My experience has been the same. They still have a solid burger but the steaks haven’t been the greatest. I’d rather pay a little bit more somewhere else for a better product.

I don’t have a dog in this fight but Mikie leaving could allow the congressional district to flip back to red. She capitalized on Frelinghuysen retiring and the conflict between moderates and MAGA voters in the district. The new district lines help Democrats, but there are still a lot of moderate conservatives in the area.

Don’t fight it. Do whatever you want to do if you get a few days off. Don’t do things out of obligation.

Worst time of year. Too many forced obligations. I’ve already had to go to 4 holiday parties. Burned out as well.

Seeing the same. A lot of younger couples are moving in. I guess they are anticipating that there won’t be too much of a price correction in Morris county and they’ll have the opportunity to refinance later. Probably a good bet. But personally wouldn’t pay what these sellers are asking.

All the buyers seem to be young, probably because anyone with a 2% interest mortgage isn’t moving to NNJ now.

Higher Ed. He’s not going to be able to start until next October with a private employer (and that’s assuming he gets selected in the lottery). Best to go find an employer that doesn’t need to file through the lottery.

The biggest source of stress that I’ve observed is that kids got used being spoon-fed the answers to everything and their parents got accustomed to the same. There’s no engagement in the learning process and parents put the burden on teachers to overcome this (instead of demanding accountability from their kids). Kids are struggling to solve problems on their own.

We need to rethink secondary education. It should be preparing students to solve problems, learn on their own, and be a functioning adult. Instead, the purpose is just college admissions (even for students who aren’t ready for college or would find a better fit in the trades). We need to break free of the post secondary educational industrial complex.

It would require political compromise with NJ’s rural counties. Give them what they need to sell it to their constituents as a win.

It’s unlikely that the Republican Party can ever gain a majority in the NJ legislature (governor is a different story). This leaves room for compromise as long as they can still sell it as a win.

Exactly why it needs to be funded on the state level or national level to distribute the financial burden.

Right now, it makes more sense financially for municipalities to make homeless unwelcome than finance their long-term care. Newark shouldn’t have to bear the cost on its own.

It also leads to disparities in terms of access to care. Many local charities and shelters only have the funds to help designated populations. State-run facilities would expand access to more people and provide opportunities to get addicts away from the environmental factors that are feeding their addiction.

That and there are few (if any) real solutions that can be implemented at the local level. Shelters only help those who are willing to dry out and commit to mental health/addiction treatment. The majority of homeless have given up on treatment or need longer term treatment than the current system allows.

The solution would be to restore institutionalization but with more controls/oversight. We’d get better outcomes with longer-term care away from the streets. That’s beyond the ability of local municipalities to offer.