u/meera_jasmine1

Of course I understand that it is mass-produced and not the highest quality, but imo the quality justifies the price, and most other furniture stores have mass-produced shit that are marked up as well.

I personally love Ikea, I move a lot and it is so easy to outfit a new space. I love a lot of their designs and it fits my budget - what is the problem?

Friends of mine are starting a new food truck business, and are looking for a person to work with them at the Street Food Festival in Hardturm, on June 5th (Friday, 5PM to 10 PM), June 6th (Saturday, 12 PM to 10 PM), June 7th (Sunday, 12 PM to 10 PM). They are not looking for anyone with any specialized skills, and are able to pay on an hourly basis.
Ideally, a student looking to make a little extra cash or so - let me know if this is something you’re interested in.
Thanks!

My close family friend (45M) is in a financial crunch because he lost his job and has made spectacularly bad financial decisions recently. He refinanced his primary residence to take out a loan of about 200k to invest in a property in Dubai (where he neither lives or intends to). As the investment payments are to be made out in monthly instalments, he invested the 200k (borrowed against his house) in the mean time in extremely risky options trades in the stock market and lost about half of that.
In the mean time, the Dubai real estate market has crashed due to recent events. While the construction has not progressed at all, he has to continue to make payments or completely forfeit his payments made thus far. This payment plan is quite aggressive, about 100k per year. His attempts to sell the Dubai property are unsuccessful because one, there has been no progress in the construction, and two, the market has crashed.
So currently, he is left with the roughly 80k from refinancing his home (after the stock market losses), no job (unemployment insurance still pays him roughly 85% of his salary), and a dead investment in Dubai with an aggressive payment plan (that he seems intent on keeping for as long as he can).
In my day job I work as a Marketing/ Business Consultant - and so, I helped him with setting up a low investment Food Truck Business. I did the concept, menu curation, branding and identity, all the commercial requirements completely free of charge to set them up. I even spent an entire day working alongside them on their launch day.
The food truck industry is quite competitive where we live, and as they just started, their calendar isn't filled yet. They are just starting to sign up for events here and there.
Now, he supposedly jus received a Tax Bill for about 12k and is super stressed over it. His wife called me to ask if I would be able to lend them some money.
Most of my money is invested as well, and in the current macro-economic conditions, my investments are not doing too well. So essentially, I would need to pull out money at a disadvantage to safeguard his money (he still has the 80k from the refinancing). I feel like I would be paying for his opportunity cost with mine. If I did lend the money, I don’t think I will see it for at least two more years.
Given the thousands of dollars in free labor that I have already contributed, this does not seem like a very fair ask. At the same time, he is like family, and I don't exactly know how to say no. What do I do?
If you think I should say no, please also suggest how to phrase it in a way that isn't cruel.

The prevailing argument in right wing media for the Iran war seems to be, “Iran should never have a nuclear weapon”.
Never mind that Trumps own National Security Advisor testified that there was no immediate threat of Iran developing a nuclear weapon last year, there was literally an agreement in place signed under Obama that Iran committed to never developing a nuclear program with high levels of scrutiny measures in place. Trump voided that in his first Presidency.
Why? The best case scenario for a deal with Iran currently seems to be reinstating the JCPOA that they are unwilling to do. How do you explain all of this in strategic terms?

Hello,

I am not sure if this is a common experience for many, but I find my in-laws to be quite financially abusive towards my husband and I. My mother in law is extremely manipulative and will stop at no end to get anything she sets her mind to - whether that be lying, or emotional manipulation. My husband and I are NRI’s and while I have established some boundaries over time, we still end up spending about 15 lakhs on them per year on average. She never acknowledges anything or has any sort of gratitude- only belittles them in order to ask for more.
My husband would rather not acknowledge her toxic antics, because it is easier to stay in denial but they are really chafing at mental peace, over anything else. I seem to have internalized that she is not a safe person, and that I can never let my guard down around her because she is always scheming and manipulating. Going no contact is absolutely not a possibility- my husband would be crushed. I genuinely don’t want that for him.
I am trying to be more apathetic and not let it get to me, but I have never met a more selfish, diabolical, manipulative, narcissistic person and I find it so hard to accept. I live in the west, and this is really not a relatable experience for any of my friends here.

