Gas prices at costco near me

Hello everyone, I’m hoping someone can help me and my friend. My friend purchased an RV 10 months ago. He paid $91k cash. He never used it. It sat all winter and he actually just started it for the first time a week ago.
He has decided he doesn’t want it anymore. He knew he would take a hit on the price but he wasn’t expecting this.
The dealership he bought it from at first told him they would buy it back for $45k. Then a few days later they called back and said they wouldn’t purchase it at all because it had been in an accident.
This accident happened before my friend bought it from them. They said they don’t check accident reports on trade-ins so they had no idea about the accident.
Their advice to him was for him to do what they did to someone else. Basically sell it and not disclose the accident information.
My friend has some mental health issues and that’s why he’s asking me for help. I feel like there has to be some type of law preventing a dealership from selling something that they’re now saying isn’t sellable.
Please help!

I am not writing this in the homeless section because they have a homeless mindset over there. They discuss things like how to live outdoors, dumpster dive, where to sleep on the streets or in a tent in inclement weather, or apply for disability. I'm not quite there yet, and I don't want to be.
I have my car. I've spent $3000 a year on repairs because its old. Eventually the car has to be replaced. I don't buy beaters. I need to factor in a car payment each month for repairs, or a down payment to replace this one.
I have a Masters degree, and multi-industry business skills. The drawback is my age. I need FT work that will cover (student loan, debt, health, dental, vision, apt, utilities, phone, car, gas, insurance, etc ).
When I mention dental, vision and healthcare, that isn't just to pay a premium for an insurance policy. I actually need dental work, not the kind at a clinic that yanks your teeth. I have 2 decaying teeth and periodontal gum disease. One root canal and a crown is $3,500. I used to work in Insurance, so I know what I need. I have Menopause. Planned parenthood doesn't address that.
I've worked in human resources, banking, insurance and sales. I do not want to work in banking.
Many people suggest "take any job," but one has to be offered one. I look at net income minus taxes, debt, bills, and expenses.
The last job I had was in a call center. It didn't pay enough to rent a place. Older people are not protected under fair housing laws, when asking homeowners to just rent a room. I need more than just a room. Renting rooms without a written lease presents problems (read roommates and the legal section for insight). "Lodger vs tenant" and specific State laws. Plus, many people work from home now. That's why 1BR apt prices are going up. Post pandemic people are working remotely.
I can work in insurance, recruiting, and am also interested in legal assistant office work. I can't get hired due to needing a place to live and a living wage; $ to pay my accrued bills, car, dental and vision needs (I need an eye exam and prescription glasses), car insurance policy renewal.
How do I get started from scratch? Please don't mention 211, the govt churches and nonprofits. 211 is a call center and all nonprofits launder money for the elite and toss out crumbs to keep their inventory of needy people to justify their business and six figure ceo pay. Unhoused people know whats available. If the govt gave out free apts OR employers paid a living wage, then no one would be on the streets or living in their cars.
I need employment. I don't have drugs, criminal or mental health issues. Its my age and my Covid employment gap. I need $3500-$4000 month net income. That isn't high income, so please don't judge me. What part of CT are affordable (what parts should I avoid), what places are hiring? I applied to Yale hospital for some office work. Again, I am homeless and I am down to $2000.
To those who are married with children, a single, childfree person shouldn't have to earn any less because of being single. I should be able to earn a household income to cover my expenses just like the person who chooses to have a family.
Thank you to anyone who has specific suggestions on who is hiring (ideally Connecticut because its liberal).
Temp agencies are not helpful. They are staffed with people who have no outside industry experience and their loyalty is to their client employer. I've had an assignment pull me out and let me go because I was placed into a low wage call center job for an insurance company. I used to do underwriting and claims work. And while at lunch I sat with the underwriters and my non-college degreed insecure boss called the staffing company to end my assignment. They wanted me to be content on $17/hour pretax and not look for something else within the company. I was sleeping in my car doing that job. Why the hell would I not be looking for something better and permanent with paid holiday benefits?
Other than temp services (I can't sign a rental lease on jobs that can end without notice), what places will hire an articulate, critical thinker who is middle aged and has a strong work ethic and that pays for a place to live plus medical and bills?

What will conditions be like in the High Sierra this season after its record-breaking winter? How should this affect my trip planning, gear selection, and skills? And how can I find conditions updates before I go?
For those planning High Sierra trips who have uncertain answers to these questions, I have two resources that should help:

1. This blog post, published last week, in which I discuss the likely conditions and how to safely manage them (if they can't be entirely avoided).
   
