I’m confused. Were there not flags out the previous Monday, when it was Memorial Day? If so, WTF did she think those were for?
She sounds like a real peach.
You have the same questions I had. She works for the HOA Management company, so she likely doesn’t actually live in the neighborhood. I suspect someone called in, and this wonder person is one of those who are incapable of being wrong.
There’s incapable of being wrong, and there is looking at a calendar and not believing the date. Is she old enough that it may be something like dementia?
Looking at her picture on her email signature, I don’t think so. Anyway, she’s quieted down after I told her that I verified qith several residents that the flags were up last week.
I think since I kept saying, “last week, on Memorial day,” in our correspondence, she finally decided to look at a calendar.
Hey Google, when is Memorial Day 2026?
Too hard for what percentage of Americans? 60+% I bet.
They sent a “specialist” this time. He was fully briefed on the issue and said he had a theory when he arrived. That was reassuring. And he was right. He turned the system on and it didn’t start. He fixed the issue (a problem with the safety valves on the condenser line) and it started working again. BUT, 30 minutes after he left, I realized the house had not cooled off and checked the thermostat. The temp hadn’t changed and the air coming out of the vents was not cold. I called and they said they would send Ricky back. I had turned the unit off and when he called that he was on the way, I turned it back on and the air was cold again! By the time he got here, the temp was getting back to normal. He said something he did must have caused a reset somewhere and to call if anything else abnormal happened. It’s been a few hours and so far, so good. I’m justifiably nervous at this point. At least the company has been very responsive even if the tech from yesterday was not so great. I wonder if he will get in trouble for missing the issue?
I had a big vertigo and vomiting episode last night, for the second time in two months. This was following a week of roaring tinnitus, hyperacusis and a sensation of pressure in the ear. I probably have Meniere’s disease, though the EENT is skeptical. He says since I have no hearing loss, he doesn’t think it’s Meniere’s. But a lot of folks on Reddit say they have no hearing loss (yet), but they have been diagnosed with Meniere’s.
Their discussions indicate that hearing loss will eventually follow, though. Swell. Can you still drive if you are deaf?
Driving is almost entirely a visual experience. That’s why you have vision tests at driver’s license offices and not hearing tests.
While being unable to hear horns and sirens is a small risk, it’s not a large enough risk for any states to have laws against deaf driving as far as I can tell. Emergency vehicles have flashing lights after all. Also, people who go deaf tend to develop better visual awareness to compensate.
I’m sure most of us are annoyed about the incessant surveys when you buy anything. And the similar push to post a review of [whatever].
Today I try a new taco stand that recently opened nearby. It’s one of a fairly new fairly small chain here in SoFL where management very clearly hopes to go national soon or get bought out by one of the big franchise chain operators. So on-trend, so energetic.
Order & pay at the counter staffed with one person, then go sit down to await my meal. She later delivers my tray of tacos & stuff. Perfectly good tacos & stuff. I’d seen several servers lounging around and a couple dudes in the kitchen making food. It’s off-peak time and the place is nearly deserted. So the lolling servers weren’t shirking; they legitimately had nothing to do.
Except come up to me and ask if I would leave a good review of them personally. Of course they had done nothing for me; had no hand at all in my meal. But these young women thought it was reasonable I should leave them a glowing personal review.
Hint to managements everywhere:
This is not the way to get your restaurant rave reviews. But it is exactly what you would expect your people to do if you over-prioritize reviews over actually managing your stores.
Recently I bought some office supplies at Staples. Of course, I get an email asking me to write an online review of one of the items. The item they wanted me to review? “BAG FEE”.
I hope you gave it zero stars and told the world that bag fees suck. 
I’m tired of dealing with the CPAP Industrial Complex (CIC) to replace my broken machine. I dealt with them a decade ago, and the system has undergone the enshittification that is now common. There are even more grifters lined up to get their cut of the take.
In the past: GP->sleep study->get machine. It took about a week.
New and improved: GP->neurologist->sleep study #1 (diagnostic)->sleep study #2 (treatment)->neurologist->get machine. Just finished study #2, and I’m at week 5 now.
Each step has a week’s delay while the next grifter in line gets around to scheduling me. And each member of this process appends dire warnings to communications warning me of the urgency and that my condition is “Life Threatening”. Yeah right.
I want to point out that thus far the neurologist has not interacted with, or examined me, in any way. I filled out a form in his waiting room, he looked at it and told the tech to schedule me a sleep study. Maybe he’ll be more involved in step 5, so I’ll wait to see I guess.
The other problem stems from me always occupying a corner-case in events like this, and doing things that most don’t. A decade ago I was warned this condition was life threatening, so I bought a backup machine on eBay. And currently I’m sleeping just fine with it. This confuses everything since I have to fill out a “How miserable are you?” form at every step. On each form I report sleeping just fine and feeling totally rested, which stumps everyone.
The recent sleep studies have generated requirements for new pressure settings, so I inquired about getting my backup machine (that I’m using now) changed, since, you know – this is life threatening. Turns out they can’t do that for various bullshit reasons, and I’m not supposed to have an unauthorized machine for safety reasons, etc. Also they can’t tell me what the new settings are, because only highly trained specialists are allowed to see these top-secret digits.
