Down to New Mexico with my wife to help out my 83 year old dad who just had a hip replaced two weeks ago.
Body aches, temperature of 99.5 but COVID negative at this point.
We'll see what morning brings, but it's probably going to be my wife taking him to his post op appointment tomorrow in Las Cruces.
In reply to Scotty Con Queso :
I lived in Chicago proper, currently live in one suburb, grew up in another, and lived downstate for awhile.
I would like to move to rural northeastern Wisconsin/southern UP, or central Illinois. If it weren't for kids, I'd replace central Illinois with certain neighborhoods in Chicago. Yes, that includes the winter - either downtown or in the UP.
If I never deal with house insurance again it will be too soon.
19 months and *finally* moving back home, although they (insurance) refused to do a final walkthrough of the home with us (documented in email, printed physical copy), then told us we had to have the seacans empty by end of January and they are holding up our contents payout (which would be nice as some stuff NEEDS to be replaced like food) until they get the final bill for seacan rental (we had 2 because of the adjusters ineptitude and had one removed from the property so a second one was needed THEN we discovered the restoration company he had hired (he made the decision, we later found out we are supposed to be given the local options first) never cleaned any of our contents prior to shoving them into the seacan) and when they get that, they will have a sheet for us to sign so we can request the global payout. BUT last year at this time he was busy trying to coerce my mother into signing for a global payout PRIOR to the adjuster actually going through and putting a value on the contents we lost.
I have had to move 3 times in the past year, and been lied to by insurance, had to pay out of pocket for light fixtures 'not covered', had to pick out paint colors more than once because 'they lost the paperwork with that', and been accused of 'not wanting to move back' by a representative from the insurance company (in an email, everything documented and printed), I just want to go home already, I want to live a normal life.
I swear I never want to deal with insurance again.
My commute distance has doubled after moving in with the GF. Its now 40 miles each way. It takes me over an hour and 20 minutes when the Google estimated time is 55 minutes. I arrive at work an angry ball of anxiety with a seething hatred for humanity.
I want out of here so berkeleying bad. I hate it here. Its so expensive, there are WAY to many people and its too hot. I'm not a beach person in the least. My work is a toxic cesspool of "nothing is ever good enough" and moving goal posts. Any semblance of job satisfaction was wiped away when I got promoted. I went from being a front line technician to a manager in charge of training new hires. It was not worth the pay increase.
I'm seriously looking at a field technician job on the other side of the country in Clovis, NM. It would be over a 30% pay cut from what I make now but everything is way less costly. And there are hardly any people out there. And there are actual seasons.
The GF hates it here as much as I do. She is 100% on board with going somewhere else. Literally anywhere else than here.
The problem is that I'm nowhere close financially to be able to move across the country. I'd need to shed all of my projects and get rid of a few cars. The seller of the ND2 Miata I bought STILL has not made any attempt to help resolve the title issue. I've made payments for over a year on a car I cannot drive because she literally cannot find the time to meet me at the DMV to sign the title over. I'd love to take her to small claims court but I have neither the time, money or energy to pursue that. I just want it done so I can get rid of the damn thing.
My GF's house also needs work. The kitchen has been tore apart over a year after water damage was discovered from a leaking kitchen faucet supply line. The original contractor that the insurance company hired took the money and disappeared. She was able to get some help from a friend that flips houses. Her friend has a good GC that was able to cheaply replace all of the kitchen cabinets. But there is still no stove or kitchen sink. That will have to be finished before we even think of selling the house.
The central HVAC also died in the middle of last year. The entire furnace needs to be replaced. That's more money.
And then then the engine in her Wrangler decided to commit seppuku. I then had to buy another vehicle so both of us can get to work since I can't drive the Miata.
The list keeps getting longer and it seems like to goal line keeps getting further away 
.
More than a year ago, Philly Region SCCA offered to sell BMC their old timing truck. They floated a pretty reasonable asking price that we could afford. We're slightly familiar with the truck but didn't have any details like year, VIN, dimensions, etc. We told them great, thank you, we're very interested.
So for the intervening year, that situation never changed. We asked a number of times for the details, never got them. Every time we asked, they said they were getting it ready to sell but it wasn't available yet. No problem.
