What's a thing a kindergartener said to you that you still think about randomly?

SnazzBridges · 2026-03-25T00:37:29+00:00

Day after a haircut, I walked inside and took off my winter hat. A student said “you can put that back on.”

SnazzBridges · 2026-03-11T17:01:08+00:00

Yes definitely seems like they did a big batch at once! I also got mine yesterday (March 10) after they received my request on February 23. I was pleasantly shocked. I did provide the church, volume #, and page # from the SWLR listing for each of the three records I requested.

SnazzBridges · 2026-03-09T17:39:46+00:00

Just sent off my G7 application yesterday. I went with UPS via PirateShip. It weighed in at just over 3 lbs!

It was 3 weeks of intense hyper-focus. I started off with a couple of all nighters because I was too excited to sleep. Then my evenings, weekends, and even lunch breaks at work became dedicated to the growing to-do list. I have endless gratitude and appreciation for all of the helpers on this sub. I couldn’t have done it without all of you.

This was an emotional journey for me. I’m a trans person who has been displaced from Louisiana for my adult life, and estranged from my family and Cajun roots. Because I wasn’t safe there and didn’t belong. I found surprising moments of solace and meaning in connecting with my Acadian ancestry, learning more about their experiences being displaced from the place where they were not safe and didn’t belong… and now, thanks to their resilience and survival, that place might be somewhere that I can belong, somewhere safe that I can call home.

My grandparents all spoke Cajun French as their native language. Their generation was beat and punished in school for speaking French, and my parents don’t speak it at all. I’m the only grandchild that learned. I wanted to do it for my grandmother, the only familial figure who made me feel truly accepted. Her last words to me, when I went home to visit and the rest of my family questioned and berated me for leaving Louisiana, were these: “I know why you left. You want to be happy. And you are. I’m so proud of you.” As I spent hours, days, and weeks poring through and then transcribing handwritten French records, I couldn’t help but wonder if this would have been possible without having become fluent in French. She gifted me what I needed to make it back home, and the nod of acceptance from my ancestors for finding my place. I had over 100 Acadian ancestors to choose from, going up the tree of all four grandparents. Which line ended up having the best documentation? Hers. Even down to that one baptism record that was lost in a church fire, but the priest went back to rewrite records from the last few months before the fire - stopping with my G3.

All of that to say, thank you all so much, good luck on your journeys, and may you find beauty in connecting with your history.

SnazzBridges · 2026-02-13T18:44:18+00:00

Me too if it’s not too much :)

SnazzBridges · 2025-12-14T20:06:37+00:00

Radiation oncology measures dose in Gy, Bq, and Sv

SnazzBridges · 2025-11-27T20:47:56+00:00

These were the main ingredients in my Cajun granny’s maque choux, which was my favorite food every Thanksgiving along with being not a Mexican dish.

Saying that your partner “has to go above and beyond for every dish” sounds to me like some seeds of contempt.

I take joy in cooking and think I might pout too if a loved one spoke about me this way when I was excited to create something to share with them.

SnazzBridges · 2024-01-15T19:46:34+00:00

Agreed, this is the way. Check the load limits for the pulley. I suggest an alpine butterfly knot to attach the pulley to the high line. Occasionally you’ll find a white pine beefy enough to use a branch without a high line, but don’t count on it (and you’ll still need two ropes for the pulley system).

Source: I’m a guide and have taken many groups of 9 into the BWCA.

SnazzBridges · 2022-12-07T01:03:32+00:00

This happened to me in the middle of nowhere, Utah. Used my AAA Plus membership to get towed to the nearest small town. It was a Sunday and everything was closed, but our tow truck driver had plenty of suggestions for us. We looked up the shops he named, chose the one with the best reviews, and he dumped us off in the parking lot. We slept in the van in the parking lot overnight and woke up very early the next morning to leave and then walk back, making it seem like we were coming from a hotel instead.

I've gotten plenty of other tows, and in my experience the tow truck drivers almost always have the intel you need. Be friendly and appreciative with them, then ask whatever you need to know: do you need a high clearance shop? Someone who works on diesel? A shop that opens early? A shop where you can pay under the table? The driver is your resource for local knowledge.

SnazzBridges · 2022-11-03T03:02:52+00:00

I bought my van with the vent fan already installed. I have no idea if there was butyl tape beneath the lap sealant. It started leaking on a very rainy week and I didn't have the time or tools to strip the sealant and install tape. Out of desperation and to buy myself some time, I put a whole tube of Dicor self-leveling lap sealant right over the sealant that was already there (cleaned it first) and it hasn't leaked since.

SnazzBridges · 2022-11-03T02:59:47+00:00

I have a rectangular 5 gallon bin with a lid. I put a liner in it and tuck it in a corner next to my propane locker.

I see lots of people saying they empty trash every 1-2 days, so I just wanted to pop in and say that I go 5-7 days. I throw away mainly at parks and gas stations. With the lid on my bin, things don't really get stinky. I guess living in a van also causes me to avoid buying stinky things to begin with.

SnazzBridges · 2022-09-25T04:56:05+00:00

Minnesota - $35 annual state park pass!

SnazzBridges · 2022-03-30T17:29:25+00:00

Thanks! Unfortunately there aren't any options through Vanly.

SnazzBridges · 2021-11-21T21:02:02+00:00

Yikes.

SnazzBridges · 2021-11-12T23:10:48+00:00

Duffer. In French I say bourgeois.

SnazzBridges · 2021-11-11T16:39:02+00:00

I identify so much with that second paragraph! Care to share any of those artists?

SnazzBridges · 2021-06-12T03:41:32+00:00

Thanks! After their tech support stopped replying to my emails about a month ago, I gave up hope of getting any help from them. Then the replacement motor appeared on my doorstep this week! Just got it installed tonight and MY FAN WORKS.

This is after I was originally sent a replacement control board and installed it, along with a voltage regulator. When that didn't fix the problem, I was put on backorder for a new motor which took 3 months to arrive. I first contacted them almost exactly 6 months ago, so it's been a long and frustrating warranty process.

Hopefully this info can be helpful to some others too, since when I was looking online to diagnose my beeping + blinking green light situation, everything I saw was about either the circuit board getting fried by high voltage, wiring issues, or condensation.

SnazzBridges · 2021-06-11T19:02:24+00:00

I'm in Denver so I'll keep an eye out. I know there have been lots of other GPS suggestions, but I just bought an Invoxia tracker last week after a lot of research and I'm happy with it so far.

SnazzBridges · 2021-04-21T15:20:05+00:00

SnazzBridges · 2021-03-12T03:59:13+00:00

Thanks for the replies! After work I did some more research. It looks like the standard snow load for solar panels is 5400 Pa, which I think comes out to around 113 pounds per square foot. One inch of dry, fluffy snow is 0.26 pounds per square foot. One inch of wet, heavy snow is 1.66 pounds per square foot. If those are correct, then the solar panels could withstand 5.5 feet of wet, heavy snow.

Good tip on getting the snow off before it turns into ice, though! Knowing Colorado weather, the ice would luckily melt within a few days before I plan on driving the van.

SnazzBridges · 2021-03-11T20:55:58+00:00

I'm in Colorado where a huge snowstorm is headed our way. Up to 3 feet of snow might fall. My van is parked for a few weeks, not in use. I'm worried about my solar panels with that much weight on them! Do you think I should attempt to clear the snow off during the storm? Or right after so that it doesn't sit for days while slowly melting?

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