laughing kookaburras as background “monkey” sounds in the Amazon jungle also get me

using a red-tailed hawk call whenever a bald eagle is shown

also I like to try and figure out where they filmed based on the birds I hear in the background

If you’re going to be in national forest land, the Forest Service has maps you can use in Avenza Maps that are geotagged - probably the wrong term but they work in areas of the forest with no cell service and it still shows where we are and even when we’re moving.

Other federal agencies (BLM, FWS, etc) may have them too. You could even see if the area’s counties have some? I only have direct experience with USFS maps that do this but I doubt they’re the only ones.

Eta: After looking at some iGo screenshots, Avenza probably won’t be a good fit. It doesn’t offer turn by turn directions nor does it automatically center on you. If you drive out of frame you do have to manually move the map.

Hi Dr. Nick!

This sounds amazing!

Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition

‘es pining for the fjords

True when it comes to the facility staff. But Congresspeople also have Congressional staff. Those people should’ve reported it, and should be held accountable for not. Which isn’t a law that I know of and of course won’t happen, but it should.

My understanding is it will be a symbol, kind of like the USDA Organic symbol. Not necessarily similar in design, but just that the organic symbol means it’s met USDA criteria for being organic

I’m glad you’ve recovered! They did say it was more likely for my spouse to have a lung collapse again, which is scary.

Luckily my spouse’s employer has someone whose whole job is to fight with insurance. She got insurance to admit that in an emergency we didn’t need pre-approval which brought our bill down some.

My spouse had their lung collapse. Insurance denied it because we didn’t get advance approval for their lung to collapse.

From a more recent article where Anthem now says they won’t implement this policy:

Connecticut comptroller Sean Scanlon said the “concerning” policy wouldn’t affect the state after conversations with the insurance company. And New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in an emailed statement Thursday that her office had also successfully intervened.

Exactly, like how redheads need more anesthesia

Real answer? Who knows

Cynical answer? However low their lawyers told them they could get away with without being liable

I was in the store the other day and saw they now make electric ones

Along the same vein, if there’s a meal that always brings back good memories, make that. And if you’re comfortable sharing, invite some of your friends to eat it with you.

The same goes for activities - is there a game or something you did a lot back home? Could you teach some friends in NZ how to do it?

Finally, if possible, can you set up a regular time to play games online with friends or family back home?

Several years ago we lost power for 4 days after an especially bad storm. We don’t have good enough cell service at our house to usually use data or run a hotspot. Mostly it’s like camping except we get to sleep in our beds.

Prepare: We keep filled water jugs for both drinking and flushing the toilets.

We have a small generator to run our fridge, so once a month we run it for about 10 minutes. We keep gas and spark plugs for it handy.

We have a weather radio that’s solar powered with battery back-up.

We have a solar-charging battery bank (to charge our phones) as well as lanterns and flashlights that use AA batteries and a stash of extra AA batteries. Winter here can be quite cloudy, making solar lights harder to use sometimes.

We have a camping stove and extra fuel, as well as some easy to prepare foods. We use the food when we go camping and get new ones to store for emergencies, making sure the food doesn’t expire. We cooked outside (it was summer but even in winter I would do the cooking outside).

For winter we have a kerosene heater and extra fuel and wicks.

Entertainment: I would guess you’re especially asking about evenings, as during the day when our power was out we’d go outside if the weather was nice. In the evenings we played board games and card games, did puzzles and crosswords, did art (drawing, coloring, and painting), did crafts, and read.

If we know ahead of time bad weather’s coming, I’ll download some shows and movies to my tablet. We also have a DVD player to connect to my laptop while the battery lasts.

At-home laser tag game? When we were kids my brother had one - 2 battery powered chest plates you wore and 2 guns. We’d turn the lights off in the basement and play.

Why do I feel like they complained when people didn’t “speak American” in the States

For one week. And they can only be bought online.

Freezing your credits means you (or anyone else) cannot access your credit report to open new lines of credit. No credit cards, mortgages, car loans, nothing.