BSR

Since you follow his social media, do you know how old his Rentmen photos are? I pity the poor client who thinks he's getting the guy in the RM ad, only to open the door and see the guy in the photo you posted above. Yikes, helluva difference.

My hobby is languages. As I've mentioned in other threads, I watch a lot of Spanish TV & movies. Every day without fail, I watch something in Spanish even if it's just a 10-minute YT video. Some days, it's hours of binging. I learned Spanish in Salamanca decades ago, but it got woefully rusty until I discovered Spanish TV via Internet a ~decade ago. My speaking ability is actually (far) better now than it was at the end of my year in Salamanca, and my listening comprehension is at least 10x better. I also picked up French again after a 4+ decade break in study. Yikes, more rust than the remains of the Titanic! I've been doing Duolingo for only 6 weeks, but least I haven't skipped a day so far. My goal is to be able to watch French series & movies on Netflix without English subtitles. That's a long way off, but hey, the longest journey begins with the first step. And last, I watch YT videos in my original but forgotten native tongue, Tagalog (Filipino). Unfortunately, my parents didn't know that you could raise kids bilingual and were very worried that I wouldn't learn English. As soon as I picked up English in kindergarten, they stopped speaking Tagalog at home. But I still understand it OK and was delighted to find a few great YT channels in Tagalog: one about Filipino history, one by a guy dedicated to reviving the Spanish language in the Philippines, and one hilarious cooking channel by a super-campy gay guy. Interesting note: I can watch Tagalog YT vids at 1.5x speed just like almost every video in English despite very limited vocabulary (my vocabulary in Spanish must be 20x my Tagalog). I can watch Spanish vids at 1.5x also, but it requires so much concentration that I'm mentally exhausted after 5 minutes. Learning a language as a child must set in your brain in a way that adult learning simply can't match, no matter how much effort you put in.

The IRS assumes a tip income and collects taxes on 9% of the total checks for a server, 10% of the meter total for taxi drivers. Mind you, in most parts of the country, servers & cab drivers make more than 9-10% in tips, but there are a few areas where it could be that low or (eek!) less.

Thanks for the info. I didn't realize that Park MGM's casino was nonsmoking (haven't been there since it was the old Monte Carlo). I thought the Westin made a mistake when they made the whole property nonsmoking (brand-wide policy) except the casino. They could have marketed themselves as the only nonsmoking casino in Las Vegas, but perhaps that was too avant-garde a notion when they opened back in 2003. I stayed there in late 2003 and remember being a mite annoyed that they advertised heavily as a nonsmoking property, yet you could smell the stench of smoke every time you went in & out of the hotel. Gambling revenue could not have been that significant given how small the casino was (less than 300 machines, only 10 tables). When a new owner took over after a foreclosure, they got rid of the casino, and all accompanying smoke, entirely.

If you're seriously interested in retiring in Peru, language isn't much of a barrier. A bit of googling showed a number of Spanish language schools in Lima, at least one of which has a DELE-certified teaching staff (DELE = Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language, the internationally recognized certification of Spanish language level). You'd be surprised by how quickly your Spanish becomes good enough to get by day-to-day. Of course, fluency will take longer, but rest assured that DELE-certified teachers will help you get there. Skimming over the American expat's other videos, I gather that he has a Vietnamese-American girlfriend (gay4pay? *fingerscrossed*). Apparently he knows a little Vietnamese, and then he always has his girlfriend to translate if necessary. Plenty of expats are just fine living the rest of their lives knowing only enough to get by in the local language. I couldn't do it because I'd eventually feel too isolated. But if you're OK with it, you certainly have plenty of options for countries to retire in.

So awkward ...

Thanks for the article. I had a sneaking suspicion that there was more going on. Unfortunately, we initially heard only part of the story because "Gluttons Eat Red Lobster Into Bankruptcy" grabs a lot more clicks than the nerdy details of a private equity buyout.

It sounds like her medical issues are sublimated narcissism, like she expects the whole world to kneel like vassals at her feet. Even though you made one heck of an effort to accommodate her, instead of so much as a speck of gratitude for all you did, she hammers away at all the ways you fell short and failed. Charming. I'm guessing she wasn't like this before, otherwise you wouldn't have become such close friends. But she's a different person now, one who storms through life brandishing a shield of MY NEEDS. Treasure the memories of the friendship you used to have, but cut the person she has become out of your life.

