OK. Construction costs around here have truly hit "ludicrous speed".
The fence at my parents' house got crushed by a tree, so our neighbor got bids on replacing a 50' (15m) section of fence.
The lowest bid? $6000.
For a fence.
Being a sensible man, given the choice between paying $120 per foot for a simple wooden fence and doing the work himself, my neighbor's doing it on his own, and I'll cover half his costs.
But sheesh. $6000. For a wooden fence.
I had to replace a portion of our fence a few months ago, and yeah, the bids were comparable. Aside from lumber costs still being high, any fence contractor worth their salt goes to the extra effort (at least here in Houston) to make sure that the posts are very deep and set in concrete. With all the floods we've had over the last decade (and just general moisture even without the floods), they don't want to constantly be coming back and dealing with repairing shifting, leaning fences. Or dealing repeatedly with the irate customers.
I had to replace a portion of our fence a few months ago, and yeah, the bids were comparable. Aside from lumber costs still being high, any fence contractor worth their salt goes to the extra effort (at least here in Houston) to make sure that the posts are very deep and set in concrete. With all the floods we've had over the last decade (and just general moisture even without the floods), they don't want to constantly be coming back and dealing with repairing shifting, leaning fences. Or dealing repeatedly with the irate customers.
It's funny; I was about to complain that that's mind-boggling compared to what we paid our gardener just 5 years ago, but then I realized he did a 15' section for $1200, so it really wasn't THAT much cheaper...
Ah, U.S. health care!
Impus Major went to the ER a couple of weeks ago for sudden internal pain. We drove in, got a couple of ultrasounds, learned that nothing looked out of order, and got sent home again with a couple of Tylenol.
So 3.5 hours in the emergency room and two ultrasounds.
The bill just came in: $10,158.42.
Wow. Over $2900/hour to sit there doing nothing for most of the time, with a couple of quick trips for scans.
So yeah, the insurance "discount" will drop it to around $3120, which I know because we already got the bill for $312 and we're 90% covered for in-network visits, but every time I see the raw totals for my kids' hospital bills I am incredulous.
That is insane.
That is insane.So 3.5 hours in the emergency room and two ultrasounds.
The bill just came in: $10,158.42.
Wow. Over $2900/hour to sit there doing nothing for most of the time, with a couple of quick trips for scans.
Did I mention that the bill for Impus Major's myocarditis was $131,000 for a 3-night hospital stay? But actually, if you calculate that one on an hourly basis it was significantly cheaper at "only" around $1800/hour.
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OK. Construction costs around here have truly hit "ludicrous speed".
The fence at my parents' house got crushed by a tree, so our neighbor got bids on replacing a 50' (15m) section of fence.
The lowest bid? $6000.
For a fence.
Being a sensible man, given the choice between paying $120 per foot for a simple wooden fence and doing the work himself, my neighbor's doing it on his own, and I'll cover half his costs.
But sheesh. $6000. For a wooden fence.
I think you can actually call Captain Yesterday, pay for his flight there and back and have him construct the fence and still have change.
That is insane.So 3.5 hours in the emergency room and two ultrasounds.
The bill just came in: $10,158.42.
Wow. Over $2900/hour to sit there doing nothing for most of the time, with a couple of quick trips for scans.
Did I mention that the bill for Impus Major's myocarditis was $131,000 for a 3-night hospital stay? But actually, if you calculate that one on an hourly basis it was significantly cheaper at "only" around $1800/hour.
Sweet jesus.
Sweet jesus.That is insane.So 3.5 hours in the emergency room and two ultrasounds.
The bill just came in: $10,158.42.
Wow. Over $2900/hour to sit there doing nothing for most of the time, with a couple of quick trips for scans.
Did I mention that the bill for Impus Major's myocarditis was $131,000 for a 3-night hospital stay? But actually, if you calculate that one on an hourly basis it was significantly cheaper at "only" around $1800/hour.
Well, it helps to know how the system works.
Insurance Company: OK, how much would you normally bill for this procedure?
Hospital: $1,200.
IC: OK. In order to be considered "in-network", you need to bill that procedure at $12,000, and we'll pay you $1,000 for it.
Hospital: But that's grossly immoral, and we'll lose money doing business with you!
IC: Yeah, sucks to be you. Your other choice is to be out-of-network and have NO clients.
Hospital: *SIGH*. OK. Where do I sign?
Once you understand that that's how it works, you know that all the numbers are made-up.
In terms of actual money changing hands, Impus Major's full treatment cost the insurance company $27,000 and us $2,000. Still a hefty chunk of change, but nothing like the billed amount of $131,000.
EDIT: And before the thread explodes, yes, I grossly oversimplified. The hospitals aren't saints, and the insurance companies aren't devils. And then you have malpractice insurance and laws that require treating people who can't pay and the actual financials are ludicrously complex. But, "The number you see on your bill was invented whole cloth with very little concern for actual cost," is fairly close to the truth.
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Ahaar, matey, my fees be more reasonable . Just slot a doubloon into me peg-leg and I'll have 'ee hornpipin' again in a jiffy.
