u/WildAsparagus2897

Hello! We are planning to be in DC as a bit of a side quest on our next camping road trip. After researching the options, it would appear like the best way to get from our campsite in Prince William Forest Park down to the National Mall and Smithsonians would be to drive to and park at the Fraconia-Springfield station and then ride the blue line of the Metro.

Would that be a good plan? I checked the distances to the other stations that are further out and this one is the least miles. However, I would prefer the least scary busy drive to get to whatever station the experts recommend!

We plan to leave maybe around 7am, drive to the Metro station, then ride to wherever would be the closest station to the Jefferson Memorial, where I was planning to start the day. Then we'll do a few monuments for a couple hours, take a look around the Museum of American History for a couple hours, and the Air and Space Museum for maybe an hour or two. (Planning for Udvar-Hazy the next day, as well as the Air Force Museum in Dayton later in the trip, so this stop will just be to visit some planes we have not seen in other air museums, plus the Wrght Brothers gallery.) We will be there on a day when the Botanical Garden is open late with music, so that's how we were thinking of ending the first day. Then we will ride the Metro back to where we parked the car, and then back to our campground.

The next day, we want to visit the National Zoo and Udvar-Hazy…and if there is anything we didn't have time to do the day before, we will do that in between those two. What should my strategy be to get to the zoo? I had been thinking drive there and pay the $30 parking in advance, and then drive to Udvar-Hazy, which has another $15 parking. We will be headed to Catoctin Mountain to camp at Owens Creek Campground that night, so I think we probably want to drive to there…but do we want to drive to the zoo or ride the Metro from the Franconia-Springfield Station again?

Bottom line here would be driving routes with the least amount of crazy traffic. I've driven in Minneapolis, which is pretty easygoing city traffic, and I have driven through Denver in the midday, which is scary, but we lived to tell the tale. We also ended up in rush hour there one time and that was a mess that did not move. I avoid Denver as much as possible…but can't avoid DC if we actually want to visit! So anyway…not used to a lot of city driving, so any suggestions for routes to take and routes to avoid would be super helpful!

And one last question…what would be the best deal for the Metro? There are three of us and two of us have pretty old phones so I am not sure if we are able to do any apps. I saw that there are unlimited passes for one day that are $13.50 per person. For where we are going, would that be the best bang for our buck?

Thank you in advance for any assistance and words of wisdom you're able to provide!

In my profile on usajobs, I had the federal service question answered with “I have never been a federal civilian employee.” After becoming a seasonal employee last spring, I never thought to go back in and change that designation since it's in the profile, so I was deemed ineligible for all of the winter seasonal jobs I just applied for. Is there anything I can do to fix this? Or am I just out of luck for all of those winter seasonal jobs?

I finally found what I hope to be a good used iphone SE3 in Starlight and it will arrive on Friday! Now I need a case to put on it!

I have been using my OGSE naked for like the last year or so because my last Otterbox Symmetry finally gave up and I could not find a replacement for that one. I've always liked the Symmetry series, but their selection is kind of meh at this point. I don't want one with a painted design since the reviews sound like the designs rub off. I could go clear, but it sounds like those turn yellow, and the backs seem like they would get crazy scratched up.

My daughter is on her second Rhinoshield bumper on her SE3, but the only option left is black…which I guess would be ok if I find nothing else. I like the concept of that style of case, and it seems to hold up pretty well.

With those slightly rugged, but also slim style cases in mind, what else should I take a look at?

I have been using the OGSE since whenever it came out. I tried an iphone 12 mini in 2021 when they were first introduced, but I hated that the buttons on both sides constantly took screenshots every time I picked it up. I shipped it back for a refund, and replaced the battery in the OGSE.

That battery replacement lasted me five years, but now I am down to 74% battery and having issues typing and swiping to answer calls, so I am guessing the battery has puffed up and I need to do something soon.

I know a pretty cheap local guy who would probably do another battery swap for $50 but I am kind of leaning toward that not being worth it to keep this phone going as a phone. I do love this size, but occasionally, I need to use the internet while out and about, and pretty much no websites work on this phone anymore.

My daughter just upgraded her old SE2 to an SE3 so I test drove her SE2 for a week before selling it on FB, and I could probably get used to that size. I guess I am thinking along the lines of maybe I should grab an SE3 new in box before they no longer exist and I am stuck buying a giant phone, which I absolutely am not interested in. I've pretty much given up all hope that Apple will ever make a tiny, pocketable phone again.

So, my question is this…do I replace the battery for $50 and continue to use my tiny OGSE for another few years, or do I go ahead and upgrade to a new SE3?

