u/t0m4t0z

So I went in for my routine cleaning and suddenly the hygienist is telling me I have pockets and need a deep clean. $2,100..

My insurance covers a standard cleaning but barely touches this. I brush twice a day, floss, don't smoke, never had a cavity in my life. The thing is, I've been looking at different dental networks that have tons of locations, I'm wondering if the experience varies a lot between practices or if they all push the same stuff. Anyone else been told they need a deep clean when they were perfectly fine? I'm considering getting a second opinion but honestly just tired of feeling like a revenue stream.

My husband and I have spent most of our relationship moving around. We met in Thailand, lived in Europe, then the States, then Dubai. Somewhere along the way, our life became “let’s try living here next.”

It was exciting when it was just the two of us.

But after ten years of marriage, we’re expecting our first baby. Suddenly, everything has changed. We’re not just asking, “Is this place fun?” Now it’s, “Can we actually raise a child here long-term?”

My husband does crypto trading from home, and I am a fitness coach as well as a blogger. We can literally work from anywhere as long as there is an internet connection. That is when we decided to research some stable and safe places

And somehow, we kept circling back to Calgary

Neither of us has ever even been to Canada. Which feels slightly insane. But the more we researched, the more Calgary checked our boxes. Space, nature, cleaner environment, slower pace, family oriented neighborhoods. Being close to the mountains sounds amazing after years of living in hot, busy cities

We found a Calgary realtor who specializes in helping people relocate and match homes based on lifestyle, not just square footage. That’s helpful because we have no idea which areas fit us best yet

We’re not rushing into buying immediately. The plan is to rent for 2-3 months first, get a feel for the city, survive our first Canadian winter, and then start looking for a house once we know what neighborhoods actually feel right

For people who actually live in Calgary, what should we realistically expect? What surprised you most? And please be honest about the winters. Every Canadian I’ve spoken to gives me the same “you’ll get used to it” speech, and I do not fully trust that answer yet

I've been saving for a few years now and my brother knows about it. Lately he comes to me every couple of months asking to borrow money for different reasons. First it was car repairs, then rent, and now he says he needs help covering debts he built up. I've helped him twice already and he's only paid back a small portion of what he owes me.

I genuinely love my brother and I don't want to damage our relationship. But this is money I worked hard for, and every time I give in, it sets a precedent that I'll always be there as a backup option. My parents keep telling me family helps family and that I shouldn't be so tight with my money, which makes me feel guilty even though I know I have every right to protect what I saved.

I've tried hinting that I'm not really in a position to keep lending, but he pushes back and says he has nowhere else to turn. Has anyone dealt with a sibling who relies on you financially? How did you handle it without destroying the relationship? I want to be supportive but I also need to look out for myself

My parents are getting older. They can't manage their two-story house in LA anymore. We want to move them closer to us and buy them an apartment

The house needs repair work done on it. The roof needs replacement, as does the electrical wiring. We do not have time or money to get the house ready for the sale. It would take months for the realtor to sell the home. The realtor would insist that we get everything repaired and staged

I just want to sell the house as-is and get some money for it. I heard about companies that buy houses quickly, no repairs needed

Has anyone sold a house this way? Did you get a fair price?

Some weeks I feel like our whole life is appointments, homework from therapy, school, and trying to keep everything else running. I know the therapy is important, but it can be a lot for parents too.

We recently started saying no to adding more sessions just because they were available, and that helped more than I expected. We also switched to a provider that spent more time explaining goals to us, and that made things feel less stressful. And I realized good communication matters as much as the therapy itself.

But what has helped your family avoid burnout? But also without feeling like you're falling behind?

I've tried everything. Keto, intermittent fasting, gym memberships I never used, fitness apps that guilt-tripped me. I'd stick with it for two weeks, maybe three, then fall off the wagon completely. Every time…

Then I watched my wife. She used to dread working out too. Now she swims twice a week and actually looks forward to it. She's not killing herself and she's just doing something she enjoys

Then there’s a light buld moment comes…

I simply decided to stop punishing myself and play some basketball with my friends. Pickup games only, no big deal. We get together a couple of times a week and, trust me, I’ve gained better mental health through this than on any diet

But two times a week isn't enough. I want to shoot more. Just me, in the driveway, getting lost in the rhythm of it. Not for my body. For my soul