2. An "Ask Us Anything" event tomorrow/Wednesday night, 6-7 PM Pacific Time, hosted by Katie Gerber and me. We'd like to keep the conversation focused on the unique challenges of the 2023 season, but we can also answer questions about standard topics like permits and routes.
   

This event will be recorded and posted afterwards, if you can't make the live edition. If you have questions, you can email them ahead of time to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) or you can leave a comment in this thread.
Overall, 2023 will not be a normal season, with snowpack, high water, and intense mosquitoes lingering through August at least. The conditions have the potential to ruin naïve plans, and probably to cause a few unnecessary casualties too. I hope this information will help keep some people happier and safer this year.
About Katie Gerber
Katie has thru-hiked the Pacific Crest, Continental Divide, Oregon Desert, and Colorado Trails, as well as the Wind River High Route and an end-to-end thru-hike of the Grand Canyon. She’s been guiding for me since 2020 and joined this year full-time as the Co-Director.
About me
Most pertinent to this conversation, I have been backpacking in the High Sierra for nearly twenty years, including as a guide for twelve. I’ve thru-hiked the JMT, the JMT/PCT through the High Sierra (twice, in late-June and late-May), and the Sierra High Route; and I wrote the guidebooks for the Kings Canyon High Basin Route and Yosemite High Route.

Hello fellow Civilians! I just received a job offer for a position with a fairly major American city, and it seems like a good fit overall. That said, I'd still like to get a better salary than what I was offered, and I wouldn't advise anyone to take the first offer myself. I've worked for consultants up to this point, and I had no problem negotiating with them, but I'm wondering if/how the dynamic is different when negotiating in the public sector. They seem to have a lot less wiggle room for negotiation, so I don't want to overplay my hand, but I also really want to see a better number from them.
I can tell they really want me. For a relatively large bureaucracy to get back to me within a couple days of application, set up an interview the next week, then offer the job (with signing bonus) as soon as they got back from the holiday weekend, I know there has to be some string pulling behind the scenes.
Does anyone have any suggestions for how to negotiate upward for a government position? The number they offered me is smack in the middle of the posted pay range, at the highest end of narrower "anticipated hiring salary range", but inflation is eating my sack lunch like it is with everyone else. A couple angles I've considered:

• I've had successful interviews with other government agencies and even other departments within the city. Do I mention this when countering?
  
• I bought a modest starter home as soon as my finances allowed, and property taxes and insurance premiums have notably gone up even just in the couple years I've been in this house. I know mortgage underwriters aim to keep one's mortgage debt-to-income ratio below 28%, but factors outside my control have actually pushed my mortgage beyond that range (with both my current salary and this initial offer). Is telling them something along the lines of "Based off standard financial guidelines, my salary needs to be such that my mortgage of $X/month is 28% of my monthly income, which comes out to $Y/year." likely to get any sympathy or land in a successful way? Or would it just come across as weird and overly personal? This whole deal where even us civil engineers are getting priced out of many major cities is getting to me, and I really want to drive the point home that I'm really not haggling because I'm some sort of money grubber.
  

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

I was filling up my car with gas when I noticed a couple (guy and girl in their 20’s) at another pump, looking in my direction. It was midday, there were 1 or 2 other people around, and I wasn’t concerned. As I was finishing up, they drove over, the guy rolled down his window and asked “hey can I have a dollar?”
I froze. For some reason I figured the least awkward, least likely to result in more confrontation would be to give him a dollar so that’s what I did, and they slowly drove off. But it left me wondering what the hell just happened. It’s not like $1 was going to do them any good, so were they hoping I’d give them more? Were they scoping me out for a potential robbery?
I’m not the most situationally aware person, if that wasn’t obvious.

I recently signed up for the Venture X card and have discovered that when searching for flights on their travel portal the fare prices for United Airlines are consistently anywhere $5-50 higher than booking directly with United. I checked flights with Delta and American as well and see no such issues with their fares.
I even called the Capital One Travel line to see if they were seeing the same prices and they confirmed the same incorrect fares. She even confirmed that most of their 24 hour price matches on flights were with United so clearly they know this is an issue.
I know Capital One's travel portal is powered by Hopper so the issues lie with them but have others found these issues as well?
This of course wouldn't have been an issue previously due to their 24 hour price match policy but now that they have downgraded this from a refund to a credit of the difference I feel like this sort of kills the card for me. I have used Chase's portal for years and never had issues like this so when searching for direct flights so I am kind of at a loss to understand.

I always thought it was okay (as long as you weren't a dick and asked for like half price) but my gf had a go at me about it when i mentioned I might haggle for a set of golf clubs I saw in the charity shop in my town.