My partner is looking to expand his collection, and looking for larger sets he can purchase. Let me know if you have some!

I recently went on my first cruise ever on the Star of the Seas. I didn’t have too much of an idea of what to expect - but as a European, it was unlike anything I could have imagined. I enjoyed most aspects of it - but I also had several conversations with the crew (who were so friendly and kind), that left me feeling very very uncomfortable.

For example, anyone who has been on the Star probably has met the Washi-Washi man, who stands in a mascot costume and welcomes you to the Windjammer (and encourages you to wash your hands). He told us that his day starts at 4:30 AM and ends at 11 PM - with a two hour break in the middle. He works SEVEN days a week with NO breaks whatsoever for 6-7 months at a time. He then goes home for anywhere between 3 weeks and 2 months for a break, which is not paid.

Despite these gruelling work hours - he was SO kind, cheerful, friendly and full of energy, breaking spontaneously into dance and what not.

It is also clear that most crew members are from developing countries like India, Phillippines, Indonesia - and are paid atrociously low salaries for the kind of work they do. One would be hard pressed to argue that this is not unethical/ predatory.

I left about $2000 in tips - which is really as much as I could afford or am able to do.

I really loved the cruise experience but this has been weighing on me heavily. 2300 crew members experience a gruelling life so that the 7500 guests can have a good time. I am curious to know if others have thoughts about this, especially more regular cruisers. I would love to go again but this weighs on me heavily.

I made three different orders since the 24th of April, and these have not even shipped out of China yet. I have a feeling that they are waiting longer to consolidate orders, which are ultimately taking longer to deliver. I think this might be related to the federal oil rationing program in China due to the Iran war. Is anyone else experiencing this?

Last week I had three packages marked delivered but I never found them in my mail box. I reported to the sellers, and one of them even had a photo as proof of delivery - so I think they were stolen.

What do I do now? My insurance needs me to make a police report but can I do this online?

Combined value of around 250 CHF :/

I just learned of the staggering statistic that 1 in 12 people in Switzerland live below the poverty line (which is defined as living below 2300 CHF per month for a single person and 4159 CHF per month for a family of four).

What does this look like in practice? What practical sacrifices do you make to daily life?

The material conditions of poverty are very different in different countries - I am just trying to understand it better here.

There is so much context to share, but I will try to keep it to the most important details. My sweet old friend (61 F) who lives in a rural small town was recently asked out by a man (let’s call him Hector, 46 M) who came to install a new Dryer in her house).

Hector, is a 6’2, bulky man from Dominican Republic, who doesn’t speak very fluent English, was recently released from Prison and is supposedly trying to turn his life around.

Anyway, I am all for second chances at a redemption arc. My friend believes in this too, because her own son has been wrongfully convicted and incarcerated for over 20 years now - this makes her want to see the good in people and give them a chance.

Friend and Hector have been spending more time recently, but Hector does not want to define the relationship (he wants to see what it becomes). However, he recently asked her if he could move in to her basement, pay rent, and also bring his nephew from a different state to come work with him. From what I understand, Hector does not have a stable living situation at the moment. The nephew is very young, and supposedly at risk of “going down the wrong path”.

My friend is entertaining this idea even though she barely knows Hector (they only met 2 months ago). She is not assertive at all and has had bad experiences subletting to people in the past.

I am so worried for her about how this could turn out, especially since she has no one to look out for her around. She thinks the money would help, and that he would spend more time with her, and help her around the house. I have been trying to ask her to wait a few months to get to know him better at least, before doing this. AIO? Please tell me I’m not being a skeptical cynic

Gelateria di Berna stan here and against my best judgement I tried the ONION flavored gelato they recently introduced. I’m calling it a hate crime. Did anyone actually like it?

I want to get some wall art and photos of various sizes printed - any recommendations?