What if hot tub freezes

 We live in the country and have a flea issue due to feral cats at our ranch. We have three dogs (two of which are frogs). I mowed the back today and the dogs went out to play. When they came back in, my white frenchie was literally crawling with fleas, I’d say at least a hundred. I was so bad I thought she rolled in the dirt but it was fleas. We threw her immediately in the tub and gave her two flea baths and got most but not all off of her. She is on flea meds and is also allergic to fleas. The other two hardly had any fleas at all when I bathed them. Why would she be so covered? I have never seen so many fleas on an animal in all my life. She always seems to get more on her than the other dogs. We spray, vacuum, bomb and cannot stay on top of it in the hot months. Just wondering if her color may attract fleas? What can I do that I am not doing? 

I have a freshwater pond in the backyard, and in the summer the temperatures here regularly can reach about 105f or so on very hot days but also goes below freezing at times over winter, although never below 5 fahrenheit or so and certainly never below 0. It's a large backyard pond, over 500 gallons. Depth ranges from shoreline slope to 3ft deep Want to get a tiny minnow type of fish that can live in a smaller body of water, and eat excess pests and algae.
Would Mosquitofish be good? Or Medaka rice fish? Or maybe something else? What's the best type of fish that can survive in my environment? I'm willing to purchase a few things to improve the situation for them if needed.

I'm 35/m. A list of things I experienced here:
1) Came to work one day and 17 year old bus boy is trauma dumping about his sister's abusive boyfriend. His sister also works at the restaurant as a waitress.
2) I talk to boss the next day, saying perhaps this isn't the place for him to do this, and I hope he is finding support. I also suggest that trash-talking the waitresses boyfriend only feeds drama, and doesn't help her get out. Boss starts screaming at me telling me I'm being judgmental. I have to talk her down.
3) After talking her down, I offhandendly remark that the waitress is a "caring person". She starts screaming at me again, saying it makes her "EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE" that I would say waitress is a caring person. This confuses me completely and makes me feel sick, like I've sexualized this waitress or something by saying she is caring??
3.5-- Oh, boss also says she is aware of all the racist, homophobic shit type of discussions going on in the background, but says it's judgmental to do anything about it, because these people are "uneducated."
4) Boss fawns all over me the rest of the day, which makes me feel sick but also kind of sad for her. I pity her when really I should have just been running away.
5) I witness hotel admin person tell 18 year old waitress she has "DSLs" -- dick sucking lips.
6) Said 18 year old waitress talks openly about how her boyfriend isn't fucking her, and that "she's the hot one". She's talking about this with older staff-- all in their thirties.
7) Trumpy/conspiracy theory kitchen staff start speculating about my sexuality, because I'm not acting like one of the bros.
8) 17 year old kid now thinks I'm hitting on him (even though I'm straight), raises concerns with boss. Boss addresses entire waitstaff, never talks to me directly, leaves everyone guessing who raised the issue.
9) 24 year old waitress waitress breaks up with abusive boyfriend, then says with me to me in flirtatious tone, "Hey... I'm single for the first time in four years." I ask her if she's gone hog wild the last few days. I'm not interested.
10) Boss asks me what kind of music I like. Our gay bartender stares at me intently from across the room. Boss is like "Bartender REALLY wants to know."
11) One day. 18 year old waitress is talking to 35 y/o kitchen guy. He says he has a hot friend. She asks if he is single, and gay. Then she stares at me. I balk and laugh in her face.
12) 18 year old waitress is freezing me out, now. Other teenagers are complaining about the work. I make good tips, no customers ever complain, I bus other peoples tables.
13) 24 year old waitress starts harassing me one night because I haven't cleaned up something as I go along. I have ice-cream melting and am going through various drawers because all of our stocked sugar is stale and I'm . It takes 5 seconds to clean up. I tell her in the middle of this basically to fuck off.
14) One night my boss can't find her phone, turns out I accidentally covered it with my apron on the counter. I play-act embarrassed, and my boss makes a sexual joke about our phones being in bed with each other.
15) When bosses husband isn't around, she constantly talks about sexual topics with gay bartender and 18 year old girl. They talk about Bridgerton and make remarks about a character's perfect tits. Boss tells me I should watch it.
16) Did I mention my bosses husband also works there? I feel uncomfortable a number of times, because I feel like my boss is VERY interested in me/asking me personal questions, sometimes in front of her husband. I try to deflect.
17) Oh, boss mentions that "All men are the problem" in a joking-but-not-joking way one day. I tell her that men can be hurt too, which seems to take her by surprise?
Next day I come to work. My boss screams at me saying I'm late (it's like, 3:10? She's never had an issue before. She says "I'm SO STRESSED TO TALK TO YOU and you MADE ME WAIT"... she brings me upstairs where racist/homophobic cook is and her husband ( who also works there) have prepared a list of "infractions" of mine. One of them is talking to a table for too long (I was done with all of my tables that night, and had bussed other peoples tables. There were other tables still being served for anther 30 minutes or so). I think husband is jealous of me and wants to report this to get rid of me. Boss does an about-face and starts yelling at me. I quit on the spot.
I think I stepped into a totally dysfunctional environment, with all this co-dependent shit happening. Protecting 24 year old waitress at all costs, even though I'm being sexually harassed, by what feels like... everyone? Am I being sexually harassed? It sure as fucking shit feels like it.
I did my job. I never gossiped. Never made innuendos at work. Never hit on anyone. Made a couple of mistakes here and there (doesn't everyone), but nothing that warranted such a hostile escalation.
Feel like I got scapegoated entirely, in part because I wasn't playing the game. And it seems like everyone wanted to fuck me. I'm not used to that. I guess I'm pretty physically attractive , but I've also done a lot of healing recently and I don't make self-deprecating jokes about myself, which I think used to turn people off. I'm not used to that, honestly. Is this where "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?" comes from?
I'm also a trauma survivor, which makes seeing this shit as it's happening and understanding what was going on extra fucked up.
I feel like my boundaries were being violated all the time, and yet somehow I was being identified as the problem?
After I quit I sent my boss a message telling me that what she did was disgusting, and that I would never talk to her again, unless she wanted to apologize (yes, delusional, I know). I told her that if she ever saw me in town that I would ignore her completely, and that although I'm furious, she had nothing to fear from me and i'm going to put it behind me.
Three days later I get an email from a lawyer (her dad is a multi-millionaire, possibly billionaire, who owns the restaurant) telling me to cease and desist contact, saying I am "stalking" her. STALKING HER, after I said I'm NEVER going to speak to you again and that I am going to ignore YOU COMPLETELY if I ever see you in town (it's a small, rural area where I live-- unfortunately it's likely I will). It also tells me I cannot contact any of the employees at the restaurant ever again. Not that I want to.
I broke down today. I feel terrible, and creepy, even though I think it was my boundaries being violated the whole time. Intellectually, I understand this is a trauma response, and I'm already working through it, though I don't have much support at the moment. Fuck.
Could use some support. This shit is fucked up, right? Totally inappropriate?

I’m 27F and she’s 29F, I matched with this girl on bumble who is married but wants to have fun with other women. We’ve hung out a good couple of times and done things like hot tub nights making out and movie cuddle nights but I’ve never hooked up with a girl and idk how far she’s trying to go, I know most people would say just talk to her about it but idk how to bring it up or what to say or if I should just make a move or how to make a move LOL I’m super nervous but I do want to go further with her

I'm 31 years old, live in NJ. 5'9", 165 lbs (fit/athletic build) 3rd generation Chinese American (my family immigrated here in the 1900s). My family identifies as American as we tend to eat more pasta than rice and my generation has not learned the language. College educated with a Bachelor's in Biomedical Science (switched from an Engineering major...turns out I don't like theoretical math); currently working in the pharmaceutical industry and pretty much love the industry as there isn't any work drama and it's relatively straightforward yet challenging.
I've tried a few long distance relationships and they're quite difficult to manage...they were great when we able to meet in person and I didn't mind putting in the extra work. I'd be willing to try one if the distance is reasonable and the there is a definite spark between us. I am pretty sure I fit the definition of a demisexual, so I'll be strictly trying to form a connection first. I REALLY need the emotional connection before there is a sexual attraction, mentally I can't do hook ups (they're just really hard for me to handle and I have turned people down).
Personality wise I've been told that I tend to bring people together and keep things fun. I have a few different groups of friends and communities I am often with...and they can vary from the youngsters (21 to 30) to the old guys (60+) to the group that's around my age. I would say I'm pretty good at conversing and I try to stay on top of most current events. Mentally I'm an old man and feel more comfortable in that setting, so much that I literally hang out with 60+ years olds at the gym after a workout in the hot tub. I call them the hot tub gang and it's always a set of regulars where we might talk about the same thing every single day until someone newer to the group says that we talked about it yesterday.
I would say fitness is a major player in my life. I started out hating swimming as a kid, but here I am almost 27 years later...I made it through the lessons at the YMCA, joined a club team, swam in high school, swam in college and now I'm a swim coach and instructor as a hobby/side job in my free time. There's something about being a part of coaching people and watching them grow up and succeed that makes me smile.
My free time in the cold months usually consists of planning DIY projects or working on them. I tend to work on all the cars in the family and am the one that fixes them up or finds replacements for them. Or planning my next road trip to somewhere nicer. Whereas in the warm months I love going down to the beach to go for a swim and have a nice relaxing breakfast outdoors. I do have a few kayaks that I'll bring out to go with friends or if I feel it's safe a nice solo paddle to clear my mind. When I think about it, too many of my hobbies involve water. But I do enjoy things on dry land I promise!
I'm really looking for someone I can grow together with, a long term or forever relationship. I want a relationship where both of us put 100% in all the time and if we don't, we can talk to each other about our concerns and work it out. Honestly what I've realized is that maybe I am altruistic...I miss making someone feel happy and loved, miss the good morning texts, the waiting around all day just to see their texts, I miss spoiling someone and the feeling of that feeling of seeing that look that you get when someone truly loves you. I would love to slowly get to know you by having some conversations where the time just flies, then to a point where we talk nonstop, maybe some in person dates and then maybe eventually settle down together and enjoy life together.
Important stuff: Although I enjoy interacting with kids and it's a major part of my life...I don't want any of my own so...sorry if this is a dealbreaker for anyone. I don't drink (except for maybe wine at special occasions....I get really bad Asian Flush so I'll turn bright red if I smell alcohol essentially lol), not into smoking/drugs (Bad asthma and I'm just not into any of that stuff). I don't judge anyone that's into drinking or recreational drugs, it's just not for me personally. Religion wise, I'm Agnostic. Politically I lean relatively to the left.
I'm really searching for that genuine connection; voice calls are definitely a plus and would love to get to know you. It's alright if we end up just as friends that talk here and there.
If it sounds like you could be the one send me a chat or DM and tell me a bit about yourself. My name is Kevin and I'd love to know about you.

