Hi, welcome back to Eat Your Cress Podcast. I'm Crystal. I'm G-Soo, and I'm Jessica.
Welcome back, Jessica. The last episode Jessica joined us on was episode 204, Girl Talk Healthy
Relationships. This week we have a less exciting topic to talk about, but in Jessica's eyes I think
it's very excited. This is like a roast. Well, no, that's why you're the perfect guest for this topic.
Okay, I'm honored. But before we get to all of that, we do have a slang word to discuss, and this
one is funny because G-Soo and I use this a lot sometimes with our friends, and some of them don't
know what it is, so they'll be like, wait, what? This word really had its moment maybe like a couple
years ago now. Nowadays the usage has died down, but I still think it's a really funny word,
and I'm sure G-Soo can agree. So the word is maulding. Essentially, this word is a mixture of
mad and balding, so you can kind of guess what the definition is. Hopefully. Dude, I love this word.
I think of this slang word that I use. It's one of my top five most used slang words, and I feel
like it's just so funny because I'm sure everyone can relate to that moment where you're so
angry, so upset about something that it makes you want to like pull your hair out. And to me,
that's kind of like what best illustrates balding. That's like the vision I have in my head too.
Like you're so angry, you're tugging at your hair, you know, you're becoming bald because of how
angry you are. I feel like as intuitive in a sense, it sounds. I do also feel like this word can be
a little bit interesting or hard to decipher until you actually hear the words mad and bald together,
so I can definitely think of multiple times where people are like, wait, what, what did you say?
And then you like explain the word to them, and I feel like it always makes people laugh. So that
in a sense is also a good slang word because I think people are receptive to it. They're like,
this is a creative word. I think it's a very easy word to use. I definitely heard it for the first
time from you to you too. Me and my boyfriend Vince, we have just like gone and ran wild with it.
We heard it from you the first time. We try to put it as many twists on it as possible. I think
sometimes it just depends on the situation, but sometimes Vince will be like, I didn't go running
today. He runs normally and he's like, I had a really bad run and I was spaulding. It's like
slow, fat and balding. Oh my god. Oh my god. This was like, you just try to put as many adjectives in
there spaulding. Like it's own format. Exactly. It's its own formula now for us. So I do really love
this word. Oh, that's so funny. I feel like it's just spur of the moment. Whatever it is that we're
doing, it's there. It's there. It's there. It's our formula. Just add the holding. Yeah. Anything
as many adjectives as you can combine into one, just like the first letter, just slap it in there.
Oh my god. I love that. Dude, that's the fucking power and the magic of malding.
Like it births new memes. I think that's so funny because it's kind of like a representation of
Twitch because a lot of Twitch slang, which you know, some of these are born from malding. I think
also got really big on Twitch and a lot of these slang words or memes or whatever they evolve and
just become like more and more degenerate. And so I feel like yeah, malding is the perfect example.
It is so funny that you two are just like creating different versions of malding.
It's definitely changed the game for us in certain situations. I need to keep track of like a list
and just start using them. Oh my god. I thought of a funny one. Shalding, sleepy, hungry, and
balding. Wait, I feel that one on the daily. Like me every morning.
I looked up malding though for our, you know, word origin purposes. And what I found was very
interesting on our favorite website, knowyourmeam.com. They said the origin is actually at least the first
traceable origin is from 2011 in Urban Dictionary. Someone defined malding as...
someone who is either a mad and bald person or a person who is mad about being bald. So it was
actually like a noun before, like malt. The popularized one is a verb like malding.
I think I like the malding spin off more. In the screen capture of this original Urban Dictionary
definition, the like sentence example is like you're so mald. And I think it just doesn't hit.
I'm fucking malding. It's way harder than you're so mald. I think also because the verb,
it's like anyone can use it, right? It's like I'm so angry that I'm pulling my hair out.
Right. Versus like mald feels more pointed towards people who are bald, which is a little more
niche and targeted. Kind of aggressive. Yeah, kind of mean. Right? Yeah, I definitely appreciate
almost the self-deficatory usage of malding rather than the insulting version. Agreed.
Well, one thing that I think makes a lot of people malt is actually our topic today.
Well, actually maybe only parts of our topic today make people malt. Our overall topic is the
quote-unquote boring side of adulting. So more of the paperwork, like self-care, planning,
being a real human kind of aspect of adulthood. I feel like this one is interesting too, because
being an adult is something you fantasize about when you're young, but I feel like the parts and
pieces that you fantasize about are not the administrative aspects of it. I was more thinking of
myself in like a pantsuit and like high heels, walking to work with like a briefcase in my hand,
but I was not envisioning myself cleaning the house or doing taxes and things like that. So it is
kind of interesting to get thrust into this position as an adult where you're like, oh shit,
there's so many different things that I have to like maintain in life and so many things that I
have to plan for, et cetera. So I am very excited to talk to you guys about going through that aspect
of adulthood. So what do you think is your like least favorite adulting task? I think back when I
had a car, I would say that it was probably car stuff. Mm, going to get your oil changed or
rotate your tires, which in the four years that I drove my car, I didn't do once, so that was
probably bad. Oh no. And I think just doing car stuff is also very intimidating for like a woman
and making sure that I'm not getting scammed, but then also at the same time, you know, they're telling
you, oh, you need to get this change. It looks like it needs to be changed. So I'm like, well damn,
like maybe I should pay for it then. Yeah, I feel like car stuff for me was probably my least favorite
part. Mm-hmm. And now that I don't have a car, that's gone. So thank god. But I think after that,
surprisingly enough, although I do love doing my taxes, I actually really don't enjoy doing other
finance related. For example, my 401k that I had with my previous company, it was through Vanguard,
and then through my current company, my 401k now is through Fidelity. And so I had set up this whole
like rollover Roth IRA account for me to like transfer all of my funds that were in Vanguard to
Fidelity. And it's been two years, I haven't done it. Oh my god. Dude, wait, I have the same thing,
except the opposite of you like Fidelity to Vanguard. Okay. And it's been like three years,
and I still haven't. I put it on my to-do list in the beginning of every year. Like don't
forget to do the role over this year. And then I always forget. And it's gone so bad that I have
to pay like a fee on it now. Oh, like a fee? Yeah, because it's like you're not with that company
anymore. So you have to pay like a small fee to keep that account alive. Yeah. And I was like, oh,
should I really need to like roll this over soon? I actually haven't even like gone into Vanguard
and looked at it since setting that up. So I don't even, I'm probably paying a fee. Yeah, I just,
I haven't even gone and looked at it. So I think the only thing I went to look at was if I have to pay
a fee to my new Fidelity account, if I don't have any money in there, like it's just literally a
balance of zero. So I'm like, do I need to pay a fee for this? And that was a no. So then I think after
I saw that, I was like, okay, that's fine. I'll just deal with it later. I think like the fee is
not too bad, but it's just the fact that you're paying the fee out of your account. You're like,
oh, shoot, like I really need to move this to the non-fee account now. I feel like along those
lines, though, I can totally relate to I think even stuff like insurance, I just hate dealing with.
