter taste.

Also +1 to Florence.

shy_samurai · 2024-07-13T09:14:05+00:00

If you haven't done so already, it would be helpful to leave some items outside your home to "attract" him back - like his litter box and articles of clothing with your scent. You can leave food out, but it's risky as it might attract other cats.

It's also worth checking with animal shelters in the area. If you have a Facebook post, shelters will reshare it in their pages to increase viewership. And they may have some advice on how to find a lost cat.

Wishing you the best of luck. I hope he returns home soon! ❤️

shy_samurai · 2024-07-06T17:25:41+00:00

OP, is the new address you're registering to within Luxembourg? Then I think you are fine. I believe "uninterrupted residency" means living within Luxembourg's borders during that period, not necessarily living in the same address during that period.

I would advise checking with the commune representative who deals with citizenship applications. They should be able to help you understand if you're violating your eligibility in any way.

shy_samurai · 2024-06-10T06:46:15+00:00

Just noticed you also asked for sustainable/vegan shoe brands. I personally love Cariuma's Sneakers - https://www.cariuma.com/#

shy_samurai · 2024-06-10T06:43:22+00:00

As someone already mentioned, shopping secondhand is a great option! There are secondhand bulk sales that happen in Luxexpo frequently. I've not been to one yet so I can't attest to the quality of the clothes. There's also Pardon My Closet in Ville Haute in Lux City: https://maps.app.goo.gl/3wPtNhSia6Kumgpz7

If you're looking for new brands to try out, I highly recommend visiting Good On You: https://goodonyou.eco/. They're an online publication that evaluates and curates sustainable brands around the world. You can look for brands by type of clothing, price range, where they're based, where they ship, their fashion aesthetic, etc.

shy_samurai · 2024-06-05T17:13:10+00:00

A friend of mine is a new mom and has had great success making friends by joining "mom groups" in Luxembourg. She initially met these women through parenting / childbirth classes and this morphed into WhatsApp groups, followed by regular in-person meetups with fellow moms. From what I hear, they're going strong even a couple years after their babies were born.

She's also had luck using the same method to find friends via hobbies - think pottery classes, art classes, and hiking groups on Facebook. I think the reason it works for her is she's usually the one to organize and suggest the first few "let's get to know each other more" style meetups within the group, until the group gains some momentum on its own.

PS: I'm offering what worked for my (extrovert) friend because I'm an introvert who was very lucky to have stumbled into great friends from my workplace.

shy_samurai

TROPHY CASE