Enjoy your riding! My method for buying helmets is to buy a nicer one on clearance with the reason being the more expensive ones tend to be better vented, lighter weight and/or have better fitting mechanisms. I don't care so much that it's last year's model or that the color isn't exactly what I wanted so it works well for me.

I have a road bike and a hybrid/flat bar bike, both ridden primarily on the roads, though the flat bar bike can handle gravel/packed dirt. I am not a mountain biker. I've been riding for many years and only a couple of times have I ever had an issue that would have required other tools. Once I broke a chain (and fortunately someone with a bike on the back of their car came by moments later!) and I have broken cables a couple of times, but that just requires limping home in a single gear. My bike repair skills don't really extend much beyond changing a flat!

Sorry, I somehow missed this! I don't really carry a tool kit, just some tire levers, patch kit and spare tube. About the only thing I might carry are a 4/5mm Allen tool. Anything harder than that to fix on the go and I will be calling my husband or an Uber. ETA: And a frame pump.

What about a triangle bag? That would have a little more room for extra storage. Also, if you don’t currently have a cycling jersey, those pockets come in handy!

Nice! I just went for a 2.5 hour ride today as our weather is finally warming a bit. In your place, I might get a new helmet, definitely cycling shorts, and no to the donut only because I can’t believe it would stay in place. Otherwise, a water bottle, a bag with tube and tire levers, pump and I think you’re good to go! I have a Garmin watch that I use to record rides, which I love, but that’s obviously optional.

Probably not, but has anybody who is considered essential had a choice?

We're all 1 - 2 days here. If I feel like I woke up sweating at all througout the night, they get tossed in the laundry; otherwise, they usually get a second wear. When in doubt, they get washed.

I have Fiestaware and a bunch of Corelle that we aquired over the years and/or was given to us. The Fiestaware dishes were meant to be for general use, but I find myself always grabbing the Corelle unless we have company. If I had it to do over, I think I would have only gotten the Corelle.

We are allowing our daughter to see her boyfriend as normal. My husband and I have been cautious since March; however, we are not requiring quite the same level of caution from our kids (though our son isn't seeing people by his own choice). As much as we are believers of the seriousness of Covid, we also have to balance that with the social-emotional needs of teenagers.

Do not think twice, sign up for the lunches. Your mental and physical health are far more important than worrying about whether or not you qualify or need the help.

The Flying Biscuit is amazing and a local Atlanta chain. The biscuits are heavenly, but everything I’ve had from there has been tasty.

My son was just tested and I had to schedule the test 48 hours out. Results were in almost 96 hours later. He started experiencing symptoms on a Tuesday and the results were finally available the following Monday. We didn't pay anything, but we did provide our insurance card, so I'm guessing they will be billed, but I'm not positive. I was unimpressed with the whole process. My son stayed in during this time, but I can't imagine everyone is going to do that with that long of a lag between symptoms and results.

I'm not an active poster here but, Mercy, you always strike me as such a kind person. I'm so glad the kitty made it's way home!

A towel seems a little odd, but hopefully it was large and covered everything. As for the Under Armour bottoms, it could be that they were actually compression shorts and not underwear. Google that and you will see what I mean. They look just like undies, but the material is actually a little heavier and they can be worn under other clothes or they can be shorts by themselves (lots of people run in them if they have chafing issues - I own several pairs and there is no need for shorts over them other than personal preference). I personally tend to dress somewhat modestly, but in the situation of a communal shower, I wouldn't care too much about what others did as long as they were relatively covered.

Our schools started at the end of July with a 100% all day mask requirement. Despite plenty of online outcry from parents, it seems to be a non issue and kids are complying.

The Eragon series by Christopher Paolini is my dragon loving son's favorite series.

Gordon is our local restaurant supply store and I've been going there to avoid crowds. They have had huge bags of flour every time I've been along with plenty of bread. At ours, milk is limited to 2 gallons and meat is limited to 2 of each type for fresh, but frozen is unlimited (and plentiful in the store). Another place to get large quantities of food is from produce suppliers. In addition to produce, ours sells meats and dairy products. In my area, there are several suppliers that used to supply to restaurants and schools and with all of the closures are now looking for revenue streams so are selling to the public. It's mostly large quantity purchases, but we've found it to be convenient and are happy to help out a couple of businesses that may be struggling right now.

