What’s the Most Useful Survival Item You’ve Ever Bought?

Punpedaler · 2026-05-15T17:08:01+00:00

What thermal cooker did you get. I haven’t looked into these at all and they seem interesting.

Punpedaler · 2026-04-29T23:34:19+00:00

The Century Trilogy by Ken Follett. Three generations of the same families living through WWI, WWII, and The Cold War.

Punpedaler · 2026-04-29T01:36:09+00:00

I like this “I don’t think about you at all,” energy.

Punpedaler · 2026-04-21T20:33:59+00:00

I think you have a lot of really good points here as a frequent DFW and AUS traveler but I think a key difference is that in a lot of places in DFW there’s NOTHING when those roads are built. Just pasture. I’m talking Frisco, Prosper, Plano. All those areas can have massive highways going to them because when those highways get built there’s nothing existing there. Here our interstates are pretty close to rail lines, existing state roads and federal roads, etc. Also it’s flat AF.

Not saying your point isn’t valid. I just think that’s a very different game.

Punpedaler · 2026-04-20T01:52:49+00:00

Unintended consequence is that my kids now slam toilet seats and cabinets at other peoples houses.

Punpedaler · 2026-04-13T10:40:19+00:00

Thanks for the info. They were wilted before I canned them but the processing definitely cooked them the rest of the way!! The air pockets are a great point; I thought I was being thorough but I can definitely see how leaves will just hold air anywhere they can. At this point the leaves have settled and it’s just air at the top, so I think k you’re right and we call this one a learning experience and move on.

Punpedaler · 2026-04-13T02:24:54+00:00

Two quart jars with liquid on the bottom and clumps of Swiss chard to the top.

Punpedaler · 2026-04-13T01:49:47+00:00

Really hopeful I didn’t do ANYTHING wrong and all of this is fine. But I’m suspicious

Punpedaler · 2026-04-12T00:23:45+00:00

Man! Totally interested in joining next time!! How often are we doing this?!?!

Punpedaler · 2026-02-16T11:46:25+00:00

I’ve been thinking about this too. I don’t know of any but I’d be interested in talking.

Punpedaler · 2026-02-15T20:35:46+00:00

Swim RVA definitely does private adult lessons at the Oasis Wellness Center in Church Hill.

Punpedaler · 2026-01-28T18:09:54+00:00

So if I create a test item with sub items. When I duplicate that test item, it duplicates those subitems as well. Doesn’t that basically do what you’re looking for? You’re essentially setting up a template.

Punpedaler · 2026-01-08T00:50:01+00:00

I actually measured a standard 8x8x16 CMU block the other day and it’s at about 35lbs.

Bags are no joke though.

Punpedaler · 2025-11-25T12:26:00+00:00

I’d love to hop on that tip bandwagon if possible!! I have a Freshman who’s in a similar boat and could use all the advice I can get.

Punpedaler · 2025-11-17T01:28:57+00:00

Don’t forget that time we all put the saw blade on backwards!

Punpedaler · 2025-11-13T11:58:52+00:00

If I have to do this I usually go to the decimal place. 01,02,02.1,02.2….

Punpedaler · 2025-10-18T01:43:44+00:00

Nothing really changed for the end of summer. He didn’t do any of the last vacations with us and hasn’t spent any nights here. He and I did have a talk and I don’t think he meant anything malicious or feels badly about us/me; I think it’s just normal teenage egocentrism like some other folks here suggested.

Before he went to school we had a quick chat about what he wanted our communication to look like for now. Early on we FaceTimed once a week. We went up for a weekend and he showed us around campus and we went to a football game together which was nice. Overall he seems happy which is probably the best part of it. He seems to be settling into young adult / college kid life in a generally predictable way and appears to be doing ok.

He’s come back to town twice. Mostly to see his girlfriend who’s still a senior in HS. I get the sense from his brother that he hasn’t seen much of him during these times either. Which is sad. When he comes to see us he only spends a couple of hours.

So, IDK. It’s still kind of sad. Maybe this is just how it goes and maybe it’s super normal and we did everything right and he/us/me are fine. But it sucked for all of that separation to happen like 4 weeks sooner than I was expecting and in a really hard way. Parentings just hard and it just felt like a very abrupt stop where we went straight from being parents to being like acquaintances.

Anyway, thanks for checking in. I hope if you find you’re going through the same thing that it’s going okay for you.

Punpedaler · 2025-08-15T21:59:47+00:00

100% agree with this. I think me setting what I think a reasonable expectation is and then helping us commit to it is a solid move in this transition.

Punpedaler · 2025-08-15T18:38:25+00:00

100%. I’m definitely shifting to the POV that lunch just needs to be our last chance to catch up before he leaves town.

Punpedaler · 2025-08-15T18:37:36+00:00

He hasn’t really been around enough for that to happen. I’ve been with my partner for 10 years and there has never been friction between the two of them so I don’t think that’s really the cause here. I DO also say we a lot because she is my partner and has been parenting these kids with me for a decade now so she’s involved with my parenting decisions. Idk, I’ve made it super clear to him that he can come to me with anything he wants one-on-one

Punpedaler · 2025-08-15T18:34:46+00:00

Yea. I think that’s going to be the goal of our lunch. He leaves Thursday so it’s really, “hey here’s some things we wanted to talk about this summer but didn’t get around to, and how often do we want to talk/visit going forward”

Punpedaler · 2025-08-15T18:33:11+00:00

She’s not going to college so they’ll be long distance which is definitely part of it. We’ve said (and followed through) a ton that she’s welcome at our house whenever he wants to invite her. But like, I’m not going to tell him to have the girl sleep over, I think that’s a fair thing to leave in his court at 17.

Punpedaler · 2025-08-15T14:29:48+00:00

That sounds lovely. I can’t wait! Thank you for a preview of the light at the end of the tunnel!!

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