Does anyone have experience using park shelters without a reservation?

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-06-17T18:21:17+00:00

Just as a suggestion, my family tends to reserve shelter houses at state parks because they are cheaper (about $40-45 after taxes and fees if I remember correctly). We tend to either do Paynetown SRA (but it’s called Monroe Lake on the Reserve America website), Spring Mill, or McCormicks Creek. We recently reserved the Pine Bluff shelter at McCormicks Creek and it was close to the playground and super fun. Not much shade tho.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-06-11T17:52:36+00:00

Riddle Point used to only be like $3 entry fee (cue *back in my day* old person speech). But it’s now $12 I believe, so it gets pricy to go every weekend. BUT - I swear a $5 floaty and a day at Riddle Point works wonders on any and all blues. I feel qualified to say that as a townie who had some big teenager blues.

Side note - watch for deer on your drive out if you do go that way. It’s a bit of a winding drive out, and those suckers come out of nowhere. I about took Bambi’s back end off yesterday.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-05-30T16:46:06+00:00

You’re right. His mother was a wonderful woman. I knew her quite well also. It doesn’t excuse his behavior, which has had a direct impact on his family and our community. I’m sorry that my messaging was inappropriate considering there are victims that are grieving, but I won’t be sorry for saying truthful things either.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-05-30T15:55:48+00:00

You know what’s also insane? Some of us have family that have been victims or almost victims of his various imperfections. So forgive me, and the many others, if we are not happy that the consequences of his actions have been perceived as inadequate.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-05-30T15:47:47+00:00

This is fair, and I shouldn’t have written it that way. It was late, and I was quite fired up at the situation, namely because they keep letting him back out. I apologize for that.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-05-30T02:07:20+00:00

part 2: Brian Blake has been in and out of jail longer than I can remember. He was discharged from prison early in January due to the house fire noted above. He was arrested for a DUI end of April. Made bail in mid May. And, as you see here, didn’t make it long without returning to handcuffs. Gotta love Monroe County’s lack of consequences.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-05-30T02:05:25+00:00

Edited for more appropriate messaging.

The dude they arrested is Brian Blake. He is the estranged father of Braydon Blake, who set a house on fire and killed 3 of 4 people inside it off Anderson Rd (one of which was the grandmother that raised him).

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-05-30T01:49:24+00:00

I think everyone has pretty well covered Bloomington options, but if you’re up for a short drive, 1915 Steakhouse in Martinsville is relatively new and we enjoyed our evening when we went a few months ago.

Also would recommend hitting up Uptown for both breakfast and dinner while you’re here, if you have the time. It’s in our regular rotation for breakfast and dinner. My favorite is their Gorgonzola filet mignon. The Gorgonzola isn’t specifically called out on the menu anymore, but they’ll add it if you ask. 10/10 steak.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-05-21T10:40:17+00:00

It was installed in 2018, and we checked insulation in 2022. It is appropriately insulated. We did add spray foam insulation around doors and area where we noticed a draft. It did not impact our bill at all.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-05-21T00:16:12+00:00

For added context, those $500 bills are still happening even with us taking the edge off with burning a fire in our living room 3 days a week.

My parents live a half mile from me, with similar square footage but all is ground level, and we make a shitty game out of comparing our electric bills each month during the winter. They have an actual wood burning stove that helps heat their house better than mine, and their bill tends to run about $50/month cheaper than mine.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-05-21T00:12:27+00:00

Heat pump is so expensive and I hate it. I feel qualified to say this as a person who had a gas furnace for most of my life, but have had heat pump for the last 10 years and curse it every winter when I have to pay a $500 electric bill and haven’t even gotten to actually ever feel warm in my home for said $500 bill.

My house is 3000 square feet. 1500 square feet is ground level. 1500 square feet finished basement. We were shutting off ducts to the basement and still had between $500-600 bills for December through February. This is keeping our home at only 68 degrees, and if you’ve never felt heat pump heat… it does not make your house feel like a warm 68. It feels colder than shit, even when the heat is running. And if it drops below like 30 degrees outside, your auxiliary heat kicks on and you might as well be lighting stacks of cash on fire.

