Jesse, that would be at east $25.00 in Upstate NY.

Holy crap. $12 is probably Manhattan prices, but I paid $7 in Queens!

anything heavier has to go to the counter clerk.

Yeah, but you can usually just drop it on the counter, rather than waiting in line.

...but.

Oh, shit. I am a dumbass. I could have gotten in and out in less than 5 minutes, because the automated machine was unoccupied when I came in. I just didn't realize that it would be okay to pay for postage at the machine and then drop it on the counter without waiting in line. I guess I assumed it wasn't "allowed."

God, I am SUCH a rules-follower, even when they're rules that don't even exist! Damn!

Is it really an OMGWTF YOU MUST EXPLAIN kind of thing?

That's fairly prying, especially from a new acquaintance.

At university I plain didn't understand non-drinkers.

I have to admit that there was a time in my life when my mom and I often had the conversation that we couldn't IMAGINE being with a spouse/partner who didn't drink.

The Boy doesn't drink, at all. And I admit I would love to wine-geek out with him over a killer zinfandel, because opening a bottle at home for just me is a waste.

But, honestly? I no longer remember the rationale my mom and I used when we said that we couldn't imagine being with a non-drinker. Because there's nothing weird about it to me, I always know that he's not going to drink the last Guinness in the fridge, and I always have a willing designated driver.

When I was in high school, we learned in health class that binge drinking was more than 4 drinks for a woman and more than 5 drinks for a man, in the course of an evening.

See, this has NEVER made sense. Say you go out at 9, stay out till close (2 a.m.) -- 4 drinks is fewer than 1 drink an hour. How in the hell is that binge drinking? Craxy, man.

You shouldn't be closing down the bar, young lady! ....is the rationale, I think.

heh- it's true, manicures are pricey here compared to NYC.

Watching Christine Baranski on a 1991 episode of Law & Order- also, the first time the Wolfverse tangled with the infamous "Masucci Crime Family."

Drinking- I'll go for days drinking juice, stages when I have a beer or cocktail after work at home, and sometimes I go out and have 5-6 drinks when I'm socializing. t shrug I like booze. I like how it tastes (cocktails, whiskey, beer, wine) and the socialization around it.

You shouldn't be closing down the bar, young lady! ....is the rationale, I think.

Yeah, but...college! It was practically a graduation requirement at my school to close down the bars!

I just didn't realize that it would be okay to pay for postage at the machine and then drop it on the counter without waiting in line. I guess I assumed it wasn't "allowed."

it's not allowed in my PO.

Say you go out at 9, stay out till close (2 a.m.) -- 4 drinks is fewer than 1 drink an hour. How in the hell is that binge drinking? Craxy, man.

Yeah, I feel like we've done this math before - a woman who has a cocktail with appetizers, 2 glasses of wine with dinner and a digestive with dessert is legally binge drinking in the US.

And I could see how drinking that much every night might be a problem (for your bank account if not your liver), but for a fancy night out? I wouldn't drive home, but I wouldn't consider it a wild and crazy night of drinking either.

Holy crap. $12 is probably Manhattan prices, but I paid $7 in Queens!

I've never been happy with a manicure in CA that cost less than $18. My usual place is $22, and a mani/pedi is $45. Now that I spend untold millions on my dogwalker, I only get a mani/pedi about every 6 weeks.

a woman who has a cocktail with appetizers, 2 glasses of wine with dinner and a digestive with dessert is legally binge drinking in the US.

It's not really a legal definition, is it? Just a guideline, I thought.

My dad's doctor thought my dad might have a drinking problem because my dad has one drink before dinner. My dad, coming from a family where even little kids drank wine with dinner, thought he was an idiot.