Random Thoughts That Don't Deserve Their Own Thread Go Here

[Lathum]

Not worried, comes highly recommended through many people my wife works with and has a lot of knowledge of my wifes companies stock options, etc...

[Logan]

Just pay attention to the fees charged (including the management expenses of any funds you're being put in) and compare them against what you can do on your own.

[stevew]

Hey Grover, it looks like they maybe covered your eating thing on Friday's 20/20. I didn't have it recorded but my DVR caught the intro. Who knows if it's helpful or not.

[Izulde]

So, interesting study in something going viral.

Yesterday morning, I saw a story floating around FB from my Southeastern Wisconsin people about a brain tumor patient who was treated terribly at a salon. I shared, figuring it would just stay local, though.

By evening, there was an article on TheSpark, and the story had blown up nationally, the store's reputation pretty much in tatters.

I GOT THIS. (Original Blog Post)

http://thesparkreport.com/branding/h...h-one-sentence (The Spark Report article)

Apparently this isn't new, though. I found a YellowPages review listing from 3 years ago reporting similar rude and despicable behavior. The owner claimed two sides to every story blah blah and complained about the online thing again on a response to a Yelp review.

Then, this morning's update from The Waukesha Freeman:

The owner of a Brookfield wig shop says the allegations against her in a cancer patient's viral blog post are false, but that she forgives the woman because she knows how fragile sick people's emotions can be.

At this point, the store's pretty much done IMO. Its online reputation is completely destroyed (every single major review site and their YouTube video is loaded with the righteous rage of the Internet), and from what I've heard, their phone lines are jammed with angry calls, and there have people going in the store specifically to tell them off. It's gotten ugly.

And rightfully so, TBH. Any of us who have ever worked in retail know that this is *exactly* the kind of shit you don't do. EVER. And then to double down on stupid with this victim-blaming tomfoolery... Yes, she did offer to give the client a free wig this morning, but it's too little too late, and an empty gesture IMO.

First thing I would've done is fire the employee, issue an immediate open apology and the free product offer. Then I would have apologized in person to the client, and genuinely so in each instance of apologizing.

The way they've responded though, I just don't see how they'll survive. Especially since it appears it's part of what is established history of poor customer service there.

[lungs]

I saw that too Izulde. Started off with my cousins from that suburban Milwaukee area posting it and by last night I was seeing it everywhere.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Izulde

The way they've responded though, I just don't see how they'll survive.

Their hope for survival rests in the fact that the vast majority of the world doesn't have the foggiest idea what you're talking about.

I do, but I'm online about 16 hours a day on average. That's not typical.

[Matthean]

After a bidding war between multiple networks, AMC announced it will bring Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s Eisner Award winning Preacher comic series to life. Breaking Bad executive producer Sam Caitlin will pair with This Is the End writing/producing team Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg. The series centers on a Texas preacher, Jesse Custer who has lost his faith. During an incident that wipes out his church (and everyone in it) Custer becomes possessed by a supernatural creature and heads out on a violent cross-country journey across America, joined by his hit woman ex-girlfriend and an Irish vampire.
Preacher has been seeking out a film or television home several years now; in fact, HBO turned down the series saying it’s “too dark and too violent and too controversial,” which sounds pretty damned strange to me (but it’s true). Their loss is a great AMC gain, any Breaking Bad fan knows the network isn’t the least afraid to go dark. And from Ennis himself: “Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Sam Catlin understand Preacher fully — meaning they get it for what it is, not some vague approximation.”

AMC Officially Adapting Preacher with Breaking Bad's Sam Catlin as Showrunner

[Honolulu_Blue]

We live on a corner and the house across the street from the side of our house is a rental property. There are two girls - just out of college - who live in the lower part of the house. One them has parked their car in front of my driveway four or five times now. My drive way is pretty short, so I can't get around her car. Twice, including this morning, I've had to go across the street, ring the door bell, and wake them up to move it. I've never actually seen the girl who keeps doing this, just her attractive roommate who wakes up, apologizes and moves the car.

The concept of not parking in front of a driveway is a pretty easy one. I don't know if this woman smokes pot, drinks a lot before driving, was dropped on her head or what.

Next time, if I have the time, that car will be towed.

[sterlingice]

The eBay saga continues. The shipper, of course, sent it to the wrong address. At what point can I just close the case and say "you screwed up, I want my money back"?

SI

[Grover]

Chris Kattan arrested for DUI after crashing into a DoT vehicle.

Too many nights at the Roxbury?

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

The eBay saga continues. The shipper, of course, sent it to the wrong address. At what point can I just close the case and say "you screwed up, I want my money back"?

SI

You provide that information to PayPal and again demand your money back. If not, you dispute the charge with your credit card. It's that simple.

