I know fest ends at 11 and the last bus comest at 12, just want to know how bad was the bottleneck at the end of the night? I hope I don’t have to do this and miss any Blink-182 songs in order to beat the crowd

Hi guys, I’ve only been here a month and my car broke down so I’ll have to commute into San Fran with the bus (to BART Oakland). Im too poor to ride the ferry everyday. I’m from NYC, where transit was pretty reliable. Can I trust the scheduled bus times for the 20 and 51A outside of rush hour? And if not, which bus is more reliable? Any insight would be great, thank you

Anyone here utilize the 80X county connector to Bellingham from time to time?
Dreaming of a day when it ran on the hour every hour, in both directions weekdays and weekends.
Imagine walking/biking/or even park n riding to Skagit Station/Chuckanut heading north to enjoy restaurants/bars/concerts/services in our regions largest city, in Bellingham, on a whim - then boom you return when you feel like it. Service starting at 6 a.m. - last runs at 11 p.m. Doesn't seem that unrealistic to me. (5 a.m. to 2 a.m. would be best but probably unrealistic at this moment).
Seems wild that Mount Vernon/Bellingham are 30 minutes apart but are only connected with public transit during a fairly restricted commuter bus schedule. I'd love to see light-rail a thing in the future but bus expansion seems the cheapest and easiest way to scale up public transit regionally at this moment.
Who else has ideas or tips on how our county and regional public transit could improve to make our communities more convenient/environmentally friendly and livable? (Plug to send ideas and comments to Skagit Transit!)

I have been in Pittsburgh for three weeks while exploring where to move. This comes after many years in Philadelphia, a few years in NYC, and a couple years in Europe. The only criteria I have for moving somewhere are that the city is relatively affordable, that I can live there without a car, and that it’s not Philadelphia. Others I’ve talked to also wound up here because this city makes a depressingly short list of places in America that even aspire to meet these conditions (at least the first two).
I know transit and walkability come up frequently on this sub, that there are a million “is it possible to live without a car” threads, and that the question is somewhat divisive. My question is more specific. From my experience over the last few weeks, the city has a very good transit network and they seem to be making infrastructural improvements. What concerns me is twofold: first, the alarming frequency when scheduled busses simply don’t arrive, or where trips are canceled, which is indicated via greyed out and strikethrough text on the Transit app. The second is the understanding from reading this sub that things didn’t always used to be this shaky, and that the problems are part of a descent that has a reasonable chance of continuing.
So my question is: Is this something I should expect to improve, stagnate, or get worse? I could accommodate the diminished frequency of bus arrivals if those arrivals were at least consistent. I could also accommodate them if I knew this was temporary. But when the system is not consistent, it makes relying on the system outside a couple main thoroughfares useless, and if I know that this is the best it’s going to be, then I may have to cross the city off my list, despite all the other appeal of Pittsburgh and the almost instant way I was drawn in by it when I arrived.
Thanks for any help.

As Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage month draws to a close here in the United States, I wanted to share a collection of write-ups featuring the stories of Asians/Pacific Islanders who are currently missing or whose cases have not been resolved. This is an expansion of a piece I post annually and therefore may it sound similar. These are mostly my pieces as well as a few other cases that I have remembered reading about over the last year or two including some cases recommended by readers. Feel free to add other cases which have stuck with you down in the comment section. I hope to garner some exposure for these lesser known cases and links to sources can be found at the bottom or embedded.
Khoi Dang Vu was a deaf American man who went missing from his family’s home in 2007 in Vancouver, Washington. He left on a rainy night without his coat, bike, or any belongings. His case is now considered a homicide and no trace of him has ever been found. True Crime Bullsh*t, an investigative podcast, has surmised that Vu may be a victim of serial killer Israel Keyes. The FBI considers the case a kidnapping. Khoi is of Vietnamese descent. My write up here- https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/g89b2z/what_causes_someone_to_leave_their_home_in_the/
https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/khoi-dang-vu
Slideshow made my Khoi's sister- www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IuTeb58vH0&t=0s
Wallace Guidroz went missing from Tacoma in 1983 when he was only two years old. His father took him to a park, went on a walk with a mysterious man, and then when he returned Wallace was gone. Wallace has never been seen again. He is of Korean and African American descent. https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/mdtktl/2_%C2%BD_year_old_wallace_guidroz_disappeared_while/
https://charleyproject.org/case/wallace-guidroz
Helen Doe is an unidentified decedent who died in a semi-truck crash in Kalama, Washington in 1991. Although she is believed to be Native American, Asian, Hispanic, and mixed heritage cannot be ruled out. Her story can be found here. A new facial reconstruction can be see here. https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Helen_Doe https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/lnv1b9/extensive_write_up_on_the_bizarre_case_of_helen/
https://www.koin.com/news/special-reports/the-mystery-of-helen-doe-kalama-crash-1991/
Grays Harbor Jane Doe was found in 1984 off of a logging road in Southern Washington state. She was middle aged and believed to be of Asian descent. You can read about her here. https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Grays_Harbor_County_Jane_Doe
In 1963 the body of an unidentified man was found floating in the Spokane River in Spokane, Washington. The man had most likely drowned. He is believed to be of Asian descent but white and mixed descent could not be ruled out. His story, as well as the stories of 16 other unknown persons from Spokane can be found here. https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/liqj98/extensive_write_up_on_17_of_spokane_countys/
https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1670umwa.html
Gary Ridgway aka the Green River Killer terrorized the Pacific Northwest for decades. What many people do not know is that the Green River task force is still in operation. Ridgway confessed to 71 murders, but only around 49 bodies have been found meaning there are more victims waiting to be discovered or reported missing. Two of Gary Ridgway’s known victims were of Asian American or Pacific Islander backgrounds. Marie Malvar, who was of Filipino descent, and Kimi Kai Pitsor who was native Hawaiian, but there may be more. To read about the stories of these young girls as well as other victims of Ridgway you can start here. https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/gpbcll/what_everyone_has_wrong_about_ridgway_extensive/
https://kingcounty.gov/depts/sheriff/about-us/enforcement/investigations/green-river.aspx
Diane Nguyen Robbins was only 13 in 1985 when she was last seen. She disappeared with her 21 year old friend, Molly Purdin, who was later found murdered. Both Diane and her friend were from Kennewick, Washington but Molly’s was found in northern King County. Gary Ridgway is a suspect in both cases. Diane is of Vietnamese and white descent. https://charleyproject.org/case/diane-nguyen-robbins
Edward Ryon Makuahanai Aikau, usually known as Eddie Aikau, a famous lifeguard and surfer, was credited with saving over 500 people at Waimea bay on Oahu’s north shore during his tenure as lifeguard. In fact not one person was reported drowned during Eddie’s shifts at the beach. In 1978, 31 year old Aikau had decided to join the Polynesia Voyaging society, a group who planned to travel from Hawaii to Tahiti using only outrigger canoes. Shortly into their journey one canoe sprung a leak and eventually capsized 12 miles south of Molokai. Eddie paddled on his surfboard towards Lanai in a valiant effort to summon help, but soon disappeared. The US Coast Guard were able to save all the passengers and a huge search was launched but Eddie was never found and is presumed drowned. Eddie Aikau is a household name in Hawaii and in the surfing community. Competitions bearing his name and t-shirts, bumper stickers, and other items inscribed with “Eddie would go” are a constant reminder of his legacy and memory. Eddie was of Native Hawaiian and Caucasian, mostly Portuguese, descent. His story can be found here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Aikau
Rachel Mellon, sometimes reported as Rachel Mellon Skemp or Rachel Mellon Kemp was a 13 year old who disappeared from her Illinois home when she was home sick one day in 1996. Her step-father is the primary suspect in her disappearance and diary entries from several months earlier reported that her step dad had touched her inappropriately and tried to kiss her. Rachel is of Asian descent but her family reports she is often mistaken for Greek or Italian. Her case can be found here. https://charleyproject.org/case/rachel-marie-mellon
Hang Lee, a 17 year old girl, went missing from St Paul Minnesota on January 12th 1993. Hang was last seen with a friend Kia “Nikki” Lee. She left home with this friend between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. but when Nikki returned home an hour later, Hang was not with her. Nikki initially told authorities Hang had left with some unidentified young men. She later changed her story and said Hang had gone to a job interview with Nikki's own employer, Mark Steven Wallace, at Wallace's small painting and carpentry business on Iroquois Avenue. Wallace told Nikki that he was looking to hire another employee and she suggested her friend Hang as Hang was looking for a new job. Nikki thought that this request from Wallace was odd as he did not have enough work to hire another employee at that time. Nikki eventually told authorities that she and Hang went to Wallace's place of work and drove around with him in a white truck before switching and driving around in a tan Chevy Cavalier. Wallace dropped Nikki off and then left with Hang in the car. Wallace also told Nikki to not report what happened to the police.After a few interviews with the police Nikki retained an attorney and is no longer cooperating. Wallace denied involvement but also retained an attorney. Wallace is the prime suspect in the disappearance of Hang Lee. He has a record which includes rape, kidnapping, stalking, and drug possession. Hang Lee has never been located and her mother and 13 siblings are still looking for her.Hang is described as a sweet and naïve teenager who is only 17 and 1993. She was 5 ft tall and weighed 90 lb. She was last seen wearing a lightweight black leather jacket, a black t-shirt with "Skid Row" written on the back, black jeans or slacks, sneakers and several pieces of jewelry, including two silver bracelets. She is described as an Asian female with black hair and brown eyes. Her parents moved from Lao (sometimes spelled Laos in the US), and she is Hmong descent. She speaks both English and Hmong. She left behind her purse, a paycheck, and all of her other belongings.Full article here.
Deborah Palmer was only 7 years old in 1997 when she was last seen getting ready for school. Her mother said goodbye as Deborah left the home to walk a few blocks to her elementary school in Oak Harbor, Washington. When Deborah’s mother tried to drop off lunch a few hours later, she was shocked to learn that her daughter never arrived. Five days later, Deborah’s body was found on a beach a few miles away. She had been strangled but not sexually assaulted. Her case is cold and unsolved 25 years later. Deborah is of African American and Filipino descent. https://www.q13fox.com/washingtons-most-wanted/little-girl-doesnt-show-up-for-school-but-shows-up-days-later-dead-on-a-beach
In September of 2019, Tampa native Paulino Norberto Del Mundo Japor Jr. decided she wanted to go on a 10 vacation to Cozumel, Mexico but during a layover in Dallas she called her sister and asked for help getting a ticket back to Florida as she had changed her mind about going to Mexico. Her family said on the phone she sounded “desperate” and “incoherent.” She never boarded a flight home or boarded her plane to Mexico. Her last known whereabouts were documented on security tapes from the Dallas airport. Her phone and bank account have not been used since that day and she was never seen again. Paulino is a transgender woman who went by the names Paula, Paulina, or Pauline. Although Paula had lived as a woman for years she had not medically transitioned and it appears she still used Paulino Norberto as her legal first and middle name. She is of Filipino descent and her family is still hoping for answers. https://charleyproject.org/case/paulino-norberto-del-mundo-japor-jr
In 1999, Xuan Cao, a 53-year-old man from China, was visiting the USA as part of a tour group. His tour group had just gotten to a hotel in North Bergen, NJ, when Xuan said he was going out to make a phone call. He disappeared and never came back. He left behind his passport and all of his luggage. It is not believed to be a voluntary disappearance.
In 1990, Tu Thi-Cam Tran, a student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, vanished one night on her way back to her car from the University Center. Tu, who was of Vietnamese descent, was 24 years old at the time, and in her senior year at UMBC. She went missing in the small window of time between leaving her classroom and getting into her car. Here's a write-up on her case with some more information.
Ashok Kuman Narain was last seen in Eugene, Oregon in either 1987 or 1988 where he lived with his wife and young daughter after moving from Fiji several years earlier. In 1987 the dismembered body of a pregnant woman and the body of a toddler were found floating nearby in Washington and Oregon. 20 years later these bodies were identified as Raj Mati Narain and Kamnee Koushal, the wife and daughter of Ashok, after Raj’s brother read a story about the unidentified bodies online. He had not heard from his sister since 1987 when Raj’s letters back to her family in Fiji mysteriously stopped. Ashok is wanted for questioning but his whereabouts are unknown. Authorities are looking for a white 1980 Toyota Tercel with the Oregon license plate number KUV762, which disappeared with Ashok and may be connected to Raj and Kamnee's homicides. Both Oregon and Washington authorities are investigating his disappearance.Most sources say the family is of Indo Fijian descent, however, the Charley project now reports that Ashok is of native Fijian descent. You can read their tragic story here. https://charleyproject.org/case/ashok-kumar-narain
Queens Jane Doe was an unidentified woman who fell to her death accidentally after falling off an elevated train platform in Queens, New York in January, 2000. She is described as an 18 to 28 year old Asian or Pacific Islander woman who is 5 ft 1 in in height and weighed 113 lb. She had brown eyes and 7” straight dark brown hair. She was wearing a dark brown Albert Duke brand leather jacket, a blue and white plaid button-up shirt, a dark colored bra, blue jeans, white underwear, and black Euro sneakers or boots. She was also wearing earrings. Her identity is still a mystery to this day. You can find more information here, https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Queens_Jane_Doe_(January_2000)) but please be careful as post-mortem photos are available of this woman.
In 2011, Mansoor Riaz, a Microsoft software engineer, vanished one night from his Bellevue, Washington apartment. Riaz is of Pakistani descent. His story can be found here.
https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/msgolf/a_software_developer_at_mircosoft_vanished_from/
https://charleyproject.org/case/mansoor-riaz
