Ds is in Canada at university; we live in the US. All in-person classes are cancelled and students are permitted to leave, but they can stay on campus if needed. DS wants me to come get him and his girlfriend and come back here. It is a 16+ hour drive - done it a million times, so totally doable. My parents live up there as well. They're in their mid/late 70s, in great health. If I go get him, they will expect us to stay there for as long as we can, at least a couple of days (they'd like us to stay even longer). I want to see them but I worry about making them sick. No one in my house is sick, but we all know there are unknown carriers. DH has been on planes and he was at a conference the end of Feb. where a couple people later tested positive for COVID19. He was never in direct contact with them - huge conference with a billion presenters and he never visited their booth, but that's no guarantee he didn't open the door right after they did - kwim? He arrived home from that on Feb. 27 and then went on another trip the following week, so it's been about 10 days since he got back from Trip 2. No one he knows is/has been sick. No one in our family has any symptoms. DD is a vet tech and in close contact with people during her shifts. My other ds is an HVAC tech and sees people every day too. My parents are adamant that we stay with them; my mom is already making up the beds and planning meals. I could leave super-early tomorrow morning and arrive late tomorrow night and be back here by Thursday or Friday. But, a lot can change in those 4-5 days. Where I live, there are no 'local' cases, but we do have cases in the county and the ones surrounding us. There are a few cases in the province where DS is, but none in the area he or my parents live. Other options... DS stays where he is for now DS flies home I pick him up at school and we drive straight back without visiting Someone (one of his friends from school) brings DS to the CAN/US border and he walks across to me and we drive back home My siblings are fine with whatever I decide, although one sister really doesn't think staying with them is a good idea. The funny thing is - our parents were supposed to go visit her but decided not to due to the COVID19. They wouldn't have been able to get travel insurance. TIA UPDATE: His campus now has 2 presumptive cases so it's closing, and while he could stay longer with his cousins, that just puts them at more risk too. So, I'm heading up to get him tomorrow. I was hoping he'd agree to drive himself home, but he feels it's too long for him to do on his own. I will drive 3/4 of the way tomorrow and pick him up at university by early Wednesday afternoon. Of course, the weather is not great....And, I need an oil change - that's always the way, isn't it? I am not stopping at my parents, and they'll be annoyed/angry, but it's safer for everyone that way.

Not surprising, none of the products that actually work are in stock at Amazon (ie the peroxide) But the Pyoure has a new website, www.homageco.com I wonder if medical supply stores are being swarmed by folks looking for more effective, hospital grade cleaners....

This happened to my daughter and I didn't know, back when she was 10-11, to push for more testing. She tested positive for Hashimoto's at age 16. So much wasted time... My dd tried many thyroid meds, including natural desiccated ones, but is feeling the best on Tirosint with a separate T3 med. She really had no idea how bad she was until she was properly dosed and able to do more than lay on the couch wrapped up in a blanket with a heating pad, and losing a lot of hair 😞 Early in the am is best for testing! And, yes, get ALL the thyroid labs done - insist on it. If the dr won't order them, get them yourself (and find a new dr)

I have no idea if this will work/what you're looking for, but for my friends who do IF, they drink water whenever they want to snack during their fasting hours. Maybe chewing gum would work? Sorry, I don't have any ideas for meds or supplements. Hugs to you and congrats for improving your mental health.

Thank you so much! Thank you for the suggestions. I am making a list and researching airline/train prices.

Iceland is very high on my bucket list for all the things you both listed. My ods' gf spent a few days in Iceland a year or so ago, so I am going to talk to her as well.

Thank you! And, I believe we can take the train/bus from Edinburgh to Nottingham (with multiple transfers) so that is a plus!

