Useless Conversation

[cmlancas]

Dog just tore his ACL, $4k for surgery.
Merry Christmas!

If it's any consolation, the hilarious leg extensions your dog will do (it's a part of the rehab) looking for treats after he has recovered are priceless.

Had a boston growing up who blew both her back ones.  Had to be at least twelve months where she'd walk up to you and extend her back legs in a kicking motion looking for a treat.

[ghost]

I know this is crazy, but I really, really want to move somewhere where it actually gets cold.   

[Evildrider]

I know this is crazy, but I really, really want to move somewhere where it actually gets cold.   

The cold is overrated. 

[Selby]

I know this is crazy, but I really, really want to move somewhere where it actually gets cold.   

I'm visiting outside of San Antonio for the holidays.  21 degrees is cold enough.  Actual winter with snow and storms is fun to visit but I'd hate to live in it.

[ghost]

Oh yeah?  Which town you going to be in?

Also-  I'm not from San Antonio.  The heat gets me down.  My body never has really adjusted to it.

[Selby]

Kerrville.  I admit it does get a little colder here than in the city proper by about 5-10F.  It's still much nicer than the panhandle of Texas where it not only was cold it was really windy to make it a truly miserable experience.

[Sky]

It may surprise people to learn I am happy during cold streaks. Saves me money, cheaper to heat the house at 20 than it is at 50.

Last night I was outside with the neighbor's grandkid playing in the snow. He came into the neighborhood xmas party all covered in snow and I couldn't resist. Of course, I was out in just a flannel shirt (and my street clothes, pervs) and he was in a snow suit. But the neighbor is one of my woodburning buddies, had his stove cranked. I love coming in out of the freezing cold covered in snow and warming up by the fire (it was only about 28, I wasn't really all that cold, just wet).

[Chimpy]

I like the cold. Just wish I had a garage to keep my GTI in :(

[Soln]

I would honestly prefer some dry cold and a bit of snow than near the freezing, constant rain we get here.  Man, a wet cold with fog is so much colder it seems.

[MisterNoisy]

I like autumn weather and winter here in FL (cold but no snow).  I don't need snow here - people are bad enough at driving when it's dry, let alone when it rains or snows.

[Viin]

HE washers blow goats.

[ghost]

Kerrville is pretty nice.  You guys may get a little precipitation tomorrow night, from what I've heard from the weather people. 

[Numtini]

Snow is great, at least until you have to shovel it. Cold just sucks.

[Sky]

Shoveling is good for you. And if it's more than an inch or two, that's what snowthrowers are for.

I'm a bit obsessive about shoveling the driveway, though. I really hate when a base of rutted ice gains a foothold, it makes using the snowthrower a pita, it looks like shit and it's dangerous. We've had three little 1" snow showers over the last couple days and I've already shoveled twice. But better to take five minutes and do that than sit out with the ice chopper next week.

[Lantyssa]

Kerrville.  I admit it does get a little colder here than in the city proper by about 5-10F.  It's still much nicer than the panhandle of Texas where it not only was cold it was really windy to make it a truly miserable experience.

Oh man.  I love the Kerrville area.  The drive up 27 to 41 is beautiful.

[ghost]

There's a reason the Hill Country is so popular.  It's beautiful.  Again, the killer for me in Texas is the heat.  My thermostat has never adjusted. 

[Selby]

It sure is beautiful.  If there was work I would consider moving back here, but sadly there isn't.  The weather hasn't been too bad, it's been almost 70 and sunny the last few days despite being 25-30 in the morning.  I had forgotten how Texas weather is such fun.

[ghost]

The night life probably leaves a little to be desired, as well.  I think everyone is over 65 out there.

[Selby]

Eh, I don't do nightlife and I know better than to try any cuisine other than bbq and local Texas food, so no surprises there.  My parents do say it's the land of rednecks and geriatrics - they're both under 65 and my sister lives here too so it's quite fun people watching when out and about.

[Chimpy]

So apparently Chase Bank has been charging me $12 a month for the last 8 months for not meeting a bunch of minimums (which apparently were added to my account recently and are much much higher than the account I originally opened at BankOne in 2001 had). I had been planning on closing the account for a few months but had not had time to go to a branch when they are open with my crazy schedule. Tomorrow morning I am going to their branch at 9am and closing the account and will see if I can get any of the $100+ they have stolen from me in the last 8 months.

But I am sure I won't be able to... Jamie Dimon needs his 8 figure holiday bonus, after all.

[ghost]

There's absolutely no reason to bank with one of the megabanks.  You're much better off with a good sized local or semi local bank or a credit union. 

[Evildrider]

I blame the Pentaverate.

[Chimpy]

There's absolutely no reason to bank with one of the megabanks.  You're much better off with a good sized local or semi local bank or a credit union. 

I have moved to using USAA for my main bank and the Credit Union at the University for stuff like my car loan/main credit card going forward. The Chase account was my only leftover (well and my CitiCard, but that is almost paid off now).

