I was curious, so I started looking up prices of restaurants around here.
And d***. You'd be better off living in a restaurant! 1500+ square feet on Piedmont avenue for $249,000?!?!?!? A house a block away would be $1.5 million!
EDIT: Darned homeowners steal the clothes off your back!
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
The General (yelling out to the living room): Bed time in five minutes!
Both kids: What?
Me: Jinx!
Tiny T-Rex: G~@&@@n it!
Crookshanks: I still didn't hear you.
I keep forgetting about your younger kid. I keep thinking it's all Crookshanks and teenage angst.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
(1) Whether or not you have fire insurance, if your home burns down in a major wildfire either FEMA or a class action lawsuit should get you enough money to rebuild.
(2) Is anything you own worth your life?
And it's not just my late-stage antimaterialism talking. Even when I was in grad school and floods were wreaking havoc in Sacramento, I shook my head in confusion at the people who risked their lives (and occasionally died) trying to rescue "stuff" from their flooded homes.
Sure, I have stuff I love. My old leather jacket from my punk days. Pictures of my family dating back to the 1800s. Our black microfiber furniture. But if you asked, "Which would you rather have: Your family and pets safe and sound and all your stuff destroyed, or all your stuff safe while putting your family's lives at risk?" it would be a no-brainer for me. Always has been.
I understand that people in rural California don't trust the government. Recent political propaganda has convinced them that if they evacuate, various "domestic terrorist groups" will come and loot their homes.
But is there anything in their homes worth dying over?
It was ironic that yesterday before I saw the news article we were going on our practice hike, and Talky left the front door open and Impus Minor said, "Don't leave the door open! A robber will get in!"
And I asked him directly: "So what if a robber gets in? Is there anything in this house they'd take? And if they did, would we care?"
He pointed out the computers, but the newest one is years old and already obsolete; a robber wouldn't get much for it and the kids' data is all cloud-based so they wouldn't lose anything other than the pain of being without a computer until the insurance check came through.
Other than that, he couldn't name anything in the house a robber would bother taking.
Given that, why on Earth would I stay here with my family if a wildfire was bearing down on us?
The mindset is so alien to me I'm baffled.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Today I got my first cat-related injury for a very long while - serves me right for assuming that a skrawny ginger stray would not lose its temper sooner or later. I hope I tasted nice, anyway.
Back from a Suicide Squad 2 screening. On a whim I checked what's in nearby cinema and ended going to see it.
The movie was great fun. Bloody, silly fun.
As a rp-gamer I have to say that it felt like an excellent session with deeply flawed characters, not terribly complex plot, some memorable NPCs and some... less so.
Who?
And tons and tons of player antics.
Harley rocks but the rest of the heroes protagonists keeps up in their own dysfunctional way.
Ah, hell! She is quite well aware of it. Go girl!
And of course, there is lovely Sebastian.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Oh, good. One of those, "NobodysHome's a cynic" moments.
I've been on fenofibrate for many years due to high cholesterol (it's used to treat high triglycerides, which I have in spades). A recent study in what certainly sounds like a fly-by-night journal ("Frontiers in Pharmacology"? Really? Why not just, "Quacks in Quemistry"?) got written up in Fox News as the latest COVID cure-all.
My reaction, rather than elation that I've secretly been protecting myself all this time, is instead, "Well, ****. Now the price of my medication is going to quintuple and I'm not going to be able to find it anywhere. D*** quacks!"
I'd be a little less cynical if a quick search of "Fenofibrate COVID-19" restricted to the last month didn't produce a large number of .orgs I've never heard of and not a single reputable news organization.
Yay! Losing my maintenance medication to a fad cure!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Oh, good. One of those, "NobodysHome's a cynic" moments.
I've been on fenofibrate for many years due to high cholesterol (it's used to treat high triglycerides, which I have in spades). A recent study in what certainly sounds like a fly-by-night journal ("Frontiers in Pharmacology"? Really? Why not just, "Quacks in Quemistry"?) got written up in Fox News as the latest COVID cure-all.