I just wanted to post this here because I didn't realize the difference this thing could make to my daily life and decisions.
First, I am Type 2, and on several non-insulin meds; Metformin, Amaryl, Tradjenta, Mounjaro, and another pill that I can't recall at the moment. I expected the meds to do the heavy lifting. I was only checking my glucose levels in the morning, and while high (250-325 for the 11 months prior), I never felt bad. I occasionally ate healthy, but often ate gummy candy (seriously my weakness) and sugary baked goods.
2 things have changed in the 6 weeks. First, I got my Libre 2, and now Libre 3. I see the effect of my decisions in near real-time. Second, my daughter went from 0 to seriously diabetic in a little over a year. My A1C 6 weeks ago was 11.3. Her A1C 3 weeks ago was 14.8.
I need to be a good example for her. She's struggling as the baker in the family. I've worked hard to eat right and show better food/snack options that are good for us both. I knew all along what I should be doing, but now I'm doing it for her and with her. Sharing our numbers with each other keeps us both accountable.
She's still trying to get under control and they are tweaking her meds every 1-2 weeks as we try to get the numbers down. I, however, have gone from 250-325 being a low number for me to regularly in my target range of 100-180. Nightscout says I'm there about 90% of the time over the last couple of weeks.
I've also learned that if I behave most of the time, when I do indulge in something, my body and levels recover much faster. I hope this helps my daughter see that it isn't all doom and gloom for the foods she likes, and there will be some time to enjoy a bit of them in the future.

So I seen another ENT last week. She ultimately referred me to another ENT, but she also prescribed me FAMOTIDINE 40mg once a day at night time after I explained my issues. I been taking the famotidine for almost a week now and been experiencing some light diarrhea and gas. Anybody have any experience with this medication?

