I spend about $400/month. Meat, produce, snacks, some juices and drinks. I meal prep some, but tbh I’m mostly using meal prep kits lately. I do about 90% of my shopping at Costco and BJ’s, supplementing a bit at Safeway. I could probably pare the cost down some by getting it delivered less. But the convenience is usually too good to turn down. And I honestly feel like the savings wouldn’t justify the inconvenience of doing all of the schlepping around myself.

No, the pandemic changed employers. Before the pandemic, they swore up and down that remote work wasn’t feasible. Employees have been proving them wrong since Day 1 of the lockdowns. Since it can be done, and we have been delivering results, there is no reason that we can’t keep doing it.

No one also seemed to factor in that community based care would require funding and logistical support. That somehow never materialized. They just cut the institutionalized loose with no resources and no support.

I assumed they were thinking of flying. But 1) how uncertain the flight schedules have been lately and 2) how snowy it gets there, are two more arguments for waiting to visit in the spring.

Save Chicago for the spring. I’ve been in the winter, and it was the coldest I’ve ever been. Which I say as a native New Englander.

That is a strange take. DC’s a crowded city. As a pedestrian, I don’t have the time (or honestly see the point of) making eye contact and having a little interaction with every driver whose path I cross. Think about it-if I’m crossing K street, is your suggestion that I do that four times in order to cross the street? And repeat it for every street I cross? And you also want the twenty or so people who are crossing the street with me to also slow down and do the same thing? And believe that the other drivers around you would be happy if we held up traffic to do so? I can just hear the chorus of blaring car horns I would get if I tried. I’ll glance over quickly before I cross to be sure that you’re stopped, then be on my way. Waiting for a hand wave isn’t really a thing that I’ve seen done here. That sounds more like a suburban thing to me.

Agreed, the drivers around here do seem to be more unhinged than usual. Having just returned from a holiday road trip, I can confirm that Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York drivers are equally crazy, if not more. But I still think that Maryland drivers take the cake.