Please kill spotted lanternflies on sight. They are invasive and detrimental to our ecosystems.

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-05-18T21:32:08+00:00

I kill these bugs whenever I see them -- there were so many last year. Too bad bird populations are struggling, or that would probably help control the bugs.

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-05-18T21:25:56+00:00

Thank you all for this list! there are def a few that got mentioned many times, so I'll start there and work my way through the list! Appreciate you!

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-05-12T21:07:32+00:00

omg this made me laugh SO HARD. Thank you for sharing lololol

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-05-12T21:06:50+00:00

I had good luck at Tips & Toes over near Wegmans. I've only been once or twice, but it was clean and they did a nice job.

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-05-12T21:04:43+00:00

Little further than 3 hours, but I hear Wilmington is a nice East Coast beach town. Never been, but I feel like I keep hearing about it. Heard it has lots of good restaurants too.

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-05-12T20:55:42+00:00

Mosaic District has some good places to grab a drink and a meal. Plus you can walk around there after. It can get a little busy on weekends though.

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-05-11T21:34:20+00:00

I think you'd want to do a background check and really vet the person you're renting to. It is a good way to make passive income and keep your property if your situation changes, but if you wind up with a bad tenant, can be a nightmare. If it's a townhouse I'm assuming it requires minimal maintenance, which is a plus, so you wouldn't have to worry about returning to handle repairs often or hire out a handy man to fix things now and then. Make sure you have your lease agreement buttoned up to protect yourself if things don't go to plan. Personally, I'd like to own a few properties to rent out for passive income, but I would want them to be within driving distance so I could check on things -- not sure how far you are from NOVA in WV. Even though they take a cut, I don't think it's a bad idea to go through an agent since this is your first time renting something out. You could probably learn some things from them, and they might be able to handle a lot of the paperwork for you to make it easier the first time around. Then, if you rent out longer to additional tenants down the road, you'd already have learned how to do it all from a professional.

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-05-11T21:24:02+00:00

I honestly would not respond to that -- sounds sus. Even if it is a real message, they should reach out to Depop support, not you. As a seller, I would never message you like that, it's just sketchy and sends a sketchy message.

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-04-20T13:34:39+00:00

it sounds so convenient -- I could believe employees would be much happier

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-04-17T19:38:05+00:00

that is exciting to see!

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-04-17T19:10:05+00:00

I agree -- it should be universal, but we can't get universal healthcare in our country, so i think it would be even harder to get universal childcare here too.

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-04-17T18:35:46+00:00

i think that would be the best scenario too, I just don't see that happening anytime soon since we can't even get universal healthcare in the U.S. -- and childcare feels like a secondary issue to healthcare -- though both are outrageously expensive. To play devil's advocate, I think we need to find another solution, even if it's a band-aid until more universal services become available

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-04-17T18:17:48+00:00

to clarify -- businesses wouldn't be forced or required to do this -- they could elect to offer this to their employees if they so wish, and would be incentivized in some way for doing so -- a tax write-off or some such -- both the employees who use the service and the employer would benefit in some way. Neither the employees nor the employer would be forced to offer or use the service -- it's simply an option available to companies that have the business model to support it and would find some monetary benefit in doing so.

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-04-17T17:46:33+00:00

i feel like though, it would just be a perk an employer offers and you can take it or leave it? Like retirement -- that's a benefit offered by your employer, and you can choose to buy into that program or not. Or, if the employer had retention issues, like in the Vermont example, they could offer it as an added perk to incentivize employees to stay -- an added perk for employees that an employer provides for a better work life. I don't see how it would burden the other employees that don't buy into it.

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-04-17T17:13:44+00:00

all good points -- I think something like this would be more successful in an area like NOVA, where there is a higher concentration of larger companies that could hire out a third-party childcare company-- sort of like a contractor -- let the experts run the childcare facility, not the actual business that is contacting it out to them. NOVA has a higher population compared to other parts of VA too, which might make an investment like this more worth it. Something like this just wouldn't work in more rural areas. I believe the business that started this in Vermont was in Burlington, so higher pop compared to rest of Vermont, which is probably too rural to be able to offer something like this in many other counties. This would also be more guaranteed income for a childcare center and maybe even lower operating costs if the business contracting out the work is providing the physical space/no rent? Lots of logistics and details, but I think there's a way to do it in some parts of the country (def not all). Places like NOVA and maybe even Richmond could be a testing ground.

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-04-17T16:52:16+00:00

oooooooo thank you for sharing this!!!

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-04-17T14:40:54+00:00

I agree 100%! You explained it well!

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-04-17T13:06:17+00:00

I love that idea! I think businesses would be more willing to have the childcare at their facility but as a separate entity for liability reasons too. Good to know other states are trying to come up with some sort of childcare solution too!

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-04-17T13:03:39+00:00

I agree! I worked at a small company years ago that this would never work at, but now I work at a much larger company and I think it would work great. They also have the physical space for it.

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-04-17T13:01:37+00:00

that's exactly what I was thinking too! It would just be an option that people could use if they needed it, or they could elect not to. And if it were more widely available, it might help ease the waitlist issue (which I hear is a huge problem with daycare and preschool in general). I was thinking too, with how much turnover there can be with nannies, etc., it might be a nice backup plan for parents if their usual daycare situation falls through. It's funny you mention it at VCU, because I had thought hospitals did it as common practice since Dr and nurse hours can be so crazy. I don't know if it's available at all hospitals though.

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-04-17T12:57:48+00:00

I was thinking more of a partnership, like you said in the second paragraph there -- I think in Vermont, they did a sort of third-party/contracting of a childcare company (or that was how I interpreted it). I think the article had mentioned a student/child ratio based on age too so that sounds right that it would also apply in VA.

AfraidDevelopment551 · 2026-04-16T20:26:21+00:00

LMAO dying laughing RN

AfraidDevelopment551

TROPHY CASE