The Meeting With the Contact
In one of Unity’s darker and less maintained districts, several miles down an unassuming maintenance tunnel, Aster knocked on a rusty steel hatch. The moment her knuckles finished rapping on the metal door hidden mechanisms squeaked as an internal bolt was undone and the door swung open. She heard the soft ween of servos as they struggled against the bulk of the door.
Without a moment of hesitation Astarte strode through the door knowing full well that the dark corners of the room could have held a waiting ambush. It did not do to show any fear when dealing with the mysterious shadow league. She had heard from Greyson how the contacts valued confidence above everything else. She wasn’t sure why, but had followed the advice anyway.
The contacts never worked through proxies. They had no known dead drops. And were notorious for handling everything in person.
It was a strange practice since logic dictated that information brokers as influential as the Shadow league should act with much more caution. But that same flaunting disregard for common convention was the trait that unnerved Astarte the most.
It unnerved her because it proved that the powerful brokers had nothing to fear.
Maybe it was arrogance, but her instincts said otherwise.
The door closed behind her, the harsh clunk telling her that she was now locked in. Soft lights in the room flicked of a slowly grew brighter to a level comfortable to human eyes. Aster’s cybernetic eye went red and flickered through several different spectrums of light as it scanned the room.
“An interesting piece of hardware.” A soft murmuring voice said from behind the desk in the center.
Astarte momentarily ignored the voice as she finished her scan. Her eye picked out only a single camera behind a fake patch of wall that looked completely normal from the outside. She focused on the camera, telling the rooms only other occupant that she was fully aware of the device.
Her scan complete she turned her head to focus of the short fuchsia froglike person within a bubble-like excursion suit. No word in the Union’s common tongue, or her own could pronounce the name of the person before her. Instead the Union had simply labeled them as Toxoid amphibians. A rather cold, but concise name.
There were many defense mechanisms used by prey species to ward off predators. Some opted to be big, strong, and move in large herds like the Trikes. Some just flew away. Others hid. But very few instead went for the survival strategy of being very visible and toxic as hell.
The creature before Astarte was one of only three Toxoid species in the Union. While safe to members of their own species, their skin could instantly paralyzed and kill any non-deathworld species on Femeri. And if Astarte had touched that bright purple skin she would be instantly floored with the worst pain imaginable. Not dead, but really wishing she was.
The Union definition of Toxoid was any highly toxic species, regardless of the atmospheric conditions. Though this particular species did in fact come from a world with high methane and ammonia content, less then Venus, but still deadly to Terrans. The only reason they weren’t classified as deathworlders was because the low gravity and gentle nature of their star made the claim seem a little absurd compared to your average Deathworlder.
The Toxoid met her gaze and held it without fear. Knowing that Astarte wouldn’t/couldn’t do anything to harm them. There face was pulled into a constant smile. Though this was a factor of their facial structure and not any sort of actual pleasure. This, matched with their small colorful appearance gave off the vibes of something small and harmless. An instinct she would have to actively suppress.
“Surprising, most of your kind are overwhelmed with nurturing instincts upon first seeing me. Especially females of your age.” The creature commented. The internal translator of her suit taking the creature’s hypersonic humming and giving it a squeaky, almost cartoonish, tone in galactic common.
“I’ve encountered your kind before, and the pain I felt that day from just one touch is enough to wipe away any cute impressions.”
The creature made a sounding like birds chirping “So its true, humans really can touch us without dying?”
Astarte grimaced at the memory “Yeah, but I sure wished I was dead. Only touched them with my hand, but in seconds my whole body was wracked with the worst pain my nerves could conjure. Couldn’t black out either.”
The Contact looked amused “And yet you survived.” They said pointedly. “We are in our own ways more dangerous than deathworlders. Even the Kruhur leave our few ships alone. As do most pirates. So why would you attack that particular merchant ship six of your Terran years ago?”
Aster wasn’t surprised by their knowledge, the sources of the shadow league stretched far and wide. “They had something I wanted, so I took it.”
The big eyelids of the Toxoid closed slowly. “Yes, weapons grade plutonium. I heard you made good use of it. Such inventive weapons too. Most think fusion weapons are pointless in space compared to pulse cannons and conventional missiles. Leave it to a human to find a way to make good use of an underutilized weapon.”
Astarte kept her face placid, but on the inside she was roiling at the knowledge that the Shadow League knew about the shield breaker cannon.
“You needn’t worry” the Contact continued “the Union doesn’t know, and even if we stole the plans we would be troubled to find crews with the nerve to detonate a super critical mass of plutonium within their own ship. My kind are quite cowardly compared to your people.”
“Fools rush in where angles fear to tread.” Astarte remarked absently. Downplaying their achievements.
The Toxoid leaned forward “and yet those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.”
This time Astarte couldn’t hide her surprise. “Kennedy? Really?”
More bird chirps “Yes, I am quite amused by human history and the words of your past leaders. Your people strove for the stars long before they had the proper technology to reach them like every other species, on a high gravity world no less. And despite these hurdles you made it to your moon in record time, had stable colonies on a barren world like Mars, and launched one of the most interesting if a bit crude ships. A ship you recently purchased. Had you not met the Union so soon then I believe your people would have continued to shock the galaxy. In some ways your people were cut short, and yet in other ways they were given the opportunity to leap into the future. You are most intriguing, and it would be folly to not keep an eye on you. The Union believes your people to be on the decline, soon to be no longer a threat to their might. I am of a different opinion.”
It was surprising to meet a person who had her completely figured out. From just the subtext Astarte was sure this contact knew all her plans and secrets, or had at least a few very good guesses. And seemed to want to help her out.
Astarte gave the Contact a shrewd glare. “What are you playing at?”
Their heavy eyelids dropped into a lazy half blink before opening back up. She thought the gesture was either one of annoyance or amusement. “A favor, given to the right person, can pay dividends in the future.”
“And what kind of returns are you looking for?”
Another half blink. It probably meant amusement. “That isn’t for me to say. You’ve had a very positive relationship with our agents in Femeri, or Orion as you Terrans call it. it is the League desire to continue nourishing that relationship.”
Suspicious, but one didn’t deal with the galaxy’s most powerful info brokers without some ominous undertones. “Then I take it you know why I’m here.”
Another long blink, this time fully closing their lids. “Yes.”
“Can you tell us where it is?”
“No. Amaterasu was thorough in covering their trail. I can only say that its still on Unity.”
Fuck. Why can’t things ever be easy? “Can you narrow down our search?” Astarte asked changing directions.
“Yes. Property info, delivery schedules, informant reports. And much more. It’ll take time to narrow things down.”
“I’m not short on manpower. Or patience.”
“Good. Now there is just the matter of the price.”
“I get the sinking feeling that you’re not talking credits.” Astarte stated dryly.
“An accurate feeling.” The Contact retorted. “We are an organization of information brokers and middle men, but even we need our own middle men. We cast a wide net to pull in much, but sometimes our needs require a more direct approach.”
“Spies?” Astarte guessed.
“Yes, or simple muscle to get what we need. Lately that muscle has been disappearing, I’m sure you noticed the aggressive way the Station Security treats your kind.”
“Yeah, the charges they tried to stick my men with were downright asinine, never would have stuck.”
Another long blink. “Yes, but the Union doesn’t need to make them stick. You more than most should know that the Union will imprison individuals on suspect of a crime before an investigation can be done to assure innocence.”
Astarte almost heard a click in her head as she connected the dots. The charges had seemed absurd and unfounded, and she had wondered why they bothered. But the Union could, in cases of an extreme crime, arrest and imprison without a trial or evidence. It was one of the major ways the Unions legal system differed from the local laws of the Sol system.
Guilty until proven innocent. It was the precedent that had gotten her mother imprisoned when Aster was four. While they had arrested a terrorist responsible for thousands of deaths and billions in property damage, they didn’t actually have the evidence. And once the lack of evidence had been undeniably proven in a court room Lucile’s sentence was ended and her record expunged of the black mark after spending ten months in the prison on Parox.
Asters throat was tight “How many have been…”
“Thousands. Tens of thousands. I would like to give you a better number, but someone has done a remarkable job at obfuscating that information. People are arrested on petty misdemeanors, if any, and then prosecutors from the central office apply some grander crime. They’re taken to a holding facility, where they stay for a short time before a ship comes to take them to parts unknown.”
“And no one’s done anything about this?”
“Oh, no. There were plenty of riots. But shouting, screaming Deathworlders committing acts of arson and clashing Station Security did little to sway the public. And after the ADCU was born things got even worse for the Terrans.”
“Motherfuckers” Astarte growled through her teeth. She didn’t know where all those people went, but everything so far pointed to some sort of genocide. Unity was purging itself of its Deathworlder nuisance.
“Yes, as effective as the ADCU has been at rooting out actual criminal organizations they have also been a highly effective at smother discontent.”
“And what do you want me to do about it.”
Their head tilted to the side. “You already have an in road with one of their top Officers, one who is the personal protégé of Chief Gin.”
“Do you want me to see where they’re taking people, or figure out why?”
“Both if possible. This has all the odious whiffs of politics, and the League needs to know why the Union is making such bold moves. Any and all information you dig up will be appreciated.”
Astarte drummed her fingers on the desk as she worked through the problems. Something dangerous was happening in the heart of the Union. Something that threatened her own plans. She had idly wondered why Amaterasu had been so bold in making their terraforming equipment disappear, why openly slaughter an entire office of insurance investigators? But now she saw it was par for the course her, and she was only now noticing the rot.
The contacts request was also in her own best interest. She needed to know where this all led.
But you never took the first offer. That was just good business. “It seems to me that our own investigations might help you in yours. I don’t see why we can’t do both at once.”
Another long blink. “You won’t be overextending yourself?”
Aster scoffed “of course not.”
The amphibian’s permanent smile became a little wider, “good. Its always a pleasure working with a professional.”
The contact then reached under their desk to retrieve a small flash drive, preloaded with all the info Aster needed.
“Just a heads up” Aster said as she retrieved the flash drive. “Our plans usually end in chaos and bloodshed.”
“Oh, I know. I’m looking forward to it.” the contact said with a self-amused giggle like gurgling water.
Their business concluded Astarte stood to leave. But the door she entered through didn’t unlock itself. Instead a hidden panel Astarte hadn’t noticed during her scan slid open and revealed a hidden stairway.
Astarte blinked in surprise before shaking her head. never underestimate the Shadow League.
She walked through the door, and ascended several flight of stairs until she exited into the reception room of a small law firm. The Drohodron attendant nodded their furry rabbit like head and gestured towards the exit.
The ride home was mostly uneventful. A group of SS tried to tail her, but some speed walking and a sudden turn down an alley was all it took to shake them.
She left the tram station and entered the industrial district where her ship was moored. She had been so relaxed on her walk back that she even began to whistle a jaunty little tune. She almost mixed the gentle thump behind and slight rush of wind as a blade swept from behind her, nearly taking her head off.
She had only an instant to lean forward to avoid the strike. With the strike barely avoided she took one step forward before drawing Tenken in swinging overhead chop.
Two green tinted blades strapped to her attackers wrists rose into a crossed guard to catch her sword the two of them struggled against each other’s strength. Aster was surprised at the strength the assassin possessed.
They struggled for a few seconds before breaking apart just as swiftly as they had met.
They both took several steps back and began to size each other up.
The assassin was short, standing at maybe 160cm. Their tight-fitting clothes marked the assassin as both human and female. Two curved blades were attached to the assassins wrists, looking like the curved pincers of a praying mantis, which matched the mantis-like mask she wore.
The assassin despite her failed sneak attack, and their inconclusive clash, had the gall to look smug. “Glad to see you haven’t grown weak in our time apart, Daisey.” The assassin gurgled through a heavy voice filter.
Previous/Patreon/Next

