Things that I find mildly irritating v.2

[Stadler]

When you bill a claim to your health insurance and then it says approved and my out of pocket cost is the original full cost of the bill. 
 So it got approved for $0.00 dollars paid by plan. Thanks for nothing.

I currently have a bill with a radiology lab for $1.94 for something that my insurance didn't cover in its entirety. The only way they'll accept payment is through the mail. I have to either fill out a form with my CC info on it, which I refuse to put in the mail, or I can send a check. I don't even own a checkbook, and I'm not going to pay the $22 Webster wants for one just so I can cut a check for $1.94.   

The lab calls me about once a week. They've said if I don't pay next month, it will be going to a debt collector. I told them to go for it. The lab has wasted way more than $1.94 just paying its employees to call and tell me I have an outstanding balance. I'm sorry, but I have zero sympathy for a business like that not having a way for its customers to pay electronically. They have $1M body scanners, but I can't pay through a CC over the phone or on a secure website? Please.

By the same token, what kind of rinky-dink bank does not give you a batch of checks when you open the account and also doesn't have online bill pay?

The electronic age, man.  Banks used to give you a starter check book with like ten checks with your account on them but lines to fill in yuor name and address, numbered "100, 101...".   

[pg1067]

By the same token, what kind of rinky-dink bank does not give you a batch of checks when you open the account and also doesn't have online bill pay?

The electronic age, man.  Banks used to give you a starter check book with like ten checks with your account on them but lines to fill in yuor name and address, numbered "100, 101...".

I opened an account online a couple years ago (I opened it because I was thinking about switching banks and because the new bank gave me money to open the account and set up a small direct deposit).  The bank sent me checks, and I haven't used a single one.

I'm down to 5-10 checks per year on my primary account, and most of those are for expenses related to my kid's marching band.

[Stadler]

By the same token, what kind of rinky-dink bank does not give you a batch of checks when you open the account and also doesn't have online bill pay?

The electronic age, man.  Banks used to give you a starter check book with like ten checks with your account on them but lines to fill in yuor name and address, numbered "100, 101...".

I opened an account online a couple years ago (I opened it because I was thinking about switching banks and because the new bank gave me money to open the account and set up a small direct deposit).  The bank sent me checks, and I haven't used a single one.

I'm down to 5-10 checks per year on my primary account, and most of those are for expenses related to my kid's marching band.

That's funny, because I'm in the same boat.  I think 99.9% of the checks I write are now tied to some kid activity.  F*****g kids, man.

[bosk1]

That accounts for most of mine as well.  That, church, and the one utility that doesn't have electronic bill pay.

[cramx3]

That accounts for most of mine as well.  That, church, and the one utility that doesn't have electronic bill pay.

That would be my town sewage for me, so old school.

[bosk1]

That accounts for most of mine as well.  That, church, and the one utility that doesn't have electronic bill pay.

That would be my town sewage for me, so old school.

Yeah, same.  It's ridiculous that we have so many utility/service providers for "home" stuff nowadays.  Not counting the mortgage and insurance, here's what we have every month that is basically "home"-related:
-Gas
-Electric (gas and electricity are separate companies)
-Water (yes, also separate)
-Trash/recycling
-Internet
-Cellular
-HOA

That's 7!  I remember when you just had a single gas and electric bill, phone bill, and cable (and before that, TV was free!).  Those were the days...   

[cramx3]

Swap HOA and add in TV (it's separate from my internet since I use different services) and yup, 7 bills for my house.  I keep a spreadsheet to track everything I need to pay for so I don't miss payments.  Like for some reason I haven't been billed for sewage in awhile, Im not complaining.

[Chino]

I too keep a spreadsheet. On a monthly basis I track:   

- Electric
- Water
- Gas
- Internet
- Cellphone
- Car Payment
- Car Insurance
- Mortgage
- Credit Card 1
- Credit Card 2
- Credit Card 3
- Misc Bills (usually medical related) 

I have a spreadsheet going back to the month that I bought my house. I've tracked an graph everything, so it allows me to predict what months I will have more disposable income based off of trends in past years.

[bosk1]

If I added in a couple of other services, like Netflix, I'd have more too.