[Blackadar]

Happy day in the Blackadar household. Thought my tax bill would be $10k this year and we've been saving like mad for the last 8 months to pay it - to the tune of about $11k. Turns out it's going to be about $2k. Plenty of other things to do with the money, so it's not going to get wasted.

[PilotMan]

So Naked Gun 33 1/3 is on and makes a massive Steve Howe joke. Ya know the former Dodger/Yankee pitcher who was suspended like 7 times for drugs. Wow just totally out of the blue. I feel old now.

[PadresFan104]

Trying to figure out what to do for Valentines Day when I see that the Globetrotters are in town on the 14th. Ask the wife if she'd rather go to the show than a fancy dinner, and she responded with an enthusiastic "Yes!"

Awesome

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by PadresFan104

Trying to figure out what to do for Valentines Day when I see that the Globetrotters are in town on the 14th. Ask the wife if she'd rather go to the show than a fancy dinner, and she responded with an enthusiastic "Yes!"

Awesome

Winner!

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

You provide that information to PayPal and again demand your money back. If not, you dispute the charge with your credit card. It's that simple.

They have now said the manufacturer opened up a case with UPS (further confirming my suspicions that they're just some wholesale middleman who skims 20% off the top). Here's the thing: this is for a trip I'm taking and I leave next week. After that, the items are useless to me. This sounds like a great scenario where they just drag their feet, aren't out the money, and I don't get the items in time for my trip.

SI

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

They have now said the manufacturer opened up a case with UPS (further confirming my suspicions that they're just some wholesale middleman who skims 20% off the top). Here's the thing: this is for a trip I'm taking and I leave next week. After that, the items are useless to me. This sounds like a great scenario where they just drag their feet, aren't out the money, and I don't get the items in time for my trip.

SI

No, you refuse the goods and contest the charge in that case. I've done it a couple of times with no problems.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by PadresFan104

Trying to figure out what to do for Valentines Day when I see that the Globetrotters are in town on the 14th. Ask the wife if she'd rather go to the show than a fancy dinner, and she responded with an enthusiastic "Yes!"

Awesome

That's why she was a keeper!

[claphamsa]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Happy day in the Blackadar household. Thought my tax bill would be $10k this year and we've been saving like mad for the last 8 months to pay it - to the tune of about $11k. Turns out it's going to be about $2k. Plenty of other things to do with the money, so it's not going to get wasted.

how do you calculate off that much?

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by claphamsa

how do you calculate off that much?

My taxes can get pretty complicated. This year I had 2 W-2s, 2 1099s and a withdrawn IRA amount.

[claphamsa]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

My taxes can get pretty complicated. This year I had 2 W-2s, 2 1099s and a withdrawn IRA amount.

ic ic, my thought was contract work

[QuikSand]

I have an irrationally negative response to people who post the "yellow ribbon" (or similar) magnet on the back of their car, and then decide to include text on it, and then decide to realign the ribbon so that the ribbon is misaligned bu the text is easier to read. I feel like these people have, for me, accomplished the gashouse gang trifecta all at once - strike one, strike two, strike three, you're out.

[stevew]

It's pretty sad that I'm way too excited about getting a new dishwasher to replace our current piece of shit one.

Anyone got a consumer reports list? I'm assuming turbo zone Kenmore or kitchen aid is still the way to go?

[Glengoyne]

Mrs. Glen here...

We just replaced our dishwasher at Christmas. Our old one was a whirlpool 'contractor special' per our repairman it was as noisy as could be, and didn't actually clean the dishes.

We replaced it with a Bosch with a 3rd rack. It's rated at 44 decibels and the only time you hear it is when it discharges water. Several times now, I have just thrown the dishes in on my way out the door to work. When I come home, everything is clean.

[path12]

I called up a cannabis coop tonight and had a quarter of some indica blend called Rock Candy delivered to my door. Eighty bucks and a tip for the driver.

Goddamn I love Seattle.

[SirFozzie]

(warning, if you do not wish to read a Foz rant, please move on to next post. Thank you for your compliance)

You got to love medical bureaucracy.

And by love, I mean absolutely loathe.

As some of you might know..I suffer from Sleep Apnea.. where my breathing stops during sleep due to closed nasal passages. This causes the body to shift and attempt to shock itself into wakening to get oxygen into the system. This means I don't get good sleep, as the body is constantly fighting to get into the deeper stages of sleep

In my case, when I did an in home sleep study, it was determined I stopped breathing 12-72 times an hour, and had 85% oxygen in the system.

So, I got a CPAP machine, and I'm going to live happily (and sleepily) ever after right?

Nope. And the medical bureaucracies are to blame.