My reaction, rather than elation that I've secretly been protecting myself all this time, is instead, "Well, ****. Now the price of my medication is going to quintuple and I'm not going to be able to find it anywhere. D*** quacks!"
I'd be a little less cynical if a quick search of "Fenofibrate COVID-19" restricted to the last month didn't produce a large number of .orgs I've never heard of and not a single reputable news organization.
Yay! Losing my maintenance medication to a fad cure!
That's weird, I could have sworn I planted that story somewhere else.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
G&&#~+n Far Cry 5!
I'm going to play something else where I'm not murdered in three shots and I can carry more than 3 medkits. And I can walk more than 5 feet without someone trying to shoot at me.
I've been to Montana and there is no way in f!%+ing hell there are that many people in the entire state much less a county.
And before you say it's a cult I retort that it's still Montana.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
G&%*%@n Far Cry 5!
I'm going to play something else where I'm not murdered in three shots and I can carry more than 3 medkits. And I can walk more than 5 feet without someone trying to shoot at me.
I've been to Montana and there is no way in f@*#ing hell there are that many people in the entire state much less a county.
And before you say it's a cult I retort that it's still Montana.
Just wait 'til you get to the parts where you're constantly captured and there's nothing you can do about it.
Just wait 'til you get to the parts where you're constantly captured and there's nothing you can do about it.G&%*%@n Far Cry 5!
I'm going to play something else where I'm not murdered in three shots and I can carry more than 3 medkits. And I can walk more than 5 feet without someone trying to shoot at me.
I've been to Montana and there is no way in f@*#ing hell there are that many people in the entire state much less a county.
And before you say it's a cult I retort that it's still Montana.
Open-world my ass.
The gameplay was ok but the story was the weakest of the new Far Crys. New Dawn had even less interesting BBEG but at least they weren't so stupidly ranting like Seed family.
Still waiting for Far Cry 6
Ah, right, it's a free Far Cry 5 week or something on Ubisoft...
GL Woran!
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
By the time we got furniture moved in and all the beds assembled it was *very* late at night, but we woke up at the new place this morning.
Today is going to be another hard slog of mostly garage stuff, and at some point I have to go to the grocery store or there won't be anything for dinner, and then dropping off the truck.
At least it looks like we live here now. Our bedrooms are, if not clean and unpacked, at least recognizable.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Yep; it's funny how age makes you more paranoid.
For 10 of the last 15 days, I've been hiking at least 4 miles a day, and at least 2 of those with a 50-pound pack. (I do one walk with GothBard, and a second with the kids with weight.) On Friday I hiked with the kids with all of us at full weight and we flew up the hill. We should be 100% ready for this trip.
But because over 50, I plan to walk again today, and I'm still worried about how that 4.3-mile, 1800' up trip is going to go.
While I was at it I looked up my family's old haunt, Honeymoon Lake. 5.6 miles, 3100' up. And we didn't even think about it; we just did it.
I think the difference is that I grew up backpacking and cross-country skiing every year, so even if it was horrible I knew it was expected of me. I'm trying to make my kids actually enjoy the trip, and the first day of getting into the back country is always the worst.
Ah, well, we'll have all day, our packs are ridiculously lighter than what I used to carry (our average weight is barely 40 pounds), so I'll just cross my fingers and hope nothing goes sideways.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Far Cry 6? Shoot, I'm still waiting on GTA 6 and Elder Scrolls 6.
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
I've got some phone calls to make. Just got back from the pharmacy.
Old Job's insurance: Blue Cross/Blue Shield. A specific maintenance medication was $5/90 day supply.
New Job's insurance: Also Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Same specific maintenance medication is $500/30 day supply.
I have words for this. Most of them considered uncouth at best.