I know there are lots of travellers on here who have experienced each of these 3 places, so I hoping you can help me and DH make a decision. I have to be in Nottingham, England from August 5-17, but we are hoping to leave 4-5 days early and spend it elsewhere. Dh has been to London multiple times and prefers not to spend it there; neither of us has been to Iceland, Ireland, or Scotland. We will fly from DC, Baltimore, or Newark in the US, so an overnight flight is probably our cheapest option. Which country would you pick and what would you see there? I really don't think we'll make a wrong decision and it will likely come down to flight costs/points and the timing of the flights as well as the ease of getting to Nottingham from wherever we choose to visit. We do not want to be on the go the entire time, meaning if we choose Scotland, we'd explore Edinburgh but wouldn't likely make the 3 hour drive to Inverness, but we would use a train if that was an option for a day trip. I love outdoorsy hikes and history. Dh loves museums and I tolerate them. Thanks!

I don't believe InstaCart has minimum hours, but you do have to be able to work 2 Sundays/month. At least that's true in my area; I'm not sure if it's nationwide or not. The more hours you are available, the easier it is to get hours. I know that sounds kind of obvious, but the schedulers look at how fast you shop and your availability. If you are slow and only available 6-9 on 2 specific days, you aren't likely to get any shifts. However, if you are slow, but are available anytime between 8am and 4pm everyday, you will get more hours and be able to improve your shopping times. Once you have increased your speed, you can be more selective with your times.

It depends on the area. In my area, the shopper and delivery person are 2 different people. The people who did both didn't work for InstaCart (they may have worked for Shipt), but InstaCart does allow you to do both in some areas - you would have the check the policies of the stores in your area. The people who did both shopped at a bunch of different stores - grocery stores as well as pharmacies like CVS.

I did shopping for InstaCart for 5 months or so. It was easy - at a local grocery store that I knew the layout of pretty well. The people I worked with were great and because I was a 'fast' shopper I could get as many hours as I wanted. You get ranked on your speed and the higher your rank, the more orders you'd get, and your ranking went even higher. If you are a slow walker who likes to wander and peruse, then it isn't the job for you. I never did the delivery aspect of InstaCart. Do you have any specific questions?

Yes, that is exactly what happened. I will call the hospital back and ask if they will provide proof of timely filing with incorrect insurance company. They are very nice to talk to and have been very helpful. When I spoke with them just now, they still don't see any billing by them or the providers with the account number being referenced by the collection's agency. The facility listed on the collection's agency's notice is the hospital, but it definitely did not come from the hospital. It may have come from one of the physicians, but that is not who is named on the notice. I have sent a letter to the collection's agency asking them to provide us with a Debt Validation Letter that states who they bought the bill from. Yes, we get bills from the hospital and the drs as well, and it can be hell to keep track of them all. For this issue, DS was in one hospital overnight, sent to outpatient's at a different hospital who couldn't do the tests in a timely manner, so he was re-admitted to the original hospital in order to force the insurance company to authorize the tests immediately. He saw 3-4 different drs., plus had a few different scans done.

I have a 2 part question here..... My oldest went to the ER in early June and gave the hospital the wrong insurance card. When we got billed by the hospital for the cost of his visit in December (!), I called their billing department and gave them the proper insurance information and they submitted it to the correct insurance company. We just received notice from the insurance company that they are refusing to pay because it is outside their 180 day claim submission period (something they told me is negotiated by dh's company?) We can appeal that and will be sending a letter off to them this week. The scam part I wonder about is that ds received a collection's notice today for an amount that doesn't match the total bill, but could be for one part of the care he received (he saw multiple drs), but the invoice number on the bill from the hospital does not match the invoice number from the hospital. It is close, but one digit is different. I called the hospital to question why it went to collections when it was under review (being sent to proper insurance company). The guy I talked to said that their records do not show that it went to collections and usually once an unpaid bill is sent to collections, the account is flagged - nothing shows on the hospital's records that it was sent to collections. Ds called collections and they were zero help, other than to put a dispute flag on his account. Ds is worried that his credit score will be affected and he has worked hard to get good credit. Any advice for how to deal with either issue? Thanks!

I would try this as well.

Agree with others on this one - "College visits are for high school kids and parents only. We've got a great babysitter coming for you. Yes, you will miss us, but that is ok." It might be easier if the 4 year old stays home and could play with the 8 year old while the babysitter focuses on the 10 year old, but the sitter might not be ok with 3 kids at the last minute.

