Congressional representatives have a service of 2 years. This is not onerous. They can come from all walks of life but should probably go back to private life after their term unless they have provided such exemplary service they deserve a second term. However, I feel they should be term limited. If they wish to continue to serve the public, they can run for the Senate or run for office in their state/locality.

Senators have a service of 6 years which is a bit longer but then, their function is more professional… like they have to hold hearings, investigations and approve for executive level agency leadership and judges. They do need more seasoning, education and a higher public service commitment. They should have a clear understanding of the Constitution and high ethical standard for themselves and others. I don’t think they should serve for more than one term, 2 terms tops.

Oh man. My husband is a journeyman electrician (IBEW). He is 57. Has had a hip replacement. He is hyper-focused on his diet and tracks all calories, hits the gym 5 days a week. Yet he has bone on bone arthritis in his shoulders, his left knee has no meniscus and he has popped his IT band 3 times in the last 4 months. He is on a job that has gone OT, tons of ladder climbing and stairs. Meanwhile the shoppie employees huddle with their phones while he is responsible for the switch gear. He really wants to retire. He has his full pension credits.

I am a nurse (60) with 27 years experience. I just spent a weekend on service and there was very little transport staffing. I ended up having to transport the patients to the nuclear medical dept and then wait. One had to travel on the tele so I told his nurse to bring him down and leave the equipment. After his testing was done… I hooked him back up and brought him to his floor and of course, the bed was out of battery charge WAFB, I was worn out.

We are both retirement curious. I was thinking… maybe get all our expenses on a spreadsheet, star the ones that can be reduced or eliminated, get all our most recent sheets together and see a financial advisor. We are kind of tired of carrying the 30 somethings honestly… We are Gen X and actually didn’t expect we would live this long. Honestly… we have kept our communities running for a long time and are ready for others to take over.

Personally, I 'd love to go somewhere like Portugal or Italy for a few years and wait out this MAGA mess. Our kid lives less than 3 blocks away though and we do want to be involved grandparents. It is a difficult choice in these times. I hope we can convince them to come with us. The fact is… this nation under Trump will become a prison if you wait long enough.

That is how I felt at my local mall a few years ago during Christmas season… it was soooo blighted. The floors were not polished, there was not the atmosphere one who grew up in mall culture from the 80s during Christmas that would be accustomed to… I mean, half the doors didn’t work automatically like they used to and half the shops were empty.

Our Aldis here are either stand-alone or adjacent to a stripmall.

We have a megamall in our region that a lot of people go to but our local suburban malls are all pretty much dead and in transition. The one closest to me is slated to be developed into a mixed used residential property with apartments/condos, shops, gym, other businesees, restaurants. This is mostly due to a large chip fab manufacturing project planned to be constructed in the next 2 years. There will be demand for housing and other services so the Town/County is interested in removing any barriers for that kind of development.

2 years ago, I went into that mall during Christmas season and it was very very sad looking.

Wow. I didn’t know that dial up was still a thing in the US

In the 1920s… moms were not “stay at home moms” they were “housewives.” There is a difference. Men were not expected to assist in the house… nor in the parenting unless there was discipline to be meted out.

I was a young child in the 1960s and was put to bed right after we had a family dinner at 7 pm. My contact with my father involved welcoming him home (literally jumping from the top of the stairs in our split level) and having dinner in my nightgown at the kids table and kissing every one goodnight and going to sleep… and that was on the the nights he came home at a decent hour.

My mother was responsible for the house upkeep, laundry, meals, food and she did extra little jobs for such luxuries as a new wash machine, a piece of furniture, our doctor and dentist bills and keeping the home in cigarettes and scotch. Because if they were not there… she had hell to pay from Dad. Occasionally, she would have to write a check for them for which he berated her for.

I just want to know… who does not greet their partner when they return home? I take the advice there as a more servile action… like bringing slippers and a cocktail dressed up with heels and full make up? I mean, in the 1920s, many women worked. So maybe this is advice for the upper middle class that hire housemaids?

Working for pay from home is different than working without pay from home in the power dynamic. Especially in a time when women could not legally have their own bank account without their husband cosigning and having access.

Oh man, you just unlocked memories of my Mom’s 8086 back in the late 80s… her first pc was an Apple but the software… there was more for the Intel. I remember so much disk inserting and printer interface issues and the DOS. We had like boxes and binders of those huge discs…

Intel can go anywhere. To the highest bidder and the lowest cost.

or they will just move overseas.

Right? Good Luck America. FAFO.

there is no real rationale. Trump is all impulse, no long range thinking/planning.

That is what the tariffs are for and Apple has promised to invest a shit ton of money into manufacturing those phones here… so they can raise the prices to the ceiling of the tariffs imposed on China, India, Thailand, Indonesia … etc. There are no other smart phones manufactured in the US so they will effectively… have a monopoly.

the problem is that those people actually exist and post. so it is hard to see the difference btw the monopoly/technocratic feudalists and the average sarcastic poster. being naive about that group is probably your first mistake. sorry for the heavy eyeroll and expression of disgust. Maybe find another way to have “fun?”

It is not like I did not have access to that information before. I don’t need to be trapped in some closed browser environment labeled as “search”

I doubt that “gang of 15 year olds” were homeless. Maybe it was a couple of girls who BB thought he could assault and he FAFO.

yah, that did not really happen. He is a shit stirrer and an attention whore.

Americans have goldfish memories. They do not remember shit.