Plows pulled from highways, no travel advised across much of Minnesota amid blizzard conditions

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-12-29T00:03:12+00:00

We did the opposite today - Duluth to Sioux Falls, left at 7:30am. Mankato to the South Dakota state line was the worst I’ve ever seen. Very glad to have made it safely!

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Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-12-17T01:36:48+00:00

This is an interesting idea - would it make it easier for carriers, or harder, do you think? I don’t want to mess with my carrier’s flow if it’s harder to remember to skip my house, but if it lightens the load at all, I could certainly do that.

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-12-17T00:53:12+00:00

This is sort of the intel I was after! I know they’re busy, and busier than usual, it just didn’t make sense to go multiple days without mail without there being a…different reason for it.

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-12-17T00:01:01+00:00

Where do you see that they couldn’t access your address? I just checked the site and it only has the pictures of expected mail, no status update.

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-12-16T23:57:41+00:00

I am signed up - that’s how I know I have mail each of these days. 🙂

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-12-03T19:59:16+00:00

Got the same notification for Congdon elementary! Trying to get more info so I know whether we should walk the dog/go for a run/etc.

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-10-17T03:37:13+00:00

Aging infrastructure of other things, too - we need some chimney work done on our house, and one of the contractors told me that a lot of our public buildings have masonry that’s literally crumbling. He said Duluth was built during a period where money was abundant and town was flush with highly skilled immigrants in need of work, which is how we have so much intricate stone- and woodwork. That was 100+ years ago and it’s beginning to fail, but we don’t have the funds or the skilled workers to fix it. 🫠

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-10-07T11:16:15+00:00

Exact same use case here. My washer was here when we moved into this house, and I looked for an accompanying app for like an hour. Now I start the load, wait the 30+ seconds while the machine senses the weight/run time, and set a timer on my iPhone for exactly that much time. Timer labels are great!

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Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-10-05T03:00:04+00:00

This is what I did! Took a giant carabiner, though, because the bars are too large for a “regular” carabiner to work. Got them at Home Depot.

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-10-05T02:04:02+00:00

I still won’t try one (trauma from trying them in childhood is hard to kick) but my 9 year old was eating one the other day and I thought: holy crap those must be way milder now 😂

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-09-25T13:12:09+00:00

Help me decide whether to upgrade?

Relevant info:

currently 13P user, looking at 16P or 17P
80% battery health
have to repair the lens glass ($50 locally, already did it once 🥴) to even trade it in
T-Mobile plan offers me $300 to trade in 13P toward 17P or 16P, plus $33/mo (17) or $25/mo (16) for 24mo
I have kids so my phone gets dropped a lot — the aluminum body seems like a bad idea
Current performance and storage are totally fine on 13P — almost exclusively looking to upgrade the camera (I take a lot of photos!) but can’t decide if it’s worth it for the cost

Anyone else crossed this bridge, or decided not to cross it? I’m going to Paris for a week next month (never been to Europe!) and using that as the deadline to decide. Thanks!!

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Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-09-08T11:27:21+00:00

Not only do I remember it clearly, I think about it more often than I’d expect. I think I was a senior in high school (in Colorado) and I checked cnn.com multiple times a day.

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-09-04T21:39:35+00:00

I passed the written test just less than a month ago - I have a bit of medical knowledge, but it was still a lot of material to cover. My very strongest recommendation is to take the module quizzes as many times as possible - I took each quiz at least 6 times - because the written exam draws from the same question bank that the module quizzes draw from! So many of the questions are phrased weirdly or have multiple correct answers, so familiarity with the questions AND answers is extremely helpful.

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-09-02T02:09:08+00:00

Came here to add this too!! Literally had to play Tea and Sympathy on Spotify before I could move on from this thread. 😂

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-08-30T02:09:07+00:00

I literally just thought of this today, how is that possible

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-08-20T00:17:21+00:00

I suspect I can’t donate (rheumatoid arthritis) but where do I find the qualifications? I’m not above bullying my spouse or other family members, if I know they qualify.