I was just coming here to say the same thing. The big difference between Liberty and most other univereities is that Liberty opened to anyone, regardless of their need, while most universities closed to all except those who had no other choice. One of the students at Liberty who was tested for Covid was was told to self quarantine pending results and chose to go home instead - if the student could go home that easily, why were they ever allowed back in the first place?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nyu-dean-sends-dance-video-in-response-to-students-petitioning-for-tuition-refund/ NYU. The university my husband teaches at isn't giving tuition refunds, either, but his isn't a fine art school, so not sure it's really comprable.

Not really. If *someone* has to get sick, I would rather is be a person who isn't following protocal than a person who is trying their best to follow it and then catches the infection from the someone who intentially is not. The people at Liberty are not only putting themselves in danger, but they are putting everyone with whom they come in contact at risk, too. And they don't have to, they're choosing to. edited: spelling

I could have written a very similar post three years ago. The clinician I saw didn’t say that it was caused by deodorant, just that it was a “flare” and would happen occasionally. I never have seen anyone who solved the problem, but I end up back at urgent care or a dermatologist a couple of times a year and am prescribed steroids, shots and steroid creams. I gave up deodorant when it first happened and other posters are correct, once you get used to that it’s no big deal. However, it didn’t solve the problem, I still get random rashes that start in my armpits and and move down in my arms. When it’s bad, diphenhydramine works best and other antihistamines are better than nothing during the day. Prescription creams and hydrocortisone creams work well, but you have to be careful not to over use them. Good luck getting answers! In my case, we moved to another state right before this all started happening, so I think it’s environmental, but I don’t know what it is or how to get anyone to believe me.

Really? I started reading wedding forums yesterday and found the majority of people said you should not hold a shower for people not invited to the wedding that it was rude and nothing more than a gift grab. (Of course, I fell down a rabbit hole of all sorts of wedding etiquette-related threads and read plenty of things that sounded excessive to me, so who knows what was true and what was people being over-the-top picky.) The more I thought about it, the more I don't want an expectation of bringing gifts and I want people to attend regardless of abilitiy/desire to bring a gift, so either way I don't want it to be a shower. That said, is it okay to call it a wedding celebration if it's before the wedding? Maybe just say something along the lines of Please join us for a celebration in honor of x and y's upcoming wedding?

Thank you for all of the encouragement and ideas! When I first started researching, the first thing I came across was that I couldn't all it a shower because that was only for people invited to the wedding (and I know kids/families will not be invited simply because it's too many people). My intent is to not mention presents, but I do hope at least some people choose to give something. As with most coaches, he deals with a lot of kids and parents and I'm guessing is under paid. It never occurred to me that others wouldn't be interested, but I could definitely chat with my son's core group of friends ahead of time to make sure we are going to have a few attending, at least. I'm excited now!

I am mostly a lurker, but the Hive provides such excellent and varied advice, I thought I would get your thoughts. My son's swimming coach is getting married in the fall. I would love to throw him and his fiance a wedding celebration type of party. I'm thinkng a post-practice brunch with some wedding themed decorations and inviting kids and their parents. He has been the main coach to these kids for 2+ years and will continue to be their coach for several more and he spends 10+ hours a week with them, so I would like to honor him in some way. Am I crazy? Has anyone ever been to something similar? I searched the internet and marriage forums in particular and couldn't find any questions close to this one so I don't know if I should just drop the idea or if I should start trying to come up with a more concrete plan. Thank you for any advice!

At a minimum I would have 1 parent take the 2 healthy kids. Whether or not both parents would go and leave the sick child at home alone would depend on the child, how close to home I would be and if I had any relatives/good friends nearby. With the sick one being 10, I probably wouldn't be comfortable having no one at home with him, but I wouldn't judge another parent for doing differently.