Random randomness

[Rumpy]

I like the idea of wider aisles and home goods being showcased. I also love free samples so them coming back is a big plus.

I've never seen free samples being given at Walmart. Maybe more of an American thing. But Walmart's always been too busy enough for them to consider blocking some aisle off.

[The Meal]

Pointing SW for me right now (heading 210°).

Heading is now nearly due W (heading 275°).

[Anonymous Bosch]

Pointing SW for me right now (heading 210°).

Heading is now nearly due W (heading 275°).

[Unagi]

Speak for yourself.


96° for me, green arrow showing, early this afternoon it was (I believe) showing the black underside of the arrow.

[Kraken]

Of course the arrow's direction will change imperceptibly over a human lifetime and only infinitesimally over the whole course of recorded history, making it a great fixed reference point for...something.

I mean, I think I know what you are saying - but that arrow's direction relative to you (our source of perception) will change each minute/hour/day.

I forgot that the Earth rotates. Supposedly.

[Unagi]

Of course the arrow's direction will change imperceptibly over a human lifetime and only infinitesimally over the whole course of recorded history, making it a great fixed reference point for...something.

I mean, I think I know what you are saying - but that arrow's direction relative to you (our source of perception) will change each minute/hour/day.

I forgot that the Earth rotates. Supposedly.

And orbits

[Jaymann]

And wobbles.

[Daehawk]

Question about my car insurance. I haven't been able to drive my car in 6 months but Im still paying my monthly car insurance. I don't foresee me getting it getting fixed for 6 or 8 months yet unless something surprising happens like all my stuff for sale sales.

Should I call my insurance and have them pause it or something? Is there anything to do other than cancel it? I dont want to lose any discounts or anything we've had for over 10 years. Im paying the same amount for 5 years now that Donna paid long before me. Would I lose all that?

[LordMortis]

Question about my car insurance. I haven't been able to drive my car in 6 months but Im still paying my monthly car insurance. I don't foresee me getting it getting fixed for 6 or 8 months yet unless something surprising happens like all my stuff for sale sales.

Should I call my insurance and have them pause it or something? Is there anything to do other than cancel it? I dont want to lose any discounts or anything we've had for over 10 years. Im paying the same amount for 5 years now that Donna paid long before me. Would I lose all that?

In Michigan, you would become high risk if you paused your insurance for six months. But I believe you could change it to a sort of "sitting" insurance. I'd talk to your company... Only I know the people I talk to on the phone at AAA are garbage and have never understood my policy. I can't speak to your provider. You remind me that I really should go back to having an agent and give up on the anonymous "easier" way to do things.

[disarm]

Question about my car insurance. I haven't been able to drive my car in 6 months but Im still paying my monthly car insurance. I don't foresee me getting it getting fixed for 6 or 8 months yet...

Should I call my insurance and have them pause it or something? Is there anything to do other than cancel it?

As long as your car is registered, you likely have a legal obligation to maintain insurance whether you're actually driving it or not. That said, if you're really not going to drive, it's not like you're going to get into an accident and have to prove that you're insured...

[Daehawk]

When my wife passed at 63 I was kinda shocked. People dont die at 63 I thought. When I was a kid it seemed like people died in the 70s and 80s. But I wasn't really paying attention to the big world just family that passed like grandparents or such. My dad died at 76. His mom and dad in their late 80s. My grandmother at 85 my grandfather at 76.

But reading obits off an on it seems LOT die right at 63 these days. I find that shocking a bit too. Have deaths age changed over the decades due to shit food we get these days or genetics or what? Just coincidence perhaps?

[Blackhawk]

When my wife passed at 63 I was kinda shocked. People dont die at 63 I thought. When I was a kid it seemed like people died in the 70s and 80s. But I wasn't really paying attention to the big world just family that passed like grandparents or such. My dad died at 76. His mom and dad in their late 80s. My grandmother at 85 my grandfather at 76.

But reading obits off an on it seems LOT die right at 63 these days. I find that shocking a bit too. Have deaths age changed over the decades due to shit food we get these days or genetics or what? Just coincidence perhaps?