I'm mostly writing this as a marker to keep tabs on what changed, what's going on recently and maybe compare a few things if others are willing to share - how much energy / gas / water did you / your household use since in the last year? What changed in your life since then?
I am still relying heavily on thingies from the old apartment, but with each device or appliance I put together going nextdoors feels more like just visiting family members and not living with them. It's such a strange feeling to slowly realise I'm getting into actually managing most of my own stuff from A to Z. Currently I have the luxury of not needing to worry about rent and utilities since I'm still studying and parents are taking care of that, but sooner rather than later I would like to take over paying for the utilities, maybe even as a littlebit of a challenge and further my motivations to reduce usage and speed up the progress on getting my hands on potential alternatives or upgrades. At the moment this apartment used up: -310kWh of electrical energy, which equates to roughly 35 Watts of average constant drain. Most of it comes from powering my computer, microwave / oven combo and lights, but the demand will rise significantly when I get the cooling system for the fridge and air conditioning operational... or 203 kgs of CO2 going by off-google calculations for Poland. -285m³ (or 540kgs of CO2) of natural gas, which pretty much all went into heating the apartment with a decently large roof - area (which is decently insulated though!) during the winter... and water! ... of which i used around 18.5 m^3. It's crazy to think that it's enough to hydrate a person for like 25 years. The values are decently low, since I still rely on my parent's apartment to have a fridge, washing machine and stuff like that up and running, but with some of my plans for the future I'll definitely be well below the average consumption by the time the next year passes, even with increased demand! But if we only count me and this apartment, my metabolism accounted for like 30-40% of my CO2 output.
Still have to do more to manage my waste, since this year I had to throw away around 15x 30-40 ish liters garbage bags worth of unsorted trash and a bunch of larger stuff like cardboards and packing material in them that I didnt bother to throw out. I have a few ideas to reduce waste, having a cooking hob and a fridge will help with that at the expense of a doubling or tripling by energy demand.
However I also reclaimed and hoarded up quite a bit of raw materials / things that I could further process, notable among them are: -7 kilograms of aluminum scrap, mostly usable pieces that can immediately be cut and shaped for immediate use. On top of that I keep the sharp pieces that I cut off, but I get rid of the cans decently regularly by just giving them away to homeless people since they are a bit too dirty for me to bother hoarding them to smelt in the future. -just above 2 kilograms of copper from excess wiring, mangled heatsinks and leftovers from depleted electrodes. Most of it will be refined and used up for electroplating thingies, but I might melt it all down one day when I make actually safe equipment to do so. -about 6 kilograms of LCD screen displays for tin and indium recovery. -600 grams of nickel, mostly leftovers from dismantled batterypacks. Will one day be used to make my first actually usable batteries. Since they are basically (pun inteded!) a quirky, but maybe-worth-investigating spin on these old nickel-iron batteries it's obvious that nickel will be the bottleneck. That's why I'm working to make a chemistry that will need as little nickel per stored unit of energy as I can feasibly make in homebrew settings. It's definitely not yet a rewarding process to just make mild improvements and twice as many failures with each cell variation and it will NEVER be even remotely comparable to commercial batteries (can't get to the moon by jumping on progressively higher trees!), but it's fun and maybe I'll have something usable by the end of the decade haha! -7 kilograms of just random circuit boards for salvaging components if I'm ever in a situation where I don't want to wait for shipping. And in the future I'll be able to get copper out of them! ...it's not much money-wise and I don't really plan to sell it anywhere anyway, but I can't be bothered overspensing to get raw materials if I can get enough for other random stuff just by not throwing scraps away. Recently I also got about 10kgs of scrap cotton patches (30x60cm ish) for almost free and it's just about perfect for fueling my newfound hobby of machine sewing! I wonder what I'll be able to do with that next year, I can't wait to see!