I keep a spreadsheet to track everything I need to pay for so I don't miss payments. 

Yeah, that's a good idea.  In addition to using a calendaring program, I keep a paper calendar as well, and I usually sit down with my new calendar at the beginning of the year and plug in all the bill due dates so I don't miss them.  I know using a paper calendar is a thing of the past for most, but it's still done among attorneys who litigate in court, just because there are so many deadlines that come and go, and having a paper calendar as redundancy is a good failsafe.  But it's funny to me how many looks I get from folks who aren't lawyers when I bust it out to write something in it. 

[cramx3]

Yea my spreadsheet includes all my monthly expenses, car insurance, car payment, lawn mowing and goes back for 4 years now.  It's nice (or not actually) to quickly reference how my costs go up every year.

Using google docs just makes it so easy to reference this spreadsheet anytime anywhere.  I recently created one for tracking my concerts as well since that's a fucking long list 

[jingle.boy]

I've been using Quicken for over 20 years.  Let's see all the payments I have to make monthly.

Water
Hydro (Electric)
Gas
Property Tax
Netflix
Cable/Internet/Phone
Spotify
Adobe (for jingle.son)
Car payment (14 more months to go!!)
Life Insurance
Auto/Home Insurance
Critical Illness Insurance
Family cell phone
2 x Credit Cards

I think that's it.  All electronic, or automatic Credit Card payment.

[JayOctavarium]

Lucky for us, the only thing we pay for Home Related is our internet bill (which is in my friend's name... I just give him cash for it every month lol).

But before we moved, our water/trash/sewage were combined, all from the city... which you'd thing would be great but they keep increasing the water rates here (they've gone up by like 70%), and I swear the city also sneaks in a slight increase to sewage and trash every year too.

[pg1067]

That accounts for most of mine as well.  That, church, and the one utility that doesn't have electronic bill pay.

That would be my town sewage for me, so old school.

Yeah, same.  It's ridiculous that we have so many utility/service providers for "home" stuff nowadays.  Not counting the mortgage and insurance, here's what we have every month that is basically "home"-related:
-Gas
-Electric (gas and electricity are separate companies)
-Water (yes, also separate)
-Trash/recycling
-Internet
-Cellular
-HOA

That's 7!  I remember when you just had a single gas and electric bill, phone bill, and cable (and before that, TV was free!).  Those were the days...   

We have all of those except for HOA.  You couldn't pay me enough to live in an HOA.  For a while our internet and cellular were combined (Verizon), but then we switched cellular to T-Mobile and internet/cable to Charter/Spectrum (Dodgers channel!).  At our prior house, water, gas, trash and sewer were combined and billed by the city.  All of these (as well as non-home-related bills) get paid either direct online or by using the bank's bill pay service.

I use an outdated verision of MS Money and a separate spreadsheet that I created myself.

[bosk1]

You couldn't pay me enough to live in an HOA.

Yeah, I hear you.  I feel the same way.  But we really wanted to live in the town we are in, and MOST of the neighborhoods we were interested in have them, so it is almost unavoidable here.  Ours is on the less expensive side and isn't as overbearing as a lot of them can be, but it still bugs me to no end that we have to have one.  It was just one of those compromises we had to make to live where we wanted to. 

[Stadler]

I don't think people realize that it wasn't even 20 years ago, and most lists were half that.   We didn't have subscriptions for everything.

When I got out of school, I had car insurance, rent, electricity, telephone.  There was no cable, I had no car payment, there were no cell phones...   and people wonder why their dollar doesn't go as far?  Ten bucks is ten bucks. 

[pg1067]

You couldn't pay me enough to live in an HOA.

Yeah, I hear you.  I feel the same way.  But we really wanted to live in the town we are in, and MOST of the neighborhoods we were interested in have them, so it is almost unavoidable here.  Ours is on the less expensive side and isn't as overbearing as a lot of them can be, but it still bugs me to no end that we have to have one.  It was just one of those compromises we had to make to live where we wanted to. 

