From borgholio at storymind.com Thu Jan 1 03:29:52 2009 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Thu Jan 1 03:30:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Happy New Year to all! Message-ID: Got a text message from someone named Shannon wishing me a Happy New Year...but I don't know any Shannons. Oh well, I hope she's cute. :) From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 1 15:58:51 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (BlueSkyzz) Date: Thu Jan 1 16:00:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Happy New Year to all! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote: > Got a text message from someone named Shannon wishing me a Happy New > Year...but I don't know any Shannons. Oh well, I hope she's cute. :) You assume that Shannon is a "she".... ;-) From joegill at removethis Thu Jan 1 16:30:47 2009 From: joegill at removethis (Joe Gill) Date: Thu Jan 1 16:35:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Amazon.com References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:gjghrs$cug$1@news.spamcop.net... > Joe Gill wrote: >> >> "Borgholio" wrote in message >> news:gjf46n$st0$1@news.spamcop.net... >>> Joe Gill wrote: >>>> >>>> "Borgholio" wrote in message >>>> news:gjen2k$8jd$4@news.spamcop.net... >>>>> So left over from last Christmas I have $75 in gift certificates. >>>>> This Christmas I got $25 more. I need to spend it eventually but >>>>> haven't a clue what to actually buy. Do I buy sensible, such as >>>>> silver or gold coins? Or do I buy for fun such as a green laser >>>>> pointer (the kind that is visible in the air)? I'm stuck. :( >>>> >>>> Wait until you NEED something and then order it there, using the certs. >>> >>> Haven't NEEDED something since before last Christmas. That's why I >>> still have the 75 bucks from '07. :-/ >> >> Gotta eat?...Right? >> Use Amazon Grocery.... > > Umm...you've got to be kidding. No wait, you're not...you CAN buy food on > Amazon. Hmm, I think I'd rather buy silver coins. :) Yeah but look at this scenario... You have $75 to spend on Amazon. Then you buy $75 of goods on Amazon that you need. You then have $75 cash, in your pocket, to spend on precious metals or other objects locally. Ideally, you should be able to pick/choose items on sale on Amazon, and then pocket not only the price you paid, but squirrel away the 'savings', thus increasing your buying power for local metals. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 1 17:26:48 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 1 17:30:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Amazon.com In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Joe Gill" wrote in message news:gjjcmk$6ak$1@news.spamcop.net... > > Yeah but look at this scenario... > You have $75 to spend on Amazon. > Then you buy $75 of goods on Amazon that you need. > You then have $75 cash, in your pocket, to spend on precious metals or > other objects locally. > Ideally, you should be able to pick/choose items on sale on Amazon, and > then pocket not only the price you paid, but squirrel away the 'savings', > thus increasing your buying power for local metals. Man, I'd be afraid to add up the cost of all the stuff I've bought on Amazon just over the last 3 months, let alone the last year! My health supplements and health equipment/hardware bills would shock you.....and that's just the stuff I buy online...hopefully the equipment bills are over and done with.... unless when I take my sump pump apart I find that it's not able to be reliably fixed (sticking float issues). From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 1 17:39:50 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Thu Jan 1 17:40:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Amazon.com References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:gjjfv7$k0p$1@news.spamcop.net... > > Man, I'd be afraid to add up the cost of all the stuff I've bought on > Amazon just over the last 3 months, let alone the last year! My health > supplements and health equipment/hardware bills would shock you.....and > that's just the stuff I buy online...hopefully the equipment bills are > over and done with.... unless when I take my sump pump apart I find that > it's not able to be reliably fixed (sticking float issues). WD 40...... From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 1 18:09:57 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 1 18:10:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Amazon.com In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:gjjgnp$lbh$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Indigo" wrote in message > news:gjjfv7$k0p$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> Man, I'd be afraid to add up the cost of all the stuff I've bought on >> Amazon just over the last 3 months, let alone the last year! My health >> supplements and health equipment/hardware bills would shock you.....and >> that's just the stuff I buy online...hopefully the equipment bills are >> over and done with.... unless when I take my sump pump apart I find that >> it's not able to be reliably fixed (sticking float issues). > > WD 40...... Done already, twice..........it still stuck again the other day. I think there's gunk in the tube that the float rod runs thru, which is jamming the float and preventing it from rising in the tube....at least that's what I'm hoping to find......from the limited view I had of the float itself while scrubbing the sump and the pump, it appears that there might even be some mud inside the bottom of the float itself, making it heavier and therefore harder to lift. Could just be a buoyancy issue. That just gave me an idea. I *may* be able to remove the float without pulling the entire pump out, clean it, then replace it. That would be sweeeeetttt........ From ganhedinheironainternet at dinheiro.com Thu Jan 1 21:38:44 2009 From: ganhedinheironainternet at dinheiro.com (Ganhe dinheiro na internet) Date: Thu Jan 1 21:40:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] .X>Fc como ganhar dinheiro na internet , dinheiro rapido, dinheiro navegando, ganha dinheiro na internet, megainvestimento.com "oe_#9V(lYEIQh9 Message-ID: http://ganhar-dinheiro-pela-internet.vila.bol.com.br/ Essa semana, eu conheci um site muito interessante. Nele ha varios e-books de diversos temas interessantes, alem disso, eh um site de investimento, onde o valor pago retorna para nos com lucro de 300%. Voce efetua um pagamento unico de R$ 30,00, tem o direito a baixar mais de 30 apostilas onlines de diversos temas: - Memorizacao; - Leitura dinamica; - Fotografia digital; - Tecnicas em vendas; - Curso basico de VOIP; - Curso de Autocad 3D; - Muitos outros Alem das apostilas, voce participara de um Fantastico Negocio de Geracao de Renda. Sem grupos... Sem mensalidades... Uma unica coluna... Por se tratar de uma fila œnica, todo usu‡rio que ingressa no site tem um lugar na fila, a cada 10 cotas adquiridas em nosso sistema, todos os indicados descem para o numero anterior ao seu. EX: Se voce ingressar no projeto e seu numero for 51, assim que entrarem os proximos 10 voce subira para a posicao 50. Assim que voce chegar na posicao 1 da fila voce recebera R$ 130,00. Alem desse lucrode mais de 300%, voce podera ganhar R$ 10,00 por amigo que voce indicar e entrar no sistema. Pense nos lucros que podera obter alem dos grandes conhecimentos adquiridos com nossas apostilas virtuais. Voce pode adquirir agora mesmo a sua posicao. Lembre-se: eh por ordem de chegada ! Se voce deixar para amanha, podera ter dezenas de pessoas antes decvoce. Se aderir hoje, podera ter dezenas de pessoas apos voce amanha. Cadastre-se agora mesmo!!! http://ganhar-dinheiro-pela-internet.vila.bol.com.br/ Comentario: Nao sou parte da equipe dos idealizadores do projeto, sou apenas um usuario que aprovou o sistema e viu nele um excelente oportunidade de conseguir uma renda de forma garantida, e passou pelo filtro que faco antes de me afiliar em qualquer negocio na rede. 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My health : > supplements and health equipment/hardware bills would shock you.....and : > that's just the stuff I buy online...hopefully the equipment bills are : > over and done with.... unless when I take my sump pump apart I find that : > it's not able to be reliably fixed (sticking float issues). : : WD 40...... WD is WATER DISPLACEMENT it is not a lubricant. Try machine oil (used in air tools) or silicone based lubricant. : : From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 2 08:57:00 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Jan 2 09:00:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Suprise, corruption in the FDA Message-ID: I saw an ad for this sweetener, Truvia, on TV and thought it was odd, since the FDA has steadfastly banned stevia as a sweetener in food for years, apparently at the urging of chemical companies who can't patent a plant that grows in the ground, and want the artificial sweetener business all to themselves (like Monsanto and Cargill). Japan uses it in virtually everything as a zero calorie sweetener. Typically, the chemical companies found a way around it, they're now growing in CHINA, and making a sweetener from extracts from it, chemicals, not the pure leaf, and intend to patent it and market it because it's "safe". Oh boy, manufactured Frankenfood. This blog is interesting: http://eco-chick.com/2008/05/27/truvia-coming-soon-to-supermarkets-everywhere/ The corruption in our government is disgusting. I wouldn't touch this stuff with a barge pole, it's not 'stevia', not natural, not organic, and it's made in China. Who the hell knows what they'll put into it. I'll stick with my NOW extract from the health food store. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 2 09:18:37 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Fri Jan 2 09:20:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Suprise, corruption in the FDA References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:gjl6fe$egg$1@news.spamcop.net... >... > The corruption in our government is disgusting. I wouldn't touch this > stuff with a barge pole, it's not 'stevia', not natural, not organic, and > it's made in China. Who the hell knows what they'll put into it. .... Why melamine of course, the manufacturers have to unload that stuff somewhere. :-D From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 2 09:21:25 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Jan 2 09:25:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Amazon.com References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:gjknn5$fs6$1@news.spamcop.net... > > WD is WATER DISPLACEMENT it is not a lubricant. Try machine oil (used in > air tools) or silicone based lubricant. It's both, at least that's what is says on the can - I use it all the time for chair squeaks, lubricating my screen door runners, unsticking screws, my rusted pliers, etc. Kinda like duct tape, fixes everything! From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 2 14:04:02 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 2 14:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Amazon.com In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:gjl7t8$llm$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Frog Prince" wrote in message > news:gjknn5$fs6$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> WD is WATER DISPLACEMENT it is not a lubricant. Try machine oil (used in >> air tools) or silicone based lubricant. > > It's both, at least that's what is says on the can - I use it all the > time > for chair squeaks, lubricating my screen door runners, ==> silicone spray > lube unsticking screws, my rusted pliers, etc. ==> WD40 The silicone spray lube will last much, much longer as a lube than WD40, and won't attract dust and dirt to the door runners, which will make them stick even worse and gunk up the tracks. As far as the chair or table squeaks, if it were *me*, I'd find out what joint was loose and tighten up the wood screws (fix the problem rather than "duct taping" it ;-) From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 2 15:02:08 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Fri Jan 2 15:05:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Amazon.com References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:gjloev$ofn$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Heidi" wrote in message > news:gjl7t8$llm$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> "Frog Prince" wrote in message >> news:gjknn5$fs6$1@news.spamcop.net... >>> >>> WD is WATER DISPLACEMENT it is not a lubricant. Try machine oil (used >>> in >>> air tools) or silicone based lubricant. >> >> It's both, at least that's what is says on the can - I use it all the >> time > >> for chair squeaks, lubricating my screen door runners, ==> silicone spray >> lube > > unsticking screws, my rusted pliers, etc. ==> WD40 > > The silicone spray lube will last much, much longer as a lube than WD40, > and won't attract dust and dirt to the door runners, which will make them > stick even worse and gunk up the tracks. As far as the chair or table > squeaks, if it were *me*, I'd find out what joint was loose and tighten up > the wood screws (fix the problem rather than "duct taping" it ;-) WD40 is also very good at un-duck tapeing things. 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Message-ID: Got my tax re-assessent bill for my house, my tax payments are going up almost $100/month (10% of my current morgage payment!!). That sucks.....the only good news is that my house only lost 9% in value over the last 3 years of the housing disaster. Like they say, location, location, location....and thank god for tax caps......I don't even want to know how high my tax bill would be without them. And I FINALLY got the ventilation system for my basement installed on Saturday, now all I have to do is fix the sump pump float issue and finish the wiring for the vent system and I'll be ready to start decontaminating the basement with that new FEMA approved mold killer. Hoping to knock out items 1 and 2 today, shouldn't take more than a few hours as long as I don't run into an unexpected problems, like not being able to use my heavy duty 1/2" power drill to drill the 2 1/2" hole thru the basement wall for the exhaust vent tube. The big drill was too big to fit in between the floor joists and the plumbing lines that ran along that wall. That wall was a full 4" thick, and my 1/4" drill didn't quite have the horsepower to go full bore. Very slow going........but finally got it done. And jeez, thank god I was wearing two of my wrist braces on my bad right wrist while I was attempting to get the big drill to work -- it jammed twice because the hole saw wasn't aligned straight with the pilot hole and the torque of that sucker almost broke my wrist! While I was building a jig to hold the vent fan box in place under the floor joists so I could drill the mounting holes my dehumidifier was running and I was using my power saw off and on. I accidentally jammed a piece of lumber in the saw and the circuit breaker popped when the saw stalled. I reset the breakers (it's a 30 amp breaker, 2 15 amp switches, 4 wire line coming out) and as soon as I turned the saw on the breaker popped again. Still too hot, I guess. Waited a minute, good to go. Then I took the covers off of the outlets and switch boxs for that entire circuit and discovered that I had made a couple _really_ stupid elementary wiring mistakes when I installed that circuit. Instead of dedicating one of the 15 amp lines to the power saw outlet, I had ganged that wire to both outlets. A power strip that I have my dehumidifier and other small items was plugged into the same outlet. I had taken the second 15 amp line and run it to an outlet above the power saw to provide power to a flourescent light fixture. So I had two high-current devices plugged into one 15 amp line, while the stupid light fixture was the only thing using the second 15 amp line! Plus, I had used the neutral wire (white) in the light switch instead of the hot line (the black wire). Got things bass-ackwards from years of working on car wiring (black is ground in 12 volt systems) ,I guess. Anyway, I drew up a new wiring diagram splitting up the power the proper way, so rewiring everything shouldn't take much time at all (knock knock). Will end up with 15 amps for the saw/light/vent fan and 15 amps for the power strip/dehumidifier. Problems solved (I hope!) From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 7 18:38:45 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 7 18:40:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... Message-ID: Posted in an online blog and sent to me by my sister this morning: "A coworker hit a cyclist [my brother in law] this morning on his way to the office in Greenfield by the post office...not a very busy or congested street by any means. Because I'm a cyclist, my coworker seemed to need to go over and over the incident with me today in some way to help process the trauma of what happened. I thought to share this with you all because from his story made me realize, accidents happen no matter how careful, how safe we try to be. My coworker, the driver ,said he stopped as he entered the street from a parking lot, looked both ways but never saw the cyclist who had a flashing light and headlight on his bike. The driver said he only after heard the thump and saw the cyclist cartwheel over the front of his car did he realize he had hit something. The police officer estimated the driver's speed to be 5 mph and the cyclist's speed at 22-25 mph. EMTs transported the cyclist to the hospital. I haven't heard of his condition. He was quite angry and let the driver know what he thought of the incident. My coworker was sick, and visibly shaken all day, not really recovering from his part in the accident. The most stunning part of the story is that the policeman reported to my coworker that this was the third time this cyclist had been hit by a car! It is sobering to realize- safety is sometimes just an illusion!" *** My sis says he's OK -- and very lucky IMO - mostly just bruises and cuts -- at an impact at 25 mph !?! He must have flown pretty far in the air before returning to pavement! His very expensive racing bike was totally smashed and will have to be replaced by the insurance company of the car who hit him (or rather he hit?). The driver made a rolling stop at a stop sign and was given a traffic ticket for causing the accident. Third time he's been hit by a car......he seems to attract automobile accidents like I attract illnesses and joint/tendon problems...... From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 7 20:38:20 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Wed Jan 7 20:40:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:gk3ee7$f4k$1@news.spamcop.net... > Posted in an online blog and sent to me by my sister this morning: > >.............. > > *** My sis says he's OK -- and very lucky IMO - mostly just bruises and > cuts -- at an impact at 25 mph !?! He must have flown pretty far in the > air before returning to pavement! His very expensive racing bike was > totally smashed and will have to be replaced by the insurance company of > the car who hit him (or rather he hit?). The driver made a rolling stop at > a stop sign and was given a traffic ticket for causing the accident. Third > time he's been hit by a car......he seems to attract automobile accidents > like I attract illnesses and joint/tendon problems...... > Sounds like the cyclist is the major problem here, he's one of those assholes too dumb or too arrogant to account for the fact that at dusk or at night a dim wobbly cyclists light adjacent to the kerb is not likely to be noticed by the average driver, nor is the average driver to have any idea just how fast it might actually be moving. Sure the drivers ought to see him and take it into account, but defensive driving is an obligation on everyone, especially the vulnerable which is what cyclists are, against motorized vehicles. From MikeE at ster.invalid Wed Jan 7 20:44:13 2009 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Wed Jan 7 20:45:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > My coworker, the driver ,said he stopped as he entered the street from > a parking lot, looked both ways but never saw the cyclist who had a > flashing light and headlight on his bike. The driver said he only after > heard the thump and saw the cyclist cartwheel over the front of his car > did he realize he had hit something. The police officer estimated the > driver's speed to be 5 mph and the cyclist's speed at 22-25 mph. It is a given that under 'equal' traffic conditions, that an auto driver should yield to/ avoid/ pedestrians and cyclists, but not all accidents involving car vs bicycle are the car's fault. It sounds to me like the cyclist was going much faster than a safe speed in his environment. The auto driver could sue to recover for the damage to his car. It sounds to me like the cyclist is responsible for the damage to himself, his bicycle and the auto with which he collided at speed that was excessive for the conditions. Cyclist: unsafe speed. All cyclists are supposed to be capable of riding sufficiently carefully with the concept that they may be invisible to others on the streets. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 7 22:01:55 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 7 22:05:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:gk3lp8$9g3$1@news.spamcop.net... > All cyclists are supposed to be capable of riding sufficiently carefully > with the concept that they may be invisible to others on the streets. Right, everyone blame the bicycle rider.....if it were Charles or Borg on his motorcycle would y'all be singing the same tune? From borgholio at storymind.com Wed Jan 7 22:13:49 2009 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Wed Jan 7 22:15:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > "Mike Easter" wrote in message > news:gk3lp8$9g3$1@news.spamcop.net... > >> All cyclists are supposed to be capable of riding sufficiently carefully >> with the concept that they may be invisible to others on the streets. > > Right, everyone blame the bicycle rider.....if it were Charles or Borg > on his motorcycle would y'all be singing the same tune? Some of you would...evil bastards. :-P From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 7 22:24:05 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 7 22:25:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:gk3r16$g62$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> Right, everyone blame the bicycle rider.....if it were Charles or Borg on >> his motorcycle would y'all be singing the same tune? > > Some of you would...evil bastards. :-P I am royally pissed off at both of their reactions. It was morning rush hour, daylight, the dude had TWO lights on, riding on a road with either a 35 or 45 mph speed limit, he had the right of way, and THEY BLAME HIM?!?!! Screw both of you. From gezgin at spamcop.net.which.is.not.invalid Wed Jan 7 23:49:31 2009 From: gezgin at spamcop.net.which.is.not.invalid (Opinicus) Date: Wed Jan 7 23:50:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote > The most stunning part of the story is that the policeman reported to my > coworker that this was the third time this cyclist had been hit by a car! The *third* time? One must wonder about the sanity of this cyclist. Particularly if the circumstances of all three incidents were the same. -- Bob http://www.kanyak.com From MikeE at ster.invalid Thu Jan 8 09:49:35 2009 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Thu Jan 8 09:50:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > "Mike Easter" >> All cyclists are supposed to be capable of riding sufficiently >> carefully with the concept that they may be invisible to others on the >> streets. > > Right, everyone blame the bicycle rider.....if it were Charles or Borg > on his motorcycle would y'all be singing the same tune? The way you told the story, it sounded to me like the cyclist ran into the side of the car. The cyclist was going (relatively) fast, the car was creeping. Who is at fault? If a slow moving target creeps out in front of a faster moving object, the faster object is supposed to avoid the slow creeper. It is the same in aviation traffic with light private aircraft, balloons, & jets; and mixed speed traffic on sidewalks such as pedestrians, rollerbladers, bicyclists, and skateboarders. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From MikeE at ster.invalid Thu Jan 8 14:04:51 2009 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Thu Jan 8 14:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > Well... 1/2 of the time I've been in motorcycle-car wrecks it's been my > fault. Not too long ago I had a long talk with a guy who rides a motorcycle 'all the time' including lots and lots of crosscountry. He's been doing that for 40 years or more and is currently 'retired' from workaday world, so he has even /more/ time to ride his Harley. Make that Harleys, about 4 or 5. He doesn't have any wrecks. Hasn't had any in all of these years. He sez one of his strategies for avoiding cars is to make real eye contact with the car. Naturally that implies 'when possible'. I've ridden a motorcycle 'a bit' in years gone by, and a bicycle more recently. I don't assume that a car driver can see me unless I can get some kind of clue such as eye contact. When I can't get eye contact, I don't assume anything about the driver knowing where I am. I imagine/anticipate a driver to drive 'normally' (ie not in the bike lane) but I don't assume that a driver is going to 'do something' (by way of avoidance) because he has seen me, because I have no way of knowing if someone has seen me. Especially in these days of distracted drivers and cellphones and all kinds of zany behaviors. It sounds to me like Indigo's relative made an absolutely stupid - completely careless - decision/judgment that a car which he is seeing in front of himself which was in the process of pulling out of a parking area was going to see him barreling toward the car's path and stop short of the street. It also sounds to me like the relative was going faster than he could stop a bicycle if you put something out in front of it. If a pedestrian had stepped in front of him, he would have run over the ped with his bike. He sounds like a menace on the road. Someone should take his bicycle away from him before he hurts himself or someone else. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 8 15:39:15 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 8 15:40:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9B8D7545E8545TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... I can totally see situations > where arriving in an intersection a few seconds early or later I'd be > flattened. So... I, too, blamed the cyclist but reflecting on my own > experience, well, yeah... There are a lot of inattentive drivers out > there > and it's very difficult to ride defensively enough to avoid all issues. He was likely on the right side of the road (where a cyclist should be), the car ran a stop sign, he couldn't possibly have avoided it. Maybe his mistake was in assuming that the car would actually stop at the stop sign? This guy is no stranger to cycling, he's been riding for many years, he races nearly every weekend (100-125 milers) and probably puts more miles on his bike in a week than anyone here puts on their car. I've been involved in way more than three car accidents over the years, some my fault, mostly not. You add up the miles involved and I don't think his accident rate is way out of line. > -- > May as well say something here. There. Doesn't that feel better? Yeah, a little. I certainly wasn't expecting the hostile reaction...... From MikeE at ster.invalid Thu Jan 8 16:03:05 2009 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Thu Jan 8 16:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > the car ran a stop sign, he couldn't possibly have avoided it. Wait a minute. Indigo previously wrote: > My coworker, the driver ,said he stopped as he entered the street from > a parking lot, looked both ways but never saw the cyclist who had a > flashing light and headlight on his bike. The driver said he only after > heard the thump and saw the cyclist cartwheel over the front of his car > did he realize he had hit something. The police officer estimated the > driver's speed to be 5 mph and the cyclist's speed at 22-25 mph. In my mind's eye, I see a car in a parking lot, creeping toward the lot's exit into a street which has cars and all kinds of things driving in it; trucks, bicycles... Before exiting the lot into this dangerous environment, the driver stops and looks both ways. (In doing so, as is very common, the bicyclist is invisible to him.) Meanwhile, we have a well conditioned and accomplished bicyclist with great wind and legs cooking along at 22-25 mph, a significant rate of speed on a bike, who is surely observing the auto preparing to exit the lot, and must take heed that the driver doesn't see him. His gaze would include whether or not the driver makes eye contact with him. That is, he should see the driver see him or fail to see him. When he doesn't see the driver see him, he had better be making a plan for what to do if the driver pulls into the street in front of him. ... besides running into the side of the front of the car and tumbling over the hood. > Maybe his mistake was in assuming that the car would actually stop at > the stop sign? I've been involved in listening to testimonies about cars pulling out of lots and filling stations and having collisions with cars on the traffic street before. The business about stopping or not stopping is a very important point of contention that we need to get straightened out. IMO, it is highly likely he stopped and that indeed was the earlier Indigo testimony. > I certainly wasn't expecting the hostile reaction...... An opinion isn't necessarily 'hostile' because it is different than blind sympathy or bias for the presenter of the incident and his family. Why can't an opinion be a point of view? It seemed like the driver was very 'sympathetic' but also the driver was very understanding of his own position that was saying "I don't see how I could have avoided him. I never saw him. I stopped and looked both ways." Actually, sometimes looking one way is a lot more important than looking both ways, depending on what order you are looking both ways. Or are we talking about this way, that way, and then this way again? Three ways. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 8 19:20:54 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 8 19:25:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:gk5pm2$2cp$1@news.spamcop.net... > Indigo wrote: > >> the car ran a stop sign, he couldn't possibly have avoided it. > > Wait a minute. > > Indigo previously wrote: >> My coworker, the driver ,said he stopped as he entered the street from >> a parking lot, looked both ways but never saw the cyclist who had a >> flashing light and headlight on his bike. The driver said he only after >> heard the thump and saw the cyclist cartwheel over the front of his car >> did he realize he had hit something. The police officer estimated the >> driver's speed to be 5 mph and the cyclist's speed at 22-25 mph. > > In my mind's eye, I see a car in a parking lot, creeping toward the lot's > exit into a street which has cars and all kinds of things driving in it; > trucks, bicycles... Got another email from my sister that should clear up some of the bones of contention in this thread. Recall that my initial post contained the contents of a blog written by a co-worker of the driver, second-hand information at best, and hearsay at the worst. According to my sister, and I quote, "he was only doing 12-14 mph in a 35 mph zone and the guy blew through a stop sign". I believe the speed is probably pretty accurate, and whether the guy "blew thru a stop sign" or rolled thru it is an issue of interpretation, I guess. However, the driver _was_ cited for causing the accident, which indicates to me that he _did_ pull out of the parking lot unsafely. Whether he came to a full stop or not is pretty much a moot point. He pulled out into oncoming traffic, period. To make the situation worse, my bro-in-law is now experiencing neck and back pain. I'm trying to find out whether he got x-rays or an MRI at the ER and am threatening to cause physical harm to both of them if they don't get him to an orthopedic surgeon ASAP to get his neck looked at. Since PA is a no-fault state, his insurance company is responsible for paying for his medical care, which sucks, unless their insurance company sues the driver's company to recover all medical costs. *** breaking news*** Right before I was about to hit the "send" button I got an email reply from my bro-in-law. He did get x-rays and a CT scan of his head/neck at the ER and he has scheduled an appt. with a PT to get evaluated and treated. They have apparently talked to their insurance company again, since now they are planning to sue the driver's insurance company for all medical costs plus the "pain and suffering" caused to him by the accident. Good outcome, all in all. Plus he'll get a brand new race bike. I got a handsome pain and suffering payout from my insurance company after I was rear-ended by an idiot after my first neck surgery, which caused me to go back to PT for a couple months and consume gobs of Percocet to deal with the pain. I was probably being hyper-sensitive about getting him to an ortho and PT because of my extensive past and current health problems. I know what can and would happen if he doesn't get physical therapy to relieve his muscular problems. I deal with it on a daily basis, although I've been making very good progress lately, and FINALLY. From me at privacy.net Thu Jan 8 19:34:50 2009 From: me at privacy.net (anon) Date: Thu Jan 8 19:35:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Nuts....but ok.... References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:gjtivk$s4f$1@news.spamcop.net... > Got my tax re-assessent bill for my house, my tax payments are going up > almost $100/month (10% of my current morgage payment!!). That > sucks.....the only good news is that my house only lost 9% in value over > the last 3 years of the housing disaster. Like they say, location, > location, location....and thank god for tax caps......I don't even want to > know how high my tax bill would be without them. > If your house value has dropped, YOUR ASSESSMENT SHOULD DROP. See your tax assessor for a reassessment! (Here in California, we have the Pop 13 ceiling on the increase in taxes, whew.) > And I FINALLY got the ventilation system for my basement installed on > Saturday, now all I have to do is fix the sump pump float issue and finish > the wiring for the vent system and I'll be ready to start decontaminating > the basement with that new FEMA approved mold killer. Hoping to knock out > items 1 and 2 today, shouldn't take more than a few hours as long as I > don't run into an unexpected problems, like not being able to use my heavy > duty 1/2" power drill to drill the 2 1/2" hole thru the basement wall for > the exhaust vent tube. The big drill was too big to fit in between the > floor joists and the plumbing lines that ran along that wall. That wall > was a full 4" thick, and my 1/4" drill didn't quite have the horsepower to > go full bore. Very slow going........but finally got it done. And jeez, > thank god I was wearing two of my wrist braces on my bad right wrist while > I was attempting to get the big drill to work -- it jammed twice because > the hole saw wasn't aligned straight with the pilot hole and the torque of > that sucker almost broke my wrist! > > While I was building a jig to hold the vent fan box in place under the > floor joists so I could drill the mounting holes my dehumidifier was > running and I was using my power saw off and on. I accidentally jammed a > piece of lumber in the saw and the circuit breaker popped when the saw > stalled. I reset the breakers (it's a 30 amp breaker, 2 15 amp switches, 4 > wire line coming out) and as soon as I turned the saw on the breaker > popped again. Still too hot, I guess. Waited a minute, good to go. Then I > took the covers off of the outlets and switch boxs for that entire circuit > and discovered that I had made a couple _really_ stupid elementary wiring > mistakes when I installed that circuit. > The electrical code says ONLY *ONE* WIRE from each breaker. > Instead of dedicating one of the 15 amp lines to the power saw outlet, I > had ganged that wire to both outlets. A power strip that I have my > dehumidifier and other small items was plugged into the same outlet. I had > taken the second 15 amp line and run it to an outlet above the power saw > to provide power to a flourescent light fixture. So I had two high-current > devices plugged into one 15 amp line, while the stupid light fixture was > the only thing using the second 15 amp line! Plus, I had used the neutral > wire (white) in the light switch instead of the hot line (the black wire). > Got things bass-ackwards from years of working on car wiring (black is > ground in 12 volt systems) ,I guess. Boy, that will do it every time. My experience with working with electronic circuits vs. house wiring. > Anyway, I drew up a new wiring diagram splitting up the power the proper > way, so rewiring everything shouldn't take much time at all (knock knock). > Will end up with 15 amps for the saw/light/vent fan and 15 amps for the > power strip/dehumidifier. Problems solved (I hope!) Good idea moving some things around to reduce the loads on the overworked breakers. Be careful about the breaker size vs. the wire size. No 20 amp breakers where 15 amp should be. You'd be surprised how many amps even a 1/2 HP motor can draw, especially when STALLED. When the armature is stalled, the amperage goes through the roof. From me at privacy.net Thu Jan 8 19:40:53 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Thu Jan 8 19:45:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Nuts....but ok.... References: Message-ID: "anon" wrote in message news:gk663c$b5a$1@news.spamcop.net... : : : "Indigo" wrote in message : news:gjtivk$s4f$1@news.spamcop.net... : > Got my tax re-assessent bill for my house, my tax payments are going up : > almost $100/month (10% of my current morgage payment!!). That : > sucks.....the only good news is that my house only lost 9% in value over : > the last 3 years of the housing disaster. Like they say, location, : > location, location....and thank god for tax caps......I don't even want to : > know how high my tax bill would be without them. : > : : If your house value has dropped, YOUR ASSESSMENT SHOULD DROP. : : See your tax assessor for a reassessment! : : (Here in California, we have the Pop 13 ceiling on the increase in taxes, : whew.) : : > And I FINALLY got the ventilation system for my basement installed on : > Saturday, now all I have to do is fix the sump pump float issue and finish : > the wiring for the vent system and I'll be ready to start decontaminating : > the basement with that new FEMA approved mold killer. Hoping to knock out : > items 1 and 2 today, shouldn't take more than a few hours as long as I : > don't run into an unexpected problems, like not being able to use my heavy : > duty 1/2" power drill to drill the 2 1/2" hole thru the basement wall for : > the exhaust vent tube. The big drill was too big to fit in between the : > floor joists and the plumbing lines that ran along that wall. That wall : > was a full 4" thick, and my 1/4" drill didn't quite have the horsepower to : > go full bore. Very slow going........but finally got it done. And jeez, : > thank god I was wearing two of my wrist braces on my bad right wrist while : > I was attempting to get the big drill to work -- it jammed twice because : > the hole saw wasn't aligned straight with the pilot hole and the torque of : > that sucker almost broke my wrist! : > : > While I was building a jig to hold the vent fan box in place under the : > floor joists so I could drill the mounting holes my dehumidifier was : > running and I was using my power saw off and on. I accidentally jammed a : > piece of lumber in the saw and the circuit breaker popped when the saw : > stalled. I reset the breakers (it's a 30 amp breaker, 2 15 amp switches, 4 : > wire line coming out) and as soon as I turned the saw on the breaker : > popped again. Still too hot, I guess. Waited a minute, good to go. Then I : > took the covers off of the outlets and switch boxs for that entire circuit : > and discovered that I had made a couple _really_ stupid elementary wiring : > mistakes when I installed that circuit. : > : The electrical code says ONLY *ONE* WIRE from each breaker. : : > Instead of dedicating one of the 15 amp lines to the power saw outlet, I : > had ganged that wire to both outlets. A power strip that I have my : > dehumidifier and other small items was plugged into the same outlet. I had : > taken the second 15 amp line and run it to an outlet above the power saw : > to provide power to a flourescent light fixture. So I had two high-current : > devices plugged into one 15 amp line, while the stupid light fixture was : > the only thing using the second 15 amp line! Plus, I had used the neutral : > wire (white) in the light switch instead of the hot line (the black wire). : > Got things bass-ackwards from years of working on car wiring (black is : > ground in 12 volt systems) ,I guess. : : Boy, that will do it every time. My experience with working with electronic : circuits vs. house wiring. : : > Anyway, I drew up a new wiring diagram splitting up the power the proper : > way, so rewiring everything shouldn't take much time at all (knock knock). : > Will end up with 15 amps for the saw/light/vent fan and 15 amps for the : > power strip/dehumidifier. Problems solved (I hope!) : Good idea moving some things around to reduce the loads on the overworked : breakers. : : Be careful about the breaker size vs. the wire size. No 20 amp breakers : where 15 amp should be. : : You'd be surprised how many amps even a 1/2 HP motor can draw, especially : when STALLED. When the armature is stalled, the amperage goes through the : roof. Read the label for LRC (lock rotor current) and it is signifiant. From MikeE at ster.invalid Thu Jan 8 20:29:16 2009 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Thu Jan 8 20:30:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > "Mike Easter" >> Wait a minute. > Got another email from my sister that should clear up some of the bones > of contention in this thread. My sympathies go out primarily to your b-i-l who was hurt. Less so to the driver who was sad to see him hurt and feels responsible, and whose insurance and personal liability are also vulnerable to bearing financial responsibility. I don't think I'm into sympathy for the insuranceco, since those guys are always such a bunch of bandits they'll be trying to screw everybody. I don't know how you get cited for being 'responsible' for an accident. A cop can cite you for some violation, such as failure to yield. If someone has the right of way and you jump out in front of them, whether you stopped for a stop sign before you jumped or not, you can get a ticket. Naturally you can also get a ticket for running a stop sign. Depending on the circumstances, you can also contest it. That is, you can always contest it; the circumstances would determine your chances of beating the ticket. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 9 22:17:13 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 9 22:20:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Nuts....but ok.... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "anon" wrote in message news:gk663c$b5a$1@news.spamcop.net... > > > "Indigo" wrote in message > news:gjtivk$s4f$1@news.spamcop.net... >> Got my tax re-assessent bill for my house, my tax payments are going up >> almost $100/month (10% of my current morgage payment!!). That >> sucks.....the only good news is that my house only lost 9% in value over >> the last 3 years of the housing disaster. Like they say, location, >> location, location....and thank god for tax caps......I don't even want >> to know how high my tax bill would be without them. >> > > If your house value has dropped, YOUR ASSESSMENT SHOULD DROP. > > See your tax assessor for a reassessment! No, not the way it works here with tax caps. The county and state are limited to increasing our property taxes by x %/yr, something like 3-5% max. So as the value of my house built up over the years since I bought it, I've always been paying less taxes on it than it's actual assessment value. If I sell, the new buyer will bear the full new assessment value and taxes. >> I reset the breakers (it's a 30 amp breaker, 2 15 amp switches, 4 wire >> line coming out) and as soon as I turned the saw on the breaker popped >> again. Still too hot, I guess. Waited a minute, good to go. Then I took >> the covers off of the outlets and switch boxs for that entire circuit and >> discovered that I had made a couple _really_ stupid elementary wiring >> mistakes when I installed that circuit. >> > The electrical code says ONLY *ONE* WIRE from each breaker. I was wrong about the breaker wiring, I think I mentioned it somewhere else in this thread. It's actually two 15 amp breakers, one hot wire/breaker. It made the re-wiring job a helluva lot easier when I figured that out. All I saw intitally was a whole lot of wires crammed into one box, it wasn't until I completely took it apart that I discovered how I originally wired the new circuit. Blame it on bad documentation. > > Be careful about the breaker size vs. the wire size. No 20 amp breakers > where 15 amp should be. > > You'd be surprised how many amps even a 1/2 HP motor can draw, especially > when STALLED. When the armature is stalled, the amperage goes through the > roof. > No 20 amp breakers in my box, just ganged 15 ampers. My table saw draws 13 amps max (stalled), that's why the breaker kept popping while I was running the dehumidifier on high at the same time when I jammed the saw several times in less than a minute. Everything is hunky-dory now, the high current devices are split up like they should have been from the start, and everything is wired to code (now). I usually go on the conservative side, wire size wise, I'll use 12 gauge instead of 14 gauge just in case if I'm close to the current limit......probably helped avoid a potentially serious problem in this case. So I guess I was both stupid and smart when I ran the wires initially ;-) From me at privacy.net Fri Jan 9 22:15:40 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Fri Jan 9 22:20:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Nuts....but ok.... References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9B8DB62B2AADFsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... : "Frog Prince" wrote in : news:gk66ga$bqv$1@news.spamcop.net: : : : > : > Read the label for LRC (lock rotor current) and it is significant. : : Holy crap. I can only assume that the recent bout of stones caused you to : not remove all the foregoing posts before posting that one liner! : : How is it going, did they get it out? Based on my filtering of the down load they got it. I won't know for another 2 weeks as I have a stint and need to wait for follow up X-rays before they can remove it. (think pissing up a metal rope). I've access to some serious pain meds. Funny but the meds don't work for my 'normal' pain but do work for the kidney stone related pain. (not complaining mind you ... I'll take what relief I can) Do get a nice buzz that starts 1/2 hour after I take the meds and stops 1/2 before the meds ware off so I have a heads up. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 9 22:29:04 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 9 22:30:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: FSCK! FSCK!! TRIPLE FSCK!!! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9B8DD9197EEE6TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... > It was Sylvesterthekat and s/he can't take it back now! > >> Maybe a dumb question, but wouldn't your home owner's insurance cover >> the costs of repair/replacement? > > Probably. But it would be a very bad idea to claim anything. My pa sells > insurance... He has a lot of stories of people who make claims. Claims > are honored. Then clients are dropped and can't find insurance again... Exactly. You should never, ever, make a claim on your homeowners insurance unless you suffer severe damage, meaning damage that you cannot afford to pay on your own. Even then, they'll likely drop you after they pay off your claim. It should be illegal, car insurance doesn't work like that, but somehow homeowners insurance companies get away with it all the time. I've only made one claim out of the 5-6 basement floods I've had, and the only one I made was within a week or two of moving into the house. The idiot plumber installed the one-way valve on my washing machine discharge line backwards, so instead of the water going down the drain it flooded my basement the very first time I used my new washer. I had no shelves or anything in the basement at the time, so all of my "spare" household supplies (extra linens, comforters, car electronic equipment, etc.) was just laying on the floor and got wiped out. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 9 22:48:43 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 9 22:50:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Nuts....but ok.... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:gk93vr$dfc$1@news.spamcop.net... > > Based on my filtering of the down load they got it. Glad to hear that. > > I've access to some serious pain meds. Funny but the meds don't work for > my > 'normal' pain but do work for the kidney stone related pain. (not > complaining mind you ... I'll take what relief I can) I have the same problem.....pain meds will work on certain specific problems but almost nothing relieves my lower back pain when the muscles are spasming.....except for ibuprofen, which my stomach no longer tolerates. Hard to believe that 30-50 mg of hydrocodone or oxycodone doesn't work anywhere near as well as 400 mg of ibuprofen, but there it is..... > > Do get a nice buzz that starts 1/2 hour after I take the meds and stops > 1/2 > before the meds ware off so I have a heads up. > I've taken so many pain meds over the years that I no longer get that happy little buzz, not even for a few minutes. I'll be honest and admit that I kind of miss those little moments of happy-happy-joy-joy feelings, but on the other hand I have no longer have any reason to take more narcotic painkillers than needed for my pain for that nice little high, since I don't get it anymore. Guess that's a good thing, overall. I've pretty much sworn off narcotic painkillers in general, they're bad for my liver and I've found natural(homeo?)pathic anti-inflammatories/pain relievers than work better for me anyway. Only problem is that they're pretty expensive and not covered by my scrip med insurance, but my overall health is better off, so it's worth spending the money for them. One of them is called Celadrin, sold in Rite-Aid stores, it works really well for me. The other one is called Infla-Profen, I buy it at MOM's, but it's seriously expensive -- over $30 for 60 gelcaps, compared to say, $2 for 30 Tylenol #3's. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 10 08:44:16 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sat Jan 10 08:45:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: FSCK! FSCK!! TRIPLE FSCK!!! References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:gk94m0$ei4$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Charles" wrote in message > news:Xns9B8DD9197EEE6TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... >> It was Sylvesterthekat and s/he can't take it back now! >> >>> Maybe a dumb question, but wouldn't your home owner's insurance cover >>> the costs of repair/replacement? >> >> Probably. But it would be a very bad idea to claim anything. My pa >> sells >> insurance... He has a lot of stories of people who make claims. Claims >> are honored. Then clients are dropped and can't find insurance again... > > Exactly. You should never, ever, make a claim on your homeowners insurance > unless you suffer severe damage, meaning damage that you cannot afford to > pay on your own. Even then, they'll likely drop you after they pay off > your claim. It should be illegal, car insurance doesn't work like that, > but somehow homeowners insurance companies get away with it all the time. > Well even if the above were never true, if I ran an insurance company I would certainly want all clients or potential clients to believe that. On the other hand, if it is true, then frankly, all insurance agents, and companies are fraudsters and dishonest. I would not want to count any among my friends or relations. In any case, those insurers that operate as described above, are dishonest. From dfmanno at mail.com Sat Jan 10 11:22:52 2009 From: dfmanno at mail.com (D.F. Manno) Date: Sat Jan 10 11:25:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Nuts....but ok.... References: Message-ID: In article , "anon" wrote: > "Indigo" wrote: > > > Got my tax re-assessent bill for my house, my tax payments are going up > > almost $100/month (10% of my current morgage payment!!). That > > sucks.....the only good news is that my house only lost 9% in value over > > the last 3 years of the housing disaster. Like they say, location, > > location, location....and thank god for tax caps......I don't even want to > > know how high my tax bill would be without them. > > If your house value has dropped, YOUR ASSESSMENT SHOULD DROP. Not necessarily, not if the tax _rate_ has increased. And many places are raising taxes to make up revenues lost in the economic downturn. -- D.F. Manno dfmanno@mail.com From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 10 12:52:32 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 10 12:55:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Nuts....but ok.... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "D.F. Manno" wrote in message news:dfmanno-63EB52.11225110012009@news.cesmail.net... > In article , "anon" > wrote: > >> "Indigo" wrote: >> >> > Got my tax re-assessent bill for my house, my tax payments are going up >> > almost $100/month (10% of my current morgage payment!!). That >> > sucks.....the only good news is that my house only lost 9% in value >> > over >> > the last 3 years of the housing disaster. Like they say, location, >> > location, location....and thank god for tax caps......I don't even want >> > to >> > know how high my tax bill would be without them. >> >> If your house value has dropped, YOUR ASSESSMENT SHOULD DROP. > > Not necessarily, not if the tax _rate_ has increased. And many places > are raising taxes to make up revenues lost in the economic downturn. > So far they're holding off on that around here, it's like the 3rd rail of local politics. I guess I _did_ leave an important piece of info out of my original post bitching about my taxes going up -- 3 years ago, the house was worth 2 1/2 times what I paid for it originally. That, plus the annual caps, means I have a lot of pent-up taxes being unpaid -- it's called the "homestead rule". From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 10 14:30:16 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 10 14:35:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: FSCK! FSCK!! TRIPLE FSCK!!! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:gka8nm$o86$1@news.spamcop.net... > Well even if the above were never true, if I ran an insurance company I > would certainly want all clients or potential clients to believe that. On > the other hand, if it is true, then frankly, all insurance agents, and > companies are fraudsters and dishonest. I would not want to count any > among my friends or relations. > > In any case, those insurers that operate as described above, are > dishonest. > A quick gargle search turned up tons of articles about this problem. One mind-boggling anecdote: "Non-renewals follow two scenarios: The first involves homes in danger zones, such as flood plains or storm paths. A recent example took place in late May in Laguna Hills, Calif., where a hillside collapsed, destroying 18 expensive homes and damaging others. Homeowners in such danger zones may lose their coverage whether they have made claims or not. The second involves policyholders who file too many claims, the so-called "use it and lose it" phenomenon. "It has been a very strange development," says Doug Heller, a spokesman for the Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights. "Consumers are being threatened with non-renewal for filing legitimate claims." "The companies say, 'We'll take care of you,'" says Marcia Salkin, senior policy representative for the National Association of Realtors. "But if you let them do that, it can come back to bite you." One couple recently told Heller they had been loyal clients of 17 years when their insurer dropped them after they filed a claim for a burglary. That came a few years after a pocketbook theft. Oddly, the couple never received a dime for the burglary because their loss turned out to less than their deductible. But claims don't have to be paid -- or even filed -- to count against you. Just asking your agent whether a loss is covered could go on your record." ****Didja get that? They got dropped without ever receiving a dime from their insurance company for two minor claims! Also:**** "Nationwide Insurance said Tuesday it plans to dump 39,000 homeowner insurance policies, including 6,200 in Palm Beach County and 2,000 in Broward County Click here for restaurant inspection reports. Two years ago, Nationwide began jettisoning 35,000 homeowner policies statewide and stopped taking on new property insurance customers. The company will finish the earlier round of policy cuts by mid-2008. Earlier this year, State Farm Florida Insurance Co. and Allstate Floridian Insurance Co. said they shedding 156,000 policies following busy hurricane seasons in 2004 and 2005." And: " Home Insurer Reaches Deal With Texas, Ending Suit, Published: December 1, 2002 State officials and the Farmers Insurance Group, which had threatened to drop its 700,000 homeowners policies in Texas, reached a settlement today that will keep the company in the state market. Under the agreement, Farmers will pay $100 million in restitution, refunds and rate reductions, said the Texas Department of Insurance. The agreement ends a lawsuit and other actions the state had taken against Farmers, saying it had deceptive pricing practices. In response to those moves, Farmers had announced that it would stop renewing policies for its 700,000 customers." ***Basically, natural disasters have come close to wiping out big property insurers over the last 4-5 years. It is also becoming next to impossible to buy coverage for beachfront property all around the country, and if you can get it you'll be paying huge premiums. Insurers are fleeing problem states like FL, CA, TX, LA, NC, SC, ones likely to suffer from severe natural disasters. I don't pretend to know what the solution is.....I can see their point, they lose billions insuring homes in those states.....and they *are* in business to make money, right? I know I've drifted from the initial topic of individuals losing coverage, but it's probably related -- any threat to their bottom line gets dropped like a hot potato. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 10 14:53:35 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 10 14:55:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: FSCK! FSCK!! TRIPLE FSCK!!! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9B8F679869AE5TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was "bar0" ! > >> if it is true, then frankly, all insurance agents, and >> companies are fraudsters and dishonest. I would not want to count any >> among my friends or relations. > > Insurance companies, please (not necessarily agents)! And we don't have > the luxury of choosing our relations. Besides, there might be some nice > companies out there, somewhere. Ah. But they certainly wouldn't want > that > known because fraudsters would try to take advantage of them. I've been with Erie since I began driving at age 16. Over the years, I've had multiple claims, but in many cases the costs were near or below my deductible so I paid for the damage out of pocket (all of my incidents have occurred while the car was stopped, moving at very low speeds, or were car burglaries). IIRC, over the last 30 years, I've gotten paid for 2 car break-ins, for loss of contents and damage to vehicle, and the time I got rear-ended in 2005. I also was at fault in one minor accident around 1997, I tapped the back of a work van at a traffic light when he started to turn right on red, then suddenly stopped. I hit him because I thought he was already gone, started creeping forward, and was looking left to turn right on my own. I hit him going less than 5 mph, there was no damage to his van, and just a broken headlight on my car, but a few weeks later he filed a worker's comp claim for $8000 for whiplash injuries, which Erie paid. Now THAT was fraud! In one incident 25 years ago, I got $1000 for a new dashboard in my VW Scirocco that was destroyed when the robber ripped out my stereo. I went to a junkyard and got a replacement dashboard for $100 and installed it myself, pissed off because I also had nearly 200 cassette tapes stolen from the car and they refused to pay a penny for "loose contents". I considered it a fair transaction in the end, although a lot of those homemade tapes were irreplaceable. Of course you could never do something like that with a modern car, everything is so buttoned up and hidden you have no clue how to repair the simplest problem. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 10 15:23:56 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sat Jan 10 15:25:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: FSCK! FSCK!! TRIPLE FSCK!!! References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:gkat07$6bm$1@news.spamcop.net... > > ***Basically, natural disasters have come close to wiping out big property > insurers over the last 4-5 years. It is also becoming next to impossible > to buy coverage for beachfront property all around the country, and if you > can get it you'll be paying huge premiums. Insurers are fleeing problem > states like FL, CA, TX, LA, NC, SC, ones likely to suffer from severe > natural disasters. I don't pretend to know what the solution is.....I can > see their point, they lose billions insuring homes in those states.....and > they *are* in business to make money, right? I know I've drifted from the > initial topic of individuals losing coverage, but it's probably related -- > any threat to their bottom line gets dropped like a hot potato. I think that is probably the reason the owners of the pit bulls that attacked my dog didn't want me to sue them and go after their HO liability, because if the insurance company found out they had vicious dogs, they would have dropped them, and/or not paid because the dogs aren't known to the insurance company. They're dropping people left and right if they own certain breeds, regardless of whether the dogs have ever been a problem, but if they have dogs that have already attacked, they're toast, they'd never get insurance again unless they got rid of the dogs. From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 12 16:00:46 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Mon Jan 12 16:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: FSCK! FSCK!! TRIPLE FSCK!!! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:gkb04t$i38$1@news.spamcop.net... > > I think that is probably the reason the owners of the pit bulls that > attacked my dog didn't want me to sue them and go after their HO > liability, because if the insurance company found out they had vicious > dogs, they would have dropped them, and/or not paid because the dogs > aren't known to the insurance company. They're dropping people left and > right if they own certain breeds, regardless of whether the dogs have ever > been a problem, but if they have dogs that have already attacked, they're > toast, they'd never get insurance again unless they got rid of the dogs. > Good point. That makes them even bigger idiots for keeping the dogs. What happens if the next time they attack it's a little kid? I guess most dog owners would say "oh, that could never happen!" even they even thought about the insurance issue at all. From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 12 16:09:33 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Mon Jan 12 16:10:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: FSCK! FSCK!! TRIPLE FSCK!!! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:gkb04t$i38$1@news.spamcop.net... > BTW, speaking of dogs, it looks like the United Disabilities Org. may have finally found a replacement helper dog for my sister (her original doggie had to be put down earlier this year). She met the 7 week old puppy last week and they bonded right away. He's another blonde lab, IIRC, although I BEGGED her to try to get a black lab, guess you got to take what you can get.....she may even end up helping with his training, which I think is a great idea, they need all the volunteer helpers they can get. Plus, their bond will be even stronger and the pup will likely learn better/faster working with a truly disabled person instead of a healthy person "faking" being disabled. I'd think it might confuse the pups if they notice their "disabled" trainers walking around later like nothing was wrong with them, don't you? From borgholio at storymind.com Mon Jan 12 20:50:56 2009 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Mon Jan 12 20:55:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: hot enough for you Borg? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > This weather is crazy, I've been sitting in the air conditioning this > afternoon. Other places are buried in snow and the Santa Ana winds make us > swelter! I was just thinking over the last few days about how much it felt like summer. Those Santa Anas are brutal this year. Luckily it'll drop down to more normal temperatures next week. From borgholio at storymind.com Mon Jan 12 21:21:16 2009 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Mon Jan 12 21:25:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: hot enough for you Borg? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > Borgholio wrote in > news:gkgs1d$nd2$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> I was just thinking over the last few days about how much it felt like >> summer. Those Santa Anas are brutal this year. Luckily it'll drop >> down to more normal temperatures next week. >> > > I sure hope so. Would it be too much to ask for some RAIN? Last year was > dry enough, I hope we don't get so little rain this year too. > > We drove back from Vegas yesterday, it was only 33F in the high desert > where the winds are coming from. Good old compressional heating eh? Yeah two nights ago when the wind started, the hot breeze was a bit shocking. :) From me at privacy.net Mon Jan 12 21:21:59 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Mon Jan 12 21:35:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Whoa, dude. References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9B91B760221D5sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... : Charles wrote in : news:Xns9B90646B44DF3TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61: : : > Nothing like a meaningless subject line, huh? Anyway, whoa. Thursday : > they're talking about -8F for temps. Did I mention that I was just in : > Texas? It was 80F last week. Anyway, I think the bike ride to work : > Thursday is going to suck. : > : : Only 80F? It was nice. From me at privacy.net Mon Jan 12 21:30:29 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Mon Jan 12 21:35:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: FSCK! FSCK!! TRIPLE FSCK!!! References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:gkgbib$kq5$1@news.spamcop.net... : : "Heidi" wrote in message : news:gkb04t$i38$1@news.spamcop.net... : > : : BTW, speaking of dogs, it looks like the United Disabilities Org. may have : finally found a replacement helper dog for my sister (her original doggie : had to be put down earlier this year). She met the 7 week old puppy last : week and they bonded right away. He's another blonde lab, IIRC, although I : BEGGED her to try to get a black lab, guess you got to take what you can : get.....she may even end up helping with his training, which I think is a : great idea, they need all the volunteer helpers they can get. Plus, their : bond will be even stronger and the pup will likely learn better/faster : working with a truly disabled person instead of a healthy person "faking" : being disabled. I'd think it might confuse the pups if they notice their : "disabled" trainers walking around later like nothing was wrong with them, : don't you? Likely the bond will be better but not significantly. As to dog sensing the person is not disabled, in my experience that does not enter into the picture. Dog has a job and will do the job if the dog is allowed to do it. Only confusion comes if the dog is not allowed to do 'his' job. Our Great Pyr was trained to assist my MIL. Mom was gone for years and the dog was way past her allotted time as an assistance dog and as a dog period. Fortunately my grand kids though the dog's job was a game and great fun was had by all. It was only in the last few months that the dog did not try to do her job. : From me at privacy.net Mon Jan 12 21:46:26 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Mon Jan 12 21:50:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] A parting shot -- Support the GW libarry. References: Message-ID: Dear Fellow Constituent: The George W. Bush Presidential Library is now in the planning stages and accepting donations. The Library will include: 1. The Hurricane Katrina Room, which is still under construction. 2. The Alberto Gonzales Room, where you won't be able to remember anything. 3. The Texas Air National Guard Room, where you don't even have to show up. 4. The Walter Reed Hospital Room, where they don't let you in. 5. The Guantanamo Bay Room, where they don't let you out. 6. The Weapons of Mass Destruction Room, which no one has been able to find. 7. The National Debt Room, which is huge and has no ceiling. 8. The Tax Cut Room, with entry only to the wealthy. 9. The Economy Room, which is in the toilet. 10. The Iraq War Room. (After you complete your first visit, they make you go back for a second, third, fourth, and sometimes fifth visit.) 11. The Dick Cheney Room, in the famous undisclosed location, complete with shooting gallery. 12. The Environmental Conservation Room, still empty. 13. The Supreme Gift Shop, where you can buy an election. 14. The Airport Men's Room, where you can meet some of your favorite Republican Senators. 15. The Decider Room, complete with dart board, magic 8-ball, Ouija board, dice, coins, and straws. Note: The library will feature an electron microscope to help you locate and view the President's accomplishments. Your support is needed because of the two books that this presidential library will contain one has been colored in already. _ The library will also include many famous Quotes by George W.Bush_: 1. 'The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country.' 2. 'If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.' 3. 'Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child.' 4. 'No senior citizen should ever have to choose between prescription drugs and medicine.' 5. 'I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy - but that could change.' 6. 'One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared'.' 7. 'Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things.' 8. 'I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future.' 9. 'The future will be better tomorrow.' 10. 'We're going to have the best educated American people in the world..' 11. 'One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures.' (during an education photo-op) 12. 'Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having it.' 13. 'We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur.' 14. 'It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.' 15. 'I stand by all the misstatements that I've made.'...George W.Bush to Sam Donaldson PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY! Sincerely, Jack Abramoff, Co-Chair G.W. Bush Library Board of Directors From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 12 23:00:42 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Mon Jan 12 23:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: hot enough for you Borg? References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:gkgtq9$nd2$2@news.spamcop.net... > Yeah two nights ago when the wind started, the hot breeze was a bit > shocking. :) You bastiddds. It's 11 degrees here. That's going to be our HIGH on Friday. Poop. From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 13 01:25:23 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 13 01:30:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: hot enough for you Borg? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9B91B7DA92A90sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > > I sure hope so. Would it be too much to ask for some RAIN? Last year was > dry enough, I hope we don't get so little rain this year too. You want some of my rain? I swear it's rained almost every other day for nearly the last two months! From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 13 01:32:56 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 13 01:35:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9B91DB7D4C575TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... > That said, where you're making this budget on what you think you'll need, > including all of the closing costs and whatnot, you should probably leave > $5k to $10k in a separate budget category - the one reserved for > unknowns. Will only comment on this point. Absolutely necessary to have those excess funds available for mundane stuff like "Surprise fees" at settlement, new blinds, drapes, replacing carpet, painting, maybe a new appliance or two. Beats maxing out your credit cards within a few months of buying a new house! I never recovered from my extra unexpected CC charges until I got divorced and suddenly found out that I made more than enough money to support *me*, alone...... From borgholio at storymind.com Tue Jan 13 01:42:42 2009 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Tue Jan 13 01:45:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: hot enough for you Borg? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message > news:Xns9B91B7DA92A90sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... >> >> >> I sure hope so. Would it be too much to ask for some RAIN? Last year was >> dry enough, I hope we don't get so little rain this year too. > > > You want some of my rain? I swear it's rained almost every other day for > nearly the last two months! So YOU stole all our rain! Thief! From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Tue Jan 13 07:06:22 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Tue Jan 13 07:10:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: hot enough for you Borg? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > "Borgholio" wrote in message > news:gkgtq9$nd2$2@news.spamcop.net... > >> Yeah two nights ago when the wind started, the hot breeze was a bit >> shocking. :) > > You bastiddds. It's 11 degrees here. That's going to be our HIGH on > Friday. Poop. I was a bit worried. Perth was supposed to be like 37C every day. Luckily it cooled down a bit before we arrived. Although Thursday is meant to be 41C. Ouch. From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Tue Jan 13 07:44:40 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Tue Jan 13 07:45:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > It was "Mike Easter" and s/he can't take it back > now! > > >> He doesn't have any wrecks. Hasn't had any in all of these years. > > The time I got hit... I saw it coming - saw that the car didn't see me. I > slowed down. He still didn't see me. I slowed down more. Not there. > Slowing... Oh, still can't see. I'm slowing more... No way this guy sees > me. I'm almost at a dead stop... And he surges forward and nails me. > Mind you, at that point each of us was going about 1 mph. Still, it > totally sucked - I'd owned that (brand new) motorcycle for a total of 4 > days. Hurray, I'm actually in the same town as my bike now. I'm going tomorrow to look through my boxes of stuff and maybe put my bike together and take it for a test spin around town. It has been 5 months, I hope it remembers me. From me at privacy.net Tue Jan 13 13:41:21 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Tue Jan 13 13:50:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Whoa, dude. References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9B925C680D29Csylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... : "Frog Prince" wrote in news:gkgubq$96e$1@news.spamcop.net: : : >: Only 80F? : > It was nice. : > : > : > : : I'm guessing you have good AC in your house! Not using AC currently and only using heat sparingly. Just (Nov 1 2008) moved and now live on the top of the highest hill for a mile or so around. We're on the top floor of our apartment complex. (elevator is a bit slow but still faster than the stairs) We're also on the NE corner (sun in the AM but shade from ~11 AM) and have windows that provide a good cross breeze. Roof and balcony allow winter sun but partially block summer sun. From me at privacy.net Tue Jan 13 13:49:58 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Tue Jan 13 13:50:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9B925EEC2C2DDsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... : Charles wrote in : news:Xns9B91DB7D4C575TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61: : : : > That said, where you're making this budget on what you think you'll : > need, including all of the closing costs and whatnot, you should : > probably leave $5k to $10k in a separate budget category - the one : > reserved for unknowns. I've found that the first few months after : > buying are usually much more expensive than planned for and a time or : > two I've been close to being in trouble! : : : One other question. What are closing costs, typically, in your experience? : Are they a percentage of the sale price or a flat fee and how much have you : paid in recent years (if you don't mind my asking!)? This whole thing feels : like a minefield to me at the moment lol. I have some input on this but am a bit buzzed on pain meds. How fast do you need to know? From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 13 15:37:52 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 13 15:40:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9B92829F1F0B3TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... > It wasn't me! It was Sylvesterthekat ! >> >> We already got a pre-qual from our own bank just to see how much >> they'd lend us (way more than we want to be in debt). But that's as >> far as it's gone. > > Banks still don't get it. I don't think that you should worry about how > much money the mortgage costs. It's much more important to worry about > monthly payments 'cause you're going to make those for a long time! Very important other considerations beyond the mere mortgage payment that a lot of online calculators don't take into account: property taxes, fire taxes, garbage service, water/sewer costs (although my county bills quarterly and separately for that), and most important of all, when you figure out what your total payment will be multiply that number by 12 and then by 0.65 -- that will give you a reasonable estimate for how much money your going to get to deduct from your income taxes for the year (add any points paid for the first tax year unless you wrap them into the loan). When I bought my house I was pretty much unaware of how huge a tax benefit it is to own a house, when the rental rate on my then current apt. was going up by $75/mo I started looking at houses, talked to the builder/broker agent, and figured out that my mortgage was going to cost me (in real dollars) the same as my old rental payment! From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 13 15:49:27 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 13 15:50:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9B9280DFD4849sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > I think a mortgage is going to cost us a bit more than our current rent. > But pressures are downwards on rents around here and we could probably > lower our rent if we moved (and committed to a 1 yr lease) but as you > say, who wants to move all the time? Maybe, maybe not. See my post above. I dread doing it again and I hope > it'll be the last time in a long time the next time I do it! A company in my hometown has a job opening that's perfect for me, in fact I used to work with a lot of the guys there (it split off from a company I used to work for during my 2 1/2 year excursion from college). The thought of moving makes me sick to my stomach.....all the effort it's taking just to clean up the basement after my most recent flood made me realized how mind bogglingly hard it would be to move everything in my house! Plus I'd be leaving all my friends made over the last 20 years, and I have no friends left in PA, they've all moved. If they > send us a notice about a rent increase, I may see what objecting to it > will do. Guess it'll depend on how many empty units they've got at the > time. By LA law they're allowed to raise rent by 5%PA at their > discretion. > I tried that gambit, threatening to leave if they didn't leave my rent where it was, they told me "See Ya!". From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 13 15:50:27 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 13 15:55:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: hot enough for you Borg? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:gkhd51$nd2$3@news.spamcop.net... > Indigo wrote: >> >> "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message >> news:Xns9B91B7DA92A90sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... >>> >>> >>> I sure hope so. Would it be too much to ask for some RAIN? Last year was >>> dry enough, I hope we don't get so little rain this year too. >> >> >> You want some of my rain? I swear it's rained almost every other day for >> nearly the last two months! > > So YOU stole all our rain! Thief! Trust me, if I could give it to you I'd do it gladly! From me at privacy.net Tue Jan 13 17:21:40 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Tue Jan 13 17:25:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Whoa, dude. References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9B92818C0B91sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... : "Frog Prince" wrote in : news:gkinob$mqm$1@news.spamcop.net: : : : > Not using AC currently and only using heat sparingly. : > : > Just (Nov 1 2008) moved and now live on the top of the highest hill : > for a mile or so around. We're on the top floor of our apartment : > complex. (elevator is a bit slow but still faster than the stairs) : : How come, I thought you were next to your son in a house? We were living with my youngest daughter. My son relocated from NC and found a house literally backing up to my daughter's place. : : > We're also on the NE corner (sun in the AM but shade from ~11 AM) and : > have windows that provide a good cross breeze. : : You're lucky in that respect. Our apartment gets the sun from about 11am to : sunset. It's BRUTAL. One of the reasons we moved so quickly. We had our choice which floor and which apartment as well. While we were signing the lease someone called and wanted 'our' apartment. From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Tue Jan 13 20:14:24 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Tue Jan 13 20:15:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: hot enough for you Borg? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > "Mr. K Mean" wrote in news:gki03i$9li$1 > @news.spamcop.net: > >> I was a bit worried. Perth was supposed to be like 37C every day. >> Luckily it cooled down a bit before we arrived. Although Thursday is >> meant to be 41C. Ouch. > > ouch indeed! did you go to Uluru yet? if you think it's hot in Perth.... > Actually just checked, it's only 35C there... cool by comparison lol Nope, I have only been to Perth so far. We only made it as far as Kuala Lumpur overland before we caught a flight to Perth. Should be here and down on the southeast coast for a month or so before we head over to Melbourne. Well, I'm still waiting for my permanent visa to be finished, it was supposed to have been done by December, so I'll have to find a cheap international flight to somewhere and reenter the country on that whenever that is finished. Hopefully soon since I can't not work forever (been six month so far), or I'll have to find a job that sponsors me. From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Tue Jan 13 20:16:36 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Tue Jan 13 20:20:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: hot enough for you Borg? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > > Holy crap, check out the 'real feel' for Perth on Thursday lol > > http://tinyurl.com/7d7wjq > > (that's 114F) Ouch, I might hide under a rock tomorrow. I guess that's high summer in Australia. The nights so far have been deliciously cold. I have slept so well. From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Tue Jan 13 20:22:15 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Tue Jan 13 20:25:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > It wasn't me! It was "Mr. K Mean" ! > >> Hurray, I'm actually in the same town as my bike now. > > Has your work permit come through? Sigh. No. I hadn't planned on working for another month or two. I really hope it comes by then. But it is annoying since I'll have to leave the country and reenter. I'm in a bit of shock over prices. After months of Asian prices, you want $5 for a cup of tea, holy crap! I guess at least the pound has fallen kind of sort of the same as the Australian dollar (if you ignore that horrible period in October where the pound was in freefall.) From borgholio at storymind.com Tue Jan 13 20:38:14 2009 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Tue Jan 13 20:40:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: hot enough for you Borg? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Mr. K Mean wrote: > Sylvesterthekat wrote: >> >> Holy crap, check out the 'real feel' for Perth on Thursday lol >> >> http://tinyurl.com/7d7wjq >> >> (that's 114F) > > Ouch, I might hide under a rock tomorrow. I guess that's high summer in > Australia. The nights so far have been deliciously cold. I have slept > so well. I've encountered 110f temps only in places like Las Vegas in the summer...NOT fun. From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 13 20:50:20 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Tue Jan 13 20:55:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: hot enough for you Borg? References: Message-ID: "Mr. K Mean" wrote in message news:gki03i$9li$1@news.spamcop.net... > > I was a bit worried. Perth was supposed to be like 37C every day. Luckily > it cooled down a bit before we arrived. Although Thursday is meant to be > 41C. Ouch. Stop talking in C's, dammit. From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Tue Jan 13 20:56:52 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Tue Jan 13 21:00:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: hot enough for you Borg? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > "Mr. K Mean" wrote in message > news:gki03i$9li$1@news.spamcop.net... >> I was a bit worried. Perth was supposed to be like 37C every day. Luckily >> it cooled down a bit before we arrived. Although Thursday is meant to be >> 41C. Ouch. > > Stop talking in C's, dammit. I know, that's what I keep telling them but they don't stop. They also talk in KMs too. Stupid metric system. But I lived in the UK long enough to know if it is 16, I should maybe take a jacket and I don't remember it ever going over 30, which is horrible, so I know 40 is just crazy. From me at privacy.net Tue Jan 13 21:22:10 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Tue Jan 13 21:30:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9B92CBB09EBA1TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... : No way it was me! It was Sylvesterthekat ! : : > Ugh. So if you buy in January you owe almost 12 months' tax? (or 6 if : > it's split). : : Absolutely. It wouldn't be so bad if we had taxes like, say, Texas. But : we don't. : Depends on what part of Texas you reside. From me at privacy.net Tue Jan 13 21:27:07 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Tue Jan 13 21:30:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9B92CB7CC1611TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... : No way it was me! It was Sylvesterthekat ! : : > When you say : > you shopped around, did you just look at their literature or did you : > actually go in and complete forms for each one? : : We actually talked with all of the people who were recommended to us (that : was only 4, but still). And I used my state's resources on finding lowest : rates and average closing fees (they have to disclose to the gov't and it's : published, sort of). But, really, the one we're with is the cheapest : within 50 miles of here. I didn't research using a national lender other : than banks that have branches here. Some fees are pulled out of the air and have no legal requirement. On our last house they wanted $500 for currier fees. I told them I'd charter a jet. Opps fees dropped to $25.00 There were some other BS fees that once I confronted the rep these were 'wavered' From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Wed Jan 14 02:40:38 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Wed Jan 14 02:45:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > No way it was me! It was "Mr. K Mean" ! > >> Sigh. No. I hadn't planned on working for another month or two. I >> really hope it comes by then. But it is annoying since I'll have to >> leave the country and reenter. > > Um. You have something lined up or are you going to wash dishes while you > look? Just going to live off my severance and what I had in savings. Pretty much like I have been for the last 5 months traveling around the world. There are people we can stay with so housing is fine, it is just other expenses that we will have to come up with. From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Wed Jan 14 19:16:08 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Wed Jan 14 19:20:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > It wasn't me! It was "Mr. K Mean" ! > >> Just going to live off my severance and what I had in savings. > > Ah, come on! If you wash dishes they'll feed you, too! Well, right now I'm cleaning viruses off a computer. Partial payment for letting us stay and storing all our boxes and bikes while we were traveling. alcomrg.exe and Windows, seems to be stubborn. My bike is all assembled and ready to go for a test drive today. Just need to go through the boxes and find my helmet. Stupid stupid Australia and bike helmet laws. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 15 00:00:27 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 15 00:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Mr. K Mean" wrote in message news:gkk4t7$c3b$1@news.spamcop.net... > There are people we can stay with so housing is fine, "We"? Who is this "we" we are talking about? Something you want to share? ;-) From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Thu Jan 15 00:36:47 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Thu Jan 15 00:40:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > No way it was me! It was "Mr. K Mean" ! > >> My bike is all assembled and ready to go for a test drive today. Just >> need to go through the boxes and find my helmet. Stupid stupid >> Australia and bike helmet laws. > > They must be liberals (or whatever they call them down there). I'm > thinking of riding tomorrow, too. Should be around -17C. I'm having > trouble deciding. Liberals (the conservative party) got booted out last year. Labour is running things now. I know the helmet law has been in place for a bunch of years now, so maybe it was the Liberals. It is climbing up to the upper 30s here now, I might just hide out in the house until it cools down. And I have a bunch more boxes to go through to see where I packed that helmet. From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Thu Jan 15 02:04:49 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Thu Jan 15 02:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > "Mr. K Mean" wrote in message > news:gkk4t7$c3b$1@news.spamcop.net... >> There are people we can stay with so housing is fine, > > "We"? Who is this "we" we are talking about? Something you want to > share? ;-) I'm not sharing my girlfriend with you. From me at privacy.net Thu Jan 15 05:16:02 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Thu Jan 15 05:20:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9B934A6EF84CDTheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... : It wasn't me! It was "Frog Prince" ! : > "Charles" wrote in message : > news:Xns9B92CBB09EBA1TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... : : >: It wouldn't be so bad if we had taxes like, say, Texas. : >: But we don't. : > : > Depends on what part of Texas you reside. : : No it doesn't. A maximum property tax rate of 1.5% is lower than the : lowest tax rate in New York and there's no income tax. Did you read my bit : about my property taxes being at 3.5%? Oh, got income tax, too. And our : sales tax is as high as yours. I though we were talking about property tax and fees. BTW where did you get the 1.5% max number? From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 15 20:16:54 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 15 20:20:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Mr. K Mean" wrote in message news:gkmn60$9ab$1@news.spamcop.net... > Indigo wrote: >> >> "Mr. K Mean" wrote in message >> news:gkk4t7$c3b$1@news.spamcop.net... >>> There are people we can stay with so housing is fine, >> >> "We"? Who is this "we" we are talking about? Something you want to share? >> ;-) > > I'm not sharing my girlfriend with you. Did this mystery g/f go on your safari with you? Kudos if so.....a once in a lifetime experience most of us will never accomplish. From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Thu Jan 15 23:10:24 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Thu Jan 15 23:15:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jeez, I think my family is jinxed..... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > "Mr. K Mean" wrote in message > news:gkmn60$9ab$1@news.spamcop.net... >> Indigo wrote: >>> >>> "Mr. K Mean" wrote in message >> >> I'm not sharing my girlfriend with you. > > Did this mystery g/f go on your safari with you? Kudos if so.....a once > in a lifetime experience most of us will never accomplish. Well, she is Australian and wanted to move back home, so I went along. Now I'm wondering how to work it to have another once in a lifetime trip sometime later. I really want to go back to China for one thing. But for now, it will also be nice to be settled and just have a home for a while. I guess until I get a job, I have plenty of pictures to sort through and scrapbooks to make and stuff like that. From me at privacy.net Fri Jan 16 02:08:59 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Fri Jan 16 02:10:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Badly shaken and blessed regardless. Message-ID: First of all no apparent injuries Around 9 AM this morning my wife, daughter in law and the grand kids were involved in a serious accident on I20 outside of Birmingham AL Apparently a heavy value assembly (for a 12 to 16 inch pipe) fell off a commercial truck. (truck did not stop) Valve became airborne and lodged in the radiator of my DIL's van. They had a bumper kiss with a car in front of them and were rear-ender by a car behind. The car in front stopped to render aid, the car behind fled the scene. If the valve had 'jumped' higher and come through the windshield they would have been lucky not to have been killed. A witness got the tag number of the car that rear-ended them. The police are looking for both the truck and the car. I doubt they will find either. I'm told the car that rear-ended them has been reported stolen. Van will be in the shop for the better part of 10 days. DIL will fly back to Dallas next week as she has commitments can't wait for the van to be repaired. My wife and DIL have wisely checked into a motel as they are in no shape to continue today. They will proceed tomorrow to the great grand parent's place in NC. I'll go over next week to drive the van back to Dallas. From borgholio at storymind.com Fri Jan 16 02:16:46 2009 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Fri Jan 16 02:20:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Badly shaken and blessed regardless. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Frog Prince wrote: > First of all no apparent injuries > > Around 9 AM this morning my wife, daughter in law and the grand kids were > involved in a serious accident on I20 outside of Birmingham AL > > Apparently a heavy value assembly (for a 12 to 16 inch pipe) fell off a > commercial truck. (truck did not stop) Valve became airborne and lodged in > the radiator of my DIL's van. They had a bumper kiss with a car in front of > them and were rear-ender by a car behind. The car in front stopped to > render aid, the car behind fled the scene. > > If the valve had 'jumped' higher and come through the windshield they would > have been lucky not to have been killed. > > A witness got the tag number of the car that rear-ended them. The police are > looking for both the truck and the car. I doubt they will find either. I'm > told the car that rear-ended them has been reported stolen. > > Van will be in the shop for the better part of 10 days. DIL will fly back > to Dallas next week as she has commitments can't wait for the van to be > repaired. > > My wife and DIL have wisely checked into a motel as they are in no shape to > continue today. They will proceed tomorrow to the great grand parent's > place in NC. > > I'll go over next week to drive the van back to Dallas. > > > > > > > > > Keep us updated, ok? From me at privacy.net Fri Jan 16 03:23:46 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Fri Jan 16 03:25:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Story of my life. Message-ID: My wife said, "What are you doing today?" I said, "Nothing." She said, "You did that yesterday." I said, "I wasn't finished." From me at privacy.net Fri Jan 16 03:27:03 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Fri Jan 16 03:30:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Badly shaken and blessed regardless. References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:gkpc8p$8pn$1@news.spamcop.net... : Frog Prince wrote: : > First of all no apparent injuries : > : > Around 9 AM this morning my wife, daughter in law and the grand kids were : > involved in a serious accident on I20 outside of Birmingham AL : > : > Apparently a heavy value assembly (for a 12 to 16 inch pipe) fell off a : > commercial truck. (truck did not stop) Valve became airborne and lodged in : > the radiator of my DIL's van. They had a bumper kiss with a car in front of : > them and were rear-ender by a car behind. The car in front stopped to : > render aid, the car behind fled the scene. : > : > If the valve had 'jumped' higher and come through the windshield they would : > have been lucky not to have been killed. : > : > A witness got the tag number of the car that rear-ended them. The police are : > looking for both the truck and the car. I doubt they will find either. I'm : > told the car that rear-ended them has been reported stolen. : > : > Van will be in the shop for the better part of 10 days. DIL will fly back : > to Dallas next week as she has commitments can't wait for the van to be : > repaired. : > : > My wife and DIL have wisely checked into a motel as they are in no shape to : > continue today. They will proceed tomorrow to the great grand parent's : > place in NC. : > : > I'll go over next week to drive the van back to Dallas. : > : > : : Keep us updated, ok? Most assuredly. This group has been my anchor to sanity for a long time. (ok the anchor has been dragging for year but you all what I mean) From MikeE at ster.invalid Fri Jan 16 05:30:17 2009 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Fri Jan 16 05:35:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Badly shaken and blessed regardless. References: Message-ID: Frog Prince wrote: > First of all no apparent injuries > > Around 9 AM this morning my wife, daughter in law and the grand kids > were involved in a serious accident on I20 outside of Birmingham AL Eek! I'm always the guy who is more full of technical/logistics questions than sympathy and other nice words. Bear with me. > Apparently a heavy value assembly (for a 12 to 16 inch pipe) fell off a > commercial truck. (truck did not stop) Valve became airborne and > lodged in the radiator of my DIL's van. They had a bumper kiss with a > car in front of them and were rear-ender by a car behind. The car in > front stopped to render aid, the car behind fled the scene. How did it come to pass that they were hit by the valve but the valve truck was not (directly) in front of them; and how did it come to pass that they hit/kissed the bumper of the car in front of them? I'm trying to imagine an interstate hwy with multiple lanes of moving traffic and a big heavy valve falls off a truck bed. Then what? It starts bouncing around and the traffic gets into a mess? I know I know. You weren't there and you were mostly talking to your family about their feelings and the condition of the car/van and such. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From me at privacy.net Fri Jan 16 14:11:34 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Fri Jan 16 14:40:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Badly shaken and blessed regardless. References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:gkpnjk$atc$1@news.spamcop.net... : Frog Prince wrote: : > First of all no apparent injuries : > : > Around 9 AM this morning my wife, daughter in law and the grand kids : > were involved in a serious accident on I20 outside of Birmingham AL : : Eek! : : I'm always the guy who is more full of technical/logistics questions than : sympathy and other nice words. Bear with me. : : > Apparently a heavy value assembly (for a 12 to 16 inch pipe) fell off a : > commercial truck. (truck did not stop) Valve became airborne and : > lodged in the radiator of my DIL's van. They had a bumper kiss with a : > car in front of them and were rear-ender by a car behind. The car in : > front stopped to render aid, the car behind fled the scene. : : How did it come to pass that they were hit by the valve but the valve : truck was not (directly) in front of them; and how did it come to pass : that they hit/kissed the bumper of the car in front of them? Don't know if the value truck was directly in their lane or if the valve bounced from a adjacent lane. Consider 3 or 4 lanes of traffic traveling at 65 to 70 mph and the value starts bouncing around. Likely does not stay in any given lane and the other traffic is trying to avoid the valve likely other traffic that is no longer following any rules of the road, : I'm trying to imagine an interstate hwy with multiple lanes of moving : traffic and a big heavy valve falls off a truck bed. : : Then what? It starts bouncing around and the traffic gets into a mess? Valve is a non symmetrical object traveling at ~ 70 mph and dropped from a flat bed truck height of ~ 5 foot. : : I know I know. You weren't there and you were mostly talking to your : family about their feelings and the condition of the car/van and such. As you noted I was not there and am working on verbal reports from my wife, the insurance adjustor and the police. Each has a different view of what's most important to them. My DIL was driving and my wife likely resting or playing word games with the grand kids. I doubt she was watching traffic until my DIL reacted. Insurance adjustor and the police called me to give me an up date and provided their opinion that a foot higher and someone or many someones would have been badly hurt. Both commented that my DIL's quick action/reaction was a major factor in the lack of more extensive damage. From me at privacy.net Fri Jan 16 14:35:46 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Fri Jan 16 14:40:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying References: Message-ID: "Charles" < : : >: A maximum property tax rate of 1.5% is lower than the : >: lowest tax rate in New York and there's no income tax. Did you read : >: my : > bit : >: about my property taxes being at 3.5%? Oh, got income tax, too. And : >: our sales tax is as high as yours. : > : > I though we were talking about property tax and fees. BTW where did : > you get the 1.5% max number? : : My bad - that's the maximum school tax rate (which I bundle in with : property taxes). Can't find a good source on property taxes overall... At one time there was a limit of a 1.5% on the Robin Hood school funding program where 'rich' districts were taxed to support poor districts. One local school district have a budget of sever million dollars but was paying more in Robin Hood fees than they were paying for the local schools. Don't know how Austin manage to do it but more money went into the fund than came out. No one has been able to explain where the excess went ... : : Still, I don't see high rates. Check out: : http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/07taxrates/cnty113.html : Tax rates of under 1% (not counting schools, I imagine). Really, doesn't : sound like much. Besides, not having income tax you make out like bandits. : Unless you're retired or something crazy like that. Regardless, it's : cheaper than NY (working or not). I'm retired. As to NY and NYC, like LA/California nice place to visit but I won't want to live there. Regardless Texas makes up for the lack of income tax with fees. Big killer are 'special assessment districts' which hit you with would otherwise be classed as property tax but aren't labeled as such so you can't deduct them from taxes. For every $50 of water you use you can get hit for $50 to $75 in special fees. One that chaffs my daughter is the storm water abatement fee. She captures all the water that hits her property (and some of the neighbors) but still must pay the fee. Storm water is collected in a lake (used to supply Dallas with drinking water) but she is also hit with a fee for dam maintance and inspection. There is also an aquifer management fee as well. Franchise fees are all over the place. Don't even think about owning a jet ski or boat. There are fire district fees, court district fees, community college fees. Indigent medical care fees. There is even a live stock inspection fee (left over from the time this area was farming). From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 17 12:34:59 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sat Jan 17 12:35:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Winter is poopy Message-ID: Just saying. It was -8 (F, Kerry....) yesterday morning, mercifully with no wind. I don't like to go out because I can't breathe, and the dog says "ow ow my feeties" just trying to walk around and go potty. Bleh. They say we're not going to see freezing for another week. I know why old people want to move south, I guess I'm old! From borgholio at storymind.com Sat Jan 17 14:03:19 2009 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Sat Jan 17 14:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Winter is poopy In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > Just saying. It was -8 (F, Kerry....) yesterday morning, mercifully with > no wind. I don't like to go out because I can't breathe, and the dog says > "ow ow my feeties" just trying to walk around and go potty. Bleh. They say > we're not going to see freezing for another week. I know why old people > want to move south, I guess I'm old! > > It's a chilly 70 degrees right now, it will be up to a somewhat more bearable 80 later today. *ducks* From acmeanvil at fishnet.com Sat Jan 17 14:32:05 2009 From: acmeanvil at fishnet.com (rooster) Date: Sat Jan 17 14:35:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Phony popups -Online Banking Message-ID: Happy New Year. Y'all; I was doing some online banking for the missus this morning, was waiting on her for some info, and got a surprise while amusing myself in a different window (Debian/Iceweasel). I logged out immediately. Long story short; this is what was going on: http://www.darkreading.com/security/attacks/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212900161 [quote] "Researchers have discovered a sophisticated, new method of phishing that targets users while they are banking online -- sending phony popup messages pretending to be from their banks. The so-called "in-session phishing" attack prompts the victim to retype his username and password for he banking site because the online banking session "has expired," for instance, via a popup that purports to be from the victim's bank site, according to researchers at Trusteer, which today published an advisory (PDF) on their findings about the potential for such a phishing attack."[/quote] And yes; we are in touch with her bank. What annoys me most is that I have to enable Pop-ups, Java, and JScrpt just to log in to her account(s). To me, it's ironic that clients have to make their computers less secure during the very sessions where security is most important. How easy it is to forget to uncheck Java when the session is over? I'm thinking it might be a good if Browsers (e.g., Firefox) allowed Java to be enabled on an "Allow/Not Allow" basis like they do with cookies and pop-ups. But then; if the bank's site gets hacked, it wouldn't make a difference; eh? I'm not well. -- Happy trails, rooster boundary beach, bc From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 17 16:10:26 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sat Jan 17 16:15:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Phony popups -Online Banking References: Message-ID: "rooster" wrote in message news:gktbo6$ok1$1@news.spamcop.net... > Happy New Year. Y'all; > >.... > And yes; we are in touch with her bank. What annoys me most is that I have > to enable Pop-ups, > Java, and JScrpt just to log in to her account(s). To me, it's ironic that > clients have to make > their computers less secure during the very sessions where security is > most important. How easy > it is to forget to uncheck Java when the session is over? Marketing and making a "Rich Web Experience" are more important to the banks than your and evidently their security. My bank wants to do similar, and run what are probably animations, so when I login my brosser always asks if I want to allow js, activex and QuickTime to run. I always say no, and fortunately the site works with popups and permissions denied. Even with all of that I have to put up with all of these requester dialogues some of which are yes on the left and some on the right, or because the question is posed in a different way the position of the correct answer flips. I get so used to denying several times I have on occasion clicked through to the stuff underneath the dialogue box and opened a place I don't want to be near. That is particularly annoying on hotmail or Yahoo mail sites where the whole fscking page is links to some stupid video, or marketing stuff., there is nowhere safe to click on those. Brosers should simply deny everything by default woith a small notification in the toolbar you can open when needed to enable specific permissions until the site works. Marketing will trump security or reasonableness every time on this continent. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 17 16:11:12 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sat Jan 17 16:15:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Winter is poopy References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:gkta1e$dpt$1@news.spamcop.net... > Heidi wrote: >> Just saying. It was -8 (F, Kerry....) yesterday morning, mercifully >> with no wind. I don't like to go out because I can't breathe, and the >> dog says "ow ow my feeties" just trying to walk around and go potty. >> Bleh. They say we're not going to see freezing for another week. I >> know why old people want to move south, I guess I'm old! > > It's a chilly 70 degrees right now, it will be up to a somewhat more > bearable 80 later today. > > *ducks* Damn , we've only wamred up to the high 60's so far. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 17 18:38:40 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sat Jan 17 18:40:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Winter is poopy References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:gkthhj$jlr$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Borgholio" wrote in message > news:gkta1e$dpt$1@news.spamcop.net... >> Heidi wrote: >>> Just saying. It was -8 (F, Kerry....) yesterday morning, mercifully >>> with no wind. I don't like to go out because I can't breathe, and the >>> dog says "ow ow my feeties" just trying to walk around and go potty. >>> Bleh. They say we're not going to see freezing for another week. I >>> know why old people want to move south, I guess I'm old! >> >> It's a chilly 70 degrees right now, it will be up to a somewhat more >> bearable 80 later today. >> >> *ducks* > > Damn , we've only wamred up to the high 60's so far. Icicles make good javelins, y'all...... *ptoinggggggg* From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 17 21:30:10 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 17 21:35:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Winter is poopy In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:gkt4s5$qn3$1@news.spamcop.net... > Just saying. It was -8 (F, Kerry....) yesterday morning, mercifully with > no wind. I don't like to go out because I can't breathe, and the dog says > "ow ow my feeties" just trying to walk around and go potty. Bleh. They > say we're not going to see freezing for another week. I know why old > people want to move south, I guess I'm old! > Yesterday it was 15 F here with about a 10-15 mph wind, cloudy....frigging miserable.....today, nearly the same temp, but with bright sunshine and no wind, was almost balmy in comparison. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 17 21:34:02 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 17 21:35:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Phony popups -Online Banking In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "rooster" wrote in message news:gktbo6$ok1$1@news.spamcop.net... > [quote] > "Researchers have discovered a sophisticated, new method of phishing that > targets users while they are > banking online -- sending phony popup messages pretending to be from their > banks. > The so-called "in-session phishing" attack prompts the victim to retype > his username and password for > he banking site because the online banking session "has expired," for > instance, via a popup that purports > to be from the victim's bank site, according to researchers at Trusteer, > which today published an advisory > (PDF) on their findings about the potential for such a phishing > attack."[/quote] My bank does something somewhat similar, but way different in the end result. If you're not active on the bank website for 15 minutes, it automatically logs you out with a pop-up message. You do have to re-log in with your username and PW, but it's from the main bank website, not from within the pop-up dialogue box. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 17 21:38:08 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 17 21:40:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Phony popups -Online Banking In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9B96C9FD1C3D1TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was rooster ! > >> Happy New Year. Y'all; > > Same to you. And you need better line wrapping. Please! I don't know > icedove, but if you sent line wrap to something like 64 we sure won't have > an issue. As it is, things look pretty bad. > > That said, I haven't seen this yet but I use Opera, too, so I don't see a > lot of things (bunch of sites don't work...). I'll live, I guess. But, > it > is nice in that I can set popup status on a per-site basis. If only it > worked on all sites! Firefox with Adblock will let you enable/disable popups from individual websites, very easy to use. Strangely though, it *will* allow some pop-ups from sites you haven't given permission to do so......I haven't quite figured out how the algorithm works. From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Sat Jan 17 22:03:52 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Sat Jan 17 22:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Winter is poopy In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote: > Heidi wrote: >> Just saying. It was -8 (F, Kerry....) yesterday morning, mercifully >> with no wind. I don't like to go out because I can't breathe, and the >> dog says "ow ow my feeties" just trying to walk around and go potty. >> Bleh. They say we're not going to see freezing for another week. I >> know why old people want to move south, I guess I'm old! >> > > It's a chilly 70 degrees right now, it will be up to a somewhat more > bearable 80 later today. > > *ducks* I just looked up the weather report for Albany, my next stop. Aack, -10 c and snow. Oops, wrong one, click, click, 24c and sunny. That sounds much better. From acmeanvil at fishnet.com Sun Jan 18 11:47:37 2009 From: acmeanvil at fishnet.com (rooster) Date: Sun Jan 18 11:50:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Phony popups -Online Banking In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > "rooster" wrote in message > news:gktbo6$ok1$1@news.spamcop.net... >> [quote] "Researchers have discovered a sophisticated, new method of >> phishing that targets users while they are banking online -- >> sending phony popup messages pretending to be from their banks. >> ."[/quote] > > My bank does something somewhat similar, but way different in the end > result. If you're not active on the bank website for 15 minutes, it > automatically logs you out with a pop-up message. You do have to > re-log in with your username and PW, but it's from the main bank > website, not from within the pop-up dialogue box. Charles; Line wrapping: ...Nuts! I was dinged for that way back and I forgot about it. My bad. My "Compose" ...wrap plain text ... is set at 64, but it doesn't do it automatically. And when I use "Rewrap" the lines are chopped to pieces and stacked like cordwood. I dunno. I remember that it has to do with the way TBird deals with but I don't remember the sol'n. bar0: > My bank wants to do similar, and run what are probably animations, so > when I login my brosser always asks if I want to allow js, activex > and QuickTime to run. I always say no, and fortunately the site works > with popups and permissions denied. > Brosers should simply deny everything by default woith a small > notification in the toolbar you can open when needed to enable > specific permissions until the site works. The Missus' Credit Union re-vamped their online security (log in) regime a couple of months ago, intruding a step/page that requires acknowledgment of a library picture with a key word superimposed on it. Unless Java and JScpt are already enabled, you can't proceed. Worse, if you try to enable pop-ups and Java without fully exiting, you are refused access to your account(s) for a couple of hours at least; maybe longer. Thing of it is, is: if these undesirable functions are enabled in one IceWeasel (nee Firefox) window/tab, they're enabled in any other window/tabs that are also open. Out of paranoia born of proven ignorance and stupidity, I'm stuck with having to decide whether or not to dump my working windows every time I want to access her accounts, or to go through the hoops to re-introduce ourselves to her bank from a different browser (e.g., Konqueror)... which really wouldn't solve the problem at issue; anyway. If I understand the issue, the CUnion's web page got hacked/compromised. I think what is really roasting my chestnuts is that I did (am doing) a lot of wetware work when I migrated to Debian/GNU just so I could mitigate the .exe and .dll security issues on XP. Indi; > Firefox with Adblock will let you enable/disable popups from > individual websites, very easy to use. > Strangely though, it *will* allow some pop-ups from sites you haven't > given permission to do so......I > haven't quite figured out how the algorithm works. Yabut; the way they've set it up, I can't log in to the accounts with FFX unless they're pre-enabled. Responding to an alert by changing the settings in mid session gets you kicked out and possibly denied access for a couple of hours. By way of follow-up; the online banking site was taken down some time after I spoke to the reps. Betcha a number of clients got phished before they realized they'd been hacked. -- Happy trails, rooster boundary beach, bc From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 18 12:00:08 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sun Jan 18 12:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Phony popups -Online Banking References: Message-ID: "rooster" wrote in message news:gkvmg2$e3i$1@news.spamcop.net... .... > -- > Happy trails, > rooster > boundary beach, bc How'd ya do in all the snow around X-Mas? My folks were imprisoned in upper Lonsdale/Delbrook area (North Van) for a coupl'a weeks. They're a little too old for all the shoveling and backing up a block when there's oncoming in the one cleared lane. From acmeanvil at fishnet.com Sun Jan 18 13:40:17 2009 From: acmeanvil at fishnet.com (rooster) Date: Sun Jan 18 13:45:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Phony popups -Online Banking In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: bar0 wrote: > "rooster" wrote in message > news:gkvmg2$e3i$1@news.spamcop.net... > .... >> -- >> Happy trails, >> rooster >> boundary beach, bc > > How'd ya do in all the snow around X-Mas? My folks were imprisoned in upper > Lonsdale/Delbrook area (North Van) for a coupl'a weeks. They're a little too > old for all the shoveling and backing up a block when there's oncoming in > the one cleared lane. > > We're fine out here in Boundary Bay/Beach. We got a couple of inches twice, but it only lasted 4-5 days. Even that is a bit unusual for us. There seem to be 3-4 distinct weather regions here in the BC Lower Mainland. It's almost impossible to generalize. For example, if you drew a line between our place here [49 deg 00' 10.00' ?, elev -03.m] due north to your folks up on Delbrook [49 deg 21" 10.00' ?] (upside Grouse Mntn. elev. 625 m), you'd see a gradient that begins with our annual precip. of 40 ins. to theirs at 150-160 ins. Most summaries are derived from records kept at the Vancouver Airport and that makes casual research on local weather stats misleading. We have hyacinth and narcissus shoots up about 2" and buds are just beginning to swell on our ornamental cherry tree. It's not everyone's cup of tea, you have to dress for it, but this is the time of year when most of the sailing clubs hold their races. The golf club up the road rarely closes due to cold or snow... it happens of course; but it is remarkable when it does. The missus took off on her bicycle a few minutes ago to check out the shore birds and fetch a roast for supper. She's pushing 60. -- Happy trails, rooster boundary beach, bc From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 18 21:54:19 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sun Jan 18 21:55:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Phony popups -Online Banking References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9B97BEC5AD85CTheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was rooster ! > >> The Missus' Credit Union re-vamped their online security (log in) regime >> a couple of months ago, intruding a step/page that requires >> acknowledgment of a > > I hate this crap. All of my online accounts have it now. They say it > makes it more secure. How so? It's more secure for me to have that much > personal information floating around out there? Are you serious? I > always > lie in answer to the personal questions. The trick, of course, lies in > remembering your answers. Ha. And there is the rub. From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 19 16:39:11 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Mon Jan 19 16:40:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Phony popups -Online Banking In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9B97BEC5AD85CTheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was rooster ! > >> The Missus' Credit Union re-vamped their online security (log in) regime >> a couple of months ago, intruding a step/page that requires >> acknowledgment of a > > I hate this crap. All of my online accounts have it now. They say it > makes it more secure. How so? It's more secure for me to have that much > personal information floating around out there? Are you serious? I > always > lie in answer to the personal questions. The trick, of course, lies in > remembering your answers. Ha. Most of my financial online accounts do that too, make you answer a "Secret Question" before allowing you to continue. Luckily they only do it randomly, something like at every 4-5 log-in attempt. What do I car if they (or anyone) knows what the name of my first pet was? Or what my favorite hobby is? There *was* one I recently signed up for, forgit what it was for, mebbe a Google online account like I have with Amazon, that had incredibly difficult to know/remember questions, like at what hospital was your mother born! From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 19 17:29:46 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Mon Jan 19 17:30:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] We've found the enemy, and they are us......(long post, but worth reading) Message-ID: In case any of you missed the show last weekend, like I did -- below is the transcript from a 60 Minutes investigation into how Wall Street helped destroy our economy through greed. I've stated many times over the last year that the price of oil was being driven purely by speculators and illegal trading actions the SEC was ignoring, here's the proof: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/08/60minutes/main4707770.shtml (CBS) About the only economic break most Americans have gotten in the last six months has been the drastic drop in the price of oil, which has fallen even more precipitously than it rose. In a year's time, a commodity that was theoretically priced according to supply and demand doubled from $69 a barrel to nearly $150, and then, in a period of just three months, crashed along with the stock market. So what happened? It's a complicated question, and there are lots of theories. But as correspondent Steve Kroft reports, many people believe it was a speculative bubble, not unlike the one that caused the housing crisis, and that it had more to do with traders and speculators on Wall Street than with oil company executives or sheiks in Saudi Arabia. To understand what happened to the price of oil, you first have to understand the way it's traded. For years it has been bought and sold on something called the commodities futures market. At the New York Mercantile Exchange, it's traded alongside cotton and coffee, copper and steel by brokers who buy and sell contracts to deliver those goods at a certain price at some date in the future. It was created so that farmers could gauge what their unharvested crops would be worth months in advance, so that factories could lock in the best price for raw materials, and airlines could manage their fuel costs. But more than a year ago those markets started to behave erratically. And when oil doubled to more than $147 a barrel, no one was more suspicious than Dan Gilligan. As the president of the Petroleum Marketers Association, he represents more than 8,000 retail and wholesale suppliers, everyone from home heating oil companies to gas station owners. When 60 Minutes talked to him last summer, his members were getting blamed for gouging the public, even though their costs had also gone through the roof. He told Kroft the problem was in the commodities markets, which had been invaded by a new breed of investor. "Approximately 60 to 70 percent of the oil contracts in the futures markets are now held by speculative entities. Not by companies that need oil, not by the airlines, not by the oil companies. But by investors that are looking to make money from their speculative positions," Gilligan explained. Gilligan said these investors don't actually take delivery of the oil. "All they do is buy the paper, and hope that they can sell it for more than they paid for it. Before they have to take delivery." "They're trying to make money on the market for oil?" Kroft asked. "Absolutely," Gilligan replied. "On the volatility that exists in the market. They make it going up and down." He says his members in the home heating oil business, like Sean Cota of Bellows Falls, Vt., were the first to notice the effects a few years ago when prices seemed to disconnect from the basic fundamentals of supply and demand. Cota says there was plenty of product at the supply terminals, but the prices kept going up and up. "We've had three price changes during the day where we pick up products, actually don't know what we paid for it and we'll go out and we'll sell that to the retail customer guessing at what the price was," Cota remembered. "The volatility is being driven by the huge amounts of money and the huge amounts of leverage that is going in to these markets." About the same time, hedge fund manager Michael Masters reached the same conclusion. Masters' expertise is in tracking the flow of investments into and out of financial markets and he noticed huge amounts of money leaving stocks for commodities and oil futures, most of it going into index funds, betting the price of oil was going to go up. Asked who was buying this "paper oil," Masters told Kroft, "The California pension fund. Harvard Endowment. Lots of large institutional investors. And, by the way, other investors, hedge funds, Wall Street trading desks were following right behind them, putting money - sovereign wealth funds were putting money in the futures markets as well. So you had all these investors putting money in the futures markets. And that was driving the price up." In a five year period, Masters said the amount of money institutional investors, hedge funds, and the big Wall Street banks had placed in the commodities markets went from $13 billion to $300 billion. Last year, 27 barrels of crude were being traded every day on the New York Mercantile Exchange for every one barrel of oil that was actually being consumed in the United States. "We talked to the largest physical trader of crude oil. And they told us that compared to the size of the investment inflows - and remember, this is the largest physical crude oil trader in the United States - they said that we are basically a flea on an elephant, that that's how big these flows were," Masters remembered. Yet when Congress began holding hearings last summer and asked Wall Street banker Lawrence Eagles of J.P. Morgan what role excessive speculation played in rising oil prices, the answer was little to none. "We believe that high energy prices are fundamentally a result of supply and demand," he said in his testimony. (CBS) As it turns out, not even J.P. Morgan's chief global investment officer agreed with him. The same that day Eagles testified, an e-mail went out to clients saying "an enormous amount of speculation" ran up the price" and "140 dollars in July was ridiculous." If anyone had any doubts, they were dispelled a few days after that hearing when the price of oil jumped $25 in a single day. That day was Sept. 22. Michael Greenberger, a former director of trading for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency that oversees oil futures, says there were no supply disruptions that could have justified such a big increase. "Did China and India suddenly have gigantic needs for new oil products in a single day? No. Everybody agrees supply-demand could not drive the price up $25, which was a record increase in the price of oil. The price of oil went from somewhere in the 60s to $147 in less than a year. And we were being told, on that run-up, 'It's supply-demand, supply-demand, supply-demand,'" Greenberger said. A recent report out of MIT, analyzing world oil production and consumption, also concluded that the basic fundamentals of supply and demand could not have been responsible for last year's run-up in oil prices. And Michael Masters says the U.S. Department of Energy's own statistics show that if the markets had been working properly, the price of oil should have been going down, not up. "From quarter four of '07 until the second quarter of '08 the EIA, the Energy Information Administration, said that supply went up, worldwide supply went up. And worldwide demand went down. So you have supply going up and demand going down, which generally means the price is going down," Masters told Kroft. "And this was the period of the spike," Kroft noted. "This was the period of the spike," Masters agreed. "So you had the largest price increase in history during a time when actual demand was going down and actual supply was going up during the same period. However, the only thing that makes sense that lifted the price was investor demand." Masters believes the investor demand for