Random Rants ΟΔ: broken record

[Timsup2nothin]

Just got back from putting down our older cat. Bogey made it to 19 so she had a good run, but I'll miss her.
Today sucks. But at least she's not suffering anymore.

I'm really sorry for your loss.

Been there. It's a terrible place. My sympathies go out to you.

Me too.

 

[Ajidica]

Guess who got his by a car yesterday?

I'm completely fine. It was at night in the rain and I was wearing all black. The driver was trying to make a turn before the light change and was going less that five miles an hour (and it was a small car, getting whacked by an Escalade would have been a lot nastier). Fell onto the hood and then slid onto the ground. Got a couple scratches on my hand elbow* but completely fine. The driver pulled over and we had a quick talk. I was completely fine and he clearly knew to pay more attention when turning, so we went our separate ways.

*Surprisingly my jacket didn't rip even though it rubbed against the pavement.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Guess who got his by a car yesterday?

I'm completely fine. It was at night in the rain and I was wearing all black. The driver was trying to make a turn before the light change and was going less that five miles an hour (and it was a small car, getting whacked by an Escalade would have been a lot nastier). Fell onto the hood and then slid onto the ground. Got a couple scratches on my hand elbow* but completely fine. The driver pulled over and we had a quick talk. I was completely fine and he clearly knew to pay more attention when turning, so we went our separate ways.

*Surprisingly my jacket didn't rip even though it rubbed against the pavement.

Not to be a jerk here, but you were walking at night in the rain wearing all black and it was the driver of the car that learned a lesson?

 

[Ajidica]

I had the green light at a crosswalk.
(But yeah, even though pedestrians always have right of way, I was not making it easy for him.)

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I had the green light at a crosswalk.
(But yeah, even though pedestrians always have right of way, I was not making it easy for him.)

There was this slogan about traffic safety that I learned in elementary school: don't be dead right.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

My mother's taken to somehow finding clickbaity 'inspirational' videos about disabled people and bugging me with them. That kind of stuff is really quite patronizing. I don't want to be an inspiration to other people. I want to play video games and listen to rock music and play with my cats.

You are probably already inspiring people in a positive way and are unaware of it - for reasons that have nothing to do with disabilities, but just because you are yourself.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

If you pay off the lease you can do whatever you want. Realistically, you are almost certainly upside down by a huge amount because that is how leases work, so whether you sell it or trade it in you are going to take a bath. What about the other car?

I don't want to buy the car to then resell it. The car I am looking at to replace both of my current cars is a Chevy Bolt (both my current cars are Chevy's). I'm hoping that the fact that I am sticking with them + the fact that they get a $7.5k check from the Federal government for leasing me a Bolt means they'll be willing to work with me. Between insurance savings and lease payments I can break even if they charge me below roughly $2 grand to break both leases.

I don't think they'll work out a deal that is remotely favorable to me but we'll see. Worst case I just keep the cars I have for another year.

Guess who got his by a car yesterday?

I'm completely fine. It was at night in the rain and I was wearing all black. The driver was trying to make a turn before the light change and was going less that five miles an hour (and it was a small car, getting whacked by an Escalade would have been a lot nastier). Fell onto the hood and then slid onto the ground. Got a couple scratches on my hand elbow* but completely fine. The driver pulled over and we had a quick talk. I was completely fine and he clearly knew to pay more attention when turning, so we went our separate ways.

*Surprisingly my jacket didn't rip even though it rubbed against the pavement.

I'm glad you're ok. This sucks.

Also I just screengrabbed this post and sent it to my coworkers. They ruthlessly tease me about the yellow high-viz jacket I wear during the winter nights on my walk home from work. I've almost been hit even with the jacket on but this post kind of reinforces the point I use in my defense when they tease me. Sorry to use you as a bad example!

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I don't want to buy the car to then resell it. The car I am looking at to replace both of my current cars is a Chevy Bolt (both my current cars are Chevy's). I'm hoping that the fact that I am sticking with them + the fact that they get a $7.5k check from the Federal government for leasing me a Bolt means they'll be willing to work with me. Between insurance savings and lease payments I can break even if they charge me below roughly $2 grand to break both leases.