My feelings are colored by my relatively brief ownership of a rental property outside of Phoenix, AZ about 15 years ago.  It was a bad situation for a lot of reasons, and the HOA was really one of the more minor reasons.  My mother-in-law owned a home in an HOA, and I remember a situation where the HOA was trying to force her to paint her garage because the CC&Rs required that it be done every X years, but she was resisting because there was absolutely no need to do so.  Like a lot of things, the good ones don't get publicized.

I don't think people realize that it wasn't even 20 years ago, and most lists were half that.   We didn't have subscriptions for everything.

When I got out of school, I had car insurance, rent, electricity, telephone.  There was no cable, I had no car payment, there were no cell phones...   and people wonder why their dollar doesn't go as far?  Ten bucks is ten bucks. 

The only thing that has changed changed for me is the addition of internet and the swapping of landline service for mobile service (we also pay a guy to mow the lawn once a week and do basic landscape maintenance).

I had two roommates in my first apartment.  I had no car payment when we moved in, but I traded my car in while living there.  I don't think I had car insurance at the start (I had been on my mother's insurance, but the insurer forced her to exclude me after I got in a couple accidents and got a bunch of tickets), but I got it when I got the new car.  The phone (landline) was in one of the roommate's names, and I don't remember who had the cable or any of the utilities or whether utilities were included with rent (cable and electric were definitely not included with the rent).  Regardless, all the same utilities were being provided and paid by someone.

[eric42434224]

Like most things, there are multiple sides to things.  HOA’s can have positive aspects and negative aspects.  Sometimes the very same aspect of an HOA can impact different people in very different ways.  The issues with the HOA are similar to government in general.  All an HOA is in reality is a document.  The issues arise with the people who are involved.
A simplified observation, but pretty accurate in my experience.

I am on the board of my HOA.  It can get dicey for sure.  But if the board and the PM can work in good faith with the community, with good intentions and flexibility, it can work.  Just like with residents, if they honestly try, it can work.
Also, you signed those papers when you bought the house, so you knew when you moved in those rules were in place, so patience only goes so far.

I find that an HOAs benefits usually outweigh the negatives if it is a reasonable document with reasonable residents.

Likewith pg’s painting example.  There should be an architectural committee ( we have one) that can make decisions and exceptions on a case by case basis.  Make the request, examine the property, grant the exception, problem solved.

[JayOctavarium]

I work for a large HOA. There is a Master association, and 3 sub associations. There are 3 property management companies, and 4 property managers. Each association has a board of 5 people. There are also countless committees (Security, Parking, "tech", architecture, landscaping).

Some of these people pay 3 different HOA dues (Master, their respective sub association, and then dock association). It is insane. But people choose to do it.

Also, you signed those papers when you bought the house, so you knew when you moved in those rules were in place, so patience only goes so far.

I've learned that a LOT of people move in before reading the CC&Rs. I get people arguing with me all the time regarding the CC&Rs, and then admit that they never read them (where as I am able to almost quote the sections relevant to my job almost line for line).

I don't get people.

[Cool Chris]

President of my HOA checking in here. But It is small and all the homes are detached so we have very few issues fortunately. We also don't employ a Prop Mgr so while that means we have to manage everything ourselves it keeps our dues much lower than they would be otherwise.

[jingle.boy]

HOA's are rare up here.  Usually just in historical neighbourhoods, retirement / gated communities, or Condo/Townhouse complex's.

HOA's strike me as being part of a union (cult?) for your personal life.  No thanks.

[eric42434224]

Maybe in some cases, but I struggle seeing that comparison.  In its simplest and most appropriate form, it is a document/agreement and form of administration for a set of rules and standards for a community... as well as a mechanism to fund and maintain common areas/amenities.  When appropriate and done right, it is not only ok, but it is necessary and beneficial. 

But of course it can also be a fucking nightmare if done wrong.  But that can be said about anything, right?

[Phoenix87x]

I just found out that Japanese square watermelons are ornamental only and not to be eaten. Kinda disappointed.

[ReaperKK]

Really? Like are they not edible?

