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Apparently, it was intentional. The chef was just a jerk. Most other places were incredibly helpful, especially when notified in advance. However, in addition to the health changes from going vegan, his dining experiences over those 90 days definitely changed where he took clients and, more...

As an aside to my story, back in the early 2000s I had a friend that was in a position where he was taking groups of clients out for extravagant meals in NYC several times a week, including a large table reservation at a Michelin starred French restaurant 2-3x a month. However, with his doctor's...

Lots of great replies, but I agree that speaking to someone or wasting any more of my time/emotional-energy serves me no purpose. Sure it might be helpful to the restaurant and server to provide feedback, but why does that matter to me? Also, last year I was staying in a nice downtown hotel...

Even before Covid, I kept the DND on the door the entire stay. I still leave at least $5 per day if the room is clean on arrival and the housekeepers are friendly when I see them (e.g. ask if I need anything).

I really appreciate the broad perspective on the issue. It's exactly why I asked. IMO, everyone has bad days, so no need for me to make it any worse. Not that I disagree with the approach of speaking with the manager, I'm just not the person to say, "I'd like to speak with your manager." Your...

Definitely a first world problem! Frankly, I wasn't paying attention to the time at first, but after the people next to me ordered, I checked my phone and realized it had been nearly 40 minutes since I texted my better half after sitting down. I was a server and a bartender during and after...

$5-10/day for housekeeping in hotels and at least double if we stay in a villa with a cleaning person. Also, 20-25% for restaurants, tours, charters, but we adjust based on norms (e.g. countries where tipping isn't expected). As someone that prefers to cook and clean for themselves, I'm...

Going out to eat is something I rarely do unless I'm traveling. However, when I do go out, I generally tip in the 20-25% range, or more for exceptionally good service. Recently I stopped in to a sit-down burger place while traveling. It was barely after 11am, and I was please to be ahead of the...

My better-half and I have been together for more than 20 years. She is many years younger and plans to continue working for quite a few more years. She has been totally supportive of my transition into retirement, and the reduced stress and increased flexibility in my schedule has had an...

No gym memberships for us. I ride the free bus to/fr our local ski resort 100% of the time and spent $0 on food etc. at the actual resort in at least the past four years. Season pass for skiing was $650 for each of us. I used it 30 times at my home resort and other resorts while on ritzy ski...

Thank you all! I spent 7 years juggling the "9-5" with building my own consulting business. That meant putting in 70+ hr/wk for most of a decade. This past year it's been dreamy to spend only 10hr/wk remote part-time and 20-25 hr/wk consulting mostly remotely (35hr/wk total). This coming...

As a consultant, I assist other organizations with certain tasks and can confirm that dumpster fire management is common in my field. From what I've seen, organizations either promote the least competent know-it-alls internally or hire those same kind of people from other organizations.

People have been asking me that same question. When folks find out I'm no longer with my former employer, I tell them the truth: I run my own business, which gives me the time to do what I enjoy.

Congrats on your first year! I just celebrated mine as well. The hardest part of volunteering is simply showing up the first time. I've been volunteering with several organizations for quite a while. One nonprofit in particular, I've been volunteering with for over 15 years, mainly because it's...

I feel exactly the same way. Dumpster fire management still seems convinced that employees care about extinguishing the dumpster fires they create. Maybe some still do, but I don't.

Congrats on getting to FI! Your willingness to embrace FI puts you well ahead of most people I know outside this site. It's the reason I joined this site. While there are differences of opinion on the meaning and importance of the RE part, reaching FI provided me with the opportunity to...

Congratulations on a wonderful first year and thank you for sharing! We have a similar budget and the lack of motorized and glittery things makes it more than sufficient. For us, the expensive stuff is gear --bikes, skis, and camping-- and even that isn't particularly expensive.

Congrats and welcome! Everyone here has been incredibly helpful and supportive. I just celebrated a year transitioning away from the "full-time" and have found no end to the freelance consulting opportunities available.

The Chrysler Pacifica. Barely a year ago they were selling over sticker. Now you can get them with low-miles off-lease for around $30k.

We drove a Subaru Forester for a decade as our only vehicle. When it met its fate one evening, along with a deer, we purchased the least expensive 4x4 available on the market new. That was nearly 7 years ago and it's performed great as our only vehicle. Now that it's getting older, I'm looking...

Whatever people reading this want to call it, I recently turned 53 and this year went flying by. Some highs and a few lows, but overall wonderful! My former employer offered me a half-time remote role, which ended up being about 10/hr a week. The contract wrapped on a bit of a sour note that I...

My better half placed a pair of adorable looking overalls in the cart of an outdoor gear website we sometimes check. They're made out of a super light but durable tech fabric like hiking pants, which she thinks will be great for yard work and they were 70% off. Then I received a $20 off $100...

The week is over, which means my year of remote half-time at the dumpster fire is done! No news from the dumpster fire. In Outlook the away message is visible before sending an email, and so I assume nobody wanted to send an email to me knowing it's getting forwarded back to themselves. All...

It's not how much they're increasing the offer. It's that each increased offer includes additional expectations added to the offer. Half of my previous annual salary for just over 400h of my time this past year worked out to a bit less than my rate as a contractor. However, once health...

No surprise, but they did send me another low ball offer, this one came with a Friday deadline, and I recycled parts of my previous reply. "Thanks for your message. I agree that opening the bidding process will help the organization to better understand both the scope of the work and that my...