Life expectancy right now is in the late 70s (COVID did a number on the statistics.) But if it's, say, 77, then for everyone who hits 91, someone dies at 63. My father died at 72. My mother at 47. My grandmother at 92. My grandfather at 66. My friend from high school at ~48.

[Kraken]

We can't see our character sheet so we only have a general idea what our CON score is. There are a lot of + and - modifiers, and the rich can buff them with magic items, but it ultimately comes down to the dice.

[Daehawk]

Geez what is it with the gnats out there? Its in the 70s today and I took my dog out on the front porch and all outside is one big gnat swarm. They are ALL over. When I came back in I was covered with them.

[Anonymous Bosch]

Geez what is it with the gnat out there? Its in the 70s today and I took my dog out on the front porch and all outside is one big gnat swarm. They are ALL over. When I came back in I was covered with them.

[Daehawk]

I keep getting emails from microsoft telling me here is your one use code. They tell me to ignore it if i didn't ask. So some asswad keeps trying to get into my MS account. Im guess they cant due to the code being emailed to my email. But still makes me worry as I get them every month.

I wish those people would have their pc electrocute them.

[Skinypupy]

Comcast is hilarious.

I've been looking at options to possibly upgrade my internet speed and downgrade my TV package (don't need TV since football is done). Everything on their website that would take me somewhere that might gain them more $$ works perfectly. Want the details on this higher speed package? Here you go! Need info on bundle packages? Right on it! Looking at other add-ons or features? That page loads right away!

However, any time I try to get any details on on my current plan or try to get info on downgrades, their site throws back errors. All of the downgrade TV packages simply give an "Oops, something went wrong" message with no details. I tried to access a copy of my current bill to see if I have any weird charges, and it gives me a "We cannot access this information right now. Try again later." message and just...logs me out of their site.

It's probably not intentional and I just happened to catch a glitch today, but is pretty damn funny how seemingly outright hostile to customers they can come across.

[Pyperkub]

Yeah, you need to talk to a real person to get anything done at comcast.

I was fortunate enough to get a helpful change/upgrade while activating a new cable modem (the DOCSIS 3.1 upgrade in my neighborhood made my 3.0 modem EXTREMELY unstable).

Of course, they were in the middle of the hard sell of xfinity mobile, and I said that there was no way in hell I would switch to their mobile given that I'm on the phone to fix unreliable internet right now!

But, they did look at my TV/Internet plan I hadn't updated in over a decade, and I was able to get better internet and the same channels for about $50/month cheaper... so I did that.

And when the Pac12 season(s) are kaput, I can look at maybe cutting the cord for B1G, tho having DVR FF/30sec skip enabled may keep me on cable for awhile yet.

[Skinypupy]

But, they did look at my TV/Internet plan I hadn't updated in over a decade, and I was able to get better internet and the same channels for about $50/month cheaper... so I did that.

I think that’ll be my situation as well.

It did pull up one page that showed a current plan summary, and it showed three separate charges of $10 for “DVR service”. Which is weird, since I only have one DVR. That’s why I was trying to get a copy of my bill (that wouldn’t load).

I’ll call and fight with them another day…don’t have the energy for it tonight.

[Pyperkub]

But, they did look at my TV/Internet plan I hadn't updated in over a decade, and I was able to get better internet and the same channels for about $50/month cheaper... so I did that.

I think that’ll be my situation as well.

It did pull up one page that showed a current plan summary, and it showed three separate charges of $10 for “DVR service”. Which is weird, since I only have one DVR. That’s why I was trying to get a copy of my bill (that wouldn’t load).

I’ll call and fight with them another day…don’t have the energy for it tonight.

Yeah, I was fortunately working from home that day (even tho my internet was dropping like crazy until I got the new modem setup), so I could leave the phone on the hold music for as long as it took while still working!

[Anonymous Bosch]

But, they did look at my TV/Internet plan I hadn't updated in over a decade, and I was able to get better internet and the same channels for about $50/month cheaper... so I did that.

I think that’ll be my situation as well.