And I kind of have a feeling that it's like stuff that's set up through your work. Maybe it's just
inconvenient sometimes or less intuitive. And I hate having to go in and like pick my insurance
every year. I don't want to do the research. Surely there's one optimal decision that someone
can make for me. Like, why do I have to custom fit this to my own life? Yeah, I feel like car stuff
always just like sneaks up onto you. Late last year, I had my registration sticker arrive in the
mail and I was like, oh, I better put this on soon. But I double checked. I was like, oh, I don't
need to put it on till the end of the month. So I just like kept putting it off, you know? And it's
like the simplest task. I just had to peel the sticker off, stick it on, and like put the paper
into my car. But I was just like, no, like I'll have to wipe it and everything. I'll do it when I'm
more prepared. Dude, I actually don't even wipe mine. I just like put it on. And you know how you can
have like a little border around your license plate. Usually I think normal people would take it off
and then put their sticker on and then put the border back on. I honestly have just been putting
it over my border for the last couple of years. Wait, I didn't know people wiped it.
Never wiped it. I think it's just like it helps of it to get some of the dust also stick better.
So I've actually also learned a good tip is you score it. Like you put it on and then you use a
exacto knife and kind of cut it in half or something just so people can't steal it. But low-key
people can just steal your whole license plate. So like, oh, you know. True. Yeah, my old car was
from 1999. So I'm pretty sure the stickers was just like 20, 22, 23 years of just sticker after
sticker and it was like this inch like I swear. So I don't think anybody before me who had that car.
I can't do anything about it. I wonder if people actually appeal off their previous year sticker.
I feel like that's so much work. I feel like it's kind of hard to take off now. Yeah, I feel like
it's so sticky. Because I'm just thinking like, yeah, what if you have an old car like your old car
and you just have like this one inch thick pad of stickers, you know, maybe it's actually easier to
take off at that point. Oh, maybe. Instead of having to like, you know, so thin you like dig your nail
and you just like, just comes off as a chunk. Yeah, car stuff is annoying. And I feel like home stuff
has also seemed slightly annoying to me after James and I bought our house. Because before,
I felt like we were always living in an apartment. So the only things that I dreamed of was like,
oh, it would be so nice to have a place with a garden and a place where I don't have to park in
like this huge parking garage. All these things that I considered benefits. But when it comes to
actually owning a home, I feel like the thing that I noticed on the daily is like, oh, I need to fix
this part of the house and I need to like add this and hopefully one day we can remodel and do this.
So it's just like this long laundry list that I feel like never gets shorter and always only gets
longer. So home maintenance stuff, I think, has been a huge part of our like personal to-do list for
us. That's funny that you mentioned a garden because I feel like you and James are always complaining
about your garden area now. Dude, yeah. And sometimes when we move stuff and like a wall gets
gafter something like I'm always like, oh, fuck, we need to like, what paint that. And there's
just so many things that I have to think about. It's now that we don't have an apartment manager
or someone who does all the thinking for us. That's true. You don't have somebody to like call
or be like, this is your responsibility. I'm like, oh, fuck, this is our responsibility.
And honestly, stuff like painting the walls or dealing with bits and pieces here and there inside
or outside the home including the garden. I feel like it's somewhat intuitive. Like obviously when
we bought this house, I was like, okay, yeah, this like we're going to have to do something about this garden.
But the crazy thing is I feel like there's all these miscellaneous items that I honestly never would
have thought of. For example, we were talking to one of our parents and they're like back fence fell
down. So then they were telling us like, oh, yeah, you have to go and like talk to that neighbor and see
which plot of land the fence stakes are in. And then that's how you see who actually owns that fence.
So sometimes it's like, oh, half the fence, like the left side of the fence is ours and then the
right side of the fence is theirs. So then if the left side falls, we do it. If the right side falls,
they do it. Or other times it's stake by stake. So you kind of alternator some shit.
Oh, I was just sitting there listening to this. And I was like, if you didn't tell me,
I never would have even thought about our friends. You know, like, it's like in the back of our backyard.
Yeah, you're like, please don't fall down at the next like 50 years. I was like, we're in a fence. That
sounds like a nightmare. Oh, that's true. Because you also have to talk to your neighbors about if say,
like, the whole fence side is on your land, you still need to talk to them. Hey, it's okay if I do
this design. Lowkey, right? It's like, doesn't match the neighborhood. Like, can I just do this? I
imagine if say you're like, all right, fuck it. I'm just going to get like some ugly ass like metal,
you know, weave fence. And then the neighbors like, yo, what the fuck is that? Exactly. There's like,
I don't know all these crazy rules that I feel like no one knows about except the people on
next door who somehow know like every law. But it's like, if your neighbor's tree is in your backyard,
then legally you're allowed to snip it down. But obviously you can't go and take out the roots
or some shit because the tree is still there. And you can legally take the fruit on your side.