Except I can't get an insurance quote without the VIN. I can't find a storage space without knowing how long it is. I can't actually write a check until we test drive it, etc.
So finally, right around Thanksgiving, they finally tell us it's ready to go and give me the VIN. I say great, we're still very interested, I need to get an insurance quote, and try to get a few people together to come look it over. It's holiday season, everybody is busy.
And before I could coordinate any of that, they sold it to SJR. Within a few weeks of finally telling us it was available... after more than a year of waiting and getting no information. It's really hard to find availability to do anything promptly in December, let alone coordinate a group of people.
I mean, they didn't owe it to us. I get that. But I just wish they had handled it better. I had literally a year to do the background work except I couldn't because they wouldn't give me any information other than that it wasn't ready to go yet.
I had a 20+ year small fire extinguisher that went off the pressure gauge to recharge. I contacted the company to not hear back. Recharge? I mean a better version is $20.
I want to do the right thing but it's always no response.
Got a 1095 tax form for a job that paid 20hrs in 2022, says we were eligible for health insurance (not for part time employee DW) for the whole year (only worked a few days the first couple weeks of Jan.) and we refused to participate in the co. insurance program (see part about parttimers not eligible).
If this isn't quickly retracted, then IRS will expect me to pay back the $14000 in ACA benefit we received in 2022.
berkeleying HR department.
Went to Discount Tire to get the tires I ordered for my Capri mounted. For over 10 years they've been mounting 225/45-15s on 15x9s for my Miata, sometimes 2-3x per year. They've suddenly decided they have a corporate policy against it, and refused to mount them on my wheels because "5.5-8.5" are the 'approved' wheel sizes for a 225/45-15. Pretty sure a 225 on 5.5 is way less safe than than the same tire on a 9...
The really stupid part is they were perfectly willing to mount 245/40-15s on 10s... which is even more of a stretch, though also pretty much standard in the Miata track world.
They were actually offended when I asked for my deposit back and told them I would buy the tires from someone who would mount them.
Went on my first work trip in over 3 years. Was great to see people I hadn't seen since 2019, and meet newer coworkers face to face. However, this morning, I left the hotel room to load a bunch of luggage in my car, and grab a bite of breakfast. Got back about 40 minutes later, and my door was propped open with the deadbolt. I only had a messenger bag in there, but it had been rifled through, and my phone charger and cord were missing. I think that is all that was gone. Had to deal with hotel security, and I got the impression that what likely happened was housekeeping had opened up the room to make it easier to get into to clean, and someone (either housekeeping or another guest) went in. Losing the charger isn't much of a bother, but I really hate the idea of people going through my stuff without being allowed to. Hotel is going to reimburse me. I gather they saw something on the security cameras. I'm glad I was paranoid enough to haul my laptop bag and suitcase to the car before getting breakfast.
Drive home was also a bit rougher than driving out. Lots more traffic, and almost got sandwiched between a semi and a passing car when the semi came over into my lane because some shiny happy person on the onramp tried to merge into him. Also, someone's trailer dropped a ramp on the highway in front of me in northern Kentucky, but at least I was far back enough to be safe.
And I just got a call that there was a massive fire at my storage facility and my storage unit was one of the ones that was damaged. I get to go there at 7 tomorrow morning to see if there is anything salvageable. And since a bunch of things were thrown into the aisle during the firefighting, get to hope no one else helps themselves to my stuff.
In reply to eastsideTim :
Damn, dude, that's a hell of a day.
wae said:In reply to eastsideTim :
Damn, dude, that's a hell of a day.
Hope things are better in Daytona. I'm really hoping my wife's summer wheels are good. Tires on them were getting a bit old, so if they are done for, I'll deal. The most valuable stuff out there is probably my collection of wheels. There's a bunch of interior trim for my S10 out there, that I'm guessing has melted to goo. I'll take pictures tomorrow.
I had a tonsillectomy on Monday. It hurts like hell, the doctor said it would but I figured it's as an over promise under deliver deal. He was spot on. By Thursday it hurt so much I thought this can't be right. Friday started to taper off and today is a little better still. It still hurts but I was able to eat a tiny bit of solid food today.