I'm 31 years old, live in NJ. 5'9", 165 lbs (fit/athletic build) 3rd generation Chinese American (my family immigrated here in the 1900s). My family identifies as American as we tend to eat more pasta than rice and my generation has not learned the language. College educated with a Bachelor's in Biomedical Science (switched from an Engineering major...turns out I don't like theoretical math); currently working in the pharmaceutical industry and pretty much love the industry as there isn't any work drama and it's relatively straightforward yet challenging.
I've tried a few long distance relationships and they're quite difficult to manage...they were great when we able to meet in person and I didn't mind putting in the extra work. I'd be willing to try one if the distance is reasonable and the there is a definite spark between us. I am pretty sure I fit the definition of a demisexual, so I'll be strictly trying to form a connection first. I REALLY need the emotional connection before there is a sexual attraction, mentally I can't do hook ups (they're just really hard for me to handle and I have turned people down).
Personality wise I've been told that I tend to bring people together and keep things fun. I have a few different groups of friends and communities I am often with...and they can vary from the youngsters (21 to 30) to the old guys (60+) to the group that's around my age. I would say I'm pretty good at conversing and I try to stay on top of most current events. Mentally I'm an old man and feel more comfortable in that setting, so much that I literally hang out with 60+ years olds at the gym after a workout in the hot tub. I call them the hot tub gang and it's always a set of regulars where we might talk about the same thing every single day until someone newer to the group says that we talked about it yesterday.
I would say fitness is a major player in my life. I started out hating swimming as a kid, but here I am almost 27 years later...I made it through the lessons at the YMCA, joined a club team, swam in high school, swam in college and now I'm a swim coach and instructor as a hobby/side job in my free time. There's something about being a part of coaching people and watching them grow up and succeed that makes me smile.
My free time in the cold months usually consists of planning DIY projects or working on them. I tend to work on all the cars in the family and am the one that fixes them up or finds replacements for them. Or planning my next road trip to somewhere nicer. Whereas in the warm months I love going down to the beach to go for a swim and have a nice relaxing breakfast outdoors. I do have a few kayaks that I'll bring out to go with friends or if I feel it's safe a nice solo paddle to clear my mind. When I think about it, too many of my hobbies involve water. But I do enjoy things on dry land I promise!
I'm really looking for someone I can grow together with, a long term or forever relationship. I want a relationship where both of us put 100% in all the time and if we don't, we can talk to each other about our concerns and work it out. Honestly what I've realized is that maybe I am altruistic...I miss making someone feel happy and loved, miss the good morning texts, the waiting around all day just to see their texts, I miss spoiling someone and the feeling of that feeling of seeing that look that you get when someone truly loves you. I would love to slowly get to know you by having some conversations where the time just flies, then to a point where we talk nonstop, maybe some in person dates and then maybe eventually settle down together and enjoy life together.
Important stuff: Although I enjoy interacting with kids and it's a major part of my life...I don't want any of my own so...sorry if this is a dealbreaker for anyone. I don't drink (except for maybe wine at special occasions....I get really bad Asian Flush so I'll turn bright red if I smell alcohol essentially lol), not into smoking/drugs (Bad asthma and I'm just not into any of that stuff). I don't judge anyone that's into drinking or recreational drugs, it's just not for me personally. Religion wise, I'm Agnostic. Politically I lean relatively to the left.
I'm really searching for that genuine connection; voice calls are definitely a plus and would love to get to know you. It's alright if we end up just as friends that talk here and there.
If it sounds like you could be the one send me a chat or DM and tell me a bit about yourself. My name is Kevin and I'd love to know about you.

I'm 31 years old, live in NJ. 5'9", 165 lbs (fit/athletic build) 3rd generation Chinese American (my family immigrated here in the 1900s). My family identifies as American as we tend to eat more pasta than rice and my generation has not learned the language. College educated with a Bachelor's in Biomedical Science (switched from an Engineering major...turns out I don't like theoretical math); currently working in the pharmaceutical industry and pretty much love the industry as there isn't any work drama and it's relatively straightforward yet challenging.
I've tried a few long distance relationships and they're quite difficult to manage...they were great when we able to meet in person and I didn't mind putting in the extra work. I'd be willing to try one if the distance is reasonable and the there is a definite spark between us. I am pretty sure I fit the definition of a demisexual, so I'll be strictly trying to form a connection first. I REALLY need the emotional connection before there is a sexual attraction, mentally I can't do hook ups (they're just really hard for me to handle and I have turned people down).
Personality wise I've been told that I tend to bring people together and keep things fun. I have a few different groups of friends and communities I am often with...and they can vary from the youngsters (21 to 30) to the old guys (60+) to the group that's around my age. I would say I'm pretty good at conversing and I try to stay on top of most current events. Mentally I'm an old man and feel more comfortable in that setting, so much that I literally hang out with 60+ years olds at the gym after a workout in the hot tub. I call them the hot tub gang and it's always a set of regulars where we might talk about the same thing every single day until someone newer to the group says that we talked about it yesterday.
I would say fitness is a major player in my life. I started out hating swimming as a kid, but here I am almost 27 years later...I made it through the lessons at the YMCA, joined a club team, swam in high school, swam in college and now I'm a swim coach and instructor as a hobby/side job in my free time. There's something about being a part of coaching people and watching them grow up and succeed that makes me smile.
My free time in the cold months usually consists of planning DIY projects or working on them. I tend to work on all the cars in the family and am the one that fixes them up or finds replacements for them. Or planning my next road trip to somewhere nicer. Whereas in the warm months I love going down to the beach to go for a swim and have a nice relaxing breakfast outdoors. I do have a few kayaks that I'll bring out to go with friends or if I feel it's safe a nice solo paddle to clear my mind. When I think about it, too many of my hobbies involve water. But I do enjoy things on dry land I promise!
I'm really looking for someone I can grow together with, a long term or forever relationship. I want a relationship where both of us put 100% in all the time and if we don't, we can talk to each other about our concerns and work it out. Honestly what I've realized is that maybe I am altruistic...I miss making someone feel happy and loved, miss the good morning texts, the waiting around all day just to see their texts, I miss spoiling someone and the feeling of that feeling of seeing that look that you get when someone truly loves you. I would love to slowly get to know you by having some conversations where the time just flies, then to a point where we talk nonstop, maybe some in person dates and then maybe eventually settle down together and enjoy life together.
Important stuff: Although I enjoy interacting with kids and it's a major part of my life...I don't want any of my own so...sorry if this is a dealbreaker for anyone. I don't drink (except for maybe wine at special occasions....I get really bad Asian Flush so I'll turn bright red if I smell alcohol essentially lol), not into smoking/drugs (Bad asthma and I'm just not into any of that stuff). I don't judge anyone that's into drinking or recreational drugs, it's just not for me personally. Religion wise, I'm Agnostic. Politically I lean relatively to the left.
I'm really searching for that genuine connection; voice calls are definitely a plus and would love to get to know you. It's alright if we end up just as friends that talk here and there.
If it sounds like you could be the one send me a chat or DM and tell me a bit about yourself. My name is Kevin and I'd love to know about you.

Start off by saying I am extremely junior with gardening! I want to get into it but admittedly I’m very impatient and I’m really starting from zero knowledge
I moved into a home that has a small greenhouse in the back yard and at first I was really excited about this. But here’s the problems 1) I live in Canada and it gets very cold here in the winter 2) it also gets very hot in the summer where I am 3) there is no temperature control in the green house and parts of it are open in the roof under the overhangs
Basically what I’ve found is I can’t even really get to it in the winter to water anything I might be trying to keep safe in the winter and I worry watering it will freeze it anyway. And it’s far too hot for most things to survive in the summer. I tried last year and everything pretty much nearly died after 1 day in there.
It’s also build very strange with a walk way down the center which seems like a decent idea until you realize that the space between the walkway and the wall is so minimal. Like I’m talking less than a foot wide and to bend down and take care of anything is kind of difficult in the space without sitting back on something behind you. It’s also overrun with morning glory and weeds(which I cleaned out last year and this year but obviously they keep coming back)
I’ve cleaned it out but I’m at a loss for what I’d want to keep in there. I considered using it as a nursery for seedlings but the temp outside is too weird here. Like 3 days ago it was a complete storm with the craziest wind and rain and hail and only 5 degrees Celsius and the next day it was up to 21degrees Celsius. So by the time it’s warm enough to put seedlings in there, it’s almost getting too hot inside it.
Basically I’m wondering if there’s anything I can do to utilize the greenhouse or if this is not well thought through and I’m better off taking it down for more garden bed space?

