u/chibanganthro

I have never been in Spain before, but we are visiting a friend who is spending some time in Jaca, Spain. We are flying into Barcelona (it was a choice between that and Madrid, and Madrid was quite a bit more expensive), and then it looks like we need to take some combination of high-speed train and bus between Barcelona, Huesca and Jaca. But our flight arrives at Barcelona at 4:30pm on Tuesday, and it seems like getting to Jaca will take quite a few hours. I have tried putting in start and end points in Google maps, Trainline, etc. and am just more confused than before. I am only getting options at very weird times. Can anyone help with the best way to search for and buy train tickets (and bus tickets as well if necessary)?

I think it's possible I've left this too late, and that worries me. If there aren't good ways to get to Jaca on Tuesday evening, we could also consider a last-minute hotel that night and depart early Wednesday morning by train/bus.

Thanks for your help!

I spent a couple of days in Belgium. Coming back into Rotterdam on an Intercity up north it's incredible how dirty this train is. It looks like no one has cleaned it for weeks. Seriously like stepping into immediate post-Soviet era Eastern Europe...can we get some Eastern European prices to match?

Hello, lovely Rotterdamers (and fans of Rotterdam),

We live in Leiden, and my elderly parents are visiting. My dad has limited mobility (he hasn't used a wheelchair yet, because he's stubborn as heck, but his knees hurt too much if he walks for very long, and he has to go slow). We were thinking of the Extended Harbor tour of Rotterdam this Sunday (the only day that works in our schedule) but see that it's sold out. I see that the longer daytrip (about 70 euros per person) is still available. 10am-17:00, pricey but looks quite fun. Can anyone confirm? My parents love boats and ferries (they live on an island in Canada). It looks like a nice way to spend the day to me without a lot of walking for my dad.

Are there better options with some combination of boats to see Rotterdam this coming Sunday? (I haven't been to Rotterdam yet, just transferring in the train station...I'm excited!).

We live in the Netherlands and have come to Belgium frequently (since moving here 3 years ago) for the better food and different vibes. My elderly parents (70s and 80s) are visiting from Canada now and I wanted to give them a two-countries-for-the-price-of-one deal, especially since they've never been to Belgium. This week on Thursday and Friday (so yes, very last-minute, the day after tomorrow) it's supposed to be really hot pretty much everywhere, and without AC in our house I thought it might be wise to go to a hotel that has AC. And why not have that AC be in Belgium? Then I can introduce my parents to some nice Belgian beers too.

At first I was thinking Antwerp since it's a very quick and painless train ride, but...then we're in Antwerp when it's 35 degrees, so how much will we want to do outside of the hotel?

I found out that Belgium has the long coastal tramline, which sounds fun and quirky. It also minimizes walking, which my dad is having trouble with due to his knees. It would seem to make the most sense to take the train to Oostende and get a hotel there, then explore the coast using the tram.

The negatives: the train ride for 4 people (booked through NS, anyway) + even just one night hotel is quite expensive. Renting a car would be cheaper, but that will add to my stress and I'd really just rather not deal with it.

Is there a cheaper way to do this? Buy train to Antwerp but then any cheaper train deals within Belgium?

Is doing the tram for 1.5 days or so even worth it? Better to just go to Antwerp and go to air conditioned attractions? Or somewhere else? (I also like Ghent and Leuven, but would prefer either the ease of Antwerp or somewhere more novel that requires more train transfers like the coast).

Thanks for your advice!

We live in the Netherlands and have come to Belgium frequently (since moving here 3 years ago) for the better food and different vibes. My elderly parents (70s and 80s) are visiting from Canada now and I wanted to give them a two-countries-for-the-price-of-one deal, especially since they've never been to Belgium. This week on Thursday and Friday (so yes, very last-minute, the day after tomorrow) it's supposed to be really hot pretty much everywhere, and without AC in our house I thought it might be wise to go to a hotel that has AC. And why not have that AC be in Belgium? Then I can introduce my parents to some nice Belgian beers too.

At first I was thinking Antwerp since it's a very quick and painless train ride, but...then we're in Antwerp when it's 35 degrees, so how much will we want to do outside of the hotel?

I found out that Belgium has the long coastal tramline, which sounds fun and quirky. It also minimizes walking, which my dad is having trouble with due to his knees. It would seem to make the most sense to take the train to Oostende and get a hotel there, then explore the coast using the tram.

The negatives: the train ride for 4 people (booked through NS, anyway) + even just one night hotel is quite expensive. Renting a car would be cheaper, but that will add to my stress and I'd really just rather not deal with it.

Is there a cheaper way to do this? Buy train to Antwerp but then any cheaper train deals within Belgium?

