Minor rant thread. Post your rants o' the day here!

The handyman who redid most of the roof on my shop couldn't quite finish the job (there's one more panel to replace) before both we and him went on a short vacation, and we agreed that I'll call him afterwards so we can figure out a mutually convenient time for him to finish the work. Of course for the last couple of months I can't get hold of him, he won't return calls or text messages. Odd thing is we still have his ladder as we both were expecting that he'll basically be back within a week or two. Guess I'll see if I can get hold of the person who recommended him to us in the first place and see if they know what's going on. I don't like doing that, but the guy's been pretty reliable over the summer so I'm surprised by this.

On top of that, the local HVAC guy who's got a pretty stellar reputation and was extremely reliable so far was supposed to replace one of our oil furnaces that's on the way out. He missed the first installation appointment with no call, but got back to me quickly then, we agreed on a new date, again no show and when I call him he's at the hospital getting a Covid test. That was two weeks ago and since then both calls and texts have gone unanswered (and based on the last text, delivered but unread). For extra fun he supposedly has the furnace that I already paid for, but obviously if I can't talk to him I can't get said furnace and if necessary, have someone else install it. Not fun when the cost of the furnace would've bought a half decent Miata a couple of years ago, the existing one being on its last legs. Yeah, I get it, we're in the middle of a pandemic and bad things happen, but it's one of those problems where supporting the little guy can bite you in the posterior to the tune of several grand.

Go to jump in the shower, and with the temperature control pegged all the way to hot, the water is lukewarm. WTF? This water heater is less than 2 years old and 50 gallons!

Time to go investigate....

Thought we were finally getting somewhere getting our son's condition treated. After months of begging our insurance company FINALLY gave us a referral outside their network because their own in-house doctors apparently don't exist (regardless of what their fancy marketing campaign says now). Went to the outside network doc, had a great visit, thought we can finally work on a plan forward. Except when the bill came in and our insurance covered none of the visit. Turns out the insurance actually does NOT cover the treatment he needs, and none of their plans (even their best ones) do either. So they sent a letter rolling back the referral approval. Their advice? Pay out of pocket, it will be faster and easier. Then why the berkeley do I have insurance that I read thoroughly and thought covered our needs except for them to pull a "well technically we don't cover that EXACT issue" when we try to use it.

So to recap. Our kid's doc requested a referral, got us one, got us an appointment, went to the appointment, then the insurance company told us "LOL, No" and we're back to square one again.

"I've confirmed the meeting with [this group] for next Tuesday."

Can we reschedule? I leave on vacation the next morning.

"Well, this meeting is really important to them..."

Why? What is it they urgently need to talk about?

"Well... Umm... Hmm..."

slefain said:

Thought we were finally getting somewhere getting our son's condition treated. After months of begging our insurance company FINALLY gave us a referral outside their network because their own in-house doctors apparently don't exist (regardless of what their fancy marketing campaign says now). Went to the outside network doc, had a great visit, thought we can finally work on a plan forward. Except when the bill came in and our insurance covered none of the visit. Turns out the insurance actually does NOT cover the treatment he needs, and none of their plans (even their best ones) do either. So they sent a letter rolling back the referral approval. Their advice? Pay out of pocket, it will be faster and easier. Then why the berkeley do I have insurance that I read thoroughly and thought covered our needs except for them to pull a "well technically we don't cover that EXACT issue" when we try to use it.

So to recap. Our kid's doc requested a referral, got us one, got us an appointment, went to the appointment, then the insurance company told us "LOL, No" and we're back to square one again.

Yeah, this system is working. 

Gotta tell someone. Wife was in an accident this morning.  Thank goodness she's OK and the other driver is too.  No airbags deployed. T-bone into our newly acquired (old) CRV.  Bent the b-pillar and doors.  I doubt I can straighten that b-pillar.  Man, I liked that little car.....  Sigh.....