300 times more expensive through the exact same insurance company. I mean, I'm lucky enough that I can do it for a few months on my HSA if I have to, but this is by no means sustainable.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Fantasy Monster: Dire Shrimp. When you need cocktail party ingredients to fight back.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I have to admit, if being cranky lengthens your life span, then I owe the Sunday farmer's market a debt of gratitude.
Yep, they're back to playing music so loud that I could play "Name That Tune" from inside my house with the windows closed from 800 feet away. So let's call it around 50 decibels. The kids' row seats are conveniently placed 8 feet in front of the amplifiers so they have space to stand up and dance to the music that is ruining their lifelong hearing.
So... factor of 100 by the inverse square law becomes 10,000, or 40 decibels higher, putting it right at... the 90 decibel level that's just above the threshold for permanent hearing loss over prolonged exposure ("eight hours of exposure to sounds measuring 90 dB can damage the human ear").
Frankly, if I ever hear about a class action lawsuit against the farmer's market for permanent hearing loss, I'll gladly join in as a material witness. I've written them multiple times on the issue, linked in the official government recommendations to keep music under 85 decibels, offered to purchase them a decibel meter free of charge so they can enforce that standard...
...and all they ever do is turn the music down on days that I complain. If I don't complain, the music stays loud enough to hurt the kids' ears.
And so I remain cranky.
EDIT: And to be clear, I don't mind if a concert exceeds 100 dB; everyone there knows what they're getting into. But a farmer's market? As I've mentioned before, many of the vendors have expressed their frustration that they lose sales because the music is so loud customers can't communicate and walk away. I've been thanked by at least four of the vendors for asking that the music be turned down.
If the primary purpose of the event isn't the music (farmer's market, Solano Stroll, etc.), then the music shouldn't drown out all other sounds, conversation included.
Far Cry 6? Shoot, I'm still waiting on GTA 6 and Elder Scrolls 6.
Ha! They still haven't milked GTA 5 or Skyrim on the next gen consoles yet.
Which reminds me I should see when the new HD updated (with all new content) GTA 5 is coming out on the PS 5.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Far Cry 6? Shoot, I'm still waiting on GTA 6 and Elder Scrolls 6.
But yes, Far Cry 6 comes out in a month or so, it has Mr Fring from Breaking Bad as the main bad guy and takes place on Not Cuba.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Uh oh, someone's trying to steal my Cranky Old Man license!
Someone else complained about the loud music and got it turned down! I'm obviously off my game...
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I've got some phone calls to make. Just got back from the pharmacy.
Old Job's insurance: Blue Cross/Blue Shield. A specific maintenance medication was $5/90 day supply.
New Job's insurance: Also Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Same specific maintenance medication is $500/30 day supply.
I have words for this. Most of them considered uncouth at best.
300 times more expensive through the exact same insurance company. I mean, I'm lucky enough that I can do it for a few months on my HSA if I have to, but this is by no means sustainable.
Copays are set by your employer when they negotiate the insurance program. I don’t know if BCBS will be able to help you. It more likely has to do with your company’s HR and finance teams.
Your new employer could have gotten the same copays you had with your old job. Your new employer chose higher copays to lower their premiums. Or else they chose a different pharmacy package (reclassifying the tiers of various drugs) - again, to lower their premiums.
I've got some phone calls to make. Just got back from the pharmacy.
Old Job's insurance: Blue Cross/Blue Shield. A specific maintenance medication was $5/90 day supply.
New Job's insurance: Also Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Same specific maintenance medication is $500/30 day supply.
I have words for this. Most of them considered uncouth at best.
300 times more expensive through the exact same insurance company. I mean, I'm lucky enough that I can do it for a few months on my HSA if I have to, but this is by no means sustainable.
Copays are set by your employer when they negotiate the insurance program. I don’t know if BCBS will be able to help you. It more likely has to do with your company’s HR and finance teams.
Your new employer could have gotten the same copays you had with your old job. Your new employer chose higher copays to lower their premiums. Or else they chose a different pharmacy package (reclassifying the tiers of various drugs) - again, to lower their premiums.