Is doing the tram for 1.5 days or so even worth it? Better to just go to Antwerp and go to air conditioned attractions? Or somewhere else? (I also like Ghent and Leuven, but would prefer either the ease of Antwerp or somewhere more novel that requires more train transfers like the coast).

Thanks for your advice!

Hi, I live in Leiden, Netherlands and my parents are visiting now, for 10 more days. My dad is in his 80s and it's clear to me that his knees are giving him a LOT more trouble than when he first visited three years ago. He is adventurous and mentally sharp, but he shuffles slowly and has to rest a lot. I know this is frustrating for him, as the rest of my family (including my mom) would walk all day long with no issues.

I'm trying to think of ways that would make getting around easier. We don't have a car and would rather not rent one. Museums make sense as then he can stop and rest often. If we want to go to a different part of the Netherlands, or even to Germany or Belgium (near parts) by train, are there places we could go that have good tour bus infrastructure set up (hop on-hop off kinds of buses)? Or notable boat tours a little more involved than the standard canal tours? (Maybe also where you can get on or off at various points?) Or would something like a mobility scooter be something we could rent in places?

Thanks for your help.

(Before anyone jumps down my throat, my partner is also university admin, but he's not of of THOSE administrators. My partner works to serve the university, just as I do, whereas the people who are the bane of my existence now seem to mostly be working to gatekeep).

I work at a university in a European country. It's a lot better than my last job in my last country in a lot of ways, but I was warned before coming by former employees to look out for "ridiculously arrogant administrators." And oh my god, they weren't wrong.

As the last semester was winding down and I was drowning in a sea of grading (we teach a LOT), I came across a call for applications for a SSRC fellowship, open to global competition. This is a one-off fellowship and not offered every year, and aligns closely with my research program. There is no stipulation of how the funds must be used, but teaching release (buy-out) is one possibility. I thought I should check in with project control about a draft budget taking into account various scenarios (teaching release or not), and once the dust of grading settled, reached out last week. (Yes, I SHOULD have done this earlier. But I genuinely didn't have time earlier). I don't have much of a relationship with project control, sadly, as I have yet to win a big grant. Of course, I got an e-mail back that she was on holiday, and "e-mails will not be forwarded." I reached out again this week, and she contacted my institute manager, who sent a condescending e-mail saying they "cannot support my application," and project control will not process it.

I reached out to my supervisor (since all of us who are not full professors--95% of us--have a full professor as supervisor) and he commiserated with me over administrative gatekeeping, and advised me to ask point blank whether they were just saying they did not support my application at this time, or if they were actually telling me not to apply. (My supervisor said that maybe I should just apply anyway). I got an e-mail back (much later) saying again that they could not support my application due to the short time frame. Equally condescending, "big grants are complex," blah blah.

So now this grant application is due tomorrow and I have sunk all this time into it, and am very reluctant to not submit it since the opportunity (for this particular grant) will not come up again. I am just so frustrated that there is so little funding available, and even given the state of the funding situation, there is so much gatekeeping over it. We apparently have to discuss teaching release, work hours, etc. so far in advance even when my chances of even getting the grant are slim. Now I am glumly working on the application for this grant that would be amazing for my career, but worrying that if I somehow manage to get it, they will prevent me from using it. (I know someone who got an ERC grant--the cream of the crop in Europe!--and my institute would not give him adequate teaching release to use it, so he took it elsewhere).

I am mad at myself because I should have discovered this grant earlier. But I didn't.

Hi all,

We adopted a Jindo mix in 2024 and he's 6 years old now. He's a good boy who has that Jindo aloofness but he has actually become wonderfully affectionate in his own way. Inside the house he sleeps a lot, sometimes gets chew bones, and doesn't really understand toys or playing ball. He was found on a mountain in Korea with bad mites and parasites, and we think that because of this he has quite a sensitive stomach. He gets probiotics every day. He has kibble and a little wet food everyday, and also takes Apoquel for itchy skin (which we think is an environmental allergy). He has been taking Apoquel for about a year already.

We moved into a new house in February this year. For the first two years he was with us we were in an apartment, and he could just bump in and out of our room all night long. Now our house has three floors and our bedroom is on the top floor. We decided he would stay on the bottom floor at night, just to avoid him damaging his back over time on steep stairs, and also control the amount of hair all over the house. Sometimes during the day he does come upstairs to the office if one of us is working at home. Between the 3 of us someone is often home with him, but we have to leave him sometimes for 4-6 hours and it's not a big deal. He is happy when we come home but doesn't show a lot of separation anxiety. He gets 3 walks a day, with at least one or two long walks a day, so more often than not 2.5-3 hours of walks a day. He is in total predator mode outside, and would kill cats if given the chance (we do our best not to give him the chance). He is very strong.

