u/Catdress92

My family and I live in Paris and recently took a trip to Japan. We bought used kimonos at a second-hand shop for my three nieces who live in the U.S., as well as a few small trinkets. At the time, I didn't think to keep receipts -- in fact, for the kimonos, I'm not even sure the secondhand market gave us one.

We'd like to send these to my nieces in the U.S., but I see that as of August 2025, you have to declare the value of the goods you're sending, so that you can pay customs tax on it.

If you've sent a personal (not professional) package to the U.S. recently:

1. Do the customs taxes apply even to personal gifts?

2. I read somewhere that if the items total to less than $100 USD there's an exception to the tax. Can anyone confirm this?

3. If I don't have receipts or any formal proof of purchase, how can I go about declaring the value of these items? Is an estimated cost okay, or since there are now customs fees to deal with, is a proof of purchse/value required?

Any help would be appreciated!

Note: Please bear with me, because I am not tech savvy.

I'm using a recorder app on my phone to record some audio. The file that results is an mp4. I convert this to an mp3 using VLC Media Player, then upload it into Audacity (latest version).

Every time I do this, I see what looks like two identical audio tracks, even though I only recorded one: my voice. Based on the research I've done about this, apparently it means the file was in stereo format. I want Mono format so that it's easier to look at and delete things like breath noises.

But when I try to convert this in Audacity, I can select "Mono" but I still see two identical audio tracks, as if nothing has changed.

Is there something I'm doing wrong? How can I get a Mono view of this file?

Lately I've come across discussions or comments in places like Goodreads where people say they hate books written in the first person, or sometimes they hate books written in the third person.

This absolutely blows my mind. I've been a voracious reader ever since I learned how to read. I've got my literary pet peeves like anyone else, but, although I can understand that some stories might work better with a particular POV, I can't imagine just reading the first page of a book and then setting it aside because it's in first person or third person or what have you.

Readers who hate a particular POV, what makes you hate it? Is it only when it comes to certain genres, or is it across the board?

I just downloaded Audacity (without Musehub) and the installation went fine. I'm on a PC, running Windows 11 Home and have enough memory to support Audacity.

But when I tried to import an audio file, the app immediately shut down and asked me to send an error report. The report is very long and full of technical language/coding that my Luddite ass does not understand.

I've tried multiple times and the app keeps crashing at the same point. Is there any way to fix this -- especially if it's easy for someone who is absolutely not tech savvy to understand?

Any help would be really appreciated!

UPDATE: I really appreciate everyone who had advice and suggestions. Unfortunately, none of these worked, in part because I am just too dumb when it comes to technology (For instance, I can't for the life of me understand anything about Github and why the site doesn't just have a straightforward older version to download rather than separate files, let alone what those files mean or how to run them).

Luckily, I found some other advice that suggested right clicking on the Audacity icon on my desktop and selecting "Run as administrator". That seems to work. I just wanted to put this here in case anyone else had the same question.

Thanks again, everyone, for trying to help -- I really appreciate it!

I'm writing a short story that takes place in modern-day Spain. I have a character who is centuries old and a native Spanish speaker from Spain. I wanted to have them occasionally use a filler word or expression, ideally something similar to Vale today.

EDIT TO ADD: This is not a story that will be published or earn money -- it's a surprise for my family. I wouldn't blindly try to capture a language I don't know if I were writing something for the general public or my job.

I came across Así sea (So be it/All right) as being something that would have been used in 17th century Spain. But I can't find any confirmation and unfortunately I only speak very basic level Spanish.

Does anyone know if this expression would be used by someone in 17th century Spain -- and if so, am I using it correctly?

Up until a few years ago, I recall Cracked accepting submissions from writers, albeit on their own terms,with a "workshop" and a heavy editing process. I have an idea I'd like to submit, but when I looked for their submission guidelines, I couldn't find anything but a page dated to 2019. I also can't find any clear answers anywhere else.

Considering the dire (to make un understatement) market today, is Cracked no longer accepting submissions?

My son (12) has been friends with a really nice girl (also 12) for several years. He's been invited to her house on at least one occasion and they've gone to each other's birthdays, etc., for years.

Over the past year or so, she seems to constantly have lice. It's so bad that other kids in my son's class have noticed it and have even said something to her. Not bullying or shaming, but apparently just asking if she's aware. When they've asked, she's just shrugged it off.

Our school has had at least two lice outbreaks this year and each time I've helped spread the word to parents. Her mom has seemed concerned both times...but the girl's lice are still there. The girl even had to go to the hospital for appendicitis a few months ago, which I figured would mean the lice would be taken care of, since hospitals should be sterile environments. But when she got back to school, the lice were still there.