It did pull up one page that showed a current plan summary, and it showed three separate charges of $10 for “DVR service”. Which is weird, since I only have one DVR. That’s why I was trying to get a copy of my bill (that wouldn’t load).

I’ll call and fight with them another day…don’t have the energy for it tonight.

FWIW, I've found that trying their live chat can often prove more fruitful. Because one common complaint about Comcast or Xfinity customer service is that their representatives offer inconsistent service and may, in some cases, make promises to customers that are not upheld. One thing that you can do as a customer to combat this is to keep diligent records of customer service calls that you make. But even then, more often than not you're communicating with someone that does not speak English as a first language. Meaning language barrier difficulties may only further exacerbate your woes.

However, communication can sometimes be much clearer and easier to understand for both sides via their live chat system. This also provides you with a convenient record that you can screenshot and use if or when you have to escalate your case. The simplest way to use it is to log in your account, go to the Xfinity Assistant chatbot, select the relevant issue, and click the 'Chat with an agent' option when provided.

[Skinypupy]

FWIW, I've found that trying their live chat can often prove more fruitful.

TBH, I have just assumed all their "live" chat was done via AI now.

[Daehawk]

Im lucky I have Charter it seems. my wife hated them. I dislike them for only one thing..they have a monopy on my country / area. They fought to keep it that way too. i could do better for cheaper but alas thats another day.

I can work with them on the phone and get discounts a lot of times. Sometimes like now i cant. But i was about to raise my internet to 500/20 and my bill is $34.99 for now. %50 of that is due to having the covid relief thing still.

[Blackhawk]

Comcast is a nightmare to deal with, and while I won't go so far as to say it's on purpose, deliberately obscuring the options to downgrade is absolutely within their normal range of business practices. That company bends over backwards to make it difficult to do anything that isn't directly related to you giving them more money.

I've got Comcast problems I've been trying to solve for 17 years now, and have spent tens of hours on the phone with them about (specifically the fact that the account is still in Michelle's name and tied to an address that none of us have had a connection to in 15 years.) I've had nights where I spoke to six or eight different people, was given different answers, was lied to, was transferred to random departments (literally) when the person I was on the phone with didn't know what to do, was sent piles of paperwork that had nothing to do with what I was asking for, filled out other paperwork only to be told it wasn't acceptable because of errors that were impossible to make (like only sending back one of the three pages when it was a .pdf file submitted electronically.) Then, when I finally finished jumping through the hoops, I was told that it was impossible to make the change online (despite them having had me fill out forms specifically designated for online account changes), and that I had to go into the physical store, which is a 150-mile round trip.

Eventually I just gave up.

I've had tech issues where I spent two hours on the phone, which ended up with making and appointment for two days later, only to have the tech not show, after which I found out that the 'appointment' that was made for me was simply the tech not wanting to get behind on his quota and finding a way to get rid of me, never actually logging said appointment or submitting a ticket.

And then there was me returning equipment to them that they then continued to charge me rental fees for for a year and a half. Them removing the $25 rental fee then increased my monthly bill by $5. That took another three hours to solve. Oh, and all sorts of hoops to get a refund for the year and a half of rental fees they'd collected for equipment that they had received back.

[AWS260]

Today I learned that the company that publishes renowned medical journal The Lancet is the same company that runs New York Comic Con.

[coopasonic]

I'd rather deal with Lubbock than a 5 year BS.

As someone that had those combined ... Yeah, Lubbock is the lesser of two evils.

Well it looks like I am finally going to see a city in Texas outside the DFW area. He has committed to Texas Tech. I may eventually get to use a supercharger for the first time in my 5.5 years of Tesla ownership! I say eventually because I imagine move-in will require the minivan. For a drive that long across that little, I'd be uncomfortable without a spare tire and that takes a good chunk of the cargo space in the 3.

[Isgrimnur]

Take your swim trunks

[em2nought]

I'd rather deal with Lubbock than a 5 year BS.

As someone that had those combined ... Yeah, Lubbock is the lesser of two evils.

