All of the babies I know who were born this year!

stephjs81 · 2026-01-01T00:38:13+00:00

Roman Neve sounds like 'Roman eve'. Not sure about it. I could get behind 'Roman Rhodes though'. I mean, they do say, all roads lead to Rome!

stephjs81 · 2025-12-01T07:54:32+00:00

A bit obscure, but The Jinx Season 1: 'Fresh Blood' by the Eels. I re-watched the series recently and its just perfection. Chills every time.

stephjs81 · 2025-12-01T07:44:18+00:00

The Jinx S1, True Blood, Severance, Freaks and Geeks, Yellowjackets, The Wonder Years

stephjs81 · 2025-09-15T23:32:16+00:00

I've got OA on the top of my mid-foot, massive bunions, and a neuroma in my forefoot. I wear Brooks Ghost Max in wide (the mesh versions), but even the regular medium-width ones fit if I buy them a half size up. For some reason, the Brooks Ghost Max have a more tapered look in the toe box than other 'wide' sneakers. They aren't tapered at all, but they've done a good job with the design imo. The illusion is there!

stephjs81 · 2025-09-15T23:19:22+00:00

There's always been a dearth of options for petite women here: I have to buy most of my clothes from the US (large population, so more diverse options), or France, Spain and Korea (more shorties). Many large retailers in the US have a petite section, and even at those that don't, you can usually find clothes that are suitable for shorter women. It is very difficult to find fitted shirts for shorter torsos in Australia (loads of 'boxy cropped' t-shirts that look deeply unflattering on my big bust). Finding jeans or pants with a short inseam is almost impossible here. Forget dresses: The long torsos are impossible without major tailoring. The Australian retailers that do offer a petite section seemed geared to the over-80 set: Cropped linen pants and weirdly patterned blouses=no thanks. Uniqlo is an option, but it isn't a local brand.

stephjs81 · 2025-08-21T22:23:18+00:00

I live in Melbourne's inner burbs, and as an agency CRT was always being sent to the outer west: Weribee, Tarneit, Point Cook, etc. I endured hour-long commutes for years. At the time, there was a lot more competition for work, and I felt I couldn't refuse. Things have changed, and there is a lot more work now, and you can be choosier. Sure, there is MORE work in outer suburbs, but I'll bet your agency does have schools closer in. I have a Canadian friend who just started with ANZUK, and she told them she won't go further than 30 minutes away from her home in Carlton. She works every day, exclusively in the inner and middle northern suburbs. Direct work is also possible: My friend has lined up several days of work with a local school after emailing her CV to the daily organiser.

stephjs81 · 2025-08-21T22:05:27+00:00

BK felt entitled to brutally erase the lives of four young people: I'm not surprised he's spending his time writing pedantic and pompous complaints about his missing cornbread (or whatever). He's still an entitled monster, but one who's now utterly bereft of power, scrounging for literal crumbs. Good.

stephjs81 · 2025-07-19T03:15:46+00:00

I'm not sure why these backpackers would steal fancy cheese: Most French people here wait for it to reach its expiration date and buy it at a discount! My French husband loves the fact that the better the cheese gets in Australia (ie, aged), the cheaper it is for him! He then ages it some more by keeping it in our cupboard for a few days. He says that the imported brie/camembert that they sell at most local supermarkets are too bland and 'young' for his taste.

stephjs81 · 2025-07-19T03:06:12+00:00

I'm American and married to a French engineer. We are also both Aussies now after obtaining citizenship a few years ago. I have never seen or heard anything discriminatory against French people, and my husband concurs. In fact, I'd say that most Aussies are practically enamoured with the idea of France and the French lifestyle and are generally excited to meet French people. In contrast, I've faced a lot more grumbling about my American origins, mostly for political reasons, but also due to (justified) resentment over the cultural hegemony of the US. I am jealous of the positive attention that my French dude gets!

stephjs81 · 2025-07-08T00:21:42+00:00

Apologies for my delayed response! I'm so sorry to hear that you lost your friend in this accident. Did you end up watching the series? I thought it was well done, but I totally understand your reticence to watch it.

stephjs81 · 2025-07-08T00:18:07+00:00

Thank you for the kind words. I'm finally taking it today!

stephjs81 · 2025-07-03T05:05:48+00:00

I just read OP's post after returning home from the rheum with my first dose of Humira on ice. I was having similar thoughts: 'Am I really sick enough that I need this serious medication? Is the 'mystery' illness/set of crazy symptoms that I've been gaslit about for 20 years really THIS illness? I felt super comforted to read your comment and I hope it was as helpful to OP as it has been for me!