First, the CPAP machine and mask they gave me did not work. Since I sleep on my stomach, they gave me a nose mask (forces air into the nose to keep the nasal passages open). However, because I'm used to breathing through my mouth, this means I end up "swallowing" a bunch of air, which goes down the wrong pipe, and causes a condition called aerophagia, as the air distends the stomach. Painful, and counterproductive to the goal of getting good sleep.

So, when I called the doctor, he stated that he would prefer an in-house sleep study, not only to find a mask that will better fit my issues to eliminate the aerophagia, but to find the right pressure for me (right now, I'm using a wide value of pressures (5-15).

So, that was a week ago that he put in the order for the sleep study. I hadn't heard anything from them since, until today.

Today, I get a call from the company he put the sleep study into (they have a partnership with the hospital where I met my doctor).. they let me know they are waiting for a pre-authorization from my health care company. This is frustrating enough, so I call my healthcare company, and after being on hold 15 minutes, explain the situation to them and ask if there's anything I can do to expedite the situation.

No, I can't, they say, because the company who does authorization for sleep care studies for my health care provider needs to work with the company who does the sleep studies to get all the i's dotted and t's crossed.

So a company that works for the company needs to authorize a company that works for the hospital to get anything done.

Meanwhile, I can't use the CPAP machine, and I'm worried that the insurance company will use it as an excuse to take it back (I'm not considered compliant unless I use it 21 days a month at least four hours a day).

So in short, I'm stuck in multiple layers of medical bureaucracy and can't find my own way out.

Says something about the healthcare system we have, don't it?

[Blackadar]

Supposed to be in DC until Thursday. I live in Charlotte.

Charlotte is supposed to get 4 inches of snow and a quarter inch of ice tonight and tomorrow. As it starts to taper off, DC is supposed to get 8 inches from Wednesday night until Thursday night.

$#$!%%! this shit, I'm outta here. Just changed my flight from Thursday to tonight. I'll do this via remote on Wednesday and Thursday. I'm not getting trapped here on Valentines' Day.

[MacroGuru]

nicked my nose shaving like a dumbass. I was rushing and just barely touched it. Now the damn thing won't stop bleeding.

[Suicane75]

Does anyone, in the very back of their minds, believe they might not ever die?

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

Does anyone, in the very back of their minds, believe they might not ever die?

I never wanna die
I never wanna die
I never wanna die
I'm on my knees
I never wanna die
I'm dancing on my grave
I'm running through the fire
Forever, whatever
I never wanna die
I never wanna leave
I'll never say goodbye
Forever, whatever
Forever, whatever

[Grover]

Originally Posted by path12

I called up a cannabis coop tonight and had a quarter of some indica blend called Rock Candy delivered to my door. Eighty bucks and a tip for the driver.

Goddamn I love Seattle.

That's just fantastic.

[DougW]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

nicked my nose shaving like a dumbass. I was rushing and just barely touched it. Now the damn thing won't stop bleeding.

Just insert nose, for gums in the instructions & you should be fine.
How to Stop Bleeding Gums: 7 Steps - wikiHow

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

Does anyone, in the very back of their minds, believe they might not ever die?

I don't know about never and I know this is really slim but I'm kindof hoping they discover some really good cures in the next 20 years or get us robotic bodies or something. Life is too short, as is. And we've made scant little progress on life expectancy in the last thousand years as surviving past childhood got you, on average, into your 60s almost 1000 years ago:

Life expectancy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now, if you survive childhood, you have good odds to make it to your 80s but odds of moving that bar much higher in our lifetimes is still unlikely.

I would love to have 1000 years instead of 100 on earth but it's probably not to be.

SI

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

Mrs. Glen here...

We just replaced our dishwasher at Christmas. Our old one was a whirlpool 'contractor special' per our repairman it was as noisy as could be, and didn't actually clean the dishes.

We replaced it with a Bosch with a 3rd rack. It's rated at 44 decibels and the only time you hear it is when it discharges water. Several times now, I have just thrown the dishes in on my way out the door to work. When I come home, everything is clean.

Was also going to check out Bosch. The noise thing doesn't really matter to me that much as we have a separated kitchen and you can't really hear it in the next room. Ours is just falling apart and it's all yellow and gross on the inside. I kept running into chunked up cups and its just gross. Hopefully anything I get will be a major upgrade. I also have the whirlpool special which is okay for it's price range but getting in that 6-900 range retail gets you a much better unit. Lowes had some nice looking discounts on some kitchen aid ones that I'm going to go back and check out again. Other issue is whether I wanna commit to starting to go all stainless or not. Probably will stick with black as our house is far from high end. I'll have to go check out the 3rd row

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by stevew

It's pretty sad that I'm way too excited about getting a new dishwasher to replace our current piece of shit one.