I (37f) have been with my boyfriend (32m) a little over a year. I love him, he loves me, we're both in therapy (separately, insurance doesn't cover couples therapy) and things are overall going well. We're growing and bettering ourselves together and we've come a long way. The other day we took the dog for a walk and there was a woman in a sports bra and tight running pants walking towards us. After she passed us he stopped walking, did a 360 turn with his full body to look at her ass, and then kept walking. It wasn't a huge dramatic thing but it kind of upset me. I didn't say anything and he doesn't know that I even noticed (I had the dog and was walking slightly ahead of him and caught it out of my peripheral).
I know it's normal to look at attractive people but was this excessive? When he did it I kinda felt like I phased out of existence briefly while he checked out another woman. I'm trying to figure out how I'm feeling about it and also if it's something I should talk to him about because it's not the first or last time it's going to happen and I don't want to harbor any negativity. We were watching a show the other night and there were some cheerleaders on the screen and he immediately goes, "oof!" He follows some of the hot tub streamer egirls, and has a few youtube subs to channels of things like women eating and working out (he shows them to me sometimes and he has pretty strong reactions to them). I guess what bothers me about it is that it feels like at any moment he's ready to be pulled away from me by other women, no matter what we're doing or what's going on. If you're horny and you look at porn that's one thing, that's what it's there for, but it feels odd to view sexual content casually throughout the day. If the situation were reversed and I had done a spin to check out a guy or I was following hot, half naked male streamers, I'm positive it would upset him. It's a double standard that I can't wrap my head around and I just don't want to feel bad about it anymore, whatever that resolution looks like.
A tiny bit of background: I've had 3 guys cheat on me and I'm addmittedly a bit insecure right now because I went through a rough time a while back and gained a bunch of weight. I've lost the weight but, as anyone who's done that knows, it doesn't go back the same. I'm working on regaining my confidence and loving my body and he's very supportive and encouraging, he tells me I'm beautiful all the time but it's still a struggle sometimes.
TLDR: My boyfriend did a whole body spin to look at a woman and it upset me, he also follows female hot tub streamers, wondering if/how I should talk about it with him or if this is entirely my issue to work on.

I used to make videos. Not to a large following, just little interesting clips about life in a small town and the various people who live there. It wasn’t just content for the sake of content, it was a record to show what life was like in the 2020’s for the folks of Tomskog, Minnesota.
I’d done a couple of videos already. One was about the old couple running the corner pub, one was about a landlord, and another was about the principal of the local high school (and their apparent pool troubles). Long story.
I was doing a shorter video about a woman named Marla. She was a beekeeper who worked with moving intrusive hives. This kind of content gets a lot of views, so I figured I’d do a more compact but better edited video this time around. I’d done my research, prepped my gear, and was rearing to go.

I met Marla on a Thursday morning in late May. We took her pickup, had a gas station sandwich for breakfast, and stopped for a quick coffee. I talked to her a bit about her job, her life, and her aspirations. Small town stuff. She was the kind of woman who was happy as long as she could keep up with her payments and have a bit left over for a Netflix subscription. Wholesome.
She drove me out to the site of the day, talking to the camera as we went. We were turning further and further off the paved roads as the suspension struggled against weeds, rock, and gravel.
“There’s a hive near a walking trail,” Marla explained. “A couple of folks called in about their dogs getting scared. It should be fine, but we’re gonna gear up just in case they’re mistaken.”
“You expect us to get stung a lot?” I asked.
“Not really,” she smiled. “Not if you know what you’re doing. But there’ve been times when folks have called in about a hive and it turned out to be paper wasps.”
“Not as pleasant as honeybees.”
“No,” she laughed. “No, they really aren’t”.

We passed through a section of trees that covered both sides of the road; the branches hanging low enough to scrape the hood of the car. Emerging on the other side, a field opened up to our right. A large, wide-open field, covered from end to end in blue sunflowers; a local variety that is, apparently, sort of rare. I asked Marla about them.
“The blues? Yeah, they were introduced as a sort of gimmick back in the… 1930’s, I think? 1940’s maybe? They’re actually quite invasive. I’m surprised there aren’t more of them around.”
“But bees can make honey on them?”
“I guess,” she nodded. “They’re just sunflowers.”
“Have you tried it? Is it blue?”
“Can’t say that I have,” she laughed. “But I’m sure it’s fine. Ordinary sunflower honey is fantastic. Kinda earthy.”

We got out and suited up. It felt like putting on a tent. Marla shared some interesting bee factoids that I didn’t manage to catch on camera, but I made a mental note to ask her to repeat it later. Of course, I wouldn’t. I’m kinda forgetful.
I hadn’t seen a single bee yet, but Marla was already heading out into the field. The sunflowers reached about waist-high, and there was this strange, almost chemical smell in the air. Sort of a mix of chlorine and ammonia. As we got further out, Marla pointed out a couple of flowers to me.
“Right there,” she said. “Get a clip.”
I zoomed in, spotting two bees chilling on a blue sunflower petal. They were just sort of sitting there. They had a slightly more reddish tint to them than I expected. Marla didn’t seem to mind, or notice.

It didn’t take long before we got to the hive. I immediately started filming as we approached. The buzzing got louder as bees started to poke and prod at my defenses, curiously checking for gaps in my gloves and neck. Thankfully, Marla had helped me secure it. Still, the buzzing kinda gave me the creeps. Never been a fan of bugs.
“Yeah, alright,” Marla laughed. “No wonder there are bees. Someone set this up.”
It was a man-made hive, framed with sheets of mahogany. A series of wooden squares with hollow cork pipes lining the inside. The bees had really taken to it, transforming it into a sturdy hive.
“We usually call these bee hotels,” Marla said. “Some kind-hearted local set it up, but as this isn’t private property we have to take complaints into account. I’m gonna make sure we move it to a better location with more nutrition for our free-bee friends here, where they won’t spook any dog-walkers. And of course, we’re keeping the hive. Someone put a lot of thought into this.”

I got a nice video out of it. How she unsecured the hive, moved the sections one by one, and pointed to interesting pieces for the camera. She found the queen and scooped her up in a separate container. Marla stopped for a moment though; apparently, the queen was larger than she’d anticipated. I didn’t really have a frame of reference, so I had to take her word for it.
We wrapped the hive up under a tarp on the pickup and made our way back to Marla’s property. I was afraid all the bumps in the road would shake the bees loose, but they seemed perfectly content. I guess it helped that Marla was a very calm driver, despite some curious bees making their way inside the cabin. We still had the suits on, luckily.
There was a cute hand-painted sign of a bee as we entered Marla’s land. When you live in the middle of nowhere, most folks can get away with owning more land than they need; especially if they don’t mind having spotty internet or a fair drive to the nearest supermarket. One look at Marla showed that she didn’t mind either of these things.

We took some time offloading the hive, finding a good spot on the eastern side of her property. There were plenty of wildflowers for the critters to feast on, and Marla seemed confident in her choice. There wasn’t much more to it; we set it up, captured a couple of finishing thoughts, and called it a day.
As I packed up my gear and took off my suit, I got a moment to speak with Marla without the camera. She was excited to have a new hive, but there was something about her expression that seemed a bit… off.
“I’d love to try some of their honey,” I said. “I think it’d make a great end to the video.”
“Yeah, I’ll keep in touch,” she nodded.
There was an oppressive silence as she stared into the distance. I tilted my head, trying to catch her attention.
“You alright there?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she nodded. “I, uh… I’m just anxious. New responsibilities, you know?”
“Is there a problem?”
She bit down on her lip, squinting.
“Maybe.”

A couple of days later, I started getting updates. Marla was having some trouble with the hive. It was more aggressive than she’d previously thought, and a lot of the bees had been dying off at alarming rates.
“It happens when you move them sometimes,” she sighed. “It’s rare, but it happens. They can have trouble adapting.”
She managed to get a little honey, but she wasn’t too happy about it. Apparently, it wasn’t as sweet and sugary as she thought it’d be. There was just something off about it, texture-wise. She was gonna make me a little bottle of it either way, for the video, but she advised against eating it.

Returning to my day job, I was looking forward to hearing more from Marla. Out of all the people I’d worked with, she’d been the most eager to contribute to my channel. We kept in touch over the week, discussing future collaborations and other ways we could make content. She suggested making a couple of DIY videos to showcase some neat tricks for would-be hobby apiarists.
The following weekend, we met up again. Another early morning, this time with a light drizzle spattering against the hood of her pickup. The moment she came around, I could tell something had happened. She had these bright red spots on her arms, and she was a lot less talkative than usual. Before I got the chance to talk to her about it, she explained.
“Got swarmed yesterday,” she said. “Never happened before.”
“Those are all stings?”
“That’s just the thing,” she scoffed. “It isn’t. They’re bites.”
“I didn’t think honeybees bit people.”
“They don’t.”
We just looked at one another for a moment. Her marks were pretty nasty, some of them swollen enough to burst. The conclusion was obvious; these weren’t ordinary honeybees.

We made our way back out to the field where we’d found them. I did a little filming, but Marla was self-conscious about her arms. She was scared that it might dissuade people from working with bees, and she kept repeating how it was “her fault” for not handling them correctly. She said it so many times I couldn’t help but to feel she was trying to convince herself rather than me, or an audience.
We made our way out into the field. Marla flipped open a pocketknife and bent down to check on the flowers. Cutting one off at the stem, she examined it for a moment. She held it up for me to see for myself. I looked it over but couldn’t see anything strange – apart from the obvious blue color.
“You gotta touch it,” she said. “Check it.”
So I did. As soon as I touched it, a few petals came loose. The flower was clearly dead and dry.

