How often do you do the moisturizer/tretinoin sandwich?
Love me some Vance and Cornwell!
I know most of Star Trek's featured captains love to hate on being an admiral, but I like that Janeway fully embraced it. I'm sure one could be do-nothing behind a desk as a starfleet admiral, but obviously that's not all there is to the job. She manages huge projects and can spend as much time on a ship as she wants. Just cause Kirk didn't want to be an admiral doesn't mean Janeway's admiralcy is some kind of punishment.
All the unnecessary details about the earring when that doesn't have anything to do with why his wife was in the water but then glossing over exactly what he said to her when he was screaming is making me side eye this dude pretty hard.
Showering - do you tend to get dried in the shower cubicle? Is it big enough for a 3 year old to shower together? Would you go there in flip flops? What’s the best way to transport fresh clothes and shower stuff from the tent to the shower block? Plastic bag would do?
At most camp showers I have used (again, in the US) each shower has its own curtained vestibule area where you change clothes and dry off. There is usually at least one larger accessible stall that would be more convenient to use with a small child, but it's still doable in the smaller stalls. Yes to flip flops. The plastic bag is fine. There are usually hooks to hang things on, or you can drape them over the curtain rod.
I’ll have our car to lock valuables away - is that enough? Do you have to ‘lock’ your tent when you’re away?
You can get a small padlock to lock the zipper of the tent door if you want, but I don't think most people do (I never have, at least). The locked car is much more secure.
I plan to bring toys, battery twinkle lights, marshmallows etc to try to keep it fun. Torches and headlights etc. is there anything else non standard to consider bringing for a kid?
If they have a bicycle or a tricycle and it can fit in the car, it's a great thing to bring with you. Kids love tootling around a campground. A lot of campgrounds also have playgrounds.
Is there any pearls of advice you could tell a beginner that isn’t covered by manuals, but that you learned through practical experience?
Start small! Your first trip can be just one night. You may be able to rent or borrow a tent to get you started and help you get a feel for what you need when you are ready to make a purchase. You may be able to invite a more experienced camper to come with you, maybe a family with kids the same age as yours.
Is this a terrible idea to do on my own with a 3 year old as a complete novice? 😅
It's a great idea! I was a SAHP until my kids were older elementary, and it was so important to just not be home sometimes. Even if you end up doing exactly what you'd be doing at home, the novelty of doing it ANYWHERE else could be so refreshing.
Repost w/o Amazon links.
Sleeping - is it best to have separate sleeping bags and one double mat? Is that a thing? Or is it best to have two mats and two bags? Or should I go for 2 cots? I’m heavy (100kg) so I’d worry about it breaking.
As others have said, blankets from home are great, but the pads/mats/cots question is more complicated. I personally cannot sleep on the ground or on thin foam, so I suggest taking a nap on your living room floor and using that as a guide. If you have something like a yoga mat, you can test it out. I have a thicker yoga mat that is just barely enough to get some sleep on, but I prefer more.
I just got a thermarest self inflating pad for backpacking that is a major step up from my yoga pad (sorry about the prices, I got mine used for $15). For car camping, I haul out the bulkier (and cheaper) air mattresses.
I also love a camping cot. In fact, I have one instead of a bed. If you go for a cot, it should not be hard to find one rated for your size. I'm pretty sure mine is rated for 226kg.
Is it worth bringing a metal kettle/pot and oven gloves or something to heat water on a fire? Is a stove best to do this with rather than relying on a fire pit?
Depends on your menu. If you'd something like a hot cup of coffee in the morning, you could get a small, cheap backpacking stove like this one (the gas canister is sold separately, so watch out for that). But if all your food and drink is ready to go cold, it's not a necessity.
Do sites tend to have a place to wash up dishes etc?
