u/C-i-d

My upstairs neighbours have an indoor cat and they're going away for a week. They've asked me to pop in to change the litter, feed him and give him a bit of attention, which I'm more than happy to do.

The thing is, they've asked me to go in once every 3 days because, in my neighbour's own words, "We want to get him used to being on his own as much as possible". They intend to set up an electronic feeder for dry food, then have me top up the wet food every 3 days.

The Google consensus tells me leaving any cat alone for more than 1 day is considered a bit cruel, and given I work from home I can easily go in every day and spend a few minutes with this cat. But I don't want to tell them they're doing the wrong thing trying to get him to tolerate longer periods alone, and I also don't really want to go into their place more often than they've asked me to - both seem the wrong thing to do.

But it seems equally wrong leaving this cat alone for 3 days at a time. Any suggestions on how to deal with it? We only know each other to say hello to and I don't want to cause any bother with them.

Thanks for any replies.

I pay for 'Super Family' so I'm not just moaning at a free app making changes but, my God, the latest update feels like it's done almost no user research with users like me.

Yesterday one of the icons across the bottom of the app took me to what I now know is called the Practice Hub. It's useful, to just go over mistakes, vocabulary etc.

Today across the bottom of the app I have six icons:

Home

August quest (don't care)

League (don't care)

Feed (don't care)

Subscription (I already pay)

More, to where Practice Hub has been relegated

I'm not complaining that I now have to press my phone screen twice instead of once to get somewhere. But has Duolingo's research genuinely told them that the more social media style stuff like quests, leagues and feeds matter more to customers than the language learning aspect of the app? And if I already pay, has research told them that making the subscription page more prominent is likely to make me buy the 'Recommended' 'Max Family', for my family of me and my wife?

I'm fully aware that most of the app's real estate is the main learning area; my trouble is I've got to a point in the language I'm learning where learning more new stuff is less useful to me than polishing old stuff. I want to know basic, useful Russian - I don't need to learn the past tense, which is where I've now got to.

I just want to learn the fundamentals of a language and I'm happy to pay for it. Am I really that irrelevant to this company?

Hey folks, I'm after something like those in the title. Semi-serious, semi-funny, but more episodic than something where a whole series follows the same story.

I've seen High Potential so not that. Also not the Dick Wolf stuff, which I like but is a bit generic these days. Oh and not The Rookie, which for some reason I couldn't get on with.

Fine with US/Aus/NZ/UK or anywhere English language (looking for something to half watch really so would rather not subtitles).

Any recommendations gratefully received, thank you.

I'm an English man and I understand my place: we drink more than everyone in the world except Scotland, who beats us, and Australia, with whom we have an ongoing battle about this type of thing.

We here in the UK watch a lot of American media, obviously. The way American drinking is portrayed is quite strange. A group of Americans seem to drink three or four of those little lagers you have and they're plastered. A guy will turn up with a six pack of tiny beers and be lauded like a hero back from a marauding campaign.

Is that realistic? In the UK - I assume also in Australia and New Zealand - we'd call four little lagers an amuse bouche. Do Americans get drunk easier, or do you not fully comprehend just how much we tip down our necks?

Has anyone come across a karaoke place, anywhere near a Tube station on any line, that does what I'll loosely call 'indie' for the purposes of this question? Let's say The Smiths, Foo Fighters, Green Day, Blur, Teenage Fanclub, The Stone Roses, Ash...that's the sort of thing I'm talking about. (I know I'm playing fast and loose with 'indie' here; I basically just mean not chart pop and not obvious classics like The Beatles, ABBA, Madonna etc.)

Looking for a 50th birthday venue and hoping to make berks of some pals. Google has been surprisingly unhelpful.

Thanks for any help here.

It seems like a mad thing to do at any time, but particularly given the drought half the UK is in at the minute. There's just been a bloke on the radio talking about cutting personal water use and this seems so blatantly obvious it makes me question if anyone still genuinely does it after all the years of being told we shouldn't.

If you do, why? Genuinely interested in the mindset.