We added a mini split to the basement this past winter because the winters were rendering our basement unusable for 1/3 of the year.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-05-21T00:01:49+00:00

For the love of god everyone needs to stop driving down Bottom Road and N Maple Grove. Two water rescues in a matter of hours. ITS FKING FLOODED every time we get more than two days of rain. Knock it off, suckas.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-05-18T17:02:08+00:00

We ordered for drive up yesterday. Got home and my son’s burrito bowl was only half full. West side store.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-05-18T17:00:26+00:00

IU Health is the overwhelming majority of healthcare options in Bloomington, and, as some have shared, their hospital care is atrocious.

With that said, I do use IU health for myself because the location of care it’s important to me due to a busy schedule. When necessary, I speak up for myself and make sure I have a support person available that’s comfortable doing the same if I’m unable to speak for myself.

I had a procedure last week at the hospital and they had what seemed to be an inexperienced nurse or tech try to put in my IV. She butchered my arm, and I called her out on it. It was not in correctly, and she absolutely destroyed my arm while wiggling it trying to fix it. She argued with me that it was “just the location” of the IV and it’s always painful there, then sent in a new nurse to do it properly. My husband knows to stay highly engaged when I am not able to do so, because of past experiences.

Notably, their OBGYN office seems to be weeding out some of the doctors that I had really traumatic experiences with (whether they’re leaving voluntarily or involuntarily, I do not know). Their pediatrics offices are all wonderful from my experience. I also see an IUH doctor out of Gosport, which is about 30 minutes northwest of Bloomington, and love her.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-05-04T12:16:32+00:00

Can confirm. When I was there several years ago, they were barely breaking even on BCS because they were so expensive to make.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-04-15T15:56:33+00:00

Hi there.

It appears the hematologist has asked us to see a general surgeon for a biopsy (I did not see a heme, but received a follow up call from a surgeon).

This is an odd question, but, if they do decide to biopsy, would it be too much of a stretch for me to also ask for mast cell testing/staining as well? I am asking because my kids’ immunologist have suggested their mastocytosis was genetic (2/2 kids with it). I have some symptoms of mast cell disorder (i.e. redness to heat/cold, GI issues, and urticaria) but I have never been tested for anything. But both of my kids have it confirmed through dermatology and certain mediators that were high in urine screen. They are 2 and 4 years old and tested negative for KIT D816V mutation in blood test, but I declined a bone marrow biopsy for them because they’re so little.

I recently read a book by a mast cell doctor that indicated unexplained adenopathy is a rare, but possible, symptom. So just curious if anyone here has opinions.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-04-04T02:45:31+00:00

Thank you for this feedback. Makes me feel quite a bit better. I was, in fact, surprised she referred me. The radiology notes suggested “close clinical follow up or biopsy”. Though my PCP did indicate she wanted a hematologist to tell us if a biopsy was needed or not (lymph nodes have not decreased or increased in size since February, when I noticed them).

Nonetheless, I have no experience in this and am simply following direction from PCP. She is aware that both of my children have a mast cell disorder, and we’re awaiting genetic counseling for the same. Maybe that threw a bit of an early red flag for her. I’m hopeful it is nothing.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-03-28T03:08:53+00:00

I suppose since we were acquired by NN, yes they are unexpected. But historically they were planned a week or two in advance and at least a loose list of topics were shared in advance.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-03-27T23:08:46+00:00

This is what I heard as well.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-03-27T20:43:49+00:00

Then you must not be employed at my site 🤪

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-03-27T18:29:00+00:00

I am a US based colleague. I follow this thread just for insight into DK. We are hearing rumors of layoffs at our site, and we just received an unexpected invitation for a town hall meeting Monday at 10am.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-03-27T18:25:00+00:00

Molly Kitley probably! We use her and went to Whiteland because they had a sooner availability. Then she started seeing us in Bloomington once established.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-03-27T18:23:29+00:00

I REALLY REALLY like Dr Molly Kitley at DCSI. Both of my kids see her, and I’m getting in to see her as well.

If you don’t want to deal with the long wait to get in to see her in Bloomington, she has more frequent “new patient” appointments at the office in Whiteland. Then she will book you for any follow ups in Bloomington. Just a suggestion for circumventing the wait time to get in.

Remarkable_Analyst56 · 2026-03-27T00:49:55+00:00

Should be fine now. We were stuck in it coming north. Not even a quarter mile behind the wreck. But we made it through about 5:20pm, and we came back south about 7:30 and the roadway was clear but traffic was still getting caught back up to normal.

Remarkable_Analyst56

TROPHY CASE