Yuan Xia Wang went missing near Washington DC when she was headed for a doctor’s appointment. Yuan had been found at Dulles Airport when a man who was smuggling people into the country was detained and Yuan was one of his charges. Police became suspicious when Yuan who was supposedly a Thai citizen could not speak or understand Thai, but rather spoke Mandarin. Yuan told authorities her parents in Fuzhou, China had paid money for this man to get her into the country using a Thai passport. She was supposed to live with an aunt in the US, but she didn't know where or who this person was so she was placed in foster care for the time being. Other reports say that her smuggler was supposed to take her to a hotel in Alexandria, Virginia. Her foster parents hired a Mandarin speaking babysitter to stay with her until she was enrolled in at a local middle school. Yuan went missing only a few weeks later while on the way to a doctor's appointment. She reportedly got off the school bus and was supposed to take a cab to the doctors but vanished by the time the cab arrived. Although Yuan said she was 12, she was 5’ 6” in height and most people thought she was probably 14-15 at the time of her disappearance. She is of Chinese descent and speaks Mandarin. Police believe she either ran away, was kidnapped by her family members or smugglers, or met with foul play. She may have been seen in Kansas city in 2008. Sadly her dentals, fingerprints, and DNA and not available. https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/jbtixc/yuan_xia_wangmissing_from_lincolnia_virginia/
https://charleyproject.org/case/yuan-xia-wang
Su Cha Kim a 54 year old shop owner from Twin Falls, Idaho Was found murdered in her massage parlor in 1997. Her case is unsolved and cold. Unfortunately, little information is available online. https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/njhce2/the_1997_murder_of_su_cha_kim_in_twin_falls_id/
https://magicvalley.com/news/local/twin-falls-police-hope-passing-years-will-help-solve-cold-cases/article_7c83fca5-9dfd-5fd6-915f-063719bc0117.html
Faloma Luhk, 10, and Maleina Luhk, 9, disappeared while waiting for their school bus in As Teo, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, on May 25th, 2011. The girls were last seen sitting on a concrete slab at 6:10 a.m. across the road from their bus stop, only 300 feet from the home they shared with their grandparents. The bus arrived and left without them at 6:30 am but the girls were not reported missing until they didn’t come home after school that day. The 12 mile long island of Saipan was searched thoroughly by friends, family, locals, and the FBI but no trace of the girls or their things were ever found and their disappearance remains one of the most well known mysteries from the Northern Mariana Islands. Both girls are described as Pacific Islander females with brown hair and brown eyes. In 2011, Faloma had bronze colored highlights in her bangs, and Maleina had a large birthmark on her left cheek. She is reported as small and short for her age. A distant family member by marriage, who was later arrested for domestic violence, is the prime suspect in the case. He has never been named publicly. https://www.saipantribune.com/index.php/disappearance-of-luhk-sisters-marks-10-years/
https://www.guampdn.com/news/local/10-years-later-fbi-still-looking-for-luhk-sisters-who-went-missing-from-saipan-bus/article_f22e2472-cc38-50ac-a187-2ad5f3795155.html
Dong Chull Jung disappeared within minutes in Lakewood, Washington. The 78 year old was residing at the Golden Lion Motel on Tacoma Way in Lakewood, Washington. The establishment has long been a hotbed of criminal activity and violence since at least the 1990s. On average the police responded to incidents at the 24-room hotel over 100 times per year. November 22nd 2003 was one of those times. On that day witnesses called the police after hearing a “disturbance” in Dong’s room. When the authorities arrived, they found a giant pool of blood on the floor as well as Dong’s prescription eyeglasses, but Dong was nowhere to be found. According to the News Tribune, a paper out of Tacoma, one week before Dong’s disappearance he was granted a temporary domestic violence protection order from a Paul C. Jung, who might be Dong’s adult son. In June of 2003, someone named Hae Sung Jung, got a restraining order against Dong. Hae might be the estranged wife of Dong, but this isn’t known for sure. There are vague reports that Dong was having “marital issues'' at the time of his disappearance. Very little information is available in the case. The Golden Lion Inn was finally torn down in 2017 but the fate of the elderly man who resided within remains a mystery. Dong is described as an Asian (Korean) male, with brown eyes and thinning gray hair. He is 5’6'' and weighs 135 lbs. Dong wears prescription eyeglasses but they were left behind when he vanished. If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Dong Jung please call Pierce County Crime Stoppers 253-591-5959. https://charleyproject.org/case/dong-chull-jung
Gordon Kaipo Kealoha, 59, disappeared along with his dog Mahina in 2011. They were last seen fishing near Honolulu where they lived on July 8; Gordon cherished Mahina and brought her almost everywhere he went. After his disappearance, Gordon's white minivan was found abandoned, and his dinghy was found in the water, floating away from his home. Gordon is 6'1 and 250 pounds, and he is of Native Hawaiian descent.
https://charleyproject.org/case/gordon-kaipo-kealoha
Amber Aiaz and Melissa Fu were mother and daughter who went missing In November, 2019 from Irvine, California. The story of their disappearance and possible kidnapping is complicated. I would suggest reading the story here or here if you are interested in the details but the basic story is this. Amber's husband, Cheng Zhang, reported his wife and stepdaughter missing to the police about a week after they were last seen. He said that a Chinese man and woman came to his door, put something on his face and he passed out. He reported that when he woke up he found blood and evidence of a struggle in the apartment. He also found a note telling him not to report his wife and daughter missing to the police for at least several days and continued to get notes over the next week. He did what the notes instructed for the next several days. When he finally did report his wife and stepdaughter missing, police were skeptical of his story to say the least. Several months later police reported that they had found nothing to indicate that Cheng’s story was untrue, including over 40 hours of interviews with him and 44 days of around the clock surveillance. In the past Amber had told acquaintances that she was a very wealthy woman who had millions of dollars to her name. While this was not true, authorities speculated that Amber may have been kidnapped for ransom only for her captors to find out that her story of riches was nothing more than a farce. Amber's money has not been touched in either her Chinese or American bank accounts. Both mother and daughter left behind their passports and there's no indication that either of them have entered China.
Amber is described as a 34-year-old Chinese woman who is 5'9 and weighed 180 lb. She has black hair and brown eyes. When last seen she was wearing a black shirt, a black vest, black fitted pants with white writing on them, and light colored shoes. She may use the name Mei Yi Wu or Meiyi W. Wu.
Melissa is described as a 12 or 13 year old Chinese female with black hair and brown eyes. She was 5 '11” in height and weighed about 200 lb. She was last seen wearing a black tracksuit.
Cheng described the unidentified abductors as a Chinese couple in their 40s. Both had average builds. The woman was reported to be about 5’8” and had her black hair tied back in a bun. The man was of average build about 190 lb. and 5 '10”. He had short black hair. The couple may have been driving a black Cadillac and they may have been seen near the apartment complex that day by other neighbors.
Destiny Dee Sanith was last seen by her family on March 3rd, 2022 in Williamstown New Jersey. At about 2:30 in the afternoon on March 3rd, she asked her mom if she could borrow the car to go visit a friend in South Philadelphia. When Destiny did not return in the evening her mother learned that she never made it to her friend's house that day. New Jersey police had contact with Destiny at about 5:20 a.m. on March 4th In Folsom New Jersey. Destiny and her car were near a strip mall at the time. What exactly happened is not clear but police reported they helped Destiny move her car into a parking spot and then gave her a ride to a Wawa convenience store about a mile up the road. Destiny's family has reported that they have surveillance video of Destiny entering and then later leaving the Wawa store after purchasing a drink. At about 9:00 a.m. she was seen leaving the store with a drink crossing the road, turning into another convenience store and then going behind the building and out of view. This is the last known sighting and location of Destiny Sanith. On March 5th when Destiny had still not returned home she was reported missing to the police and her family learned about her interaction with the police on the morning of March 4th. Destiny has not been seen or heard from since.
Destiny is described as an Asian female 27 years old, who is 5'6 and height and weighs about 160 lb. She reportedly has short wavy brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing black sweatpants, a black Nike sweatshirt, a backpack, white and red Air Jordan sneakers, wearing earrings and carrying a coffee. She has a tattoo of the Virgo symbol on her right hand. Her nickname is Dara. Her family has set up a GoFundMe to help find Destiny and hire a private investigator. Full article here.
Myong Keun Noah, who went by the nickname Mike, was seen by his family at around 7:00 p.m. on May 1st, 2007 in San Bruno, CA. Mike owned a private car company called E Limousine Services that he ran out of his home. That evening Mike told his son that he had to leave to pick up a 7:30 p.m fare. He did not tell his son where he was picking up the fare. Mike's wife was at an evening class at the time. Neither he or his black Lincoln town car was ever seen again. His car was new and didn't have permanent license plates, but had the transportation carrier permit number TCP 18525 printed on the back bumper. It had a transponder that registers when it enters San Francisco International Airport, but the transponder did not register a trip to the airport that evening. A search of parking areas at both the San Francisco Airport and the Oakland Airport did not locate Mike or his car. Mike's bank account and his phone have not been used since May 1st, 2007. Mike had no history of running away or dropping out of sight, he had no reported mental health issues, no personal problems, and no enemies. Police report that they are baffled by his disappearance. Mike was a US Army veteran and a naturalized American citizen. He had one teenaged son with his current wife and two adult children from a previous marriage however, no one in Mike's family has heard from him since May 1st, 2007. Mike is described as an Asian male, 60 years old in 2007, with brown eyes and black and gray hair. He is 5 ft 8 in in height and weighs about 165 lbs. He was last seen wearing a black suit with a white shirt. He may spell his last name “Noh.” He is of Korean descent.
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SAN-BRUNO-Wife-police-plead-for-help-finding-2559008.php
https://charleyproject.org/case/myoung-keun-noah
What happened to these people?

Beginning June 1, 2023, all Peoria Charter passengers at O'Hare Airport will be picked up from the new ORD Multi-Modal Facility (MMF). Passengers will need to take the free Airport Transit System (ATS) from the terminals to the MMF to board their bus.
Drop-offs will continue at O'Hare Terminal 2 Departures only.
When booking your ticket with Peoria Charter, please account for the extra travel time required on the Airport Transit System (ATS). O'Hare MMF authorities strictly monitor loading slot times; buses are not able to wait additional time beyond scheduled departure.

I've seen some posts about activities to meet folks or for their elderly relatives that live in the area. The Manchester Rec department has some activities that you can sign up for right now. Shuffleboard and Pickleball at Hallsville School I'm not sure the age group. And then Tennis in the Parks. Sign up here.
There will also be movies in the park this summer. Here's the schedule.
Derryfield Park has some drop in classes to learn how to use the Fitness equipment in the park.
The Manchester Transit to Trails program plans bus trips to surrounding state parks over the summer. the schedule is included at the link.

GSLV-F12/NVS-01 (aka IRNSS-1J) launch is scheduled on 0512(UTC)/1042(IST), 29 May 2023 from Second Launch Pad of SDSC (SHAR).

• Launch Countdown
• Expected Flight Profile

Live webcast: (Links will be added as they become available)

• ISRO Official Stream
• Doordarshan

GSLV-F12/NVS-01 Mission Page	GSLV-F12/NVS-01 Gallery	GSLV-F12/NVS-01 Press kit(PDF)

Some highlights

• Primary payload: NVS-01 (2232 kg) Navigation satellite.
• Mission duration: 18 min. 40.2 sec.
• Target Orbit : 170 × 36568 km (GTO), Inclination = 19.36° ±0.1°, AoP = 178° ±0.5°
• Launch Azimuth: 104°
• Returning to flight after GSLV-F10 failure. ^[1]
• Induction of 'CUSCE V2'
• Active pressurization of CUS
• Second flight with a 4m diameter Ogive payload fairing.