Here is the rant, I have digestive issues, chronic diverticulitis, when I don't eat "normal" I get messed up. Feels like I'm trying to poop a pine one backwards! Damn.
It was a day yesterday. Two large boring mills went down, both with error codes nobody had ever seen. That took me and apprentice boy til about 4 when we said, that's it we're shutting it down for the day, and took a break.
Then the lights started to flicker... and about 30 seconds later the power was out in the entire plant. We determined it was coming from the road, so we called the utility. They pulled the fuses, OK, slapped them back in and the arrestor exploded. Ok, now we're getting somewhere.
By the time the bucket truck arrived to change the arrestor it was 8pm but they were waiting for help. So about 1am the power was back and we had to deal with all the equipment freaking out. So we did what we could, tried to power it all down, went home, got a few hours and came back to start the shift. Fortunately everything powered up, most with a tripped overload, or two, some with interesting error codes, but the plant is up.
Everything is running now but I'm not saying let's shut it down for the day just yet.
I'm an idiot. Springs belong where they belong before you weld something in.
When I'm down in New Mexico, it's rare that I'm by Sparky’s around meal time.
Unfortunately when I was by today, the line was out the door and around the corner-- no green Chile cheeseburger for me 
I'm essentially killing myself for people that can't understand how much I'm doing for them, while they demand more and won't do even minimal things.
And its coming from multiple sides
In reply to Antihero :
That sucks, man. Is there any possible way you can wean at least one or two off of your teat?
In reply to Antihero :
berkeley those people. I almost suick-started a .357 more than once, no thanks in part, to people just like that. I didn't need it (or them) and neither do you.
berkeley. Those. People.
I have a Partout listing on FB Marketplace. It clearly says it's a part out and I don't want to sell whole. I have to list a price so I put $100 in the listing. The amount of messages I've recieved from people thinking they are buying a running and driving car for $100 is staggering. The ad also says the car has a bad head gasket. But hey - why start reading and comprehension at this point?
Don't order booze from topshelftreasures.com it's been 3 week and no contact at all
Not in reply to RevRico :
Sometimes you just suck.
I welded a thing to a thing and forgot a thing. berkeley.
Duke said:In reply to Antihero :
That sucks, man. Is there any possible way you can wean at least one or two off of your teat?
Without major life changes I can't clear them all but my work related one is the easiest.
Basically I took on a job as a favor for a guy I've done a bunch of work for. The project is saving his barnominium from collapsing and it's a huge amount of work. It's also adding on a Living room to said Barnominium. He's more interested in the addition because he already put in a bunch of work to the Barnominium that was done pourly. The addition is framed, sheeted and dried in mostly with a little more roof to go but patched together until good/better weather. But I've had to stop progress on the addition several times to save the main house.
Long story short I've pulled off several miracles to hold together his house but without him spending money I can't really pull off the next few, so we are kinda half assing and duct taping together some solutions, which only work about 95 percent and he seems a bit annoyed that it's only that much.
Because of stress I'm trying to take it very easy on people and not unleash the attitude I usually have in these situations ,which the guy I've worked with forever has nicknamed Heads on Stakes. Bluntly I don't negotiate with terrorists and have plenty of other stuff to do. But before recently the guy has been a great client to work with and I'd like to finish the project........but I'll only go so far.
My dad's health is ....sketchy. All his numbers are fine but I think we are seeing side effects of the Prednisone right now. Literally anxiety, muscle weakness, tiredness and some mood changes, but I very much worry about him. He's been to the ER twice in the last month but they really aren't able to pin it down
Appleseed said:In reply to Antihero :
berkeley those people. I almost suick-started a .357 more than once, no thanks in part, to people just like that. I didn't need it (or them) and neither do you.
berkeley. Those. People.
You are right, im not at that stage though yet. I'm more at the berkeley-This-E36 M3-Im-Out stage.
It's part of the downfall of being a competent human being, people heap things on people like you and me. That sounds a lot like bragging but I can't think of another way to say it, so try to just take the idea of what I said and not the words lol
RevRico said:Don't order booze from topshelftreasures.com it's been 3 week and no contact at all
The BBQ Whiskey?
If so, when I find it I'll squirrel away a bottle for you and meet you someday
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