I did read it. Either I had a senior moment (eek! hope not), or my brain short-circuited trying to process the information. In Honolulu where there must be a zillion different spots for fresh-caught seafood, people are lining up to go to always-frozen-never-fresh Red Lobster?? Baffling, to say the least.

I noticed a lot of Hawaiians in Las Vegas every year during the National Finals Rodeo. Since Hawaiians come to LV all year round, I figured they were just taking advantage of lower rates or special deals until a Hawaiian told me that they came to LV because of the Rodeo. Turns out some of the oldest rodeos in the US were started in Hawaii. Wow, the things you learn at the poker table. Out of curiosity, I looked it up: believe it or not, there is a Red Lobster in Hawaii. I wonder if that location serves previously frozen seafood like every other RL or if the Honolulu spot offers more fresh-caught items. I mean, with all the fresh seafood available, why would anyone in Hawaii go to a Red Lobster? Is their cheddar biscuit addiction that bad??

There's a Red Lobster in Woodbridge NJ where I went with an aunt and/or cousins a few times. Whenever we went, I noticed that a lot of the customers were black, disproportionate to the demographics of the area. When I asked my aunt/cousins why it was so popular with blacks, they had no idea but said it always has been. Aha! so that's why. Thanks for that bit of history, @samhexum. While I can't say it changes my opinion of the food, it certainly boosts my opinion of the company. Tough times ahead for RL. I wish them all the best.

For all the employees who have lost or will lose their jobs because of this bankruptcy filing, yes, it's very sad. For the world of gastronomy, meh, not so much.

Again, it all depends on the murderer's race. Granted, this genocide against whites is happening half a world away, but given the horrifying number and brutality of the murders, one would expect some coverage by American media. Instead, the response of so-called journalists --> deafening silence.

Bulge Hall of Famer Jon Hamm ... https://twitter.com/sinfulfire/status/1792213570748326014?t=dFKgeSFRW5KcgAgEzeNirQ&s=19

Might you be guilty here of just a wee bit of hyperbole? That said, I couldn't stop laughing.

But did we ever print so much money so quickly? Every stimulus was hundreds and hundreds of $billions printed overnight, and the cumulative series printed $trillions out of thin air in just a couple of years. To me, money-printing in the past was a steady leak whereas the stimulus printing was more like a dam burst.

Blaming inflation all on Covid is a lie of omission. We also printed $trillions out of thin air, which for obvious reasons causes inflation. Just look at the inflation rate of Switzerland, which maintained fiscal discipline.

If the house sells for close to asking, the realtor should give the photographer a bonus because those photos make the 10-foot width look decently spacious, not cramped at all.

Oops, I switched the first names. You're right, Taylor Zakhar Pérez and Nicholas Galitzine. I've scoured the Internet trying to find out where to apply for the sequel's Intimacy Coordinator position, but no luck so far.

If you set out this kind of spread for a massage appointment, your dinner parties must be off the charts.

Even though I didn't like the first movie, I am looking forward to the sequel because for all of RWRB's flaws, the 2 leads were very good. If nothing else, hopefully we at least see a lot more of NZP's ass (hey, just being honest).

After one of my ~90yo grandmother's friends died, she took it really hard, was depressed for weeks. Two of my aunts were a bit baffled because while they were friends, they weren't really all that close. Then it dawned on them: the friend was the last of grandma's age group. Although she did have other friends, they were all at least a decade younger. It must be hard to start talking about "remember when ..." only to realize that nobody does.

No, and I'm glad to hear that Johnsons didn't. As the Adonis guys once said on a webcam show, they have a brand, and their customers expect a certain "caliber" of dancer at their establishment. If an applicant has a meltdown after getting turned down, then that's the price of doing business. It's not Matt's fault that this guy got way too many participation trophies in his childhood.

Tennis player Borna Coric

"supermarket prices are now 25% higher than in January 2020, while inflation has increased 19% over that same time" If food prices had increased at 2% per year from Jan 2020 to Feb 2024, that would be a total increase of 8.24%. So yeah, 25% more at the supermarket is a heckuva jump.