Updates:

Time of Event	Update
T - 27h30m	After Mission Readiness Review and Launch Authorization Board has approved the launch. 27.5 hrs duration countdown commenced.
27 May 2023	Mission Readiness Review conducted. Awaiting confirmation of launch authorization.
22 May 2023	Campaign page published, launch firms up for 1042(IST) or 0512(UTC) on 29 May 2023
12 May 2023	NOTAMs gets issued first for 22 May and then correcting for 29 May as launch day.[2] [3]
07 May 2023	Flight hardware arrives at SDSC-SHAR.
30 March 2023	GSLV-F12/NVS-01 launch campaign commenced.

Primary Payload:
NVS-01 (aka IRNSS-1J): NVS-01 is a second-generation satellite for NavIC constellation for regional navigation and is a replacement for IRNSS-1G satellite.
Like first generation satellites it will have navigation payloads in L5 & S bands and ranging payload in C-band. But additionally, it will have a new interoperable civil signal in L1 band as well. ^{[4] [5]}
For the first time, an indigenous Rubidium based atomic clock developed by Space Applications Centre (SAC) will be onboard. ^{[6] [7]}

• Mass: 2,232 kg
• Orbital slot: 129.5°E, inclination=5° ^[6]
• Mission life: 12 years
• Power: 2.4 kW
• Bus: I-2K

NVS-01 is first of the five satellites (NVS-01, 02, 03, 04 & 05) planned to replace the ageing first generation satellites which faced problems with their malfunctioning atomic clocks. Initially these second generation satellites were meant to expand existing NaVIC constellation ^{[8] [9]} but due to setback from failures of imported clocks on many first generation satellites, will now only serve as replacement to existing fleet. At present only four out of seven NavIC first generation satellites (IRNSS-1B, 1C, 1F & 1I) remain functional enough to provide PNT services. ^[10] IRNSS-1A, 1E and 1G are only providing NavIC's short message broadcast service ^[11] Note that four satellites is the minimum amount needed for NavIC PNT services to be functional.
ISRO intends to replenish NavIC constellation and expand it from 7 to 11 satellites which will increase the service area from 1500 km to 3000 km beyond Indian territory. ^[12]
For Global Indian Navigation System (GINS), ISRO is awaiting approval of twelve satellites initially to be placed in the Medium Earth Orbit (MEO). While about 24 to 30 satellites would be needed in total. ^[13] Some novel LEO based approach for PNT services have also been explored. ^{[14] [15]}
Note: Flight serial F12 was earlier assigned to GISAT-2 payload. ^[16]

ONTARIO

SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE

B E T W E E N:
)
)
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
- and -
SAAID MOHIADIN
Tim DiMuzio and David Parry,
for the Crown
Dirk Derstein and Malaika Henriques,
for the accused
Heard: May 23, 2023
K.L. Campbell J.:
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
A. Overview
[1] On May 12, 2023, after a trial spanning many weeks, the accused, Saaid Mohiadin, was found guilty, by a jury, of the first-degree, “planned and deliberate” murder of Jerome Belle. The offence took place in Toronto, on the afternoon of March 19, 2019. The accused was arrested for this offence nearly a year later, on March 12, 2020, and he has been in custody ever since. Indeed, he was arrested and kept in custody even before then in relation to an unrelated matter.
[2] In any event, the accused must now be sentenced to the mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment, without being eligible for release on parole for 25 years, pursuant to the combination of ss. 235 and 745(a) of the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, chap. C-46. That is the custodial sentence that will be imposed upon the accused.
[3] Typically, the imposition of such a sentence does not require any sort of detailed explanation. The sentence is a mandatory minimum sentence and must, as a matter of law, be imposed, regardless of the personal circumstances of the accused, the positions of the parties, or any other potentially relevant sentencing factors.
[4] The authorities are clear that this mandatory minimum sentence is not in violation of any constitutional right protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. See, for example: R. v. Mitchell (1987), 1987 CanLII 128 (NS CA), 39 C.C.C. (3d) 141 (N.S.C.A.); R. v. Cairns (1989), 1989 CanLII 7224 (BC CA), 51 C.C.C. (3d) 90 (B.C.C.A.) at pp. 103-104; R. v. Luxton, 1990 CanLII 83 (SCC), [1990] 2 S.C.R. 711, 58 C.C.C. (3d) 449; R. v. Kay, 1990 ABCA 317; 59 C.C.C. (3d) 515; R. v. Lefebvre (1992), 1992 CanLII 3937 (QC CA), 72 C.C.C. (3d) 162 (Que.C.A.); leave denied (1992), 72 C.C.C. (3d) vi (S.C.C.); R. v. Newborn, 2020 ABCA 120, 390 C.C.C. (3d) 86, at paras. 28-40, 57-92; leave denied: [2020] S.C.C.A. No. 282.
[5] This is the second murder conviction of the accused. However, s. 745.51 of the Criminal Code, which provides that where an accused is convicted of multiple murders, the trial judge may, under certain circumstances, impose consecutive periods of parole ineligibility in relation to each murder, has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada. See: R. v. Bissonnette, 2022 SCC 23.
[6] In the result, given that the accused will be eligible for release on parole after serving 25 years in prison in connection with this sentence of life imprisonment, I thought it appropriate to provide these reasons for sentence, at least for the future assistance of the parole authorities. Needless to say, perhaps, this is not a “typical” case – even for those few offenders who have been convicted of the most serious offence known to the criminal law. That is so, because, as I have already suggested, this accused, despite his relatively young age of 32 years, has now been convicted of two entirely separate first-degree murders, in addition to all of the other crimes displayed on his unenviable criminal record.
[7] Indeed, in my view, the accused is an inherently dangerous individual, who poses a special danger to the public – and this factor is one that should properly be taken into account by any member of the parole authorities when considering his potential release back into civilized society at any point in time in the future.
B. The Facts of This First-Degree Murder Case
[8] In conjunction with the verdict unanimously reached by the jury in this case, I am satisfied, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the Crown has established all of the following facts in this case.
[9] Jerome Belle was shot to death on the afternoon of March 19, 2019, at approximately 3:25 p.m., near the intersection of Randolph Avenue and Bloom Street in the city of Toronto. This happened while Mr. Belle was in the company of another individual, Ryan Garballa, who was out walking his dog, and who was himself physically unharmed in the shooting, notwithstanding the fact that he was right beside Mr. Belle when the shooting commenced.
[10] The accused had earlier planned and deliberated over the killing of Mr. Belle, and then, on the afternoon of March 19, 2019, he saw an opportunity to put his plan into action, and he then executed that plan. Indeed, in my view, the circumstances surrounding the killing of Jerome Belle really permit no other reasonable conclusion – once the alibi evidence is rejected.
[11] The accused had made arrangements earlier that day (March 19, 2019) to have his friend, Ms. Abdi, come and pick him up in her car. Accordingly, she could, unwittingly, provide the accused with the necessary “getaway” car following the killing. Indeed, based upon her evidence, that is, in fact, exactly what the accused did. He took advantage of her friendship, and her willingness to drive him to different locations around the city, as he wished, to enlist her assistance in escaping from the scene of the murder.
[12] At the time of the killing, the accused was dressed in a “white hoodie” sweater, and he had pulled the hood of the sweater up over his head, and had drawn the hood tightly around his face, so that little of his face could be seen. This individual is, fortuitously, seen getting out of a white Mercedes Benz vehicle, parked relatively close to the geographic location of the killing, just minutes before the shooting, and is seen again, quickly returning to that same vehicle just minutes after the gun shots were fired, killing Jerome Belle. Indeed, this aspect of the case was helpfully recorded on a surveillance camera attached to a passing Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) “Wheel Trans” bus – but the actual killing happened just outside the scope of this surveillance video camera.
[13] In his evidence, Mr. Garballa explained how the man wearing the “white hoodie” – the accused – approached he and Mr. Belle and how the man in the “white hoodie” immediately shot Mr. Belle, from relatively close range, numerous times. The shooter then quickly returned in the direction of the parked white Mercedes Benz vehicle. Mr. Belle was pronounced dead a short time later at a Toronto hospital, despite the speedy medical efforts of the paramedics who arrived on the scene shortly after the shooting.
[14] Given the speed of the shooting, and the fact that no words were exchanged between the accused and Mr. Belle, there could be no realistic suggestion that the killing was provoked, or accidental, or done in self-defence. Indeed, there was no such suggestion by defence counsel for the accused. Clearly, the killing of Mr. Belle by the accused was intentional.
[15] The driver of the white Mercedes Benz vehicle was a young woman named Sagal Abdi. The jury was obviously impressed by her testimony, and clearly accepted it as truthful, significantly corroborated as it was. Ms. Abdi provided direct evidence in this case, clearly identifying the accused as the man wearing the “white hoodie,” and who is seen getting out of, and then getting back in to, her car, right before, and then right after, the shooting. Ms. Abdi was a close personal friend of the accused at the time of the shooting, and communicated with him on a daily basis, and often drove him to and from his nearby home and around to various different locations, around the time of the shooting.
[16] Ms. Abdi testified that, on the afternoon of March 19, 2019, she picked up the accused at his nearby home at the foot of Bloom Street, at his request, and she then followed his directions to where she parked her vehicle, near the intersection of Perth Avenue and Randolph Avenue. She understood, from what the accused told her, that he was going home to retrieve something he forgot to bring with him. While Ms. Abdi had offered to drive him home for this purpose, the accused told her to just wait in her car for his return. She did.
[17] Many of the relevant events leading to the killing (but not the killing itself) were captured on the various surveillance cameras in the area. Viewed cumulatively and in sequence, the police-seized video recordings, together with the accompanying viva voce witness testimony, prove all of the following events beyond a reasonable doubt:
• At approximately 3:17 p.m. on March 19, 2019, two men walked down a staircase on the west side of the building located at 140 Perth Avenue, and headed south, down to near where Bloom Street turns the corner and changes from being a north-south road to being an east-west road. The accused lived in a residence just across the street, on the south side of Bloom Street (even though the municipal address of the building was on nearby Perth Avenue).
• At approximately 3:22 p.m. on March 19, 2019, two men (and a dog) leave one of the apartment buildings in the area via the “south stairway.” These two men were clearly Mr. Belle and Mr. Garballa. Further, once they exited the building, they were very close to the accused’s residence, and could easily have been seen by the accused from his home. Indeed, I have no doubt that they were seen by the accused.
• At approximately 3:22 p.m. on March 19, 2019, a white Mercedes Benz (matching the description of the vehicle driven by Ms. Abdi) is travelling southbound on Bloom Street (from Randolph Avenue), heading in the direction of the accused’s residence. Ms. Abdi confirmed that she was alone in this vehicle as she travelled to pick up the accused.
• At approximately 3:23 p.m. on March 19, 2019, a white automobile is parked on the east-west section of Bloom Street, near the front of the accused’s residence. Ms. Abdi confirmed that this was where she always parked her car in order to pick up the accused from his residence, as she had done many times in the recent past.
• At approximately 3:23 p.m. on March 19, 2019, the white car moved in an easterly direction along Bloom Street, towards Perth Avenue. Ms. Abdi explained that the accused called her on the phone and told her to pull her vehicle up further on Bloom Street to pick him up. The accused had never done this before. The accused did this, in my view, so that he would not be seen, by Mr. Belle, leaving his residence.
• When the accused left his residence on the afternoon of March 19, 2019, he clearly had a loaded gun in his possession – the very firearm he used to kill Mr. Belle just a few minutes later, according to the combined testimony of Ms. Abdi and Mr. Garballa.
• The white Mercedes Benz vehicle, turned left (north) on Perth Avenue, from Bloom Street, and then turned left again (west) on Randolph Avenue, where it parked near the intersection. According to Ms. Abdi, the accused directed her to this location and, during their brief time together in her vehicle, and before he first exited her vehicle, the accused took off his black “puffer” jacket. Thereafter, he was wearing the “white hoodie” sweater. When the accused left her vehicle, he was wearing this “white hoodie,” with the hood pulled up over his head and drawn tightly around his face, so as to conceal his identity.
• The accused had to have seen Mr. Belle heading northbound on Bloom Street, with Mr. Garballa and his dog, as within a couple of minutes of being picked up by Ms. Abdi, the accused directed Ms. Abdi to drive to a location (and park her car) geographically near where he anticipated Mr. Belle would be – if Mr. Belle and Mr. Garballa continued walking northbound on Bloom Street (in the direction they were headed when they were seen by the accused).
• At approximately 3:24 p.m. on March 19, 2019, two men (Mr. Garballa and Mr. Belle) were walking northbound on Bloom Street, walking a dog. By approximately 3:25 p.m. those two men had walked northbound up beside the playground structure near the intersection of Bloom Street and Randolph Avenue. They eventually continued walking north, off the screen, to the geographical area where the killing of Mr. Belle took place. Mr. Garballa explained that, when they got there, the man wearing the “white hoodie,” ran toward them and, with no verbal exchange at all, the man in the “white hoodie” (the accused) just started shooting Mr. Belle. Once he had shot Mr. Belle multiple times, the accused then turned around and ran back towards the parked white Mercedes Benz of Ms. Abdi. Mr. Belle was just left, dying on the ground. He was pronounced dead a short time later at a Toronto hospital.
[18] After the accused returned to her parked white Mercedes Benz vehicle (after he had shot Mr. Belle), the accused told Ms. Abdi to drive away, and he directed her, ultimately, to a parking lot in the area of Jane Street and Finch Avenue, some considerable distance away.
[19] As Ms. Abdi testified, during their travels to this location, the accused told her a number of things, including: (1) He said: “This is the hood – shootings happen every day;” (2) He told her to “get rid of [her] vehicle,” and that she could not drive the car anymore, for at least a couple of weeks; and (3) he told her that they would “have to get married so that [she] could not testify against [him].”
[20] Ms. Abdi testified that, a day or two later, she saw a “Snapchat” message from the accused and ultimately saw a “snap” video that had been posted, which included the accused and some of his friends talking and laughing about a “headshot.” According to Ms. Abdi, in this video, the accused had dyed the tips of his dreadlocks from “red to black” (so they looked different than they did the day before). Ms. Abdi testified that she communicated later that same day with the accused, indicating that she was “upset” in that it had become “evident what he had done,” without “any remorse” and asking why he would “drag [her] into this.” The accused responded, by text, to the effect: “You don’t understand – it was kill or be killed – this guy was standing in front of my Mom’s house where my mom and my niece lived.”
[21] During the trial, defence counsel for the accused, advanced the theory that the accused was not, in fact, responsible for the killing of Mr. Belle. Indeed, the defence adduced evidence of an “alibi,” suggesting that the accused was inside his parent’s residence for the entire day on March 19, 2019, and, therefore, could not have killed Mr. Belle. Indeed, the defence called a number of witnesses in support of this “alibi,” including the accused’s mother (Idman Said) and his brother (Suleyman Mohiadin). By their verdict, the jury clearly rejected this evidence in its entirety, as incredible, as the jury was perfectly entitled to do.
[22] While the defence did not expressly argue, to the jury, that this was a second-degree murder, not a first-degree murder, at the close of the case for the Crown, the defence brought a non-suit application, contending that the Crown had led no evidence that this was a “planned and deliberate” first-degree murder on the part of the accused. I dismissed that application. See: R. v. Mohiadin, 2023 ONSC 2520. I concluded, essentially, that there was, indeed, evidence of “planning and deliberation” on the part of the accused, and that the jury could reasonably conclude that this was a “planned and deliberate” first-degree murder on the part of the accused. Ultimately, the jury reached that reasonable conclusion.
[23] Nevertheless, I note in passing that, even if the accused had only been found guilty of having committed a second-degree murder in connection with his killing of Mr. Belle, he would still have had to receive the same sentence that must be imposed today, given the operation of s. 745(b) of the Criminal Code – which treats a second murder conviction (of any degree) as a first-degree murder for purposes of sentencing (i.e. requiring the imposition of the mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment without parole eligibility for 25 years).
C. The Criminal Record of the Accused
[24] As I noted in an earlier ruling, the accused already has a significant criminal record, starting in 2012, which displays convictions for a number of criminal offences, including the unauthorized possession of a firearm, failing to comply with a recognizance, possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm or ammunition contrary to a prohibition order, assault with a weapon, failing to attend court, threatening to cause death or bodily harm, and obstructing a peace officer.
[25] Most significantly, and most recently, on December 6, 2022, the accused was convicted of the offence of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment, without eligibility for release on parole until he has served 25 years of that sentence.
[26] In these circumstances, the accused would appear to be precisely the kind of offender who was designed to be addressed by the enactment of s. 745.51 of the Criminal Code. In other words, the accused has committed two entirely separate incidents of first-degree murder. Yet, while he has been found criminally responsible for the separate killings of two different individuals, at different times, and in different locations, his sentences of life imprisonment (and the coincident periods of parole ineligibility of 25 years) must be served concurrently – resulting now in the imposition of a sentence that is not significantly longer for the commission of his second murder. Needless to say, perhaps, the accused is very fortunate in this regard – whether he knows it or not.
D. The Victim Impact Evidence
[27] The Victim Impact Evidence in this case (Exhibit #1) was prepared by Nichole Belle, Veronica Belle, Chanelle Belle and Cherelle Belle. This document outlines the devastating personal consequences that the Belle Family has suffered as a result of the murder of Jerome Belle by the accused. While I am unable to accurately detailed all of those circumstances, it is fair to observed that the Belle Family has been truly overwhelmed by this senseless murder, immediately (and forever) depriving them of a much-loved brother, nephew, cousin, uncle, friend and son.
E. Conclusion – The Sentence Imposed
[28] In the result, the accused is now sentenced to life imprisonment. He shall not be eligible for release on parole until he has served at least 25 years of this custodial sentence.
[29] There are also three incidental sentencing orders that, in my view, must also be made in the circumstances of this case.
[30] First, pursuant to ss. 109(1)(a) and 109(3) of the Criminal Code, I order that the accused is prohibited from the possession of any firearm, cross-bow, restricted weapon, ammunition, and explosive substance for the rest of his life.
[31] Second, as the accused has been found guilty of committing a “primary designated offence” as defined by s. 487.04(a) of the Criminal Code, pursuant to s. 487.051(1) of the Criminal Code, I make an order in Form 5.03, to have samples of bodily substances taken from the accused for purposes of forensic DNA analysis.
[32] Third, pursuant to s. 743.21(1) there will be an order prohibiting the accused from having any communication, direct or indirect, with Nichole Belle, Chanelle Belle, Cherelle Kent, Veronica Belle, and/or Sagal Abdi, for the rest of his life.
______________________________
Kenneth L. Campbell J.
Released: May 23, 2023
CITATION: R. v. Mohiadin, 2023 ONSC 3006
COURT FILE NO.: CR-21-1-261
DATE: 20230523
ONTARIO
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
HIS MAJESTY THE KING
- and -
SAAID MOHIADIN
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
K.L. Campbell J. https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2023/2023onsc3006/2023onsc3006.html?searchUrlHash=AAAAAAAAAAEAFzIwMjMgT05TQyAyNTIwIChDYW5MSUkpAAAAAQANLzIwMjNvbnNjMjUyMAE