Checking out a couple more, we came to a startling realization. The entire field was, in fact, completely dead. Bone dry of pollen and sustenance. And, according to Marla, it must’ve been dead for months. I didn’t really understand why that was such a big deal.
“Because,” Marla explained. “The hive flourished out here, in the middle of the field. If they couldn’t survive here, they would’ve migrated, but they didn’t. So what the hell have they been eating?”
“Whatever it was, it’s what must’ve made the honey taste weird.”
“Not just taste,” Marla said, shaking her head. “The smell is the worst. Like stale bacteria and methane.”

Things started to fall into place. Whatever they had been eating out here in the field wasn’t available at Marla’s place; hence why they had been dying and getting more aggressive. Getting back to the pickup, Marla was deep in her own thoughts, drumming her fingers on the dashboard. She couldn’t figure it out. I tried to cheer her up with a pat on her shoulder, which caused her to flinch a little. I probably poked a bitemark.
“Sorry,” I said. “But you know, maybe that’s why they swarmed you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, maybe they tried to eat you up,” I chuckled, pointing to her arms.
“Bees don’t do that,” said Marla, her face stern.
“I know,” I nodded. “Sorry, bad joke.”
But I could tell I’d planted something in Marla’s thoughts. Something that worried her.

As we went back to her property, she explained that there was indeed a kind of bee that was carnivorous. There was a type of bee called the ‘vulture bee’ that fed exclusively on meat. Mostly carrion though; they weren’t active hunters. They couldn’t be, as they were stingless.
“You think these might be vulture bees then?” I asked.
“They live south of the border,” she explained. “Can’t imagine them just, uh… popping up. And even so, they wouldn’t be this aggressive.”
“Would explain the honey though.”
Marla’s face went pale. Had she been eating meat honey?

I decided to hold off on posting my video. This was turning into something more interesting, and I wanted to see it through. I filmed a couple of shots where Marla got to explain the intricacies of vulture bees. She did it in the frame of an interesting fact rather than a suspicion, but I could tell something had changed. She wasn’t as certain anymore, and a bit of eagerness had run out of her. There was a tangible worry there.
As we went out back to check out the hive, Marla stopped. Her eyes widened.
“Turn off the camera,” she hissed.
Three dead pigeons; covered in bees.

From that point on, I was fully invested. This was something neither of us had seen before; unfamiliar ground. It didn’t take long for Marla to confirm that the honey she’d harvested did, indeed, contain a meat protein. After that, it was just a matter of observation.
Yes, the bees ate flesh. They bit instead of stung. But they weren’t vulture bees.
These were larger, more aggressive, and had a wider abdomen. Their mandibles were longer, and they had a slightly reddish tint to them. It was difficult to tell whether the color was a result of mutation or blood. The dead pigeons were stripped to the sinew in surprisingly little time.
Marla didn’t know what to do. She’d been working with preserving bees since she was a teenager, and this whole situation was testing her. She didn’t want to just kill the hive, but she couldn’t let them spread either. These could be highly invasive.

But she took too long to decide. Just a couple of days later, two of the other hives on her property had been completely decimated. The red bees had killed and devoured all of them; leaving only empty chambers and hollow carapaces behind. When Marla facetimed me about it, she couldn’t hold back the tears.
By now, I considered myself a friend of hers. We’d talked a lot and got along really well, and it wasn’t just about content anymore. I didn’t want to see her like that; she deserved better. I offered to drop by and brainstorm a bit. I figured she needed the company. She’d done at least two dozen of these bee rescues, and the one time someone came to cheer her on it all went to hell. That had to suck.

So I dropped by one day after work. The sun was setting. Dark clouds on the horizon.
I noticed them the moment I stepped out of my car. A handful of red bees climbed the white picket fence outside Marla’s house. A few others were clustered in a particular spot near the edge of the house; no doubt feasting on a small bird or a rodent. I went up to the door and rung the bell, ducking from a couple of curious bees trying to make themselves comfortable in my rough post-work hairdo.
Marla invited me into her kitchen, offering me homemade lemonade. She had these custom-made coasters with cartoon bees on them, along with the logo for her rescue. I could tell she’d taken a couple of sudden precautions. There were tape lining the edges of the windows, as well as a plastic sheet covering the ventilation duct. No wonder the air felt stale.
“No one knows what to do,” she sighed. “I called the Wyatt brothers, South Bound Api… they can’t even believe it. They actually don’t believe that I have what I say I have.”
“And what is that? What is it you have?”
She sighed, scratching her eyebrows. A kind of nervous tic.
“There’s no name, but… I mean, I know what they do. I know now. They’re like the vulture bees, but…”
She threw her arms up in surrender. I could tell she was tired. One of her eyes drooped a little lower than the other. Might’ve been from a bite too.

Marla spent the better part of an hour showing me websites, witnesses to similar bees, drawings, and descriptions. She talked about the application of pesticides, mutations, climate change, GMOs, and microplastics. Hell, at one point, she was bringing up 5G towers as a possible culprit. She was all over the place, and I could tell her heart wasn’t in it. It was all just desperation; grasping at straws.
After a couple of hours, well into the dark of the evening, we’d gone from homemade lemonade to lukewarm, well-nursed beers. We’d run out of ideas and topics. Instead, we just stood by the kitchen window, watching the red bees crawl across the glass. Marla put down her bottle; this time without using one of her cartoon bee coasters.
“Check this out,” she said.
She placed her hand on the window, and the bees outside immediately swarmed to it. Within seconds, there was a cluster of at least 40 crowding around her hand, on the other side of the glass.
“Give them a minute,” she continued. “It’s kinda crazy.”

They started to move in a pattern. A sort of pulse, moving counter-clockwise from a perfect circle into a four-armed spiral. Their wings pattered in unison; a buzzing noise that scratched against the windowpane.
“I can’t explain that,” she said. “I can explain following my hand, or killing other hives, but that?”
She shook her head, not looking away.
“I can’t explain that.”

It got a little bit too late, and I’d had a couple of beers too many, so I decided to crash on her couch. I wrapped myself in a blanket and pulled a pillow up to my ear, so I wouldn’t have to hear the buzzing outside. It wasn’t loud, but it was such a distinct sound that I couldn’t un-hear it. Marla didn’t seem to share the same issue though, she just walked into her room and that was that. Out like a light.
I had an uneasy sleep, falling in and out of surface-level dreams. I remember forcing my eyes open - just to see if I could. I was uncomfortable, and I couldn’t stop hearing that buzzing noise. Even when things were quiet, I kept imagining myself hearing it. I’d see little black spots on the windows as they landed and disappeared, looking for a way in.
Somewhere in the early morning hours, I was finally out cold.

I didn’t notice those first few sounds. How the tapping against the window got louder. How the patterns got bigger and clearer. I was finally asleep, and it was already too late when I woke up.
I was lying on my side as I popped open a single eye, only to see a red bee on my hand calmly brushing itself clean. I didn’t notice the droning noise at first, until I realized the background noise of the room was different. Looking beyond that first red bee, towards the window, I realized something.
The pattern of bees was on the inside of the window.
There were hundreds of bees already inside the room.
But the sound was closer than that. It was all around me, and somewhere in the background, I could hear a breeze. Was the front door open?

I tried to stay completely still, but I could feel something in my chest tightening. I wanted to brush the bee off, but I couldn’t bring myself to move. Something was holding me back, keeping me from just waving my arms around and getting out. There was something more to this.
Seconds later, there was a noise. A rising murmur, like a moving mass. Best way I can describe it is a vibrating burlap bag followed by meaty footsteps. Not loud, but not quiet either. Someone didn’t care too much about waking me.
If there was ever a time to get up, to run, or to fight – that was it. But all I did was lie there, staring at that one red bee on my hand, listening to something slowly approach from behind. It’s as if I knew how badly outmatched I really was.

I could feel something shift as the side of the couch was grabbed. Creaking noises as fingers dug into old leather.
Snapping sounds. Sinew and muscle stretching and realigning under a thin layer of skin. Forced breathing and hissing descending on me from above. Little sniffs – then silence. I held my breath.
“…y o u t o o k m y h i v e.”
Less of a voice, and more of a collision of wings and carapaces. A shaped buzzing. The red bee on my hand looked straight into my eyes. Not a single twitch. Nothing.
“I didn’t,” I whispered under my breath, trying not to move my mouth. “I-I… I didn’t.”

There was a pause. A sudden shift as someone stepped back. A little moving mass came loose, dropping on top of my blanket. A handful of red bees, carefully spreading out to investigate me. Behind me, footsteps – leading into Marla’s bedroom. I could hear her deep breaths from here.
I stayed completely still. I was unharmed. I’d be fine - I just had to wait. Every nerve in my body felt like it was put through a white fire – still, controlled, and desperate to explode into action. As little creatures made their way across me, carefully looking me over, the pores on my skin were screaming at me to move, itch, and shudder. I could feel the hairs on my neck rise; only to be tugged on by eager mandibles.
Then, a scream.

Marla screamed. A bloody, mind-piercing, screech. The kind of scream that you just know means pain. Hearing it was like feeling a physical push, and I couldn’t hold myself from acting any longer.
I rolled off the couch, trying to shake the bees off. The cluster on the window exploded into a disorganized attack, swarming every piece of me, and the room, and the adjoining kitchen. They were inside my clothes, in my hair, in my eyebrows, and they were going to eat their fair share. Every bite was white-hot fire, followed by a sudden stinging cold.
I ran outside. I remember taking off my clothes, waving my shirt around. Shoeless and burned by bites, I ran from her house; making as much space between me and the hive as possible.

There was this blur of buzzing, biting, flailing, and screaming. Some of it mine, some if it Marla’s, in the distance. Little red spots crawling across my waving shirt. I threw myself on the ground, rolling in the grass. I smacked my body with the palm of my hand over and over, ensuring me that the little tickle I felt wasn’t another one of them.
Then I just lay there, panting in the grass. They were gone. A single red bee on the palm of my hand remained, carefully brushing itself, before casually flying off.
I could feel the soothing morning dew on my cheek. I slowly sat back up, leaning against a tree. I could see Marla’s house in the distance as I gasped for air. There was a heaviness to my lungs, like I couldn’t completely fill them.