It's an etc. So there's all these like little nuances where I'm just like, I can't believe there's
a law for this or like, I can't believe there's actual guidance for this day. When our neighbors
in my parents house, there was like a time period where a lot of our neighbors were trying to build
a second floor or like even a third floor and just like expand their house. And I think there's
laws around if you build another floor or if you expand upwards, then there's laws about like,
oh, your window can't be facing a certain way where it's like you can see into somebody else's yard.
Interesting. So I remember some people would come around like some neighbors would like come around
and be like, hey, we're thinking of doing this. These are some of the things we're wanting to
upgrade and to build in our home. And I think you just need neighbors approvals and stuff like that.
And I think you as a neighbor and homeowner also have a lot of, I guess like rights to like what
your neighbor can or cannot do. And if they want to expand or upgrade or like do whatever to their
house too. So yeah, I can see that being very frustrating sometimes. Wait, that makes so much sense
because actually I can't see into my neighbor's backyard from my second floor.
It's all like you've been trying. Like I'm unable to do. I think I think that's like one time
they were being loud. So I like ran to the other side of the house. I was like, oh, maybe I can
check out what's happening in the backyard. Like why is this so loud? And I was like, I can't see
shit, dude. How stuff is crazy? Right? Yeah. And property taxes are crazy. Oh my god.
And I feel like it's harder to have fast stuff once you own a home too. Because like in a rental,
you know, you're like, okay, whatever. Like I'll just have hazardly like paint over this
part that I stuck a nail in. But when it's like your own home, you're like, oh, I want to make
sure it's going to like last long. I'm doing it properly. Yeah. And I feel like there's also
a funny shit that comes with like owning a house with someone. When I was growing up, I feel like
once every three months or something, my parents would suddenly get inspiration at like 11 p.m.
and then we would like rearrange certain rooms. And it would be like a whole project. And I would
like, I remember that. Like every time I came up for your room would be you would a have a
different room and then be everything. All the furniture in said room was different. That's so
fun. Like wait, what? I'm like, it's just like quarterly scramble. Yeah. You're like, all right,
that's which which room is hers this time. I know. But since that was so normal to me in my childhood
and actually something that I would look forward to, I have that urge all the time here. I'm like,
oh my god. Like James, we should swap our bedroom and our office for the summer because this room
gets more sunlight. And James is like, no, I'm going to throw out my bag. And I'm like, I guess,
but wouldn't it be so nice to be in the sunny room? Because he and his family come in the philosophy
of like, oh, we set it up once. It's like super nice and then done and done. Final. But yeah,
I'm always like, oh, let's paint this wall. Like, let's do this. Let's move that. And James is like,
please, I feel like even the homeowner philosophy or maybe just like the interior design philosophy
is inherently different for us. Oh my god. That's so funny. I can kind of feel that even without like
being a homeowner, but I feel like sometimes there's a period of time in our old studio. Our old
to do was so tiny. It was like our bed was up against the back of our couch that was up against
the coffee table. That was like, I'm just a TV. So it was like tiny. And then there's obviously no
other way that we could rearrange furniture. But we were there for two years and by the end of it,
we started sleeping with our head towards the foot of the bed. You know, oh, like you swapped
the ends of your head. No, we didn't swap anything. We just started like, instead of sleeping with
our head to like the headboard, like a normal person, we just turned it around. Like we just slept
with our head to the foot of the bed. Oh, wait. So you didn't even rotate the bed? No, we didn't
move any of your feet. We're just at the headboard. Yeah. Because you're like, there's no, we can't
physically move anything. But we're so desperate for that change and to like feel like something
new and exciting is happening. And so we're like, okay, we're not going to sleep the other way around.
Damn. And then I think for that we were sleeping on the ground or the couch, just like we need to
switch it up. The only thing you could rearrange is your bodies. Exactly. I will admit I do
rearrange my room a lot too. Like every couple of years I'll rearrange it a bit. It's just it's
fun. Okay, but what I've learned is the ultimate move is to put wheels on your furniture. That like
any furniture that can have wheels, you should put wheels on them. So my desk, you can put heavy
duty wheels on them. So I did. And so it's a lot easier to rearrange my room now. Wait, that's
genius. Yeah. I'm about to move. So oh yeah, I'm actually going to start. I'm going to do that.
I'm going to do that. I think a lot of like standing desks nowadays have like the option to add wheels.
So pretty nice. So I have something that's not necessarily home or apartment related. But I do
want to ask you guys this because I feel like there's in my mind two archetypes of people.
Every year with your health insurance, vision insurance, dental insurance, I feel like you get
like a reset of like, okay, this year you can go get your cleaning done twice and get your
vision checked, et cetera, et cetera. Are you guys more the type to go and do all your appointments
in January, aka like the moment you can do it? Or are you the type to go and December, aka like the
last possible moment you can use up your benefits? Ooh, I think this depends because some of these
benefits, once you get them rolling, like you don't have to worry as much. So for example, like
dentist, I just make my next appointment every time that I go. But when I finally got off my
parents insurance, I had to basically like reenroll myself in a lot of these things, right? So I
definitely put it off. I think that year I didn't do my dentist stuff till like the end of the year.
And then I was like, okay, well, at least now that it's done, they'll just make me make the next
appointment every time. But my optometry appointment was literally the last possible day of December,
like maybe mid-December before holidays. And I think it's vision, like they make you wait the
full 12 months before you can make your next appointment. So now I'm just stuck with a December,
like end of year time for my um like eye doctor appointment. And I'm like, wait, this is lucky
a terrible time. Like what if I'm traveling? Then I would just miss the whole year.