I don't think they'll work out a deal that is remotely favorable to me but we'll see. Worst case I just keep the cars I have for another year.

$7500 fills a pretty big hole, but seems a shame to apply all that to digging you out rather than making better terms on the new lease. The thing to get, that most customers don't, is that you are always buying the car in order to resell it. When you trade it in you are just using the dealership's financial flexibility to make the process appear like a one step easy operation. But they can't magically make the car worth more, or the cost of paying it off less, so in the end the result is the same. You should contact your lease company, or companies, ask for the current payoff amounts on your existing leases, and then compare that to current prices for similar cars.

 

[The_J]

I yesterday booked 3 hotel rooms for my parents and my sister, for their stay after my defense.
I booked via booking.com, paid online...and then the website claimed something went wrong, I should try I again. So I tried paying again, that worked.
Now booking.com says I have 3 rooms booked, the hotel says I have 3 rooms booked, and my bank says I got charged twice.
Brilliant.
Now I need to hope that the customer service isn't completely useless, and that I'll get my 400€ back.

And this day was also otherwise expensive. At least that part will hopefully be worth it, but it still hurts to look at the bill of today .

 

[hobbsyoyo]

$7500 fills a pretty big hole, but seems a shame to apply all that to digging you out rather than making better terms on the new lease. The thing to get, that most customers don't, is that you are always buying the car in order to resell it. When you trade it in you are just using the dealership's financial flexibility to make the process appear like a one step easy operation. But they can't magically make the car worth more, or the cost of paying it off less, so in the end the result is the same. You should contact your lease company, or companies, ask for the current payoff amounts on your existing leases, and then compare that to current prices for similar cars.

I get all that and it's more hassle than its worth for me at the moment. I do not want to pay for the cars outright nor do I want to go through refinancing them with a loan and all that. I accept I will not have an optimal financial outcome for this deal and that the deal may not happen at all.

The thing is also that because I'm not going to buy a Bolt, that $7.5k would go to the dealer no matter what. In this particular scenario however, it provides me with a bit of leverage with the dealership if I go the straigth trade in route. If I buy out my current cars and then go back to the dealership the leverage isn't the same and I'm entirely reliant on getting good terms on a loan (because I won't outright buy them) which is not necessarily a given. Plus then I would still have to go through a seperate transaction of selling them to the dealership as part of a trade in for the Bolt.

I'd rather it all be one transaction settled at once.

I yesterday booked 3 hotel rooms for my parents and my sister, for their stay after my defense.
I booked via booking.com, paid online...and then the website claimed something went wrong, I should try I again. So I tried paying again, that worked.
Now booking.com says I have 3 rooms booked, the hotel says I have 3 rooms booked, and my bank says I got charged twice.
Brilliant.
Now I need to hope that the customer service isn't completely useless, and that I'll get my 400€ back.

And this day was also otherwise expensive. At least that part will hopefully be worth it, but it still hurts to look at the bill of today .

Here's hoping they are going to pay you back!

 

[Birdjaguar]

Also I just screengrabbed this post and sent it to my coworkers. They ruthlessly tease me about the yellow high-viz jacket I wear during the winter nights on my walk home from work. I've almost been hit even with the jacket on but this post kind of reinforces the point I use in my defense when they tease me. Sorry to use you as a bad example!

Did you correct his spelling error before you sent it onward so he doesn't look worse?

 

[Ajidica]

Did you correct his spelling error before you sent it onward so he doesn't look worse?

Spelling error? That's being generous. I don't think there is a single sentence in that post where I didn't make a typo or a spelling error.
(I was sober when posting! I swear!)

 

[Bootstoots]

I was going to go door-knocking for the Democrat in my lean-Republican district. First time I'd have done anything political besides compulsively consuming news and talking about it here and IRL, and making small donations. But then I slept through my alarm and the event. At noon.

