The weather is often not very summery here in early June so it may not be as crazy as you're expecting

Only way out: work for the federal government, a tribal business, or yourself (self employed)

You can read the documentation from DOL on FMLA for what’s considered a military exigency where you can get PFML. Ongoing, routine care of your kids is not covered. When your spouse is inside the US, it’s also not covered. You also mention you’ve done this many times before. It maxes out at 12 weeks within the last 12 months.

A couple sections that seem relevant to your situation > For members of the Reserve components of the Armed Forces (members of the National Guard and Reserves), covered active duty is duty during deployment of the member with the Armed Forces to a foreign country under a call or order to active duty in a contingency operation.

> Deployment to a foreign country means deployment to areas outside of the United States, the District of Columbia, or any Territory or possession of the United States. It also includes deployment to international waters.

> Certain childcare and related activities arising from the military member’s covered active duty, including arranging for alternative childcare, providing childcare on a non-routine, urgent, immediate need basis, enrolling in or transferring a child to a new school or day care facility.

Caffe Vita, Broadcast

Smoke is really the major concern. The fires are often in more remote areas or at least limited to a small area. The smoke can be very widespread though. And it’s not just an inconvenience. The smoke can be bad enough that you don’t want to be outside in it at all, let alone 24/7 camping

Prices online are accurate unless you need insurance or a GPS or similar extras. You can get an exact price on the companies’ sites directly rather than through a travel aggregator. Really all the major ones are fine. The cheaper ones like Rent-a-wreck usually are not in the main rental car center. You may need to wait longer for a shuttle. Cheaper options like Fox are in the rental car center but you may wait in line longer or have worse service. Reality is rental cars are a commodity though.

I’m white but what black friends have told me is that racism here is different. Less in your face than in other parts of the country. More passive aggressive, like a lot of things in Seattle. There are also just a lot fewer black people around, especially outside of areas like south King County.

Outside of urban areas, it is extremely white. Some parts of rural Washington can be like northern Idaho white supremacist racist.

No need to wait for the next ferry when full either because there’s always room

I can’t believe I got this far down before someone mentioned the gorge! It’s awesome

Have you talked to your landlord about it? They're only required to provide heating. They could literally satisfy this requirement by giving you a space heater after you asked about it. If they don't do that, you might have a case to break your lease but I'm not even sure about that. The expectation might instead be that you buy yourself a heater and deduct its cost from rent as a "repair".

This is a bit different. That law would allow OP, as a non resident, to physically work in Utah for up to 20 days before having to pay income taxes there. For example, this would allow them to travel to headquarters a few weeks a year and still not have to pay taxes. In states like California, you must pay taxes on day 1 when working there temporarily as a non resident.

Last initiative on this failed pretty spectacularly I-1098

OP won’t if they’re not in Utah while doing the work. Remote workers paying taxes where the employer is based is only the case in a few “convenience of the employer” states like NY.

It sounds like your landlord is wrong. Are you going to fight her over $50 if you're only staying one more month? I probably would by not using that electronic portal and instead paying the agreed upon amount of $1395 + $200 by check.

It has nothing to do with the schedules. It’s some sort of IT problem.

There’s an alert for it on the ferries site: https://wsdot.com/ferries/schedule/bulletin.aspx

> [Last Updated: Thursday, February 02, 2023 12:09 PM]

> REMINDER: Spring Vehicle Reservation Release Postponed

> The release of vehicle reservations for the Anacortes/San Juan Islands and Port Townsend Coupeville routes for travel between March 26 to June 17 remains postponed. IT staff are still working to address a technical issue with the online reservation system, and we will continue to provide updates as they become available.

> We understand the inconvenience this may cause and are working diligently to resolve the issue and provide an improved customer experience when the release is rescheduled. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Probably once the program is struggling financially in a few years

Technically, you can just cancel without a new policy and keep your exemption. They could change the law but that’s how it works today

It's around for sure. Not as common as in places like coastal California though.

North Cascades for the win

Paradise is currently only open (and the road only plowed) on weekends due to staffing issues, so definitely check ahead

https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/news/mount-rainier-national-park-announces-winter-2022-23-recreational-access-changes.htm

I saw that too. This is a huge fail for this program. How can its taxibility still not be known? It’s been around for years now

Many things could go wrong. Two main ones are not including your spouse’s job on the form if you are married, or not including a second job if you are single or married.

Drug screening is actually quite rare (less than 2% of jobs). Nowhere close to most employers except in certain industries or job types https://americanaddictioncenters.org/blog/analysis-employer-drug-testing

This map is pretty good for that sort of thing https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/upshot/2020-election-map.html

Skagit Valley has some surprises. Looks more like Lynden in the north and towns like Napavine, Toledo farther south

Much better to have the govt tell you what you can and can’t do with your land /s