Right. And I feel like always in December, the like booking and the lines of any sort of
appointment related to insurance is just so bad. I'll have to double check like maybe I can do it
earlier. But I know on my old insurance provision, I had to wait like the full 12 months.
That does sound familiar to me too. That's actually tragic to be stuck with that kind of time one.
How about you Jessica? Are you leaning more towards January appointments or December appointments?
I think I'm pretty similar to Crystal where I kind of have an erhythm now. Like once you kind of
said it, you just stick with your rhythm. But I think mine's a little bit more ideal. Not during all
the big things. Okay, with like dental stuff, I feel like they're a little less strict. There has to be
six months between your appointments. But then if you like stretch it out a bit longer, like if you
do it in like January, then I feel like you can switch up your rhythm very easily. So my dental
appointments right now are typically I think I had one in like February and then the next one is in
like July or August or whatever it is. My optometrist, because now for the last couple of years,
I've been wearing contacts like monthly contacts. And so I need that coming up like I need to order
my new year or else I just won't have contacts because they're monthly. So it's like very strict like
12 months and it's like done. Like I don't have anymore. So with that, I'm usually pretty on top of
it and that's around like March, April ish. That's a way better at that time than mine. I agree.
I highly recommend. Wait, that's crazy monthly contacts. Okay, also a funny story about contacts is
I tried contacts for the first time a year ago now. And I ordered with them. I doctor, I was like,
okay, I'll get a couple boxes. But the thing is I don't wear glasses and or contacts every day.
So I bought like 90 days worth of contacts and I did not finish them in a year. I didn't even finish a
box. Wait, did you buy daily? Yeah, daily. Okay, so the first time I had contacts that year, I bought
six months worth of daily's. That wasn't I was on daily's. And I think it took me a little over a
year to like finish using all of them. But they they don't expire for like five or six years or
something like that. They last really a long time. But then after I moved to New York, I started
wearing contacts a lot more frequently. And also that time it was like COVID and I was like
wearing my mask on the train, just wearing glasses when you're out and about in the city. It's just
the worst. So I started wearing contacts very frequently and that's when I switched to monthly.
So now I'm on the schedule. This time when I went to my eye doctor, I was like, oh, I'll just get
one box of contacts. They're like, are you sure? That's only 45 days. There's like a whole year ahead
of you. I was like, no, trust me. Like, that's fine. I feel like my vision is decently bad. So then
I definitely like rely heavily on my contacts. And I hate wearing glasses outside. So if I don't have
contacts, I'm like, fuck, but the crazy part is, I think this happened more so after James and I
moved here. We just haven't found doctors and like dentists and like, you know, vision offices
that we like really love. Because I'm kind of like, oh, I'm trying to find someone who's like a
lifelong doctor, right? So then we're kind of shopping around, which I think one makes it easy to
kind of miss like a normal cadence of appointments. To because I'm missing the cadence, I feel like I'm
always like, oh my god, my prescription expired. I have like two weeks of contacts left. I need to go
and like get something. This happened to me maybe like a month ago. And I was like freaking out. I was
like, I don't have any more contacts left. I need a book of vision exam ASAP. But the next time that I
can like go in for it is in two weeks, et cetera. So then I went on my website that I used to buy
contact lenses. I was like, I wonder if this will go through. So I ordered it off my old prescription.
And then it actually went through even though it was expired. Isn't that crazy? I would never
recommend this. Obviously. My eye doctor just hands me a box in the office. They don't always have it
ready. Oh, that's true. Yeah. I think they have to like order it. They're like, okay, your prescription
is like pretty basic. So we have some boxes here. They just give it to me. I mean, I guess if you're
just getting one box, yeah, that too. That dude, they're like, oh, you'll need one box. Like, okay,
it opens drawer. They're like, we have 45 contact lenses here. But that's such a good point. I feel
like finding a new doctor for anything is super annoying, I guess. I'm always like, what do I look
for? Like, my dentist is a family friend. So I just stick to that. And then for eye doctor, though,
I just stuck with what my parents had originally found me. But now I'm kind of like, oh,
she was a little far from home. Like, maybe I should find a new one. But like, what do I even look for?
Like, how do I know if they're good? You know? In my journey of trying to find the one,
like the one dentist that I know and trust, etc, etc, for all of my doctor needs, I always go back
to what Jessica was saying earlier about like, going to get your car stuff done. I'm always like,
are you scaring me? I know they're not. For the most part, everyone is very like honest and what not.
But I think certain people push you more to like get all this other stuff done, which is like
incremental cost versus other people are more direct and like straightforward and like are better
at recommending stuff that you might want and need a little bit more. So then doing that evaluation
any time I go to any sort of appointment just makes it so much more tiring than like popping it
in out and just being okay with it. I'm always like, I think I could find better. And it's like the
toxic cycle of where is the better person than oh my god. Yeah. I mean like even with finding a
primary physician, I think in New York, I was so daunted by that task that I just was like,
fuck it. I'm just gonna walk into whichever like I don't have a set person who knows my history.
I just like go use whoever. But I was like, okay, maybe a long term is not that great.
Wait, in New York, did you ever use sock dog? No. Okay, to be honest,
what I ended up doing was I think I met my deductible through other things like physical therapy
or like chiropractor stuff because I met my deductible. I was like, okay, who cares? I'll just
go into urgent care. It's fully covered now anyway. Holy. Oh my god. That's hilarious. Yeah.
Why are you can't do like physicals and stuff, right? Yeah, I never did a physical.
