Best products from r/NorthCarolina

I hope you don't mind but I get the vibe you might be interested in drone flying so I really wanted to lay some of the knowledge out for you. I'll give the TL:DR at the end.

What drone model is this?

I shot the majority of the video with a Mavic Pro 2 . It is $1500. If you do get the same drone, I do recommend the Fly More Kit , as it gives you two extra batteries, a good carrying case, and some extra propellers. It is $379. Finally, I would recommend the hard case for it, for traveling, as it really has made accessing my accessories and batteries on it so much easier. It is $52.

For the videos in the State Parks, I shot those with my digital Camera, a Fujifilm X-T3, and then stabilized them. It is illegal to fly a drone in a National State Park. National Forests are okay though.

If you do decide to get a drone, I can help make recommendations if you plan to buy a DJI drone, as that is the brand I did a lot of research into. There are a lot of drones out there, but only a few capable of 4K. DJI is the top brand in the industry right now, mostly because they acquired, Hasselblad, in 2017 and have been using Hasselblad's tech to really produce amazing images. In case you never heard of them, Hasselblad is a professional camera company that created the original cameras for the moon landings back in the 40s.

How easy was it to learn to use?

For this question, it is actually two-part question. Ease of use is 50% of the knowledge you need. The other half is how to use. Drones are not well liked in many places and, ideally, you should research every flight to make to make sure you are not flying in illegal airspace. I recommend reading up on drone rules before you make the financial commitment, so you can be sure you are able to follow the regulations. This is the FAA's website for drones. For example, if you live in a big city near an airport, are you willing to drive to a remote location that doesn't have a large population of people to enjoy flying? I got lucky, and found a local park in River Bend, NC and flew there. After 5-6 flights, I had a good sense of how to operate. I've flown a total of 50 times and 4 hrs 19 mins. Despite this, I learn something new every other flight or so. This trip to Alaska has really built my confidence a lot.

Where can I fly legally?

It's not the end all, be all resource, but download an app called Airmap. Also DJI's app, "DJI Go", might be a good resource too. Personally, I use Airmap to research the airspace before I fly and I also google the places on the internet if it is a known location. The FAA has an App too, but it is terrible and useless.

Ease of use

Personally, the drone operates like a video game. I think it is wonderfully easy. The only part that gets tricky and when the drone is turned around so you will need to reverse your directions. The controller links directly to your smart phone and shows a live feed from the drone's point of view to the phone screen in your hand. There is small delay in signal from drone to phone, so don't let it become your primary source of control unless absolutely necessary. There are sensors on the front, back, both sides, and bottom to make the drone aware of obstructions. As long as the drone is not in sport mode, 99% of the time the drone will not fly into something by mistake (nothing is perfect).

​

TL:DR Simple answer.

Mavic Pro 2

It's pretty damn easy in my opinion, but everyone is different. Hand-eye coordination isn't everyone's forte. In addition to operation, even the best drone pilot should learn the software features that control the drone and the regulations of drone flying.

​

Happy Flying and Good luck. It's a lot of fun for me. I am going to get my Drone Pilot Certification as soon as possible.

For tech companies, look at RTP (Research Triangle Park). The Triangle Area includes Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh (and the smaller places around this area are Cary, Morrisville, and Apex). If you want tech jobs, look in this area.

The entire state is good for hiking! The Triangle isn't far from Greensboro (about an hour) and you have access to a lot more food/breweries/culture. Cost of living is going to be a lot better than NJ anywhere you pick, but I'd say CH is the more expensive, and Wake County (Raleigh) and Durham (City and county share the name) are about even right now. If you want small town feel, look into Hillsborough or Chatham County. All of these would still allow you easy access to the jobs in the area. There are tons of farmers markets in this area, and honestly more and more popping up all over (is that what you mean by produce?)

Hiking is awesome all over the state, especially with pets, check this out:
http://www.amazon.com/Best-Hikes-With-Dogs-Carolina/dp/1594850550

Why should you move to NC?
If you live in the Piedmont region (central/middle area of the state) you can easily get to the mountains or the coast in about 3 hours (5-6 tops for the edges). You're a day trip away from a different world. We have a great zoo and very good, free museums. Durham was voted tastiest town in the south and we have good breweries (our mountains also have good noes, plus vineyards, though not on par with your area, still good).

Why not? Depending on where you fall politically, but we're having growing pains. If you're conservative, you would see us moving the right way. if you're liberal, you would see us falling back. Triangle Area is more liberal, Triad area is more conservative (That's where Greensboro is). But to me that's not a good reason to not live here - politicians change, our landscape does not. Our mountains are a billion years old, and the outer banks are unique to our country. NC has always been my home and while it has it's problems, it's a good place to live.

