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I wouldn’t say we speak in people’s faces, but we make comments to each other about random stuff. I would never say something rude about somebody in their faces, but my spouse might go, “Can we go back to the hotel, I really need to take a shit” or something silly and unfiltered like that.

My spouse and I lived in a bunch of countries over the years. We speak Quebec French, English, and Spanish, as well as a smattering of Chinese, Bulgarian, Korean, and a few odds and ends here and there.

We basically speak whatever we think people around us won’t understand. Very colloquial Quebec French in non-French-speaking countries, Chinese around white people, Bulgarian around non-white people, or even a cryptic mix of everything when we’re not completely sure.

We figure anyone who understands is probably someone we want to know… Hasn’t happened very often, but it does happen. So far we weren’t saying anything overly embarrassing when we got caught, but we sure as hell have no filter between us because of this!

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I’ve traveled to 50 countries and lived in 7.

I don’t think being well traveled is about distance or number of countries visited… For me, it’s more about whether you’ve traveled independently and built some skills of adaptability and resilience to deal with new situations. That can happen with as little as one new foreign country.

For me, a well-traveled person is someone who can deal with all the stress, uncertainty, and chaos of travel. That can be as simple as ordering food in a language you don’t speak, or deciphering an alphabet you’re not familiar with to get on the right bus. Heck, it can happen in your own country, some times.

But once you’ve done something like that, the kind of travel skill you develop is pretty universal. Not to say no place in the world will ever throw you a curve ball, but once you accept not everything works like it does in your country and you learn to stay cool under pressure when nothing makes sense, you’re well on your way to being able to thrive anywhere you go.

Yes, exactly! Or, “Ya été bercé trop proche du mur.”

Ça vient surtout du Saguenay!

In Quebec French, people sometimes say of someone who’s not particularly bright:

“His mom rocked him/her too close to the wall.”

It’s just so… vivid and random.

A cringe video made by someone selling a Blockchain messaging solution.

Thank you. I see so many people say this was one of the best scenes of the prequels, but I can still remember my stunned disappointment when I saw it in theaters.

Yoda is supposed to be this great sage who is so powerful he never cared about violence or fighting skills. But lolnope, turns out he can actually fight, and when he does he looks like a monkey who did a rail of coke then grabbed onto a glowstick.

Blockchain

That word is your cue to stay away.

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I like it and I think I can say with confidence that I’ve made the switch from Reddit to Lemmy as my default “internet frontpage.”

Still rough in spots, though. The defederation drama is making this a bit of a rocky experience, so I’m not sure I’ve landed on my final instance just yet. I understand this is an unavoidable aspect of the Fediverse (i.e. relations between instances), but I still haven’t settled on an instance where I can say, “Yep, this is the one for me.”

On the positive side, I love Infinity for Lemmy, even with some of the remaining bugs, and I love that I can open a discussion that’s on the top of my feed and I can still have meaningful interactions with the community. I hope my favorite subs from Reddit will eventually come to life here, because then I’d be golden.

Overall, this all feels like a fresh new start and I love it.

So, I live in Europe right now. And if there’s one thing Italians are great at, it’s opening authentic pizza places all over Europe. So I’m not in Italy, but I’m close enough that I get this REALLY good, authentic Italian pizza. It’s, like, perfectly thin crust, wonderful cheese… It’s heavenly.

But whenever I visit my family back in Canada, I crave this very old-style pizza that I can only find in my hometown anymore. I’m talking super-thick and fluffy crust my dad would eat with a dab of butter, homemade tomato sauce, thin, salty pepperoni slices the size of saucers, long strips of green bell pepper, and a mountain of greasy cheese that gives the pizza a semi-oblong shape.

And what can I say… I love them both equally. Pizza is love.

I personally make sure I stay in a good neighborhood and check Wikivoyage for details like transportation and safety, but that’s pretty much it. If I land in a good neighborhood (not touristy, lots of amenities and restaurants around, easy connection on foot or by public transport to the major areas), then I’m pretty much golden.

It’s a bit counter-intuitive, but I think not enough research is much better than too much. Any tourist information will draw you to overpriced and/or overhyped places. The desire, say, to “eat the best X” or “visit the most famous Y” is making your travels crappier.

Instead, I recommend cultivating normalcy. Visit your neighborhood by foot, and take chances on unknown places. You can check Google Maps to get the sense of a place, but if the reviews are good and they’re mostly local reviewers, and the place is crowded, you’re in good hands. Check out what other people are eating and order that. (Just point if needed.)

My partner and I have what we call our “grounding ritual.” We set out by foot in our neighborhood and spot what we’ll need: a convenience store for late-night snack runs, a supermarket or fresh market for food, etc. We check out public transportation options nearby. Then we find a nice, no-frills local restaurant and have a meal there. If the place is good, we make a point of returning there over the next few days. Doesn’t matter if we’re there for a weekend.

We just returned from a few days in Warsaw, a city I had never been before. Besides the Old Town, none of the places we visited were stuff I had read about online. We just let our feet, eyes, and noses lead us to interesting places.

I’ve dabbled in crypto and I use Revolut extensively when traveling. When I saw Revolut was starting to push crypto, I got really nervous about their legitimacy as a financial institution.

I’m glad they’re getting out.

I would think so. Means Poland is taking extra steps to weed itself of Russian influence. One step further in isolating themselves from Russian interference.

The Polish Parliament has adopted a law that will create a commission to investigate Russian interference in Polish affairs over the last decade and a half. The law was toned down a bit, but the opposition is still concerned it could be used against them in upcoming elections.

Just downloaded and holy crap, this thing is smooth as butter. Already more functional than that $115 closed-source alternative. Instant switch for me.

Works for me!

So Don’t Look Up.