A man stepped out. Or at least the shape of a man, it was hard to tell at that distance. It was as if he wasn’t completely solid; his silhouette kept shifting even as he stood still. He stopped in the doorway, looked me way, and just sort of… dissolved.

I burst into action.
My phone was still inside, but I had a backup in my car. I wrestled it out of the glove compartment, staining the driver’s seat with spots of blood. My fingertips were bleeding, making it hard to call emergency services. My cheek and tongue were swollen, making it even harder to speak.
I made my way back inside as I frantically explained what’d happened. What would you even call it? An assault? Marla wasn’t in her bedroom, but there was plenty of blood. There was a sound further in. Her shower was running.
She’d made it to her bathroom and dropped into her tub. She’d turned on the water, hoping to keep them off. The end result was her ending up swollen and unconscious in the bathtub; dead bees bobbing in the water around her. Some still twitching.
It was horrifying. She was bitten, and it wasn’t just from bees. There were miscolored marks from all kinds of stings, coloring her skin both a burning red, a pale white, and a faint green. Her neck was almost as thick as her head.
But she was alive.

Emergency services arrived. They managed to keep her alive, but she had to be put on a ventilator. They claimed she’d had a massive allergic reaction. They said something similar about me; completely ignoring the eyewitness account of a strange intruder. It didn’t help that neither me or Marla could say the slightest comprehensive thing about their appearance or identity.

It took some time, but I recovered. Marla too. By the time she got back home, not a single hive was left. Every single one had been butchered and devoured. And the red bees, well, they were just gone – along with their handmade hive.
Not too long ago, I talked to a friend-of-a-friend who worked at the Sheriff’s office. I told them where we’d found that first hive. He asked me at least three times if I was sure that that was the specific spot. Of course I was. I even had a clip of it.
Turns out, that place had been the discovery site of at least half a dozen unidentified bodies a couple of years ago.
Which, in turn, made me wonder. A couple of wanderers in the area had spoken about finding dead animals on the trail, only for them to be gone the next morning. It wouldn’t surprise me if that field was littered with bones. But with the way these things work, there is no telling what else might’ve gone missing along that trail.

That conversation is what spurred me to write this all down. Marla and I will never publish that video, and for all intents and purposes, neither of us will bring it up. This never happened. This couldn’t be real. We can’t move on with our lives if we keep talking about it, because there is nothing we can say that will make it alright.
Instead, she has new hives. She has a new smile.
And for a while, I think we can lie to ourselves just enough to make it.

Hi!
I'm planning to make a sheet cake for my upcoming wedding and frost it with whipped ganache. I'm an experienced home baker so I'm feeling confident about the cake (make ahead, wrap and freeze) but I tend to use fairly simple frostings because I don't usually make fancy cakes. However, my fiancee wants whipped ganache for the filling and frosting and I've never worked with it before. I've tried a couple different things and done all the googling I can do and I'm not able to find a good answer to how I can best make this happen so the frosting is a good texture when we serve it. My attempts so far have been great right after it's whipped, but it stiffens up again when left out or refrigerated, and we'd love to have it be soft and smooth, not stiff or melting. The wedding is late July so it will be hot, but it can be kept in the air-conditioned house until the last minute.
My ideal schedule is to make ganache Wednesday, chill overnight, whip Thursday mid-day and frost, then either refrigerate or leave out in a cool place until Friday evening when it's served. For obvious reasons, I'd prefer not to do any work on it on the day of the wedding. Is this possible or am I chasing a unicorn? If you think this is a terrible idea, what frosting would you use instead that a frosting-hater might like?
I'll be testing it beforehand, of course, but any direction or thoughts on ratios, process, storage, etc would be much appreciated!

This is about paying attention to where negative/invasive/intruding thoughts occur during your breathing cycle.
I noticed, for me, I would freeze up at the bottom of my exhale, and my invasive thoughts would start to stream into my mind. I would just freeze up and drown in my thoughts.
Then, on a whim, I picked a random breathing exercise using the Balance app. I selected the equal breathing exercise. I noticed that the negative thoughts stopped. The exercise was a simple inhale for four counts through your nose and exhale for four counts through your mouth. It skipped the holding time after each inhale and exhale. I found it calming. The inner chatter went away. For me, right now, it still works.
So, what I am sharing is if it is possible, try to pay attention to when in your breathing cycle you start to have negative/invasive thoughts? What does your body feel like? Is there tension? if so, where? Hot or cold? Try different breathing techniques and see which ones work the best.
Good luck and hopeful progress for you.
Oh yeah, right now, the Balance: meditation and sleep app, has a 1 year free subscription. The logo is the capital letter B in two shades of blue.

TLDR: I freeze and can’t say anything when talking to my parents about this stuff, is talk therapy the only/best option to address this?
Me F27, married to M32 - aka I’m an adult who wishes she wasn’t so scared to tell “mommy and daddy” that I’m a “disappointment” (to them).
I understand there are different ways of telling my parents I’m no longer a membebeliever, like ripping off the band-aid and what not. However, when talking to my parents about this stuff, I freeze up. I have a million possible things to say, but I can’t bring myself to actually say anything. I start to feel hot and sick to my stomach. I think this is a trauma response.
If I tell them in writing, that doesn’t get to the root of the issue, and I know it will lead to possible discussion in-person in future, and I think I’ll just freeze up again.
I know that no is a complete sentence and I don’t owe anyone an explanation, but I panic in the moment. Maybe that’s something I can only get through with therapy?
I’d appreciate any advice and/or good vibes 💕✨

I recently took in my younger autistic brother. If I didn't take him he would have gone to foster care. The home I am currently staying in doesn't have working water due to the pipes freezing and I don't currently have the funds to fix them I also need help getting him essentials. Everything is appreciated TIA! A family friend bought a house unseen in auction to help me out because I've been struggling with housing insecurity. He would rent it to me extremely cheap with the expectation I will buy it eventually but because it was site unseen he doesn't know what problems it would have so that was up to me other than the roof.
WHAT'S DONE:
I have cleaned it because it was basically a hoarder house and filled with mice. I filled all mouse holes, painted, fixed a hole in the ceiling, fixed the yard (the city had showed up and I begged them for a few more days), and the mouse poop was hazardous I probably shampooed the carpet 20x, got a hot water heater but still need to install it.
I got pipes and fittings through donations! Proof through link.
WHAT ISNT:
Installing water heater and water pipes: a 6 gage wire, 220 volt breaker( highest priority)
Need a stove ( lower priority I have a microwave, a air fryer, a grill)
a lawnmower (currently using weed eater)
more paint, caulk, etc.
(once I get these things I can have the house ready in less than a week)
I had been here about three weeks when I got the call from my mom. My brother has autism, adhd, and oppositional defiance disorder. My mom called said he wasn't welcome there my step dad was on his way to the hospital because my brother had hit him. I told my mom I didn't have water she said I don't care if you don't come get him I'm giving him to cps.
He still has therapy and regular doctors appointments to work on his meds. I'm trying to get my mom to give me my brother's info so I can apply to disability for him.
I have somewhere we have been going to shower, go to the bathroom and can haul water from but it's just not sustainable. I can take care of him perfectly fine once I get the water on, I just moved, bought a new car, and got my brother all within a month.
No I can't get help elsewhere, no there is no assistance where I am for this type of thing.
Picture of some pipes I got with a donation
Water pipes https://imgur.com/gallery/lbVWog8
https://gofund.me/06ab253f

I am investigating problems on a small Intel NUC computer that belongs to a client who is reporting that the computer will appear to be frozen for extended periods of time. At the client's home, the computer is in a cubby-hole behind a TV. When I picked it up the other day, the computer was extremely hot. I'd like to know if the freezing problem could be related to the overheating and if Windows 11 has any system logs that would record if the computer was overheating somehow throttled itself to protect the CPU from melting.
The computer was purchased from a company called simplyNUC. The specific model is no longer available for sale but it looks very similar to this one.
``` Model Number NUC12WSKv7 Device name DESKTOP-I46P54E Processor 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1270P 2.20 GHz Installed RAM 64.0 GB (63.6 GB usable) System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor Pen and touch No pen or touch input is available for this display

Edition Windows 11 Home Version 23H2 Installed on 8/‎7/‎2023 OS build 22631.3593 Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22700.1003.0 

```
If the computer did freeze because of heat related problems, what symptoms would there be? Are there any system logs that would record this?

