Fuck, I knew I chose wrong.

Damn he really just be doin shit

I have a blurry photographic memory.

What I mean is that I can remember where/what an item looks like but can’t read it. This was especially lame and stressful in nursing school because during a test I could recall exactly where in the textbook or PowerPoint slide the answer was, but couldn’t “read” it from said memory. Stuff like “it was in the yellow shaded an the lower inner quarter of the page, second and third billet points” or “halfway down the page, highlighted in pink, and next to it was a graphic of the Krebs cycle” Not as helpful as you might think.

Just an interesting thing to share… I lived in the US until I was 40 and moved to Norway. They just don’t sell “cold remedy” meds here, or at least not even close to the extent the US does. We have sore throat drops, and OTC pain relief. Some cough medicine but it’s pretty weak imo. I suspect this is because the expectation here is that if you’re sick, you take sick time off work. You can rest and recover. Going to the doc to get sick time approved is at most like $20 and if you and your doc have a good relationship, you can do this via email. In the US, you’re expected to power through unless contagious and even then, just try to pretend you’re okay.

I used to work with a lady who, upon missing her shift, the next day the managers were all going around quietly telling staff that she died on her way to work, that she’d had a massive stroke while driving. New fear unlocked that day. But yeah I guess you don’t hear about it on the news because the may just assume car accident is what causes the fatalities.

What shoe has these? I seek but I never find. Preferably that I can try on in Norway. So not Lems, unfortunately.

I have one child, now adult, who reminds me every day that she didn’t ask to be born and wishes she hadn’t been. It’s hard to explain to someone without the life experience of it all but I couldn’t have known how shit the world was about to get when she was born (summer 2001) so it seemed like a good idea at the time. Every single day of her life has been hard both for her and us in various ways. And I wish the world was gentler for her.

Suffice to say, I can’t believe there are any people actively trying to bring new people in to the world right now. Shit has been bleak as fuck for decades and it gets worse every day. Even the new plague didn’t help. I feel bad enough knowing the world she was introduced to is so terrible but I didn’t know it was going to be. But now? Guys it’s actually very bad, how could you present this to a new innocent person like,”here’s life! Enjoy!” Pass.

You’re right, it is actually quite uncommon for Americans to live here without special circumstances. My husband is in tech, and managed to get hired on here, and so we are here on his work visa. We can test for citizenship after 7 years residency and testing language and civics, which we plan to do in about 3 years. We know that we are very lucky.

Nah, not crazy. In my view anyway. In 2020 I left nursing in CA making close to $100k and paid zero for actually amazing insurance… to work part time at a bakery for roughly $23/hr in Norway. I was 39.

Sometimes we just have enough and we don’t need to keep chasing the dollars in favor of a simpler, cozier life.

You’re absolutely correct and I hate it. Good luck with the horrors ahead.

My passport