-Rob

mtn said:

Go to jump in the shower, and with the temperature control pegged all the way to hot, the water is lukewarm. WTF? This water heater is less than 2 years old and 50 gallons!

Time to go investigate....

I put a new water heater in on May 7th and its TP valve started leaking two weeks ago.  I cycled the value hoping to clear it out but it went from tricking to flowing.  The parts were cheap (~$20) but I had to move 750 Lbs. of equipment out and back so a good three hours of my Saturday got pi$$ed away.

mtn said:

Go to jump in the shower, and with the temperature control pegged all the way to hot, the water is lukewarm. WTF? This water heater is less than 2 years old and 50 gallons!

Time to go investigate....

Wife/I both get Covid and she unknowingly infected her dad.  He is sick as a dog and comes over to live with us and go to the Doc.  Ends up in hospital for 4 days and 1 week later goes home to live.  

Wife: Dad, how's it going?

Dad: Good, but I have no hot water.  

Wife: Wonder why?

Dad: Right when I left I turned down the water heater to save gas and it won't work now.  

New WH - $550 + he paid his Buddy $200 to install it.  

Wife: glad you save the eighty cents of gas?

RX Reven' said:

mtn said:

Go to jump in the shower, and with the temperature control pegged all the way to hot, the water is lukewarm. WTF? This water heater is less than 2 years old and 50 gallons!

Time to go investigate....

I put a new water heater in on May 7th and its TP valve started leaking two weeks ago.  I cycled the value hoping to clear it out but it went from tricking to flowing.  The parts were cheap (~$20) but I had to move 750 Lbs. of equipment out and back so a good three hours of my Saturday got pi$$ed away.

Pilot light was out and it wasn't starting. It was getting gas, at least to the valve, it was getting spark. Call the number on the side, they're sending me the parts to get here tomorrow or Saturday and a technician is supposed to call tomorrow to schedule a time to come out. 
 

I'll take a 2 minute cold shower, wife and daughter will go to her parents. Hopefully the tech isn't too backed up and we will be back in business soon. But it's all under warranty so far...

rob_lewis said:

Gotta tell someone. Wife was in an accident this morning.  Thank goodness she's OK and the other driver is too.  No airbags deployed. T-bone into our newly acquired (old) CRV.  Bent the b-pillar and doors.  I doubt I can straighten that b-pillar.  Man, I liked that little car.....  Sigh.....

-Rob

I'm very glad to hear she's OK.  Sorry about the car, though.

In reply to Datsun310Guy :

"Penny wise and pound foolish" is one of the most accurate old saws out there.

Pounding headache right now. Chewing pain killers to get it to work faster. Nobody tells you how bad they taste but it works faster. 

Got enough on my plate that I could work for the next couple months and still not get everything I want done by the end of the year. Making very committed effort to only working 45-50 hours a week. Office is pushing back asking why everything is not done and I just point to the hours I have to work an what gets done in that time. Of course none of the open positions are filled here yet and I am training new hires so not like the ones that are here are 100%. Everybody else with kids is working from home due to Covid and taking time off but no kids so no excuses here. 

I have enough vacation that I could leave tomorrow afternoon and not come back till the middle of February. But like usual going to get paid out on it and likely get talked to about it. 

Also yesterday for some reason I got to do network security training. It was anamorphic armadillos and other animals in like wheelchairs and glasses talking about how to not click on a link in a suspect email.  I am going to get my old Defcon badges out and hang them on my door and see if they leave me alone with all the training. 

mtn said:

RX Reven' said:

mtn said:

Go to jump in the shower, and with the temperature control pegged all the way to hot, the water is lukewarm. WTF? This water heater is less than 2 years old and 50 gallons!

Time to go investigate....

I put a new water heater in on May 7th and its TP valve started leaking two weeks ago.  I cycled the value hoping to clear it out but it went from tricking to flowing.  The parts were cheap (~$20) but I had to move 750 Lbs. of equipment out and back so a good three hours of my Saturday got pi$$ed away.