HR/Benefits is one of the phone calls I planned to make, along with my doctor's office.
There aren't any copays.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Uh oh, someone's trying to steal my Cranky Old Man license!
Someone else complained about the loud music and got it turned down! I'm obviously off my game...
Your training for the hike is at fault here, probably. You are walking around without a cane so they thought you not Cranky Old Man-ish enough.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Uh oh, someone's trying to steal my Cranky Old Man license!
Someone else complained about the loud music and got it turned down! I'm obviously off my game...
You should make friends. Maybe sit in a balcony together and make fun of muppets, um, I mean silly people. It could be fun.
Lost the two new players for my L5R game, leaving just my two veterans...one of whom has class stuff, so likely we have another game dead in the water.
I don't mind so much, cause I was only GMing so I had something to play, but it *was* L5R, so I was somewhat invested. But not as much as if I were a player. Oh well.
It's been about a year and a half or so since I had a steady group, I think. Almost a decade if you don't count online, but these days it's the only realistic way.
| 7 people marked this as a favorite. |
You should make friends. Maybe sit in a balcony together and make fun of muppets, um, I mean silly people. It could be fun.Uh oh, someone's trying to steal my Cranky Old Man license!
Someone else complained about the loud music and got it turned down! I'm obviously off my game...
The Vagrant Erudite gets cookies.
Seriously. I want to see NH and Shiro cosplay as Statler and Waldorf.| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
You should make friends. Maybe sit in a balcony together and make fun of muppets, um, I mean silly people. It could be fun.Uh oh, someone's trying to steal my Cranky Old Man license!
Someone else complained about the loud music and got it turned down! I'm obviously off my game...
The Vagrant Erudite gets cookies.
Seriously. I want to see NH and Shiro cosplay as Statler and Waldorf.
Cosplay?
You should make friends. Maybe sit in a balcony together and make fun of muppets, um, I mean silly people. It could be fun.Uh oh, someone's trying to steal my Cranky Old Man license!
Someone else complained about the loud music and got it turned down! I'm obviously off my game...
The Vagrant Erudite gets cookies.
Seriously. I want to see NH and Shiro cosplay as Statler and Waldorf.
Can they do the laugh, though?
Howdy there, John!
I've got some phone calls to make. Just got back from the pharmacy.
Old Job's insurance: Blue Cross/Blue Shield. A specific maintenance medication was $5/90 day supply.
New Job's insurance: Also Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Same specific maintenance medication is $500/30 day supply.
I have words for this. Most of them considered uncouth at best.
300 times more expensive through the exact same insurance company. I mean, I'm lucky enough that I can do it for a few months on my HSA if I have to, but this is by no means sustainable.
...they wot m8?
I have to admit, if being cranky lengthens your life span, then I owe the Sunday farmer's market a debt of gratitude.
Yep, they're back to playing music so loud that I could play "Name That Tune" from inside my house with the windows closed from 800 feet away. So let's call it around 50 decibels. The kids' row seats are conveniently placed 8 feet in front of the amplifiers so they have space to stand up and dance to the music that is ruining their lifelong hearing.
So... factor of 100 by the inverse square law becomes 10,000, or 40 decibels higher, putting it right at... the 90 decibel level that's just above the threshold for permanent hearing loss over prolonged exposure ("eight hours of exposure to sounds measuring 90 dB can damage the human ear").
Frankly, if I ever hear about a class action lawsuit against the farmer's market for permanent hearing loss, I'll gladly join in as a material witness. I've written them multiple times on the issue, linked in the official government recommendations to keep music under 85 decibels, offered to purchase them a decibel meter free of charge so they can enforce that standard...
...and all they ever do is turn the music down on days that I complain. If I don't complain, the music stays loud enough to hurt the kids' ears.And so I remain cranky.