Now the problem: about 3 weeks ago we came downstairs one weekday morning and were greeted by the aftermath of a rampage: he had torn one panel of curtain down and pooped on it (combination of diarrhea and solid poo), and also gotten into the pantry to chew on cardboard boxes in the recycling. He had been acting a little uneasy before, and then had diarrhea that day (plus later some poo with mucus), so we gave him a 24-hour fast and he seemed fine the next day.

We washed the curtain and put it back up, and then today came downstairs to find he did it AGAIN, with both panels this time, and again had torn up the pantry and chewed boxes.

We're just mystified. This behavior started 5 months after we moved in to this house, and he never did it before this. Does this seem like mostly psychological (he's anxious about being alone) or mostly medical? I'd appreciate any advice or theories!

Our plan of attack for now is to: 1) put him in our room at night, 2) give him his overdue dewormer (in case there is a medical cause contributing), and 3) find new curtains that are somehow dog-proof. (They have to cover a BIG window that is actually French doors going to the yard).

We could also bring him to the vet but I'm not sure what they would do/test for.

Thanks for reading my long tale of destruction/poop!

I had laparoscopic surgery 3 weeks ago today, and everything is healing well. Incisions are closed up, though stitches still need to be removed. There have been a couple of times I carried bags from the grocery store that were too heavy, and the area where my gallbladder was has felt sore for a little while after.

Now I'm getting antsy to start lifting weights again, but know that shouldn't happen till 4-6 weeks. What about dog walking, though? We have a medium sized dog, 23kg, but the issue is that he is very strong, and if he sees a cat he lunges and pulls. I have been working from home often now while the rest of my family is at work and school, and just feel terrible that my poor doggo is sitting there sadly after his morning walk has become distant.

How long after surgery did you start walking your dog again. I am thinking of trying to start soon but do want to be careful.

I got a "mild fatty liver" diagnosis last summer, but the ultrasound also showed a gallstone that was getting progressively bigger for many years. I finally got the gallbladder removed a week and a half ago, and have been dismayed that I've still felt that familiar RUQ pain on and off. Of course, things could still be healing. The surgeon said there were actually multiple stones and so it was probably a good idea to get it out. (I am still waiting for a pathology report). So far I do feel like my digestion is already better. I'm just concerned that the RUQ pain could be my liver.

I am post-menopausal and weight loss has been hard, though I've worked to cut out sugar and to snack less in the last year or so, losing 10kg. I figure I have at least 10kg more to lose. Once enough time has passed since the gallbladder surgery I plan to start strength training again. I may use this as a motivation to completely give up drinking--I only tend to have a few drinks on the weekend, but I could easily cut it.

What are some things I could do to really reverse the fatty liver? (I've just discovered this community and started reading through).

I had a Kindle many years ago (10-15 years?) that eventually stopped working. Then for another 5 years or so I was accessing my Kindle library on a Samsung tablet. Just recently I started thinking about a few books I had on Kindle and how I'd like to read them again, but when I logged in to my Amazon account it just says I am not a Kindle Unlimited member (true) and no books are there in my library/saved book. (Complicating this, I don't live in the US anymore and hadn't logged into the US Amazon for a long time).

Does anyone know a way to get access again? Even though these were from a long time ago, a few of these were academic books and not cheap.

And an add-on question: I am in the market now for a tablet/e-reader that can do it all: big enough to display sheet music (so at least 13" would be great), good for e-book reading, and also something I can use to write by hand and annotate PDFs. Does such a holy grail e-reader exist?

I'm exactly one week out from removal, and started feeling a lot better and stronger yesterday. Of course, I somehow managed to overdo it today--went to get groceries and carried a bag that was definitely heavier than 5kg home. It felt fine at first but as I was walking I suddenly started thinking, "Hmm, this is too heavy." Doh. Now my body is telling me that I overdid it: incisions seem fine, but the area where my gallbladder was is sore, with some muscle spasms from time to time.

I freaked myself out a little and have been back in bed with an ice pack. I'm probably fine but learned my lesson (I hope). Anything else I should watch for? Feeling stupid.

Hi all,

I've mostly been a lurker in this community but have made a few posts. I have been suffering with a gallstone and persistent, gnawing/burning pain for at least 10 years. Yesterday I finally got rid of the gallbladder. I think it's too early to add a "success story" flair, but I'm cautiously optimistic.

I was admitted for outpatient surgery yesterday morning and the procedure was a few hours later in the afternoon. The most painful part of the process so far was honestly getting the IV ports put in, as I have quite small veins. They tried my hand first (ouch) and finally managed in my arm. I am in the Netherlands and my Dutch is not really good enough to handle medical convos yet, so with different orderlies, nurses, and doctors coming in and out it was a constant back-and-forth between Dutch and English (and some good-natural giggling). Everyone was very kind.