Yes it does, I know - it's a hugely important role on the pitch.

But with people starting to talk about virtually forcing an unwilling Joe Root back into the job because there are no better candidates, can we not stop for a second and think: just give someone (else) a go, and if they're pony, try someone else?

Surely, eventually, it'll turn out someone is decent at captaincy. It could be Brook, but even if he tries it and he's useless I don't see it trashing his game/career if he then gives it up to someone else. But who else? I don't care, at this point - just try someone, because history shows us someone unexpected can be really good at captaincy, and someone seemingly with all the attributes can be crap at it.

And for this reason, absolutely NOT Joe Root, PLEASE. We can all see it bringing about a quicker end to his Test career and absolutely none of us want that.

Obviously there's a heatwave in England and Wales imminently, and a Test match scheduled to start at the height of it on Thursday morning. It could be in the high 30s, and there are various warnings suggesting people should work from home if possible, avoid transport and the usual malarkey.

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But I've heard nothing of these poor bastards who'll have to stand in a cricket field in this horrific heat. It seems we're all assuming they'll be fine, or somehow immune (me included: in have tickets for day two, trains permitting).

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Do we just ignore the impact on players because we're used to seeing them in places like India, Australia etc where it can get fearsome hot? If so, what of the players who've never played in those conditions?

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How hot is too hot? If it hit 40C, could we in good conscience make them go/stay out there?

I've had five PI planets going on an alt for ages, and finally got around to training up to have a sixth. The first two are in a system starting with an O, the second three in a system starting with a P. I've added the sixth in the O system and, predictably I suppose, it doesn't appear with the other O ones but at the bottom beneath the Ps.

Is there any way to reorder them alphabetically? I suspect not, but Google's telling me something about renaming command centres, though I can't find out how to do that or see how it would affect the PI planet list. But I figured I'd ask the brains here.

Cheers for any help.

I've been flirting with stoicism for years but have lately been taking it more seriously, for want of a better way of putting it. But until recently I didn't know that accepting physical pain was a part of it - I get dealing with 'things that happen' stoically makes obvious sense but doing the same with physical pain is new to me.

And my back is absolutely buggered at the minute. It's that type of sciatica that you feel in your hamstrings as often as the back itself, and just sitting here now it's agonising. I can tolerate it, accept it stoically if you like, for a few minutes, but does anyone here have any strategies for in effect ignoring physical pain?

Thanks for any replies.

I occasionally feel like Factional Warfare sounds like something I might fancy having a crack at, but I'm in a player corp that I don't want to leave - is it one or the other? Or is it possible to stay in the corp and do FW?

I assume the same question applies to the new stuff they've just announced.

A group of friends including my wife and myself found out in a tangential way that someone we all went to university with died a few years ago. We've been trying to find out how and why - he'd have been in his early 40s when he died - and I assumed there'd be some record of deaths and limited, but publicly available, information.

Is that not the case? I've tried to find information but people keep saying go to paid resources, and it just surprises me that when we die there isn't some public record.

I apologise if this is any way insensitive.

Is there somewhere to get a decent takeaway kebab somewhere near the square or old town in Skopje? Just the kind you want after a few drinks, not anything fancy. Google Maps offers confusing results.

We're due in Monaco for my wife's birthday - a Thursday, two weeks before the Grand Prix weekend - and I tried to book a table for two on the terrace at La Mome for an 8pm dinner. The day they opened up bookings for that evening I was online...the whole night is booked up already and I've had to go on the waiting list.

Is that normal? It seems mad that a standard Thursday in May would be completely booked up at the instant they become available. The entire night before is available (the Friday isn't online yet). Is it possible there's an event at the restaurant that particular Thursday night that takes up the whole terrace?

I'm looking to buy my wife a jacket as a present, but I cannot measure her or ask her size as I want it to be a surprise. I can measure a jacket she already owns, but I'm not sure which bit corresponds with the 'chest' measurement of the one I'm hoping to buy. Do I measure between the armpits of the current jacket? And does the jacket need to be zipped close when I measure? Any help greatly appreciated!