I've been giving my son prevention treatment each week, and it seems to work. But lately this girl and another boy my son has been friends with for a while have been asking to come over our house. I have no problem with them -- they're good kids and I'd be happy to host them. But I don't want to get lice in my house.

We live in a small-ish apartment, so it's almost impossible to avoid having the kids on soft surfaces like our sofa or on my son's bed to sit down.

Does anyone have any advice about this situation? For instance, why might this girl still have lice? And especially, what, if anything, can I do about having her over and not leaving lice behind?

To be clear: I don't want to shun this girl, and I know anyone can get lice. My family and I have had it several times over the years. But it's a huge pain to do all the wash and treatment and re-treatment, and I'd like to avoid that. I also am worried that if this girl has some sort of resistant strain of lice, it would be complicated or impossible for us to get rid of them.

Any advice would be appreciated.

My son has been friends with a really nice girl for several years. He's been invited to her house on at least one occasion and they've gone to each other's birthdays, etc., for years.

Over the past year or so, she seems to constantly have lice. It's so bad that other kids in my son's class have noticed it and have even said something to her. Not bullying or shaming, but apparently just asking if she's aware. When they've asked, she's just shrugged it off.

Our school has had at least two lice outbreaks this year and each time I've helped spread the word to parents. Her mom has seemed concerned both times...but the girl's lice are still there. The girl even had to go to the hospital for appendicitis a few months ago, which I figured would mean the lice would be taken care of, since hospitals should be sterile environments. But when she got back to school, the lice were still there.

I've been giving my son prevention treatment each week, and it seems to work. But lately this girl and another boy my son has been friends with for a while have been asking to come over our house. I have no problem with them -- they're good kids and I'd be happy to host them. But I don't want to get lice in my house.

We live in a small-ish apartment, so it's almost impossible to avoid having the kids on soft surfaces like our sofa or on my son's bed to sit down.

Does anyone have any advice about this situation? For instance, why might this girl still have lice? And especially, what, if anything, can I do about having her over and not leaving lice behind?

Any advice would be appreciated.

My son has been friends with a really nice girl for several years. He's been invited to her house on at least one occasion and they've gone to each other's birthdays, etc., for years.

Over the past year or so, she seems to constantly have lice. It's so bad that other kids in my son's class have noticed it and have even said something to her. Not bullying or shaming, but apparently just asking if she's aware. When they've asked, she's just shrugged it off.

Our school has had at least two lice outbreaks this year and each time I've helped spread the word to parents. Her mom has seemed concerned both times...but the girl's lice are still there. The girl even had to go to the hospital for appendicitis a few months ago, which I figured would mean the lice would be taken care of, since hospitals should be sterile environments. But when she got back to school, the lice were still there.

I've been giving my son prevention treatment each week, and it seems to work. But lately this girl and another boy my son has been friends with for a while have been asking to come over our house. I have no problem with them -- they're good kids and I'd be happy to host them. But I don't want to get lice in my house.

We live in a small-ish apartment, so it's almost impossible to avoid having the kids on soft surfaces like our sofa or on my son's bed to sit down.

Does anyone have any advice about this situation? For instance, why might this girl still have lice? And especially, what, if anything, can I do about having her over and not leaving lice behind?

Any advice would be appreciated.

This is a mystery that's really been bothering me and I wonder if any historians here might be able to share their insights....

UPDATE: In the comments thread, BlankPalimpsest shows a source saying Johnstone and her second husband left Spain and went to Brazil, and THAT is where all trace of them was lost. If that's the case, my question still stands: Why did Johnstone, a writer with famous journalist and political friends, as well as living family and a husband, just completely disappear from recorded history at this point, with nary a mention of anyone looking for her, an obituary, etc.?

Original post:

I'm going to give as many details as I know but if you don't want to read it all, TLDR: In 1951, British journalist and writer Nancy Johnstone, who was known among both the commmunity of British journalists as well as by higher-ups in Spain's exiled Republican government returns to a town in Spain where she lived and operated a hotel in the 1930's and was appreciated by the local population. She writes to her publisher about a new book, and then "disappears from the historical record". No one seems to find this weird or try to explain it. Why is this? Was she "disappeared" by Franco's government? Or would that not have been something common for the type of writer she was?

Here are the details as I know them:

I recently read the book Hotel in Spain by Nancy Johnstone. Johnstone and her husband Archie were British journalists who came to Tossa de Mar, Spain, to open a hotel a few years before the 1936 Spanish Revolution. They seem to have been well-liked by everyone in the town and they felt loyal to Tossa and stayed there even after British destroyers passed by on 3 separate occasions with an offer to take any British citizens away from the fighting and back to the UK.

They eventually used their hotel as a refuge for displaced children and ended up making a harrowing journey to France with 70 of these kids, to bring them to safety. After this, the couple settled in Mexico, where they remained close with Spanish expats there including exiles from the Republican (Left) side. Throughout this time, Nancy was writing about her experiences. From what I've read and gathered, her writing doesn't seem particularly political; her criticisms and views come more from a civilian living through something, even though she seems to lean more Left.