TLDR HVAC company replaced damaged Bryant 187bna036-d AC compressor on a Bryant 926TB 2-stage furnace with 2 wires from furnace to compressor and Ecobee thermostat with a Bryant 189bnv036-c Evolution series fully communicating, continuously variable/5-stage compressor and THEN, several months later when cooling actually needed, after discovering incompatibility between new compressor and Ecobee stat and need for more wires from furnace to compressor, company replaced Ecobee with Honeywell Prestige IAQ thermostat with Electronic Control Module to make 5 stage/cont variable compressor act like a 2-stage compressor (running stage 3 as low stage and stage 5 as high stage). Question: is this new Frankenstein system okay in the long-term? How messed up is this? Advice on how to navigate this situation as a non-HVAC savy homeowner. Am I getting f'ed and how bad?
Saga and details below.
So a couple years ago I had a new HVAC system installed by a local company. Furnace, AC, Compressor, Ecobee thermostat the whole scholarship. Got a Bryant 926TB 2-stage furnace with a Bryant 187BNA036-D AC compressor and the Ecobee ECB402 thermostat. All 2 stage and, as I have learned, non-communicating. It worked great to control temp of my 1978 tri-level with a basement 1800 square ft house in Colorado.
Fast forward, one fall day the compressor unit gets damaged sprays coolant everywhere, I know I'm hosed and need a new one. Call up the company that installed system and tell them I screwed up and need to give them a lot of money to replace the compressor. After a couple winter months go by, guy comes out in spring to install a new compressor. Realizes he had grabbed a different but similar compressor to what we ordered as a replacement says it is just a more expensive but more efficient unit and he will install it with no additional charge anyway. I ask will it work with the system, he says yes, I don't know any better so I trust the professional. He installs the Bryant Evolution series 189BNV036-C communicating compressor. He has some confusion about the wiring, but "figures it out" and runs his functionality test and says it is working fine. I ask "so is there anything I need to be aware of and will I have AC when the weather really gets warm?" He says everything is good to go and I will have great efficient cooling 👍. Those that know these models will have picked up that in fact, when the hot weather rolled around, no I did not have cooling because the fully communicating, variable speed/5 stage 189B... compressor is not compatible with an Ecobee thermostat and requires an Evolution series system to get all that gee whiz efficiency. I discovered this after I got back from vacation (overnight flight, no sleep) and the temps hit the upper 90s and I got a notification from my Ecobee that said "hey your system has been calling for cooling for 4 hours and the interior temp has gone up." Look at the compressor and notice that the fan blades still have a nice coat of powdery pollin, so they haven't been spinning to move air across the coils. Neat.
Called up the company that did the previous 2 installs and said "hey the compressor you installed a couple months ago is not cooling." They send a tech who starts poking around to figure out what is wrong. After a couple hours, the poor SOB asks "was your original compressor fully communicating?" I respond "what do you mean by that?" He explains it, I say no. His face droops and I hear him mentally scream obscenities. He says that we only have 2 wires coming out to the compressor and it needs more. I gather that the guy who installed the replacement, installed the wrong thing in the wrong way. Diagnostic tech gets on the horn to his boss. They run through some things in the basement. He comes up and I overhear that they are discussing solutions and boss wants the tech to ask me to cover the $500 of equipment to make it work. Tech's face says "tf you say?" then tells the boss that he is standing with us and the boss should ask us himself and tech hands me his phone. Boss asks me to pay $500 for new thermostat equipment to fix the company's cock up and tells me the installer who did the replacement install no longer works there. I tell him no I will not pay $500 to fix their cock up. He says okay, they will eat it and get the system working (gotta try I guess). Weather is hot, forecasted to stay hot, getting a new compressor quickly is uncertain/not likely given summer demand, I am sleep deprived and just want a cool house so my wife and kid can sleep, etc so we go with the new stat with a remote controller to deal with the not enough wires issue and get things running.
Next day new tech comes replaces my beloved, useful, multi sensor Ecobee with a Honeywell Prestige IAQ stat after deciding that the Beyant Connex is not necessary (at that point that is all Greek to me), which I trust the professional will work. After 7 hours of that work I have cooling. He hasn't pressure tested or dialed it in because he lost the tools/probes earlier in the day. He gives a basic run down of the new stat and the ap. Then because the company is pushing him to another job at 6PM on a Friday he takes off and says he will come back after the weekend to do the pressure test and dial it in. He made some educated guesses on settings so it "shouldn't freeze up over the weekend." I start trying to program/schedule the Honeywell stat, and quickly realize it is a POS which I will ask specifically about elsewhere.
I start reading manuals and and Googling trying to educate myself on what I have going on here. Learn that the Evolution series equipment uses proprietary connections and is really picky etc and works best with the Bryant Connex stat and controller stuff. Also learn that the Honeywell is $350 equipment not $500 and that the Bryan Connex stat is $800-$1000 dollar equipment. But I clearly don't HVAC, which is why I hire pros to do this stuff, so I am a bit lost on whether all this stuff actually works together; if what the company did to "make it right" actually made things right; or whether my now Frankenstein system will function properly, efficiently, and effectively and not cost an arm and a leg to run (the thermostat replacement tech said I should run the fan continuously, so...).
Now, I respect tradesfolk and want to trust them and give them the benefit of the doubt, but things seem to have gone sour in this situation. So I just want to know how f'ed am I here. Is it time to call in a different company to rip out the Honeywell stat and replace it with a Bryant stat? Should I eat a turd sandwich have a different company rip out the wrong compressor and put in a new compressor that is actually compatible with my furnace and reinstall the Ecobee? How do I navigate this situation to the best long-term outcome?

I (f/37) have been with my boyfriend (m/32) a little over a year. I love him, he loves me, we're both in therapy (separately, insurance doesn't cover couples therapy) and things are overall going well. We're growing and bettering ourselves together and we've come a long way. The other day we took the dog for a walk and there was a woman in a sports bra and tight running pants walking towards us. After she passed us he stopped walking, did a 360 turn with his full body to look at her ass, and then kept walking. It wasn't a huge dramatic thing but it kind of upset me. I didn't say anything and he doesn't know that I even noticed (I had the dog and was walking slightly ahead of him and caught it out of my peripheral).
I know it's normal to look at attractive people but was this excessive? When he did it I kinda felt like I phased out of existence briefly while he checked out another woman. I'm trying to figure out how I'm feeling about it and also if it's something I should talk to him about because it's not the first or last time it's going to happen and I don't want to harbor any negativity. We were watching a show the other night and there were some cheerleaders on the screen and he immediately goes, "oof!" He follows some of the hot tub streamer egirls, and has a few youtube subs to channels of things like women eating and working out (he shows them to me sometimes and he has pretty strong reactions to them). I guess what bothers me about it is that it feels like at any moment he's ready to be pulled away from me by other women, no matter what we're doing or what's going on. If you're horny and you look at porn that's one thing, that's what it's there for, but it feels odd to view sexual content casually throughout the day. If the situation were reversed and I had done a spin to check out a guy or I was following hot, half naked male streamers, I'm positive it would upset him. It's a double standard that I can't wrap my head around and I just don't want to feel bad about it anymore, whatever that resolution looks like.
A tiny bit of background: I've had 3 guys cheat on me and I'm addmittedly a bit insecure right now because I went through a rough time a while back and gained a bunch of weight. I've lost the weight but, as anyone who's done that knows, it doesn't go back the same. I'm working on regaining my confidence and loving my body and he's very supportive and encouraging, he tells me I'm beautiful all the time but it's still a struggle sometimes.
TLDR: My boyfriend did a whole body spin to look at a woman and it upset me, he also follows female hot tub streamers, wondering if/how I should talk about it with him or if this is entirely my issue to work on.