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Parent conferences are done.
They were mostly positive.
Except for the one dad who spent the whole half hour venting about how much he and his wife love me, but how they haven't decided whether to re-enroll their son for next year because they're so pissed off at our school administration.
And there's one mom who is about to start chemotherapy and we spent our whole session with her and her husband asking me for advice on how to emotionally support their daughter over the summer. Which I answered to the best of my ability but, holy crap, that's a hard one.
Tonight our whole gaming group, including kids, is going to go watch the D&D movie together. Which I really need right now. I am emotionally spent.
Its a good brain cleanser!
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Finished my week with going to the swimming pool I installed last year and cutting the last little bit in around the pillars of the new pool house.
Which makes it a little over a million dollars worth of work completed in a week.
Not too shabby!
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Diswhat?
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I've got the Helm of Disfunction!
Umm... Dis*junction*.
Is it protecting from or causing disfunction?
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I'm reading about the massive U.S. intelligence leak caused by someone trying to win an argument* on Discord....Okay, I'm game.
Did we really find out anything we didn't already know?
If so, what?
.
* I take it they won the argument?
Well, there's the whole, "Everyone knows that you're doing it, but you're not supposed to admit that you're doing it."
So the whole, "We (the U.S.) can probably manipulate and/or coerce these friendly governments into providing support to Ukraine."
Kind of like your parents and sex. Just because you know it happened doesn't mean you want to admit it.
EDIT: More seriously, the fact that there are NATO forces on the ground in Ukraine is bad, as it gives Putin an excuse to attack any country whose troops are identified in the leak. So I'll admit, I didn't think we were stupid enough to put people in, because for whatever bizarre reason handing a Ukrainian a rocket launcher is OK, but sending Ukraine a guy with a rocket launcher isn't, but we'll see how the whole thing plays out. Somehow I'm not an expert on international politics...
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This is what I've heard about it.
I have had my suspicions this is actually you for some time now.
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We're supposed to get 2-6 inches of snow tonight. Because, Wisconsin.
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We're supposed to get 2-6 inches of snow tonight. Because, Wisconsin.
*sobs*
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Diswho?
DisPater?
We're supposed to get 2-6 inches of snow tonight. Because, Wisconsin.
Des Moines got a dusting, but it didn't stick because it was up around 80 degrees on Friday.
Did we really find out anything we didn't already know?
If so, what?
I found out that The Mandalorian isn't actually very good. Especially season 3.
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Dear newbie project manager: no, hip waders do not, in fact, protect you from drowning. Neither do fall protection harnesses. Also, chainsaws don't work when you put them underwater.
Don't get me wrong, he seemed like a nice guy, but after yesterday, I'm so glad he's not actually my boss.
I found out that The Mandalorian isn't actually very good. Especially season 3.Did we really find out anything we didn't already know?
If so, what?
I'm loving season 3. And the series in general.
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This is what I've heard about it.I have had my suspicions this is actually you for some time now.
I'm not crazy enough for Florida, and I wish I could grow a beard that good.
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I'm not crazy enough for Florida, and I wish I could grow a beard that good.
Have you tried watering it?
A mixture of liquid manure and crushed eggshells will do the trick.
Friday at game, the party almost ran away mid fight again. The short version is: big fight in room 1, they finally win, get ready to open door to room 2, no one has even asked to make Stealth rolls, no one has asked to make Perception checks to see if there is anyone on the other side of the door, they open the door, the 4 sorcerers inside send their readied Fireballs at the party
RAW RAI and immersion this is dubious at best.
RAW you can't ready out of combat. This is what the surprise round is for.
There really is no surprise round when you're the one breaking down the door in the dungeon. You go in expecting a fight and you know exactly when its going to start. If anything that should give you an advantage for knowing exactly when 1 2 3 BREECH happens.
If the bad guys can ready out of combat, the players can too and ready to shoot/blast hostiles. Now everyone has a ready action. .now what? Roll initiative normally? hurt melee by having every fight start with either move or attack?
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...It was pretty clear from the get-go that Ukraine was using US/NATO signals intelligence as well as "plausibly deniable" help on the ground... Nothing I saw was a real surprise...
Right. But the "plausible deniability" is the cornerstone of our facade of trust. I'm sure South Korea has intelligence operatives in the U.S. We have intelligence operatives in South Korea. If one of those isn't true, then someone's intelligence director needs to be fired.
However, getting caught spying on South Korean communications was a big no-no, and puts their government in a bind because now the populace doesn't want to help the U.S.
Similarly, you can't possibly send advanced weaponry to another country without sending along "advisors" to teach the troops to use them. So U.S. "experts" were expected. But at least during the Cold War these "advisors" were always disguised as private contractors or civilians. Of course we'd never put military personnel into a war zone where we're purportedly staying out of it.
So while I'll agree with your statement that nothing in those documents was remotely surprising, it's kind of like your parents having sex: Everyone knows they did it, but nobody wants to even think about it, and catching them at it would be horrifying.