Johnstone and her husband eventually divorced. He moved to the USSR, where he ultimately defected, gaining citizenship there. Nancy moved to Guatamala and became friends with Constancia de la Mora. The two were in a car accident in 1950 or '51, from what I can gather, and de la Mora died, while Nancy survived.

This is where it gets strange....

In 1951, Nancy returned to Tossa de Mar. English-language sources generally make this visit seem like she was saddended by what Spain was like under Franco and had decided to sell her hotel. But a Catalan source I found makes it seem like there were some issues with this because in her absence, a local family had taken ownership of the hotel.

Whatever the real details, all sources agree that Nancy wrote to her publisher, Faber & Faber and about a new book, and then, as most sources put it, "she disappears from the historical record."

I realize that many people vanish without a trace, but it seems weird that a writer who actively was soliciting her publisher about a new book idea would just disapepear and no one would have looked into it. I also find it strange that she had a second husband (Fernand Caron, a French citizen) and many friends, including famous British journalists of the time and higher-ups in the exiled Spanish Republican government, and no one seems to have searched for her, mentioned her, written an obituary, etc. Even her biography blurbs in the books she published never even try to attempt a reason for why she would have just vanished.

I haven't found anyone writing about this, despite the fact that her book was even going to be adapted into a movie a few years ago, before Covid hit.

I'm wondering if anyone would know why it would be so easy for a writer/journalist to just disappear like this in the 1950's? Could she have been "disappeared" by Franco's government and no one wants to address it? I'd appreciate any insights, because this is just so strange to me and staying with me long after reading Johnstone's first book.

I've lived in France for 20 years and speak fluent French. For the past decade or so, I've been working as a freelance journalist/writer, with autoentrepreneur status. Unfortunately, over the past few years, financial issues for some clients and AI in general have decimated my clientele base (an issue I know is sadly common among fellow writers right now). The money I earned was a second income for our family, and I'm struggling to find something within my skillset that's flexible enough to be compatible with my other role as a parent and homemaker (my son's school has been going on strike on the regular this year, for instance, meaning if I didn't work from home, I'd be taking a lot of personal days, something not all employers/jobs would be okay with). I'm also dealing with a bit of depression due to the collapse of what used to be a rewarding career that worked so well with my life.

I'm not currently collecting unemployment, since I have a very small trickle of money still coming in, but I will need to make a move and try to find another career path soon.

I was thinking about trying to see a career counseler/psychologist through Better Help, using their financial aid programs and some money I've set aside. But my husband pointed out that France Travail has counselors who might be able to help me choose a new career path and give me advice for free.

I've had a look at France Travail's website and it seems like what I'm looking for is an Atelier Conseil. My question is, has anyone had any experience with these? Again, I speak fluent French, so that shouldn't be an issue, but I'm concerned about the approach. I'm looking for something where my strengths AND weaknesses can be taken into account, as well as my personal needs and issues (strong preference for fully remote work, flexibility, etc.) and where counsellors listen and advise, and don't just give out rote or systematic advice. Is this something that would really be better to deal with in terms of seeing a career counselor privately, or could France Travail help me with truly finding a new career path that could work for me?

If you've done an Atelier Conseil or otherwise used France Travail to help you, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

EDIT: I am planning to learn Japanese but haven't gotten started yet, so didn't realize I'd confused the words "yakata" and "yukata"! Sorry! Edited to fix that in the body of this post....

I recently returned from an amazing trip to Japan. While I was there, I found these three yukata in a second-hand shop in Honmachi Shopping Street, Osaka. I was surprised to find ones so small, and very glad, because my three nieces love Japan and Japanese culture and wanted me to bring them yukata or kimonos back home.

I think they're made of cotton. They feel light and soft, very unlike the silk/silk blends I've felt on adult kimono.

I've read online that cotton yukata can be hand or machine washed, but some websites say they shouldn't be, so I just wanted to be sure I don't destroy my nieces' gift:

If they are cotton, is it possible for me to wash them in the machine, on a delicate cycle? I'd also add some color catcher sheets in case the dyes run.

Or is there a better way to care for them?

Any advice would be appreciated!

https://preview.redd.it/4lyw5gwp8c0h1.jpg?width=2850&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=13b5352001fabbf3191b424b8ed8f99c6f6762d7

https://preview.redd.it/hv1p6hwp8c0h1.jpg?width=2921&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4a34c66cc0347b6d417f80c6d610c1ceb42314b3

https://preview.redd.it/rrl9ggwp8c0h1.jpg?width=2507&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9479bff6e45236d3e4b2435266086c542adc2121