Go spend a weekend in literally any other city and live a little.

Oh yeah, I hadn't thought about that. The state of the housing market and economy right now is probably putting a lot of folks in position to use a storage unit. A while back I lived with family and used one of those little sheds to store all of my stuff in. Depending on how long you intend to love with your family, one of those little sheds might be cheaper. Worth looking into!

Thanks for sharing your insights. What your saying makes sense except for one thing. I can't wrap my head around the demand for storage units or mattresses. Are there really that many people renting and using storage units? And do people buy mattresses that often? I've kept the same one for 15 years and it's fine.

I have a pet theory that storage units, mattress stores, and psychics are all money laundering operations in Baltimore. I have never seen so many in my entire life as I have in Baltimore. Especially the psychics like what? Along with all the trash liquor stores and abandoned buildings it's just a sad look.

My understanding is that meth is indeed not common here. But it could be a clandestine lab of any kind. Fentanyl even. Don't know anything about what other drugs smell like cooking up. Like I said I'm from the Meth Belt lol.

Ah yes the old "Baltimore left" I call it. My favorite though is when at the red light you see the driver make a right turn then immediately a u turn then another right to effectively avoid the red light.

I commented in the other one but it might not have gotten seen. Get a meth residue test kit. They're sold on amazon. It could be that it's not the neighbors but your own home. It could be that the smell comes and goes with subtle changes in temperature, humidity, sunlight coming in windows or curtains drawn etc. Get a notebook that is only used for logging the day/time you smell something. Take note of what the smell smells like to you. Take note of how long the smell lasts. Take note of anything else that happened when the smell started or stopped. Did you take a shower? Flush a toilet? Turn the stove on or off? Use the faucet? Run laundry? Start or finish a meal? It might be tedious but it will show you a pattern. Also, go over to r/homeimprovement to cross post.

I'm a country girl from the Meth Belt. My money's on meth. Different steps of the manufacturing process have different smells. You can have samples taken from your home to have tested. I forget who to contact. I'll add more later.

Edit: Ok so if you Google meth residue test kit that's what you need. Also suggest cross posting over at r/homeimprovement and also agree with others saying to call the police or DEA tip line.

I had the exact same thing happen except not with Quest but a hospital. They jerked me around for two whole years about needing this thing then that thing (same BS about checks and copies blah blah blah). The power tripping billing manager even insisted I refer to him strictly as MISTER Barnes each and every interaction I had with him. I finally got in touch with the hospital's patient advocate and she got the entire issue corrected for me by the next day. Amazing. Unfortunately I'm guessing Quest doesn't have something like a patient advocate. I do know there's a state board or commission you can contact though, as that was going to be my next step if the patient advocate route didn't work.

Yeah I've had all kinds of issues. I get double or triple charges. The transponder on my car never scans, even though it's brand new to replace another one that never scans. I've called them and they say I'm in the system.

OP can you look up the transaction history on the card you used to pay EZPass as a way to prove to them you already paid?

Maybe it's because I frequently travel internationally and many of my friends and colleagues are foreign nationals, but I don't think using a passport as a form of valid ID to be weird at all.

I'm sorry that's a really awful experience. I've never been to Merritt and don't have any advice regarding them. I just wanted to highly recommend the Y of Central Maryland. There are many locations throughout the city and county and each one I've been to is 10/10 amazing in every way. Very welcoming and inclusive people and atmosphere. I cannot comment on race specifically, but my kids were born with birth defects/ genetic diagnoses and no one has ever made us feel uncomfortable. I see a lot of families that bring their kids and adult family members of different needs/abilities there and everyone is very comfortable and the Y staff are so accommodating. So like I said, I can't comment on race issues (being white and all) but feel like their inclusiveness regarding my personal experiences is a good sign in that respect. The Y is also very affordable. Family membership is $100 and it includes the pool and a lot of classes and free childcare while you workout (in case you have little ones). You said in another comment you play basketball. I know that some locations do have nice courts and pickup basketball. Ample parking in their lots too, nobody would look at you weird for showing up and parking your scooter. I never had any issues signing up or checking in at the front desk either. Best of luck.

Bump and jacks, yes! I was trying to remember what they were called, I remembered bump and something. Yeah, they were very common in St. Louis a couple decades ago. I'm glad they got nipped in the bud here. I wish other crimes would be too.

I've heard of it happening in other cities I've lived in. The robber rams their car into yours so when you get out of your car to sort out the "accident" they assault you and rob you. I mean, OP could've just been the victim of a run of the mill hit and run which is bad enough. Hopefully this won't become a thing in Baltimore.

This exact thing has happened to many of my neighbors.

Marshy Point Nature Center and Irvine Nature Center both are free and frequently have activities on weekends so check their websites. Oh and MPNC offers little explorer backpacks for kids to borrow pecked with stuff to go exploring. Just ask a ranger, which by the way, the rangers there are A+.

This reminds me, when I was house hunting several years ago I saw SO MANY houses that had very obviously been flooded. You could smell the mold and/or bleach. I don't know if that's just because of my tight budget or what but I was blown away at the sheer number of houses in the area with severe water damage. I just did not expect that here.