[Phoenix87x]

So apparently, the squarification process doesn't allow them to fully ripen, so you technically could eat the square watermelon if you wanted, but its gonna taste terrible, so its now just an ornamental novelty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JNSpMhJLvg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_watermelon

[SystematicThought]

It irritates me that this guy only gets one year in jail for crashing into a guy at a red light while he was looking at his cell phone at a real estate app. He was driving a semi. You can't even recognize what kind of car the guy he hit was driving.

http://www.fox9.com/news/semi-driver-in-fatal-distracted-driving-crash-to-be-sentenced-friday

https://www.twincities.com/2019/07/19/at-sentencing-apology-from-trucker-in-who-rear-ended-car-in-lake-elmo-killing-driver/

I drive this highway every single day. It was awful sitting at that red light the days after that crash and seeing the skid marks, spray paint marking what happened, car debris, and the burned grass, and imprints in the snow in the median. They couldn't even get the guy out of the car on scene, it was so badly mangled. It just makes me mad that he only gets one year for his stupidity. Seems really light.

[jingle.boy]

One year for killing someone ?!?!?!

[TioJorge]

That's...mind boggling. What..? Forget the injustice, you'd think they'd want to make an example out of him considering everyone and their mother drives while looking at their cell phone and most states now are cracking down on that big time if they didn't before. That's extremely odd.

[SystematicThought]

Exactly! And Minnesota’s new distracted driving laws go into effect in two weeks, so you’d think they’d view this as a great opportunity to make an example of him. And he had the nerve to request a week to say goodbye to his family. He’s getting off easy. Fuck that guy.

And he didn’t just kill that guy, I can’t imagine there was much of him left.

[Stadler]

One year for killing someone ?!?!?!

That's really the important part of this; forget about "why".    Even if he had been paying attention, there should be a level of culpability if someone directly causes that level of carnage. 

[Lonk]

My mom's commute to her job is a community bus (She gets picked up at her door and dropped off along with other people she works with). One time her driver accidentally ran over a pedestrian, who died on scene.

The driver was let go because she stayed at the scene, and it was an accident after all. This guy getting a year sounds about right, given that he was distracted while driving and all, but as long as you stay in the scene and it is looked at as an accident and not intentional, the penalty is very minimal to none.

Not saying I agree with it, just stating what I think I know.

[SystematicThought]

I don’t know if the articles mentioned it at all, but he lied at the scene that day and said he wasn’t texting and that it was a faulty brake. It was two days later that he turned himself in.

[jingle.boy]

Not watching the road for 8 seconds while rear-ending a car fully stopped at a red light is far from an "accident".  It's negligence.  One doesn't get charged with vehicular homicide for an accident.  It's one thing for the sentencing to fit the incident (a la your bus driver story).  This doesn't appear to be the case with this guy.

[cramx3]

Not watching the road for 8 seconds while rear-ending a car fully stopped at a red light is far from an "accident".  It's negligence.  One doesn't get charged with vehicular homicide for an accident. 

Yea, I'd imagine you'd get charged with manslaughter not homocide if it were a true accident

[pg1067]

Not watching the road for 8 seconds while rear-ending a car fully stopped at a red light is far from an "accident".  It's negligence.

Accidents result from negligence, and there are no accidents that do not result from negligence.  If it had been an intentional rear-ending it would have been charged differently.

Not watching the road for 8 seconds while rear-ending a car fully stopped at a red light is far from an "accident".  It's negligence.  One doesn't get charged with vehicular homicide for an accident. 

Yea, I'd imagine you'd get charged with manslaughter not homocide if it were a true accident

Homicide is a general term for the unlawful killing of a human.  It is a category of crimes.  Manslaughter is a type of homicide crime (as is murder), and manslaughter comes in two sub-types:  voluntary (intentional killing) and involuntary (unintentional killing/killing resulting from negligence).  In Minnesota, homicide crimes are broken down between murder (1st through 3rd degrees), manslaughter (1st and 2nd degrees, which is essentially voluntary and involuntary), and criminal and vehicular homicide (which is a killing resulting from operation of a motor vehicle and "gross negligence").

[JayOctavarium]

One year for killing someone ?!?!?!

Dude who killed my dad got like 2 weeks in work furlough, probation, and his license suspended for a year with modifications (Only can drive to and from work).