Pilot light was out and it wasn't starting. It was getting gas, at least to the valve, it was getting spark. Call the number on the side, they're sending me the parts to get here tomorrow or Saturday and a technician is supposed to call tomorrow to schedule a time to come out. 
 

I'll take a 2 minute cold shower, wife and daughter will go to her parents. Hopefully the tech isn't too backed up and we will be back in business soon. But it's all under warranty so far...

I'm almost 100% sure that your thermal couple (temperature probe) has failed.  Essentially, it needs to register heat from the pilot light before letting the main gas valve open to prevent large amounts of unburnt gas from being released.  Let the manufacturer send you replacement parts as you'll be needing them when the water heater is out of warranty but you may be able to clean the build-up of soot off the coupe with light sandpaper and be able to take a hot shower before the service tech appointment.  My last water heater was a GE and they carefully engineered the thermal couple assembly so it couldn't be removed without tipping the tank over about 20 degrees which meant you had to drain the water which meant $$$ for the service tech.  I just butchered a hole in the tank support flange thingy with aviation sheers and got-er-out.

Ops, I just re-read your post and see that your pilot light is out...very windy lately???   Follow the directions but basically, turn off the main valve, wait about five minutes and try to light the  pilot light.

My wife's neck surgery is scheduled for tomorrow.  COVID cases are causing hospitals to cancel non-life threatening operations.  They're supposed to call sometime today to confirm the operation and tell us what time she needs to be there.  Her anxiety, which runs in the upper range under the best of circumstances is deep into the redline and bouncing off the chip.  I'm not exactly relaxed either!

RX Reven' said:

mtn said:

RX Reven' said:

mtn said:

Go to jump in the shower, and with the temperature control pegged all the way to hot, the water is lukewarm. WTF? This water heater is less than 2 years old and 50 gallons!

Time to go investigate....

 

 

 

Ops, I just re-read your post and see that your pilot light is out...very windy lately???   Follow the directions but basically, turn off the main valve, wait about five minutes and try to light the  pilot light.

Not windy, and even if it was, it wouldn't blow this out in the basement...

In any case, I did that numerous times. I was getting spark. There is gas. So... Something was up. They're sending parts and sending a technician, so I'm letting them fix it for me.

I told the property management company that I would not be renewing my least after I was notified that the property owner will raise my rent by $500/month beginning 1 Jan 2022. I have until 28 December to either find another place to rent or buy a house. I have been pre-approved for a home loan but I highly doubt I can buy a place and move in before the end of the month. I really don't want to rent again as rent prices in my area have skyrocketed. I have the worst berkeleying timing 

Tomorrow will be 12 weeks since I had my annual eye exam at my local VA hospital. My doctor stated that he would try to see if the VA would cover my contacts as a "medical necessity" as my vision is so poor and I have a huge astigmatism that glasses cannot correct very well. I have been pestering his office to give me an answer but all I have gotten is "I have emailed the doctor about the status" responses. Meanwhile, I have been barely able to function due to my poor eyesight. My contact prescription is a few years old. So I decided to stop waiting on the VA and take matters into my own hands...

So I made an appointment at my local optometrist for a new contact prescription. My appointment was yesterday. My astigmatism in my left eye is up to -6.50 now. She was concerned that I might have Keratoconus so she referred me to a local cornea specialist. Oh and somehow the office could not find my vision coverage on my insurance, so I paid out of pocket for the fitting. They went ahead and ordered a new contact prescription, which will come out to over $150 per box (box of 6 which is only for ONE eye).

I still don't have the berkeleying title for the Miata I bought 6 weeks ago. The sellers loan was paid off 4 November and his bank was supposed to send the title to my credit union. I called my credit union yesterday and my loan officer stated that they received it on Monday, 29 November but hadn't mailed it out yet. I have already made a payment on a car that I cannot drive. But by all means, take your berkeleying time you shiny happy people.

All of this has got my anxiety about maxed out. Its literally at "DANGER TO MANIFOLD" levels. 

