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1. Purchase insurance under the AMA insurance market. Get an insurance with a $0 payment requirement, but which has a deductible so high you're only getting it for the card and lack of tax penalty.
2. Try to cancel insurance when, a year later, they want to charge you for doing nothing.
3. Argue with IRS when you've switched insurances, but the first insurance market insurance still claims they are covering you. Despite the fact they've not received a single penny since they raised their rates.
4. Switch jobs. Be able to actually afford insurance that does something. Get a great deal through work, switch insurances again and enjoy the benefits of actually having benefits.
5. Continue to get bills and phone calls from the insurance you first walked away from.
6. Argue again with the IRS, despite it being two f^%%ing years of refusing to pay for that first insurance.
7. Finally get told by IRS that they will not accept your return without that other insurance on it.
8. Include the other insurance on return and defraud the IRS out of $200 because it's the only way you can file a return.
Easy as can be!
I hate insurance strong-arm tactics. Hate them so much I used my own clothes to make an effigy of them before I lit it on fire.
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Pittsburgh's geese stay here all year long.
Well, sure! They stay to cheer for the Penguins!
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Lidl and Aldi here are quite decent.
And when I was in England (as far as I recall Norwich is part of England proper) Lidl was selling decent things too. Maybe I simply missed those that were bad. I even bought a set of workshoes there that were ok, althouh they finally gave up after two years when I got utterly and completely drenched by an intense rainstorm. And by drenched I mean that I squeezed water out of my leather wallet (it was falling apart before, and I stopped using it afterwards because of the damage). I'd squeeze the water out of the leather workshoes too, if not for the metal reinforcement that prevented it.
They are both OK (or better) for food/general groceries - non-food goods, not so much, in my experience. Having said that, Lidl have a sharpening wheel I'm tempted by - it's £15, which is pretty reasonable, and I can always test it on a pair of scissors first before I ruin my swords with it.
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Also, the geese and the Pittsburgh Pirates parrot are drinking buddies. :D
How many cans of Schlitz (sp?) can be drunk before saying 'Pittsburgh Pirates parrot' becomes an issue?
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Captain Yesterday probably already knew this, but for the rest of you, ZOMG DID YOU KNOW THEY MADE REAR-MOUNT BUBBLE "EXHAUST" MACHINES THAT CLAMP ONTO BICYCLE FRAMES?
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Another sign of spring!
The geese are flying back north.
I have seen geese flying north, then back south, then north again for a month. I think they've been confused. Hopefully the warm weather sticks this time.
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Captain Yesterday probably already knew this, but for the rest of you, ZOMG DID YOU KNOW THEY MADE REAR-MOUNT BUBBLE "EXHAUST" MACHINES THAT CLAMP ONTO BICYCLE FRAMES?
around here people are too excited about the motorized bicycles to notice, methinks.
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Teensy Valeros is 5 today!
After school, we're going out for hot dogs and then to the pinball museum in Alameda for an evening of fun, and then home for cake. (The museum is expensive, but we got two free passes through the county library system.)
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Also, the geese and the Pittsburgh Pirates parrot are drinking buddies. :DHow many cans of Schlitz (sp?) can be drunk before saying 'Pittsburgh Pirates parrot' becomes an issue?
Given that I managed to trip over it on my first try while completely sober, zero.
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Stephen Hawking has died.
Saw that at work last night. Very sad. The world has lost one of the greatest minds of all time.
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Data set entry 1 = 0;Given that I managed to trip over it on my first try while completely sober, zero.Also, the geese and the Pittsburgh Pirates parrot are drinking buddies. :DHow many cans of Schlitz (sp?) can be drunk before saying 'Pittsburgh Pirates parrot' becomes an issue?
If you can wait until the beginning of August, Hermione's godmother is getting married, and we're going to have a whole bunch of soused and happy Slovakian Pittsburghers sitting around a table at the rehearsal dinner making silly toasts. I'll see what mischief I can manage to accomplish.