https://www.hayduketrail.org/
TRIP DURATION: 27 April 2024 - 22 May 2024 (26 days)
LENGTH: 700 miles (My Hayduke was 100 miles shorter, will explain below)
ZERO DAY: Escalante (May 9)
GEAR: https://lighterpack.com/x7aa2i
VLOGS: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiFc6VMd77gf5n93UG-DCqgYxkahTAxPE&si=F57rSvkFVxFj-7Fb
About the Hayduke Trail: It was created by Mike Coronella and Joe Mitchell around 2000. They named it after the main character (George Washington Hayduke) in Edward Abbey’s book, “The Monkey Wrench Gang.” You will constantly see this book in trail towns along the Hayduke. The trail is around 800-miles with various alternates. It’s a combination of cross country travel, roads, trails, bushwhacking, climbing, etc. This is not a beginners trail
RESOURCES: I bought Skurka’s guide and that was my primary source. It was helpful but outdated because he hiked it in 2009 and it hasn’t been updated since. I wish I would’ve bought the Hayduke Guidebook but I’m not sure how much that would’ve helped since it was published in 2005. There’s also a public Facebook group that’s worth joining
TEMPS/WEATHER: You gotta be ready for it all on the Hayduke. I had everything from below freezing temps to around 100 degrees in the Grand Canyon. There were thunderstorms and fierce winds throughout the trail. This trail was the first time I ever slept with a down jacket on. In fact, one night I slept with the down jacket and long-johns in my tent, and the very next night I cowboy camped wearing my underwear and sleeping on top of my quilt. It’s that volatile. I will say that I had more normal to cooler days than normal to hotter days.
NAVIGATION: My primary source of navigation was Gaia. I downloaded the GPS track and uploaded it. I also downloaded the Hayduke on All-Trails which I’m pretty sure was the exact same track. I noticed that All-Trails had more accurate trails and roads on their default map than the map I was using on Gaia which was very helpful at times. When I was on the Arizona Trail I went back to using Guthook which was nice. I don’t think hikers realize how spoiled we are with that app, it makes everything so much easier. This was the first trail since the AT (2015) where I didn’t use Guthook. I also had 11x17 paper maps and compass as a back up but never needed them
WATER: Not as big of an issue as I thought. Most water I carried was 5.75L two times. Aside from that I just carried around a gallon at all times and was good. The only issue was using Skurka’s water chart. Like I mentioned it’s 15yrs outdated so many of the sources that were listed as “good” were actually bone dry. I should note that I don’t drink as much water as most people. One time on the CDT I went 26 miles with one liter of water and had no issues. But since I was in the desert I did force myself to chug water even when I wasn’t thirsty, might as well play it safe. Going into Colorado City I made myself drink water every 20-minutes.
BEST SEASON: In Skurka’s guide he says the month of May is the best and I would probably agree. You won’t have crazy cold temps and it also won’t be an inferno. You will have more than enough daylight to hike. I had light from 6AM to 9PM by mid-May. The snowmelt will also be in effect so the water situation won’t be dire. If you hike in the fall you will have a severe lack of daylight, especially in October. In 2019 I thru-hiked the AZT in October and I remember it being dark by 5:30. The only downside to a May start is you might have to bypass Saddle Canyon and Tapeats Creek like I did. More on that later
FOOD/WATER CACHES: Many hikers like to cache food and water on the Hayduke, I didn’t find that to be necessary. It would’ve cost me a lot of time and money to rent a car to hide supplies all around Utah
WHICH DIRECTION: Most people start in Moab/Arches so that’s what I did. The guidebook is also orientated that way so why not. I might be biased but I wouldn’t want to ascend some of the climbs if I went the opposite direction. Down climbing was difficult enough. I flipped through the guidebook in Escalante and it says that one of the reasons they recommend starting in Moab is because going down Saddle Canyon in the Grand Canyon is easier than going up.
GETTING TO TRAIL: Pro-tip here if you’re starting in Arches. Fly into Moab and bring your bottles and enough resupply to make it to Moab (only 25 miles). If you look at the map you will notice that the terminus is only around 4-miles as the crow flies from the airport. So all I did was fill up my bottles at the airport and then walk a couple hours to the starting point. This saves about a day in town and some money. If you go into Moab to buy your resupply then you will most likely spend the night and then pay for a shuttle the following day. So doing it the way I recommended is a big time and money saver
GOING HOME FROM TRAIL: You’ll see this in my last video but I was unaware about the rockfall that blocks the trail leading to the end, which is Weeping Rock. My hike unexpectedly ended at the East Rim trailhead in Zion because of this. Going home would’ve been easier at the official end because there is a free bus right down the road. I instead walked about a mile out of the park to a campground and used their Wifi to call for a shuttle (Red Rock Shuttles). I lucked out and there happened to be a shuttle in the area so I was able to get a ride to St George pretty quickly, cost $150
PERMITS: Even though you go through six national parks the only permit you need to worry about is Grand Canyon. All the other ones you won’t be in there long enough to require one if you time it correctly. However, for the Grand Canyon you’ll be in there for roughly 200 miles or so. My recommendation is to go into Kanab (if you started in Moab) and figure out your permit there. From Kanab it’s only about 90 miles to the Grand Canyon (mostly on the AZT) so you can easily estimate your arrival. If you start in Zion then it will be easier since you’re only a few days or so from the Grand Canyon so you can get that permit figured out before you even start. If I had to do the trail again I would get one campsite on the Tonto Trail and then the next day hike into the South Rim and stay at the campground. The next day just hike all the way to the north rim which is only around 23 miles of good tread. Once at the NR stay at the campground and then head to the ranger station and figure out the permits for the rest of the way westward
RESUPPLY/TOWNS
Needles Outpost: This is around 90 miles into the trail and I sent a box here. It’s listed as a 6-mile hitch but there’s absolutely no need to hitch in. Just look at the map and walk in and out. Very easy. Not to mention traffic will be minimal on that road early in the season and many tourists around the park don’t like picking up hikers. As for Needles Outpost, it’s not a town, just a campground with two buildings. One for bathroom/shower and the other is the small general store. They have a very limited resupply so you need to send a box here. The entire place is owned by two people and they both live there. The woman was extremely nice and helpful, very friendly. It was nice to talk to someone after 2.5 days of being alone. There is no cell service but there is wifi. Also no laundry because they have limited water. I paid for a campsite. They close at 6PM which is kinda early so keep that in mind if you plan on getting there late.
Hanksville: It’s an 18-mile hitch into town. Hanksville is very interesting. There’s less than 300 people who live there but they get millions of visitors each year. That’s because they’re located right in the middle of Utah’s five national parks and there’s no services in any direction out of Hanksville for many miles so people have to stop there. What did this mean for me? Well, I got there on a Friday and every room was booked. This was legitimately one of the most disappointing moments of my life. I was daydreaming about resting my injured leg indoors on a nice comfy bed while watching TV. I ended up just staying at a campground because that was the only thing available. Huge bummer. However, the silver lining is I met the family that owns one of the cabins in town. It’s called Muddy Creek Mining Company and they’re brand new. They felt bad about my situation and let me chill out in their laundry room which was very nice. They gave me their wifi password and let me do laundry for free. Not only that, they offered to let me camp on their private property for free but it was kinda far away so I didn’t. The next day they drove me back to the trailhead. Very kind people. Whenever I go back to Hanksville I will definitely get one of their cabins, I owe them. As far as the resupply goes I didn’t go to the grocery store because the gas station on the edge of town had a very good selection.
Escalante: If you’re going to ask “what was the best food you had on trail,” the answer is the pizza at Escalante Outfitters. Truly incredible. Anyways, I did the Escalante Alternate to save the 30-mile hitch on a dirt road that is notoriously difficult. I absolutely despise hitch-hiking so I will do almost anything to avoid it. Escalante is a small town, everything is on one street. Plenty of lodging options ranging from dirt cheap to expensive. I took my only zero day here so I stayed at one of each. The first was the cabins at Escalante Outfitters, it was $75 for a small cabin with a shared bathroom in a separate building. Check out the videos if you want to see it. It’s pretty bare bones which explains the price. The next night I stayed at the Entrada Lodge next door. It costs $200 including tax. Pretty fancy. As far as the resupply went I sent a box there that included maps and new shoes. There’s a natural grocery store, a regular grocery store, and several gas stations so you don’t need to send a box here.
Kanab: The hitch is about 30-miles and only took 30-minutes. I got lucky because I’ve heard horror stories about people waiting several hours to get a ride. Kanab is a full service town and the biggest since Moab. It’s well built for thru-hikers as everything we need is on the main drag. I sent a box to the North Rim at the post office here. I actually didn’t buy much of a resupply for the next stretch because I had a ton of food left over. I stayed at the Comfort Suites which was around $170 total. The next day I took a $40 ride (Red Rock Shuttle) back to the trail which was 100% worth it. No way was I walking several miles to the edge of town to try and hitch.
North Rim: PSA, if you send a box to the NR Lodge it will be held by the Post Office which is in the same building. This is important because the PO isn’t open on weekends. I’m lucky I found that out because it saved me from being forced to zero. I hiked around 90 miles in 2.5 days to get there before they closed. Got there on opening weekend so everything was packed. Wifi and cell service was overloaded. Stayed at the campground that night. I was able to shower and do some laundry which was nice. However most of their machines were broken. There was a big field trip of 8th graders from Kentucky who were also there. Some of them were very intrigued with my hike. Talked to a few of the kids and teachers there, they were pretty cool. One of the teachers wanted me to talk to their whole group the next day but that didn’t happen since I get up too early. They were definitely a private school and it was obvious all the kids came from money. Not judging, it was just interesting to listen to 13/14yr olds talk about about Louis Vuitton versus other brands. Apparently, they do this trip at the end of every school year. If only every school could do something like that
Colorado City: I’ve thru-hiked over 10,000 miles and this is the weirdest town I’ve ever been to. A quick google search and you’ll find out why. There’s a lot of huge fancy houses there. I walked by one massive house that was having some a big party on a Tuesday night. I walked out of town at night and someone on a dirt bike flew by me doing a wheely with no headlights on. I could only hear him as there were also no street lights, very dangerous. Colorado City is in Arizona and the town of Hildale borders them to the north and they’re in Utah. So there’s a one hour time difference divided by one street. I tried hitching in but gave up after 20-minutes, it’s only a 5.5-mile walk. During the road walk in I passed a car parked on the side of the road and right as I approached they locked their doors. Guess they thought I was a serial killer. I hate getting judged like that but I guess I'd do the same if I was unaware of thru-hikers. I got there around 8PM and resupplied at Bee’s Market. It’s the first big grocery store right on the edge of town which is nice.
ALTERNATES I TOOK
Needles Outpost: I mentioned this above but there’s no need to hitch into here. Just walk in and walk out. On the way out I made up my own alternate through the park and connected it back to the Hayduke before Butler Wash
Hanksville Road Walk: So this was the first big change up I did for several reasons. I was dealing with INSANE shin pain due to overuse. I think it was shin splints but I don’t know. I would get excruciating sharp pain on the lower part of my right shin. It wasn’t the shin bone, it was the muscle and it was seriously inflamed. It was bad enough that I was worried it would end my hike. The second reason is because I lost around 20-25% of my water capacity in Butler Wash when my bladder bag popped. The section from Hite to Hanksville is notoriously difficult and dry. So I just didn’t want to risk it. The road walk is about the same length but obviously faster. It was pretty miserable to walk but I don’t regret it given the situation
Henry Mountain Low Route: The main route goes over the summit but I got there around 7PM and the wind was pretty crazy that day and many days after. Taking the lower route was a no brainer
Escalante Alternate: This alt is 25-miles shorter according to Skurka’s guide. As I mentioned above I hate hitch-hiking so this was an easy choice. The alternate into town actually isn’t bad. You go through Silver Falls Creek which turns into Harris Wash after fording the Escalante River. Harris Wash was the first time on the Hayduke where I spent most of the day with wet feet and endless amounts of water. It was a nice change up from the dry desert before that. However, I will admit that Harris Wash lost its appeal about halfway through because it’s very slow moving. At the end of the wash when the water runs out it’s just walking on soft sand which is miserably slow. Going out of Escalante I fucked up by plotting the wrong points on my map. This led me straight into a terrible bushwack that lasted a couple hours
Skipped the Grand Canyon Loop: This combined with the Escalante Alt is what made my Hayduke around 100-miles shorter. The loop is a combo of the Nankoweap Trail, Tonto Trail, and the R2R, it’s around 75-miles. I skipped it for a few reasons. One, it’s much easier permit wise to continue 10 more miles down the AZT and into the ranger station at the North Rim. Two, I’ve already done the R2R three times, seven months ago I did the R2R2R as a day hike. So I didn’t really feel like hiking that section again. Three, this is where the hemorrhoids come into play, I’m sure you’ve been wondering about that. Two days before going into Escalante I developed an external hemorrhoid that I’m currently still dealing with as I type this. As you can imagine it was nasty and incredible annoying to deal with on trail. It was accompanied with bloody poop and lots of gas and bloating. I started taking anti-gas pills like candy. I also bought hemorrhoid cream in town but that didn’t help. Sleeping was painful and I was already having trouble with that as it was. I couldn’t sit down unless I was leaning to one side because I’d be sitting on the hemorrhoid. My underwear was stained with poop and blood everyday. I would stop every few hours to wipe my ass and it was disgusting. I’ll save the rest of the details but you can imagine this was ruining the hike. Fourth reason, I’ll be honest I wasn’t really having fun on this trail and I wanted it to be over.
Bill Hall Alternate: This was a tough decision because the regular route down Saddle Canyon and the Tapeats is suppose to be the most difficult and challenging section of the Hayduke. In the guidebook it’s the only section they give their highest difficulty to. I planned on doing it but the biggest factor is how high Tapeats Creek is flowing. The rangers unfortunately didn’t have any good intel. There was one ranger who was there a week prior and she said the ford “might be possible,” which didn’t instill much confidence in me. They also told me five previous Haydukers decided to take the alternate around it. I got there in mid-May which is exactly when the snow-melt is happening so I decided it wasn’t worth the risk. The issue is you have to descend into Saddle Canyon just to get to Tapeats, and Saddle Canyon is notorious for being very slow moving. Past Haydukers have said it takes them half the day just to get through those 5-6 miles. So if after that you found out Tapeats was impassible then the only option is to climb all the way back up Saddle Canyon which would mean you will most likely run out of food. And from there it’s a 25+ mile road walk back to the North Rim to resupply and head back out. Not worth it. In hindsight it was a good idea because there is a high likelihood I would’ve run out of food even if I made it through. Taking the Bill Hall alt (which is faster) I only had 2,000 calories leftover when I entered Colorado City, I’m not sure if that would’ve lasted me if I did Saddle/Tapeats. I found a good 2-3 night loop I can do in the fall to make it up.
Beehive Alternate: Most hikers just call it the Colorado City alternate but the Beehive Alt sounds cooler. I’m pretty sure most hikers take this alternate because it’s a short 5.5 mile walk into a town that most will need to go to. From town you head northeast into Hildale, UT towards Squirrel Canyon Trailhead and take that trail which turns into a road that connects back to the Hayduke. I call it the Beehive because it goes right by Beehive Peak. The only downside is that road ends up being all soft sand for a few miles which was really miserable to walk on
East Rim Terminus: This was unexpected because I was unaware of the massive rockfall that has been blocking the trail to Weeping Rock which is where the normal terminus is. I didn’t find this out until I got to the trailhead at 8:30PM. You can see it in the last video. This was a huge bummer and very anti-climatic but it is what it is
FAVORITE SECTIONS: Youngs/Dark Canyon, Muley Twist, Harris Wash, Round Valley Draw, Hackberry Canyon, The Barracks
WORST SECTIONS: Walking on soft sand, long road walks, the boulder hop
GOOD GEAR WORTH NOTING
Durston X-Mid Pro 1: Probably my favorite piece of gear. Great tent. Huge vestibule space. Easy pitch. This tent held up against some pretty fierce winds that made me nervous. The only hiccup was the string that ties the corner of the floor to the corner of the fly came undone. Obviously an easy fix. I checked the other side and found that was coming loose too so I tightened it
Patagonia Houdini: Been using this layer since the CDT in 2017 and I think it should be in everyone’s kit. It’s only around 3.5oz and actually adds a decent amount of warmth but not too much unless it gets very hot.
Jack Black Lip Balm SPF 25: Most people bring sunscreen but not lip balm. A lot of climbers and mountaineers use this product. I found out about it listening to Jimmy Chin on a podcast. This is probably the best lip balm on the market, it costs $24 for a pack of 3 which seems pricy but it’s 100% worth it to me. I used it daily.
Garmin inReach Mini 2: This is the first time I brought a PLB on any hike and I’m glad it was this one. The Hayduke has you doing some sketchy climbs in the middle of bumfuck nowhere and I was glad I had this since I was solo
Nitecore 400 Headlamp: This thing is great. Very powerful light at a very light weight. I did some night hiking with it and never had an issue with the battery. Never had to recharge it on trail
Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork: I will never buy trekking poles from another brand. These poles are from 2019 and they’ve been through the PNT, CT, AZT, and now Hayduke. I’ve put them through everything and they’re still going strong. I will probably retire this pair and buy the updated version
BAD GEAR WORTH NOTING
Katabatic Gear Alsek 22: The quilt is very high quality, Katabatic has a great reputation, that’s not the issue. It’s bad because I personally hate quilts. I used one on the CDT and wasn’t the biggest fan but for some reason I decided to give it another shot, especially since I’ve heard so much about Katabatic. I’d much prefer a sleeping bag that fully closes. I hate having that open section where cold air seeps in. I toss and turn multiple times per hour so I constantly have to be adjusting the quilt as I rollover. I do not want to have to think while I sleep. Sometimes the cold air would jolt me awake and I would spend another 30+ minutes trying to fall back asleep. I’ve always had sleeping problems so this didn’t help. I also used a foam pad so I couldn’t really connect the straps like you can with a sleeping pad. I’m currently selling the quilt if anyone is interested. https://www.reddit.com/GearTrade/comments/1d1d248/wts_katabatic_gear_alsek_22/
SUMMARY: It’s hard for me to believe I was only on trail for 26 days because it felt 3x as long. I’m glad I hiked this trail but at the same time this is the only trail that I’ll never thru-hike again. I personally think this trail would be much better as a section hike. There are two things I didn’t mention that made this hike difficult for me. First is hiking solo was miserable. I’ve done many thru-hikes solo but this one is rough to do alone. I would’ve had more fun if I had someone to talk to and to share the misery with. Not to mention it’d be safer in some sections due to the scrambles. The second is insomnia. I’ve had insomnia pretty much my whole life and it usually doesn’t bother me too much on trail, but the Hayduke was different. I could not sleep at all on this trail. If I had to estimate I’d say half the nights I didn’t fall asleep until after midnight, which meant I was only getting 4-6hrs of sleep. Combine that with the fact that I was doing big miles in rough terrain and my body just wasn't recovering well. Even the nights I spent in town I’d be tossing and turning in bed for hours before falling asleep. I bought some Aleve PM only to find that didn’t help either. In the past I’ve taken handfuls of OTC sleeping pills and it would still take me hours to fall asleep. People who don’t deal with chronic insomnia have no idea how lucky they are
I still recommend the Hayduke, but just know what you’re getting into. Do as much research as possible. I will say that out of all the desert I’ve hiked (PCT/CDT/AZT/Hayduke) that this trail has without a doubt the best views and it’s not even close. You just gotta put in a lot of work to see them.
ADVICE FOR FUTURE HIKERS

