laughing kookaburras as background “monkey” sounds in the Amazon jungle also get me

using a red-tailed hawk call whenever a bald eagle is shown

also I like to try and figure out where they filmed based on the birds I hear in the background

If you’re going to be in national forest land, the Forest Service has maps you can use in Avenza Maps that are geotagged - probably the wrong term but they work in areas of the forest with no cell service and it still shows where we are and even when we’re moving.

Other federal agencies (BLM, FWS, etc) may have them too. You could even see if the area’s counties have some? I only have direct experience with USFS maps that do this but I doubt they’re the only ones.

Eta: After looking at some iGo screenshots, Avenza probably won’t be a good fit. It doesn’t offer turn by turn directions nor does it automatically center on you. If you drive out of frame you do have to manually move the map.

So true. There’s a post-it on my car key right now because I need to remember something in the fridge when I leave for work

regular but infrequent things like birthdays

And for friends’ kids’ birthdays I put the year they were born because I definitely won’t remember how old they are

I will set things I need to bring with me right in front of the door so I cannot leave without picking them up

Oof that second one hit too close to home

My brother’s cat just stands there and braces for the water spray, then goes right back to misbehaving

I didn’t notice the dog until I read your comment and went back to check. So thanks!

Yep. If I choose the noise I can block it out. But unsolicited noise somehow becomes all my brain can focus on.

Same as i_stole_ur_taco. The brand I buy is “20 Mule Team” and it’s advertised as a detergent booster. The only ingredient is sodium tetraborate.

We sprinkle a line of food-grade diatomaceous earth outside right next to each of our doors, so the outside ants would have to cross it to get inside.

We also got a plate that’s larger than our pet’s food bowl. We put diatomaceous earth on the plate and then put the pet bowl on top of that.

Finally we put out a borax-sugar solution. I drilled some ant-sized holes in the side of several plastic containers that have tight lids (we have an indoor bunny and I didn’t want her getting into the borax even though it shouldn’t be enough to affect her). I soak cotton balls in the borax solution, put them in the plastic containers, and place the containers along any ant trails I notice.

Borax solution: 1 cup warm water, 5 Tbsp + 1 tsp white/caster sugar, 1 Tbsp borax. Mix until dissolved.

Do you also get the loud, drawn out sigh if you take too long to properly arrange your arm? It’s like I can hear him thinking “took you long enough.”

I know how you feel. 20 years of what sounds like a great life for your cat, and you got to share it with her. So far the arm pillow is his only requirement. My cat has no problem waking me up when my arm pillow isn’t available. At this point making room for him and moving my arm to the proper spot is on autopilot and I’m able to quickly fall back to sleep once he settles in.

Nefurtiti?

Thank you for sharing, it made me smile. My senior citizen cat (he’ll be 18 in less than 2 months) also now wants my arm as his pillow and lets me know, loudly, if he’s ready but my arm isn’t in the right “spot” yet.

Sounds like a great start! If that’s a current photo, I’d recommend removing the flowers from your tomatoes if you haven’t yet. Once they start flowering they tend to stop growing because they switch gears to making fruit instead. I usually just use my fingers and pinch each flower cluster off where it attaches to the tomato stem.

haha true. I did wait to post this until I got back home, but I am guilty of trying to get a photo to send to her family to show how she’s doing instead of just petting her nonstop.

She approves of this

I’m sorry this happened. I know it feels really terrible right now, but I hope another great opportunity comes your way and that you feel prepared when it comes.