Oh my god. Just like if you need it stuff. Yeah. I was like, oh, I'm sick. I'll just go to
urgent care. Oh my god. I went to urgent care a couple weeks ago, like maybe a month ago,
because I was having this leg pain that ended up being like a nerve issue. But I went and I just got
the bill like yesterday. It's like $150. I was like, oh, it's like not the worst. It's not the worst.
It still feels like considering like what I did not get out of that appointment. It feels
bad. And I definitely did not mean my deductible. It was very satisfying when I checked my deductible.
I was like, oh, I met it. I go into urgent care. I get the bill later fully covered.
You like walk in like you own the place. Because otherwise, it's like, wow, I would have paid
a couple hundred to get this cough checked out, right? Hmm. True. So I got by that way. But now that
I'm in the bay, I'm like, okay, like I asked my parents what doctors they used, which hospital
that they are patients at. So then I just like joined that network. And I was like, okay, I guess
I'll trust whatever my parents are using. And it's like truly hard to find the right doctor though.
Because I feel like on Yelp or Jessica, you mentioned Zockdock, which I think is something similar
to that, right? Like they have reviews and stuff. Yeah. It's like, so there's reviews on Zockdock.
I never actually read any of the reviews. I just like look at the rating. And if it's really low,
then I don't even look at it. But Zockdock is, I think it might only be in New York. I think I tried
using it once in California. And there was like nothing came up. It's probably regional. But it's
basically like an appointment scheduler for all sorts of health related things. So I booked my
dentist, my autometry, my annual physical, and you can even do, if you want to go get like a
germ appointment or like OBGYN appointment, like all health related things, you can get through
Zockdock, even like PT. And so I used Zockdock initially to like find people. Some of them have
worked out like I really like my dentist. So I always, I keep going to her. My autometry,
I like shopped around a little bit. But my primary, I've gone to like a couple times now too. So
yeah, I feel like it's a good starting out place. Or if it's just like for example, I don't go to
the dermatologist very often. But if I wanted to, then I would go out there and look at it. This has
not been an ad for them. I mean, that sounds really useful. I have like a built-in tool kind of
similar to that in my like health. Well, I don't even know what this is like some sort of health portal.
But the thing is there's no reviews. It's just like a blank and I'm like, this isn't helping me at all.
The reviews get kind of so I feel like it's always five stars like everyone on Yelp who's any sort
of doctor or dentist, it's all five stars. And then you read the reviews and it's like, oh my god,
I've been going to this person for the last like 40 years. I love this guy. And then there's like a
one star review that's like, I'm literally blind because of this person like blah blah. And I'm like,
okay, which one is it? Which one do I try? That's right. I've definitely seen that too. It's like
there's no in between. It's just like, this is the best or this is literally the worst. Yeah.
I mean, is there any criteria though that you even look for specifically because I'm thinking
about it and I, I like don't even have criteria. I'm like, I hope they're nice and they can do their
job. But then I realize that my parents actually have some criteria. Like to them, they would prefer
if this person can speak some Chinese. So, you know, they can like communicate better. I don't
know. Sometimes like when they choose their primary physician, they look at their like school
histories. Yeah, credentials. And I'm like, dude, doesn't really matter. Like they're all doctors
anyway. Dude, I kind of look at that sometimes. The school that they came out of. I don't know why,
but it's because there's nothing else to go up of. So I was like, I guess I might have
to look up. Yeah. They should make like hinge profiles. Oh my god. Doctors are dentists. Wait,
you're so right. Like they need to have some sort of get to know me. You're right. Yeah.
True. Like I'm outgoing and talkative. And you're like, okay, no, I prefer silence in my
mind. So like what is my bedside manner? I'm not in true. My favorite type of patient is.
Like you should match with me if. Oh my god. I don't know, but I think the only criteria I have
is I think I try to see women, doctors and like dentists or whoever as much as possible.
Usually I'm talk talk all like filter out guys. Because they allow you to do that. So I'm like,
all right. Might as well. Yeah. I feel like that's really the only criteria I have. So a boil's
down to the rating. And the bedside manner. Yeah. Yeah, they really should have some sort of
like bedside manner descriptions. Do they should? That would be so helpful. And I feel like the vibe
of the like office matters too. When you go to the dentist, you're like also seeing the
hygienist and whatever. But it is kind of funny because James and I just started going to this
new dental office. And they're like nice and whatnot. And it was just like a normal experience.
But then I was on Instagram the other day. And then their Instagram account popped up. And they
post a lot on Instagram. And I was like, I don't know if this is like a pro or a con for me personally.
I'm like, my guys have such a rage. Yeah. Yeah. I wouldn't know how to react either.
I feel like, are you cleaning teeth or posting on Instagram?
Yeah. And I'm like, I feel like I know too much about these two people now. I feel like a creep.
Well, we talk a lot about the things that we don't really like doing. Is there anything that surprised
you that you actually do like doing? So I do like doing my taxes. Do that?
I haven't been embarrassing. Never before uttered something.
Too good, man. But okay, I think the reason why I like doing them is because so far,
I have not needed to like, I have not made enough money to have to actually pay taxes.
After I do my returns. Okay. So it's like associated with the reward, you know?
I'm like, holy shit, I'm about to be paid like another half of a paycheck or something.
Okay.
Like, hopefully, you know? That's a lot of sense.
So I'm very excited to get that at the end of me doing this. So I feel like that's a big part of it.
And then second two, it's, I mean, I've heard a lot of bad things about TurboTax,
but so far I've been using TurboTax and it's like fine. It is quite straightforward.
And so as soon as I get my W2, I just upload that shit and then it like, you know,
parses everything and it like plugs and chug and I just like go and like click these buttons.
And then I get money. So I'm like, oh hell yeah.
Let me do this.
Okay.
And I'll be paid by the end. So this is probably not a universal experience for sure.