In the name of science!| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Teensy Valeros is 5 today!
After school, we're going out for hot dogs and then to the pinball museum in Alameda for an evening of fun, and then home for cake. (The museum is expensive, but we got two free passes through the county library system.)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE GUY
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Teensy Valeros is 5 today!
After school, we're going out for hot dogs and then to the pinball museum in Alameda for an evening of fun, and then home for cake. (The museum is expensive, but we got two free passes through the county library system.)
Wow... are you talking about the arcade museum on Park street? When we used to do Forbidden Island/Arcade/Ice Cream it was $10 for an all-day pass, and even then only for participants. Has it gone up?
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Data set entry 1 = 0;Given that I managed to trip over it on my first try while completely sober, zero.Also, the geese and the Pittsburgh Pirates parrot are drinking buddies. :DHow many cans of Schlitz (sp?) can be drunk before saying 'Pittsburgh Pirates parrot' becomes an issue?If you can wait until the beginning of August, Hermione's godmother is getting married, and we're going to have a whole bunch of soused and happy Slovakian Pittsburghers sitting around a table at the rehearsal dinner making silly toasts. I'll see what mischief I can manage to accomplish.
In the name of science!
SCIENCE!
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Happy Birthday to the Teensy One!
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Happy Level-Up to Teensy Valeros!! Woo-hoo!!!!
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Happy Birthday!
Just think, in no time at all, he'll be two weapon fighting. :-)
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Wow... just... wow...
I commented previously on how clueless modern UX ("User eXperience", i.e., UI design) people are (in the context of the initial new Paizo rollout, which made navigation much more difficult).
The meeting I'm in right now is just depressing. We're talking about software used by service agents to provide customer support. In the particular area of the software we're discussing, agents can't open multiple windows.
So...
User Advocate: Our users want to be able to copy-and-paste from the solutions database to a customer email so they can send customers the correct solution. Right now they have to navigate to multiple different windows to do this. This is unacceptable.
UX Guy: Well, before we get all reactive and just start adding features, we should first ask, "How many of our users have multiple monitors? How do they use them? Would this feature really benefit most of them?"
In other words, the basic idea of having more than one window is alien to the UX guy.
Hey, UX guy, the 1990s called. They want your attitude back...
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Now it's starting to feel warm out.
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Now it's starting to feel warm out.
We had snow yesterday.
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So did we, we're supposed to get more snow tomorrow night, but this is the beginning of spring, so it's about the here and now
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Wow... just... wow...
I commented previously on how clueless modern UX ("User eXperience", i.e., UI design) people are (in the context of the initial new Paizo rollout, which made navigation much more difficult).
The meeting I'm in right now is just depressing. We're talking about software used by service agents to provide customer support. In the particular area of the software we're discussing, agents can't open multiple windows.
So...
User Advocate: Our users want to be able to copy-and-paste from the solutions database to a customer email so they can send customers the correct solution. Right now they have to navigate to multiple different windows to do this. This is unacceptable.
UX Guy: Well, before we get all reactive and just start adding features, we should first ask, "How many of our users have multiple monitors? How do they use them? Would this feature really benefit most of them?"In other words, the basic idea of having more than one window is alien to the UX guy.
Hey, UX guy, the 1990s called. They want your attitude back...
its still alien to me. I have a boss at the second job who has a triple screen setup. I can see the glow from his desk as soon as I walk in every time.
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Happy B-day, Teensy V!
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Well, today is "handyman embarrassment time". I put in a full GFCI breaker to power Whimseyshire (the garage, so named by Impus Major when he moved in). I was very proud that it worked perfectly, tested correctly, etc.
So last night it tripped (unsurprising, considering the massive amount of rain and the amount of water under the house), but this morning I can't get it working again.
*SIGH*. Feeling like a less-than-adequate handyman now...