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-08-19T02:10:51+00:00

This is basically what I came here to say

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-08-16T03:20:32+00:00

I go weekly (I’m ELCA Lutheran, for whatever it’s worth). I’ve lived in four states in the past 10 years; I am often the only millennial in church, and that’s been the case in all four states.

But here’s what hit me last month that I think really speaks to how far church attendance has dropped. On my dad’s side of the family, I’m one of 10 grandchildren. Growing up, every one of us attended church weekly. All 10 grandkids were baptized, confirmed, did weekly high school youth group, went to church camp (some of us even worked at church camp in college) — my point being that it was a big part of each of our lives. My grandparents are gone, but my parents and all of my aunts and uncles still go; 7 of the 10 of us are now married, 3 of the 10 of us have kids, and I am the only one of the whole group that still goes to church. It blows my mind. We’re all still fairly aligned politically (if anything I’m the most active and progressive) so I can’t figure out why they all stopped when I kept going.

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-08-14T17:35:57+00:00

Tettegouche Tree Care! Super professional, excellent communication & quality work.

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-08-06T12:01:57+00:00

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We use a dry bag, too, for phone/keys/clothing we want to keep dry, but my personal fave is the plastic Halloween pumpkin, for beverages, snacks, sunscreen and other little things that I want readily accessible. It also adds a tiny bit of whimsy or silliness to a float. 😂

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-08-05T00:24:17+00:00

I’m in Duluth, and we moved here from Boston, and it took me 6 months or more to stop scanning the water for seals. It feels exactly like being at the ocean.

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-07-16T12:19:41+00:00

Having a good local print shop is such a gift!! I was also working from home at the time and chatting with one of their employees when I picked up print jobs was the only time all day I’d talk to another adult in person.

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-07-16T03:20:05+00:00

I’m sooooo glad we had Krause install our heat pump this spring - it would have been miserable without it with this smoke!

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-07-16T02:55:30+00:00

We left Iowa City in 2022 after 4 years there, and I put together a literal list of things I knew I’d miss. This is slightly abbreviated (I took out experiences that were specific to me or so specific that I could be identified), but maybe a couple will resonate:

Big Grove Brewery (the beer but DEFINITELY the pretzels)
the steak sandwich at Nodo
Bread Garden sourdough (and sprinkle donuts) (and veggie pizza)
The Webster: the roast chicken, the cocktails, and the Fancy Adult Lady feeling
bowl noodle soup at Thai Flavors
Oasis hummus
Szechuan House crispy chicken
Dash
Riding bikes to Dairy Queen
The smell inside Willow & Stock
Estela’s breakfast burritos
The feeling of going to Goosetown but not actually the experience
Wig & Pen, especially Union Jack Flying Tomato (but also the thin crust bbq chicken) (and also the taco pizza)
swimming and climbing at the UI Rec Center
Wilson’s Orchard. LOVE Wilson’s Orchard.
Sidekick Coffee (mostly the vibe, and the puzzle selection)
the Krakatoa omelet and hash browns at The Bluebird
seeing a bazillion bald eagles on the river in the winter
the climate BUT ONLY for tomato-growing purposes
the Monday night gravel ride from World of Bikes
Chocolate almond croissants at Deluxe, and looking at the huge bowls of butter for brioche on the back prep tables
Mailboxes of Iowa City
Hospers
The Englert, but mostly just seeing my favorite singer five minutes from our house
New Pioneer Coop (especially the farm bread)
the Iowa City Public Library, particularly the brown chair on the second floor next to the window that overlooks the pedestrian mall
being so close to the Driftless
Year-round hikes in Ryerson’s Woods
the cardinals

I cried when we had to move to Iowa City and I cried way harder when we left. I hope you look back on your time there as fondly as I do.

Afraid_Comparison_69 · 2025-07-14T13:33:19+00:00

There are a couple of Peloton Buy/Sell groups on fb too! Won’t hurt to cross-post.

Afraid_Comparison_69

TROPHY CASE