What I was saying earlier about something that I don't like doing is like dealing with other
financial things because of my lack of dealing with other financial things. I also just like have no
money. And so there's nothing for me to report on my taxes because I have no gains. I'm like,
the simplest, most basic version of TurboTax.
Because I don't have jack shit. You're like all losses this year and they're like, okay,
you could have some money back then.
They're like, did you receive a 1099 blah, blah, blah, blah? I'm like, no, no, no.
Didn't get anything. Did not buy or sell. Did not do anything. Just sitting there.
I have nothing. And the most that I do is like, I have an HSA, I have my 401k stuff,
like my regular investment things. I don't pull from it. I don't do anything with it. It's just
there. And so it's not that complicated for me. So I just like plug and chug the numbers and then
and then I get my actual returns. So yay. Okay, this is understandable now. At first I was like,
damn Jessica, like doing taxes. What? That's yeah. Okay, I feel like growing up, I've always liked
paperwork, which is also a controversial statement. But I do. I do really like doing paperwork. So
it's like things that involved some sort of paperwork or like application type of thing.
Or like setting up an appointment. So like also recently I had a renew in my passport,
which I was extremely excited to do. I don't want to, actually, my jaw's on the ground. Don't
get it. Just get crazy. I was with you until the tax part. Okay, I understand. There's like a prize
at the end. There's like a plot of gold. The passport appointment thing is truly like, I'm so shocked
right now. Wait, I'm shocked. No. Shocking, balding. Wait, it's so fun though. Like the
the paperwork is not even that long. And then I just downloaded it and I just like people
filled it out printed it out. And then it's also like an excuse for me to like run errands,
which I love running errands. So it's like, oh, like let me take my little folder with like my
important paperwork and my important little passwords to the post office. And like I mail it. And I
feel so like, you know, big girl adult like accomplishing and being productive. Those types of like
life admin things give me supreme satisfaction. Yeah. Wait, I feel like passport's not bad. I just
like sign a couple papers and mail it in, right? Yeah, you just have to do it fairly early on. Like
before you have a trip. So you don't like risk it taking forever. Yeah. Gisoo, what was your bad
experience with the passport? You must share no. Okay, I have to say I have also never had like a
truly negative experience with my passport. But I feel like my beef with paperwork and especially
very like official stuff. This includes taxes too. It's like, I don't like the possibility that
I'm like filling out something willy nilly. And then it might be wrong. Or something. You know how
when you do taxes and at the end, it's like, oh, your risk of getting audited is like, which I
honestly feel like is just like a fucking static photo. Like I feel like they're not running any
calculations. It's just like they tell everyone that. And then they're like, oh, but do you want
audit defense for $50? I don't buy it because I'm like, how is turbo tax going to protect me
from getting audited by the government? But I don't like the fact that the risk of getting audited
is there. So I think it's like when it's too official, I'm like, oh, like I don't want to do
that. Okay, yeah, I always get scared by that every time. Like it's anxiety inducing. I'm like,
right? Wait, but then I slow down and I think about it. I'm like, okay, why the fuck with the IRS
audit me out of like the millions of people in the like the US? Like, why would they audit me?
Yeah, I actually used to like doing taxes like Jessica, but that was when I could get returns.
And then I experienced paying taxes and I was like, whoa, I don't think this is not worth.
I was like, this isn't fun anymore.
Do you all procrastinate on your taxes though? I feel like that's the quintessential adult
thing to do to complain about it till the last minute and then be like, oh yeah, I did it like
the weekend before tax day. So I'm like very proud of myself this year because I completed my taxes
a whole week before the deadline. And I was kind of laughing about it because when you file your
turbo tax, it always pulls in your last year's return and like the file so that you can kind of
compare. And it was like, oh, last year you submitted your taxes on 417. And the tax day last
year was 418 and I was like, dude, what's wrong with me? Like truly? I can understand waiting till
April, but day before it's actually, that's like a choice. That was like an active decision made by me.
Oh my god. I think I'm usually a couple weeks ahead. The earliest I've ever done it is two months
ahead because I had to move in March. So I was like, okay, I might as well just get this out of
the way. So I did it like early February or something like that. But I think last year I did it
the week of tax day and this year it's looking like it might be similar. I feel like so far I've
been doing them in like February, generally when the W2 gets released because I've been talking about
I with my co-workers this year. And I feel like there's actually some merit to waiting a little bit,
maybe not like the day before or before. Hey, that was once. But I mean I feel like filing it then
is fine as long as you have like figured out before then because what we were talking about was
that there were quite a few people like co-workers who I talked to this year who there was like
a mistake on their W2. And I was like, oh my god, I've never even considered that to be a possibility.
That's never happened to me. But then also maybe that has happened to me. I'm just speeding
through it and not catching it or like not, you know. I feel like it's, I mean with the puny
amount of money that I make it's like probably not that much. But my co-workers talking about how
the math was not mathing on their taxes. And so they went back to their W2 and went line by line
and figured out that there was a mistake and was comparing it to their like paystubs and stuff like
that like crazy stuff. So I was like, whoa, that didn't even occur to me. Maybe next year I would
be a little bit more diligent and like actually checking a little bit more to just make sure that
things look correct before rushing to submit. But then even then I think starting the paperwork
and filing early, just not submitting early, is still beneficial right because if you catch the
mistake you have the time to like tell the company, get your updated W2 and all that. But if you
did wait till the you know last minute you'd be like, wait shoot, can I get an extension? Like I'm
fucked. If you like get the calculator I'm doing this right now. You're like you would probably
have to hire an accountant at that point. Oh my god, I true. Dude, I think the dream is someday
you're comfortable enough to like hire an accountant to do your text for you. That would be amazing.
Yeah dude, but I'm just laughing at Jessica just being like, big wake up my W2 just draw.
I'm like logging on to ADP. Is it here yet? Like do I have yet?
