So, after the accident, they cleared the car off the road just because the cops told us to—they didn't even bother doing a full scene investigation, so we just filled out and signed an EU report ourselves. The guy admitted he was at fault, so I immediately hauled the car over to the insurance adjuster and then straight to the body shop. Man, it was a struggle to get it there—firstly, I had to drive it straight to CO for the estimate, otherwise, I would’ve been stuck paying for a tow truck out of my own pocket just to get it to the insurance lot. Then it was public transit back home, and the next morning, early bird special, I'm back out there for the adjuster to document the damage so it matches the crash, and then finally driving the thing to the authorized repair shop. New car, roughly $33k. The shop had everything fixed up in three weeks. Still had to rely on public transit to get home, and I actually had to borrow a car from my brother just to get by. I think it took about two months before the insurance company finally settled the body shop bill—they actually tried to lowball me, offering way less than what the repairs actually cost, and they seemed genuinely shocked at how expensive it all was. It wasn't until I "threatened" them—and I totally meant it—saying I’d just pay the bill myself and stop paying into mandatory insurance altogether since it's clearly useless if nobody gives a damn that I'm left without a vehicle for months. I told them they can't expect the shop to store my car forever for free either; eventually, storage fees kick in. Only after that did they suddenly decide I was being too impatient and actually sent the payment. Before all that headache, they were breathing down my neck for a police accident report. I contacted the local precinct and they sent me some confirmation that the accident happened, but apparently, that wasn't enough for the insurance folks. They wanted specific investigation details that don't even exist because the cops didn't want to do the paperwork, but the neatly filled-out EU report didn't quite satisfy their requirements regarding CO's liability. They even demanded a second copy of the report from the other driver—luckily, he was cool about admitting fault. So, I had to track him down, and since he was a decent guy, we filled out his copy too, making sure it matched the first one and using the actual date of the accident even though we were filling it out much later. Honestly, it scares me to think what would've happened if the guy had refused to admit anything or sign anything—I could've been stuck without a car for months with zero help. Nobody cares, especially not CO; I'm left without a ride, the shop won't lend me one, and the insurance company doesn't care if I have a spare. It's basically just "figure it out yourself, buddy," and don't even get me started on the stress.
The guy who ripped me off was working with an insurance company, and even though we were playing nice at first, they made it such a massive headache just to get them to actually pay out the claim. Honestly, I can't even imagine if this had gone to court—my car would’ve been stuck at the shop for months, or worse, I would've ended up footing the bill myself. We're talking a decent chunk of change here, basically everything my local mechanic and body shop spent getting the thing back in shape. So, yeah, lesson learned—I don't fall for those sales pitches anymore. Now, I just go with the cheapest option available.
So, I was looking over my monthly statement from JPMorgan Chase and this popped up: We would like to inform you that at JPMorgan Chase branches, we collect and process our clients' data to ensure compliance with legal requirements and other relevant regulations. If you haven't already completed the "Know Your Customer" questionnaire, a bank representative will ask you to fill it out and sign it. We thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation.
All these endless regulations are just a slow march toward total individual control—it’s pretty obvious if you look closely. At this rate, we might as well just have them implant microchips right now so they can seize our bank accounts and hand us a tiny allowance just enough to cover the bare essentials while they pull all the strings behind the scenes.
euroherc keeps their prices pegged right at the top of the bracket. Honestly, I have no clue how much money they’re bleeding out by being so stubborn about it, but man, they are definitely digging their heels in. I actually jumped ship from them too—I realized after years of everyone preaching about staying loyal to one provider just to get some sympathy during a claim that, frankly, price is the only thing that actually matters to me when I'm choosing. It's not like these massive corporations are any different once you actually file a claim, anyway. I've had enough runaround with big firms like State Farm and their endless stalling when it comes to cutting a check.
Nicole Long28 said:Wells Fargo sent me an offer for a 3-year personal loan based on my current savings account. It arrived in a standard envelope, and the deposit amount was clearly visible right there on the letter.
My wife hasn't received anything yet, even though she has a savings account with them too. I asked her if hers might have been intercepted by some shady neighbor stealing mail from the apartment boxes. Just awful. As soon as our CDs mature, we're moving our money elsewhere. 😠
And what would a neighbor even do with knowing you have cash in your account? Like, why would they care if you're borrowing or saving? Besides that, they probably send out like 10,000 of these things—it's cheaper for them to pay a few cents for standard mail than to deal with registered mail. Most people aren't going to take the bait anyway, so the postage is basically just money down the drain for them.
