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Watch a couple of episodes of the series Black Mirror to see where some of this could turn ugly (it's available on Netflix). While it could be awesome in theory, I worry that in practice it would be an opening to be controlled by the government, big business (which may be the government at some...

Bu yao. The second word is more like "yow" than "yah". When I was in China touring by train in 2000 using that phrase had unintended side effects. I used it to the hordes of map sellers, flower vendors, hotel and taxi touts, etc. and in some of the more rural inland cities and towns it amused...

Too many variables left unspecified to give a reasonable answer. Just some of those variables: other income - pensions, social security, etc.; the economic climate you are retiring into; do you own your home; single or married; health care options; country you are living in; how flexible you are...

I was raised by Scots and while my mother and gran were always frugal they were sure to warn against being cheap. "Don't be a man whose arms are shorter than his pockets are deep."

Right, and calling a situation where you need to put N+4 people into a space for N people not a problem is the kind of thinking that has lead to the PR problem for UA. It's not a problem it's an opportunity!

Hah, yeah I missed that. Oh well, at least I included the US one too. So, they should follow the ESTA link I gave.

Most reasonable people would call a situation with a plane that has N seats and N passengers + 4 late employees demanding seats a problem. You can keep trying to spin that into a non-problem but it doesn't change the facts. It doesn't mean that the doctor refusing to deplane didn't escalate the...

Yeah, this is a new pre-clearance permit that Canada has recently instituted called Electronic Travel Authorization. It's only for those arriving by air who aren't coming with a visa and are not US citizens. It costs CAD$7 and is good for up to 5 years. It's very similar to what the US has been...

United and their employees created the problem. The passenger who refused to deplane escalated the problem.

First, congratulations to you and your family. There will likely be bumps along the way but having the support of both families makes things a lot smoother. She needs to be careful when crossing the border. The USCIS can take her marriage to a US citizen as a reasonable suspicion that she...

Yup, prices here are high but they are driven by the income of engineers and those working for the tech companies. If you aren't in that industry then you aren't likely compensated enough for the high cost of the area. Engineers fresh out of school are making $100K+ at Google, Apple, Facebook...

As others have said, you look to be doing well overall. The only issue that sticks out for me is housing. What are you planning to do? Are you going to stick around the bay area at least until retirement? Over the long run buying in the bay area has beaten renting. Are you waiting for the next...

So true. When I was 30 I was heavy enough that BMI said I was fat but I had a waist of 31 inches. I was lifting pretty heavy at the time - over 400 pounds in the deadlift and squat - and could really eat just about anything. Unfortunately, I'm not that man anymore but since I've retired I've...

I just got a letter in the mail yesterday from Mercedes Benz Financial Services. They are offering to let me loan them money and they will pay me 1.6% but that rate can change. I can get the money back with no waiting so it's at least as accessible as a money market or at worst a 1 year CD so...

Did you wrap the links with the image tags? Select the link and hit the yellow postcard with the mountain on it. That's a fine scale of some sort - pharmaceutical, jeweler, etc. Look for any markings or stamping. The second item is a tap and die set for creating threads on metal. The third...

Never seen them before but I'll give them a look over. Thanks.

I knew that I had read that somewhere. It's a 20 year old Stanford student newspaper comic. One of the engineers I worked with (a Stanford grad) shared this strip with me. They're funny, particularly if you've gone to grad school. The early ones in the series are a bit rough and the later ones a...

So, that's a motorized man bag then? :laugh:

Eh, they're practical. You find them in the US too but often people try to hide it by using fanny packs, small knapsacks, jackets with big pockets, or just really large wallets. You got stuff and you need a way to carry it. Seems practical. I've got a fancy leather one that my MIL gave me years...

Not just European, the man purses are everywhere in Asia too.

I don't think a car is necessarily needed for an internship. I personally and members of my team have had dozens of interns over the years and I think there were 2 cars total. One was a local kid who had a car and the other bought a car while here and drove it back home. Even some of the younger...

Yup, I did it immediately after writing my post. I don't want to end up like this. I'm willing to share my knowledge and 25+ years of professional experience in this matter but if it becomes leading a horse to water or pearls before swine then there's no point. P.S. If you oldsters or...

With all due respect I originally stated that the double space was due to a technical limitation of typewriters and you tried to correct me. I'm done with you. Over and out.

Or the lack of pirates causes global warming. ;)

I've also got two SS type payments - US and Canada. My thinking is to take the smaller one at the earliest possible age (Canada at 60) and the larger one at the latest possible age (US at 70). That way I minimize the amount of the WEP reduction and get the other benefits of delaying. Of course...