Absolute garbage, they pulled the same crap on me. I guess why invest in your own infrastructure when you can make the customer pay for it instead. AT&T buried fiber up to my house at no cost, so I'm glad I held out. Especially if they're already raising prices.

A lot of chains that have a standing policy will make an exception if you talk to a manager and explain your situation. They're afraid of people renting rooms for parties and trashing them. Hotels that offer weekly rates are also often a better bet. Might try extended stay America.

There's definitely a swamp of interesting legal issues with no real precedent yet. Can a state coerce a business to break federal law? I doubt that would play well in federal court. But who knows. I'm just saying that until the feds make sensible policy moves, I wouldn't expect, say, Mercy hospital or the post office to care if you have your medical card. They're still not going to hire you if you can't pass a drug test.

It's still illegal federally. State can say whatever they want, but employers will still be able to refuse to hire based on a drug test result, card or no card.

Schultz and Dooley in Chesterfield has great burgers.

I rotate through flavors of Kevin's chicken when I'm at home but don't have time for prep. The prepackaged chicken is cooked sous vide and it's amazingly tender and consistent. Pair it with an uncle Ben's quick rice pouch from the microwave, takes 5 minutes total.

Best frozen I've personally found is Evol. The chicken enchilada bake and the mushroom ravioli one are both good.

Sucks. I always had 4-5 bars and about 10kbps of data service. ATT and Verizon seem to have the best coverage in this area.

Casa Bella has great shrimp tacos or shrimp ceviche.

Started it after they opened back post pandemic. I'm surprised they didn't stop when they started allowing 100% seating again. Seems like the kind of crowd that would usually tip pretty well as you're already paying a premium for the experience.

I don't order much food there anymore after being served some almost raw chicken a year or so ago. Quality of the kitchen has really gone downhill.

Family Auto are good people. Don't know about the BYO parts tho.

They have really, really good Crab Rangoon. At least they used to when I worked around there.

Anything with meat is prolly cat tho.

I think a white work van is 100% the way to go if you want to stay in the city. No windows makes you safer, and a white work van overnight in most parking lots will draw zero attention if you strap some old pipes or a ladder to the roof.

The van life most social media sells is bullshit. The people that actually make it work for a lifestyle tend to have jobs that let them work remote, and travel constantly with the seasons. From a temperature comfort perspective Springfield is gonna suck to live out of a van in 8 months out of 12.

Also don't underestimate the costs involved. Living in a van is not free rent. You'll need to move almost daily to avoid hassles, and your van will probably get bad gas mileage. Have to run the van for power or have an alternative plan (obvious solar on the van makes you a target for cops and thieves). Heat in the winter, resources to cook food and keep food cold. Here you'd need to run the van in the summer to cool off too, or have an alternate plan for that. Gym membership or another plan to keep up your personal hygiene as a clean and well groomed vanlifer is less of a target for authority than a dirty one. It's just the way you're perceived.

A cheap van will break down. You'll need to either know how to maintain the van yourself and carry the tools to do so, or have a plan for where to live for 2 days every time your house needs a new water pump or something. You'll be using it a lot more than a vehicle you just drive to work, so count on maintenance being more expensive.