If I should keep using the OGSE, is there anything I can do to get back some browser functionality? Everything else about it works for me. **Edit to add, in case anyone else has this issue, that I tried the DuckDuckGo browser app, and so far, it seems to function better than Safari. Have not used it much yet, but it produces search results quickly and websites seem to load faster.

If I should go with the SE3, has anyone successfully bought a new in box one off of ebay and which store did you use?

Would there be any reason to go with the SE2 over the SE3?

Edit to add…After reading comments and really thinking about my phone needs, I am leaning toward buying an SE3, and then just repurpose the OGSE as an ipod. I have been shopping around…has anyone used Back Market or Swappa to buy an iphone? Both seem to have some good deals, but not sure about how Swappa works exactly, and I don't really want to use Paypal to buy so that eliminates some of the options. Back Market looks pretty good for refurbished phones, and seems to get rave reviews.

We are interested in visiting Dollywood, so I have been reading posts for more info and just learned about the cinnamon bread, which sounds delightful! However, my daughter is “sensitive” to cinnamon, so besides just not eating it, she can get blisters on her skin if she touches something that it is on and then happens to touch her face afterward. She's ok just breathing it, at least as far as we know. She can even get away with accidentally eating a food where it is a hidden ingredient, but we avoid that as much as possible. It's only ever presented itself as a skin sensitivity.

I have a few questions! Are folks eating the cinnamon bread while they are there or just taking the box home with them? Is it sold all over the park or limited to certain areas that she could avoid? I'm trying to judge how likely it would be that she'd be touching surfaces covered in cinnamon from it being on sticky hands that maybe just got wiped with a napkin.

I know this is kind of a weird thing to even determine how much of a risk it might be, so if there's anyone who has been there with a cinnamon allergy or sensitivity, what was the experience?

Last month I bought an item off of Facebook and asked if it could be shipped and if I could use my paypal to pay them. They did not tell me that they did not have a paypal account, but they opened one and said that I could pay that way.

I sent them the payment via goods and services and since I ship things all the time, I created a shipping label for it that they could print out and drop off at UPS. They entered the tracking number on my order so Paypal would know it was shipped.

I received my item and was happy with it, but the seller was told their money was on hold 21 days. The 21 days are up several days ago and now they are telling me that their money is on hold for the six month hold. They keep asking if I am getting anything that says I will be refunded but this is paypal and that's not how it works. I've had my paypal for 20 years so I don't remember or know what happened at the beginning of it, but six months seems extreme to not get your money, especially for around $100.

I tried contacting Paypal to tell them that I received the item, was happy with it, and that I would not be filing any kind of claim against it. I asked if the transaction could be noted with that info on the seller's account and then the rep kind of got huffy and stated that they could not discuss another person's account with someone else. Obviously…but I was not asking to discuss their account. I just wanted the paypal rep to acknowledge that I received the item and am satisfied with it so the seller's money can be released to her.…and then she can quit pestering me about it. They said the seller needs to contact them...which she has numerous times.

I know that I can't really do anything about this, but I would like to help this person if I can since it was my idea to pay via paypal in the first place. Is there anything else either of us can do? It seems crazy to me that paypal can't release the money I sent if I say that I have the item and don't plan to dispute anything. The money was already in my paypal account, not a credit card or anything.

I am planning a road trip that includes Great Smoky Mountain NP, followed by the Blue Ridge Parkway, and then on into Virginia. However, in researching, I discovered that part of the BRP is still closed due to Hurricane Helene repairs. The NPS spells it out really well for just the BRP, but where else can I look to find out what else in the area has not been repaired?

The area I need information on is south of the Smokies, down to the very northwest part of South Carolina. Twenty years ago, we had left the Biltmore at the end of the day and then took a wrong turn to go back to Gatlinburg. Somehow, we ended up on the road that has Cashiers and Sylva. It was, of course, a dark and rainy night, and I remember creepy trees with vines hanging down…like it's burned into my memory. lol I have always wanted to go back to see what it looks like in the daylight.

Then while we are so close to South Carolina, I also want to drive there and just find something to do, like a trail to a waterfall or something to be able to say we visited South Carolina.

This nostalgia-seeking plan seemed fine until I found out there are still roads that are closed due to being washed out. We don't need to go there, so I would not want to get in the way, and have no desire to be a lookie-loo at any remaining devastation. If none of that area looks the same because a hurricane hit it, then I also don't need to see what it looks like now. I'm just not sure where to look for current information, since anything I search seems to be information from back when the hurricane happened. Can anyone here point me toward a resource where I can search for current info?