u/Fluffy-Match9676

We just had another Spartan Z person come by our house to not sell us solar by trying to sell us solar. We tried politely twice to tell him to leave and finally had to tell him to get off our property. Not to mention they skew facts trying to make it sound like they are a great bargain.

I am so tired of these companies coming by my house trying to schlep their wares. They use GIS to find out neighbors' names and lie that our neighbors are using their service.

I keep forgetting to ask if they have a permit and reporting them to the town.

And before you say not to answer the door, I was sitting on my front porch reading a book.

Has anyone had luck with a no soliciting sign or other means?

My insurance provider Anthem (I will name and shame) now requires a pre-authorization each time I need a refill of Zepbound. This started July 1.

I usually take my shot on Thursday and it's now Sunday with no refill.

If you have gone through this, what have you done to make the process smoother?

I usually go to Steppin' Out and walk around for an hour and go home. IDK what it was about this year, but I felt there were better vendors. I saw some of the same people, but a lot more cool things.

Also there weren't any political booths which was a relief.

Did you go and what did you think?

I want to print a 24"x36" poster. I was looking at Newman Library's printer but was wondering if anyone has printed a poster from a photo there, and if so, how was the quality?

Local places like CVS do the same, but IDK if Newman would have a higher quality output.

Kia ora!

Long story short, my daughter is at the University of Waikato. I moved her in after a 10-day trip mostly on the South Island in June/July. Her dad is coming to move her out early November and then they will also do a 10-day trip, so they want to do different things (or similar things at different locations).

For my trip we went to:

• Lady Knox Geyser, Pōhutu Geyser walk, Rotorua Wai-O-Tapu & Te Puia with Haka Guided Tour
• Arthur's Pass + TranzAlpine Scenic Train Tour, Devils Punchbowl Track
• Lake Tekapo
• Alpine Stargazing
• Milford Sound
• Mt. Cook
• TSS Earnslaw Cruise of Lake Whakatipu
• Hamilton Gardens (not great in Winter)
• The Riff Raff statue :)

For them, they would be interested in:

• Another day cruise on a river/sound (I think there's one on the east coast, but do they do tours)
• Lord of the Rings stuff in Wellington & Hobbiton
• 3-4 hour hike
• Thunderboat (we did that and loved it and know my husband would too)
• Historical museums or tours
• He's a volunteer firefighter so if there any cool firefighting museums or the like that would be cool.
• Helicopter tour to a glacier (if we can convince my daughter to go)

He will drive as needed, but would rather use bus or train when it is available - especially for long drives. I know that is a lot for 10 days so we will pick and choose or merge some activities together.

Any help would be appreciated.

TIA!

I am an American and visited New Zealand a couple of weeks ago. Your bread is amazing!

That is all.

I was rather disappointed that there wasn't a presidential search listening session for townies. I attended the alumni one and brought up the town/gown relationship as a priority.

However, you can take the presidential search survey and if you are not affiliated with VT, choose "Community Member."

https://virginiatech.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bKOGdwmIEDCangW

I feel like the bags under my eyes are getting to the point where I look like a basset hound. I don't wear makeup and don't really focus on physical appearance, but these are really bugging me.

Yes, I know sleep is one of the solutions, and I am working on that.

What do you all do to reduce baggage?

Someone posted about having to get their mammogram and it made me think of my past two TOTALLY different experiences with health checkups.

Mammogram

I had a technician who was kind and gentle. She talked about new screening equipment that was coming to our area soon that would make the exam less painful. However, they way she did the exam, it wasn't painful at all.

Here's the kicker. She was the FIRST technician to tell me what the machine was doing, why they needed to have an image at that angle, and what they are looking for. I was flabbergasted and pleasantly surprised.

Annual exam

I have been going to this gyn for years. I used to like her bluntness and she explains things as well. However the past two exams have been super painful. A year ago she said to me "I want you to lose 70 pounds by the next visit" so that my exam wouldn't be so painful. WTF? She explained how it affected how she could get to my cervix. The way she explains things were more focused on how the way my body was (tiled uterus, etc.) made things hard. She said it in a tone that blamed my body for making her job difficult.

This year I had lost weight (not near 70 pounds and I did it for movement reasons, not because of her). Because of the weight loss, she wanted to remove my IUD since I was in menopause and had no use for it. That was the most pain I felt in my life. No pain relief given. No warning of the pain. She said "I was on my knees getting that out." WTF? No, hey, I am sorry it is so painful, here are some pain meds. Just "wear a pad because you may bleed a couple of days and no sex for two weeks to allow healing from the irritation."

Basically two very different experiences with women practitioners. Yeah, I am changing gynos after this because these past two experiences were horrible.

I have seen several posts from people who no longer have sleep apnea after being on Zepbound.

Did you do another sleep study to determine this? If so, what prompted you to do this? Did you have a partner pay attention to your sleep?

Edited to add - I checked my CPAP app and over the past month have had 0.2 - 0.3 events with the CPAP.

Under our new health coverage starting July 1, there is a minimum BMI requirement to get GLP-1 medication (Zepbound for me). Right now I am OK because I have preauthorization for the next few months and am not at the specified number yet.

The infuriating thing is, that when I reach their magical number, I will still be considered "obese" by BMI standards (which doesn't bother me, but insurance companies hate it). Although I am not focused on a number per se, I do know I want it to be reasonably lower than what will be covered.

I haven't talked to my doctor yet about this, so maybe there is a workaround I don't know about. I know I can file a grievance with the insurance company, but will it work? IDK.

Have any of you dealt with this? How did it work out?

If you pay out of pocket, does your FSA pay for it?

TIA!

I've been on Zepbound for about a year and recently my body started popping. Like I walk and pop. Pour milk on me and I could be Rice Crispies. It's mostly not painful just noticable. My left upper thigh sometimes hurts and causes me to limp.

The last time I had significant WL I had to go to physical therapy for my hips to strengthen them.

What exercises have you found to help with popping? I am finishing up physical therapy for another reason and do gentle weight lifting (2-4 lb weights).