I'm not sure about in the UK, but in the US in campsites with amenities, there is usually a place to dump grey water (such as water that has been used to wash dishes), but you are expected to bring your own wash tubs. One for soapy water and one for rinsing. They sell collapsible ones that don't take up much space when not in use, but if you have hard sided tubs lying around, those work just fine. You don't need a ton of soap, or hot water. You could also just use disposable dishes, and that's fine, too.
Showering - do you tend to get dried in the shower cubicle? Is it big enough for a 3 year old to shower together? Would you go there in flip flops? What’s the best way to transport fresh clothes and shower stuff from the tent to the shower block? Plastic bag would do?
At most camp showers I have used (again, in the US) each shower has its own curtained vestibule area where you change clothes and dry off. There is usually at least one larger accessible stall that would be more convenient to use with a small child, but it's still doable in the smaller stalls. Yes to flip flops. The plastic bag is fine. There are usually hooks to hang things on, or you can drape them over the curtain rod.
I’ll have our car to lock valuables away - is that enough? Do you have to ‘lock’ your tent when you’re away?
You can get a small padlock to lock the zipper of the tent door if you want, but I don't think most people do (I never have, at least). The locked car is much more secure.
I plan to bring toys, battery twinkle lights, marshmallows etc to try to keep it fun. Torches and headlights etc. is there anything else non standard to consider bringing for a kid?
If they have a bicycle or a tricycle and it can fit in the car, it's a great thing to bring with you. Kids love tootling around a campground. A lot of campgrounds also have playgrounds.
Is there any pearls of advice you could tell a beginner that isn’t covered by manuals, but that you learned through practical experience?
Start small! Your first trip can be just one night. You may be able to rent or borrow a tent to get you started and help you get a feel for what you need when you are ready to make a purchase. You may be able to invite a more experienced camper to come with you, maybe a family with kids the same age as yours.
Is this a terrible idea to do on my own with a 3 year old as a complete novice? 😅
It's a great idea! I was a SAHP until my kids were older elementary, and it was so important to just not be home sometimes. Even if you end up doing exactly what you'd be doing at home, the novelty of doing it ANYWHERE else could be so refreshing.
Sleeping - is it best to have separate sleeping bags and one double mat? Is that a thing? Or is it best to have two mats and two bags? Or should I go for 2 cots? I’m heavy (100kg) so I’d worry about it breaking.
As others have said, blankets from home are great, but the pads/mats/cots question is more complicated. I personally cannot sleep on the ground or on thin foam, so I suggest taking a nap on your living room floor and using that as a guide. If you have something like a yoga mat, you can test it out. I have a thicker yoga mat that is just barely enough to get some sleep on, but I prefer more.
I just got a thermarest self inflating pad for backpacking that is a major step up from my yoga pad (sorry about the prices, I got mine used for $15). For car camping, I haul out the bulkier (and cheaper) air mattresses.
I also love a camping cot. In fact, I have one instead of a bed. If you go for a cot, it should not be hard to find one rated for your size. I'm pretty sure mine is rated for 226kg.
Is it worth bringing a metal kettle/pot and oven gloves or something to heat water on a fire? Is a stove best to do this with rather than relying on a fire pit?
Depends on your menu. If you'd something like a hot cup of coffee in the morning, you could get a small, cheap backpacking stove like this one (the gas canister is sold separately, so watch out for that). But if all your food and drink is ready to go cold, it's not a necessity.
Do sites tend to have a place to wash up dishes etc?
I'm not sure about in the UK, but in the US in campsites with amenities, there is usually a place to dump grey water (such as water that has been used to wash dishes), but you are expected to bring your own wash tubs. One for soapy water and one for rinsing. They sell collapsible ones that don't take up much space when not in use, but if you have hard sided tubs lying around, those work just fine. You don't need a ton of soap, or hot water. You could also just use disposable dishes, and that's fine, too.