EDIT: And to be clear, I don't mind if a concert exceeds 100 dB; everyone there knows what they're getting into. But a farmer's market? As I've mentioned before, many of the vendors have expressed their frustration that they lose sales because the music is so loud customers can't communicate and walk away. I've been thanked by at least four of the vendors for asking that the music be turned down.
If the primary purpose of the event isn't the music (farmer's market, Solano Stroll, etc.), then the music shouldn't drown out all other sounds, conversation included.
Man.
You are sounding OLD.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Lost the two new players for my L5R game, leaving just my two veterans...one of whom has class stuff, so likely we have another game dead in the water.
I don't mind so much, cause I was only GMing so I had something to play, but it *was* L5R, so I was somewhat invested. But not as much as if I were a player. Oh well.
It's been about a year and a half or so since I had a steady group, I think. Almost a decade if you don't count online, but these days it's the only realistic way.
Damn. I'm sorry.
I have to admit, if being cranky lengthens your life span, then I owe the Sunday farmer's market a debt of gratitude.
Yep, they're back to playing music so loud that I could play "Name That Tune" from inside my house with the windows closed from 800 feet away. So let's call it around 50 decibels. The kids' row seats are conveniently placed 8 feet in front of the amplifiers so they have space to stand up and dance to the music that is ruining their lifelong hearing.
So... factor of 100 by the inverse square law becomes 10,000, or 40 decibels higher, putting it right at... the 90 decibel level that's just above the threshold for permanent hearing loss over prolonged exposure ("eight hours of exposure to sounds measuring 90 dB can damage the human ear").
Frankly, if I ever hear about a class action lawsuit against the farmer's market for permanent hearing loss, I'll gladly join in as a material witness. I've written them multiple times on the issue, linked in the official government recommendations to keep music under 85 decibels, offered to purchase them a decibel meter free of charge so they can enforce that standard...
...and all they ever do is turn the music down on days that I complain. If I don't complain, the music stays loud enough to hurt the kids' ears.And so I remain cranky.
EDIT: And to be clear, I don't mind if a concert exceeds 100 dB; everyone there knows what they're getting into. But a farmer's market? As I've mentioned before, many of the vendors have expressed their frustration that they lose sales because the music is so loud customers can't communicate and walk away. I've been thanked by at least four of the vendors for asking that the music be turned down.
If the primary purpose of the event isn't the music (farmer's market, Solano Stroll, etc.), then the music shouldn't drown out all other sounds, conversation included.
Man.
You are sounding OLD.
Eh? What's that, sonny? I can't hear a word you're a-sayin' unless they turn this bediddley-danged gramophone DOWN!!!
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| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
You should make friends. Maybe sit in a balcony together and make fun of muppets, um, I mean silly people. It could be fun.Uh oh, someone's trying to steal my Cranky Old Man license!
Someone else complained about the loud music and got it turned down! I'm obviously off my game...
The Vagrant Erudite gets cookies.
Seriously. I want to see NH and Shiro cosplay as Statler and Waldorf.
Having met both I absolutely agree.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Y'know, the Sierra Club really had their backpacking trips well-organized:
(1) Show up at a certain location at a certain time for weigh-in. If you're not there by the time weigh-in ends, you don't go on the trip.
(2) Your personal gear has to weigh in at 25 pounds or under. If you can't make it, you don't go on the trip.
(3) If you forgot something that causes you to be unable to hike, you're sent home with no refund.
I wish it were that easy with family!
Friday: : Here are your packing lists. I've done all the laundry, set all the gear aside, so all you have to do is grab your stuff and check off the checkboxes.
: OK! We'll do it tomorrow!
: Good, because that's when we're doing final weigh-ins.
Saturday: : Where's your stuff?
: Something came up! We'll pack tomorrow! We promise!
Sunday: : Where's your stuff?
: We'll get to it tonight!
Monday: : Impus Minor! Where's your sun hat? Where's your other gear?
: Oh, I didn't think I'd need it.