Twice now I have tried to grab a 119 to Journal square from the Lincoln Park area when I had a tight schedule and couldn’t wait for a 10 - and had the driver stop me from boarding when I said I was going to JSQ. I called NJ Transit when this happened to me months ago to confirm JSQ is treated as a stop, and they assured me it was.
Both times the drivers were not forthcoming and were not specific about why I couldn’t board for that stop - and I wasn’t going to hold up two dozen people arguing about it.
What gives? Am I misunderstanding something about the route, do the drivers not want to open the back doors at JSQ…? The fuck.

Note: where applicable I converted from CAD to USD because I am American
Section One: Bio
Age: 25 (as of Sunday!)
Occupation: Market Development in the EV space – this and my salary are new since my last diary
Hometown: Hudson County, NJ, but left from my parents’ house in the Hudson Valley because it shortened the drive and I used my dad’s car
Number of PTO days and how you accrue them: 10 days of PTO, plus 2 personal days, plus you can buy up to 5.5 additional days out of your paycheck which I did, plus I get every other Friday off and can move my Fridays around for trips. So for this I moved my Friday and took my two personal days.
Section Two: Assets + Debt
Retirement Balance (and how you got there): like 3k in my account at my old job because I left before matching vested, nothing in my new account yet because I set it up a couple weeks ago but the withdrawing hasn’t started yet. If I stay at this job two years I will be eligible for a pension.
Equity if you're a homeowner (and how much you put down & how you accumulated that payment): N/A
Savings account balance: 11,000
Checking account balance: 35,000 I know this is super high but my housing situation is about to drastically change – my roommate who owns all the furniture is moving out and I’ll be staying in the apartment myself, so I want to keep the liquidity for now
Credit card debt (and how you accumulated it): none, I pay off every month
Student loan debt (for what degree): none, I have a bachelor’s and master’s from SUNY schools and the low in-state tuition and upstate COL + merit scholarships + parents covered it
Anything else that's applicable to you: I took this trip with my twin who makes $55,000
Section Three: Income
Main Job Monthly Take Home: still normalizing as my deductions start getting processed, but roughly 6,000. I’ve only gotten two paychecks so far.
Side Gig Monthly Take Home: none
Any Other Monthly Income Here: none but I am an authorized user on my parents’ CC and because this was a birthday trip they covered misc expenses
Section Four: Travel Expenses
Transportation: nothing except gas costs because I drove my dad’s car. And the emotional toll of the drive, of course.
Accommodations: $1167 for four nights in a nice hotel with a pool and hot tub in downtown Montreal. This is the total and my sister and I split it half and half. It includes an additional charge for garage parking.
Pre-Vacation Spending: nothing specific to this trip
Please include the spending for each category as well as the total.
Food + Drink: $243
Fun / Entertainment: $146 – I included gift shop souvenirs in this category
Home + Health: $0
Clothes + Beauty: $0
Transport: $46
Section Five Use this section to share how you afforded this trip.
I did not save specifically for this trip, I recently got a large raise and had a decent chunk in savings regardless. Parts of the trip were also subsidized by my parents because it was a birthday trip with my twin.
Thursday 5/18:
Morning: woke my sister up at 8:30 and we hit the road by 10, we met at my parents’ house on Wednesday night. My dad generously filled up the car before we left so I don’t need to worry about that for at least a couple more hours.
Afternoon: stop in Lake George for a nice, leisurely lunch to stretch our legs and walk around the lake a bit. We pay $27 for okay food at the slowest pizzeria I’ve ever been to in my life as well as $2 for lot parking because I refuse to parallel park, ever. I should add here that this vacation is on “hard mode” because my sister and I do not do indoor dining and unfortunately many places have gotten rid of outdoor dining that was set up earlier in the pandemic, so at points our options were limited. Back in the car after spending an hour in the town. I hadn’t been to Lake George in over a decade so it was a nice if brief visit. Stop and spend $30 on gas because I can’t emotionally handle having less than a half tank. The gas is on my parents’ card and won’t be counted in the total.
Getting through customs is mercifully easy and we check in to the hotel a little after 4. I only cry once, while trying to drive through downtown Montreal.
Evening: we venture out to find some dinner and walk a mile to a restaurant we went to when we were last in Montreal in 2017, only to find that their outdoor dining is not in fact open. It is a tiny bit chilly out so we run into this issue two more times before finding a place whose patio is available. I get a rack of lamb with polenta (delicious!) and some sort of whiskey sour. $52 including 20% tip, I love the exchange rate. We go back to the hotel and spend some time in the pool before heading out to a dispensary. My sister gets two joints and a weed seltzer, but I don’t do weed so have no idea how much she spent.
After dinner my sister and I REALLY wanted to go to a rooftop bar and we find a place with a fun looking cocktail menu on top of a hotel. I get a weird cocktail that mixes tequila, absinthe, and some other stuff that I’m not sure of. It’s really good! My sister manages to spill her frozen drink all over herself, the table, and the floor after only having 3 sips of it, so I buy her another drink because she is obviously so defeated. I do not drop this event for the rest of the trip and change her name in my phone to “banana colada.” $53 for three cocktails and tip, but my sister reimburses me for tip because she insisted I tip a full 20% to try and compensate for the cleanup that will be needed from her drink
Daily total: $134
Friday 5/19:
Morning: Our first day! We start with online ordering takeout bagel sandwiches and iced coffees from a nearby local chain, $22 which we split between the two of us. Our first plan for today is the botanical garden so I buy tickets for both of us on my phone for $25 while we walk to the metro stop. We each get a 3 day metro pass for $16/each. The garden is lovely although we are a bit too early in the season for the roses. After a beautiful and only slightly sunburnt couple of hours at the garden, my sister books us tickets for the fine arts museum on her phone and we go to the gift shop. Nothing really impresses me but I get an insectarium themed reusable bag because we don’t have one and my sister got a bunch of stuff that needs carrying $17
Afternoon: Museum of fine arts was maybe a mistake because we are both already so, so tired, but we persevere and make it through the entire Canadian art pavilion. We breeze through the international art pavilion because neither of us particularly care for the pre-modernism sections and also it’s basically the same as it was in 2017. The gift shop here is somewhat more gratifying and I get a polar bear keychain designed by an indigenous artist as well as a magnet for my parents. $11
Evening: We didn’t have lunch because we went right from the botanical garden to the museum so decide to head right to yesterday’s failed restaurant for an early dinner. Their patio is open today and we split an order of calamari, each get our own order of moules frites, and each get a strawberry daiquiri. $70 including tip but my sister pays with the agreement that I’ll get our next big meal
Daily total: $80
Saturday 5/20
Morning: same routine and breakfast as yesterday, $22 again. Today is my personal highlight, the national rail museum! My sister paid for the tickets as a thanks for me driving us to and from Montreal. I drive us to the museum because it’s basically a suburban train yard and there is no good public transit option.
Afternoon: I have an absolute blast, take a million photos, and we spend $3 paid for by my sister to add a vintage trolley ride to our visit. I go absolutely ham at the gift shop and spend $31 on a shot glass, a wind-up train car, an Exporail tote bag, and a silly little keychain that says “trains!” on it. I drive us back to the hotel and we have a late and heavy lunch. We each get a burger and fries, my sister gets a whiskey lemonade, and I get a raspberry mojito. I pay, $65. We go to the temporary exhibit the contemporary art museum has set up, $15 split between us. It’s a quick visit and then we walk over to Barbie Expo, which is free and delightful. Twilight Barbies! Celebrity Barbies! After the Barbie Expo we walk up to Mont Royal Park and just sit there a bit.
Evening: Because our lunch was so late and heavy we pick up premade charcuterie boards at a grocery store, $22. Spend the rest of the evening in the hotel and book tickets to the Biodome in the morning, $25.
Daily total: $138
Sunday 5/21
Morning: Birthday birthday birthday! Open the cards from our parents which they sent us with, they also tell us to put everything on their card for today. I will therefore note how much things cost but not include them in a total, except for my sister’s present and museum tickets. Breakfast from a different place, bagel sandwiches and mochas $22. We then head to the metro for the Biodome. It’s not really my thing but my sister is utterly enchanted, particularly by the penguins. At the gift shop I cover her stuff, which is a couple of penguin things, as a birthday present $30
Afternoon: My sister really wanted to go to the geology museum but didn’t actually check their hours, and they’re closed on weekends. The next best options is the archeology museum which is conveniently also at the old port, so we head there on the metro and I book the museum tickets on our way, $25. The layout of the museum is a little confusing but they have a really cool exhibit on pirates! We speed through the ancient Egypt exhibit because it’s really crowded and impossible to get close to most of the displays. Gift shop is a bust so we head out for a late lunch. My sister presciently chooses a restaurant with an awning which pays off when the sky opens for a 15 minute torrential downpour that was not in the forecast. Lunch is a charcuterie board, ricotta on crostini, and a peach bellini for each of us. I remember it cost a premium because it was by the waterfront but I did not record the cost.
Sister really wanted to go to a particular bagel store which is really out of our way and I am less than gracious about it, particularly when the store is so popular that we need to wait outside just to go in and order. The store also does not accept international debit or credit cards so I run to an ATM that is mercifully on the corner and take out 20CAD, 9CAD/$7ish goes to her half dozen bagels. We take a bus that gets us within a mile of our hotel and walk the rest because the weekend buses apparently only run once an hour?
Evening: After decompressing in the hotel room for a bit we head back to the old port and just explore the waterfront for a while. There’s a refreshing breeze and the river is beautiful. We wander until we get hungry and wind up getting a birthday dinner at the first place with outdoor dining that has a decent looking menu. It’s a tapas (style?) meal of duck breast cooked with figs, calamari, and a spicy sausage with some sort of cauliflower thing. Plus a side salad because we’ve been neglecting our vegetables on this trip. I get a margarita but my sister who has stomach problems sticks to the tap water. $89 after tip.
Instead of getting dessert at the restaurant we walk to a bakery to get a “birthday cake,” aka she gets a chocolatine and I get a chocolate caramel…cronut? That’s not what they call it but that’s what it feels like. She also gets a bottle of water because she wants to stop and smoke the last of her joint on the walk back to the hotel. $12 paid by sister
Daily total: $62
Monday 5/22:
Morning: I get up before my sister because I am experiencing severe driving anxiety and I go out and get us the same breakfast as yesterday, $22. We manage to get checked out and leave the hotel a little after 10 and the drive is smooth until the US-Canada border. I remembered that US customs is slower than Canadian but they only have three lanes open and it takes two hours to go basically 1000 meters. People keep trying to cut the lines and it’s making an even bigger snarl. We got to the border a little past 11 and do not make it to the actual customs until 1:30.
Afternoon: tiktok voice it got worse but I think it’s about to get worser. After finally getting to customs and answering the questions they tell me to pull my car over for a search, I’m then told to leave everything in my car and go in the building. We go in and wait until two agents pull us into one of the questioning rooms. They keep asking us where we went and what we bought and my sister and I get increasingly confused until the guy finally informs us that we set off the weed-sniffing K-9 and we need to admit whether we have weed before they find it. But we have no weed! Our dirty laundry probably reeks because I was sitting downwind of my sister every time she smoked but there is no actual weed in the car because we’re not idiots who would take a federally illegal drug through a federal border. Tip: I am so fucking mad. The customs agent has the nerve to wish us a happy birthday after they go through all our stuff and find nothing.
Burned a crazy amount of gas just waiting on the line so I stop at the first station on the US side of the border, $30 while my sister goes in and gets us gas station hot dogs and a bottle of Diet Coke. The next 4 hours unfold uneventfully and we make it to our parents’ house at around 6.
Daily total: $52

Me (30F) and my mom (56F) have always been super close up until recently. I’ve been an ICU RN for almost 10yrs and the only person I can thank for pushing me through it is my mom, but I also knew I wanted to have a career and move up the ladder in my field and thankfully I recently graduated and passed my boards and am officially an Np (this I mainly thank my amazing fiancé for as he was the one who pushed me and got me through it). My dad was never really there and he ultimately left approximately 5 years ago after we found out he had an affair so I can’t say I thank him for anything. He was never even in any of my milestones (graduations, bdays, etc). I also have a brother (32M) who unfortunately also made some poor decisions and is unhappily married with kids. He has also screwed me over financially before when I’ve helped him mainly because I felt bad and because my mom asked me as I was the one with a good job. I finished paying off his car as I co-signed it and him and his wife were irresponsible and not making payments (I co-signed because my mom guilt tripped me into helping my brother out). He also never really talks to us unless he has some issues or needs us for something.
I bought my current house 5 yrs ago and it was only me and my mom and over a yr ago my fiancé moved in so we could save money to buy a house and move out so we could start our own life together. Ever since then if we have an argument my mom has been rubbing in my face how I brought someone into the house and changed things and that I should’ve never done that and wants me to move out as soon as I can so she can continue her life. I was super upset and told her why would I do that if this is my house and I am staying here until I save up enough to move out. This whole argument happened because she wanted me to pick her up and/or take her to my aunt’s house which would be an 8 hr drive in total (to and from). I told her that I didn’t want to drive her because even though it’s my day off I’m tired and want to rest and not spend a day driving. I also told her that i wasn’t gonna do it whenever she wanted because I worked and we had to work around my schedule not hers since she only works like once a week (something’s even every two weeks). She then said that she couldn’t believe I couldn’t do her one favor and hoped I never needed anything and wished me the best. Then she went on saying we were pretty much gonna live like roommates and things were gonna change. I was so upset and told her I couldn’t believe she was saying that after me being the only one that does everything for her from favors to paying her medical bills and her not paying one dime to live here. I even give her money for groceries to buy what she wants and she always asks my fiancé for things. Like my brother has never done anything for her and she tells me pretty much I’m the worst daughter. She also pretty much said how dare I tell her what I’ve done for her when she’s done so much for me. I honestly thank her for making me the strong, dedicated, and hardworking woman I am today as I have no idea what it’s like to have kids, but I sadly had to be the one to pick up the slack once my dad left as a new grad right out of nursing school. I paid our rent/bills and the loans I had to take out for school and I had to go to food pantries because we were so poor. I know that when I was in college I had a student job and all I could afford was my bus pass and she did pay for the bills/rent at that time. But I feel like she forgets all the pressure I had to carry on my shoulders once I graduated because she has relied on me for everything ever since. Especially since my brother booked it and left the house and never knew what we went through.
I’m so upset and don’t know what to do. I’m stressed and easily irritated because of her and I snap at my fiancé easily because of that and I feel so bad because he has done nothing wrong. I know I need therapy from the emotional trauma my parents have put me through by making me feel bad when something doesn’t go her way as well as the emotional issues I went through for what my dad did. I’ve always felt so much pressure by being the head of the household and picking up the slack after my dad left but this argument was the last straw. I really don’t know what to do anymore. It’s not like I can move out of my own house to a new house as I’m transitioning jobs and haven’t been settled in my new job yet. Any advice?

I don’t really have someone to talk to about this so you guys are my outlet. Me (30F) and my mom (56F) have always been super close up until recently. I’ve been an ICU RN for almost 10yrs and the only person I can thank for pushing me through it is my mom, but I also knew I wanted to have a career and move up the ladder in my field and thankfully I recently graduated and passed my boards and am officially an Np (this I mainly thank my amazing fiancé for as he was the one who pushed me and got me through it). My dad was never really there and he ultimately left approximately 5 years ago after we found out he had an affair so I can’t say I thank him for anything. He was never even in any of my milestones (graduations, bdays, etc). I also have a brother (32M) who unfortunately also made some poor decisions and is unhappily married with kids. He has also screwed me over financially before when I’ve helped him mainly because I felt bad and because my mom asked me as I was the one with a good job. I finished paying off his car as I co-signed it and him and his wife were irresponsible and not making payments (I co-signed because my mom guilt tripped me into helping my brother out). He also never really talks to us unless he has some issues or needs us for something.
I bought my current house 5 yrs ago and it was only me and my mom and over a yr ago my fiancé moved in so we could save money to buy a house and move out so we could start our own life together. Ever since then if we have an argument my mom has been rubbing in my face how I brought someone into the house and changed things and that I should’ve never done that and wants me to move out as soon as I can so she can continue her life. I was super upset and told her why would I do that if this is my house and I am staying here until I save up enough to move out. This whole argument happened because she wanted me to pick her up and/or take her to my aunt’s house which would be an 8 hr drive in total (to and from). I told her that I didn’t want to drive her because even though it’s my day off I’m tired and want to rest and not spend a day driving. I also told her that i wasn’t gonna do it whenever she wanted because I worked and we had to work around my schedule not hers since she only works like once a week (something’s even every two weeks). She then said that she couldn’t believe I couldn’t do her one favor and hoped I never needed anything and wished me the best. Then she went on saying we were pretty much gonna live like roommates and things were gonna change. I was so upset and told her I couldn’t believe she was saying that after me being the only one that does everything for her from favors to paying her medical bills and her not paying one dime to live here. I even give her money for groceries to buy what she wants and she always asks my fiancé for things. Like my brother has never done anything for her and she tells me pretty much I’m the worst daughter. She also pretty much said how dare I tell her what I’ve done for her when she’s done so much for me. I honestly thank her for making me the strong, dedicated, and hardworking woman I am today as I have no idea what it’s like to have kids, but I sadly had to be the one to pick up the slack once my dad left as a new grad right out of nursing school. I paid our rent/bills and the loans I had to take out for school and I had to go to food pantries because we were so poor. I know that when I was in college I had a student job and all I could afford was my bus pass and she did pay for the bills/rent at that time. But I feel like she forgets all the pressure I had to carry on my shoulders once I graduated because she has relied on me for everything ever since. Especially since my brother booked it and left the house and never knew what we went through.
I’m so upset and don’t know what to do. I’m stressed and easily irritated because of her and I snap at my fiancé easily because of that and I feel so bad because he has done nothing wrong. I know I need therapy from the emotional trauma my parents have put me through by making me feel bad when something doesn’t go her way as well as the emotional issues I went through for what my dad did. I’ve always felt so much pressure by being the head of the household and picking up the slack after my dad left but this argument was the last straw. I really don’t know what to do anymore. It’s not like I can move out of my own house to a new house as I’m transitioning jobs and haven’t been settled in my new job yet.

