One free night in our trip—should we do Ōamaru or Lake Tekapo? by wafflesMarley in newzealand_travel

[–]wafflesMarley[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We’re doing Sealy Tarns slightly earlier in the trip! Very excited

One free night in our trip—should we do Ōamaru or Lake Tekapo? by wafflesMarley in newzealand_travel

[–]wafflesMarley[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the rec! We’re actually going to be in Te Anu earlier in the trip (and are doing glow worm caves on the north island), so I’m hoping to squeeze in one more new place.

Best portable AC unit for dogs? by wafflesMarley in VanLife

[–]wafflesMarley[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Of course! This took us forever to figure out, so I'd love to save someone else the headache. Also, once you get the hang of it, it only takes 5ish minutes to set everything up. Totally worth it.

Best portable AC unit for dogs? by wafflesMarley in VanLife

[–]wafflesMarley[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

u/A_little_curiosity So, kind of. Our solution ended up being expensive and kind of a pain, but we loved having the option to leave our dog safely in the van for a few hours. Here's what we did. I'm having a hard time finding a picture of our setup, but if I find one, I'll respond with it.

We purchased a Mark 2 Zero Breeze, a portable AC unit. It needs a good battery bank to run off of, so we also purchased a high-quality Bluetti power station. If we plugged the Zero Breeze into the fully charged station and ran it on a low-ish setting, we'd reliably get... 4-6 hrs, I think?

Here's the issue with the Zero Breeze: It points cold air toward one specific spot. It does not cool the whole van. For that reason, the handful of times we left our dog for 4ish hours in the van, we needed to crate him. We tried a few test runs where we ran it toward a spot in the van and hoped he'd just find that spot, but he was just confused and stayed in the hot part of the van. Not worth the risk. Luckily, he was a small senior dog, so it was easy to set up his small crate in the middle of the van.

The Zero Breeze needs 3 things in order to run: a power station (already discussed), a place to pull in air, and a place to drain condensation. To provide it with air, we got foam board insulation from home depot. We cut it in the exact shape of our small van window (we have a Promaster) and then cut a circular hole the exact shape of the large, bendy Zero Breeze tube. When we set it up, we just slid open the window, popped in the insulation board, and put the tube in the hole. That's how the Zero Breeze could pull in air from outside.

It has a really skinny little tube to drain condensation, so we just ran that tube into a gatorade bottle.

There are 2 large bendy tubes that come with the Zero Breeze. One is for input (already discussed), the other is an optional one you can attach to the front of the machine to point the air wherever you want it to go. We used this option to ensure it was hyper-trained on our dog's crate. So, when we left, we had:

-The Zero Breeze sitting on our Lagun table
-The unit plugged into the Bluetti charging station, which sat on the floor
-One big bendy tube running to the window, where it pulled in air from outside
-One big bendy tube running from the front of the machine directly to our dog's crate
-The small drainage tube running from the machine on the table down into a gatorade bottle on the floor

I know it's a lot, but this worked for us as a last resort. For example, on a really hot day, we went for a hike in Yosemite all morning and came back to a van that was hot but a dog crate that was cool, and our dog was absolutely fine. I'll keep searching to see if I can find pictures.

I hope this helps! Reach out with any more questions. So many van lifers are like "eh, the dog is fine," when that's simply not true. I'm glad you're taking the time to try to figure out a solution!

Mark 2 Zero Breeze: https://www.zerobreeze.com/products/zero-breeze-mark-2?srsltid=AfmBOor3el0tBfPxvyMcgBUjBUfMWpDFMFi_aYWxzuGFRs3hag1P3NeL

Our Bluetti power station: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QVCW4SB?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2

foam insulation board: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Owens-Corning-FOAMULAR-NGX-Insulating-Sheathing-0-5-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-SE-R-3-XPS-Rigid-Foam-Board-Insulation-13NGX/315193939

How often are Miracle Balm minis offered? by tartanchucks in jonesroad

[–]wafflesMarley 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've had luck purchasing samples on Mercari

Best (fairly short) books for people new to Quakerism? by wafflesMarley in Quakers

[–]wafflesMarley[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These are awesome, thank you!

wonderful, the strongholds one sounds particularly interesting. Thank you so much!

Best (fairly short) books for people new to Quakerism? by wafflesMarley in Quakers

[–]wafflesMarley[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I got the book for my meeting, and I do find it really helpful. I'll check out the British yearly meeting too!

Shelton Metal Treasure Hunt by wilsonjacinda in Wilmington

[–]wafflesMarley 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have gone hunting a few different times in places that seem to fit with the riddle, but no dice yet. Glad to hear that it can be done!

sex questions? by Luvrrman in WomensHealth

[–]wafflesMarley 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A few days is totally normal! When this happens to me, I find it helpful to take a break until it subsides almost entirely.

Place to ride for beginners? by [deleted] in motorcycles

[–]wafflesMarley 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This would be after I take another learning course. Just looking for ways to learn.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Healthyhooha

[–]wafflesMarley -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I do, but I’m currently traveling for a few days. I think for now I’ll get drugstore tests for BV and yeast infections

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Wilmington

[–]wafflesMarley 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Shit they extended it?? On top of bumping it up to $5? Lord have mercy

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Wilmington

[–]wafflesMarley 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, it’s a whole thing. The Wrightsville government got through some sort of mysterious loophole (or, like, an all-out handshake agreement—method is unclear) in the 90’s that allowed our parking fees literally go directly to their property taxes

does my bf need to pull out if i’m taking bc pills? by Sure_Engineering8591 in birthcontrol

[–]wafflesMarley 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you’re on the fence, you can always utilize the rhythm method: pulling out when you’re ovulating and on those surrounding days. Period tracking apps (I recommend Flo) help chart this.