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Dolfan in NYC

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My wife is in a full-out crying fight with her mother (who thinks the Earth is flat, 'nuff said) about the result of today's joke of a trial and I can't say loud enough that I'm so sick of how things are right now in this country. I'm doing my best to think about all the shit we've moved past - the hundreds of years of slow-moving progress against all odds - and trying to stay positive, but it's fucking hard. Hopefully y'all are doing well as can be despite the bullshit ❤️

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1 hour ago, christopher.annino said:

My wife is in a full-out crying fight with her mother (who thinks the Earth is flat, 'nuff said) about the result of today's joke of a trial and I can't say loud enough that I'm so sick of how things are right now in this country. I'm doing my best to think about all the shit we've moved past - the hundreds of years of slow-moving progress against all odds - and trying to stay positive, but it's fucking hard. Hopefully y'all are doing well as can be despite the bullshit ❤️

My friend, we know that there's no poli on this board for a reason, so I'll just leave this here and shut up. I lived through two terms of Richard Fucking Nixon and made it through to the other side. This too will pass. We have a long way to go, and it may seem like things are worse, but that's the first step of combatting a problem, realizing that you have one. Today we're having conversations about shit that was getting swept under the carpet ten years ago. Yeah, the progress is maddeningly slow and I'm not going to live to see any kind of utopia, but I will be able to say that things are looking brighter than they did when I got here. Just for one example we no longer have grade school kids practicing hiding under their desks in case of a nuclear attack. An example of foolishness on the grand scale that would be hard to replicate.

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We're prepping for Arctic Blast '21. Expecting temperatures in the single digits the next few days here in Houston which is pretty much the apocalypse for us.  They've already announced rolling blackouts, which sounds great for severe cold.

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3 hours ago, Lawful Metal said:

We're prepping for Arctic Blast '21. Expecting temperatures in the single digits the next few days here in Houston which is pretty much the apocalypse for us.  They've already announced rolling blackouts, which sounds great for severe cold.

The rolling blackouts are probably part of their 19 step plan of secession.

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7 hours ago, Lawful Metal said:

We're prepping for Arctic Blast '21. Expecting temperatures in the single digits the next few days here in Houston which is pretty much the apocalypse for us.  They've already announced rolling blackouts, which sounds great for severe cold.

I did not hear about the rolling blackouts. That will be fun ?

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All this winter talk keeps reminding me of the time I went to Chicago with some friends for a show, came back and got dropped off at my car and the entire Olds was covered in about 2 mm of ice. The whole thing, solid. I spent about half an hour bashing and scraping enough to get into the goddamn thing and see through the front window. Even had to hammerfist the lock in order to put the key in. 

Then there's the time we were going out of town on a mini-tour and our van hit black ice on the highway; thankfully the driver turned into the skid and we only ended up down a hill. No seatbelts and I wasn't even in a seat, just on the floor above the wheel well. 

Shit... I'm sure both of those stories are very reassuring to everyone. ? If it makes you feel any better we're stuck in it too over here in IL where it is currently exactly 1 degree Fahrenheit

Edited by Curt McGirt
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I work for a company that handles leasing and maintenance calls for rental communities across the country. I spent ALL DAY speaking to Texans calling in reporting their lack of power, heat, water, and their community fire alarms going off.

 

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We're all one serious injury away from seeing just how fucked the U.S. health system is.  Pharma companies caused an opioid epidemic and ruined painkillers for everybody and now the nurse side-eyes me like I'm the fifth guy in the Trainspotting crew because I ask for more Vicodin.  My doctor has a full-time guy whose only job is arguing with my insurance company because he thinks a MRI is necessary.  Insurance companies have a vested interest in not approving procedures that might cost them too much money because not paying for things keeps them profitable.  The whole thing is just all kinds of fucked up and backwards all the way down.

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This weather has gone way past amusing at this point.  We've been lucky - lots of pretty snow to look at and play in, and then an nice, warm house to go back to.  Power's gone out four times, but never for more than 90 minutes.  

On the other hand, some folks haven't had it in two days.  We may be taking in two families later today, if they can even get here.  Friends of ours have brought strangers in today.  There are gonna be people dying in their own homes in the not yet gentrified parts of east Austin over this

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1 hour ago, Robert C said:

This weather has gone way past amusing at this point.  We've been lucky - lots of pretty snow to look at and play in, and then an nice, warm house to go back to.  Power's gone out four times, but never for more than 90 minutes.  