Now I'm looking at portable basketball shooting machines. I've been deep in this debate. Grind seems smaller and easier to store and somthing that folds down to 38" x 13" x 18" and weighs 110 lbs. Dr. Dish is bigger at 270 lbs but has more shooting game modes. Both catch makes and misses and pass to multiple spots. The Grind offers 9 passing spots while Dr. Dish has more shooting games

Tend to go with the portability but afraid to be disappointed

Anybody ever tried either one? Which is actually more convenient for home use? I just want to practice shooting some hoops in the driveway without worrying about losing weight. Can’t take this anymore

i have been playing padel a few times a week for the last couple of months and the sessions are way more intense than i expected. i sweat a lot more than during normal gym workouts and i started feeling drained and a bit foggy toward the end of longer games. regular water was not cutting it anymore so i started looking into proper electrolytes with some extra support for focus.

i found padel electrolytes and it seems made specifically with padel in mind. it has the usual salts plus a few things for mental clarity which i thought was interesting. has anyone else tried electrolytes with added focus ingredients for racket sports? what has worked best for you when you are sweating heavily during training or matches?

For years I told myself I'd handle it "later." Later never came.

There was this thing I kept brushing off as purely cosmetic, but honestly it was taking up so much mental space. More than I realized. Every single day, little bits of confidence just quietly draining away.

What finally moved me wasn't finding some product or trick online. It was actually talking to someone who could lay out what was realistic and what wasn't. I came across All Saints Clinic while looking into options, and what stood out was just how straightforward their approach felt. No pressure, actual information, real expectations.

Having a plan changed everything. I wasn't "fixed" overnight, but I stopped feeling stuck, which was honestly the bigger win.

If you've been putting something off because it feels too big or too overwhelming, what's one tiny step you could take today? Has anyone else found that just making a plan was enough to shift your mindset?

After a few months of flat hunting i'm finally sorted with a 1 bed in Balham £2050 pcm which feels decent for the area tbh, got a bit of outside space and it's only a short walk to the station. Move in mid july and i'm pretty excited to actually be living in London proper instead of just visiting. The only real headache right now is the boiler an old system one and looks like it's had it's day, the landlord said i can sort a replacement before i move in and they might knock a bit off the first few months or contribute something, which is better than nothing i guess, so i've been getting quotes for boiler installations in South West London.

Most of the bigger companies were coming back at 32-3600 which feels steep for what it is, then one that covers the area (Wandsworth through to Brixton and everywhere in between from what they say) quoted me £2850 all in to swap it for a new worcester combi, including taking out the old cylinder and sorting the pipework. Seemed like a fair price and they actually sounded like they know these older properties.

Anyone here had to deal with getting a boiler replaced when moving into a rental? how did the landlord side of things go or what should i be asking the engineers before they start?

been in hobart for about 6 months now. love it here but finding reliable tradies has been doing my head in. had a blocked drain last week. called three plumbers. one never called back one said theyre booked out for 3 weeks and the third quoted me 400 just to come and have a look. ended up fixing it myself with a plunger and some patience but i know that wont work forever.

back in wollongong i had a plumber i trusted. did a bunch of jobs for me over the years.

anyone know a plumber in hobart whoanswers calls and shows up. not after cheap just after someone reliable

We are a 6 person team, and every time we need to fill a position, the entire recruitment process turns into a mess of spreadsheets. Tabs for applications, tabs for notes, tabs for interview times. This continues to work fine till it stops working fine and someone falls between the cracks.

Our team doesn't have anyone responsible for HR duties. It's done by someone who finds time in their schedule to take care of it.

Do you have any other suggestions?

always been a watch guy and that was it. never saw the point of bracelets or chains or any of that stuff. felt like trying too hard.

then my girlfriend got me this engraved stainless steel bracelet for no reason. just because. she got it from some place called The Steel Shop. i don't know much about it. she just said it wouldn't tarnish or turn my wrist green.

been wearing it for like two weeks now and i actually don't hate it. it's subtle. not flashy. doesn't get in the way. kind of got used to it being there.

funny how you think you'd never wear something and then you end up wearing it every day.

anyone else change their mind about accessories as they got older? or am i just getting soft

honestly just feeling so defeated right now. im on day 4 of my wards block and got completely roasted on rounds because my progress notes were "too noisy" and just copy-forwarding the same useless lab trends from the weekend cross-cover.

like, I get it. but when you get hit with the 4pm admit dump and have a capped list, nobody has time to sit there and hand-craft a beautiful artisanal A&P. We're just trying to survive the shift without missing a critical lab. the EMR basically encourages you to pull in everything, so the notes inevitably turn into total garbage by day 3

