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New to America USA, how do you socialize and meet new people?
  • Drinking can be a big part of socializing in the US, but you'll be able to get by without it. Neighbors don't come over uninvited here, and it's unusual to have the type of friendships where people come by unannounced all the time (at least, after college).

    I might try a few things:

    • If you haven't already, find a local mosque to attend; that's a good way to widen your social circle with American Muslims, who may be able to introduce you to more people, broaden it further, etc. It'll be folks who are more culturally familiar, but many will likely be a bit more integrated already and have a wider group of American friends as well.

    • Hobby based clubs are great, but they do tend to be a little transactional -- think about hobbies you want to be doing anyway (so you're not JUST there to meet people).

    • If you have the time, I'd be on the lookout for volunteering and community service type activities -- it's a great way to meet good people, more committed than a hobby group, and much less awkward to socialize in than a workplace.

    • Depending where you live, try and strike up conversations a bit more openly / frequently, and be willing to mention that you just moved here and don't know many folks. At the barbershop, out to breakfast, in a long line, at the coffee shop, etc. Make conversation, a lot of people will be happy to chat and some will invite you to things. Just gotta be ok with lots of chats.

  • Those who have been on prescribed stimulants for many years (>5), how do you manage tolerance and crashing?
  • I have been on Concerta for around 6 years. As I understand it, Concerta does not have a cross tolerance with Adderall or Vyvanse, but both do with Concerta... so if I need to switch from Concerta it should be an open option.

    With that being said, I try and maintain a roughly stable dosage, I try and eat right and sleep right, and I don't take my medication on the weekend or on vacation.

  • Zelensky dismisses compromise with Putin, pointing to Prigozhin’s death
  • Sometimes, sadly, giving up is the right thing to do.

    I get it, but if you are just trying to make the point that, if a country thinks they'll eventually lose, it's better for everyone if they give up quickly ... then this historical example doesn't seem relevant.

    Given that Ukraine already gave up quickly once (in Crimea) and that Russia simply waited until it was convenient to invade them again, I'm sure you can understand why Ukrainians think it's necessary to fight this one out.

    Now, the war of the Triple Alliance is often held up as an example of how a minority of belligerents can create massive devastation by continuing a guerilla war after losing the conventional war; if Ukraine seems in danger of losing the conventional war, I'll admit it's a relevant parallel, otherwise it isn't terribly relevant.

  • Return-to-office policies are driving people to sell their homes - even at a loss
  • I'm OK with that, the housing market is in a giant bubble and it needs to crash. I say that as someone who bought a house at the lowest price point right at the start of the pandemic, combined with an incredibly low interest rate. Theoretically my home is worth almost 50% more now, 4 years later.

    Thaaaaat's a bubble.

  • What cooking skills are so difficult that they border on sorcery?
  • That's it in a nutshell. If I'm in a hurry I melt the butter, whisk the egg, add the cold lemon juice to butter just as it finishes melting and now it's room temp, pour the egg in and whisk. Uses only one pan, one bowl and the whisk, takes about 90 seconds. Just gotta be paying attention.

  • What cooking skills are so difficult that they border on sorcery?
  • Once you crack the code, it is easy peasy -- but it's very non intuitive until then. Either use a double boiler (I don't recommend this approach, it makes it harder to tell whats going on, reduces your control and makes setup feel like a chorae) ... or buy a few dozen eggs, a couple pounds of butter and a dozen lemons and just practice the sequence until it clicks.

    The key is to control the temperature carefully, and keep that temperature homogenous and even... that means knowing how warm and cold your ingredients are, and steady whisking.

    Two ways to do it:

    • Whisk together eggs, water and lemon juice until the mixture thickens, and then add melted butter slowly (your slowest and most foolproof method)

    • Whisk your eggs to aerate them, set them aside. Melt your butter, remove it from the heat and add your (cold) lemon juice and water. Should be about room temp now. Whisk it together and drizzle in the eggs, whisking constantly. Then put it back on the heat and whisk it steadily till it thickens, which will be quite soon.