On the other hand, some folks haven't had it in two days.  We may be taking in two families later today, if they can even get here.  Friends of ours have brought strangers in today.  There are gonna be people dying in their own homes in the not yet gentrified parts of east Austin over this

Good on ya, man.

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4 hours ago, Technico Support said:

Insurance companies have a vested interest in not approving procedures that might cost them too much money because not paying for things keeps them profitable.  

This is the thing that "nationalized medicine is eViL!!!!!" people never seem to get.  Insurance companies are literally in the business of not doing what you pay them to do.  I mean, seriously.  Think about that.  It's all such a damned mess.

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4 hours ago, Technico Support said:

We're all one serious injury away from seeing just how fucked the U.S. health system is.  Pharma companies caused an opioid epidemic and ruined painkillers for everybody and now the nurse side-eyes me like I'm the fifth guy in the Trainspotting crew because I ask for more Vicodin.  My doctor has a full-time guy whose only job is arguing with my insurance company because he thinks a MRI is necessary.  Insurance companies have a vested interest in not approving procedures that might cost them too much money because not paying for things keeps them profitable.  The whole thing is just all kinds of fucked up and backwards all the way down.

That wasn't you in the trailer for the fan remake of Trainspotting that I had a dream about?

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7 minutes ago, Tabe said:

This is the thing that "nationalized medicine is eViL!!!!!" people never seem to get.  Insurance companies are literally in the business of not doing what you pay them to do.  I mean, seriously.  Think about that.  It's all such a damned mess.

Think of the executives that need a third yacht for their pet alligator.

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44 minutes ago, Tabe said:

This is the thing that "nationalized medicine is eViL!!!!!" people never seem to get.  Insurance companies are literally in the business of not doing what you pay them to do.  I mean, seriously.  Think about that.  It's all such a damned mess.

YES.  Insurance companies’ profits are specifically tied to making more  in premiums than they pay out in benefits.  It is in their best interest to do as little for you as possible.  I’d like my doctor to determine what I need, not a bureaucrat trying to cover this quarter, thanks.

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Update!

Monday: Power went out 8 am.  Coincidentally, so did all cell service.  Wasn't so bad, turned back on 3:30 pm.  Make a run to Target which is open through generators.  People driving like there's not ice or snow on the ground, including tailgating.  Why?  Thought we were through the worst of it, power goes out again at 6:30 pm. Fortunately we have a gas stovetop, grill up some burgers and eat by candlelight.  Long, cold night in an unheated house.  Lots of blankets.

Tuesday: No power all day.  5 pm pipe bursts in the garage.  Turn off the water.  It's 40 degrees in the house.  still no cell service.  Go to bed early, lots (more) blankets.  3:30 am, power back on, but who knows for how long.  4 out of 5 houses in the cul de sac had a pipe burst.  It's all pretty miserable.

So, there's not really been rolling blackouts.  It's more like blackout for everyone, and a few office buildings get to stay on:

Spoiler

oquy7tmd6sh61.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&a

Yeah, very little people actually live downtown.  Those are office buildings all lit up like the fourth of July while the rest of the city freezes in their sleep.

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We've somehow mostly kept the power on.  Best guess is we're near a fire station, and they've trying to avoid blacking that out, but no idea if that's really true.  Gas is working fine, so we've got heat.Water pressure is very low, but at least we've still got a little.  Pipes haven't frozen, so that's still good.

My son is having a ball with the houseguests, since the've got a kid a year younger than him.

New fun is the ice storm that came through last night.  quarter inch of ice on everything means limbs down all over the place, the worst of which are on the roof

 

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My 80 year old father is out collecting snow to melt for water, since they've lost water completely.  Of course they lose power for two hours every two hours, so they have to wait till its back on to even do that.  

A friend's 85 year old mother had the upper floor of her house flood last night in Huntsville.  

My son's school flooded from burst pipes, so no clue when he'll be able to go back

Fuck all this.

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3 hours ago, Ryan said:

A certain event happened that I know @OSJwill be pleased about, but we won't mention it due to policy.

Tagging does me zero favors so I will just repeat that I closed the other thread for a reason and that doesn't mean moving the conversation here.

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