My coresident told me to stop copy-pasting and just throw the raw morning labs and consult recs into around notes to structure a clean draft for me. It definitely cuts down on pre-rounding it actually reads thedata instead of acting like a scribe, but it still doesnt fix the core structural problem of our training

the fact that residency is basically 80% data and forms and patients asking for disability paperwork then just 20% actual medicine is just soul crushing. Im spending more time trying to format my assessment to make my attending happy than actually examining my patients. just needed to vent because im so exhausted tbh

So I've been doing yoga for years but wanted something with more resistance. Started looking into pilates, found a reformer for sale, and just went for it. Set it up in my spare room and honestly have no regrets.

Right now I'm doing about 3 sessions a week on the reformer, maybe 40 minutes each, keeping two days for yoga and one full rest day. I'm 40, not doing anything super heavy, usually working around 23 spring resistance levels with a focus on core and glute work.

Still figuring out how to program it though. Is 3x a week enough to actually see results in terms of toning and strength, or should I be training more frequently? And does anyone here mix reformer pilates with weight training, like 23 days of dumbbells on top of it?

I have been getting more into sewing and textile crafts lately, and one thing I keep running into is the question of how to properly finish raw fabric edges. There are so many options out there and it feels like every crafter has a strong opinion about which method is best.

Some people swear by a simple zigzag stitch on a regular sewing machine. Others say a serger is a musthave investment if you are serious about clean finishes. I have also seen tutorials using pinking shears, French seams, Hong Kong seams, and even handstitched blanket edges for decorative projects.

For me personally, I have been experimenting with bias tape binding on smaller projects like tote bags and pouches. I really like the look it gives, but it does take extra time.

I am curious what approach people here tend to use depending on the project type. Do you change your method based on whether something is functional or decorative? Do certain fabrics push you toward specific finishing techniques? And for anyone without a serger, do you feel like you are missing out, or do the alternatives hold up just as well?

Would love to hear what has worked for you and any tips you have picked up along the way.

Im 33 weeks and I think the nesting instinct has officially mutated into pure anxiety

for the last three nights I've been awake doing deep dives into crib mattresses and honestly the baby industry is so incredibly manipulative. every single brand slaps "eco friendly" or "green" on their stuff, but when you look at the materials it's literally just a giant block of polyurethane foam wrapped in a plastic waterproof layer. And they charge like $300+ for it just because the outer cover has a leaf printed on it

Its making me insane. how is "soy based eco-foam" a real thing? it's still just plastic! there is so many blogs fearmongering about offgassing and breathable cores that I ended up just sobbing to my husband yesterday because I felt like I was already a bad mom just for considering a regular target mattress

he finally took away my laptop and told me to just pick the most basic natural thing and be done with it so I can sleep. we ended up just getting a plain mattress from home of wool because it's literally just wool and cotton. no weird foam layers to overthink, no chemical smells to worry about. I don't even care if it was the "perfect" choice anymore, I just needed the mental load of making a decision to be over with

anyway now that the mattress crisis is resolved, im sure my brain will find something else to obsess over tonight. probably glass vs silicone bottles. someone please tell me this crazy research phase ends after they are born tbh.

Space is one of those topics where the more you learn, the more unreal everything feels. Even things we’ve known for years still sound crazy when you really think about them

For me, it’s hard to fully wrap my head around how big the universe is and how many galaxies there are out there that we’ll probably never even see up close

What space discovery or fact still amazes you the most and is there anything about space you still find hard to believe is real?

Has anyone seen the photos from the Springfield hail storm last week? Seeing those shattered windshields and golf-ball-sized dents is stressing me out. I’m supposed to be shipping my Audi from Kansas City to St. Louis next week. With how unpredictable the weather has been in the Midwest lately, I’m seriously considering switching to enclosed transport. I’d much rather pay the premium now than fight with an insurance company over a total-loss claim later.

Does anyone know how carrier insurance usually handles "Acts of God" like 5-inch hail? If the car is on an open rack and gets hammered, am I on my own? I'm getting a car shipping quote for enclosed today, but I'd love to hear if anyone has actually dealt with a damage claim during transit because of weather.

Rewatching the show made me realize how chaotic literally every character is in their own way. As funny as they are on screen, living with some of them would probably be a complete nightmare

Which character do you think would be the hardest to live with in real life? And which one do you think would actually be the most normal outside the show?