Okay one thing that I think you sometimes have to wait a bit for, but usually I think you don't
have to wait later than like mid to end of February. But like sometimes if you have a trading account,
I think there's some paperwork that you get from them and then they usually send that out towards
like February or something. So I remember like that year that I did it early. I was like waiting
for it to come out. I was like, please I need this to come out so I can do my taxes before I like
don't know when I can do them next. True. It's honestly so funny though because when the text
documents are ready it shoots you an email right and it's like, oh your text documents are
ready in your account. And I feel like I always click through and I think similar to Jessica,
like I'm not huge into investing and stuff. Like I kind of let James handle it if he wants to or
if not, just don't ask me financial advice basically. So when I open the documents sometimes
like, Oh, please report this on your taxes this year. It's like $15. I'm like, bro.
Like are you sure? I'm like, the fact that I have to report this is crazy too. I know. It's like
less than a $20 bill. I think I like fucked up somewhere along the way too because my first job,
I had a 401k and instead of rolling it over to my new jobs 401k, I just rolled it over to a personal
IRA account, I guess. And so now I always have to submit the like info for that. And I'm like,
okay, like why did I do this? I'm a fool. I have to manage this account myself now and like report
about it. I just like, Loki stopped touching it because luckily there's not that much money in
it because I think I only worked for a year with that job. So I was like, okay, I'll just like leave
it be so I don't have to worry to it. I could send in like blank statements. Yeah. Dude, here's my
fucking beef with taxes, by the way. I don't understand how when you open something, you have to give
everyone at least financial institutions, your social security number. So I'm like, you guys have
a lot of info. Why don't you do your taxes? Like do our taxes. Wait, that's true. Like if they're
gonna check our taxes, doesn't that mean they're doing it too? Like, exactly. Why don't they just,
I think I saw me once that was like the IRS is basically like, oh, you have taxes due. And then
you respond like, oh, how much? They're like, he, he, I won't tell you you have to calculate your
taxes. So true. I think what actually happens though is like, I'm pretty sure TurboTax and like other
companies who have these types of products lobby the shit out of the government to like not provide
the taxing like filing for free. And I know there are free programs out there. And I think one
might be new for this year or from last year or something. That is actually like from the government
that allows you to like file taxes like directly with the government. But I haven't used it.
I think I, I mean, I saw a tick-tock and people were like, use this instead of TurboTax
for a law. But I don't know actually like how user friendly it is. And like, I mean considering
that's built by the government, it's probably not that user friendly. So I'm like, is there
audit to fence on it? For $50 or is that for you? So I think now we've talked about adulting
tasks that are fun and exciting for us versus tasks that maybe feel a little bit more boring.
But the reality of being an adult is that whether it's boring or fun, you still have to like do
everything and get all your shit done. So is there anything that you guys do to kind of inspire
yourself to tackle these tasks that you might find boring? So I was talking to GC about this. And
one thing that I do is I have a lot of YouTubers who I follow. Some of them will make these productive
day in the life with me videos. Or I also watch a lot of like cleaning videos. And like
organizational videos that bring me a lot of joy. Usually what I'll do is like if I'm eating dinner
or lunch or something, I put on one of these like, you know, productive day in the life videos
or like watch me clean and stuff like that, then those videos really, really inspire me to go
and clean and organize afterwards. Yeah, I feel like those are usually almost like nine out of 10
times I'm inspired after watching those videos and I'll like go and deep clean my kitchen. Or if
I'm watching it at like 10 pm, I'll like get out of bed and like start sweeping the floor or like
cleaning the counters or some shit. It's highly effective. I would recommend. Dude, you're basically
pre-gaming all your adult tasks by watching someone else do it. I feel like that does help a lot.
I think it's so aesthetic. Yeah, like seeing other people be productive in a really like
efficient or a satisfying way totally makes you feel like, wait, I can do that too. Like,
let me go do it. I can relate to that. I think it inspires me sometimes too. I actually
focused more on the after. So I'm like, oh, you know, like after I do this, I deserve a treat.
So yes, that too. Yeah, I did my taxes. So, you know, I deserve to eat a yummy meal today.
Like a reward system. Exactly, exactly. Dude, that reminds me of when people used to study and
then on textbooks, they would like put M&M's or some shit. So it's like after you read this
passage, you eat the stuff. Whoa. I feel like another thing is, you know how when you're like,
for example, trying to get into like running or like working out and you buy yourself cute running
shit. Oh my god. You're like, yes. Cute workout clothes and you're like, okay, I'm like so excited
to go to the gym or so excited to go running. And I feel like there's definitely some of that
for me organizing or like cleaning or like doing some life admin stuff. Maybe I get to, you know,
like I'll go to Target or buy like a new scrub daddy or like, like, okay, I'm gonna try a new
brand of like all purpose cleaner and I actually understand. No, I agree. I agree. Sometimes
buying those cleaning supplies you're like, oh yeah, I'm gonna go home and clean. Yeah. But
the problem with that method is sometimes I feel like I get so into the research. I'm like,
ooh, should I buy? And then I buy it and I'm like, yeah, I don't want to do this anymore. Wait,
so that's why you need a you need a pair of it with like the video. Oh my god. So you watch the
videos and they're like, oh, like I recommend this brand and this brand and you're like, oh, holy
shit, you're gonna target it, you buy that shit, it comes back. Like watch a video against you how
they use it and then you start using it, you know, the cocktail of like pre-gaming. Okay, I also
actually think planning ahead helps a lot. So I'm thinking of like taxes. I kind of like
budget for that almost. I'll make sure to spend more responsibly for the, you know, quarter one,
make sure that I'm like also mentally prepared, expect the worst and then, you know, everything
will be better when you're actually doing it. I think that makes a ton of sense and mine is kind
of similar to both of your guys is because I feel like there is some sort of merit of like pulling
the mood together, like getting into the right mood to tackle something. But I also think that
planning can help you get into that mood even further. So for me, I feel like if I know I have all
this car stuff to do or all this financial stuff to do, I'll like batch the tasks so that I can just
like tackle all of it and like get it all done in one go and that helps with like crossing a bunch
of shit off the list. But also even within the financial task, I think some things are fun to do
and some things are like boring. So kind of like alternating between those and making sure you have
that good balance helps a lot too. Yeah. If I'm looking at the list of things that, you know,
quote unquote, life admin requires you to do from like taxes to like, you know, booking your,
your insurance stuff, doing that to even like meal planning and like buying your groceries and
like having all of that planned out, I feel like the things that motivate me the most are the ones
where, for example, for me, taxes where I'm like getting some kind of benefit back or like renew
my passport where it's like, I get a shiny new passport and honestly, like, I don't even mind
going to the DMV to like get a new license because then I get a new license. Wait, I like that mindset
though. You're like focusing on the reward aspect of it. Yeah. I think I'm also very motivated by
like having a booking on my calendar or like seeing the little bits of progress that you're making.