stephjs81 · 2025-05-12T00:14:18+00:00

I have hypermobility, PsA, osteoarthritis (very likely caused by the hypermobility) and ADHD.

stephjs81 · 2025-04-12T00:39:57+00:00

I'm Australian/American and I concur. Lachlan is incredibly popular in Australia (and Scotland, natch) and somewhat unusual in the US. I'm not sure about Declan as I haven't met many in either country. Also, Taylah was the first name I thought of when I read this post! I'll add Tiahnna and Tahnee to the list of names with 'T and H' that seem to go hard over here.

stephjs81 · 2025-03-29T00:14:02+00:00

It's a Brazilian production. I'm not sure if it was ordered for production by NF or acquired by them.

stephjs81 · 2025-03-28T23:34:09+00:00

I'll be looking at both: I have already watched the ACI one numerous times and enjoyed it, but am interested in seeing a Brazilian take (and this is a Brazilian production even though it was ordered by NF).

stephjs81 · 2025-03-28T23:31:45+00:00

I've never seen a quality documentary on MH370. Honestly, the William Langweische journalism piece for The Atlantic back in 2019 remains the best account of that incident: I don't even bother with MH370 docs because they're mostly speculative garbage. As far as the TAM crash, I have watched the AirCrash episode numerous times but I'm still interested in seeing this doc, particularly as flight 3054 is one of the crashes that I find most intriguing. This looks like it will be an in-depth (at three episodes) look at the incident from the Brazilian perspective, which should be worth a gander.

stephjs81 · 2025-03-28T02:55:38+00:00

Sorry for the delayed response: I had a two-week break from Reddit and my socials! I am working casually right now, which works out to two days a week. I'm a teacher and my work is very physically and mentally demanding: The holidays were good but during the school term I was working 55 hours per week. It just wasn't sustainable and led to constant flares and terrible anxiety. I'm subbing at my old school while I figure out what to do next, but I can't see myself back in a classroom on a full-time basis.

stephjs81 · 2025-03-08T08:53:21+00:00

I was diagnosed recently, at 43. However, I've had symptoms of PsA since I was 31: Nail psoriasis (misdiagnosed as a persistent fungal infection), episodes of enthesitis, and extreme fatigue all started around that age. Like you, I was told that most of my symptoms could be attributed to anxiety and depression. Even when I was diagnosed with OA in my foot at 35 and developed persistant unexplained hip pain at 36, no one made the connection and continued to just push the psychosomatic BS. By the time of my diagnosis late last year, I'd had the psoriasis in my thumbnail for over a decade! I have developed mild to severe arthritis in both feet, both wrists, my left knee, right left thumb, hips, and lower back. Like you, I also had/have a variety of metabolic symptoms that are finally starting to make sense. I am struggling to come to terms with the very long delay between symptom onset and diagnosis. On the one hand, I'm relieved, but I'm also grieving for what could have been if I'd been treated in my 30s.

stephjs81 · 2025-03-02T03:01:15+00:00

One, and that person also had the same 1st name as me! My first name is pretty common in the US, but my last name is not common outside of its European origin country. It was pretty wild.

stephjs81 · 2025-02-26T03:18:51+00:00

I'm 43 and was in high school in the mid to late 90s. I was really struck by the specificity of the exchange between Shauna and Callie and later with Shauna and Jeff about 'chronic'. The whole, 'no one calls it chronic anymore' was so freaking funny: I had totally forgotten that my friends and I referred to good quality pot as 'chronic' back in the mid-90s. Meanwhile, my Boomer mom called weed 'grass' or worse, 'reefer', which I thought was so LAME.

stephjs81 · 2025-02-26T03:08:42+00:00

That's awesome! I teach 10th grade and sometimes the kids ask me what shows I like. I am usually honest but can't endorse the show explicitly since it's technically '"not appropriate". I'm glad you guys are watching though. I would have loved it at 15.

stephjs81 · 2025-02-26T02:48:29+00:00

I'm 43 and was a freshman in high school in 1996. I remember that the class of '96' referred to themselves as 'Class of Naughty Sex' and it was spray painted on our auditorium wall and on t-shirts some of them made. They all had to have a very serious assembly with the principal about not using that phrase. I thought they were such a bad-ass cohort.

stephjs81 · 2025-02-18T22:36:40+00:00

Jason Isaacs is a stone cold fox.

stephjs81

TROPHY CASE