Avoid - Don't move to Fayetteville. It's military and has a higher crime rate right now. It's called Fayettenam here. Visit areas you want to live in and see what they are like at different times of the day. Durham is growing so much and it's not the same place it used to be. But being near I-40 and I-85 causes cities in our state to have slighter higher drug and gang related activity. Not on par with NY areas, but there are good and bad parts of town. Most of Durham is good and changing. Kids have more outlets in the community, crime is down significantly, and there's a huge push to revitalize downtown (all the old factories are now places people can go for bars, shops, and restaurants). I'm a fan of this area personally, but there are a TON of good places to live in the state. If you want more info on the Triangle or Triad specifically, feel free to PM me.

>Lasik is a horrible example

Fair. I hesitated to use it but decided to use the first medical example that came to mind. I will say though that from everything I've read lately, I don't think the procedure is as dangerous as made out to be. Serious, lasting side effects percentage-wise are still low and improving despite the issues. I also think there needs to be due diligence on the part of the patient. I probably wouldn't get Lasik myself, but if I ever do, I'm going to do my research to find a reputable program for it and understand the risks. I'll also note, there are many 'regulated' procedures done in fancy hospitals that I would never agree to because they also pose a level of risk that I'm not comfortable with. There's risk in any health procedure.

>but your argument breaks down when early detection and payment of say heart medications would increase quality of life and make patients live longer and overall be cheaper to everyone, insurers and providers.

1. I recommend the book "Overdiagnosed" by Dr. Gilbert Welch. Not part of this conversation, but thought provoking on the issue of early detection.
   
2. We can have 'free market' healthcare with out of pocket expenses for medication and still cheap costs. Here I suggest reading into a relatively new field in healthcare called "direct primary care". It's essentially a primary care service that covers normal doctor visits, all kinds of minor procedures, and basic medications for a single monthly subscription. They can do stitches, BP or heart medication, etc all under that subscription since they can buy the stuff wholesale. It's really interesting stuff that skirts insurance companies.
   
   >Same with diabetes. Figure it out very early, start treatment and get people healthier, because now many who can barely afford to see a doctor are doing just what you say, having catastrophic insurance and waiting until there is a problem not easily fixed.
   
   Agreed, people need to focus on prevention. But I think the current mentality is misguided and focuses on band-aid fixes instead of correcting the root cause. The western lifestyle is horrible for our health. Very little sleep (another good read), very little exercise, and a horrendous diet. Get people 8+ hrs of sleep, get them moving around more, and get them eating more veggies seems like a much better plan than "here's a pill that will help your BP but will also give you bad side effects". Not against pills entirely, but it should be reserved for when lifestyle improvements aren't enough; supplemental use. These changes would free up healthcare resources which also lowers costs since we have an increasing amount of people in poor health and a healthcare system struggling to keep up with demand. Insulin is a different topic that I can't accurately explain in short, but here are 2 articles that begin to break into that discussion: 1, 2.
   
   >Much like a dentist. See one twice a year, catch things early and saves a ton of money compared to waiting until something hurts and spending a metric ton and going into debt.
   
   The experience may vary persons to person, but I personally don't have dental insurance (not saying it's for everyone). I pay out of pocket for yearly cleanings and it ends up costing less than dental insurance (tell them you'll pay cash upfront). I also focus on a good diet without lots of sugar and processed foods to support teeth health. Both are preventative measures, neither require insurance, and both will save me money in the long run.
   
   >On top of all that, prior to WWII, if you could see a doctor which was not nearly as readily available now, you didn't have expensive tests, or medications. The doc knew from what experience they had or it was simply palliative care.
   
   You are correct. However tech tends to improve in service and cost over time so while it may be more expensive, I don't think it has to be extraordinarily more expensive. Look at electronics. We get crazy new tech every year with all these new features, and every year, that same tech goes way down in cost, even after inflation. Many things we take for granted today were unattainable to everyone but the rich back when they first came out (cars, phones, computers, AC, etc).
   
   >but it simply is just a conservative vs liberal argument and goes no where.
   
   It often is, I'll agree there as well. I wish it wasn't, and I personally do not argue for either side because I have disagreements with both sides. I just want to provide a viewpoint not many people hear because I passionately believe that we're better off fixing our problems on our own (or at least at the local govt level) than relying on a massive bureaucratic central govt.
   
   >the overhaul of healthcare in the US which you or I are def not intelligent enough to do alone.
   
   I think the fact we can both dig in this deep and not resort to insults represents a minimum level of intelligence. And maybe this is blind optimism, but I also think the solutions aren't as complex once we start really digging into the root cause of the problem and fixing things little by little (easier said than done). I'm also willing to bet we have plenty of common ground, maybe not as much on solutions, but on what the issues are. I find that promising.

>Also, the state does have to step in when private citizens engage in discrimination - you can see things like racial covenants in real estate or refusal to serve cases for precedent on any of this.

The free market resolves these issues on their own. As it was doing so just fine before the civil rights act and if you look at the job and social trends of African Americans in America leading up to 1964 vs after the civil rights act, you will see.

and the free market will resolve such issues today even more easily with yelp, etc. Businesses acting in horrible ways are only sabotaging themselves. More government intervention is not the solution and more often than not harms the social and economic growth of the minority. Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality by Thomas Sowell goes in more depth on that topic.