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Well, brother and his S.O. are finally on their way, and it continues to amaze me just how hard it is to deal with overnight company in a house where we have *no* unused space.
S.O. slept in the studio, meaning GothBard didn't have access to her work nor personal computer for much of the duration, which is even worse because her normal sleep cycle is midnight-9:00 am, and S.O. was going to bed at 10:00 pm. So one night GothBard ended up stuck in the kitchen playing mobile games until she felt tired enough to go to bed. Brother slept in the living room, so I had to be extra, extra quiet doing stuff in the morning.
And it made me think about all our other houses: Both brothers have houses with guest bedrooms that are almost never used. My parents' house had a converted garage. So everyone's used to the idea of people just having some extra room lying around that they can sleep in.
We live in the Bay Area. Virtually every room is multi-purpose: The garage is where Impus Major sleeps AND where we have our freezer. The living room is our entertainment area and where we typically have overnight guests. The dining room is our gaming area and my work area. The studio is GothBard's work area and her relaxation area. It's surprisingly disruptive to give up any one of these rooms to guests, much less two.
Anyhoo, they came, we all went and saw They Might Be Giants, and tonight our house will be back to "normal". Woo hoo?
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And in case you're wondering, They Might Be Giants are definitely an, "It depends on your tastes" performance.
They are very skilled at their instruments. They love to play their instruments. They love to jam out. They are less interested in the audience. So, they've been touring for years, so they tried. They had some scripted jokes. They tried to act like they were interested in the audience. But at the end of the evening, they were there to perform their sets, cleanly, professionally, and having fun practicing their art, and you were supposed to enjoy their skill.
It was far more "symphony" and far less "rock concert", if that makes sense.
Still, people had fun, and some people had a blast, so a lot of people obviously like that style.
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We live in the Bay Area. Virtually every room is multi-purpose: The garage is where Impus Major sleeps AND where we have our freezer.
This is one of those California 'sleep in the freezer, lower your body temperature, then live for 10,000 years, gluten free' things, hey?
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Well, brother and his S.O. are finally on their way, and it continues to amaze me just how hard it is to deal with overnight company in a house where we have *no* unused space.
S.O. slept in the studio, meaning GothBard didn't have access to her work nor personal computer for much of the duration, which is even worse because her normal sleep cycle is midnight-9:00 am, and S.O. was going to bed at 10:00 pm. So one night GothBard ended up stuck in the kitchen playing mobile games until she felt tired enough to go to bed. Brother slept in the living room, so I had to be extra, extra quiet doing stuff in the morning.
And it made me think about all our other houses: Both brothers have houses with guest bedrooms that are almost never used. My parents' house had a converted garage. So everyone's used to the idea of people just having some extra room lying around that they can sleep in.
We live in the Bay Area. Virtually every room is multi-purpose: The garage is where Impus Major sleeps AND where we have our freezer. The living room is our entertainment area and where we typically have overnight guests. The dining room is our gaming area and my work area. The studio is GothBard's work area and her relaxation area. It's surprisingly disruptive to give up any one of these rooms to guests, much less two.
Anyhoo, they came, we all went and saw They Might Be Giants, and tonight our house will be back to "normal". Woo hoo?
So.. ready for my visit then?
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So.. ready for my visit then?Well, brother and his S.O. are finally on their way, and it continues to amaze me just how hard it is to deal with overnight company in a house where we have *no* unused space.
S.O. slept in the studio, meaning GothBard didn't have access to her work nor personal computer for much of the duration, which is even worse because her normal sleep cycle is midnight-9:00 am, and S.O. was going to bed at 10:00 pm. So one night GothBard ended up stuck in the kitchen playing mobile games until she felt tired enough to go to bed. Brother slept in the living room, so I had to be extra, extra quiet doing stuff in the morning.
And it made me think about all our other houses: Both brothers have houses with guest bedrooms that are almost never used. My parents' house had a converted garage. So everyone's used to the idea of people just having some extra room lying around that they can sleep in.
We live in the Bay Area. Virtually every room is multi-purpose: The garage is where Impus Major sleeps AND where we have our freezer. The living room is our entertainment area and where we typically have overnight guests. The dining room is our gaming area and my work area. The studio is GothBard's work area and her relaxation area. It's surprisingly disruptive to give up any one of these rooms to guests, much less two.
Anyhoo, they came, we all went and saw They Might Be Giants, and tonight our house will be back to "normal". Woo hoo?
Are you asking if the freezer is empty?
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This is one of those California 'sleep in the freezer, lower your body temperature, then live for 10,000 years, gluten free' things, hey?
We live in the Bay Area. Virtually every room is multi-purpose: The garage is where Impus Major sleeps AND where we have our freezer.
You make that statement in jest.
Try going to a bakery in the Albany/Berkeley area. You will have to actively try to find baked goods that aren't gluten-free.
And while I've heard many argue that it's perfectly easy to make gluten-free baked goods that are just as good as wheat-based ones, nobody has informed our local bakers of these techniques...
It isn't easy, by all accounts.