So… a little social engineering got me the new prescription settings. I have a set of maintenance/setup documents and I used them to: a) repair the broken machine, and change the pressure/ramp settings on both of them. So I again have two functioning machines, both set to my newest prescription.
Eventually the CIC grifter line will work through and I’ll get a brand-new machine. At that point I’ll have a total of 3 functioning CPAP machines. 
I wonder how many people die, not because they can’t afford treatment, but because the system is so incompetent it can’t get past its own self-imposed roadblocks?
What a clusterfuck…
Ditto. We’re approaching a full week now with no downstairs A/C. I couldn’t get my regular company here until Monday, and they only found the replacement parts yesterday evening. We’re scheduled for repairs around dinnertime today.
We do have a backup “portable” A/C unit that we have employed in the living room. It’s one of those inefficient models with the giant hose that goes in a window, but enough to keep one room comfortable all day. We sit in our “island of cool” during the day and watch TV/etc. At night we go upstairs (where the A/C is still working). Not great, but manageable. We’re doing lots of BBQ-ing on the deck to avoid adding heat to the downstairs area.
My favourite was during the peak of COVID when I completed my grocery shopping, and at checkout, all masked up and cautious, I was glad I could pay just with a contactless tap on the terminal. But no – before I could do that, I had to tell them “what I thought of my shopping experience today” by pressing on their filthy COVID-infested touchpad!
Speaking of shopping, I went to my favourite supermarket today for a few essentials. As I mentioned in the gas prices thread, I stopped for gas because I was down to a quarter tank, and the fillup – 3/4 of a tank on a little Toyota Camry – was $80!!! For regular gas!
And then I went grocery shopping. At a nice grocery store where I once used a $100 gift certificate that someone had given me because they knew I liked the place. I had to make an extra effort to buy things I didn’t immediately need to make sure I used up the full amount. Today? No effort required at all to rack up $170. To be fair, a lot of that was prepared meals, but still, does no one understand that I’m a retired Olde Fart on a fixed income?
Well, apparently our Prime Minister does, because there’s a bunch of cost-of-living rebates coming to those who qualify, but apparently that means I have to get off my disorganized ass and get my income tax returns up to date. I’m pretty sure I have all the necessary paperwork in a drawer or a box somewhere … Since my retirement the Canada Revenue Agency never harasses me about late tax returns because they damn well know that they will owe me money! The last time I got caught up on late tax returns, the CRA returned a bounty totalling about $16,000!
So you willingly loaned them $16k for several years? At 0% APR? You gotta be richer than me.
Reminds me of my bro, a solo handyman / contractor guy. Mostly works fixing businesses’ facilities, not homeowners. He’s got silly amounts of work done he’s never invoiced. Some combo of “I’ll get around to it; don’t bug me.” and “My unbilled accounts receivable are an untraceable asset.”
Of course when a business shuts down or gets a new asshole manager, the entire unbilled balance goes poof! 
At least you don’t have to worry about CRA going poof!
But seriously, in inflationary times the last thing you want to be is a low APR creditor. Much better to be a debtor, at least if the interest rate is low.
So today I learned that the there is a city close to me that shares the same name of a city in Alaska. How do I know you ask? Well a package that was supposed to be delivered today is now in Alaska because apparently, all cities have unique names and there is no chance of accidentally routing it somewhere else…and I only know this because I checked package tracking number. No notification from the actual carrier that I am not receiving the package today. Maybe they are too embarrassed?
//i\\
Out for an evening walk. Go to step up (<6 inches) on to a flat rock as I’ve done a hundred times. Misjudge it somehow, kick the rock, sprawl to the ground. Nothing seriously hurt beyond my dignity (a few scrapes), but this old man is going to be sore for at least a week, I’m certain.
I burned my lip on a hot PopTart that fused the filling to my lip.
On the irony; was in an elevator rescue class yesterday when the power went out in the building/area meaning that we couldn’t practice some of the elevator rescue things that we’d do if the power went out & people were trapped in an elevator.
I got an (legitimate) email from an event that I’m going to - “We want to keep email blasts to a minimum so go check our FB page about important info that you need for this event.”
- you sent me an email that only told me to go somewhere else because you don’t want to send emails. How tough would it have been to just paste that important info into this email. Boom - Done!
- Not everyone uses FB, which means not everyone can get at the important information that we need.
You have an event website you could post it to
You have our email addresses that you could send it to
Nope, you’re only going to post it to some platform that not everyone can access
I would appreciate it if my tenant, upon finding a dead squirrel on the property, did NOT take it upon herself to bury it in the garden and only then notify me.
It did not occur to me to put this proviso in the lease.
I’m surprised that they notified you at all. If I buried a squirrel, it wouldn’t occur to me to tell anyone. Mundane and pointless thing that I won’t share.
How rude! I mean, how were you supposed to attend the funeral if you only found out about it after the fact? 