This is such an important note.
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I like to use my heated blanket to pre-warm my bed sometimes - I turn it on and then do my puttering around, changing into pajamas and brushing teeth routine - then I get under it and the mattress is already warm. Usually I have it turn off after an hour and that’s plenty, I’m comfortable for the rest of the night.
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I can’t speak to the cruise, but - how much do you like heat and humidity? I went to the Florida Keys in December a couple of years ago, and it was warm enough (highs in the low/mid 80s) that I can’t imagine going any other time of year 
(And I’m from Houston originally)
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I have an electric blanket which i usually turn on full temp around 7, so that the bed is nice and toasty when I climb in. I usually turn it way down or off overnight.
It is the best.
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I have been in May before and had a good time! Well, it was Miami.
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Everyone I know who has been on a Viking cruise has loved it. It’s less like spending your vacation at the mall than most cruises. Lol
There are lots of videos on YouTube wherein people talk about their experiences on them.
I like Key West, but after you’ve been to Hemingway’s house, it’s the beach and a lot of bars, and I’m pretty sure you will find those things on a Mediterranean cruise as well.
Why does your sister not want to do the cruise?
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Random question for people who are more gifted with taxes than me. Next year I will have my normal income until about May, and then I will have effectively zero income (living on student loans). Is it reasonable to adjust my withholding to compensate for this, so I pay less taxes in the beginning of the year? I’m assuming if I kept my standard withholding, I would end up with a large refund, since I will have only made less than half of my standard salary?
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So, you could totally do this. The main difference is that, since you’re only earning for part of the year, you’ll likely end up in a different tax bracket and have a lower overall tax rate. So you could calculate what that rate would be, and then withhold that percent from each paycheck instead of your current rate.
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If you have an accurate-ish idea of how much you’ll make, you can use the IRS withholding calculator to figure out how much you’ll actually owe. I use it all the time when we have 1099 income or raises to make sure we’re on the right path.
It’s nice because there is an option to adjust how long you’ll be working at any specific job. You might need to fiddle with it, because it’s assuming the information is for tax year 2025 income. I think if you adjust it to say “I held this job from Jan-May and made $X”, then try a few different numbers for your federal withholding it should be doable.
I’ve found it to be very accurate, assuming your input is correct. You can account for basically any income - W2, interest, dividends, capital gains, 1099 income, bonuses, unemployment - and most deductions or adjustments. It isn’t updated for 2026 standard deductions yet, but that’s easy to find.
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I need to figure out my monthly expenses for the past year. I would really REALLY prefer not to have to add each each transaction by hand.
Is there some way to download in Excel form a year’s worth of transactions from each of my credit cards/bank accounts so I could then categorize and filter and make excel do the math for me?
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Definitely. If you go to the transaction history, most banks have an export to csv option.
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I think I’m ordering lights for the holidays this year. How do you attach them to the house? I think I am going to have them just along the eaves (which are made of wood) and hanging straight down, taught. What do I need?
(I have an extension cord to get power from the outlet outside to the one end I want to start at, and the outlet has an “in service” cover to protect it from the elements.)
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Depending on the thickness of the wires you can use a staple gun or u-shaped nails.
There are also hooks you can put up if you want to easy remove and re attach the lights.
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Is there any type of hook in particular that is better? There are like a million types. I want to have the option to remove them. And they have fatter wires anyway (they are not the mini lights). (Also they are not cheap and I don’t want to accidentally damage them.)
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Do you have a small local hardware store? If you walk in with your lights they will have good suggestions. A home depot style store might also have someone useful to help you, but chances are lower.
Does the light package say what gauge or mm the wires are? That’s a place to start.
Or contact the manufacturer.
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Haha, my local hardware store is less than useless and half the time they don’t have what you are looking for in stock.
The are twisted pair 20 AWG strings. Chonky vintage style for the old school C7 bulbs. I guess I can guess and hope for the best.
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Apparently there are clips! That sounds better than staples for not accidentally puncturing a wire casing.
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/noma-quick-clip-8-c6-clips-for-christmas-lights-green-1513394p.html
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There’s all sorts of types of clips you can get. Ones that slide under roof shingles, ones that attach to gutters, ones that tack in. I would go and look on a Home Depot style website and just look up all the different styles of clips and figure out what approach is gonna work best for you.
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After looking online and being completely overwhelmed by what is available, I actually just learned that the sockets have an integrated clip already, which I didn’t realize. I’m going to wait and see until I get them in my hands to see how much clearance they need and maybe I can get away with U-shaped nails on the underside of the eaves that I can just loop the clip through!
(I would ideally like them to be more protected rather than hanging out right at the edge of my roof.)
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I’m honestly contemplating those adhesive LED ones that live on there forever. I want to put them once and be done 
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