The first recipe I ever tried was the oatmeal buttermilk bread recipe out of the booklet that came with my Hamilton Beach. It's so good, I haven't felt the need to branch out. I did the math the convert the measurements to weights, but I don't have those notes with me right now.
https://hamiltonbeach.com/oatmeal-buttermilk-bread-for-2-lb-loaf-breadmaker
I could tell the birds were there all along cause I could see other people tracking them on ebird all along.
Wish someone would demoralize and degrade me by mandating a 6 hr work day. 🤣😭
I'd go with Disco S1. The spore drive, the space tardigrade, the Harry Mudd time loop, lots of cool sci-fi in that season.
S3 version of Data has no idea Soji exists, and NO ONE TELLS HIM. It was maddening.
I hope Broadway treats Isa Briones better than Trek did.
I've been experimenting with methods of preparing tofu that my daughter will like in dehydrated backpacking meals. Tofu has a spongy texture she doesn't care for, and tbh I sometimes like it and sometimes really don't.
This method is a hit so far! My daughter liked it, and I have been enjoying it all week.
This is an oven adaptation of a stovetop method I saw on Pinterest. Since it's best for dehydrated foods to be low in fat, I didn't want to fry the tofu in oil. I also replaced the liquid sauce with dry seasonings.
Method:
Freeze
Thaw
Squeeze or press (I just squeezed it with my hands cause I'm impatient)
Crumble
Mix in seasoning + corn starch
Bake at 400 until desired texture is achieved
I used two blocks of extra firm tofu, 1 Tblsp light soy sauce, 1Tblsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp chili powder, and 2 Tblsp corn starch.
The texture turned out chewy and slightly crispy, and the seasonings gave it a great savory flavor. I reserved one serving for dehydrating and the rest I used for my lunch prep this week. I used it in a udon noodle soup with bok choy, snow peas, and a miso and bouillon broth. The meal has approximately 20g protein.
Tofu tends to soak up liquid, so I was worried that it would return to a spongy state in the broth. It eventually did, but it stayed chewy for a lot longer than I thought it would. It helped that all the veggies held the crumbles out of the broth while it was heating up. I think they would work great as a taco filling since that doesn't involve any broth. For backpacking, I think what would work best would be to have the tofu crumbles separate from the rest of the ingredients so they can be added in last after everything else has rehydrated.
The miso, bouillon, and tofu together was quite salty, so in the future, I will try it with less soy sauce.
Drier climate + cooler night time temps. There aren't as many bugs and they are not very active at night.
Since she can handle 5 min, try scaling way back on the goal. Start by zipping the door halfway closed and immediately unzipping and rewarding. Do that maybe 3 times and then be done for the day, and repeat for a couple days. Then close the door all the way. Then leave it closed for 5 seconds. Take her cues on how quickly to progress.
I think at 14, it's super dependent on the individual kid and what they want to do, especially when they're there with their options limited because of a sibling's activity, and especially considering her physical disability. If it were my 14yo, I'd put everything on the table even if it wasn't a traditional camping activity, like binging a tv show, etc.
I'll definitely check this!
I did, yes. When the recommended band size turned out to be too small by a lot, I went and got every conceivable size off the rack and went with the upside down and backward test for the band size instead. Sorry for not going into all the details of my bra shopping excursion. It took hours and was incredibly boring, haha.
Ok, thanks for the feedback.
Mine stretch enough to stay put and feel a bit snug when upside down and backward. It's maybe in inch or an inch and a half from stretched.
I was really thrilled with it while it was airing, but it really fell apart for me at the end. The pivot from founders to borg was lazy and failed to 'yes, and' S2 Jurratiborg. Shelby's death was cheap and mean. Troi's characterization was horrific. Jack joining Starfleet in the end was boring and his nepo baby fast tracking was frustrating.
Unfortunately, when a show is heavily serialized show doesn't stick the landing, it can retroactively tarnish what came before. So, yes, there's a stark difference between how I felt in the beginning and how I feel now. I thought it was a stunning turn around from the weaknesses of S2, but now it might be my least favorite season of PIC.
Star Trek: Picard
startrek