That’s one thing I noticed about NZ, during my first trip: the speed limits are generally sane. If anything, the rural speed limits have a genuine sense of reality to them.

In stark contrast, driving in Canada (Toronto area) and the US (Texas) most times I felt I could safely go faster, were it not for the constant threat of speed traps or random / stealth cruisers.

In NZ if you’re doing a long drive and you don’t heed the slower speed limits as you enter a bend in the road, you may have just fucked yourself. Especially if the roads have a layer of moisture, which is likely.

And the more built up areas have a decent amount of traffic calming, which is nice.

Toronto and really all of the GTA need a severe dose of NotJustBikes to get sorted.

A similar suggestion to the other poster:

Try relocating one of the troublesome units to someplace nearby but not mounted to the ceiling. The top of a bedroom dresser, the floor, a bathroom countertop, the top step of the stairs, halfway down the stairs, hanging from a wall (picture hook)… just get creative.

And since you haven’t mentioned it, I presume these are all smoke detectors? Do you have any heat detectors or carbon monoxide detectors installed?

Dunno about “usually”. Our last house was fairly nice, but didn’t have this sink feature. That said, you could walk around and see where the builder went for the cheapest option available.

That said, this kitchen sink feature should literally be the absolute minimum for consideration.

Around 15 years ago or so:

Everyone got a $5 Starbucks gift card for Christmas.

There had been no raises or COL adjustments for years.