Many of you, like me, are looking toward Huel as a means of weight loss it seems. Many of you, like me, rather seem to like the prospect of using Huel's Hot & Savoury range as a meal replacement at work, and I'm about to place my first order and give it a try for myself.
But, like I'm sure a lot of you have, I've first been doing my research to see what similar products exist and what others have tried, and I'm quite perplexed to see that nobody's mentioned John West's "On the Go" range of products.
You can pick them up on Amazon or at any major UK retailer, they range from as little as £1 - £3 per meal (competing nicely with Huel on price, especially considering you can buy one at a time), and many of them are as little as 250 calories whilst still being filling, which is a big bonus for those of us in this for the weight loss. Granted, these are room temperature rather than hot meals, but they also have a range of microwaveable hot pots. My go-to hot pot is the "Tuna Meatballs in a Chilli & Garlic Tomato Sauce & Pasta 220g" bowl, which costs £2.50 from Sainsbury's and contains 325 calories.
So, as somebody who's looking to Huel H&S in an attempt to vary the work meal selection a little bit, is there anyone else here who's tried John West's instant meal products before? Is it something few people are aware of? How does Huel H&S compare? This post is both a question and a PSA I guess, I want to learn more, so please weigh in if you know of any other similar instant meals that aren't just powder or dry noodles.

