u/Helpmeflexibility

I am considering buying a new Bolt. I see GM is offering a 2.9% or .9% APR. Is this hard to get? I have good credit. I've never financed a car before. Can I get the approval before I go to the dealership because that would really change my strategy if I knew I had that rate going in.

We had a dead animal smell in one of the bedrooms. Called the pest control to take a look. He looked in the attic and said its probably a mouse dead in the wall and he saw mouse poop up there.

He says the best way to deal with mice is through exclusion. His company will seal up the perimeter around the foundation, all vents and wires, around the drywall etc. He will also install one way doors to let them out but not back in and then after a few weeks remove the doors and seal that up again.

There is a lifetime guarantee that also goes with the house so it could be a selling point.

The price is $5,000.

My wife really hates mice so we are considering it of course.

Is this a reasonable price for this type of work? The house is 4,000+ SqFt.

Should be picking it up Tuesday.

I want to keep this car for a while. My son is 8 so in 8 years I can hand it off.

Ive never done any maintenance before. Always left it to the shop. But with this Prius I want to be more hands on.

It has 102K miles on it. What should I do first when I get it? Or what should I leave for a qualified mechanjc?

I’m especially interested in things I should inspect, replace, or catch up on at 102K miles, as well as any Prius-specific maintenance I should know about.
Thanks

Looking to do our first cruise ever. For those of you who have done multiple ships and cruises how would you rank the Fantasy against other ships? Looking to sail out next August potentially

I am seeing Mini, Spark, Prius C, Golf, Accent, Elantra, Mazda3, scion IM, Fiat, Focus, Fit

Looking to get a commuter car. This will be the third one for our family after the Toyota Sienna and ID.4

Thanks!

Its listed at carmax for $15K 39000 milea. Looking for a third car, this will be my daily commute. The other is a toyota sienna minivan and a leased vw id4 for the other commute.

There are not many other used EVs out there under $15k. And carmax does have a return policy for 10 days.

My only concern is the lack of flexibility for longer drives. Though i suppose i can always switch off cars for that. But would the leaf still be better than say an old corolla in that case?

I have a $25 k budget and want to get a FSD Tesla. Is there anything I should look out for like getting specific year or feature?

My family 8,4,1 is thinking about cruising. For the first time. I have really no experience. But I do not like the idea of being stuck in crowds for days on end. Is it possible to avoid crowds? Or do the ships generally have the same capacity no matter what? Just getting started so thank you for the patience

Its been one year since my son has been in the program. He began when he was three. He developed food allergies as a baby. He had hives when eating eggs or milk. After seeing an allergist he was given an epipen. He was eventually diagnosed with food allergies for wheat, peanut, tree nuts, dairy, eggs, sesame, and shellfish. We tried OIT and food challenges. He reacted against baked in egg, and baked in milk, and failed the peanut challenge. When he was two we gave him the safe alternative for peanut butter, sunflower butter, and he reacted with anaphalaxis and we had to do the epipen and emergency room.

The lack of certainty around what to do to help him was very frustrating. There is no cure, just avoidance. The practicioners were not willing to do OIT for a patient with such high IGE levels and multiple allergies. He was also not eligible for Xolair due to high IGE.

When he was three he decided to check out the Food Allergy Institute - which was the only place I found advertising that they could effectively cure food allergies through their program. They're also the only ones that had testimonials on their website. What sealed the deal for us though was seeing by coincidence a friend of a friend's testimonial on their website. That showed us that they were not just making things up, but these were real people that were in our community.

I will provide some detail on how the program works then go into pros and cons of the program.

How it works The main idea of the tolerance induction program is to reduce the sensitivity of the allergens so that the body can handle the allergens in any quantity - which they call remission. This follows a food ladder approach similar to OIT, except they progress through multiple foods to train the body before moving onto allergens. Such as milk, working from camel milk, to mare milk, to donkey milk. The plan has two daily interventions organized around 10-12 week cycles 1. Treatment - where new proteins are introduced escalating quantities 2. Maintenance where foods from prior cycles are maintained in the diet. In our treatment we add three new foods at a time. Take the first food wait 15 minutes, then the next, wait 15 minutes and so on. No running or elevated heart rates allowed. Maintenance is done at least four hours before treatment. Each cycle ends in a visit to the clinic. The first day visit challenges the food by giving a larger quantity of that food followed by vigorous exercise. The second day of the visit introduces the new foods for the following cycle.