I also forgot to mention that my ex-SWMBO unfriended me on FB. I noticed I wasn't seeing any posts from here and decided to do some investigation. The last time she unfriended me, her abusive boyfriend knocked her up and then disappeared. It seems like every time something happens in her personal life, she unfriends me. Maybe she thinks I won't find out? Who berkeleying knows...

So I noticed in some of her posts, she is cuddling with someone who is decidedly NOT her longtime boyfriend (not the abusive one, the one after that one). It looks like they broke up, which means she had to move out of his townhouse since she (and our kids) were living with him. She doesn't make a lot of money and can't afford a house/apartment big enough for our 2 kids plus the one she had with her abusive boyfriend. That means that my kids were forced to move yet again. And of course, nobody has told me that they moved or what their new address is. The last time this happened, my kids' Christmas present were delivered to their old address and they didn't get them.

I'm so berkeleying tired of these berkeleying games. Its just another splash of gasoline on top of an already raging anxiety fire. FML 

In reply to stanger_mussle :

I can't help with the housing or car issue, but I have a couple of points of good news on the eye front:

Unless your eyes have changed radically in the last year or two, -6.50 isn't really all that bad. That just means you're nearsighted. I'm about a -4.75 or -5.00. DD#1 is a whopping -12.50 or -13.00 and they manage to correct her fine.

That's your diopter, I believe. You astigmatism would be a number between 0-180 marking the axis of the fold in your lens that stops it from being round in section.

I have multi focal toric contact lenses, which function as both bifocals and correct my astigmatism. When they get you fit up your vision will be better than ever.

The other good news is that if you take good care of those lenses, don't wear them more than about 10 hours a day, and use a peroxide cleaner once a week, you can definitely make a 6-month supply last a year.

[edit]  I just read your second post. Sorry I can only help on the least of your problems.

Last weekend I started to feel like I was coming down with something, but it was very mild.  That changed Sunday evening and just after I got up Monday morning I went right back to bed, as I've done most of the week. I changed the oil in Mrs. P's car yesterday afternoon and needed a nap afterward. This morning I arranged for a Covid test, messaged my boss and told him what was going on.

Thanks for letting us know, but you can't come in until you've had a negative test.

The good news is they're paying me.

The bad news I still feel like E36 M3. And every time I think it's getting better, it gets worse.

In reply to Mr. Peabody :

Sorry to hear.  It was 9 days for me and the 101-102 temp was the whole time unless I ate Tylenol.  Lots of sleeping - drink all the liquids you can and start eating again.   

wearymicrobe said:

Pounding headache right now. Chewing pain killers to get it to work faster. Nobody tells you how bad they taste but it works faster. 

So true. That's why I like name brand Advil with the candy coating instead of generic :)

I actually like the taste of Aspirin, and my son chews Tylenol like it's a piece of candy. Does anybody even take Aspirin anymore?

In reply to Datsun310Guy :

Just a nasty cold, I'm sure. No fever, and I'm actually feeling better today for the first time in a week. Still lousy, but without the overwhelming fatigue. The Covid test is a work requirement, which I think it entirely reasonable.

Changed from a Verizon based MVNO to AT&T. The phone and network stuff seems okay, but the account and billing is a complete berkeleying mess. I started the account in-store, thinking that it would simplify everything. Everything was done electronically. All documents emailed to me while I was in the store. Later, I found that none of it had the specifics of the plan I had signed up for. None of it had my full account number so I could log in online and view my account - I was stuck in a login verification loop.

Edit: Finally got it resolved about a week later. Probably. You'd think that 'paperless' contracts and billing could be done near instantly instead of two to three billing cycles.

In reply to Mr. Peabody :

I am also going on day 4-5 of hardcore head cold (no fever and already tested negative for COVID), ready for the dang thing to get gone!

I wish people were as interested in paying their bills as they were in having us fix their doors. $150k in receivables is putting a fairly significant dent in my cash flow. Come on people, cough up the cash.