<p>Even I who is fairly techno-phoebic have not had any issues using the GPS. It is totally self-contained & all you do is plug it into the car’s power outlet (cigarette outlets they used to be called). They really ARE pretty idiot-proof; even H&I use them.</p>
<p>One more thing I don’t compromise on is safety. Just cancelled one hotel room that I read bad things about its safety & replaced it with another that I have only read good reviews about. Don’t really want to deal with the possibliity of violence and bedbugs so would prefer to pay a few extra $$ for more peace of mind! The price is nearly double but it’s only one night and worthwhile to have a better night’s sleep!</p>
<p>I’m sure many of you college parents are experiencing this. Hotel rates on game days.</p>
<p>Last fall, we attended Parents weekend at our freshman’s college. As it is a BIG football school, hotel rates were triple, yes, triple, for the night on game weekend. We figured, he’s a freshman, we don’t want to miss a second of it and sit in traffic, and we paid for it. Our friends, who are always looking for the cheapest hotel room and bring bag lunches when they travel, stayed an hour away. Well, game day traffic made it more like four hours. Add to that, the game was at night, over around ten o’clock, a mile walk just to get to the bottom of the stadium, much less your car, and we were SO HAPPY we spent the extra money for a room in town. Would I do it again? You betcha! Hey, he’s only going to be in college four years. We hope!</p>
<p>LasMa,
We are VERY thankful for DH’s insurance. I have ongoing medical bills that run close to $80,000/yr. Regardless of the premiums, we’d have to have the coverage.</p>
<p>Montegut, Garmin GPS do not need any installation! It is a true plug and play device! You plug it into your power source (usually the cigarette lighter), enter the destination, and off you go! When you arrrive at the destination, you can hide the GPS in the glovebox to prevent thieves from breaking into your rental. I refuse to rent any car with a non-removable portable GPS that is bolted to the dashboard (Hertz has them), because it may attract attention of some folks with not so great intentions.</p>
<p>Mont, I’d definitely make the investment and buy your own gps. Much cheaper in the long run and the new ones are so small you can just put it in the glove box or put it in your purse and take it with you. Like they said, you can just charge it by plugging it in the cigarette lighter. I don’t use my gps very often but i know I can use it for several hours without having to re-charge its battery.</p>
<p>And with your own GPS, you can save your favorite destinations’ addresses in its memory so you will not have to retype them during your next visit to the same area (e.g., your son’s college town).</p>
<p>Location, location, location is the name of the game when you figure out your lodging. I do not enjoy driving far through heavy traffic to get where I want to be; much prefer to pay a bit more & be at the location I prefer and have a more relaxing trip. Who needs luxury & tons of amenities I don’t need? I need to be where my event/attraction is rather than by some random airport or wherever real estate values are lower.</p>
<p>Wow! I never realized how important a certain TP is to people. I have a hard time remembering which brand to buy, so I alternate between a few. What’s the consensus about the best brand?</p>
<p>Nice of you to put that list together, LasMa!</p>
<p>Where I worked 20 years ago we used to have a b!tch session w mgt every 2-3 months about anything - it was mostly about workload, however one of the most common complaints (from the guys) was the TP. Yes, you could almost read the ink from the old newspapers it was printed on, but I didn’t care. That was my first experience with hearing that TP was so important to some people. (I was so cheap in college, that I used to stalk the bathrooms for the nearly empty rolls the cleaning people used to leave on the counter!)</p>
<p>I don’t skimp on organic foods. I try to have as much organic and fresh food and produce as much as possible. I love my organic herbal coffee, Teecino. Cost as much as starbucks.
My almond milk, soy creamer and wen haircare products. I love my philosophy Pure grace fragrance, won’t skimp on that and I love adding to my bead collection, beads, silver and glass. Won’t survive without my costly designer bras, la Mystere.
Can’t do without Garmin.
Most importantly, my daughter. Will never skimp on her.</p>
<p>I do buy real maple syrup, but since I can’t eat wheat, D2 doesn’t like pancakes & my waffle iron died, I am going to have to do something else with the rest of the bottle.</p>
<p>Maybe if it snows ( or I go to mt Rainer- BTW did you see it yesterday? I could see it from * Marysville!) I can make candy * Little House in the Big Woods style.</p>
<p>I also am not the one who usually buys coffee- but if I do I look for shade grown- then organic/fair trade is usually a given.</p>
<p>I’m wondering if GPS would work better than Verizon navigator for me. I * always* get lost driving from our work site on Maury Island back to Vashon & Navigator doesn’t work. hate it even if I have a map I get lost- cause I will miss just one turn & can’t tell where I am- I really miss my van cause it not only had a moon roof, but it had an electronic compass/fuel calculator):(</p>
<p>I buy Marcal TP because it is made from recycled office paper. I get it when it is on sale. </p>
<p>I used to be getting the “nice” level store brand, then I found out it is made from the virgin boreal forests of Canada. Considering the use to which it is put, I will sacrifice a little softness, just a little, and get the recycled. </p>
<p>And, number one for me – real maple syrup from trees not corn syrup. Also, butter. </p>
<p>Emeraldkity – put that maple syrup on Johnnycakes made from cornmeal! And fried in --you guessed it–butter.</p>
<p>Kirkland (Costco) has some TP that works fine for us. We’ve tried many brands have have a preference for 2-ply with lots of sheets so I don’t have to replace the roll every time I turn around. The major drawback on Costco purchases is that you end up with SO much TP and have to store the stockpile. Their prices are pretty decent and they often carry Charmin and Northern at lower prices than other stores.</p>
<p>I won’t skimp on beer. It’s one of my few vices and today there are hundreds of excellent microbrews or imported beers to choose from. But some people can actually drink the $2.50 a six pack swill on sale at the stores. They taste to me like watered down toilet water.</p>
<p>@JRZMom - not sure where you heard that TP comes from Canada’s boreal forest, but most of the pulp used for TP in the US comes from Brazil. (even if the chips were from a boreal forest, they are a byproduct of lumber prodution). While it’s counter intuitive, hardwoods (eucalyptus) make softer toilet paper than softwood trees (pines, spruce, etc).</p>