>Once again - your belief is totally valid - it's just not the way that the Supreme Court interprets the constitution, and they are the ones who decide constitutionality.



Correct me if I'm wrong, but The Supreme Court is not the end all of what the Constitution says. They decide BASED on the constitution what is lawful. There's a distinct difference there. They, like the President, swear on oaths upon taking office to DEFEND the constitution. There has to be some underlying meaning in which to defend. Otherwise you aren't defending anything and we're at complete mercy of the current governmental bodies. Our system should never be "oops we just elected supreme justices that are against the 1st amendment so RIP Free speech. We have the constitution as THE STANDARD for the law in the US and anything not specifically discussed is to be left to the states.

For those of you who have no idea what creasy greens are:

>The botanical name is Barbaraea verna; they are a mustard in the Brassicaceae family. Creasy greens are a small leafy green often known as upland cress, winter cress, and early yellow rocket. They are similar to watercress in taste but do not grow in bogs the way watercress does.
>
>Euell Gibbons, the master forager, reported in his book, Stalking the Healthful Herbs that “100 grams of winter cress (creasy greens) contain an impressive 5,067 I.U. of vitamin A and 152 milligrams of vitamin C. By comparison, the same weight of raw broccoli spears rates only 2,500 I.U. of vitamin A . . . and oranges (which of course are universally acknowledged as a good source of vitamin C) provide a comparatively measly 50 milligrams of C per 100 grams!”

About ten years ago or so I stocked up on books because the army sent me to Afghanistan and I needed non electronic stuff to pass time on missions.

I picked up books about real life people who dived. The one that I remember loving the most was about guys who dived the wrecks off of NC. The book was incredible but I can't remember the title. If I can find it I'll edit and post here.

These diving books really helped me pass the time in the turret when were stopped at some place with nothing to do.

Edit: I found the books:

The Last Dive is about a Father and Son diving team. This one actually focuses on the German U Boat off of the NYC coast but I think they talk about NC wrecks too. This one is my favorite.

Fatal Depth is the other book I really enjoyed and taught me about the world of deep wreck diving. It blows my mind at everything a diver must train and know about. I'll never forget lessons that can even be applied to non diving things in your life. This book I think focuses on a wreck off of Nantucket called Andrea Doria. But I think both of these books talk about diving off of NC because of all the awesome wrecks down there.

In terms of pocketknives for every day carry I usually have my Kershaw Ken Onion Blur on me, which is a 3.4" assisted open lockblade and is perfectly legal to carry in your pocket. It's by far my favorite cheap-ish pocketknife I've ever owned.

That being said I carry it because I need it at work frequently, not for defense. Frankly carrying a knife for defense is a dumb idea and you're way better off just buying pepper spray if that's what you want a knife for.

Yeah I am actually on a well now but I don't drink that water either. Too close too the river. I like to buy water and store it in something like this

A paper DeLorme Atlas will outline most road types, along with a whole host of other topographical features and points of interest. They also have an app in the Apple and Android stores, called Garmin Earthmate. There are probably some better topo apps though.

The 12 Bones cookbook is a really great, too!

http://www.amazon.com/12-Bones-Smokehouse-Mountain-Cookbook/dp/0760347263

Reading this fairy tale set there may help you feel better - https://www.amazon.com/Jack-K%C3%B6rner-Princess-New-Tales/dp/1945330929

Do you have power in your crawlspace? A light or something? Or possibly there's an outlet on the outside of your house? I had these guys http://www.eastcoastcrawlspace.com install the vapor barrier on the ground and up the piers and walls for $1200. I also bought this dehumidifier - https://www.amazon.com/Keystone-KSTAD50B-Portable-Dehumidifier-6-4-Pint/dp/B00IJYH02U that has continuous drain capabilities and this condensate pump - https://www.amazon.com/Little-554425-VCMA-20ULS-Condensate-Removal/dp/B000SM342Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1537466371&sr=8-3&keywords=little+giant+condensate+pump
I had an outside outlet circuit that was easily accessible from inside my crawlspace, so I just wired another outlet onto that circuit and mounted on the wall inside my crawlspace. I bought some hose from Home Depot to allow for continuous drain from the dehumidifier to the condensate pump and also some hose for the condensate pump and drilled a hole on the crawlspace doorframe to send the condensate drain hose outside. Once I had it all set up, it's just set it and let it do it's thing. I keep the humidity at 35 down there and never have a problem. You don't need a sump pump if you don't have standing water in your crawlspace.

Turns out Amazon has lots of options.. Check out this increbibly low tech reminder. When you strap the kid in you just have to remember to put this little tactile reminder on the driver's door handle release. Simple, low tech and easily homemade. If you always stored something like this either on the child safety belt or over the ignition or on the steering wheel, then you'd kind of have to make a decision to put it on the door handle or toss it aside.

Yeah, $95 on Amazon. Had to look this up, hadn’t heard that name before. Maybe they will have some go on sale for Amazon Prime Day, or you can have it delivered to an Amazon pick-up box where you’re visiting.