[ghost]

USAA is really a great bank.  We still bank with them for some things, but have switched to a high quality local bank for most of our needs. 

[Chimpy]

Chase account closed. The people at the branch didn't even try to change my mind. I get the feeling they are getting that a lot lately. Heh.

[Merusk]

There's absolutely no reason to bank with one of the megabanks.  You're much better off with a good sized local or semi local bank or a credit union. 

Until they are bought-out by a megabank.

I banked with ING for a good while. They just got bought by Citibank.  The smaller banks around here have been selling to PNC and 5/3 as they compete with each other for greater market share.  The rest don't offer any modern conveniences like online deposit or even account balance online because they're simply too small.  My choices of having a local branch are diminishing quite rapidly. 

[Selby]

Until they are bought-out by a megabank.

I can't imagine USAA ever being bought out...  I will be sad if it happens though, best bank I've ever had.

[DevilsAdvocate25]

So apparently Chase Bank has been charging me $12 a month for the last 8 months for not meeting a bunch of minimums (which apparently were added to my account recently and are much much higher than the account I originally opened at BankOne in 2001 had). I had been planning on closing the account for a few months but had not had time to go to a branch when they are open with my crazy schedule. Tomorrow morning I am going to their branch at 9am and closing the account and will see if I can get any of the $100+ they have stolen from me in the last 8 months.

But I am sure I won't be able to... Jamie Dimon needs his 8 figure holiday bonus, after all.

They made this change in February. When we found out about it, we started calling it the "poor people tax". Their new rule is that you have to direct deposit at least one >= $500 transaction a month or you pay $12 a month for the account. They eventually closed my account because I had switched to USAA and left like $20 in their bank. Once it went negative, they closed it and backed out the monthly fees.

[Merusk]

Until they are bought-out by a megabank.

I can't imagine USAA ever being bought out...  I will be sad if it happens though, best bank I've ever had.

No, I see USAA becoming a megabank or closing down before that happens.  I've got the kids and my personal spending account through USAA but I like having a 2nd account through which only bills and the mortgage pass.  ING was nice for this (particularly since they gave interest on checking account) but not anymore.   (Oh and I was wrong it's CapitalOne, not Citi that bought them)  Hell, CapitalOne has reduced the interest rate from 1.5% down to almost nothing now.  Fucking banks.

[ghost]

There's absolutely no reason to bank with one of the megabanks.  You're much better off with a good sized local or semi local bank or a credit union. 

Until they are bought-out by a megabank.

I banked with ING for a good while. They just got bought by Citibank.  The smaller banks around here have been selling to PNC and 5/3 as they compete with each other for greater market share.  The rest don't offer any modern conveniences like online deposit or even account balance online because they're simply too small.  My choices of having a local branch are diminishing quite rapidly. 

Interesting.  There are quite a few local banks here in San Antonio that are high quality.  And even the regionals are decent.  I bank with Frost Bank for my business and it's spectacular.  We primarily bank with Broadway Bank for our personal stuff and USAA for some other things.  Both are great.  The main branch of USAA is here in SA, so it feels like a local bank.

[rattran]

So today the belt on my dryer broke, which is annoying but fixable. And now my 3tb nas box released its magic smoke. Not so fixable I suspect, and I only have backups of maybe half of the stuff.

[ghost]

Dryers have belts?

[rattran]

Yep, and dryers disassemble fairly easily. I just have to find a 92.25" ribbed belt tomorrow, and I can have dry clothes again.

[ghost]

Interesting.  I'm sure that may have been a problem in one of my dryers of long ago, if so.  I'm also sure that modern companies have managed to make it expensive as fuck and difficult to replace them, thus rendering a new replacement a necessity.  We had to replace a front load washer recently due to mold build up.  We ended up getting an old school top load to help prevent that.  Shitty technology.  I had a washer/dryer set when I graduated from college that lasted almost 10 years (and we only upgraded because my wife said it was absolutely necessary due to new features  ).  We've bought 2 others since then. 

[Xanthippe]

Interesting.  I'm sure that may have been a problem in one of my dryers of long ago, if so.  I'm also sure that modern companies have managed to make it expensive as fuck and difficult to replace them, thus rendering a new replacement a necessity.  We had to replace a front load washer recently due to mold build up.  We ended up getting an old school top load to help prevent that.  Shitty technology.  I had a washer/dryer set when I graduated from college that lasted almost 10 years (and we only upgraded because my wife said it was absolutely necessary due to new features  ).  We've bought 2 others since then. 

I bought a Neptune back when they were the cat's pajamas. I hate it. Fucking mold, have to leave door open to prevent that in between washes. When that fucker totally breaks, I'm going back to a top loader. I think they work better, and I don't believe the hype about front loaders. Wish I'd never gotten one. (It's about 10 years old, the instrument panel already went out once, replaced that for $125 (home repair)) .

The washer we replaced with the Neptune was a better washer.