TLDR - Follow the instructions in this tweet. Try to call during business hours. After that, sign this petition

• The state budget is due in a couple of weeks, and the current draft will defund transit. If we don't stop this, public transportation in California could be set back generations, with some agencies lost entirely. Visit https://www.savecaliforniatransit.org for more info
• Suggested talking points are included, but please tell your own personal story if you can
• Asm. Ting only represents San Francisco, but all Californians should still call in. He's the budget chair, so he has disproportionate power and is the main person blocking transit funding. Be honest, if you're not a San Franciscan then state which assembly district you are from
• After calling Ting's office, additionally try to call your own assemblymember, your state senator, and the governor's office! You may also use this tool to send an email, although calling is best if you can
• San Francisco is the 2nd most transit-dependent city in the nation. Tell the assemblymember that if he kills BART, he'll be remembered as the man who killed San Francisco
• Signing the petition will also add you to an email list so you can stay updated on the fight to save California's transit

That's all you really need to know, feel free to ignore the rest of this post. Additional context is available below for anyone who's interested
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Public transit agencies in California are in a tough situation. By American standards, we have better-than-average transit (low bar!), and accordingly our transit systems have relatively high ticket revenues. Agencies grew dependent on these fares for their budget, and suffered greatly when Covid knocked out the reliable commuter market. Although ridership is recovering, the recovery is not fast enough to plug the budget holes.
Currently there is a proposal, championed by Sen. Scott Weiner & others, which would not only save our transit systems but also make them better than ever. $5B in operations funding, tied directly to accountability & reform requirements. For the first time, this state could have adequate funding for transit, alongside meaningful oversight to ensure it is used correctly.
However, many voices in the state government are opposing this funding, most notably Asm. Ting and Gov. Newsom. There is a budget deficit, but it seems disingenuous considering that Weiner's proposal is self-funding, and we're not even considering cutting any of the tens of billions in the highway budget.
This may be confusing, as you've probably heard of all the funding that's been allocated by the Biden administration, and all the new projects underway in California. However, these grants are generally only allowed to be used on capital projects, which is to say new infrastructure and vehicles. The funds that actually pay for operators and fuel are known as operating funds. These are traditionally covered by fares & state-level funding, both of which are currently lacking. We're ironically headed for a situation where the feds are building us lots of new infrastructure, and our agencies won't have the ops funds to use it. I realize that transit funding can be a bit wonky, so check this presentation for more context
There's a large coalition of organizations fighting to ensure that transit funding gets into the budget. Frankly, we're losing, and things don't look good if they keep going how they're going. Assuming nothing changes, BART and Caltrain will be the first to collapse in 2025-26. The small bus agencies serving mid-sized towns & suburbs will follow. San Jose's VTA and the LA Metro have the longest runways, with strong local funding, but even their budgets will run out by 2030. Muni may survive, but it will be a fraction of its former self, with 20 bus routes on the chopping block this year alone
The various transit agencies in California haven't always been perfectly run, and that's part of the reason why Phil Ting and others want to defund these systems. But the reality is, destroying our existing transit agencies won't magically make things better. The real answer is adequate funding accompanied by meaningful oversight. Please call Asm. Ting's office, sign the petition, and get involved in saving California's public transportation

Section One: Assets and Debt
Retirement/Investments Balance: $2.6 million, which is still mind-boggling to me, even as I know that with better choices I might have even more. More about that later. $1500 in my HSA, $519,000 in traditional IRAs, about half of that in a Beneficiary IRA from my late mother, $10K in a Roth IRA, $40,000 in my employer’s stock from RSUs, $145,000 in my 401K, $990,000 in an unmanaged taxable account, and $920,000 in a managed one.
Equity: Probably about $500,000. I bought my co-op apartment for $500K in 2008, and put in $120K worth of renovations in 2019. I still owe $251,000 on a 3.75% refi, but it’s probably worth close to $800,000 with the updates and as the neighborhood has continued to gentrify; it was assessed at $720,000 when I took out a HELOC for the renovations. I was able to make the 20% downpayment of $100,000 the co-op required because of the money my mom left me; she was very clear that she wanted to enable me to buy a home, and we’d even discussed her helping with a future downpayment before she passed.
Savings account balance: $60,000 in a HYSA. Some of that is earmarked for quarterly taxes, further renovations, and self-care but I try to always have $30,000 which is about 4 months’ expenses available as an “emergency fund.” I also have a non-high-yield savings account, which has some funds earmarked for my nephew’s bar mitzvah but is mostly used as a transfer point between other accounts until I get my act together and close it: current non-earmarked balance of $2000.
Primary checking account balance: $4800. My first post-grad school checking account required a $2K balance for no fee on ATM transactions, and I still try to keep a $2K balance in checking. I tell myself it’s so nothing ever bounces, but actually it’s a mix of habit and superstition.
Secondary checking account: $9,000. This account is funded mostly from dividends from my REIT shares (see below) and used to pay the co-op maintenance fees. I keep saying I should combine the two accounts now that I could theoretically pay the maintenance out of my take-home instead, but I am lazy!
Credit card debt: None currently. I pay my cards every month, though because it’s not automated I fuck up maybe once a year or so.
Student loan debt: I graduated college with about $12,000 in debt, but my grandparents died while I was in college and my mom paid it off from her inheritance, saying “I got this money when I don’t need it, you should have it now when you do.” My siblings and I plan to pay off my nieces/nephews’ college debt in turn to pay it forward. I didn’t take on grad school debt -- never take out loans to get a humanities advanced degree! -- but I racked up $10,000 worth of credit card debt in grad school because I made so little money. I paid it off with work for an early dot-com while I was still in school.
Anything else that's applicable to you: my siblings and I inherited shares in a private company that later sold off assets and turned itself into a REIT. My mom said “never sell those shares!” and even though that company doesn’t exist anymore, we haven't, and selling private REIT shares is a PITA anyhow.
Section Two: Income
Income Progression: I've been working in my field for 23 years, my starting salary was $50,000
I was originally going to be a humanities academic, and went to graduate school in the Midwest in the 90s. For most of my 20s, I lived on around $20, $25K a year, eating a lot of beans and rice and sharing a house with lots of roommates. I did a bunch of early digital archive work, so when the web really took off and I realized that I didn’t want to be a professor after all, I had a few skills and some options. It was a big shift, though!
I grew up in the NYC area, but I got my first web job in NYC through the Internet. It was running the website for a magazine. I was 29 and I made $50,000: what one of my still in grad school friends called “grown-up money.” I was able to find a rent-stabilized apartment and live by myself. When my mom, who had raised us with help from her parents, was diagnosed with cancer, I was very glad to be close to home while she fought it into remission.
That job fell apart after a year and a half -- pay attention, it’s a theme! -- because the magazine didn’t really understand what going digital meant and had second thoughts (They have since gone out of business). I saw this coming and had already been networking hard, so I was able, through friends of friends, to land a job doing information architecture for a legacy technology company. That was my first job in UX and really where I count the start of my current career. The starting pay there was $77K, which went up to $85K: I learned they’d started me low because they weren’t sure I could do the job.
Between 9/11 and the dot-com crash I got laid off a year and a half in. Then followed another year and a half of scrounging for freelance work and relying on the occasional help from Mom to get by; according to my records, I was averaging about $40K a year in income.
I had a favorite client -- a small design firm that did very cool stuff -- and I worked hard to stay in touch with them even when they had no work for me. Eventually, that paid off in a longer-term freelance job. I was hoping to get hired there but also actively interviewing when my mom died: she hadn’t told us her cancer had returned until very late. When the design firm offered me a job, I took it, because I knew I would be a mess for a while and they already knew and trusted me and my work.
Starting pay at that job was $80K. I loved it until I hit the glass ceiling, which was unfortunately during the ‘08 recession, so I stayed a little longer than I would have liked. Final pay when I left after 6 years was $115K.
I joined Startup A as their first full-time UX person and design manager. We structured the pay so that while I started at $110K, when they got their B-round funding a few months later, it went up to $120. I got a raise to $130 before I and most of my team got laid off after, yes, a year and a half.
At this point, I knew more people in the NYC UX community so getting freelance work was a bit easier, and I thought about just going freelance for good. I had one great long-term client, let’s call them Client X, that I did most of my work for, and also did some stuff for big name companies. I was making about $120K as a freelancer and doing well.
I got an opportunity that I can’t be specific about, because it’s extremely dox-able, but it was a long-term project that took up 2013 and 2014, into the first months of 2015. It paid $150K/yr, plus I did a little extra work on the side for Client X, an additional $5K/yr. On the long-term project, I was a creative lead, but not a design manager, which was what I wanted to be doing, so when I had a chance to renew my contract, I didn’t re-up. I thought I had a design leadership role lined up, but it fell through, and I fell into a burn-out depression that led me back into therapy and onto meds for the first time.
I kept interviewing for leadership roles and not getting them, and went back to doing work for Client X as well as other freelancing. It didn’t go as well this time. My freelance income in 2015 was $80K and for 2016 it was only $50K. I had to break into my emergency savings.
Client X was falling apart, and I needed a new job, stat. I spoke to a former manager who had followed a similar in-house-freelance-in-house career path, and they told me to look for an individual contributor role rather than a leadership role, and transition once I was inside. So I changed the way I was looking, and eventually opportunity knocked.
In 2017, a professional friend who was at Startup B, in a job I’d applied for and not gotten, reached out and asked me if I would be interested in joining his team. B has a complex enterprise product and he knew I was good at products like that. I asked if there would be leadership opportunities in the future and he said it was a possibility, so I took the job. (I probably would have taken it even if he hadn’t, tbh, I was broke!). It paid $160K, so I felt like I was making progress again.
The professional friend left, I got the lateral move to manager, and I had a fantastic team I really liked. I also had a narcissistic boss, so that job ended in tears a year and a half later. (I really do have a pattern!) My salary was at $168K by then.
Since I started interviewing before I was actually fired, I was pretty far along in the interview process when it actually happened. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t have a long painful job search: in fact a job doing what I’d already been doing, for a large public company, had been posted in an online community I was part of, and I got referred in by someone I didn’t know (but who I am still friendly with now!). I was out of work for only about six weeks.
My starting salary at Company C in 2019 was $202K, with a 15% bonus and $100,000 in RSUs over 4 years. I was so wowed I didn’t even negotiate, though now I realize I still should have. With a promotion and other annual salary increases, my base salary is now $255K, with a 20% bonus. I have gotten RSU refreshes three of the four years I’ve been at this job. Between those and the ESPP discounts, my W2 shows about $400K the last two years.
I should also note that this job is fully remote, and my team is distributed across multiple cities and timezones. My apartment is a two-bedroom, and I use the second bedroom as a guest room/home office.
Main Job Monthly Take Home:
My take-home pay is $9100/month. That’s after $7200 in taxes, $2800 into my 401K, $125 into my HSA, $100 for dental/vision/high-deductible medical insurance, $18/month for the company's legal plan, $30 to my commuter plan, and $1600/month into my ESPP.
Any Other Monthly Income: Not monthly but quarterly: The REIT mentioned above pays dividends of about $10K a year, but this year and last there has been an extra payment of $5K. Starting back in the days when I first bought my apartment and could barely afford to make the mortgage payments, I have set this money aside for the co-op maintenance fees.
I also get a 401K match up to $5000, and a HSA match of $1000 from my employer annually.
Section Three: Expenses
Mortgage: My monthly mortgage payment is $1690, to which I add $140/month in additional principal payment so it’s $1830.
Co-op maintenance (which includes gas, heating, and property tax as well as property management) is $1100.
Co-op insurance: $185/month
Savings contribution: $800/month
Investment contribution: $800/month, plus any RSUs/ESPP shares as they vest: I still have some shares from when I was holding long-term, but now I sell at or close to vest.
HELOC: I took out a $50K HELOC to help pay for the renovation of my kitchen and bathroom in 2019. I’m listing it because I just paid the last of it off a few weeks ago with $10,000 from RSUs. Until then I was paying about $200 a month plus an additional $200 to the principal. It was an adjustable-rate loan so the amount I was paying had gone up to almost 9%, so paying it off ASAP made sense.
Donations. This past year my charitable donations were almost 1% of my W2 AGI, and my goal for 2023 is to reach at least that 1%. My donations include:

• Monthly donations: $10 to the Human Utility (paying water bills for low-income families in Detroit and Baltimore); $15 to WNYC public radio; $5 each to a couple of different not-for-profit publications; $10 to the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, $5 to NY Common Pantry every time I order from FreshDirect.
• Annual donations: $250 in museum memberships, $50 to Transportation Alternatives, a local activist organization, $1200 to my synagogue, $100 to the New York Public Library. This year I gave $500 to a center at my alma mater, and have also donated $100 so far to Donors Choose and $130 to City Harvest. The first $2K of donations above $50 are matched by my employer.
• I also volunteer for my synagogue helping events run smoothly, maybe 5-10 hours a year, and having volunteered last year for a Housing Works benefit, I want to do that again.
• I also make small recurring non-deductible donations to the Wisconsin Democratic Party, Run for Something, and some local electeds.

