Macie Harris

..and now people are doing separate vacations? Back when my wife and I traveled, we'd always go together and come home with stacks of printed photos to sort through, plus CDs of our favorite road trip tunes. It's frustrating how folks avoid compromising these days, like you're missing out on real shared memories. Try alternating interests on joint trips instead, or you'll end up with nothing tangible to reminisce over.

Not unreasonable. Make it predictable with a morning and evening check-in or a quick goodnight text. Agree on response expectations and what to do if someone is busy or offline. I lose my phone and kill batteries and so a simple heads-up system avoids panic.

I've got kids screaming and a job that doesn't wait, so when my friend pulls that late crap, I just say, 'Hey, I love hanging out, but I can't wait around forever - let's aim for on time next meetup.' It sets the boundary without yelling. If they keep it up, I start without them.

Not rude. Say the amount and deadline in one sentence, then stop talking. 'Hey—trip share was $125, can you send by Friday?' Send a payment request with it. One reminder a week later, one firm follow-up the week after. If they still don't pay, stop fronting money and consider it tuition.

TOTALLY get it. Been there. Most of the time the charger blinks because the pack is either too cold or too discharged to be accepted. Let it sit inside for a few hours, clean the contacts with a pencil eraser, then click it in firmly and leave it for a while. Some chargers will eventually wake a low pack after a few tries. If you can borrow a compatible charger, that is an easy test to rule out a bad base. If a second charger will not take it either, the pack is the culprit and you can stop chasing ghosts.