I just hiked the Smith Peak trail beginning on 5/27 until 5/29.
Day 1 - 15mi distance, 5600ft elevation gain The first 7 miles of the Smith Peak trail, up until Smith Peak itself, was well marked. Smith Meadows was swampy, requiring a bit of finesse to dodge the muddy water. After the meadows we entered a forest that was obviously burned years ago. We followed a stream with plenty of fresh water that we could drink. We entered another swampy region right before approaching Smith Peak itself.
After Smith Peak, the trail continuing to Harden Lake becomes overgrown, wet, and almost invisible going uphill. The brush and the perspective of looking from low to high ground made it almost impossible to see any signs of trail without GPS. From miles 7-15, we were entirely off-trail, basically cross-country hiking. It was a grind.
The grind only got more sufferable - once we got to the 7000ft mark, snow became an issue*. Around 7500ft, the snow was 4-7ft deep. The snow was hard packed and icy so was traversable with regular shoes, but I would recommend snow shoes. Crampons wouldn't help much but would be better than nothing.
We could not quite make it to Harden Lake. The snow was too heavy and we could not keep a fast enough pace to make it before sundown. We found a patch of flat, dry ground surrounded by a wall of snow and made camp. I was getting worried. Temps were dropping, my shoes were wet, and all I could see around me was snow. I scrapped together some damp wood and managed to make a fire. At this point I knew we would be fine.
Day 2 - 8mi distance, 300ft elevation gain I woke up to a great view of Rancheria Falls across the valley. Made some coffee and we were on our way. We decided to head the way back that we came, but would break it up into 2 days. We first had to get up a 300ft climb of snow. We had to be careful in some parts because the snow melt creates hollow sections under what looks like 7ft of snow. Step in the wrong place and you can fall through.
The trail was way easier to spot heading downhill. We made great time back to Smith Peak. Took maybe 4 hours. The trails, even though easier to spot, were very overgrown.
We stopped a half mile before Smith Peak. You'll know you're in the right place if you see a patch of flat dry ground with no trees and a creek alongside it. Some fallen trees on the perimeter made for perfect firewood. I made a fire ring there with some granite. The perfect campsite as far as I'm concerned.
Day 3 - 7mi distance, 0ft elevation gain From our camp site, it was all downhill from here. Getting back to the dam only took us 3 hours. I saw more people on this day than I saw the first 2 days combined. In fact, I had only seen 2 people near Smith Peak the days before. I don't think anyone besides me and my partner went beyond Smith Peak. It's treacherous and cross-country in the wilderness beyond.
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*I've heard reports that the snow line is 6500ft. Based on my experience, it is more like 7000ft now.

Hello, I'm traveling and booking.com needs a credit card if I want to reserve a room. How does a credit card work? And since I am not at home in the near future, can I get a credit card online? Because it cannot really be sent to me. My dad has a credit card and never used it because he says it's dangerous. How do I do this? Any tips? Thanks I'm in Europe idk if it matters

6 days ago I was in a parking lot and hit a parked car (in New York).I was in a rush to go get a sonogram (pregnant) and scribbled my name, number and that I hit the car and please call me on a gas station receipt, as it’s all I had on me. Went to appointment, came back 45 mins later and the car was gone. 6 days and no call. I fear they didn’t get my note. I’m pretty convinced. I went back to the parking lot and there’s a security camera (probably 150 feet away) from where we were parked. My husbands a cop and said they aren’t going to investigate/ start looking at security camera footage for minor property damage (a few scratches) and I need to stop stressing and let it go. But I can’t seem to let it go. Should I call the police station and tell them I hit the car and left a note but fear they didn’t get it? Should I let it go? I have this pit in my stomach I’m going to be charged with leaving the scene and am an anxious mess.