(And yeah, yeah, I know. Over lunch I'll unplug everything and check every outlet for water. It may well be that the GFCI is doing EXACTLY its job and preventing Impus Major from being electrocuted. But it means water is getting into the circuit somewhere, so I have to figure THAT out and caulk it...)
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Teensy Valeros is 5 today!
After school, we're going out for hot dogs and then to the pinball museum in Alameda for an evening of fun, and then home for cake. (The museum is expensive, but we got two free passes through the county library system.)
Happy birthday to him!
Hope he enjoys his hot dogs, pinball & cake :)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Teensy Valeros is 5 today!
After school, we're going out for hot dogs and then to the pinball museum in Alameda for an evening of fun, and then home for cake. (The museum is expensive, but we got two free passes through the county library system.)
Wow... are you talking about the arcade museum on Park street? When we used to do Forbidden Island/Arcade/Ice Cream it was $10 for an all-day pass, and even then only for participants. Has it gone up?
Different places. Pacific Pinball Museum is on Webster. We found our about it when they loaned out their machines to the Chabot last year.
| 7 people marked this as a favorite. |
Well, today is "handyman embarrassment time". I put in a full GFCI breaker to power Whimseyshire (the garage, so named by Impus Major when he moved in). I was very proud that it worked perfectly, tested correctly, etc.
So last night it tripped (unsurprising, considering the massive amount of rain and the amount of water under the house), but this morning I can't get it working again.
*SIGH*. Feeling like a less-than-adequate handyman now...
(And yeah, yeah, I know. Over lunch I'll unplug everything and check every outlet for water. It may well be that the GFCI is doing EXACTLY its job and preventing Impus Major from being electrocuted. But it means water is getting into the circuit somewhere, so I have to figure THAT out and caulk it...)
I'm a terrible parent, so I'd use this as a social experiment to see how long it takes before the kiddo starts to try to fix it himself.
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I'm watching Justice League.
The Avengers it's not.
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I'm a terrible parent, so I'd use this as a social experiment to see how long it takes before the kiddo starts to try to fix it himself.Well, today is "handyman embarrassment time". I put in a full GFCI breaker to power Whimseyshire (the garage, so named by Impus Major when he moved in). I was very proud that it worked perfectly, tested correctly, etc.
So last night it tripped (unsurprising, considering the massive amount of rain and the amount of water under the house), but this morning I can't get it working again.
*SIGH*. Feeling like a less-than-adequate handyman now...
(And yeah, yeah, I know. Over lunch I'll unplug everything and check every outlet for water. It may well be that the GFCI is doing EXACTLY its job and preventing Impus Major from being electrocuted. But it means water is getting into the circuit somewhere, so I have to figure THAT out and caulk it...)
Well, I fiddled with it a while, Googled the issue, and found that Levitron GFCIs have a history of being extraordinarily finicky and difficult to reset once they've been tripped.
Yeah, guess what brand *I* have.
So in all likelihood on Saturday I'm off to Truitt & White to get a circuit breaker that actually, y'know, WORKS!!!!
(Yep. The Levitron breaker is yet another ACE Hardware purchase. What makes me particularly suspicious is that the first one I bought had this problem, so I returned it and got a new one. Seems like once they're tripped they don't reset. Kind of like... a FUSE!)
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And now I'm internally giggling and crying at the same time.
My manger e-mailed the UX guys: "I was curious that you didn't discuss having multiple windows open. When I was a customer service representative we did that all the time so that we could work on multiple service requests at once, rather than serially one at a time."
CX guy: "Well, that would clutter your desktop, and we're working on fitting chat into the same window so you never have to step out of the window you're currently working anyway..." (So you're obviously doing it WRONG.)
I just love it because if you've EVER worked in support, you KNOW that it's not, "Take ONE request. Start a chat with that ONE user. Work on that until it is complete and disconnect. Now start with the NEXT client."