The procedure took about an hour and the anesthesia didn't make me too loopy, just a little emotionally happy. (I told the nurses in the recovery room how nice and cozy the room was). Then I was brought back to a shared room with other patients (at least one other person there had also had gallbladder removal) and slept on and off for a few hours. I had a relatively mild painkiller through the port (not sure what) and requested more anti-nausea meds a few times. They brought me some green tea and crackers first, and then water and some biscuits with cheese (I guess they don't care much about low-fat introduction here). Eating a little improved my nausea. Altogether, I was in the hospital about 8 hours, as they were dealing with an emergency elsewhere in the hospital and were also laid-back about getting me out of there. Since we don't have a car, we got an Uber the 10 minutes home and the driver was kind and drove carefully. I started feeling nauseated right when we got close to the house, and was grateful I made it out of his Tesla to throw up some bile on a tree in front of my house...

I wasn't sent away with any pain meds and so far I have been fine alternating paracetamol and ibuprofen. I've also been taking Rennie Deflatine (Gas-X equivalent). I was feeling that icky combination of hungry/pukey and remembered I had some ancient motion-sickness wristbands stored way (from long-ago pregnancies) and found that they helped a lot! I slept decently on my couch last night with my new wedge pillow (great recommendation in this group!). Today (day 2) I feel a little more woozy and am anticipating (dreading?) the first poo. I have a lot of abdominal gas and some sudden "ping" like feelings where my gallbladder was. (Could this be the suture where the gallbladder was removed? It's internal, not incision pain). I am grateful that at least so far I have none of the dreaded shoulder pain.

I'm assuming that I'll see the pathology report eventually, as they said I'll have a follow-up consultation in about 3 weeks. The surgeon said there were "stones" (more than the one that the ultrasound kept showing over the years) and that "I did the right thing in getting it out."

Good luck to all, and thanks for reading. Here's hoping for better digestion for me after many years of a dysfunctional gallbladder, and no more pain eventually.

We finally have a house of our own, and there are several walls we need to paint inside. I have dutifully bought rollers, paint trays, tarps to lay out, etc etc. What we don't have yet is primer or paint. When I've looked around online, people have said variations of "go to Praxis or Gamma, they'll mix it up nice for you." What does "mix it up" mean in this case? Does this refer to color matching, or something else?

My understanding is that 1) we paint over the color we don't like with several layers or white primer and then 2) we paint over this, once dry, with a color we like (as many layers as needed). Voila! Or am I missing something? (I haven't painted a wall since I was a teenager, and then I wasn't in charge of the buying of the paint or anything).

And are Praxis and Gamma indeed the best places to get paint for interiors? Or is online better?

I've had a 1.3cm stone for at least 14 years (dating from first pregnancy). Recently it got a little bigger, to 1.5cm. I have never had an attack, but sometimes what feels like the start of an attack (a lot of unpleasant spasms, a flash of pain but then quickly subsides). My theory is that the stone is too big to get stuck in the bile duct, but it will still try to migrate that direction sometimes.

Instead of attacks, I have near constant nagging, gnawing pain that varies in intensity. Sometimes I will not even notice pain in the gallbladder until I realize my head is hurting in that old familiar spot (almost like ocular pain behind the eye) and then I clock that my gallbladder hurts too. Sometimes I also have referred pain to the shoulder.

The pain is somewhat unpredictable but if I eat fatty food (peanut butter, cheese, more red meat than usual in one sitting) I notice a sharper ache. But anything else (raw vegetables, for example) is just as likely to cause bile diarrhea. Things have deteriorated to the point that I haven't had a normal poo in at least 5 years. Heating pads help when the pain is bad enough, and apple cider vinegar gummies help with digestion, though my digestion is still bad overall.

I finally am off the wait list and have removal scheduled in a week's time. I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I am so ready for this, since I fear the barely-functioning gallbladder will really stop functioning all together, and I'll start experiencing attacks. (I have no idea about HIDA score, as they don't do that where I live). Plus, I have very high inflammation markers (hs-CRP) that I assume is the gallbladder, and was also diagnosed with mild (non-alcoholic) fatty liver disease last year. I also recently was diagnosed with B12 and folate deficiency that I assume is malabsorption due to the diarrhea. But...I am also really used to living this way. My default state has been pain, bloating and brain fog for so long that I just feel like this is who I am. I have just adjusted around it.

I guess I would love to hear from people who lived with this kind of pain (and also GI problems, brain fog) but not attacks, and whether things improved post-op for you or not. I've had several moments of panic since having the surgery scheduled, wondering if this is the right decision or not.

Thanks for reading.