Hi there,
I'll preface by saying that the vehicle I bought was definitely a "desperation buy" a little over a year ago. I worked at a job that required me to use my own personal vehicle for deliveries and I was given a (small) vehicle allowance for it. I'm aware I paid too much for it... but with the lack of used car inventory in my area (British Columbia) it was really one of the more affordable options/ my only option. Please be gentle with your judgements lol. I already feel like an idiot.
Fast forward to now, I have been with a different company now for the past 7 months, things are great and I have brand new company vehicle that is a part of my package that I barely take advantage of. This vehicle is meant to be used FULL TIME and ownership wants me to take advantage of this!
I'm currently financing a 2014 Ford Edge SEL. There's roughly 142k on it, and I owe $19,513 towards my loan. Overall, it's a great car but I have barely been using it due to having the brand new work vehicle. I currently pay $296 biweekly and my insurance is $150/month.
I'm wondering what my best option is regarding my personal vehicle? If I sell, I know that I'll be at a loss- average market price online is hanging around $13,000. Even if I got $13k for it, I would be losing over 6k... is it worth it to free up that extra money? I'm essentially paying for something that is just costing me so much money to park right now. I can afford the payments at the moment, but freeing up the extra money could put my in a substantially better spot financially. I want to make ensure that I'm not being short sighted with any decision I make.
Any and all advice and input is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I just wanna be able to check locations via voice command really. Trigger a shortcut using Siri and be able to ask like "Where is Mom" or "Where is (insert sibling's name)". Then the shortcut could read the current status from Life360 like "Near ____" or "Driving near ____" and Siri would thusly say it out loud. It has very little practical use outside of saving the small bits of time it takes to open the app and close it back up- I am constantly making sure my family members are safe while I'm at Uni and this will just make it a bit more fun and less time-consuming. If anyone has a shortcut for this or has advice that could help me make one I'd really appreciate it.

Dollar Cost Averaging is a useful tool. It can help you out of a bad situation. It can help you make a good situation better. It saved me from a bad stock buy.
A few years ago I got caught up in the PLTR IPO hype. It was stupid of me. But I saw post on here about it and decided to test my luck. I got in around $25 a share. Then the stock tanked. When it sunk to $7 a share I decided I might be able to dollar cost my way out of it. So I bought double the amount of shares at the lower price. I commented on this sub that I was buying more at the lower price and was called an idiot. Well it worked out. My average cost for PLTR is now $14 a share. So as of today I am in the profit.
So what will I do? I am going to do my own research now and decide if I should sell or hold. There is thought that PLTR will important with AI. But I know how dangerous hype is.
The moral of the story: Don't make buys based on reddit hype. And if you do DCA can help you out of a jam.

I was humiliated on my flight home this afternoon after being told I would have to purchase a second seat and move because the person in the seat next to me complained. I could tell that the flight attendant was uncomfortable and I understand their position just doing their job. I personally think it’s a stupid rule to make me pay for another ticket because obesity should be treated as a disability in terms of accommodations but I’ve never had to do this in the past and I’m actually down 13lbs since around the last time I flew.
My real issue is with the passenger that complained. I was seated in the window seat and this person had gotten the middle seat (meaning they were last to sit down). This person refused to move seats even after two other people in the middle seat around us offered. They never addressed me personally they were just speaking to the flight attendant and said that it isn’t their problem I eat like a pig and lack self control, among other things.
After a few minutes the flight attendant informed me that I would have to purchase an additional seat, and that they were able to give me a voucher to be used at a later date which would cover the difference paid. As I was waiting in the aisle, and the asshole rushes to sit down I ripped a fat juicy fart and he was stuck smelling it as I was faking a phone call to be able to stand there another 30 seconds. He muttered a few things I won’t repeat on here but at least one person approved as the kid gave me knucks. The idiot tried to ask the flight attendant to have me kicked off and said he was pressing charges. I of course denied being the one who passed the gas and said “whoever smelt it dealt it” as I walked to my double seat.
So Reddit, am I the asshole here?

Hi,
I have a hair transplant coming on November this year.
I've had enough for my hair loss and walking everywhere with a hat on and I can't think how I will make it until the date of the transplant mentally sane. I discovered there is a nice hair system salon near my home and tempted to go get a hair system at least to look normal until the scheduled transplant.
At the hair transplant clinic they told me I should just avoid wearing it 2 weeks before the surgery. That means I can wear it for 3-4 months and feel good with myself.
What do you guys think? I am a little anxious to wear it before because I've heard it might do bad for the scalp or the hair follicles, etc.
Would love to get opinions regarding that.

I recently bought the Lenovo ideapad gaming 3 15ACH6 for 700 euros. It has an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H, a RTX 3060 8gb, 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a 15.6 inch screen with a refresh rate of 120 Hz. To me it looked like an amazing price for those specs so I immediatly bought it. However I want ask you all if you think the same. Also, does anyone know of any snapcases for it, I intend on using it for college stuff aswell so I can really use the extra durability. I haven't been able to find anything for it after hours of searching. The Case just has to have openings for the vents and ports, looks don't really matter as I will just go with anything at this point.