Even if I don't, you know, enjoy being at the dentist, I get a lot of joy out of booking my
appointment to the dentist. That makes me feel really productive. And so if it's stuff that I don't
necessarily want to do or like sit down and do, I feel like it could be beneficial to like,
I don't know, just like book time on your calendar to be like, okay, this day I'm like, I'm
going to go to coffee shop and like sit down and like just like knock this out and it's like an
appointment with myself and or, you know, with somebody else. Get some friends together and like
have like a tax filing party. I don't know about that one, but I will say though, sometimes I see
my parents doing their taxes together and I'm like, wow, they actually have someone to do,
you know, to like suffer together with me while I'm in my room doing it myself. So I've
a question, Jesus, since you're now married, you do have someone who can either do taxes with
you at the same time or like file together with you. Do you feel like that is like a better feeling
than doing it by yourself? I think it definitely is. And to be honest, since James and I have been
living together like since we started first filing taxes, probably I think we've always done
taxes together, which has been great. And it's kind of nice because it's not like, oh shit,
like when can I fit in taxes into my schedule? It's like, oh, when can we fit in taxes into
our schedule? At least there's two brains thinking about it. Yeah. I feel like it's nice to,
because sometimes when I'm by myself, I'm like, yo, what the fuck is happening? Like, I need some
help right now. What does this mean? Is this applicable to me? To be fair, I do think the tax
app that I use tries its best to explain everything, but I feel like sometimes you're still very lost.
Like, we're still relatively new in the grand scheme of things to doing taxes. So I'm like, okay,
some of these more complicated things. I literally don't know what's happening. And to be honest,
there's like many instances where whether it's taxes or other like kind of adulting related
tasks where we, James and I still call our parents and we're like, mom, like how do you do this?
Like, please help. And now that we're 27, 28, I feel like it's kind of like less funny, but honestly,
like, you know, call a parent chance always exists. It's like always out there. So,
dude, that's always a backup. The craziest shit was actually the first time
setting up my 401k. I was like, oh my god, what is going on? Like, what is maxing it out?
Me and like, you know, how do I do this? And my parents were like, yo, I don't know that shit,
either. Like, you're on camera. And I was like, wait, do you guys not have one? And they're like,
I suggest you look into it yourself. Like, I'm not sure we can help you. Oh my god.
Wait, my mom literally just gave me wrong information this year. Like, she kept bothering me
about. I'm like, I already filed my taxes. Like, there's nothing, but she kept badging me about
like my company's stocks. So for my dad, I think his company or one of his previous
comes to whatever, like the way that they vest their stocks or like it vests for you is that they
sell part of your stock to cover for the taxes like that, the stocks that you receive, right?
And so it counts as like a sale, even though you yourself did not sell anything, but they'll
like sell it for you. And so you need to like report that in your tax returns and you like,
get a whole piece of paper for it or whatever. And I was like, my mom, so my mom kept on badging
me about it. And I was like, I don't have that. Like, what it like I,
company has never told me that they sold anything to me. Like, when it vests for me, it just vests.
It's just like sitting there. Like, I haven't sold anything. I haven't touched it. She's like,
yeah, but you still need a pile of your taxes, the whole box. So then I finally had to go and like,
Google a ton of stuff. And, and then finally, I found where it like tells you that your stocks can
invest in multiple different ways. Like, sometimes companies will sell part of your stock to cover for
the taxes. And sometimes they'll like withhold it. So you just don't get that portion of your stocks.
Like, number of stocks that you receive is less to cover for the taxes. And I was like, okay,
well, like, this is me. And my mom was like, what?
I was like, you're literally feeding me false information. And like, freaking me out like a month
after I've already submitted my taxes for no reason. Because I was like, I checked every single
possible account I may have related to my stocks. And there's no form. Like, I don't have a 1099
dash, whatever, whatever. Like, it's just not there. And by this time, it's like a late March. So
like any forms that I should have should be in there. And there's only there. So I was like,
mother, like, no, you're more educated now. That's true, right? But that is really funny.
Yeah. So like, be careful when you phone a mom. So Google is still your best friend.
I really try to be no running from that. You could still call them, but fact check them.
Yeah. Or just get an accountant.
Yeah. Well, that was pretty fun chatting about all our adulting struggles and joys.
For our listeners out there, if you have any boring or surprisingly joyful adulting tasks that
you would like to share, feel free to let us know. You can find us on social media at EatYourCrossPod.
And we also have email EatYourCrossPod at gmail.com. And if you'd like to catch our other episodes,
then don't forget to follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
We upload new episodes every Wednesday morning. Thanks for listening. And don't forget to EatYourCrossed.
