Recent Posts

1

The Lighter Side / Re: Life Advice in Three Words

« Last post by Sason on Today at 01:55:24 pm »

ooh, i agree!

2

The Lighter Side / Re: Say it all in Six Words!

« Last post by Sason on Today at 01:54:47 pm »

yesterday was that for me too

3

The Lighter Side / Re: Say it all in Six Words!

« Last post by CellarDweller on Yesterday at 06:13:22 pm »

first day at work after staycation

4

The Lighter Side / Re: Life Advice in Three Words

« Last post by CellarDweller on Yesterday at 06:13:04 pm »

enjoy some chocolate

5

The Lighter Side / Re: Today's Wordle ------- spoilers alert!

« Last post by CellarDweller on Yesterday at 06:12:36 pm »

Daily Quordle 203
5️⃣4️⃣
8️⃣6️⃣
quordle.com
🟨🟨⬜⬜🟨 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ RATIO
⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜ 🟨🟨🟩⬜⬜ CRAZY
🟨🟩🟩⬜⬜ 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ AROMA
⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 SCARE
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ GROAN
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ RATIO
🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜ CRAZY
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ AROMA
⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨 ⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜ SCARE
⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨 GROAN
🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 CLANK
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ DECAL
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ FECAL
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

6

The Lighter Side / Re: Today's Wordle ------- spoilers alert!

« Last post by CellarDweller on Yesterday at 06:03:34 pm »

Wordle 422 5/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨 RATIO
🟩🟨🟨⬜⬜ PRODS
🟩🟩🟨⬜⬜ PORCH
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩 POWER
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 POKER

7

The Holiday Forum / Re: Happy Longerdays!

« Last post by CellarDweller on Yesterday at 05:56:49 pm »

You can see this in action in Close Encounters, where the UFO guys are getting this stream of numbers, and somebody recognizes them as latitude and longitude coordinates (which turn out to be for Devil's Tower).

and with this post, you made me want to find the scene from the movie where tones are being used for communication.  Found it on YouTube.

8

The Culture Tent / Re: In the New Yorker...

« Last post by serious crayons on Yesterday at 10:50:04 am »

Yes, but you got your insurance company's approval. Seems to me that's a big and important difference. That's not the sort of thing talked about in the article. Plus, around here we fairly regularly hear of swindles about things like that.

Yes, getting my insurance company's approval was a big and important difference. So the question is not really who would sign a contract with a slick-talking roofing swindler, but who would do so without first calling their insurance company?

Of course, roofs can go bad in ways insurance doesn't cover. But they are extremely expensive to replace, so it seems like it would always be worth a call. And if they wouldn't cover it, I would get a second or third opinion on whether a new roof is needed. And probably also ask for references.

I was nervous myself when I did this because I'd heard of roofing swindlers, too. But I figured I couldn't really lose -- the roofers submitted an estimate and when the insurance company approved it, I wasn't going to get charged. I myself was slightly nervous about the estimate including things like dinged drain spouts that didn't absolutely need to be replaced, thereby covering my deductible. But since the deductible was $2,500 and I was about to sell my house, I figured it would be worth paying if I had to for the increased value of the house. Luckily, I didn't have to.

9

The Culture Tent / Re: In the New Yorker...

« Last post by Jeff Wrangler on August 14, 2022, 08:51:52 pm »

You might not want to bother. It goes kind of downhill at the end. 
Who's going to sign a contract for a new roof with some slick talker who knocks on your door? 

I did! With my insurance company's approval, of course. And it worked out great.

The roofers stopped by my yard, said they could see some hail damage, wrote up an estimate, the insurance claims adjuster approved it, their estimate included a few things like dings on drainpipes that weren't absolutely essential so the roofers didn't do those, which meant I got the money in the check from the insurance company for them but didn't have to pay the roofers for them so that covered my $2,500 deductible.

Voila, nice new roof, including replacement of some areas of the wood underneath the shingles that was starting to rot.

Bonuses: The workers accidentally started doing the detached garage, which wasn't part of the estimate, and the roofing representative didn't bother to stop them so I got the garage for free. This was a year before I sold my house so I could say on the disclosure form that my roof had been replaced the previous year!

Yes, but you got your insurance company's approval. Seems to me that's a big and important difference. That's not the sort of thing talked about in the article. Plus, around here we fairly regularly hear of swindles about things like that.

10

The Culture Tent / Re: In the New Yorker...

« Last post by serious crayons on August 14, 2022, 11:43:08 am »

Who's going to sign a contract for a new roof with some slick talker who knocks on your door? 

I did! With my insurance company's approval, of course. And it worked out great.

The roofers stopped by my yard, said they could see some hail damage, wrote up an estimate, the insurance claims adjuster approved it, their estimate included a few things like dings on drainpipes that weren't absolutely essential so the roofers didn't do those, which meant I got the money in the check from the insurance company for them but didn't have to pay the roofers for them so that covered my $2,500 deductible.

Voila, nice new roof, including replacement of some areas of the wood underneath the shingles that was starting to rot.

Bonuses: The workers accidentally started doing the detached garage, which wasn't part of the estimate, and the roofing representative didn't bother to stop them so I got the garage for free. This was a year before I sold my house so I could say on the disclosure form that my roof had been replaced the previous year!