    The first path is the correct way, in that it minimizes the risk of putting the eggs into a hot pan (and curdling them), but it's also slower and more involved. Basically, any way that ensures the eggs are about the same temperature as whatever gets mixed into them, and heated up gradually from there, works.

  • Is "crap" considered a bad word?
  • "It seems like there may be cultural differences between how Americans and people from the UK use the word... I know you guys want to chime in, but remember, this is a UK sub and that OP is looking for opinions from people from his country."

    People don't react positively to gate keeping type behavior, particularly because this sub has no rules asking Americans not to participate. You have a valid point (that OP is here because they want to know the cultural norms in the country that they live in), so it's more effective to just make that point.

    BTW, I don't know what these folks are talking about... "crap" has essentially the exact same meaning and connotation in the US as in the UK.

  • Is "crap" considered a bad word?
  • I don't know of anyone that doesn't think of it as a very mild "bad word" in the US, and I've lived across most of the country. Growing up in a very permissive household can mask that, but if you look it up in the dictionary you'll find it labeled "mildly vulgar" or something similar.

  • The American chestnut tree is coming back. Who is it for?
  • “If you want to restore this, like, ‘primordial’ forest, don’t you also want to restore our relationship with that forest?” he asked. “Like — what’s your relationship to a transgenic chestnut?”

    This is a quote by Patterson in the article, and it basically sums up this whole article.

    No, no one is trying to restore a "primordial forest", they're trying to restore a tree that was the most common tree in America 50 years ago, which produces nutritious food that anyone can eat.

    People don't need to have an indigenous relationship with a plant to benefit from it or want to see it in place; you do not have to be Georgian or Armenian to love apple trees.

  • The American chestnut tree is coming back. Who is it for?
  • This story was such nonsense, because of how hard it tried to make this a story about indigenous peoples.

    Every town I've ever visited on the eastern seaboard has chestnut streets and chestnut lanes because these trees were everywhere. My dad grew up when the blight had finally reached a tipping point and was quickly changing that; it wasn't that long ago.

    I respect everything Patterson is saying in this article, but not reintroducing the American Chestnut because it fails to right colonial wrongs is like not brushing your teeth because it doesn't stop you from getting cancer.

    In any event, if they're reintroducing chestnuts I'm getting a couple for my property. I ate my first chestnut in my 40s (in Spain) and I'd love to have some in my retirement.

    I'd recommend it! I have a lovely Japanese chestnut in my yard that I harvest every fall, I make chestnut puree and that shit is to die for.

  • What's something that you were surprised to find out a lot of people hate?
  • For some of us at some times in our lives, having a relationship with two people is less work. It requires much more communication, better scheduling, and much more attention to your partners' feelings ... but that might be a good investment of time anyhow, and often gets overlooked.

    I find that having multiple partners helps me appreciate each partner much more, for themselves -- it's easy to mix up how much you love just having a partner and being loved, with how you actually feel about that person. Poly gives you the distance and contrast to see your partners clearly, and that can be really special.

  • cute dogs, cats, and other animals @lemmy.ml Badass_panda @lemmy.world
    Tennison waiting for me to throw 1/69 of a ball

    He tears them to pieces and then thinks I'll throw every single piece. He'll fetch that little fragment of a ball endlessly

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    My first table

    Sharing my first table from years ago... Looking at it now there's a ton of issues with it, but about ten years later it's still going strong.

    I don't have any fully finished pics of it, but it folds out one direction to form an 8' table, or closes and opens in the other direction to form a lit display case for my sister's artwork.

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    Shelf for glasses I made for my bar

    Best part about woodworking is getting furniture exactly the size and shape you want. Holds all my long glasses!

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    Champagne bottles on a riddling rack

    Took this at a winery in Crete... I just think it looks neat

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    A jacaranda flower in Crete

    I'm sure better pics will show up as more users join the sub, but I wanna post some content and I think this flower is nice!

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    You can't go wrong with dog pics

    Second post! Lookit my dog, ain't he a cute boy

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    InitialsDiceBearhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearhttps://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/„Initials” (https://github.com/dicebear/dicebear) by „DiceBear”, licensed under „CC0 1.0” (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)BA
    Badass_panda @lemmy.world
    Posts 10
    Comments 244