Electric: average about $100/month
Groceries: average $500/month
Wifi/Cable/Landline: $200/month, of which my employer subsidizes $50. I’ve been planning to downgrade but keep putting it off because I don’t want to deal.
Cellphone: I have a corporate-subsidized AT&T plan for $80 with unlimited data. I have been considering switching to Mint: any NYC folks who have it, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Subscriptions: $30/month on Patreon; $28.53/month for an All Access subscription to the New York Times, $10/month for Spotify with bonus Hulu, $21.76/month for Netflix (shared with my siblings). I have annual subscriptions to the Washington Post, the Atlantic, Disney+, FreshDirect, One Medical, a couple of Substacks, Duolingo, and CityMapper. I also have the Lyft All-Access plan because it comes with Citibike membership.
Gym membership: I will be paying $180/month when the gym I joined opens near me, unless I cancel in the first week they’re open.
Pet expenses: My pup is expensive! $40/month for pet insurance; $800/quarter for doggy daycare 2x/week; $40/month for food and treats; $115 every other month for grooming. She also gets boarded once or twice a year while I travel, which is $75/day plus transportation.
Car payment: None! One of the upsides of NYC living. I do budget $75/month for Lyft and most months don’t spend even that much.
Regular therapy: Right now, I am seeing a therapist through a company-provided service. I’m almost out of sessions though and need to figure out next steps.
Cleaning: every other week at $150 per visit. (just raised from $140 when I got a raise)
BONUS QUESTIONS:
Did your parent/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
My mom and my grandparents taught me to save, and to pay my bills on time, but they never taught me to invest: my mom’s idea of teaching me to invest was getting mad that I wasn’t, and telling me I needed to buy a specific index fund without explaining why or how, before there were things like e*Trade. When she died, I was still getting used to making a middle-class living for myself, and I was thrown into this situation where I had money and no idea how to manage it.
Did you worry about money growing up? Do you worry about it now?
Growing up, I was always aware that we needed to be on a budget, that my dad was cheap about giving money to things outside of the basics of child support, and my mom worked two jobs sometimes to make sure we could do extra things like go to camp. My grandparents helped a lot, both on money and on child care, and their Depression-era mentality about money definitely is part of my psyche now: I get stressed when I don’t have a full pantry, even though I live alone!
I get very anxious about money and spending, which is part of the reason I wanted to write this up to be honest. I have almost all of my bills on autopay because before autopay, I would joke that I paid my bills “every other month like clockwork.” Maybe it’s my family, maybe it’s how little money I had for most of my 20s, but I still get freaked out by an unexpected bill, even though there’s plenty of money to pay for it.
Tell us more about those bad financial decisions you referred to earlier?
Mom had bought some bonds with an investment manager she liked, but he had retired, and the person his office assigned us to in his stead really didn’t know what he was doing -- he knew how to sell annuities to senior citizens and that was about it. When we realized this was a problem, we got a referral through one of my siblings’ coworkers to someone else, who unwound our previous mistakes but made new ones. My siblings managed their own money (with or without partners) but I stayed with that financial advisor, who liked selling options and calls. Tl,dr: I missed basic growth for years because he was focused on short-term wins. At a certain point I knew enough to tell him to stop doing that and start focusing on long-term index funds, but I didn’t know enough to pick low-cost ones. The only good decision I made at that time was that I also told him to hold onto the Apple stock he was selling calls on: 12 years later, an investment of $57,000 is worth nearly $500,000.
When I worked at Startup B, I got options, and on the advice of a smart friend, I bought them, selling a little of the Apple stock to cover it. Startup B went public during the final days of the latest tech boom, and for a brief period my $60,000 investment in those options was worth over $3 million (!!). I wanted to be smart about the tax implications of selling my shares so I decided to wait until 2022 to start doing that, and of course the tech market collapsed: shares were down over 80% at one point. They’re better now but still below IPO price. Right now I’m holding on at $800,000 because the company’s basic business model still makes sense, but the regret is real, not to mention that it’s stressful to have nearly half of my holdings in just two companies!
I had stopped working with my previous financial advisor when Startup B went public because it was clear he really didn’t know how to help, and I found a tax-knowledgeable advisor who set me up with something closer to Boglehead strategy.
I have been thinking it’s time to stop working with that third advisor because basically I’m not going to need the help until I’m ready to retire (hopefully not more than 10-15 years from now!) and the fees stress me out, but my general tendency towards avoidance of all things financial is making this hard.
MONEY DIARY
Day 1, Friday:
I wake up before 6 because I’m out of town on a work trip and need to catch an early train home. I did most of my packing the night before so it’s just a little stumbling around the hotel room, leaving a tip for the maid ($20), checking out and getting in an Uber ($16.67, on company card). Not a lot is open at the train station but thank God the Dunkin’ Donuts is, so I get a medium coffee and a blueberry donut ($6.36, on company card). I’m listed as out of office on my calendar and Slack, but I do some time-sensitive work on the train and call it a week.
At Penn, I’m really tempted to take one last eye-wateringly expensive cab ride on the company dime, but I can’t bring myself to do it when it’s a straight shot on the subway instead ($2.75, prepaid on my commuter card). I get home and maybe because I know I’m reporting to you all, I unpack and get everything put away with record speed. I should do these diaries more often!
It’s a beautiful, unseasonably warm day in NYC, and everyone is out. The place I’d been planning to go for lunch is packed, the cafe I tried next was sold out of pastries and sandwiches, even the bagel joint is low on bagels! I finally get a BLT on a brioche roll and a Diet Coke at the bagel joint ($15) and I sit in their street seating and eat and read my library book on my phone.
Finally, the reason why I wanted to eat on this particular corner happens: the van from the dog boarding facility where my pup has been while I’m traveling shows up. My doodle (let’s call her Ada) and I have our little reunion on the street-corner, and then I walk her home. She runs around the apartment making sure everything is right where she left it, and then she eats some food. We have plans tonight so we both take a nap.
My friend K is having a birthday party in an outdoors venue, and I know she will want to see Ada. If I were going alone I would take a Citibike ebike (presuming one was available), because getting there by train from my place means switching trains or taking a bus to the right subway station. But I have great plans to take Ada on the bus/train route! Of course, those plans fall apart after the nap, when I recognize just how beat I am. I get a “wait & save” Lyft to the venue that shows up while I’m still looking for my keys, put Ada in her bag, and we go ($26 including tip). The venue has non-alcoholic frozen drinks, so I get one of those and a fancy grilled cheese ($29.50).
It’s great to see the birthday girl and our closest mutual friend H, who is also a UXer. H and I talk shop for a bit, catch up, and make plans for a day trip to Beacon over Memorial Day weekend. K is one of those people who is always out doing something, going to art shows or playing sports, and has a wide range of friends at her party. One of them is a guy I knew from abortion clinic defense work when I was 22, the year between college and grad school, and who got me some freelance work when I was starting out. We are surprised to see each other but eventually remember that we both knew we each knew K! It’s been a while. We catch up and he tells me about his current job. Someone else mentions his book and so he admits he has published a graphic design book since we last saw each other. He tells me to check out the website because I’ll get a kick out of it. When I get home ($26 again) I buy the book on Amazon ($23.50) to support him.
Total: $140, plus $2.75 pre-paid and $23 on the corporate card
Day 2, Saturday:
Both Ada and I are up unusually early today and it’s a nice day. I get her into a harness, and we head towards Grand Army Plaza. I’m carrying a big FreshDirect bag full of clothes to donate, which slows me down a bit, but we still get there before off-leash hours end and I get a donation receipt.
I drink a La Coulombe canned latte (which I keep for mornings like this) while Ada plays and rolls around in the grass. She’s not usually all that interested in playing fetch, but she will happily wander the paths of the park with me, occasionally chasing a bird or squirrel who can handily outrun her. She’s wearing a new Wild Ones harness that is too big for her -- I make a mental note to look up their return policy.
I take a couple of wrong turns and we spend longer than I’d planned in the park, but it’s hardly a problem to be outside on a nice day. On the walk back, we spot one of our neighbors, who’s set up a stand among the group just outside the Greenmarket. I didn’t know they had a side gig, so I stop to chat with them for a bit, and I buy (let’s call it a soap) for $6.
Back at the Greenmarket, I make a beeline for the Ronnybrook Dairy stand, where I get 6 drinkable yogurts for $2.50 each, which is $1.50 less than the regular price at stores, and even $.50 less than the on-sale price at FreshDirect. I also buy one of their new no-added-sugar drinkable yogurts in a smaller size for $1 ($17 total, including tip). Next it’s to Roaming Acres for their smoked bones for Ada -- the ostrich ones still aren’t in, which are the best, but we get 2 of the bison bones for $26.13. It’s pricey, but they last her for weeks. I also get 2 bunches of Swiss chard for $8, and stop at Bread Alone for a ciabatta roll and a piece of lemon-poppy pound cake. I throw in a loaf of sliced peasant bread because I’m just in the zone by this point ($10.50). The pound cake prevents me from stopping for something else to eat on the walk home, much to Ada’s dismay.
When we get back, I feed her, have the no-sugar-added yogurt and the pound cake, and put stuff away. I also take out her old harness and open the straps as wide as they will possibly go, hoping she can wear it again.
It’s only 11am and I’ve put nearly 9,000 steps on the ol’ pedometer, so it’s time for another nap.
Much of the rest of the day is spent lazing about, scrolling through Reddit and doing the Sunday crossword. I get a notification that my domain name has renewed ($17.17). I make a pasta dish with one bunch of the chard for dinner. We go for a decently long walk after dinner and the harness seems to be fitting her fine. I do my Duolingo practice in bed.
Total $84.80
Day 3, Sunday
Mother’s Day is fraught when your mom is gone and you don’t have kids. I’m happy to hang out in bed till 10:30, and thankfully so is Ada. She’s had a hectic week too! We do our walk and I make two slices of toast from the Greenmarket peasant bread for breakfast.
I call my aunt, my sister with kids, and my female cousin. My cousin and I discuss my BIL’s upcoming birthday party on Saturday, and the logistics of getting to the party in the suburbs. I don’t know what I’m going to do about Ada, either then or next weekend when I have told H I’ll go to Beacon for a day.
It’s a beautiful day, so I figure a shortish afternoon walk or just hanging out outside the local cafe would be nice. I buy the cafe’s iced tea special ($6 including tip) and am ready to stroll or sit, but Ada is not having it and literally pulls me back towards my building. I decide to take the hint, and go home. I measure Ada to pick out a new harness, order one on Amazon that the Wirecutter recommends for small dogs ($18.21), and spend an afternoon reading with a dog on my lap.
For dinner, I order Indian food. I have a Seamless promo, so I get enough for a few meals ($35.60). I clean up a little for the dishwasher repair tech who’ll be coming tomorrow, and watch Succession. I’d forgotten it was going to be the election episode, so I’m completely nerve-jangled at what’s supposed to be bedtime. Walk, crossword, Duolingo, and a little more reading in bed. I finish the book (don’t like it so I won’t mention the title).
Total: $41.60
Day 4, Monday
Before I left for my work trip, the upscale dishwasher I bought for my kitchen renovation stopped working and was throwing an error code in its display screen. I called the manufacturer and scheduled a service call for as soon as possible after I got back, and that was this morning. The technician arrives as I’m coming back from Ada’s morning walk.
I describe the problem to him and he’s unable to reproduce it. He runs the dishwasher for a while, shows me how to restart it when there’s an error, and listens to it run for a bit. He thinks that leaving it unplugged and open while I was away allowed the water that wasn’t draining right before to drain. It’s still a bit noisier than it was before, but I can’t deny that it’s actually working. An expensive lesson in how “have you tried turning it off and on again” almost always works -- $150 for the visit plus half an hour on site. He can’t get through to the office to process my credit card number so I have to write him a check ($260.21).
My first meeting of the day is canceled and my next one, our group leadership meeting, is just me and my boss. We compare notes on our respective travels over the last week -- she twisted her ankle -- and talk about some of the ideas that came out of our meetings. She tells me about the very nice cane she bought at CVS -- a collaboration with the Michael Graves studio, which has done some great stuff for people with disabilities -- and I look it up online. I have a cane I bought when I broke my ankle, and I’ve kept it because you never know, but now I’m tempted to replace it. Oh great, I think, I’m going to make people believe that your 50s are about impulse-purchasing canes!
My team has our weekly sync, and then I have a lot of email to catch up on, mostly bureaucratic stuff. There’s an invite to an event next week featuring an old professional friend: I RSVP yes, because networking is more fun when people you like are involved.
Lunch is some soup I defrosted and the ciabatta roll from the Greenmarket, reheated. In the late afternoon, I have a telehealth therapy session, and afterwards, I take a long walk with the dog. As we head out, we see several of the building’s other dogs, and the pre-schooler who Ada is special friends with. It’s extremely wholesome.
We pass a local restaurant where an old friend is eating outside with someone I don’t know. I catch her eye and we exchange a look, and I’m certain she’s on a date until she gets up and greets me and invites me and Ada to join them. I order the same drink the guy she’s with is having, talk to them both, and I’m relaxing a bit until I ask him how he knows her and yep, it’s a first date. Both of them seem totally fine with having me there, though I don’t stay for another round. I try to pay for my drink and they both refuse. He seems nice, and he liked my dog: if they end up dating I’ll have a funny story to tell.
I go home, heat up a meal I took out of the freezer back on Friday, and have dinner. I’m still a little tipsy so I drink water and eat Trader Joe’s lentil curls till the feeling subsides. I get a notification that a Substack I forgot to cancel just charged me the monthly subscription fee ($6). I cancel it moving forward immediately.
Walk the dog, crossword, Duolingo. In bed, I start a new library book: Scorched Grace, a mystery that got a rave review in the NYT, about a punk queer turned novice nun, investigating an arson at the school where she teaches.
Total: $266.21
Day 5, Tuesday
My super is at the door at 8:30 am, delighting Ada -- they are besties. He has a package that has his name on it but the number of an apartment in the building: a mystery! I point out that the apartment on the address label is not mine, but the same line, a floor down. I joke that he just wanted to come see Ada, who does in turn want to follow him to his next stop. I put on street clothes and take her for her walk.
Coffee and toast for breakfast again. I notice my AmEx payment has cleared, and schedule payments for the two credit cards (Chase and Apple Card) that I pay at the end of the month. I don’t like to set credit cards to auto-pay, because I like to keep an eye on my spending, but I do like to set up payments in advance. I do a little quick math with the help of the iPhone calculator and work out that even with my savings deductions, I should have about $500 extra left at the end of the month. When I have over $1K extra it will go into investments.
My first meeting of the day is with my favorite colleague J, and we catch up on some organizational challenges and talk about next steps on a project that she is leading. I’m really excited about how much positive attention her work has already gotten.
Lunch is some of the Indian leftovers. Then there’s a boring status meeting, and then I have a one-on-one with one of my direct reports. I’m very serious about making sure I do these every week, because I have had so many bad managers who didn’t. He suggests that he try working on something that I was hoping he could work on, so I am thrilled that he volunteered and tell him what a good idea he has.
My team member mentions that he needs some coffee, and I remember that I’m running low on beans. I click over to Fresh Direct and order coffee beans, a 12-pack of Sprite Zero cans, and a bunch of on-sale yogurts to be delivered same-day. ($45.22) I go through so much Sprite Zero. I got spoiled having free soda at office jobs, and now I probably drink 2-3 cans of soda a day at home. I also finalize my CookUnity order for next week, which I think will be a busy one: 8 meals for $91.17.
I have a meeting with the most senior designers across my boss’s organization, and we talk about holding an internal conference to align on a long-term UX vision. It’s an idea that I brought to my boss, though I give my team credit in the meeting, and I’m happy to see her want to invest in it.
Between meetings, I’m scrolling through Twitter and I see an old friend retweet her friend’s GoFundMe for his mom to help her keep her house. I’m moved by it, so I donate $18 (in Hebrew, letters=numbers and the number 18 has the same letters as the word for “life” so 18 or multiples of 18 are typical Jewish donation/gift amounts). Then I see a GoFundMe for a former colleague who has a lot of mental and health issues and is living out of their car. I donate $100 to that one rather than trying to work out the correct multiple of 18. ($120 total including GoFundMe “tips”)
My last meeting isn’t until dinnertime (the joy of working across time zones!) so I have to feed the dog as soon as I’m done. For myself, I heat up the leftover pasta and fry an egg to go on top. I put all the dishes in the dishwasher and set it to run overnight. By the time the FreshDirect delivery arrives, I’ve forgotten I ordered it!
When I check my email there is already a thank-you note from the friend of a friend whose GoFundMe I contributed to. I click over to his fundraiser, which has gone up a bit in the hours since I donated, and then also to my former co-worker’s, which has already met its goal! I scroll through the list of donors, seeing many familiar names. Most of our former colleagues who have donated have given more than I did: $200, $300 and the like. One, who was always prone to extravagant gestures, gave $1,000! I find myself second-guessing myself and wondering if I’m too cheap -- not just in this case but in general.
Crossword, Duolingo, bed. Whether it’s because of my worries or the lack of exercise I’ve been getting after a very active week last week, I don’t sleep well.
Total: $256.39
Day 6, Wednesday
Toast and coffee for breakfast again. I start my day with a few team one-on-ones. Then I have a meeting with other UX managers about our new talent management system: fun stuff. There’s some talk about how it might impact bonuses for next year, which is depressing. I use part of the meeting to buy new jeans, since the ones I’m wearing have the inevitable thigh rip, and while I’m on the Everlane site I see a gorgeous spring coat on sale and add that too ($244.05).
I check my personal email and there’s a pub announcement for a book on leadership from a design press. I meant to pre-order it, but I guess it’s too late! I buy directly from their website because they offer an ebook/print copy bundle, plus I always order directly from small presses when I can ($36.98).
Microwave mac and cheese for lunch. I take Ada out, planning to walk her to her doggy daycare, but about halfway there, she starts pulling emphatically towards home. Again, I take the hint, and we go home so she can sleep. I email them to let them know we will only be in once this week, and apologize for the short notice.
When I get home, I review my order from Saturday for a new harness. It’s not coming until Friday and I could still cancel it, since the old one is working for her again. I decide not to, since she may need a light-weight harness when it’s really hot out. I also check on an order which never showed up, and learn that it got returned to Amazon. I reorder the dog treats and Vitamin D ($26.14).
The afternoon is taken up by a complete clusterf**k at work, where different teams are working on related products and not working together. One of those teams now wants to launch their product in a couple of months, even though it’s a mess. We talk about it in my team crit, since one of my designers has been asked to do a heuristic review of the product. The designer who asks “Two questions. First of all, why?” makes me lolsob. My manager and I spend our entire one-on-one discussing it, agreeing we are hosed (and agreeing that we can only say “hosed” to each other since none of our younger colleagues use the term). My colleague J and I have a “wtf” moment about it in a meeting that’s supposed to be about something else. Lots of Slack messages going back and forth all afternoon as well. It sometimes feels like this job is just one firedrill after another.
I decide to order in dinner: a carne asada bowl and a side of chips and guacamole from Dos Toros ($33.91). The bowl comes without guacamole, and I get a $4.97 credit from DoorDash for my troubles. I give Ada a bunch of the chips.
I show up for my monthly Zoom call with a small group of professional friends and no one else is there. This used to be a monthly after-work drinks thing that my friend H organized. It went online with COVID and it was just easier to keep online, and it’s been a great way to keep in touch with people whose opinions I value. H doesn’t always come anymore but there’s usually at least three of us. I missed the last one myself so I’m hoping this is a one-off.
Instead, I continue reading Scorched Grace (a banger), play with Ada, and then take her for a walk. (Assume that this walk, like all Ada walks, includes chatting with her friends, talking with people who want to pet her, talking with people who she wants to have pet her. She’s a very sociable dog for an introvert to hang out with!)
When I get home, I check the mailroom and there is a package from my dad -- a god-awful sculpture/lamp thing that looks like a cricket. Apparently, it’s made by an old friend of his who’s an artist in a touristy part of the South. He calls it “a gift of the heart” and thoughtfully includes the receipt -- which says “exchanges only.” Sigh.
Evening routine as per usual.
Total: $341.08
Day 7, Thursday
I oversleep and feel groggy all morning. Luckily, Ada is not a morning dog, and she’s still pretty wiped out from her week at boarding: usually she’d be climbing the walls not having been to daycare all week.
Toast and coffee again. Today I mix it up with some of the last of last year’s homemade jam.
More meetings about the clusterf**k and it’s all going to get argued out well above my head. Lunch is the last of the Indian food, plus the last of the Dos Toros chips and guac. It’s international!
An old friend is speaking at a local conference, and had asked if I wanted to be her guest: the invite from the conference organizers finally arrives and I accept. I’m reminded that the two of us had agreed to see Just For Us during its Broadway run (I saw it off-Broadway and loved it!), so I text her to find out when she’s in town. We quickly agree on a night and I buy the tickets ($279 including fees). She’ll pay me back for half, or buy dinner on the night.
I call my dad to thank him for the gift, and we talk about British mysteries on PBS. Dinner is a peppers, onion, and mushroom omelette. I should use the second bunch of chard, especially since I know I’ll be dining out Friday and Saturday, but I’m too tired to be creative.
I spend the rest of the evening tidying up for the cleaner who will come in the morning and then doing the evening routine.
Total: $279
Categorized Expenses for the Week:
Food + Drink: $262.40
Fun / Entertainment: $314.50
Home + Health: $267.21
Clothes + Beauty: $244.05
Transport: $52
Books: $50.48
Dog: $62.34
Other $143.17
Lastly, reflect on your diary!
My week totals out to about $1400, which is more than I would ideally like, but with the dishwasher repair, the Broadway tickets, and buying food for next week via Cook Unity, it doesn’t feel wildly off. I did notice a lot of quasi-impulse buys -- “oh, I just remembered this, need to buy it now!” -- which is something I should be more mindful of. It makes me more confident in my budgeting to know that even when I’m not watching my money I’m spending reasonably (except perhaps too much on Ada? Never!).
I’m still pretty anxious when I have to think about larger financial decisions, but at least about the day to day, I think I’m doing mostly all right!