commodities, and oil futures in particular, was created on Wall Street by hedge funds and the big Wall Street investment banks like Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, and J.P. Morgan, who made billions investing hundreds of billions of dollars of their clients' money. "The investment banks facilitated it," Masters said. "You know, they found folks to write papers espousing the benefits of investing in commodities. And then they promoted commodities as a, quote/unquote, 'asset class.' Like, you could invest in commodities just like you could in stocks or bonds or anything else, like they were suitable for long-term investment." (CBS) Dan Gilligan of the Petroleum Marketers Association agreed. "Are you saying that companies like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley and Barclays have as much to do with the price of oil going up as Exxon? Or.Shell?" Kroft asked. "Yes," Gilligan said. "I tease people sometimes that, you know, people say, 'Well, who's the largest oil company in America?' And they'll always say, 'Well, Exxon Mobil or Chevron, or BP.' But I'll say, 'No. Morgan Stanley.'" Morgan Stanley isn't an oil company in the traditional sense of the word - it doesn't own or control oil wells or refineries, or gas stations. But according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Morgan Stanley is a significant player in the wholesale market through various entities controlled by the corporation. It not only buys and sells the physical product through subsidiaries and companies that it controls, Morgan Stanley has the capacity to store and hold 20 million barrels. For example, some storage tanks in New Haven, Conn. hold Morgan Stanley heating oil bound for homes in New England, where it controls nearly 15 percent of the market. The Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs also has huge stakes in companies that own a refinery in Coffeyville, Kan., and control 43,000 miles of pipeline and more than 150 storage terminals. And analysts at both investment banks contributed to the oil frenzy that drove prices to record highs: Goldman's top oil analyst predicted last March that the price of a barrel was going to $200; Morgan Stanley predicted $150 a barrel. Both companies declined 60 Minutes' requests for an interview, but maintain that their oil businesses are completely separate from their trading activities, and that neither influence the independent opinions of their analysts. There is no evidence that either company has done anything illegal. Asked if there is price manipulation going on, Dan Gilligan told Kroft, "I can't say. And the reason I can't say it, is because nobody knows. Our federal regulators don't have access to the data. They don't know who holds what positions." "Why don't they know?" Kroft asked. "Because federal law doesn't give them the jurisdiction to find out," Gilligan said. It's impossible to tell exactly who was buying and selling all those oil contracts because most of the trading is now conducted in secret, with no public scrutiny or government oversight. Over time, the big Wall Street banks were allowed to buy and sell as many oil contracts as they wanted for their clients, circumventing regulations intended to limit speculation. And in 2000, Congress effectively deregulated the futures market, granting exemptions for complicated derivative investments called oil swaps, as well as electronic trading on private exchanges. (CBS) "Who was responsible for deregulating the oil future market?" Kroft asked Michael Greenberger. "You'd have to say Enron," he replied. "This was something they desperately wanted, and they got." Greenberger, who wanted more regulation while he was at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, not less, says it all happened when Enron was the seventh largest corporation in the United States. "This was when Enron was riding high. And what Enron wanted, Enron got." Asked why they wanted a deregulated market in oil futures, Greenberger said, "Because they wanted to establish their own little energy futures exchange through computerized trading. They knew that if they could get this trading engine established without the controls that had been placed on speculators, they would have the ability to drive the price of energy products in any way they wanted to take it." "When Enron failed, we learned that Enron, and its conspirators who used their trading engine, were able to drive the price of electricity up, some say, by as much as 300 percent on the West Coast," he added. "Is the same thing going on right now in the oil business?" Kroft asked. "Every Enron trader, who knew how to do these manipulations, became the most valuable employee on Wall Street," Greenberger said. But some of them may now be looking for work. The oil bubble began to deflate early last fall when Congress threatened new regulations and federal agencies announced they were beginning major investigations. It finally popped with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the near collapse of AIG, who were both heavily invested in the oil markets. With hedge funds and investment houses facing margin calls, the speculators headed for the exits. "From July 15th until the end of November, roughly $70 billion came out of commodities futures from these index funds," Masters explained. "In fact, gasoline demand went down by roughly five percent over that same period of time. Yet the price of crude oil dropped more than $100 a barrel. It dropped 75 percent." Asked how he explains that, Masters said, "By looking at investors, that's the only way you can explain it." The regulatory lapses in the commodities market that many believe fomented the rampant speculation in oil have still not been addressed, although the incoming Obama administration has promised to do so. From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 19 17:34:56 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Mon Jan 19 17:35:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: We've found the enemy, and they are us......(long post, but worth reading) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:gl2usq$g5d$1@news.spamcop.net... > > http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/08/60minutes/main4707770.shtml Forgot to add this comment from the Yahoo message board poster who originally posted that link, it will make you sick to your stomach and enraged, as he speaks the truth.... "Wall Street has become a financial terrorist. Rather than financing the next generation of small innovative American companies (a process that doesn't pay off for years and requires skill and patience and optimism and courage), these pricks use lies and obscurity to naked short companies into the ground and suck out the value of their stock. In their oil bubble, a search for obscene unearned profits that lasted less than a year, they destroyed airlines and the future of the people that work for them and invested in them, they destroyed auto manufacturers and the huge chain of dealers, suppliers and markets that rely on the health of that industry. The carnage they left behind in now left on the backs of taxpayers, and we have just begun figuring out how destructive a one year speculative bubble in oil is." From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 19 18:20:36 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Mon Jan 19 18:25:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: We've found the enemy, and they are us......(long post, but worth reading) References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:gl2usq$g5d$1@news.spamcop.net... > In case any of you missed the show last weekend, like I did -- below is > the transcript from a 60 Minutes investigation into how Wall Street helped > destroy our economy through greed. I've stated many times over the last > year that the price of oil was being driven purely by speculators and > illegal trading actions the SEC was ignoring, here's the proof: Yeah, NO SH*T!! I've been saying it all along, there is no way in hell it was tied to supply and demand when the economy was collapsing, it was pure unadulterated greed, just because they could get away with it. And the fact that the people driving it up were creating panic with their predictions of higher and higher prices was almost giving them carte blanche to do whatever they want. We can only hope for change now, someone has to put the brakes on it. From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 19 20:03:49 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Mon Jan 19 20:05:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: We've found the enemy, and they are us......(long post, but worth reading) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:gl31s6$q6u$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Indigo" wrote in message > news:gl2usq$g5d$1@news.spamcop.net... >> In case any of you missed the show last weekend, like I did -- below is >> the transcript from a 60 Minutes investigation into how Wall Street >> helped destroy our economy through greed. I've stated many times over the >> last year that the price of oil was being driven purely by speculators >> and illegal trading actions the SEC was ignoring, here's the proof: > > Yeah, NO SH*T!! I've been saying it all along, there is no way in hell it > was tied to supply and demand when the economy was collapsing, it was pure > unadulterated greed, just because they could get away with it. And the > fact that the people driving it up were creating panic with their > predictions of higher and higher prices was almost giving them carte > blanche to do whatever they want. We can only hope for change now, > someone has to put the brakes on it. What really pisses me off is the list of the "players" in speculating on oil prices, driving them up -- did you see the banks listed that we had to help "rescue" in the end?!?! Motherfuckers..... From borgholio at storymind.com Tue Jan 20 15:23:21 2009 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Tue Jan 20 15:25:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: What a relief! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > Is anyone else feeling a sense of relief that Bush is gone? Personally I > feel like we're entering a new time of progress and hope when, as Obama > said, Science gains back its rightful place and the brokenness of > government will be fixed. Here's hoping. Great speech, I thought. Actually I feel a sense of relief that he wasn't shot while he was giving his acceptance speech. From borgholio at storymind.com Tue Jan 20 15:24:51 2009 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Tue Jan 20 15:25:10 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: hot enough for you Borg? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > Borgholio wrote in > news:gkjfm4$e1m$1@news.spamcop.net: > > >> I've encountered 110f temps only in places like Las Vegas in the >> summer...NOT fun. >> > > Try walking around in it lol. We were there in August of 07 and it was a > bloody inferno. We walked from the south entrance of the Luxor to the MGM > and although it's not all that far, it was cripplingly hot. But the hottest > sun I ever felt was in (the real) Egypt, by far. In Luxor in fact LOL. Oh I've walked in it...this was before the strip was covered in all those awnings. Even at 1am you walk outside the air conditioned casino and the heat hits you. From dfmanno at mail.com Tue Jan 20 16:14:55 2009 From: dfmanno at mail.com (D.F. Manno) Date: Tue Jan 20 16:15:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: We've found the enemy, and they are us......(long post, but worth reading) References: Message-ID: In article , Sylvesterthekat wrote: > "Indigo" wrote: > > > In case any of you missed the show last weekend, like I did -- below > > is the transcript from a 60 Minutes investigation into how Wall Street > > helped destroy our economy through greed. I've stated many times over > > the last year that the price of oil was being driven purely by > > speculators and illegal trading actions the SEC was ignoring, here's > > the proof: > > It's a bloody disgrace, the whole thing. Obviously futures trading in oil > has to be stopped or severely curtailed. Something that is so pervasively > ubiquitous in society, that affects everything, should not be traded for > quick profit. I'm sure it's not only the speculators and funds that are > doing it, surely big oil and the saudis must have a hand in it because who > does it profit more than them? Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. There are legitimate uses for oil futures contracts. Southwest Airlines uses them to keep their fuel costs down, for instance. -- D.F. Manno | dfmanno@mail.com Our long national nightmare is over. From dfmanno at mail.com Tue Jan 20 16:15:40 2009 From: dfmanno at mail.com (D.F. Manno) Date: Tue Jan 20 16:20:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Silverlight is pathetic References: Message-ID: In article , David Dean wrote: > Charles wrote: > > > Wow but wow. Hope none of youse tried to watch the inauguration on the > > official site - it uses silverlight and silverlight sucks. We switched > > over to the nytimes and saw it on flash. Video was halting but at least > > the sound went through, you know? > > I was having trouble with the hi-bandwidth silverlight version about > the time aretha franklin started to sing. I expect that was when server > demand started to get to high. I switched to the low bandwidth > silverlight version for the rest and had no problems for the remainder > of the event. I watched it on MSNBC's site. No problems. -- D.F. Manno | dfmanno@mail.com Our long national nightmare is over. From dfmanno at mail.com Tue Jan 20 16:17:41 2009 From: dfmanno at mail.com (D.F. Manno) Date: Tue Jan 20 16:20:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying References: Message-ID: In article , Sylvesterthekat wrote: > "Indigo" wrote: > > > When I bought my house I was pretty much unaware of how huge a tax > > benefit it is to own a house, when the rental rate on my then current > > apt. was going up by $75/mo I started looking at houses, talked to the > > builder/broker agent, and figured out that my mortgage was going to > > cost me (in real dollars) the same as my old rental payment! > > That's one of the primary reasons we want to have a mortgage. Even with a > very big mortgage it'll be about what our current rent is. I'm not sure how > much you get back on your taxes. If you paid say 10k in interest, how much > of a tax refund would you get? Your benefit from a deduction for mortgage interest depends on what tax bracket you're in. To figure that out, you'd need to know what your taxable income and filing status are. -- D.F. Manno | dfmanno@mail.com Our long national nightmare is over. From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 20 18:27:41 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Tue Jan 20 18:30:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Silverlight is pathetic References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9B9982B84F14FTheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... > Wow but wow. Hope none of youse tried to watch the inauguration on the > official site - it uses silverlight and silverlight sucks. We switched > over to the nytimes and saw it on flash. Video was halting but at least > the sound went through, you know? We have a crap DSL at work, so we watched the video on one guys laptop from MSNBC and had a radio going for audio, at least we could hear all of it. From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 20 18:31:49 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 20 18:35:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: We've found the enemy, and they are us......(long post, but worth reading) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9B996C626DBC3sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > It's a bloody disgrace, the whole thing. Obviously futures trading in oil > has to be stopped or severely curtailed. Something that is so pervasively > ubiquitous in society, that affects everything, should not be traded for > quick profit. I couldn't agree more, but the US can't do it on there own. Even if we banned oil futures trading on our exchanges it would quickly spring up on some foreign exchange, and any laws passes banning USA investors from participating in those markets could easily be bypassed by the hedgefunds by establishing a LLC in a different country. I'm sure it's not only the speculators and funds that are > doing it, surely big oil and the saudis must have a hand in it because who > does it profit more than them? > Actually, in the end, big oil and the Arabs got hurt by the meteroric rise in price because demand dropped so drastically. They had to shut down production from some wells to lower the supply and help prop up the price. They also stopped spending money on finding new sources of oil, it has to sell for at least $60 or so per barrel for them to just break even on new drilling costs. Natural gas producers (mainly those in the US and Russia) got hurt even worse. Not like I'm crying crocodile tears for any of them after last year's record profits! From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 20 18:35:16 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 20 18:40:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: We've found the enemy, and they are us......(long post, but worth reading) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "D.F. Manno" wrote in message news:dfmanno-35788B.16145520012009@news.cesmail.net... > > Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. There are legitimate uses > for oil futures contracts. Southwest Airlines uses them to keep their > fuel costs down, for instance. Agreed, they have legitimate uses. So how do you ban speculators who have no intention of ever taking delivery from participating? They're a double edged sword too.....my local utility company bought futures contracts for NG over the summer near the peak price, now they're sitting on all this NG that's only worth 1/3 of what they paid for it, and we consumers are stuck buying it at inflated prices to heat our homes. From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 20 18:36:16 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 20 18:40:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Silverlight is pathetic In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "David Dean" wrote in message news:v8ltfuv02-44BD8F.12460020012009@074-050-143-010.plateautel.net... > > I was having trouble with the hi-bandwidth silverlight version about > the time aretha franklin started to sing. Was it just me or did she sound horrible? I was listening over streaming audio from XM. From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 20 18:38:13 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 20 18:40:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: What a relief! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9B996BD682595sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > Is anyone else feeling a sense of relief that Bush is gone? Personally I > feel like we're entering a new time of progress and hope when, as Obama > said, Science gains back its rightful place and the brokenness of > government will be fixed. Here's hoping. Great speech, I thought. What did he say about science? Is he going to re-institute the earth science programs that Bush canceled so we wouldn't find more evidence of global warming? Has HUGE job implications for me and a lot of other folks. From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 20 18:39:07 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 20 18:40:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: What a relief! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:gl5br9$hhl$1@news.spamcop.net... > Sylvesterthekat wrote: >> Is anyone else feeling a sense of relief that Bush is gone? Personally I >> feel like we're entering a new time of progress and hope when, as Obama >> said, Science gains back its rightful place and the brokenness of >> government will be fixed. Here's hoping. Great speech, I thought. > > Actually I feel a sense of relief that he wasn't shot while he was giving > his acceptance speech. Or while walking along the parade route....I heard he got out of the limo several times so he could "be with the people"...... From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 20 18:40:41 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 20 18:45:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Phony popups -Online Banking In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9B9971336AF0Dsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > What gets my goat is most of the questions were not relevant to me/us. We > don't have a fifth grade teacher, because we didn't attend fifth grade. We > never played a position on the high school football team, we didn't have a > high school prom so nobody to take to it on a date. Etc. The questions > from > which to choose are all very american-centric, it was difficult to choose > three. And the SAT is biased against blacks too? From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 20 18:44:27 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 20 18:45:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9B9971FB73226sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > I hope you at least apply for the job. If you get offered it, then decide > if you want to do it or not. Having a job is more important than the > horror > of moving. > Not gonna happen, it would appear. My good friend from work interviewed with them last week, I emailed him back and forth yesterday to see how it went. Apparently they want someone with 10+ years of experience in our field but only want to pay them 65% or so of what a person like that should earn. Even the diff in cost of living between here and there doesn't come close to that gap. From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 20 18:47:24 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 20 18:50:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9B9971AA3AB7Bsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > That's one of the primary reasons we want to have a mortgage. Even with a > very big mortgage it'll be about what our current rent is. I'm not sure > how > much you get back on your taxes. If you paid say 10k in interest, how much > of a tax refund would you get? Assume your taxable income from this year will be the same as last year's and subtract the interest and property taxes from that number, then look up what you would have paid using the tax tables. Gives you a rough estimate. From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 20 19:04:08 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Bar0) Date: Tue Jan 20 19:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying References: Message-ID: "D.F. Manno" wrote in message news:dfmanno-1DA595.16174120012009@news.cesmail.net... > In article , > Sylvesterthekat wrote: > >> "Indigo" wrote: >> >> > When I bought my house I was pretty much unaware of how huge a tax >> > benefit it is to own a house, when the rental rate on my then current >> > apt. was going up by $75/mo I started looking at houses, talked to the >> > builder/broker agent, and figured out that my mortgage was going to >> > cost me (in real dollars) the same as my old rental payment! >> >> That's one of the primary reasons we want to have a mortgage. Even with a >> very big mortgage it'll be about what our current rent is. I'm not sure >> how >> much you get back on your taxes. If you paid say 10k in interest, how >> much >> of a tax refund would you get? > > Your benefit from a deduction for mortgage interest depends on what tax > bracket you're in. To figure that out, you'd need to know what your > taxable income and filing status are. > > -- > D.F. Manno | dfmanno@mail.com > Our long national nightmare is over. You can get an idea by redoing last years taxes taking the interest, state and local taxes and any other deductions and comparing your place on the tax table with what you get from the standard deduction. At 10K probably not that much difference, since the standard deduction is comparable. From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 20 19:10:13 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 20 19:15:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Bar0" wrote in message news:gl5opp$ehl$1@news.spamcop.net... > You can get an idea by redoing last years taxes taking the interest, state > and local taxes and any other deductions and comparing your place on the > tax table with what you get from the standard deduction. > > At 10K probably not that much difference, since the standard deduction is > comparable. CopyKat ;-) From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 20 19:58:22 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 20 20:00:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9B99C354BA0CBTheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was "Bar0" ! > >> At 10K probably not that much difference, since the standard deduction >> is comparable. > > If you itemize it's a pretty big difference. In the 25% bracket, you get > $2500 back. If there's a 25% bracket. And $10k in interest sounds REALLY > tiny! It is tiny....for the amount S-kat was discussing ($600k?) her deductions would likely be over $70k/yr (guesstimate). Basically, for the first 3-5 years all you pay is interest, so multiply your mortgage payment times 12 and that's your yearly deduction. Plus, since hubby works from home, they can take advantage of that too since now they'll be itemizing. From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 20 20:16:33 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Tue Jan 20 20:20:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: What a relief! References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9B99AE6B19788sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > He said 'restore science to its rightful position' or words to that effect > which I took to mean none of this pseudo science of 'creationism' and of > encouraging research, including stem cells I think we can tell Kerry that it's safe to come home now.......LOL From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 20 20:24:03 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Tue Jan 20 20:25:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: We've found the enemy, and they are us......(long post, but worth reading) References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9B99AE24171CAsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Indigo" wrote in > news:gl5mt5$98n$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> I couldn't agree more, but the US can't do it on there own. Even if we >> banned oil futures trading on our exchanges it would quickly spring up >> on some foreign exchange, and any laws passes banning USA investors >> from participating in those markets could easily be bypassed by the >> hedgefunds by establishing a LLC in a different country. > > Well I'm sure if the biggest markets in the world stopped oil futures > trading, it would have a marked effect. So take out Tokyo, London, NY for > starters and it should make a difference. > > > Like with puts and shorts, naked trading (trading on shares that may not even exist), naked futures (based on commodity that likely won't or can't exist) should also be banned. From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 20 21:15:58 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Tue Jan 20 21:20:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:gl5nkr$bdm$1@news.spamcop.net... > > Not gonna happen, it would appear. My good friend from work interviewed > with them last week, I emailed him back and forth yesterday to see how it > went. Apparently they want someone with 10+ years of experience in our > field but only want to pay them 65% or so of what a person like that > should earn. Even the diff in cost of living between here and there > doesn't come close to that gap. Welcome back to the real world. You'd be seriously deluding yourself if you think you're going to find a job PERIOD, much less in your field, and at what you used to make. I can say from experience that there are no jobs out there with much to offer, and NO ONE is paying 'what you're worth'. Suck it up and just find one, the world has changed and not in a good way. From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 20 22:09:12 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Tue Jan 20 22:10:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Talk about a brave new world Message-ID: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/change_has_come_to_whitehouse-gov/ Just like your new government, WhiteHouse.gov and the rest of the Administration's online programs will put citizens first. Our initial new media efforts will center around three priorities: Communication -- Americans are eager for information about the state of the economy, national security and a host of other issues. This site will feature timely and in-depth content meant to keep everyone up-to-date and educated. Check out the briefing room, keep tabs on the blog (RSS feed) and take a moment to sign up for e-mail updates from the President and his administration so you can be sure to know about major announcements and decisions. Transparency -- President Obama has committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history, and WhiteHouse.gov will play a major role in delivering on that promise. The President's executive orders and proclamations will be published for everyone to review, and that's just the beginning of our efforts to provide a window for all Americans into the business of the government. You can also learn about some of the senior leadership in the new administration and about the President's policy priorities. Participation -- President Obama started his career as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, where he saw firsthand what people can do when they come together for a common cause. Citizen participation will be a priority for the Administration, and the internet will play an important role in that. One significant addition to WhiteHouse.gov reflects a campaign promise from the President: we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it. We'd also like to hear from you -- what sort of things would you find valuable from WhiteHouse.gov? If you have an idea, use this form to let us know. Like the transition website and the campaign's before that, this online community will continue to be a work in progress as we develop new features and content for you. So thanks in advance for your patience and for your feedback. From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Tue Jan 20 22:14:39 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Tue Jan 20 22:15:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Phony popups -Online Banking In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > > What gets my goat is most of the questions were not relevant to me/us. We > don't have a fifth grade teacher, because we didn't attend fifth grade. We > never played a position on the high school football team, we didn't have a > high school prom so nobody to take to it on a date. Etc. The questions from > which to choose are all very american-centric, it was difficult to choose > three. But quite secure. If you just make up answers to some of them, who would be able to guess them? From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Tue Jan 20 23:14:35 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Tue Jan 20 23:15:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: hot enough for you Borg? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > "Mr. K Mean" wrote in > news:gkje93$p52$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> Well, I'm still waiting for my permanent visa to be finished, it was >> supposed to have been done by December, so I'll have to find a cheap >> international flight to somewhere and reenter the country on that >> whenever that is finished. Hopefully soon since I can't not work >> forever (been six month so far), or I'll have to find a job that >> sponsors me. > > Hmm, quick side trip to NZ perhaps! Maybe. But it is probably cheaper to fly to Indonesia or Malaysia or somewhere like that. I guess I'll cross that ocean when I come to it. From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Tue Jan 20 23:18:17 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Tue Jan 20 23:20:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: What a relief! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message > news:Xns9B99AE6B19788sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... >> He said 'restore science to its rightful position' or words to that effect >> which I took to mean none of this pseudo science of 'creationism' and of >> encouraging research, including stem cells > > I think we can tell Kerry that it's safe to come home now.......LOL You could find me a job? Sounds like it is pretty grim going for the next few years. From dfmanno at mail.com Wed Jan 21 09:07:56 2009 From: dfmanno at mail.com (D.F. Manno) Date: Wed Jan 21 09:10:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying References: Message-ID: In article , Sylvesterthekat wrote: > D.F. Manno wrote: > > > Your benefit from a deduction for mortgage interest depends on what > > tax bracket you're in. To figure that out, you'd need to know what > > your taxable income and filing status are. > > There must be a range right? Is there a table somewhere that tells you what > you can expect to get back? The IRS tax rate schedules will tell you what tax bracket you are in. You can find them here: Multiply the year's interest by the tax rate for the appropriate amount of taxable income, and you get the tax benefit for the interest deduction. But you keep saying "get back." Let's say arguendo that you're in the 15% bracket. That means that a $10,000 mortgage interest deduction yields a tax benefit of $1,500. However, that doesn't necessarily mean your refund will increase by $1,500. It depends on a number of factors: whether your income increased, whether your withholding changed, whether you had income not subject to withholding, whether there was a change in filing status or dependents, etc. For those reasons, it's too simplistic to say that a $10,000 mortgage deduction means you will get $1,500 more (or any other figure) in your refund. Besides, you shouldn't want to get a refund. A refund means you've given the government a tax-free loan. You should arrange your withholding to get a small refund (or even a balance due), and invest the difference. -- D.F. Manno | dfmanno@mail.com Our long national nightmare is over. From gezgin at spamcop.net.which.is.not.invalid Wed Jan 21 09:20:16 2009 From: gezgin at spamcop.net.which.is.not.invalid (Opinicus) Date: Wed Jan 21 09:25:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: pics of london from above at night References: Message-ID: > On Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:36:39 +0000 (UTC), in spamcop.social > Sylvesterthekat wrote: > >>http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/london_from_above_at_night.html Also check out the link on the page to the "Britain from above" series that was broadcast on BBC not too long ago. -- Bob http://www.kanyak.com From borgholio at storymind.com Wed Jan 21 13:40:19 2009 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Wed Jan 21 13:40:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Obama Message-ID: I kinda feel like my parent's generation did regarding Kennedy. Hope...change...a president I can actually trust. Anybody else feel that way? From me at privacy.net Wed Jan 21 16:14:24 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Wed Jan 21 16:15:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: What a relief! References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9B9A4E1FBC5C7TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... : It wasn't me! It was "Mr. K Mean" ! : : > You could find me a job? Sounds like it is pretty grim going for the : > next few years. : : We're always thinking about getting more field engineers... ~120 days in : the field a year. And you'd -get- to live in WV. :"Only" 120 days a year. Where do I sign up. (Way back wend it seemed I spent that much time on PHI chopper and crew boats.) From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Wed Jan 21 19:51:38 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Wed Jan 21 19:55:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: What a relief! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > It wasn't me! It was "Mr. K Mean" ! > >> You could find me a job? Sounds like it is pretty grim going for the >> next few years. > > We're always thinking about getting more field engineers... ~120 days in > the field a year. And you'd -get- to live in WV. Yep, some recruiter wrote to me yesterday, this job is only like 50% travel. No, not going to happen. I've spent enough time in hotel rooms for a while. Then he goes on about other engineer are having trouble finding jobs. Of course he has been trying to sell me this job for more than a year. Oh, I'd get to see Australia, just the boring bits though. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 21 22:44:14 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 21 22:45:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: We've found the enemy, and they are us......(long post, but worth reading) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:gl5tfn$qo9$1@news.spamcop.net... > Like with puts and shorts, naked trading (trading on shares that may not > even exist), naked futures (based on commodity that likely won't or can't > exist) should also be banned. > Naked shorts has been a craw in my neck for a long time....it's always been illegal, but the SEC turned a blind eye to it until the shorters took down Lehman Bros., among others....they're still not on top of it yet. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 21 22:54:51 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Wed Jan 21 22:55:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Obama References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:gl7q61$mjt$1@news.spamcop.net... >I kinda feel like my parent's generation did regarding Kennedy. >Hope...change...a president I can actually trust. Anybody else feel that >way? I do - I think the Obamas just radiate class, grace and integrity, and I think he has the intelligence to get things done. I got wistful for the Clinton years and how much better off we were then, and I voted for Hillary in the primary because of it. Then Bill started his vindictive shenanigans and I said 'no way'. When I think now what it would be like if it were Hillary and Bill walking back in, with all their dodgy history and questionable ethics, and then I look at the Obamas, I think America made a really good choice, exactly what we need after eight years of shady, unethical crap. From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Wed Jan 21 22:56:00 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Wed Jan 21 23:00:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: What a relief! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > No way it was me! It was "Mr. K Mean" ! > >> some recruiter wrote to me yesterday, this job is only like 50% >> travel. > > Well... But how are they calculating the percentage? My employer calls > the 120 days a third of the time. For me... 120/(365-110-10-15)=52%. But > if they mean 180 days, well, the way I figure that's more like 78%. > > Not that I'd do either. But just saying. Anyway, been trying to recruit > you for a year, huh? Well, doing what? Maybe it's time I got out to see > the country. No, no, no, nevermind. Sheesh. I like my job. I don't think he calculated it at all. It was originally sold as not much travel. When pressed as to how much not much was, well, maybe there is some travel then. Well, you might have to fly out on Monday morning and you could fly back home on Friday evening. The figure kept inching up as I pressed him. I suspect in the end, it might end up more like 80% with weekends counting as not travel time. But I'm not that desperate yet. It might not be the exact same job from a year ago, but it is the same company and the same job description. Either they have a bunch of them they can't fill or sane people don't last more than a few months in the position. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 21 23:03:24 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 21 23:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9B99AECC824E8sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... >> > > Have you seen any other jobs being offered for more than that? A year down > the line you may think that it was a good offer. It's 100% more than > you're > making now, after all! If I have to take that big of a paycut I'll take it locally......in the meantime, it appears that I may _also_ be suffering from heavy metal poisoning (did I already mention that?). Getting tested next week, I've certainly been exposed to some seriously dangerous metal vapors during my career while welding, brazing, and soldering....Cadmium, Chomium, and Manganese, amongst the worst, since I've mostly welded stainless steel.....all can cause the symptoms I've had over the last few years. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 21 23:04:58 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 21 23:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:gl60h0$1gq$1@news.spamcop.net... > > Welcome back to the real world. You'd be seriously deluding yourself if > you think you're going to find a job PERIOD, much less in your field, and > at what you used to make. Thanks for the pick up, Heidi.... From me at privacy.net Wed Jan 21 23:21:30 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Wed Jan 21 23:25:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Badly shaken and blessed regardless. References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:gkqni5$u19$1@news.spamcop.net... : : : "Mike Easter" wrote in message :: :: How did it come to pass that they were hit by the valve but the valve :: truck was not (directly) in front of them; and how did it come to pass :: that they hit/kissed the bumper of the car in front of them? : : Don't know if the value truck was directly in their lane or if the valve : bounced from a adjacent lane. : I finally had time to speak with my wife at some length and it seems the object that hit them was a several hundred pound chunk of metal that bounced over the car in front, hit the road just ahead of them and then crashed into the front of the van. My guess: one foot higher on either the first bounce or the second and things would have been tragic. From borgholio at storymind.com Thu Jan 22 00:01:24 2009 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Thu Jan 22 00:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Obama In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > "Borgholio" wrote in message > news:gl7q61$mjt$1@news.spamcop.net... >> I kinda feel like my parent's generation did regarding Kennedy. >> Hope...change...a president I can actually trust. Anybody else feel that >> way? > > I do - I think the Obamas just radiate class, grace and integrity, and I > think he has the intelligence to get things done. I got wistful for the > Clinton years and how much better off we were then, and I voted for Hillary > in the primary because of it. Then Bill started his vindictive shenanigans > and I said 'no way'. When I think now what it would be like if it were > Hillary and Bill walking back in, with all their dodgy history and > questionable ethics, and then I look at the Obamas, I think America made a > really good choice, exactly what we need after eight years of shady, > unethical crap. > > What about Obama putting up all his non-emergency legislation up on the White House page for 5 days for public comment before he enacts it? Totally unprecedented.... From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 22 20:59:29 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Thu Jan 22 21:00:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Obama References: Message-ID: "David Dean" wrote in message news:v8ltfuv02-6E0BF0.10300922012009@killface.local... > In article , > Borgholio wrote: > >> White House page for 5 days for public comment before he enacts it? >> Totally unprecedented.... > > Yet the right thing to do. His promise of transparency is one I'm > really looking forward to being kept. I think we'll all be surprised at what went on that was kept from us because the Bushies so loved their secrecy. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 22 21:09:02 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Thu Jan 22 21:10:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:gl8r99$qt2$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Heidi" wrote in message > news:gl60h0$1gq$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> Welcome back to the real world. You'd be seriously deluding yourself if >> you think you're going to find a job PERIOD, much less in your field, and >> at what you used to make. > > Thanks for the pick up, Heidi.... Sorry, but it's the truth, it took me 7 months to find a job, and what I got was a crap salary and that was the best of two offers. While you're blowing through your savings and your mortgage is going up, you better start looking now, because by the time you have no cobra and no disability, it might be too late. From me at privacy.net Thu Jan 22 22:20:28 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Thu Jan 22 22:35:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] And that's the truth References: <6ts0n9Fcgfu7U1@mid.individual.net> Message-ID: Hello World: We, the United States of America, your top quality supplier of the ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for our 2001-2008 interruption in service. The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been located, and the software responsible was replaced November 4. Early tests of the newly installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly, and we expect it to be fully functional on January 20. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage. We look forward to resuming full service and hope to improve in years to come. We thank you for your patience and understanding, Sincerely, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA -- We can either have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 23 13:24:16 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 23 13:25:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:glb8s1$voo$1@news.spamcop.net... > > Sorry, but it's the truth, it took me 7 months to find a job, and what I > got was a crap salary and that was the best of two offers. While you're > blowing through your savings and your mortgage is going up, you better > start looking now, because by the time you have no cobra and no > disability, it might be too late. > 15 minutes on Google and I found over 10 jobs that suit me, ones that I meet the job requirements, except for a couple that you need to have security clearance. Two of them are at my old company, 3 are at Goddard (for a subcontractor), 2 are at APL, a bunch at Northrup-Grumman. All within 1/2 hour drive or less. Most of them aren't exactly like the job I used to have, but my broad work experience helps out a lot here -- over the years, I've done so many different job functions besides thermal engineering that I qualify for a relatively large number of engineering disciplines. The only surprise was that one job with a company founded and owned by a former friend/co-worker that was perfect for me is no longer open (it was open for almost a year). She might have something for me in a few months, all it would take is a phone call. From MikeE at ster.invalid Sun Jan 25 12:27:02 2009 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Sun Jan 25 12:30:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] 42 again Message-ID: Seeking the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything in the cartoon world... The Linux Mint newsletter routinely carries an xkcd cartoon, and this week's^1 prompted me to try to resolve the 'answer' to what xkcd stands for. I just wasn't satisfied with the non-answer documented^2 by the xkcd creator Randall Monroe, "What does XKCD stand for? -- It's not actually an acronym. It's just a word with no phonetic pronunciation -- a treasured and carefully-guarded point in the space of four-character strings." Fortunately another cartoonist Nathan Friemel was able to provide the 'meaning' of xkcd. (See shortminds .jpg link^3 below) ^1 http://www.linuxmint.com/blog/?p=567 ^2 http://xkcd.com/about/ ^3 http://shortminds.com/comics/2008-08-11.jpg -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From MikeE at ster.invalid Sun Jan 25 20:37:19 2009 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Sun Jan 25 20:40:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Useless statistics (bad date format) References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > Over the lifetime of my car (purchased 6.15.2) I have gotten 40.42 mpg. > That's having driven it 69594 miles for a cost of $3924.09 in gas. ? How can you express the mpg, mi, & $ with such intense precision, and (yet try to) express the date with such unrestrained noncommunicative zany imagination ie - ambiguous.ambiguous.ambiguous - as to not successfully communicate whether you are talking about 2002 July 15, or 2006 Feb 15? Here are some more appropriate choices for how you should express a date less ambiguously: ISO 8601^1: popular acceptable (to some) USian^2; unpopular pseudomodernist gauche noncompliant USian^3; or even less popular 'continental' illogical middle-endian mode^4. I highly recommend that you adopt some version of date format in the general construct year, month, date. If not expressed in some unambiguous way, such as 2009 January 25, then expressed in some other non-ambiguous way -- definitely not ambiguous.ambiguous.ambiguous. Today's date: ^1 2009-01-25 ^2 01/25/09 ^3 01.25.09 ^4 25/01/09 Anyone who is choosing to express a date in any of the various ambiguous form sequences should instead write/spell out the entire year ie 2009, and spellout the entire month ie January, since they have no idea what language the month should be expressed so a month number is unsatisfactory, and then the day in two digit form. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From MikeE at ster.invalid Sun Jan 25 21:02:44 2009 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Sun Jan 25 21:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Useless statistics (bad date format) References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > "Mike Easter" >> ? How can you express the mpg, mi, & $ with such intense precision, >> and (yet try to) express the date with such unrestrained >> noncommunicative zany imagination > > We try harder! Or, you're welcome! And... The $ isn't that accurate. > I mean, it could be off by $20 (certainly not more than that). > Besides, I find it pointless to write '03 for the year when '3 says > exactly the same thing. Anyway, all of those dates are d.m.y. I know > they're ambiguous. But then, so it writing mpg... Some 'ambiguity' is not ambiguous except to those for whom everything is rather fuzzy; while other ambiguity, such as d.m.y is totally unacceptable. In fact, my 'personal' date format of ymd using base calendecimal (base36 with start year 1980 or 2000) is less ambiguous to me personally than your ambiguous d.m.y personal date format. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From MikeE at ster.invalid Sun Jan 25 21:39:52 2009 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Sun Jan 25 21:40:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Useless statistics References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > More! Oh, how exciting! Gas prices in your part of NY are reported to be <$2/g for all grades; while gas prices in my part of CA are currently >$2/g for all grades. Why is that? < means less than; > means greater than; for those of you who like your own format/style of communication. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 26 14:59:31 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Mon Jan 26 15:00:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Those dirty sneaky bastages! Message-ID: Some of you .social friends my recall that my disability company unilaterally changed my diagnosis code from lyme disease to "mental illness" back in 2007, cutting my benefits from age 65 to 24 months, despite me having a positive Western blot test, the CIDC "gold standard" for lyme infection. They even had the balls to claim that I was never infected with lyme AT ALL. I fought them for nearly a year over applying for SSDI -- I'm not 100% disabled, nowhere near it in fact, at least not now, and not in late 2007 either -- I would say that I was pretty much totally disabled when I had to quit working, but I've made significant improvements since then. I had serious ethical problems with filing a false SSDI claim, making folks who truly deserve the benefits wait behind me. I also mentioned to UNUM that I was aware of the class action lawsuite filed against them for dumping all their clients onto SSDI knowing fully well that plenty of them were not eligible for benefits. In the last several years they've been doing this, the average wait time to get an SSDI claim processed jumped from 5-6 months to 13-15 months, the system became overwhelmed with applications. I held them at bay for almost a year, but 2 months ago they threatened to yank my benefits if I didn't apply. At that point, I had no choice. I just got off the phone with a very nice rep from the company that helps them process claims (GENEX), and after I finished giving her all the info she needed I proceeded to explain to her what they did to me and my moral problem (and potentially illegal action) with filing the claim. She said that the paperwork they are filing with the SSA is for disability caused by LYME DISEASE! No mention at all about mental illness (which was never the problem in the first place). I asked her if mental illness is even a valid SSDI claim, and she said it was, but you had to be very, very mentally ill to get approved for it, i.e. nearly insane and unable to take care of yourself. She agreed that something smelled fishy in Denmark, and is going to email my UNUM rep asking for an explanation on the discrepancy between my "official" diagnosis code and the different (lyme) code that they are filing my app under. She offered to CC me on the email correspondence, and I initially thought about getting her to BCC me, but realizing that I might not get his responses to her questions I asked her if she could just forward all emails between them to me, and she agreed. I don't want him to know that I'm going to be reading what he's writing, so hopefully he'll be more honest in his responses to her knowing that I won't know what he's saying (HA!). She sounded quite confused and upset about what they did to me (we talked about it for almost half an hour), and since she has no official link with UNUM, she's going to do anything she can to find out what their files REALLY say about my case. In the last few conversations with my UNUM rep he seemed to waver a little bit about cutting off my checks in March, it was a slight waver, but I know I detected it in his tone of voice and by reading between the lines of what he was saying. Tomorrow I'll be getting tested for heavy metal poisoning, if we find something we'll have more ammunition to fight UNUM with, and the rep agreed that a positive finding would definitely force them to re-evaluate my claim. And I might finally get the medical treatment I need to get back to 100% health! Before you say it (Heidi :-P), I know, don't get my hopes up about anything mentioned above..........but my case has taken a surprisingly strange twist that may end up in my favor. Let us pray something good comes out of this.....if that's not your thing, at least wish me well.....please? From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 26 15:01:33 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Mon Jan 26 15:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Useless statistics In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9B9ECD1ECD936TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... Now, the 2010 > Insight has a pricepoint of $18k. Mind you, it looks... Just like a > Prius. Ha. But whatever. $18k is a normal car price. And I can sell > my current Honda for more than half what I paid for it. That alone is > freaking insane, if you asked me. Seriously. Nuts. Crazy like. Will > the Prius people be jealous? Probably not - I'll get a cheap car with no > frills. Of course, it's to replace a no-frills car. But... Hey! The > replacement will have power windows. Whoa! Anyway... I think if you include the cost of replacing the battery set you still come up in the red before the car's useful life is reached. From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 26 15:38:52 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Mon Jan 26 15:40:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Jesus H.....stoopid design flaw Message-ID: I got CD stuck in my DVD/CD player on my PC. No problemo, right? Just straighten out a paper clip and stick it in the little hole next to the drive, right? WRONG! In all it's brilliance, HP put the manual eject hole in the _side_ of the drive.....which is inaccessable. I have to actually take the back cover off of the PC and pull the drive out so I can get access to the eject pinhole. I'd like to strangle the pinhead who decided that was a fine way to design a computer! From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 26 15:53:01 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Bar0) Date: Mon Jan 26 15:55:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jesus H.....stoopid design flaw References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:gll710$p9l$1@news.spamcop.net... >..... >I'd like to strangle the pinhead who decided that was a fine way to design >a computer! Nice word choice. From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 26 17:04:55 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Mon Jan 26 17:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jesus H.....stoopid design flaw In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Bar0" wrote in message news:gll7rb$v9h$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Indigo" wrote in message > news:gll710$p9l$1@news.spamcop.net... >>..... >>I'd like to strangle the pinhead who decided that was a fine way to design >>a computer! > Nice word choice. Intentional ;-) Had the fright of my life after putting everything back together (I had to unplug everything connected to the PC to get the case lid off). When I booted up the first time, I got this weird error message that said something like 'personalizaton settings not found', and I just had a blank blue screen with only the mouse cursor showing. I had run RegCure right before I shut down to fix the CD problem, I looked at everything pretty closely before I let it clean out the crap it found, but I feared that I had deleted something important. The reason I looked at the reg clean log closely was because I had tried out Uniblue's reg cleaner and found glaringly obvious errors in the changes it wanted to make (delete valid values). I've been using RegCure for over a year and never had any issue that I could pin down to it cleaning the reg file. It makes a backup before it scans, so if there ever _was_ a problem I could always restore the registry back to the previous version. I test out a lot of software sometimes, and if I don't like it I uninstall it, but most uninstallers leave tons of crap behind, in the reg file and on the hard disk (like shortcuts and subdirectories). I can't stand the clutter -- I know I'm anal about it, and I know at least one person is going to respond that you should never run a reg cleaner and/or don't need one, but if I didn't clean it up every once in a while it would be so bloated it would slow my PC down. I was able to start task manager (thank ghod) and get to the recycle bin, found a bunch of files in there that I sure don't remember deleting, plus a few ini files, so just to be safe I restored everything. Then I was able to get to a restart shortcut I have on my desktop, and on the 2nd boot everything was back to normal. From mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com Mon Jan 26 19:28:31 2009 From: mny98rv02 at sneakemail.com (Mr. K Mean) Date: Mon Jan 26 19:30:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Cracked Message-ID: Grr, my bike has a broken frame, cracked around the seat tube. Apparently that is a known fault of the frame, one of them at the shop told me. It is still in warranty and they will replace it, but I'm in Australia and they are in London. So far they want the old frame back and won't pay for any shipping. Maybe when you are back in London, you could drop it by. Umm, that won't be for, who knows how many months, years. I guess I have some arguing ahead of me here. And will probably just have to go shopping for a replacement frame and maybe some day have a second frame to build a new bike on. From me at privacy.net Mon Jan 26 23:34:33 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Mon Jan 26 23:35:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Those dirty sneaky bastages! References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:gll4n7$cek$1@news.spamcop.net... : Some of you .social friends my recall that my disability company : unilaterally changed my diagnosis code from lyme disease to "mental illness" : back in 2007, cutting my benefits from age 65 to 24 months, despite me : having a positive Western blot test, the CIDC "gold standard" for lyme : infection. They even had the balls to claim that I was never infected with : lyme AT ALL. I fought them for nearly a year over applying for SSDI -- I'm : not 100% disabled, nowhere near it in fact, at least not now, and not in : late 2007 either -- I would say that I was pretty much totally disabled when : I had to quit working, but I've made significant improvements since then. I : had serious ethical problems with filing a false SSDI claim, making folks : who truly deserve the benefits wait behind me. I also mentioned to UNUM that : I was aware of the class action lawsuite filed against them for dumping all : their clients onto SSDI knowing fully well that plenty of them were not : eligible for benefits. In the last several years they've been doing this, : the average wait time to get an SSDI claim processed jumped from 5-6 months : to 13-15 months, the system became overwhelmed with applications. : : I held them at bay for almost a year, but 2 months ago they threatened to : yank my benefits if I didn't apply. At that point, I had no choice. I just : got off the phone with a very nice rep from the company that helps them : process claims (GENEX), and after I finished giving her all the info she : needed I proceeded to explain to her what they did to me and my moral : problem (and potentially illegal action) with filing the claim. She said : that the paperwork they are filing with the SSA is for disability caused by : LYME DISEASE! No mention at all about mental illness (which was never the : problem in the first place). I asked her if mental illness is even a valid : SSDI claim, and she said it was, but you had to be very, very mentally ill : to get approved for it, i.e. nearly insane and unable to take care of : yourself. : : She agreed that something smelled fishy in Denmark, and is going to email my : UNUM rep asking for an explanation on the discrepancy between my "official" : diagnosis code and the different (lyme) code that they are filing my app : under. She offered to CC me on the email correspondence, and I initially : thought about getting her to BCC me, but realizing that I might not get his : responses to her questions I asked her if she could just forward all emails : between them to me, and she agreed. I don't want him to know that I'm going : to be reading what he's writing, so hopefully he'll be more honest in his : responses to her knowing that I won't know what he's saying (HA!). She : sounded quite confused and upset about what they did to me (we talked about : it for almost half an hour), and since she has no official link with UNUM, : she's going to do anything she can to find out what their files REALLY say : about my case. In the last few conversations with my UNUM rep he seemed to : waver a little bit about cutting off my checks in March, it was a slight : waver, but I know I detected it in his tone of voice and by reading between : the lines of what he was saying. : : Tomorrow I'll be getting tested for heavy metal poisoning, if we find : something we'll have more ammunition to fight UNUM with, and the rep agreed : that a positive finding would definitely force them to re-evaluate my claim. : And I might finally get the medical treatment I need to get back to 100% : health! : : Before you say it (Heidi :-P), I know, don't get my hopes up about anything : mentioned above..........but my case has taken a surprisingly strange twist : that may end up in my favor. Let us pray something good comes out of : this.....if that's not your thing, at least wish me well.....please? I'll say it again GET A LAWYER that knows disability and ERISA. (it's specialty law BTW not something your average lawyer can deal with) UNUM/PROVIDENT will stoop to anything to avoid paying. BTW the SSDI class action is not the only thing UNUM has been nailed for. : From avoozl at spamcop.net Tue Jan 27 00:38:41 2009 From: avoozl at spamcop.net (Chris F. Willoughby) Date: Tue Jan 27 00:40:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Those dirty sneaky bastages! References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9B9FC44275284TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was "Indigo" ! > >> at least wish me well > > Good luck with all of that, eh? Ditto. :) From fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com Tue Jan 27 06:32:29 2009 From: fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com (Mr K. Mean) Date: Tue Jan 27 06:35:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > > Hate it when that happens. Of course, when it happens to me I'm usually > in some kind of catastrophic accident... The accident preceding the > broken frame and not vice versa. So... What happened? Shipping? > And... If it's just a weld you can always get it welded back together, > no? Oh, go on. Tell me what kind of frame you have so that I can stop > making stoopid suggestions. > > Still, I'd probably be bummed, too. Why, I'd have to ride one of my > other bikes to work... Only skinny slicks aren't all that fun in the > ice. And full suspension isn't very much fun on commutes involving going > up big hills. But whatever. There are options. So... How are you > getting sround, now? I suppose you've posted pix on your blog. Ha ha. > When I went to something related to your "old" site - just off the top of > my head - I got