Anyone got a consumer reports list? I'm assuming turbo zone Kenmore or kitchen aid is still the way to go?

I did a lot of digging recently on this, and we were semi-split between some of the better Bosch and Kitchen Aid models. We got a good Cyber-week deal on a Kitchen Aid Architect model, and are very happy with it.

Really hard to say whether anything at that price point is "worth it" but it's a really good appliance.

[stevew]

I dunno if I wanna go that much but I do realize it's a get what you pay for type thing. Wish I still worked at sears sometimes, there were always times of the year I could get stuff close to 40% off.

[JonInMiddleGA]

re: dishwashers

Since mine has been perhaps the single most consistent source of frustration as far as this house goes, I'll throw in one comment: make sure you get one that will actually hold what you need/want to wash.

I feel like we got a fairly reliable dishwasher, except that it'd be perfect for a bachelor instead of a family of 3 (that apparently uses glasses & cups kinda like teenager girls go through bath towels).

[stevew]

I had this neat set of hard plastic glasses that I really liked. I think we got them at Sam's, they were much better than most of the normal plastic junk. Except for that they had this lip on the top and my shitty dishwasher would throw gunk up there and every single one would have a bunch of gunk collected on top. I had to put them in the basement for now.

[Glengoyne]

We got ours from Sears, partly due to a family member having a discount.

If you go stainless, it's going to cost an additional $100 per appliance.

The 3rd rack is awesome. I put my cookie sheets, large/tall utensils, and other small things that would otherwise flip and fill with rinse water. The few knives that actually go in the dishwasher go there as well.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by stevew

Was also going to check out Bosch. The noise thing doesn't really matter to me that much as we have a separated kitchen and you can't really hear it in the next room. Ours is just falling apart and it's all yellow and gross on the inside. I kept running into chunked up cups and its just gross. Hopefully anything I get will be a major upgrade. I also have the whirlpool special which is okay for it's price range but getting in that 6-900 range retail gets you a much better unit. Lowes had some nice looking discounts on some kitchen aid ones that I'm going to go back and check out again. Other issue is whether I wanna commit to starting to go all stainless or not. Probably will stick with black as our house is far from high end. I'll have to go check out the 3rd row

Recently got a GE stainless deal only because it matched our refrigerator..its ok. Not great, not worth what I paid but doesn't have any major short comings either.


That said...If you arent matching an existing lineup see if you have a Habitat for Humanity Restore in your area. Locally the Home Depot has recently partnered with them and is donating all their last year models for a write off etc.

My sister just bought a Bosch Stainless Steel dishwasher for $225. Brand new, in the box etc. I had never realized they had new material...so not sure if its everywhere but Im jealous of the deal my sis got..

[PilotMan]

Bosch makes very nice appliances.

[molson]

It's kind of crazy that Shirley Temple wasn't in a movie for 65 years, not even a cameo. I wonder how often she was approached in her later years, of if everyone just knew it was never going to happen.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Supposed to be in DC until Thursday. I live in Charlotte.

Charlotte is supposed to get 4 inches of snow and a quarter inch of ice tonight and tomorrow. As it starts to taper off, DC is supposed to get 8 inches from Wednesday night until Thursday night.

$#$!%%! this shit, I'm outta here. Just changed my flight from Thursday to tonight. I'll do this via remote on Wednesday and Thursday. I'm not getting trapped here on Valentines' Day.

Wait...you live in Charlotte?
Howd I miss this?

[stevew]

Ended up scoring a 1499 Electrolux for $646. Seems like the perfect delta of quality and price.

[SirFozzie]

LOL... SI goes for the big names for their swimsuit issue. Namely, Barbie.

Barbie to feature in this year's SI Swimsuit issue - Boston.com

[Suicane75]

I hope as a tie in they make a line of SI All-Time Great Barbies. Elle, Cindy, Kate, Christy, Kate, Paulina, Kate, Kathy, Kate, Kate.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Wait...you live in Charlotte?
Howd I miss this?

I dunno.

Looks like leaving early was the right call. I made it home in between the two storms. Now I have 6 inches of snow and a crust of ice outside while DC is shut down.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Happy day in the Blackadar household. Thought my tax bill would be $10k this year and we've been saving like mad for the last 8 months to pay it - to the tune of about $11k. Turns out it's going to be about $2k. Plenty of other things to do with the money, so it's not going to get wasted.

Well, it appears not all is so rosy. My accountant made a mistake and called me back. I owe $5,500 in taxes, not $2k. But it's better than the $10k-$15k I was fearing, so I'm still happy. It's already saved up in the bank and I'll stroke the check to Uncle Sam next week.

[Logan]

Why pay so soon?

[korme]

I swear, Java wants to update itself 3 times a week.