Pros and Cons Pros:

1. They are very transparent. The treatment costs are all posted online for everyone to see. They do web Q&As frequently. They actually called us and explained everything as we were signing up.
2. Very helpful. They answer their portal on TIP Connect all the time, such as when I asked if we should stop treatment because my brothers dog was coming over. They also organize facebook groups which patients can ask questions to the community, like recipe ideas to hide ingredients for example.
3. Very fast. When you go into the appointment, there is no waiting. They are really efficient and get you right into the appointment
4. Professional. Each visit we get an updated plan that shows where we are and the provider answers all of our questions even the silly ones with complete seriousness. The front staff checks you in right away. The rooms are clean and they even draw some nice signs for the kids on the examination tables

In all these - I contrast it against my experience with prior allergists and with health providers in general. They consistently outperform them by a large margin and should be a model of care to everyone.

Cons:

1. Travel. Right now they have three clinics in California, and one more opening in New Jersey. With appointments every 10-12 weeks - thats a lot of travelling
2. Price. Although the price is clearly posted on the website and we have never had hidden fees or charges. It is still a hefty amount per month to manage.
3. Preparation. This is the number one con. There is a lot of preparation required to do all the treatment and maintenance properly. They use real food. And often obscure food. I've ordered dehydrated camel milk, mare milk and donkey milk online and spent hours each month preparing and portioning it out. Then consider storing it and then giving it as treatment. Its a lot to take on and remember there's 3 foods in a treatment and more in maintenance. It adds up to a lot of prep time.
4. Length. Since my kiddo has multiple food allergies and a very high IGE we are expected to have a seven year treatment plan. We expect it will be worth it to not live with life threatening food allergies but its a long long time. What if I lose my job, or a parent needs extended care, or he just gets sick of taking the treatment and refuses to do it anymore. Or the clinic itself could be bought out or shut down by internal or external influences. What if in 4 years some pharma company develops a vaccine for food allergy that makes the whole program obsolete? With such a long time horizon I worry a lot.

Its only been one year, but I see us going through the appointments listed in the plan and checking off foods each time. It feels like progress and thats a good feeling. Let me know if you have any questions

I have been going to Catholic church with my family for a few years. Actually I quite like it. Unfortunately there is some messiness with the parish and we will not be going back. The other church nearby is a methodist church. It will be quite the change I think. More for the change in demographics and presence than anything else. The catholic church was young and diverse thanks to the local immigrant community and attached school. And there is so many good podcasts, books and videos by various catholic personalities. It all felt very worldwide and inclusive.
Now i havent been to the local methodist church yet but it is much smaller congregation. Also a lot whiter and older. And I am a little nervous about the change in practices too. There is a lot of differences as I am sure you are aware.

Has anyone ever started going to a methodist church recently and how did it go?

I just started zoloft and I saw my psychaitrist initially and for the one week follow up. I feel she is pushing for more appointments to bump up the dose. I am not interested in talk therapy and my copay is already really high for my budget. I dont want to be bamboozled. How often do you see a psychaitrist? Do you need to set up an appointment when ramping up dose?

I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on seeing movies as a family.

For example A-List near me gets four movies a week at $28 a month. So that would be $112 a month if I get one for each person.

A regular child ticket is $18 for a regular weekend show. And $21 for adults. So its about $78 + fees.

So to break even my wife and I would just need to see one more movie a month.

On the other hand I could get two A-lists for $56. Then buy the tickets for the kids at $36. Totaling $92. This might be better since there is rarely two good family movies out each month.

Anyone go see movies regularly with their kids these days? How are you saving money?

You get 4 movies a week. Conveniently i have 4 people in my family. Can i take us four to see Minions one time? Or does it not work that way?

I just bought a spearhead, never played a game. Am I expected to buy a gaming pack too like city of ash or fire and jade? Or are all the rules online? Or when I have my spearhead assembled should I ask others if they have the set?