Hey everyone! If you're looking for something to do over the summer, CatSNAP is looking for people to foster, socialize, and/or help with medical care for our kitty cats!
Foster: Consider opening your home to a cat in transition! Bringing a cat into your home makes more room in the shelter for the kitties that need more supervision/medical care. It also gives us an insight into what home life would be best for the cat, so we can find their perfect forever home. CATsNAP provides all vet care.
Socialize: Our cats are looking to make friends! CATsNAP is looking for caring individuals to donate their talent and time for the care and nurturing of our rescued animals. Your main duty will be playing with the cats and getting them used to humans, as well as cleaning litter boxes and filling food and water bowls. No experience is required — we will provide all required training. Fill out our Volunteer Application on our website (https://www.catsnap.org/services/volunteer)
Medical team: Similar to socializing, the medical team cleans litter boxes, fills food and water bowls, and gets lots of play time and cuddles with our cats. However, the medical team works with cats that need special medical attention. Additional duties for this role include: Administer medications as needed for any cats in CATsNAP HQ l, monitor the general health and well being of cats in CATsNAP HQ, and basic notes taking and posting on group team. Training provided. Fill out our Volunteer Application on our website (https://www.catsnap.org/services/volunteer)
CatSNAP is directly behind the Steak n Shake/Taco Bell on Neil, right by the 100 Yellow bus stop at Fox & State. There are 2 shifts availabile every day (morning and evening) and the ideal volunteer could take 2 shifts per month! 1 or 2 people can take each shift, so feel free to apply with a friend!
Must be 18+ to volunteer, 21+ to adopt.
Cat tax: https://instagram.com/we_are_catsnap?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Hey everyone.
We're thinking of moving into the new Stonewater Community in Roxbury. Both of us work hybrid in NYC roughly 1-2 times a week.
We saw NJ transit bus 80 is right down the street from our community (10 min walk). It's a mostly direct bus saying it takes 1hr to 1hr10min to Port Authority. There is also the Boonton line for rail, but that takes a bit longer at 1hr 30min.
Does anyone here do this commute, or has done it in the past? Do you guys recommend the commute, the route? How was the 1hr-1hr10m estimates, fairly accurate most of the days? Are there any other 'secret' routes? We're happy to drive to a park and ride as well if that makes things quicker.
Thank you! We're really excited about this community but the longer commute is really making us nervous.

Hey everyone.
We're thinking of moving into the new Stonewater Community in Roxbury. Both of us work hybrid in NYC roughly 1-2 times a week.
We saw NJ transit bus 80 is right down the street from our community (10 min walk). It's a mostly direct bus saying it takes 1hr to 1hr10min to Port Authority. There is also the Boonton line for rail, but that takes a bit longer at 1hr 30min.
Does anyone here do this commute, or has done it in the past? Do you guys recommend the commute, the route? How was the 1hr-1hr10m estimates, fairly accurate most of the days? Are there any other 'secret' routes? We're happy to drive to a park and ride as well if that makes things quicker.
Thank you! We're really excited about this community but the longer commute is really making us nervous.