That's wonderful! Whereabouts are you traveling, if you don't mind me asking? I was mostly in the north around Trujillo, but I spent a couple weeks in Lima once, and a month in and around Cusco when I made the trek to Aguas Calientes, then Machu Picchu.

I've been itching to get back to Perú ever since!

I lived in Perú for a while on a study abroad/student exchange program and can confirm -- you can't swing a cat in Perú without hitting some archeological wonder, and it's not just Lima. I spent some time in the northern deserts, up near Chiclayo and Lambayeque, and visited so many fantastic Moche sites that they almost started to get boring by the end.

What stuck with me the most, however, as walking through the sand dunes and literally tripping over ancient pottery that was just sitting in the sand, partially exposed. Ceramics were everywhere, and it was otherwise untouched but also unprotected. Absolutely blew my mind as an American to whom anything older than 200 years feels ancient and rare.

Wonderful country, Perú. I highly recommend a visit to anyone who has the opportunity to go. There's so much more than Machu Picchu (although that site is a stunning must-see, ofc).

This is a great tip!

I've never dealt with it on my own home, fortunately, but I used to work in real estate purchase/sale/title litigation and the amount of fly-by-night "inspectors" that would plague my clients with this garbage is truly shocking. I always recommend that home buyers hire a structural engineer, a plumber, and an electrician, plus other experts on a case-by-case basis, not a home inspector (or other types of rando inspectors), for their pre-purchase due diligence. Yes, it is absolutely more expensive up front than a home inspector, but it's also WAY cheaper than buying a house with serious, possibly irreparable, structural issues that you don't find out about until 2 years after closing.

The worst, though, were the tree removal "experts." A huge number of them didn't seem to care whether the house was still standing after they removed the tree that fell on it, and I ran across more than a few that had some truly questionable billing practices, if not outright fraudulent. I'm sure there are plenty of good ones out there, but boy it didn't feel like it.

Good on you, OP, for doing the right thing for you and your home! I hope you have many happy and structurally sound years in it!

Honest question from someone ignorant on this topic -- what do you recommend for a search engine other than Google?

Sometimes I wish my Orange would do this. He doesn't accept a lack of attention; just fundamentally refuses it. No, no. He creates the attention he desires by yelling at me and waving his silly little ginger paw in my face (I once taught him how to high five and now that's his protocol for getting what he wants). And I'm a fucking simp for this ridiculous orange so it works and I carry him around like a baby, just like he wants.

What do you think so far? I've been loving Strange New Worlds!

I'm imagining Fry refusing a vaccine for egg salad sandwich parasite infections et violà, Parasites Regained.

Came back to this thread to say I LOVE Strange New Worlds so far! I liked Picard well enough, but just couldn't get into Discovery after a couple tries, though I can't articulate why (???). SNW seems to hit just right.

Not OP but you just convinced me to give Strange New Worlds a try, so thanks!