Well it looks like I am finally going to see a city in Texas outside the DFW area. He has committed to Texas Tech. I may eventually get to use a supercharger for the first time in my 5.5 years of Tesla ownership! I say eventually because I imagine move-in will require the minivan. For a drive that long across that little, I'd be uncomfortable without a spare tire and that takes a good chunk of the cargo space in the 3.

Not sure Tesla is going to look at hiring you to do their advertising for them.

[Pyperkub]

Been in meetings all morning (West Coast time). Finally get out, and want to catch up on my gaming/tech/nerd news.

Ack - BluesNews is down! Heck, I even tried on my phone in case work started blocking access - tho the infosec posts have been very valuable in the past for work stuff.

I'm jonesing...

[Daehawk]

Has anyone ever noticed milk prices rising and falling? I could swear that a store kept prices the same for very long periods of time in the older days. Even stores today. But Ive noticed that Walmart seems to change their prices often. Im guessing it is depending on what milk wholesales to them for. Im surprised they change it and lower it. It seems most always a store sets a price and keeps it even when they pay less for that item.

Walmart milk it 2.89 right now for a gal of whole milk. They always sell their whole and 2% the same price..usually. It was 3.02 for a long while. Ive seen it hit 3.39 or more. But Walmart is great at keeping it low and going lower when it can.

We have a local dairy i grew up on here and their milk is constantly almost $5 a gal. Needless to say we stopped buying their brand decades ago. Back when it was like $3.99 and back then that was way over priced.

[Daehawk]

I just watched the Star Trek Voyager ep Tattoo. it was a Chakotay ep. I saw a clip of it and I musta missed it when it aired originally as it really didn't ring a bell. heck eps I know I saw dont a lot. But I searched and found it to watch. A little slow but ended well. Plus it was a Chakotay ep and he was my favorite character. He was SO underused in that show. Always hated that.

Feel nostalgic to hear the theme music again. The show came on Wednesday nights and for many weeks my wife always bought me a frozen pizza to have while watching it. I musta ate 10 or 12 DiGiorno pizzas that first season lol. Great memory that.

My question though after watching tattoo is how does a nature loving / protecting species get to the point of creating warp capable starships lol.....never mind control the weather.

[Holman]

Today I learned that the company that publishes renowned medical journal The Lancet is the same company that runs New York Comic Con.

Probably the largest provider of academic research databases is EBSCO Information Services, a subsidiary of EBSCO Industries.

Another subsidiary of EBSCO makes firearms.

[Daehawk]

Ive been able to smile some today. I had to call my mortgage loan company because my loan has been sold to another and I had to find out who i pay this month. Without me asking as he was going over my loan info he confirmed the maturity is June...i think he said June 4th or 24th. Made me smile...and I still smile when I recall that lol.

he asked if I wanted to pay it off now and I wish i could but cant. But since it ends soon its ok...Im relieved .

So I owe about another $1800.

Of course then i have to work on paying off my credit card or it will eat me up. Then i pay off my well pump...then...THEN Im out of debt.

[em2nought]

Wow, you could sell the car and pay off the house. Having a paid off house would be a real achievement. I wonder what percentage of home owners can say their house is paid off? I bet the number has moved down drastically since the greatest generation has left the building.

Then if you make it to 62 you could get a reverse mortgage, but probably need to fix some stuff up for that.

[Daehawk]

If I sold and IF I could get 3000 for it I could pay off the house and pump and get a washing machine. But dont see myself as selling it really as if I do Ill never have a car again most likely...UNLESS I found a used one and went in debt with payments a few years again..which ill never go into debt again if I can help it. Or maybe find a used one online local for about $1000.

Once Im out of full debt I can save money back. Thats been my plan for years now. Save back enough for emergency setbacks THEN save some more and then build a brand new PC...of course thats after car repair and such now.

[hepcat]

So I've lived in the same building for the last 20 years in Chicago. I've had some issues, as do most folks from time to time. But the building maintenance has always gotten around to fixing things. A little over a year ago, the building was bought off the previous owners by an equity firm. They then promptly designated some units in my building as "income restricted". Something I've learned is done quite widely in the property management world to get tax breaks on buildings. Unfortunately, the folks they've been moving in lately have been...shall we say....eccentric.

