aestra

Wow, that's the first time I've heard of Venmo!

Personally, I prefer to keep my phone and my banking completely separate. Actually, the only "important" account I log into on my phone is my email. Anything else? I'll just wait until I get home or go to work.

I personally enjoy this comment the best:

venmo is great also because it is sort of a social network too, like you have to put in a sort of “memo” field and so you see a news feed of what your friends paid each other for

Um... WHY? I don't see why I should care? I guess that's just part of an over sharing culture.

Here comes the old fogie... If I owe someone money I just give them cash. What's wrong with cash? I hope cash isn't going the way of the personal check... (which, hilariously, I still use personal checks)

Perhaps it has to do with individualism? My friends and I operate on a more informal method. If Joe bought the cab then John pays for the beers. Then Jake pays at the next place or the next time. This isn't stated or organized in advance, just everyone seems to go by it by default.

Do you guys think hoarding has something to do with the consumerist culture we live in today?

What's with the downvote? It was merely a question to spark discussion about the topic at hand. I am really interested in people's opinion on this. Is that really offensive or counterproductive or not on topic to ask a question and solicit opinions? If you think the answer to the question is "no" then just say so. If you find this comment unproductive, please explain why.

Me too, kinda. I mean I eventually (through trial and error) noticed it brought up a menu, but god that's not in any way obvious at first. It is funny because until I read something about it I didn't even know what it was supposed to represent.

Apparently its an old icon but I never really saw it (that I can recall) until mobile got popular.

I had a teacher in high school who thought the "graph" icon in Microsoft Word was "library books." She called it the "library books button." I guess 3 lines isn't enough information to convey meaning. Even though the button meant "put this information in graph form" she didn't see that the icon represented a bar graph.

Try asking an American what this picture means -

http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/archive/2010/03/1_123...

Most people would know that means "exit" but in true American fashion the United States uses a different sign - http://www.oneskilladay.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Exit-...

I gotta say it took me a long time abroad to figure out what the green running man sign meant.

Maybe I am missing something but I still can't understand why Nelson Mandela won the peace prize when he founded Umkhonto we Sizwe.

Why? The strong taste? Well my sister used to be absolutely obsessed with olives when she was very very young. I never understood it myself, I didn't like them as a kid. I tried them again in adulthood and loved them. I could easily eat a bowl of olives. In fact I have.

The prevalence of Japanese restaurants in the US in recent times disagrees with you.*

*I don't know how authentic these are.

My bed time was 8:00pm for the longest time (until I was in 6th grade - then it moved to 9:00). It isn't out of the question she is going to bed at the proper time.

But yes, the National Sleep Foundation says 11-13 hours of sleep a night for a 3 year old and at that age sleep is extremely important for proper brain development.

I used to have this issue with mushrooms. I mostly got over it by introducing a small amount of mushrooms (buried in other veggies) with my meal. First uncooked (because the texture is not as revolting uncooked) then cooked. Then I emphasized the mushrooms more and more in my meals. Very slowly. Now I mostly like them!

So follow a couple simple recipes at first. You'll learn from experience about what fits your tastes, what goes into a dish, how heat interacts with food in different ways, what you prefer, which techniques work for YOU, what fit into your budget, preferences, time, diet, etc. is something you just learn from experience and it is unique to the individual.

Then after you mastered some recipes you;ll have some standby recipes (either written down or in your head) that are yours that you are comfortable with. But you'll probably keep experimenting too.

You will mess up. Probably a lot. You'll make some crappy food once in a while. You'll learn the hard way, but instead of feeling like a failure, look at what you learned from it. Try again.

I also suggest trying some stirfry first. It is extremely simple to stirfry, pretty healthy, and there is a real lot you can do with it - different flavors of sauce, different veggies, meats, etc., and you can buy the veggies frozen so there is very little prep.

I find that a lot of children don't get that kitchen experience while they are young so they grow up clueless in the kitchen about how to even start to prepare meals. I really can't understand this too much. I was in the kitchen since I was old enough to stand upright and hold a spoon helping out, standing on a chair to reach the counter or stove. As a result I'm extremely comfortable in the kitchen. I'm far from a "good cook," I'm average, but having that comfort I think is key.

Wonder how much he paid for it.

In Gmail - Click on "more" then "filter messages like these" as so - http://i.imgur.com/OdJpKoE.png and set messages from that sender to be automatically deleted.

And here I was wondering why a few months ago legit emails that I asked for were starting to show up in my spam folder, including all the facebook emails I asked facebook to send me. (I don't log into facebook so if someone messages me or invites me to an event I'll need an email otherwise I'll miss it).

So now I have to check my spam folder emails regularly and put filter on the domains that end up there "no, don't send to spam filter."

Why can't you just use a filter instead of messing up other people's email?

Insurance companies are the absolute worse about that. I'm shopping around for insurance and get 10 quotes. Then I'll pick one company to go with and sign up. I'll either do it online or I call a rep to finish the signup.

Now 5 of the remaining 9 companies I got quotes from but decided not to pick decide I need a phonecall (or less obnoxiously but still obnoxious) email. "Hi, I saw you got a quote on our site, can I help you sign up?" "Would you like to talk about the quote you received on our website?" The best was when I replied "No, I already bought insurance" and the rep was like really confused as to why would I get an insurance quote if I already had insurance. She seemed surprised it would be a possibility to get a quote and NOT sign up. Or even to shop around. Sometimes I even get quotes once in a while to get an idea if I can get a significantly better deal somewhere else. Then I get phonecalls.

I started replying "If I wanted to talk on the phone or sign up I would have called you." and hang up. Its so rude but really, I don't want to talk to them, if I was interested after I got a quote I would call them. Do people really go "oh, yeah, I wasn't going to sign up but since you called me during dinner I changed my mind."?