I mean, I guess I clearly needed the sleep, and I'm glad it didn't happen at work. But still, how often are you in a somewhat competitive district in a heavily gerrymandered FPTP system, right? And, more to the point, it's hard to meet other politically engaged people who are actually doing something potentially effective, rather than calling representatives to vote in some way they clearly wouldn't or would have anyway, or staging protests where they march around in pussy hats or try to ban plastic straws or something.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

Not to be a jerk here, but you were walking at night in the rain wearing all black and it was the driver of the car that learned a lesson?

??? am I supposed to wear an orange jacket if I want to safely walk through my city just in order not to inconvenience drivers? that's batshit insane. trespassers typically do not have the potential to kill other human beings by moving around, you know? I don't threaten other people's lifes by my mere physical presence on the sidewalk.

or, to say it otherwise: who do you think has the responsibility, the guy walking around a kindergarden with a semi automatic rifle, or the kids who are catching the bullets? the amount of mental gymnastics americans go through to justify their obsession with cars is genuinely scary..

 

[Snerk]

There's probably big differences in culture on this but around here the general consensus is that if you're out and about in the dark and you're not wearing anything reflective you don't have a great case if there's a traffic incident.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

It's a question of physics and infrastructure. We don't have the infrastructure to support fully segregating pedestrian and motor traffic so they must share some spaces. Since that is the case it follows you should take steps to protect yourselves during low-light conditions as then even the most vigilante driver can't always detect you when you are crossing the road.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

??? am I supposed to wear an orange jacket if I want to safely walk through my city just in order not to inconvenience drivers? that's bat**** insane. trespassers typically do not have the potential to kill other human beings by moving around, you know? I don't threaten other people's lifes by my mere physical presence on the sidewalk.

or, to say it otherwise: who do you think has the responsibility, the guy walking around a kindergarden with a semi automatic rifle, or the kids who are catching the bullets? the amount of mental gymnastics americans go through to justify their obsession with cars is genuinely scary..

Oh, no question...get killed in the crosswalk on your green light, your survivors have a good shot at an insurance settlement for wrongful death. Congrats to them. Hell man, make sure they cut me in for half the payoff I'll run you over myself. I got no love for my insurance company.

Apparently you didn't quite grasp the meaning of the "Don't be dead right" slogan.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

There's probably big differences in culture on this but around here the general consensus is that if you're out and about in the dark and you're not wearing anything reflective you don't have a great case if there's a traffic incident.

that's literally victim blaming though, not that much different from telling women they are "asking for it" if they don't dress like nuns. I mean, if we're really talking about inner city here, AND it was an actual traffic light there AND it was green for the trespasser in question, then I don't see any rational way how one could possibly blame the trespasser for that. I also don't see how the "wearing all black" matters in the slightest - It's absolutely irrelevant if you're wearing brown or navy blue or dark green or any other color that isn't bright and reflective, it'll hardly make a difference at night.

It's a question of physics and infrastructure. We don't have the infrastructure to support fully segregating pedestrian and motor traffic so they must share some spaces. Since that is the case it follows you should take steps to protect yourselves during low-light conditions as then even the most vigilante driver can't always detect you when you are crossing the road.

While I do understand this and agree with it to some degree; one should always try to stay safe as a pedestrian, because being ""right"" won't make you come back alive, it's still very clear, especially in the case stated above, who is to blame. Abundantly clear.

Oh, no question...get killed in the crosswalk on your green light, your survivors have a good shot at an insurance settlement for wrongful death. Congrats to them. Hell man, make sure they cut me in for half the payoff I'll run you over myself. I got no love for my insurance company.

Apparently you didn't quite grasp the meaning of the "Don't be dead right" slogan.

I did, see my response to hobbs, I just felt like you were blaming Aji aswell as the driver, which is ridiculous

 

[Birdjaguar]

If you are dead, who is to blame won't matter to you.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

If you are dead, who is to blame won't matter to you.

completely irrelevant to the discussion at hand, and has already been said three times by three different people (including me)