For the last few days, I've been having issues with intermittent leaks of varying degrees of severity from my bathroom ceiling. After a few days, it's noticeably damaged the walls. I've reported it a few times, but they couldn't find where the leak was coming from, they say. This morning though, it was coming down pretty hard. So I took it upon myself to check with the neighbor above me to make sure they weren't experiencing any issues/might be seeing some flooding.

The woman who answered the door was covered head to toe in coats and hats. The building is warm, so it wasn't because there was no heat. She also appeared to have multiple coats on.

When I asked her if she was experiencing any flooding in her bathroom (which is right above mine, so that was why I asked about that room specifically), she said no. Then hesitantly said "but I've been soaking things.". She then launched into this whole strange tale about how the building doesn't have caulking around the floor of the bathroom and the water has nowhere to go. I'm thinking "why are you flooding your bathroom floor to begin with" the whole time. But she was convinced that she should be able to. Finally, she said she'd turn it off. She started to walk away and asked if I'd like to see. At this point, I don't want to get involved further and say no. She then comes back and tells me it's been turned off. Then she asks me not to tell the building as she just moved in and didn't want to get in trouble. As I'd already lodged multiple complaints about leaking and had just texted the building maintenance guy that very morning when I discovered the leak, I told her it was too late. She started complaining that if I were a good neighbor, I'd have just come to her first.

I'll feel badly if I get someone thrown out who obviously has some mental issues, but the last thing I want is to be blamed for all the damage she's done to my apartment.

...and this is why I'm not renewing my lease and am actively looking for a new place.

[Zarathud]

Time to go. A good neighbor doesn’t flood their bathroom. The private equity firm will depreciate the building and let it deteriorate, as Section 8 tenants don’t have as many options.

[hepcat]

Apparently Section 8 and Income Restricted are two different things. The latter is intended to give tax breaks by putting limits on what some units can be rented out for based on income. It doesn't require vouchers or whatever section 8 uses. I've actually come across it being used in a brand new luxury high rise they just built in Evanston that I was looking at. When I called to ask about vacancies, I was surprised when they asked me if I was eligible. Since I wasn't, they had nothing open as the ones earmarked for income restricted were all that was left.

But yeah, this is just further proof I need to move. I'm on good terms with the property manager and they wanted me to look at some other buildings they own, but the ones I've seen so far that they manage aren't very well maintained. I'm beginning to suspect the new owners are slum lords.

[LordMortis]

Oh do I feel for you. The house next door is section 8 rental and I wish I had moved in 2009 when slum lord bought it. The current tenant has attack dogs that attack the fenceline (as most of the renters there do) and runs an auto repair business (I'm sure undocumented) out of his home. He has filled his back yard (and the fences leaning into his neighbors' yards) with with junk to work on cars. His yard if full of garbage and dog shit, so picking up after him in my yard is a daily occurrence. The racket and smell from his place is ubiquitous. His kids have no where to play, so they play in the front yard and in my front yard leaving their shit in driveway all the time and become hostile when I remove it. He often has as many as 7 cars all up and down the street, which means he's adopted my curb as his. His customers empty the garbage out of their cars into the street and my front yard. The list goes on and on.

Glad you don't own and can pick and move. My options are limited as the area gets worse and worse.

[hepcat]

Ouch, that sounds awful.

I hate moving. But Zarathud knows if I'm not home by 6pm, i may as well abandon my car due to parking as well. I'm looking at a few places outside rogers park that might make that less stressful. Barring that, I'll go against my natural inclination to feel cheated for paying for parking and just swallow my pride on that matter.

My issue is that I don't know how much longer I may stay in Chicago. I'm getting closer to retirement. I would say maybe 5 years at most before it happens (may be sooner, depending on company as the last of the owners is nearing 65 and may retire), so I'm loathe to buy. I should have done so years ago, but being single and not having a family has always made me wary of setting down roots anywhere....until I wake up one day and realize I've set up roots anyway. Sigh....