Yet the UX guys have decided that that's the most efficient way to work, so they're designing the entire application around it, and if you don't like it, you're just doing your job wrong.
Have I mentioned my teensy streak of disdain for UX designers?
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I'm a terrible parent, so I'd use this as a social experiment to see how long it takes before the kiddo starts to try to fix it himself.Well, today is "handyman embarrassment time". I put in a full GFCI breaker to power Whimseyshire (the garage, so named by Impus Major when he moved in). I was very proud that it worked perfectly, tested correctly, etc.
So last night it tripped (unsurprising, considering the massive amount of rain and the amount of water under the house), but this morning I can't get it working again.
*SIGH*. Feeling like a less-than-adequate handyman now...
(And yeah, yeah, I know. Over lunch I'll unplug everything and check every outlet for water. It may well be that the GFCI is doing EXACTLY its job and preventing Impus Major from being electrocuted. But it means water is getting into the circuit somewhere, so I have to figure THAT out and caulk it...)
Well, I fiddled with it a while, Googled the issue, and found that Levitron GFCIs have a history of being extraordinarily finicky and difficult to reset once they've been tripped.
Yeah, guess what brand *I* have.
So in all likelihood on Saturday I'm off to Truitt & White to get a circuit breaker that actually, y'know, WORKS!!!!
(Yep. The Levitron breaker is yet another ACE Hardware purchase. What makes me particularly suspicious is that the first one I bought had this problem, so I returned it and got a new one. Seems like once they're tripped they don't reset. Kind of like... a FUSE!)
Seriously. If you keep trying to do this stuff yourself and whinge when it doesn't work but never actually call Fred to do things properly, I cannot sympathize.
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Thanks for all the birthday wishes for Valeros, everyone.
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Seriously. If you keep trying to do this stuff yourself and whinge when it doesn't work but never actually call Fred to do things properly, I cannot sympathize.
Er, what I learned is that it *is* done "properly", I just bought a bad part. Considering Levitron is the "everywhere" brand, I don't know that Fred would have done better...
I'm watching Justice League.
The Avengers it's not.
indeed, it is blessedly free of whedon.
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Whinge is some sort of Martin Short like contortion then.
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indeed, it is blessedly free of whedon.I'm watching Justice League.
The Avengers it's not.
As much as I dislike Whedon and find him incredibly overrated, I like The Avengers.
I credit the cast.
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Wow... just... wow...
I commented previously on how clueless modern UX ("User eXperience", i.e., UI design) people are (in the context of the initial new Paizo rollout, which made navigation much more difficult).
The meeting I'm in right now is just depressing. We're talking about software used by service agents to provide customer support. In the particular area of the software we're discussing, agents can't open multiple windows.
So...
User Advocate: Our users want to be able to copy-and-paste from the solutions database to a customer email so they can send customers the correct solution. Right now they have to navigate to multiple different windows to do this. This is unacceptable.
UX Guy: Well, before we get all reactive and just start adding features, we should first ask, "How many of our users have multiple monitors? How do they use them? Would this feature really benefit most of them?"In other words, the basic idea of having more than one window is alien to the UX guy.
Hey, UX guy, the 1990s called. They want your attitude back...
And that's not even getting into TABS....
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I'm watching Justice League.
The Avengers it's not.
Yeah, in all the worst possible ways. It's like DC tried to make their movie the anti-MCU and succeeded too well.
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indeed, it is blessedly free of whedon.I'm watching Justice League.
The Avengers it's not.
As much as I dislike Whedon and find him incredibly overrated, I like The Avengers.
I credit the cast.
I credit the shwarma
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I credit the writing, acting, overarching management by Kevin Feige, and the group vision of the Marvel team.
I discredit the studio heads at Warner Bros that keep interfering in the DC movies and demanding edits and re-shoots that make their movies disappointing. I want the DC movies to be good. I keep going to them. Wonder Woman was good. The rest of them...just aren't.