a film production company. OK, OK. A more serious > search is called for. Moment! OK, got to the old site. That was easy. > Well, whatever. La la la. Well, unfortunately I sold my other bike before leaving London and only shipped one bike to Australia. Who would have thought it would have cracked. Well, one guy at Condor said that cracks around the seat tube were a known problem with the frame. There must be just too much stress there, all the tubes and weight at one point. Pictures: http://tinyurl.com/an7835 I seriously doubt it was the shipping. There were other things packed in the bike box too and if anything shocked it enough brake a steel frame, that stuff would have been dust. I think it had already started cracking before I shipped it and I just discovered it once I got here and started riding again. It is a steel frame but one bike shop I asked at said maybe it could be welded again but he personally would never use it again for touring. I tend to agree, if it was just a joint or maybe one of the straight tubes, maybe a patch would work but I think fixing that would just be a temporary fix. I might consider it just to have something that I feel a little better about riding until I can sort out some new frame but then they are insisting on getting the frame back, and I can't imagine that they would be happy about a rewelded frame. At this point, I'm just borrowing a bike. I think in the meantime I'm going frame shopping. The rest of the pictures and stuff are at http://tinyurl.com/6m2age From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 27 17:29:17 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 27 17:30:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Mr. K Mean" wrote in message news:gllkf6$c5e$1@news.spamcop.net... > Grr, my bike has a broken frame, cracked around the seat tube. Apparently > that is a known fault of the frame, one of them at the shop told me. It > is still in warranty and they will replace it, but I'm in Australia and > they are in London. So far they want the old frame back and won't pay for > any shipping. Maybe when you are back in London, you could drop it by. > Umm, that won't be for, who knows how many months, years. I guess I have > some arguing ahead of me here. And will probably just have to go shopping > for a replacement frame and maybe some day have a second frame to build a > new bike on. Hope you bike ain't as expensive as the one my bro-in-law recently totaled......it's going to cost $4000 to replace it....when my sister told me that I didn't believe her, but apparently I have no clue what race/performance bikes go for these days. Hell, for that much money, it oughta pedal itself for you! From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 27 17:46:37 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 27 17:50:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Mr K. Mean" wrote in message news:glmrcf$iho$1@news.spamcop.net... Well, one guy at Condor said that cracks around the seat tube > were a known problem with the frame. There must be just too much stress > there, all the tubes and weight at one point. Pictures: > http://tinyurl.com/an7835 Yikes....cracked on both sides almost identically. Interesting that both cracks start just at the edge of the heat stressed zone of the weld to the smaller tube going downward at an angle, and managed to propogate straight thru a seemingly larger and stronger weld on that big backframe tube. > > I seriously doubt it was the shipping. There were other things packed in > the bike box too and if anything shocked it enough brake a steel frame, > that stuff would have been dust. I think it had already started cracking > before I shipped it and I just discovered it once I got here and started > riding again. Well that's good news, you answered my next question: it's a steel frame. Should be very easy to repair the cracks by welding them with a filler weld rod (if TIG welded) or just use a MIG welder - a 15 minute job for a competent welder. Of course, how long they'll last without reinforcing that downtube that is creating all the stress is the question. An ugly but stronger solution would be to repair the cracks, then weld plates to each side, encompassing all four tubes, assuming that you're going to be getting a new frame when you get back to London. > > The rest of the pictures and stuff are at > http://tinyurl.com/6m2age So where's the pics of you and your secret friend located? I didn't see many individual faces in the few libraries I scanned.... From me at privacy.net Wed Jan 28 00:38:24 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Wed Jan 28 01:00:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:glo1rt$b9a$1@news.spamcop.net... : : "Mr. K Mean" wrote in message : news:gllkf6$c5e$1@news.spamcop.net... : > Grr, my bike has a broken frame, cracked around the seat tube. Apparently : > that is a known fault of the frame, one of them at the shop told me. It : > is still in warranty and they will replace it, but I'm in Australia and : > they are in London. So far they want the old frame back and won't pay for : > any shipping. Maybe when you are back in London, you could drop it by. : > Umm, that won't be for, who knows how many months, years. I guess I have : > some arguing ahead of me here. And will probably just have to go shopping : > for a replacement frame and maybe some day have a second frame to build a : > new bike on. : : Hope you bike ain't as expensive as the one my bro-in-law recently : totaled......it's going to cost $4000 to replace it....when my sister told : me that I didn't believe her, but apparently I have no clue what : race/performance bikes go for these days. Hell, for that much money, it : oughta pedal itself for you! You mean like a motor cycle? Harley's are bit more then $4K From fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com Wed Jan 28 01:03:15 2009 From: fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com (Mr K. Mean) Date: Wed Jan 28 01:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > It wasn't me! It was "Mr K. Mean" ! > >> There must be just too much stress >> there, all the tubes and weight at one point. Pictures: >> http://tinyurl.com/an7835 > > Something like that would/could happen if the seatpost wasn't inserted far > enough. But, whatever. And, whoa, doesn't look like fun. I'll think > about reading the whole blog later but right now I'm trying to think about > getting values from a series through devious means (since tcharts doesn't > offer me a direct way to get the values). Very cheeky of them. It could be the seatpost. It is up high but it isn't past the safety point. The bike should have been engineered to handle that. They custom fitted the bike for me, measured me on a jig and all that. From fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com Wed Jan 28 01:12:23 2009 From: fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com (Mr K. Mean) Date: Wed Jan 28 01:15:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > > Hope you bike ain't as expensive as the one my bro-in-law recently > totaled......it's going to cost $4000 to replace it....when my sister > told me that I didn't believe her, but apparently I have no clue what > race/performance bikes go for these days. Hell, for that much money, it > oughta pedal itself for you! I went shopping for some new frames today, probably will cost me like 600-700 AUS to get one. I'm eyeing the Surly Long Haul. It seems like whatever happens with my other frame, it will take months to get a new one so it is time to just rebuild everything onto a new frame. Eventually I'll have another frame to play with and build yet another bike on it. I guess it is sort of expensive but bikes have been my primary form of transportation for the last few years. I'll have to break down and buy a car here in Australia but still try to mostly ride a bike to places. From fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com Wed Jan 28 01:23:29 2009 From: fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com (Mr K. Mean) Date: Wed Jan 28 01:25:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > Yikes....cracked on both sides almost identically. Interesting that both > cracks start just at the edge of the heat stressed zone of the weld to > the smaller tube going downward at an angle, and managed to propogate > straight thru a seemingly larger and stronger weld on that big backframe > tube. It is quite likely that the stress of the seat post broke it, but that would seem to indicate that the join of all those tubes wasn't designed very well. The seat was never up above the marked safety point on the seat post. > Well that's good news, you answered my next question: it's a steel > frame. Should be very easy to repair the cracks by welding them with a > filler weld rod (if TIG welded) or just use a MIG welder - a 15 minute > job for a competent welder. Of course, how long they'll last without > reinforcing that downtube that is creating all the stress is the > question. An ugly but stronger solution would be to repair the cracks, > then weld plates to each side, encompassing all four tubes, assuming > that you're going to be getting a new frame when you get back to London. I've asked about rewelding the frame at a local bike shop. Nobody in town does bike building, so I would have to go to a normal welder. The guy in the bike shop thought it could be welded but he would never use again for touring, so it would be an unsuitable long term repair. Also, if I'm getting it replaced under warranty, then me going out and getting it welded won't go over very well. I don't have plans to go back to London any time soon, so I need to find one here or make them send me a new one. > So where's the pics of you and your secret friend located? I didn't see > many individual faces in the few libraries I scanned.... They are scatted all through. Not a whole lot though. I haven't had time to go through them all yet and organize them in any sort of meaningful way. From fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com Wed Jan 28 01:34:59 2009 From: fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com (Mr K. Mean) Date: Wed Jan 28 01:35:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > No way it was me! It was "Mr K. Mean" ! > >> The rest of the pictures and stuff are at > > Golly. That's a lot of pictures. Dude... Um. Could you just, like, > make a "best of" gallery somewhere? I mean... That's a lot of pictures! > What a grand adventure! Yeah, lots of pictures. Oh my, I just scanned the directories, looks like I took about 13,000 over five months. Hmm, between two of us, like 85 a day, I guess that's slightly overboard but maybe not so much considering the places we went. I think I took a few hundred just of the Great Wall the day we were there. Eventually I'll get around to making a cut down version, a best of, but it will take a while. While we were traveling, it was enough work just to get things off the camera and upload them occasionally. > An, anyway, a Fratello, huh? How audaxious of you (yuck, yuck). You are > the kind of guy to ride around lake ontario in 3 days - admit it. Looks Are you still on about that lake ride? I'm trying to ration my air miles, I already want to come back to visit my family and there might be a reunion of London friends on the east coast, not sure I can justify a lake ride trip too. Besides, I need to get a job and then have to worry about rationing my vacation time. From fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com Wed Jan 28 01:36:32 2009 From: fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com (Mr K. Mean) Date: Wed Jan 28 01:40:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Frog Prince wrote: > "Indigo" wrote in message > : Hope you bike ain't as expensive as the one my bro-in-law recently > : totaled......it's going to cost $4000 to replace it....when my sister told > : me that I didn't believe her, but apparently I have no clue what > : race/performance bikes go for these days. Hell, for that much money, it > : oughta pedal itself for you! > > You mean like a motor cycle? Harley's are bit more then $4K Nope, a pedal cycle. No motors or leather garments involved in this mode of transportation. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 28 07:55:26 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Wed Jan 28 08:00:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked References: Message-ID: "Mr K. Mean" wrote in message news:glot0o$8iq$1@news.spamcop.net... > I went shopping for some new frames today, probably will cost me like > 600-700 AUS to get one. I'm eyeing the Surly Long Haul. It seems like > whatever happens with my other frame, it will take months to get a new one > so it is time to just rebuild everything onto a new frame. Eventually I'll > have another frame to play with and build yet another bike on it. > > I guess it is sort of expensive but bikes have been my primary form of > transportation for the last few years. I'll have to break down and buy a > car here in Australia but still try to mostly ride a bike to places. My co-worker who did the Iron Man spent about 5k on her custom bike, she loves it though, it was custom fitted to her and she says worth every penny. You can buy some car for $5k, with a roof and doors and everything. From me at privacy.net Wed Jan 28 09:19:17 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Wed Jan 28 09:20:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Ice storm Message-ID: N Texas just had an ice storm. Down to 22 F this morning. ice everywhere (can't so much as walk to the mail box with out busting butt). (not that I want to or will). Expecting temps of ~ 47 F around noon. (crazy) In any case woke up this AM to the sun rising and flowing through the farm field next just to the east of us. Trees covered in ice and the sun illuminating the ice from the back side. Beautiful, so long as you're inside drinking a hot cup and not out, about and slip sliding away. Just happen to be watching the basket ball court at the end of the block. Small group of kids pushed the point and started a game. Aside from a lot of butt bumps on the hard cold court it was a giggle and grin watching the (brief) action under the back board when the ball loosed an accumulation of ice on the kids collected to catch the rebound. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 28 15:59:25 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 28 16:00:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Those dirty sneaky bastages! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:glm2ti$od0$1@news.spamcop.net... > I'll say it again GET A LAWYER that knows disability and ERISA. (it's > specialty law BTW not something your average lawyer can deal with) And I'm supposed to get the money to pay him from where? He'll want a $3k or so retainer up front, won't he? > > UNUM/PROVIDENT will stoop to anything to avoid paying. Yesterday during my lyme doc appt. he showed me several letters exchanged between he and UNUM -- you would not believe how they twisted words spoken to them on the phone by both me and him into total distortions and out of context meanings. This is supposedly the head "doctor" in charge of my claim, and it is clear that she has absolutely no idea what the condition of "chronic fatigue" even means, let alone how it affects people who suffer from it. And that's just the tip of the iceberg....the symptoms of lyme disease just seem to confuse the hell out of her, she thinks I'm faking everything. Took my heavy metal urine test yesterday, but it's going to take almost a month to get the results back :-( I'm also going to go back to my ortho guy and demand that he drain the cyst behind my knee, which is still the same size it was prior to my knee surgery. It still causes me pain when I'm on my feet for a while. He initially refused to drain it, saying it would likely just fill back up, but my lyme doc wants the fluid tested again for levels of lyme antibodies. New plan of action, if heavy metal tests come back negative, is daily IV antibiotics, a real nutcracker......and not covered by insurance, of course. And if they come back positive, I'm in for a real ordeal and long treatment and recovery, I had no real idea what the treatment involved. It's a dangerous procedure (chelation therapy) that must be done very slowly, once the drugs start "breaking free" the toxins stored in your bones (the first place they get stored in) and other organs they can circulate in your bloodstream and end up in other organs, with the brain being the worst potential "new location". Mercury poisoning is a big worry of his, given that I had about 12 mercury/amalgam fillings in my teeth by the time I was 14 years old (every molar). The last one was removed a few years ago. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 28 15:59:58 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 28 16:00:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Those dirty sneaky bastages! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Chris F. Willoughby" wrote in message news:glm6kq$1k7$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Charles" wrote in message > news:Xns9B9FC44275284TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... >> No way it was me! It was "Indigo" ! >> >>> at least wish me well >> >> Good luck with all of that, eh? > > Ditto. :) > Thnx guys. It looks like I'm going to need a lot of it.... From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 28 16:01:40 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 28 16:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:glorvv$61o$1@news.spamcop.net... > > You mean like a motor cycle? Harley's are bit more then $4K > > No, he has/had a high performance race bicycle. But mentioning Harleys, my first thought was "jeez, you could buy a motorcycle for that much money!". From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 28 16:11:40 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 28 16:15:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:glpkk2$fvn$1@news.spamcop.net... > My co-worker who did the Iron Man spent about 5k on her custom bike, she > loves it though, it was custom fitted to her and she says worth every > penny. You can buy some car for $5k, with a roof and doors and everything. > It can get pretty ridiculous...found this snippet on the net: Call it bike inflation, and if you haven't been in a bike store for a few years, steel yourself for some serious sticker shock. A $7,000 road bike is no longer an anomaly; $10,000 editions are popping up at recreational weekend rides around Greater Boston, and area custom builders are taking orders for road bikes that are creeping toward $15,000. Where will it end? Dealers say the first $20,000 road bike is coming soon to a Daddy Warbucks near you. ''The first time I saw a $10,000 bike was a few years ago," said Stephen Madden, the editor of Bicycling magazine, which is based in Pennsylvania. ''It kind of blew my mind, but now it's really pretty easy to spend $8,000 on a bike. I know that sounds kind of crazy, but there are plenty out there." There's a slew of factors contributing to this climb. Lighter, stronger aerospace materials available to bike makers get better -- and more expensive -- every year. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 28 16:14:00 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 28 16:15:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9BA0CEA7A8304TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was "Indigo" ! > >> So where's the pics of you and your secret friend located? I didn't >> see many individual faces in the few libraries I scanned.... > > Look in Norway, man. Oh. Ahem. La la la. And how exactly do I find "Norway"? The blog ain't organized like that. Link please? From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 28 16:20:21 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 28 16:25:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Ice storm In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:glpph6$vat$1@news.spamcop.net... > > N Texas just had an ice storm. Down to 22 F this morning. ice everywhere > (can't so much as walk to the mail box with out busting butt). (not that I > want to or will). We had one last nite too. When I went out to start my car to defrost the 1/4" plus of ice covering the windshields I took one step onto the driveway and slid all the way into the street before stopping ;-) I walked back to the deck in the grass, went inside and exchanged my hard soled waterproof boots for sneakers, and managed to ease my way to the car without much of a problem. Now it's raining again, the temp is about 33 F, probably have to go thru the whole damn process again tomorrow. What PO's me off the most is that my appt. for today for this special type of PT that I've been getting that's really helped was canceled. And she canceled our last appt 2 weeks ago because of a personal emergency. Now it's going to be over 5 weeks between treatments before I see her next week (hopefully). From fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com Wed Jan 28 19:10:45 2009 From: fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com (Mr K. Mean) Date: Wed Jan 28 19:15:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > "Mr K. Mean" wrote in message >> I guess it is sort of expensive but bikes have been my primary form of >> transportation for the last few years. I'll have to break down and buy a >> car here in Australia but still try to mostly ride a bike to places. > > My co-worker who did the Iron Man spent about 5k on her custom bike, she > loves it though, it was custom fitted to her and she says worth every penny. > You can buy some car for $5k, with a roof and doors and everything. Oh even with the cracked frame, even if it turns out to be a disaster, I don't regret having bought an expensive bike. It paid for itself in a year of not riding the Tube (at 2.20 a ride, it only took about 200 days to come out even). And it really is a pleasure riding something that works so well. I probably had like 8000 miles on that bike. From fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com Wed Jan 28 19:13:04 2009 From: fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com (Mr K. Mean) Date: Wed Jan 28 19:15:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > It wasn't me! It was "Mr K. Mean" ! > > And then... Um. Tee hee. There's always the possibility that I'm not > physically (mentally?) capable of it. I wouldn't really know - I only > did my second century ever last year. Of course, I managed that in > under 6 hours and felt better at the end than at the start (I could have > ridden hours longer without a problem). I dunno. It's complicated. I > still don't know what big challengy thing I'm going to do... I guess I've done at least a few of them. But none of them were really under normal circumstances. 120 miles over night a few times, hmm, I guess the 90 something miles over thousands of feet of climb doesn't count, but I think it kind of should. I don't doubt that I can ride centuries, I don't really feel the need to prove it unless the ride itself is going to be nice. Mileage for mileage sake is silly. >> Eventually I'll get around to making a cut down version, a best of, >> but it will take a while. > > Yeah, well, what you have up is pretty overwhelming! I suppose it would > be too much, at this point, to move the ones you want to keep to a web > site that's easier/faster to use. Yeah, well, just saying. La la la. Eventually, it will all be linked from somewhere like here http://tinyurl.com/cleqj8 I even got overwhelmed back in August just starting on those and never finished the cut down versions then. Maybe someday it will be like the Whales and Dolphins thing, pictures and text and better organized. > Boy, it sure is snowing out there. New rules apply - if school is > closed I'm not riding my bike to work. But, ah, we got a second set of > rollers so I brought my race bike with me in the car - I'll do rollers > for an hour or so at lunch. I'm borrowing a Bike Friday here now. I did ride a bike in every country (except Finland, Russia, Mongolia, and Malaysia). Most of those were rusty single speeds, hard work. I guess I did carry a 20 kg backpack for 5 months too and walked a whole lot. I don't seem to be as totally out of shape after 5 months of not riding everyday as I thought I might be. The heat wave here has broken, it has been raining a whole lot at night now and is pretty pleasant during the day. From fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com Wed Jan 28 19:15:46 2009 From: fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com (Mr K. Mean) Date: Wed Jan 28 19:20:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > "Frog Prince" wrote in message > news:glorvv$61o$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> You mean like a motor cycle? Harley's are bit more then $4K >> >> > No, he has/had a high performance race bicycle. But mentioning Harleys, > my first thought was "jeez, you could buy a motorcycle for that much > money!". No, more of a touring bike. I don't really need to go fast, I just like going far. From fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com Wed Jan 28 19:26:21 2009 From: fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com (Mr K. Mean) Date: Wed Jan 28 19:30:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > It can get pretty ridiculous...found this snippet on the net: > > Call it bike inflation, and if you haven't been in a bike store for a > few years, steel yourself for some serious sticker shock. A $7,000 road > bike is no longer an anomaly; $10,000 editions are popping up at > recreational weekend rides around Greater Boston, and area custom > builders are taking orders for road bikes that are creeping toward $15,000. > > There's a slew of factors contributing to this climb. Lighter, stronger > aerospace materials available to bike makers get better -- and more > expensive -- every year. I have seen some beautiful bikes, made out of ridiculous things like titanium or all carbon fibre. You can pick them up with your pinky finger. But it is pretty silly. It seems like with anything you can buy, once you get past sort of mid range, you run into the law of diminishing returns pretty quickly. You can pay twice (or more) as much but do you really get twice as much out of it? You know, buying a computer CPU that is 20% faster than the average ones for twice the price. From fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com Wed Jan 28 19:27:59 2009 From: fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com (Mr K. Mean) Date: Wed Jan 28 19:30:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > No way it was me! It was "Mr K. Mean" ! > >> It is quite likely that the stress of the seat post broke it, but that >> would seem to indicate that the join of all those tubes wasn't designed >> very well. The seat was never up above the marked safety point on the >> seat post. > > As I understand things that mark is for the insertion point at the top > tube, not at the entry point. But, whatever, they must know what they're > doing - they set it up that way, right? Exactly. The seat hasn't moved since the day it left the shop. They measured me and adjusted everything. From fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com Wed Jan 28 19:36:06 2009 From: fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com (Mr K. Mean) Date: Wed Jan 28 19:40:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > No way it was me! It was "Indigo" ! >> "Charles" wrote in message >> news:Xns9BA0CEA7A8304TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... >>> No way it was me! It was "Indigo" ! >>> >>>> So where's the pics of you and your secret friend located? I didn't >>>> see many individual faces in the few libraries I scanned.... >>> Look in Norway, man. Oh. Ahem. La la la. >> And how exactly do I find "Norway"? The blog ain't organized like >> that. Link please? > > The photos are set up like that. In his post he's got a link to photos. > You go there then up a directory then down in the norway stuff. I think we > get a pretty good idea of who the gf is - that would be the female in a lot > of the pix! The photographs sort of used to be in albums of specific days. Then I got overwhelmed and they ended up in albums of months (2008_12_, etc) and subalbums of a few days of photographs. It isn't meant to be the final display means, eventually it will have html pages that use the albums as their image source and you won't need to know where the images are stored. But I guess just at random, you could go to the second page of the 12_26 pictures, Bangkok and Koh Tao 2008_12_/2008_1226/?start=40 From fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com Wed Jan 28 19:39:27 2009 From: fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com (Mr K. Mean) Date: Wed Jan 28 19:40:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > No way it was me! It was "Mr K. Mean" ! > >> a pedal cycle. No motors or leather garments involved in this >> mode of transportation. > > Huh. What do you use for gloves and shoes? And I sure miss the old > leather helmets - the ones with maybe 7 or 8 puffy strips. Ah well. Ok, there is leather in the gloves. But I'm not clad in leather. Don't start me on helmets, grr. Stupid Australia. You think the UK is bad on the nanny state, everything wrapped in cotton wool. Australia really excels at it. Having to wear a bike helmet again is really annoying. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 28 22:27:29 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 28 22:30:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Mr K. Mean" wrote in message news:glqts1$s1$1@news.spamcop.net... > > Don't start me on helmets, grr. Stupid Australia. You think the UK is > bad on the nanny state, everything wrapped in cotton wool. Australia > really excels at it. Having to wear a bike helmet again is really > annoying. I'll be honest and contradictorily here.....if I ever get my 10 speed fixed or buy a new bike I would absolutely hate to wear a helmet, and would not wear one if it was legal to not wear one. On the other hand, my bro-in-law, I'm sure, is quite glad that he was wearing one when he had his accident. But there's a big difference in how I used to ride my bike and how he and you ride yours - I would rarely ride much farther than a couple miles, I used it as a means of local transportation because I didn't have access to a car (or it was too close to bother driving and wasting gas), not as exercise or for sporting purposes. On rare occasions, I would ride up 10-15 miles to play baseball or go visit a gal. That said, the roads here in MD are not nearly as conducive to bikers as the roads I used to ride on in PA. Heck, toe clips were as far as I used to go as far as safety (besides the obiligatory performance robbing friction based front aiming night light). And I survived riding that way from my early youth until my late teens, when I finally got my first car. I think the gov has leaned way too far to protect us from ourselves, as far as bicycles go....with motorcycles, on the other hand, my viewpoint is 180 degrees opposite. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 28 22:30:40 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 28 22:35:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Mr K. Mean" wrote in message news:glqsfj$u40$3@news.spamcop.net... > Indigo wrote: >> No, he has/had a high performance race bicycle. But mentioning Harleys, >> my first thought was "jeez, you could buy a motorcycle for that much >> money!". > > No, more of a touring bike. I don't really need to go fast, I just like > going far. Well, since he likes racing he needs to go far _and_ fast. He and his group have raised thousands of dollars riding for charity (you pledge x cents per mile). From fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com Wed Jan 28 23:05:14 2009 From: fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com (Mr K. Mean) Date: Wed Jan 28 23:10:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > I'll be honest and contradictorily here.....if I ever get my 10 speed > fixed or buy a new bike I would absolutely hate to wear a helmet, and > would not wear one if it was legal to not wear one. On the other hand, > my bro-in-law, I'm sure, is quite glad that he was wearing one when he > had his accident. > > But there's a big difference in how I used to ride my bike and how he > and you ride yours - I would rarely ride much farther than a couple > miles, I used it as a means of local transportation because I didn't > have access to a car (or it was too close to bother driving and wasting > gas), not as exercise or for sporting purposes. On rare occasions, I > would ride up 10-15 miles to play baseball or go visit a gal. That said, > the roads here in MD are not nearly as conducive to bikers as the roads > I used to ride on in PA. Heck, toe clips were as far as I used to go as > far as safety (besides the obiligatory performance robbing friction > based front aiming night light). And I survived riding that way from my > early youth until my late teens, when I finally got my first car. I > think the gov has leaned way too far to protect us from ourselves, as > far as bicycles go....with motorcycles, on the other hand, my viewpoint > is 180 degrees opposite. I have gone back and forth on helmets over the years. My main problem is that they give the impression that cycling is dangerous and suppresses some people from cycling because of that (cycling dropped immediately after the helmet law was passed in Australia). I mean it is dangerous but it is more so being a pedestrian and you don't have to wear a helmet then. Nobody wears them in Amsterdam and the roads are filled with cyclists there. I think they also give motorists the impression you are protected and they give you less room. They don't really do much for the most common types of collusions, being knocked off at low speeds or being turned into at a left (right, depending on country) turn where a head injury is probably the least of your injuries. Better to get more cyclists on the roads with less obesity and get past that critical mass where cyclists are seen as part of traffic and part of motorist's consciousness. For motorcycle helmets, I can kind of see their purpose. I mean motorcycles are incredibly dangerous compared to just about any other form of transport. And motorcycle helmets are much more designed for the job. Funny, in Vietnam, motorcycle helmets are now mandatory but people seem to wear them all day even off their motorcycles (I assume it says, look, I have a motorcycle). Motorcycles cause huge carnage on the roads in Vietnam, something like 25 people die a day. I think ideally, those journeys of 1-3 miles should almost always be done by bike. You could cut motor traffic drastically by switching over those huge percentages of car journeys which are only a few miles onto bikes. I've missed being on a bike for the last 5 months. It is nice to feel like my legs are stronger again, my back is doing more work and feels straighter, and I just feel healthier again. From me at privacy.net Thu Jan 29 14:55:36 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Thu Jan 29 15:00:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Those dirty sneaky bastages! References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:glqgvd$3t4$1@news.spamcop.net... : : "Frog Prince" wrote in message : news:glm2ti$od0$1@news.spamcop.net... : > I'll say it again GET A LAWYER that knows disability and ERISA. (it's : > specialty law BTW not something your average lawyer can deal with) : : And I'm supposed to get the money to pay him from where? He'll want a $3k or : so retainer up front, won't he? : : > : > UNUM/PROVIDENT will stoop to anything to avoid paying. : : Yesterday during my lyme doc appt. he showed me several letters exchanged : between he and UNUM -- you would not believe how they twisted words spoken : to them on the phone by both me and him into total distortions and out of : context meanings. This is supposedly the head "doctor" in charge of my : claim, and it is clear that she has absolutely no idea what the condition of : "chronic fatigue" even means, let alone how it affects people who suffer : from it. And that's just the tip of the iceberg....the symptoms of lyme : disease just seem to confuse the hell out of her, she thinks I'm faking : everything. : I know several physicians that tape ALL conversations with insurance companies. (Texas is a one party consent state). Plaintiff attorney LOVE these guys as it makes it very easy to challenge the written reports as well as the varasity of the insurance company ME. From borgholio at storymind.com Fri Jan 30 16:10:19 2009 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Fri Jan 30 16:15:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Octuplets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WomensHealth/Story?id=6769355&page=1 > > The media here is in a frenzy over this. When I thought she was an > infertile woman who had undergone fertility treatment and ended up with 8 > fetuses (and presumably because of religious convictions did not electively > abort some) I was sympathetic towards her. Now it's emerging that she > already has SIX children, my sympathies have evaporated and I now view her > with contempt for what she's done. She's single and probably on medicaid so > I guess California (ie US) is paying for these babies. If a doctor > knowingly treated her when she already had all those kids, that doctor > should lose their license. I'm glad I don't make enough to have to pay wellfare taxes. I would refuse to pay for her. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 30 17:50:45 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 30 17:55:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9BA3844A48AAFsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > I would never even consider riding a motorbike without a helmet. Maybe > just maybe if all you were riding was a scooter and not going over 25mph > but even that's ill advised. We were shocked in AZ to see people on > their Hogs riding without helmets at 70mph+ > One of my pet peeves is those guys on "American Chopper" frequently go out on test rides without helmets. Just a bad example from bikers that a lot of people idolize. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 30 17:55:14 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 30 18:00:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Those dirty sneaky bastages! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:glt1k0$m0v$1@news.spamcop.net... > I know several physicians that tape ALL conversations with insurance > companies. (Texas is a one party consent state). Plaintiff attorney > LOVE > these guys as it makes it very easy to challenge the written reports as > well > as the varasity of the insurance company ME. > Damn, I should have been doing that all along. When I got visited in person by some kind of investigator near the beginning of my long term disability (3 months after I stopped working) I set up a tape recorder with a desktop wide-angle mike to make sure nothing was taken out of context (those days my brain was almost non-functional). I dunno how I'd rig up a recorder to a portable phone though.....the speaker phone functionality on cordless phones sound pretty bad and it's hard for the other person to hear you. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 30 17:58:31 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 30 18:00:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Octuplets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:glvqbn$drk$1@news.spamcop.net... > > I'm glad I don't make enough to have to pay wellfare taxes. I would > refuse to pay for her. Huh? Never heard of such a thing. You can "not make enough" to avoid paying _income taxes_ , but I don't think you get SS taxes refunded. Or is welfare paid for with state income taxes? I think in MD there is no lower income level for paying taxes, unlike federal taxes. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 30 18:15:20 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 30 18:20:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9BA38C1F71130sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Indigo" wrote in > news:gl8r6b$qht$1@news.spamcop.net: > > >> If I have to take that big of a paycut I'll take it locally......in >> the meantime, it appears that I may _also_ be suffering from heavy >> metal poisoning (did I already mention that?). Getting tested next >> week, I've certainly been exposed to some seriously dangerous metal >> vapors during my career while welding, brazing, and >> soldering....Cadmium, Chomium, and Manganese, amongst the worst, since >> I've mostly welded stainless steel.....all can cause the symptoms I've >> had over the last few years. >> >> > > Holy crap. Can you hold anyone liable for that? Well, you can't sue the federal government unless they let you, so they're out.....and it'd be impossible to prove which job poisoned me the most. Plus I've had exposure to lots of stuff in my personal life, impossible to split that out too. And it's a cumulative effect in any case, you probably couldn't blame any single source unless you worked at one place for your entire career. My lyme doc thinks the most likely problem is mercury poisoning in any case, from all the amalgam fillings I've had since I was young. The mercury leaches out over time, that type of filling is banned now. Did you know that the job that has (I think) the #1 rate of suicides are dentists? It's because they spend so much of their time putting amalgam fillings into teeth, or grinding them out. Over the years all that mercury builds up in their brain and drives them into deep depression, they don't know why they're depressed and they decide to end it. My therapist slapped his forehead when I told him about it the other day, he was upset with himself for not thinking about it as a possible cause for my continuing cognitive difficulties. He told me he's been wondering for a couple months why I wasn't getting better and was quite puzzled by it. He really PO'd my insurance company by changing my diagnosis from his initial evaluation of PSTD to lyme disease at my last 3 month health review, with my anxiety as a secondary affect due to suffering from problems caused by the lyme infection. In the letter my lyme doc gave me from UNUM that mentioned the change in his diagnosis they said "so why isn't he going to a different therapist since he's not getting any better with that guy?". Can you fscking believe that? From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 30 18:18:14 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 30 18:20:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Useless statistics In-Reply-To: References: <1ncrn4dpfhpl1oih0agfiq8oe8r94binec@4ax.com> Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9BA38DCB946BDsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > Do you mean to say that DEALERS are charging over the MSRP? THAT should be > illegal. If someone buys it then sells it on Ebay to someone willing to > pay > more well that's their business, but dealers shouldn't be allowed to sell > it for more. I can tell it's been a long time since you've bought a new car ;-) It's called supply and demand, dear, capitalism at it's finest. I remember there was some limited issue sports car that came out a few years ago, dealers were getting something like $10k over MSRP because people were willing to pay it. From borgholio at storymind.com Fri Jan 30 18:18:38 2009 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Fri Jan 30 18:20:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Octuplets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > "Borgholio" wrote in message > news:glvqbn$drk$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> I'm glad I don't make enough to have to pay wellfare taxes. I would >> refuse to pay for her. > > Huh? Never heard of such a thing. You can "not make enough" to avoid > paying _income taxes_ , but I don't think you get SS taxes refunded. Or > is welfare paid for with state income taxes? I think in MD there is no > lower income level for paying taxes, unlike federal taxes. There's a lower limit where you don't have to pay any taxes. I am below that limit for federal taxes, and state only charges me like 20-ish bucks or so. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 30 18:20:24 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 30 18:25:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Jesus H.....stoopid design flaw In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9BA38FF77A7E7sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > http://h71016.www7.hp.com/html/interactive/004/model.html (flash, > presumably) My PC sorta resembles that one, but it has a bigger base that houses everything. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 30 18:22:11 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 30 18:25:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Octuplets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:gm01sa$drk$2@news.spamcop.net... > > There's a lower limit where you don't have to pay any taxes. I am below > that limit for federal taxes, and state only charges me like 20-ish bucks > or so. So when you retire you're not going to apply for SS benefits since you never contributed a dime to it, right? Right? From borgholio at storymind.com Fri Jan 30 18:34:37 2009 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Fri Jan 30 18:35:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Octuplets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > "Borgholio" wrote in message > news:gm01sa$drk$2@news.spamcop.net... >> >> There's a lower limit where you don't have to pay any taxes. I am >> below that limit for federal taxes, and state only charges me like >> 20-ish bucks or so. > > So when you retire you're not going to apply for SS benefits since you > never contributed a dime to it, right? Right? I have contributed a little bit back before I started working at home. But I probably can't apply given how I haven't been "employed" for years. I have my own retirement mutual fund though. From dfmanno at mail.com Fri Jan 30 18:40:05 2009 From: dfmanno at mail.com (D.F. Manno) Date: Fri Jan 30 18:40:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Octuplets References: Message-ID: In article , Sylvesterthekat wrote: > http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WomensHealth/Story?id=6769355&page=1 > > The media here is in a frenzy over this. When I thought she was an > infertile woman who had undergone fertility treatment and ended up with 8 > fetuses (and presumably because of religious convictions did not electively > abort some) I was sympathetic towards her. Now it's emerging that she > already has SIX children, my sympathies have evaporated and I now view her > with contempt for what she's done. She's single and probably on medicaid so > I guess California (ie US) is paying for these babies. If a doctor > knowingly treated her when she already had all those kids, that doctor > should lose their license. Let's see, you _don't know_ if she's on MediCal, you _don't know_ if the government is "paying for these babies" and you _don't know_ if the doctor knowingly treated her, yet you're ready to pronounce judgment and sentence based on media reports. Over-react much? -- D.F. Manno | dfmanno@mail.com Our long national nightmare is over. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 30 18:43:00 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 30 18:45:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Octuplets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:gm02q9$drk$3@news.spamcop.net... > > I have contributed a little bit back before I started working at home. But > I probably can't apply given how I haven't been "employed" for years. I don't think that matters. They'll just use your old salary to calculate your benefits AFAIK. > I have my own retirement mutual fund though. Good thing. That's why I'm so into the investing thing, I'm not counting on getting a dime from SS by the time I retire. If the program manages to survive in some form (and it has to, we'd have anarchy if the feds stopped paying little old ladies their monthly checks) the extra cash will just be a bonus. From borgholio at storymind.com Fri Jan 30 18:46:45 2009 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Fri Jan 30 18:50:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Octuplets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > Good thing. That's why I'm so into the investing thing, I'm not counting > on getting a dime from SS by the time I retire. If the program manages > to survive in some form (and it has to, we'd have anarchy if the feds > stopped paying little old ladies their monthly checks) the extra cash > will just be a bonus. It'd be nice if they simply dumped all the SS money into a giant mutual fund. It'd earn a return on the investment over time so people would at the very least be able to get SOME money back when they retire. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 30 18:49:34 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Jan 30 18:50:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: funny References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9BA38B851B80Fsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > http://icanhascheezburger.com/ > > scroll down to 'winston finally had to concede...' posted on jan 29 > > meantime, i had shut my cat out on the balcony while i vacuumed the living > room. the balcony door was open less than 2" and he's quite tubby (it's > our > nickname for him - Tubby). Suddenly, there he is, INSIDE. I'm guessing he > did a combo move of twisting his head thru the gap then flattening his > belly upwards by arching his back and shoving the doors open, because when > I looked they were now open about 4". And these are big heavy doors! Sniffle, my gray kitty was Winston, minus the cat flap, LOL From fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com Fri Jan 30 20:01:52 2009 From: fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com (Mr K. Mean) Date: Fri Jan 30 20:05:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > > Doesn't the company sell that bike in Australia? Surely the warranty is > worldwide?! No, they are a local London bike shop. I'm not exactly sure of the terms of the warranty since all that stuff is in a box in Perth right now. For now, I'm shopping for something new to hold me over. I'm running into the pain of exchange rates. There seem to be very few frames made in Australia. The nice ones seem to come from the US or the UK. UK ones have big shipping costs and the US dollar is killing the both the pound and the AUS dollar. From fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com Fri Jan 30 21:52:41 2009 From: fiyntyd02 at sneakemail.com (Mr K. Mean) Date: Fri Jan 30 21:55:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: >> For now, I'm shopping for something new to hold me over. I'm running >> into the pain of exchange rates. There seem to be very few frames >> made in Australia. The nice ones seem to come from the US or the UK. >> UK ones have big shipping costs and the US dollar is killing the both >> the pound and the AUS dollar. > > Yeah sod's law ain't it? After all that time of it being weaker than a half > drowned kitten. Doesn't one of the big boys have a big enough presence > there that their prices are reasonable (like Cannondale or Specialized)? > Did you check out Ebay Australia? Cannondale and Specialized don't sell just frames. I'm seeing if I can find some frame builders here. There seems to be one in Perth. If I'm going to pay $AUS 900 for an imported Surly frame, I wonder if I can find a custom built one for less than that. That's the other thing, Australia doesn't seem to online shop at all. I can barely find anything. Amazon isn't here, there don't seem to be any big online bike shops (like Wiggle). Even Google AU doesn't seem to have a product comparison, like a shopping link to compare online products. Strange. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 30 22:46:36 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 30 22:50:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Octuplets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:gm03h1$drk$4@news.spamcop.net... > > It'd be nice if they simply dumped all the SS money into a giant mutual > fund. It'd earn a return on the investment over time so people would at > the very least be able to get SOME money back when they retire. And which mutual fund would you suggest? There isn't a single one that didn't get bashed in late 2008. Even MMFs got hit bad. Face it, there's no safe place to park money these day except for under your mattress. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 30 22:49:41 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 30 22:50:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9BA3A2D5A8E71sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Indigo" wrote in > news:gm0084$l68$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> One of my pet peeves is those guys on "American Chopper" frequently go >> out on test rides without helmets. Just a bad example from bikers that >> a lot of people idolize. >> >> > > Are they riding off public roads or are they in a no helmet state? I > wonder > if they have to declare it on their health insurance so if they have head > injuries without a helmet the insurer doesn't have to pay up. Their shop is in upper NY, and they're riding on public roads. I dunno what the helmet laws are in NY....but there are very, very few states that don't have mandatory helmet laws for motorcycle riders. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 30 22:55:14 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 30 23:00:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9BA3A45759646sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > Do you have an awful lot of amalgam fillings? A dentist I can understand, > they're exposed to it a LOT, way more than any normal person. I've got > about 8 amalgam fillings, all of which I'd like to have replaced but that > ain't happening anytime soon, not unless it's now a requirement that > insurers have to pay for the procedure. I have a feeling they don't. > > I had about 10-12 fillings by the time I was 12-13 years old (every molar). The last one was replaced a few years ago. As they aged, they started to separate from the real tooth, causing them to leak and allowing the tooth to rot. A lot of them had to be replaced with crowns because the tooth eventually cracked, with about 4-5 root canals in the process. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 30 23:02:20 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 30 23:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Useless statistics In-Reply-To: References: <1ncrn4dpfhpl1oih0agfiq8oe8r94binec@4ax.com> Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9BA3A4A5B2888sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > I can tell you exactly when I last bought a new car. Never. And I never > will because it's a huge waste of money. Even if you don't pay over MSRP! > You're better off saving the instant loss you make the moment you drive it > away and using that money to pay for the upkeep on your used car. Well, since I'm such a great customer of my local Acura dealer I've gotten great deals in the last 8 years (buying hmmm....4 new cars from them in that time span, IIRC). The last time I was there for service on my current car they offered me a 2007 RL for $10k below MSRP. If I was healthy and employed I would have jumped on it right then and there. The newer high end Acuras have a rear view camera that shows up in the Nav display when the car is in reverse, it's hellakool ! ;-) From borgholio at storymind.com Fri Jan 30 23:06:31 2009 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Fri Jan 30 23:10:07 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Octuplets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > "Borgholio" wrote in message > news:gm03h1$drk$4@news.spamcop.net... >> >> It'd be nice if they simply dumped all the SS money into a giant >> mutual fund. It'd earn a return on the investment over time so people >> would at the very least be able to get SOME money back when they retire. > > And which mutual fund would you suggest? There isn't a single one that > didn't get bashed in late 2008. Even MMFs got hit bad. Face it, there's > no safe place to park money these day except for under your mattress. That's true, but for example, over the lifetime of my fund it averaged 12%. In the long term, having SS money earning 12% interest will be quite beneficial. From JusNotPlainBill at comcast.net Sat Jan 31 01:41:31 2009 From: JusNotPlainBill at comcast.net (JustPlainBill) Date: Sat Jan 31 01:45:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Octuplets References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9BA3A3B6E37B7sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "D.F. Manno" wrote in > news:dfmanno-7AED17.18400430012009@news.cesmail.net: > > >> Let's see, you _don't know_ if she's on MediCal, you _don't know_ if >> the government is "paying for these babies" and you _don't know_ if >> the doctor knowingly treated her, yet you're ready to pronounce >> judgment and sentence based on media reports. Over-react much? >> > > Assuming that the reports are true (her MOTHER is the source), yes I'm > ready to pronounce judgement. The only instance where i'd be sympathetic > is > if she had no children (that fact has already been established, she does > have 6) AND if she'd been infertile AND able to raise children on her own > AND in a stable relationship. Since none of this appears to apply in this > case, she's irresponsible and dumber than a box of rocks and WE have to > pay > for it. My wife had an interesting take on it. She suggested that any company or organization that offers to supply products to this ding-a-ling should be picketted and boycotted. Further, that all the news/reporting/blog media ignore them so they can quietly disappear into the dark. She surprised me. JustPlainBill From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 31 08:28:32 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Steven Underwood) Date: Sat Jan 31 08:30:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cracked References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:gm0hok$vjr$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message > news:Xns9BA3A2D5A8E71sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... >> "Indigo" wrote in >> news:gm0084$l68$1@news.spamcop.net: >> >>> One of my pet peeves is those guys on "American Chopper" frequently go >>> out on test rides without helmets. Just a bad example from bikers that >>> a lot of people idolize. >>> >>> >> >> Are they riding off public roads or are they in a no helmet state? I >> wonder >> if they have to declare it on their health insurance so if they have head >> injuries without a helmet the insurer doesn't have to pay up. > > Their shop is in upper NY, and they're riding on public roads. I dunno > what the helmet laws are in NY....but there are very, very few states that > don't have mandatory helmet laws for motorcycle riders. As of January 2008, New York was on the list for mandatory use. (Watch for wrapping) http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/staticfiles//DOT/NHTSA/Communication%20&%20Consumer%20Information/Articles/Associated%20Files/810887.pdf From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 31 08:35:17 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Steven Underwood) Date: Sat Jan 31 08:40:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Octuplets References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:gm0io2$drk$5@news.spamcop.net... > Indigo wrote: > > That's true, but for example, over the lifetime of my fund it averaged > 12%. In the long term, having SS money earning 12% interest will be quite > beneficial. Averages are no good for those who were planning to retire in the short term. I know of 2 people where I work, that retired last year and returned to their jobs this year (they had not yet been replaced). Both had large gains completely reversed but the drop. They now have less than they have put into it all these years (as do I, but I have another 20+ years to worry about that). From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 31 09:08:20 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sat Jan 31 09:10:09 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Octuplets References: Message-ID: "JustPlainBill" wrote in message news:gm0rql$sc4$1@news.spamcop.net... > My wife had an interesting take on it. She suggested that any company or > organization that offers to supply products to this ding-a-ling should be > picketted and boycotted. Further, that all the news/reporting/blog media > ignore them so they can quietly disappear into the dark. > > She surprised me. > I think she's right, this woman seems to be the picture of ignorance. The companies were probably falling all over themselves thinking how they could donate and slap the corporate logo all over the place, but now that all this has come out I think it will be surprising, and tragic, how little support she actually gets. I think her life is going to be a living hell. If those children don't end up being taken by social services I'll be very surprised, who on earth is paying the damn hospital bill? They estimated a normal birth could cost up to $25000, multiply that times 8 plus all the specialized doctors and services that aid premies and the bill is going to be well over what any normal human being could pay off, even the 20% that insurance doesn't pay. Is California, already broke, eating the cost for all of that? She can't work, obviously, and if she had money she wouldn't be living in a three bedroom home with six kids and her mother, so she's going to be on welfare, that has to be a given. Wonder how Arnold feels about that..... From me at privacy.net Sat Jan 31 08:52:06 2009 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sat Jan 31 09:55:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Octuplets References: Message-ID: "D.F. Manno" wrote in message news:dfmanno-7AED17.18400430012009@news.cesmail.net... : In article , : Sylvesterthekat wrote: : : > http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WomensHealth/Story?id=6769355&page=1 : > : > The media here is in a frenzy over this. When I thought she was an : > infertile woman who had undergone fertility treatment and ended up with 8 : > fetuses (and presumably because of religious convictions did not electively : > abort some) I was sympathetic towards her. Now it's emerging that she : > already has SIX children, my sympathies have evaporated and I now view her : > with contempt for what she's done. She's single and probably on medicaid so : > I guess California (ie US) is paying for these babies. If a doctor : > knowingly treated her when she already had all those kids, that doctor : > should lose their license. : : Let's see, you _don't know_ if she's on MediCal, you _don't know_ if the : government is "paying for these babies" and you _don't know_ if the : doctor knowingly treated her, yet you're ready to pronounce judgment and : sentence based on media reports. Over-react much? : : I do know that few private insurance plans provide maternity. Those that do are very expensive and very limited in coverage. (steep co pay and exclusions) Employer provided coverage are better but still strictly limited in what and how much they will cover and pay for. Given the reports that the cost of this delivery was/is in excess of $400K per kid where do you think the $ is coming from? From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 31 15:47:13 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 31 15:50:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Octuplets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:gm0io2$drk$5@news.spamcop.net... > Indigo wrote: >> >> And which mutual fund would you suggest? There isn't a single one that >> didn't get bashed in late 2008. Even MMFs got hit bad. Face it, there's >> no safe place to park money these day except for under your mattress. > > That's true, but for example, over the lifetime of my fund it averaged > 12%. In the long term, having SS money earning 12% interest will be quite > beneficial. Well, for one, SS theoretically has trillions of dollars saved up, but the government borrows that money and gives the SS an IOU. So the money really isn't there. Even if it was, there's no way the market could handle that much new money coming in. All mutual funds have a cap on how much money they'll take, if the fund grows too large it becomes impossible to manage and they close it to new investors. The number varies, but it's usually less than $100 billion. See the problem here? From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 31 15:54:18 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 31 15:55:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Octuplets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Steven Underwood" wrote in message news:gm1k2l$god$1@news.spamcop.net... > > > "Borgholio" wrote in message > news:gm0io2$drk$5@news.spamcop.net... >> Indigo wrote: >> >> That's true, but for example, over the lifetime of my fund it averaged >> 12%. In the long term, having SS money earning 12% interest will be >> quite beneficial. > > Averages are no good for those who were planning to retire in the short > term. I know of 2 people where I work, that retired last year and > returned to their jobs this year (they had not yet been replaced). Both > had large gains completely reversed but the drop. They now have less than > they have put into it all these years (as do I, but I have another 20+ > years to worry about that). That sad story is exactly why I continue to remind folks here to PAY ATTENTION to the stock market and your retirement account. I was able to salvage most of the gains in my 401k because I sold everything and went into a MMF last June, sparing me from the total collapse of the market. The mortgage crisis was obviously coming to anyone paying attention and doing their homework, there were warning signs galore. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 31 16:00:25 2009 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 31 16:05:08 2009 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: advice on house buying In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9BA454FF9D7A1TheShrubIsAnAss@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was "Indigo" ! > >> I had about 10-12 fillings > > Good freaking grief. Obviously no fluoride as a wee one. Dang and dang. No, we had floridated water. I had/have "soft teeth" and was a sugar maniac when I was young. I can count with two hands the number of natural teeth I have remaining in my mouth, all the rest had to be capped after they rotted (like every molar, for instance). Ok, I take that back. The 4 top front teeth had to be capped due to accidents that cracked/broke the teeth. Three of them in one fell swoop when I got elbowed in the mouth while playing basketball around age 24.