Dominoes is a game your inlaws likely know and is easy for your kids. Frozen cookie dough and icing to decorate A couple of puzzles (one easy one to include your youngest and a bigger/more complex one for the older kids) Books that your inlaws liked as kids, either on audio or in print (if your inlaws like to read aloud) Window art kit

If you want to have an actual caving/spelunking experience, stop at Laurel Caverns, about an hour south of Pittsburgh. It is absolutely one of the coolest things I've ever done and everyone that I've taken there (family friends, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts) have loved it. Laurel Caverns

As a Canadian who has lived in the US for about 21 years (and lived on both the west and east coasts), I can say that most Americans that I have met are nice, respectful, and easy going. I tell them they'd make perfect Canadians! In Canada, I have met people who are boastful, obnoxious, and downright annoying - typical 'American' type persona. However, what I have found when traveling to other countries with Americans is that even the most 'Canadian' of them (aside from a few) are incredibly intolerant/rude about the customs/goings on of other countries. For example, in Spain - all the restaurants/grocery stores were closed by early/mid afternoon and didn't open for dinner until 6, at the earliest. Many of my teammates thought that was just awful and rude and weird because 'we had just arrived and needed to eat', and how were we going to live here for 2 weeks when we can't get food 24/7. And then in Hong Kong, we (about 16 of us) went out to breakfast at a local 'diner' at 6:30 one morning. No one in the restaurant spoke English so we all ordered by pointing. Most of my teammates (mostly different ones from the Spain trip) got annoyed when the waiter mixed up the orders, when there were beans on the breakfast plate, when the tea didn't taste 'right', and 'I don't know what that is, but that's not coffee!' comments. One of my teammates was born in South Africa and we were both mortified by the comments and our teammates' behavior. They all shrugged it off with a 'Well, they couldn't understand us anyway.' kind of comments. It was really disheartening and so, so rude of them.

I have these capris as well - very comfy, have some stretch to them, not wrinkly! Love them!

How about board shorts that you can wear while hiking as well as in the wet activities, like tubing, like these ones from LLBean... You can similar ones from Amazon, like the Kanu brand

Thank you so much! I will keep this list in mind. I do notice that if I eat a lot of sugar/milk chocolate, things start to feel a little funky down there. And over the holidays I definitely over-indulged...

This was wonderful - thank you! I totally agree about the chickens too! I have been reading the books by Ta-Nehisi Coates, a Baltimore city native. Very insightful and thought-provoking.

I will try that - thank you. I was considering sitting in the bath with some baking soda dissolved in the water because I remember as a kid I couldn't use any perfumy soaps or bubble bath or I'd end up with a bad itchy rash and if I did, that's what my mom had me do. Nothing new in terms of any soaps, fragrances, lotions or detergents. I only use hypo-allergenic, free-and-clear, sensitive skin type soap and detergent, and I've used those for years without issue, but I suppose some laundry may not have been properly rinsed.... If it's still lingering tomorrow, I may give the dr a call. When I get back from running errands, I will switch back to my pj pants and no undies to keep things breezy 🤣

I started taking a daily Vitamin B supplement on Wednesday last week. I forgot to take it on Saturday morning, so I took 1 capsule 3 days in a row. Saturday night I began to have a deep, tingly feeling - not itchy, not painful, when I peed, but something definitely weird and uncomfortable around my vulva. There was no discharge or weird smell, like from a yeast infection. When I wasn't peeing, I only felt a vague discomfort of swelling, but no real irritation. I started drinking lots of water and every time I peed, it would burn a bit. Yesterday I continued to drink lots of water and the burning while peeing decreased throughout the day and overnight. This morning it is pretty much gone and I'm left with a vague feeling of swelling and discomfort once I'm finished peeing, but nothing like it was on Saturday. I am still drinking lots of water and there is nothing out of the ordinary when I'm actually peeing, only when I'm done and it lasts for about 5-10 minutes. I looked up the side effects of Vitamin B, and didn't find anything . I've taken Vitamin B in the past (a different brand) and never had this. Is it just coincidence? Was my pee too concentrated and just irritated me perhaps? I can probably get in to see the dr. tomorrow, but since it is improving on its own, I haven't called yet.

I am so glad my youngest got to see him a few years ago.