u/dizz157

What is everyone doing for health insurance when you only have a handful of people on payroll? I’ve got 4 full-time employees and a couple of regular 1099 contractors that I’d love to get covered by next quarter.

We operate out of Texas, and I recently started looking at some group options. The traditional group rates on the open market are just wild. One carrier wanted close to $850 a month per head, and that’s for a high-deductible plan where my team would still pay $7k out of pocket before anything kicks in. Apparently, since our headcount is so low, we don't qualify for any decent group discounts. It feels impossible to offer good benefits as a tiny startup without draining our cash flow.

we currently have a completely manual hiring process and it doesn’t really work. everything falls into one person’s hands every single time.

we researched a couple of products that streamline the initial stage of the process.

anyone out there moved away from the manual selection process?

bought a fixer upper thinking id save money lol joke is on me

gutted the kitchen. found mold behind the cabinets okay fine. replaced drywall then found electrical issues cool called an electrician. while he was here he said the panel is outdated and needs replacement. another 3k

i havent even touched the bathrooms yet. and the roof is probably next

tired every weekend is home depot. i dont even enjoy it anymore. i just want to live somewhere that doesnt have dust everywhere

part of me wants to finish what i started. the other part wants to burn it down

anyone else get halfway through a reno and regret everything. did you push through or just cut your losses

I've been thinking about a non surgical nose job for months, then I forget about it, then I see another "before and after" and start thinking again. I don't want a totally different nose, just a small change that I'd notice in photos. The only thing holding me back is that it isn't permanent, so I keep wondering if I'd be happy paying to maintain it.

While looking at clinics I also read about luxury facial treatments in London, mostly because I want places that focus on natural-looking results, Le Petit Saint and the like. Can you recommend any of them if you've done a non surgical rhino? did it actually feel worth it after the first few months?

Demographics

Gender: Male

Race/Ethnicity: White

Residence: Midwest (Ohio)

Income Bracket: ~130k

Type of School: large public, pretty competitive

Hooks: none lol

Intended Major: Biology / pre-med track

Academics

GPA: 3.9 UW /4.3 W

Rank: top 8%

9 APs total, 2 DE

Senior courseload: AP Bio, AP Lit, AP Stats, DE Psych, DE Sociology, honors anatomy

Standardized Testing

SAT: 1520 (740RW, 780M) - submitted everywhere

ACT: 34 (35E, 33M, 34R, 34S) - sent to a few that let you choose

APs: 5 on Bio, Chem, Lang, APUSH, Calc AB. 4 on World and Physics 1

Extracurriculars

hospital volunteering (3 years, ~200 hours)

shadowed a pediatrician and a general surgeon (two summers)

HOSA chapter officer (VP senior year)

varsity tennis (4 years, captain senior year)

weekend cashier at a local nursery/garden center (2 years)

NHS (mostly just tutoring bio and chem)

self-studied anatomy over one summer because my school didn't offer it

Awards

AP Scholar w Distinction

some regional HOSA thing for medical terminology

nothing crazy

Essays
Personal statement was about my grandma's dementia diagnosis and how sitting with her in the nursing home made me realize I wanted to go into medicine not for the "hero" stuff but for the quiet, unglamorous moments where you're just there for someone. Tried not to make it a sob story. Supplements were okay, some better than others. My "why medicine" ones were decent. The "why this school" ones got a little repetitive ngl.

Decisions

Accepted:

Ohio State (EA)

Case Western (EA)

University of Cincinnati (rolling)

Miami OH (EA)

Pitt (rolling)

Indiana University (EA)

Waitlisted:

UNC Chapel Hill (EA deferred -WL)

Wisconsin (EA deferred - WL)

Rejected:

Vanderbilt (ED1 - this one hurt)

WashU (RD)

Northwestern (RD)

Additional thoughts

overall pretty okay with how things turned out. vandy was the dream but honestly after touring case western and ohio state again i felt way better. case western gave decent merit aid too which helps.

one thing i'll say the ACT grind junior year was brutal. My parents kept pushing these massive prep books and I just couldnt get through them. eventually found this site boosted brains and it was way more structured which helped my adhd brain actually stay on track. wish i had started with something like that instead of wasting two months flipping through kaplan books and retaining nothing. got my act from a 29 to a 34 in like 6 weeks once I actually had a system

my main advice: don't sleep on your state schools. everyone on a2c acts like t20 is the only thing that exists but there's solid programs at places that won't bankrupt your parents. also start test prep earlier than I did. Cramming ACT while doing AP Bio and working weekends was not a vibe

still waiting on a couple more but pretty sure i'm committing to case. go spartans or whatever they are

So I've been quietly planning to propose and I want to do something that actually means something to her. She's obsessed with opals, has been for years, so a diamond solitaire was never going to cut it.

I spent a while digging into sourcing and eventually found local opal auctions, which has a pretty solid selection of loose stones with good detail on origin and quality. Found a few Ethiopian opals in the 23 carat range that honestly look incredible. Leaning toward one with strong bluegreen play of color.

Now I'm trying to figure out the actual build. I want a custom setting but I've never done this before. Do I bring the stone to a local jeweler and just hand it over, or is working with an online custom shop a better move for something this specific? And if you've done a custom opal ring, did you work alone with the jeweler or bring your partner in at some point?

My mother-in-law is turning 60.

Honestly, our relationship hasn't been the best, unfortunately, but I'd still like to make her happy. My husband gave me a diamond bracelet, and while looking on their website, I saw some diamond pendants from Leon Diamond that looked super elegant and beautiful.

What do you think, would she like something like that?

I'm a mess with editing. Seriously. I need to post daily for my little brand but every time I try AI video stuff it comes out looking like a glitchy dream. Not in a cool way. I just found one app and it claims "zero prompts" – just pick scenario, upload photo, done. That sounds like my speed. But does the output actually blend in with normal Reels or does it scream "AI MADE THIS"? Anyone using this or something similar that doesn't get you laughed off the 'gram? I'm on iPhone btw.

We’re in the middle of renovating our house right now, and like every renovation ever, one project somehow turned into five.

One of the big things we already knew we’d have to deal with was the roof. The current one is old enough that every heavy storm has me mentally preparing for a leak somewhere, so replacing it was non-negotiable anyway.

Looked for some roofing options and started to look for pros and cons of shingles vs metal vs durability vs energy efficiency, I found something that caught my attention way more than I expected, which is solar roofing panels.

Not just regular solar panels sitting on top of the roof, but actual roofing material that generates electricity.

And living in Texas, where the AC basically becomes a member of the family for half the year, the idea of offsetting some of those electric bills sounds pretty appealing.

I’ll admit part of it is also aesthetic. I actually think the solar roof looks cleaner and nicer than a bunch of traditional panels mounted on top afterward. It feels more integrated instead of looking like something added later.

But now I’m stuck wondering whether it’s actually worth going all-in on a solar roof versus just replacing the roof normally and adding a few standard solar panels separately.

I know the upfront cost is probably no joke either way, so I’m trying not to make a decision based purely on this looks cool.

Anyone here gone through this debate before? Did you regret going with one option over the other?

I’ve been trying to get back into reading more consistently, and I’m looking for books that hook you almost immediately and keep you thinking about them after you finish.

Any genre is fine honestly. What’s a book that completely pulled you in from the first few chapters? And what made it so hard to stop reading?

Exam season always feels like a mix of stress, bad sleep, and trying to remember everything at once. Everyone has their own way of dealing with it, but some strategies definitely work better than others

What actually helped you get through exams without burning out and what’s one thing you would change if you could go back to your worst exam season?