• As I mentioned, try to hike with a parter. It’ll be safer and more fun
  
• Look into as many alternates as possible before you leave. I only used Skurka’s list but he doesn’t have all of them. There are many good alternates on the Hayduke worth considering
  
• Do not take a new pack on this trail. Use an old one if you have it. This trail is rough and will take a toll on your pack. I used a brand new GG Mariposa and after just 700 miles it looks worse than my GG Gorilla that I hiked the PNT, CT, and AZT with
  
• If you can get a boat ride to skip the Boulder Hop section then absolutely do it. There’s a seven mile section in the Grand Canyon that’s in-between Deer Creek and Kanab Creek that is potentially the most miserable section on the Hayduke. It’s so bad that even the co-founder of the trail (Mike Coronella) recommends skipping it. This section parallels the Colorado River and the last 3-4 miles is a slow and boring boulder hop where progress will be very slow. Combine that with the fact that it’ll most likely be 100 degrees out with no shade and you have a recipe for pure misery. I started this section at 3PM and by 8PM my urine looked like Pepsi. I’ve never seen that before and it was obviously concerning. It was literally almost black. Thankfully, there’s unlimited water so I remedied that situation quickly. The five hours I spent on that section I only covered 4.5 miles because I missed the route that bypasses an impassable sandstone cliff. You can see this in video #5, I dropped a pin on where that bypass begins and recommend you save it if you're gonna hike it. Oh yeah, there’s also bushwhacking mixed in and it’s very thorny. If you can’t hitch a boat ride then my recommendation is to do this section during the last few hours of the day, and finish it within the first few hours of the following day.
  
• Either skip Tropic or do the Bryce Canyon Extension. To go into Tropic you need to walk six miles on a dirt road to reach the main road where there will be more cars. It’s possible to hitch on the dirt road but it’s not very busy. I was there on a weekday and saw one car at the trailhead and that was it. If you do the Escalante Alt then you can skip Tropic and go straight to Kanab, that’s what I did. It will be a longer carry but that section wasn’t too bad. The other option is to do the Bryce Canyon Extension. This alternate is around 25-miles longer and you will road walk into Tropic and continue west into Bryce. This allows you to do an extra 15 miles in the park. The normal route is only in the park for 12-miles so you don’t see much. If I hiked again this is what I would do
  

RECOMMENDED GEAR

• PLB: If you’re going solo definitely take a PLB. You will be in the middle of nowhere and if something bad happened there’s a good chance it could be days/weeks before anyone found you
  
• Good sunscreen and lip balm with SPF. Don’t think I need to explain this
  
• Rope: Not a requirement but definitely helpful in some sections. I bought roughly 15’ of rope in Escalante and used it during Round Valley Draw. Glad I had it
  
• When it comes to layering just be prepared for all temperatures. I experienced everything from 30 to 100 degrees in the month of May