"Everyone" is a far stretch. More like "people who like to (or don't mind) managing their finances at a finer level and also don't spend above their means."

Which is maybe 35% of the American population.

Some people are just fine not bothering with credit cards because convenience/simplicity/ease is more important to them. It's all about individual preferences and priority.

Short term rentals have been illegal in San Fran since (I believe) the 80s.

Running a hotel without paying hotel taxes and following other regulations is generally illegal.

It surely is also is against local zoning regulations. I think zoning regulations are generally a good idea but in practice they are often harmful (except in older downtown areas which are generally friendly to mixed use).

Here's some guests who caused some problems.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-airbnb-party-hou...

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/unexpected-sex-party-des...

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Md-Man-Says-Airbnb-G...

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-an-airbnb-guest-trashed-a...

That's called civil disobedience. I consider it more legit if it is done by individuals for social change rather than for profit companies to make money.

I turn my phone off in unfamiliar cities to save battery for GPS.

I turn my phone off at movie theaters and airplanes.

I rarely keep bluetooth on to save battery (I don't really use it save for once in a while) and I also quite often turn mobile data off unless I take my phone out to use it.

Sometimes it runs out of battery.

Quite often I keep my phone in a different room of my house than I am in, especially when it is charging.

Sometimes your phone breaks or malfunctions (hopefully not often).

Sometimes I just plain forget it.

Discover will give you a new CC every time you want to change the design on it, which you can choose from several. :)

The big problem with debit cards is if you get it stolen then your money is taken. Sure you'd get it back eventually, but until them you don't have access to your own money and can't spend it.

Well I have no fewer than 4 checking accounts. I have a debit card for all them. I don't use any of the debit cards except at the ATM once in a while so I could probably go without three of them on my person.

Then I have 4 credit cards.*

That's 8 cards right there. Then I do my shopping at 3 different grocery stores, so they all get their cards. 3 because I take advantage of the sales at each and the selection. One doesn't have some of the stuff I want but the others do. This is pretty common, I know if I want a particular product I have to go to a particular store to get it. I go grocery shopping probably 3-4 times a week because I only buy enough stuff for 1-3 meals. This is to reduce waste. Less often shopping leads to food waste for me.

Sure they can look me up, and I used to not carry the grocery store cards, but I find flashing the card about 1000 times more convenient.

We are up to 12 cards.

I have to carry two IDs, driver's license and US GOVT ID. Card count 14.

Then I have a drugstore card that I use to get "points" for filling my prescriptions. These points are really worth it - you cash them in for merchandise and they are very generous with them. While they have ALL MY INFO (after all, they need it to fill the prescription) but about 70% of the time they want my card, I don't know why. It is just a billion times easier to have it on me.

Card count 15.

Library card - card count 16.

The rest are just random rarely used loyalty cards I don't need to carry but at this point why not carry them?

I don't get gift cards.

People ask why I have so many checking accounts, and it is to better manage my money (for example, I get just enough of my paycheck auto deposited to cover automatic withdraws and put that in a separate account so I know that's my "no touch" money) and take maximum advantages of all the rewards and benefits of each card or bank account.

I don't find any of this that daunting. When you already have to carry a few adding a few more isn't that big of a deal. I don't really have a problem with carrying these around and I prefer separate cards to some "smart card" that is some electronic thing to charge and break.

*I want to mention even with 4 CCs I don't have any CC debt.

Zip code 12345 is only used by General Electric though. :(

Jesus. Nobody said nature wouldn't adapt.

I'm saying that there WILL BE unintended consequences. That are unknown.

I just did the whole change of address thing and I don't remember having to ask for an "extension" for the second 6 months, just 12 months for everyone.

Looks like I'm right.

https://moversguide.usps.com/icoa/mailforwarding/change-of-a...

First-Class Mail®, Priority Mail®, and Express Mail®: All forwarded for 12 months at no charge.

Impossible. Even if we could nobody knows the full extent of the ecological role of mosquitos. When you are talking about ecology there are too many variables to know them all.

Long ago debunked rumors spread just as fast.

When I was in MIDDLE SCHOOL two decades ago there was a rumor spreading around saying gangs kill people who flash their headlights at cars who drive around without their lights on at night.

According to Wikipedia it is older than that, it has been around since the 80s[1].

This is completely false and has been debunked for an extremely long time.

However about 6 months ago it was being shared ALL OVER my Facebook feed like it was new "news." All anyone had to do was take TWO SECONDS to see if what they were sharing was true or not. That's asking too much. I don't think anyone cares they are spreading false information.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlight_flashing#Urban_legend

?

USPS forwards mail for 12 months, not 30 days (the exception being magazines - you get 60 days for them)

Haha! 90210 is my default fake zip code. I worked at a retail store one summer in college and they started making us put the customer's zip code in before ringing them up. At first I asked them but often time they'd get all annoyed or mad "Why do you need that?" I got sick of it so instead I just decided to enter 90210 for all my orders (on the east coast mind you). Or sometimes to change it up a bit I used Scruff McGruff's zip code of 60652[1]. Hey, it was catchy!

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XxnSHig0wc

My understanding: Living together like a married couple long enough conveys actual marriage in some places in the US, various rights some other places in the US

Intent and agreement is a big one, not length of cohabitation. The two both must consent and intend on being married and basically tell everyone they are married. Just cohabitation for a long time isn't enough. Nobody can suddenly "find" themselves in a common law marriage they didn't intend or want to enter into, they both must intentionally agree to enter into one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common-law_marriage_in_the_Unit...