So yes, it's under 90 minutes before we leave and I have -0- confidence that the kids managed to fill out their extremely simple packing lists. Talky went one farther and never stopped by to drop off his gear, so he's going to get to sit with it all in his lap in the back of the Celica for the whole drive up, because I'm pissed.
We'll see whether they forgot anything mission-critical. Honestly, it's a backpacking trip at 8200' in mid-August. I don't believe they're capable of forgetting anything mission-critical at this point because all the food, fuel, and shelter has been packed for the last week.
EDIT: And now, as we prepare to leave, Impus Minor informs me that he has no pants because I did all the laundry on Saturday in anticipation of the trip, and he moved his laundry to the hamper on Sunday. Boy can walk in his undies for all I care.
Y'know, the Sierra Club really had their backpacking trips well-organized:
(1) Show up at a certain location at a certain time for weigh-in. If you're not there by the time weigh-in ends, you don't go on the trip.
(2) Your personal gear has to weigh in at 25 pounds or under. If you can't make it, you don't go on the trip.
(3) If you forgot something that causes you to be unable to hike, you're sent home with no refund.I wish it were that easy with family!
Friday: : Here are your packing lists. I've done all the laundry, set all the gear aside, so all you have to do is grab your stuff and check off the checkboxes.
: OK! We'll do it tomorrow!
: Good, because that's when we're doing final weigh-ins.Saturday: : Where's your stuff?
: Something came up! We'll pack tomorrow! We promise!Sunday: : Where's your stuff?
: We'll get to it tonight!Monday: : Impus Minor! Where's your sun hat? Where's your other gear?
: Oh, I didn't think I'd need it.So yes, it's under 90 minutes before we leave and I have -0- confidence that the kids managed to fill out their extremely simple packing lists. Talky went one farther and never stopped by to drop off his gear, so he's going to get to sit with it all in his lap in the back of the Celica for the whole drive up, because I'm pissed.
We'll see whether they forgot anything mission-critical. Honestly, it's a backpacking trip at 8200' in mid-August. I don't believe they're capable of forgetting anything mission-critical at this point because all the food, fuel, and shelter has been packed for the last week.
EDIT: And now, as we prepare to leave, Impus Minor informs me that he has no pants because I did all the laundry on Saturday in anticipation of the trip, and he moved his laundry to the hamper on Sunday. Boy can walk...
You're going to make them bunny hop up the mountain, aren't you.
So, I forced myself to take 4 days off (technically I took two days off and then had two days off because of the weekend) and then today we were rained out before I could even start. So I've had five days off of work.
Tomorrow I'm pulling up the front walkway and I get some of the guys from the Other Captain's crew, who have been slacking hard the entire summer to help me.
Sucks to be them.
I'm definitely not an easing back into things sort of person. Nope, peel that bandaid off and jump in I say. Which is probably not what you want to hear when you're used to sitting in your truck for fifteen minutes wherever you go like these guys have been doing all year.
| 8 people marked this as a favorite. |
Kiddo got her 15 month shots a little late, because it was hard to get an appointment with the drs office we wanted when we first got back to Ohio. She took it like a boss, like all shots. Two seconds of tears, and a grumpy face, but otherwise good.
She also has been stealing my hot sauce and ate half my curry last night.
Basically, she's one tough little s!~+.
Tonight is gonna suck. Just got to work and realized I left my laptop at home. No time to go get it, either. Ugh.
Their are still some browser games out their if you want to hit up your work pc.
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I had one person quit before they could even start (I don't blame them they were looking at a long commute and found something closer to home and I think Crookshanks is going to quit to pursue something with a better chance at socializing and less of a chance of heatstroke (again, I understand).
So looks like I'm back to needing an assistant and back to the firefighters giving me crap for breaking interns.
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| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Cap, I'm going to be honest with you... props on maintaining your frame and work ethic but you sound like the absolute worst one-upping picky workaholic from how you write about your work and coworkers and I really don't think that "breaking interns" is the flex you think that it is...