..... Cash withdrawals at HUD ATMs within the US are totally free Cash withdrawals at HUD ATMs abroad (like in Canada or Mexico and Mexico) have no fees either Using an ATM or a POS terminal domestically carries a 1.5% fee, with a $20.00 minimum charge
.....
From what I can tell, those domestic fees actually apply to all the other local ATMs that aren't part of the HUD network. Honestly, nothing seems to have changed at all.🤷
Just a heads-up—we're updating the fees for debit card transactions when you're pulling cash from ATMs or using a POS terminal here in the States. Starting August 10th, 2013, the new fee will be 1.5%, with a minimum charge of $2.00.
So, does this mean I'm actually gonna get hit with a fee just for using a Citigroup ATM, or am I totally misreading this?
So, it wasn't even valued at $90K. And honestly—given how much the market is tanking right now—you probably won't even be able to move it for more than $80K.
Alright, here’s the full rundown of everything I’ve got sitting in front of me—honestly, looks like a pretty massive haul, right? Now the real question is... what should I ditch from this absolute mountain of gear to make things actually manageable?
Lately, my PC running Windows 7 has been acting super weird. Out of nowhere, my CPU usage just spikes to 100% and stays there—it’s like the whole system is stuck in slow motion. I also noticed a ton of updates constantly trying to install, both for Windows 7 itself and for Office 2007. It honestly feels like Windows 7 is just riddled with holes. It seems like it’s starting to hammer the hardware way harder than Windows XP ever did, or maybe I'm just imagining things? What do you guys think?
silenthawk9 said:why isn't it any good? can I just order all these products online, or is there stuff available locally in a big city like Chicago?
The thing with this Waider stuff is the protein-to-carb ratio—it's pretty low on the protein side compared to the carbs, and to make matters worse, they're using soy which has a pretty weak biological value.
If you're gonna grab this, order it from Canada—just keep in mind you'll gotta factor in an extra 30% for customs and taxes if you do it officially. Honestly, if you know someone heading over to Canada, have them drop it off at a post office in a Small Midwestern town and just pick it up from there to dodge those customs fees entirely. It ends up being way cheaper than buying it here in the States, especially if you're picking up a bulk order. 😉
wearyotter81 said:Optimum Nutrition MusclePharm is aspartame-free.
It's got acesulfame potassium though. There’s just too much sketchy stuff floating around about those types of sweeteners being carcinogenic—honestly, if I were you, I’d steer clear of products like that for now. Personally, I'd rather just stick to pure, unflavored protein—zero fat, zero cholesterol, zero sugar, and absolutely no artificial sweeteners. It keeps things simple and keeps my mind at ease. Let's be real, the flavor isn't exactly a gourmet experience... and besides, these things aren't exactly cheap.
When it comes to those annoying digestive issues people get from protein powders, pure isolates won't touch you—I personally stick to MusclePharm Isolate Neutral since it’s basically just protein and nothing else. Honestly, if you're dealing with stomach trouble, my money is on aspartame. It’s used as a sweetener everywhere, and it's pretty nasty stuff. If you’re slamming shakes all day and also chewing on Orbit gum—which, by the way, uses the same crap—it’s no wonder things start moving through you way too fast. Every single tub of protein out there lists aspartame on the label. Personally, I steer clear of anything that mentions aspartame or sucralose; sure, sucralose might be slightly "better," but there just isn't enough solid research to say it's actually safe. The list of proteins that don't load up on these industrial sugars and artificial sweeteners is honestly pretty short—as far as I know, you've got MusclePharm Isolate Neutral or maybe some of the unflavored options from Optimum Nutrition, but I can't think of many others... And don't even get me started on gainers—those things are absolutely loaded with sweeteners, cholesterol, unnecessary fats, and all sorts of junk.
So, I was listening to some supposedly "brilliant" financial advisor rambling on about how buying a car is actually a smart move during a market downturn—as if that makes any sense. Personally? I learned the hard way that's total nonsense. I dropped about $35,000 on a ride a couple of years back, thinking maybe it wouldn't be such a disaster, but man, was I wrong. Within just a year or two, the value had already tanked by more than a third of what I paid. 😁
Honestly, that gainer you're using is pretty much useless—and don't even get me started on Weider Crash Weight Gain... it's just not cutting it. You’d be way better off grabbing something with actual quality behind it, like: 1. Sci mentor Mass Gainer 5000 2. Mass Gainer plus UBOSS 3. Isogainer 4. Mass Factor 5. Serious Mass 6. Muscle Juice 7. ISO Mass Extreme Gainer
Honestly, I’m done with eggs—I'd much rather just stick to tuna. It’s getting to the point where they don't even feel like real eggs anymore. If I try to boil them, the yolk basically disintegrates, but if they actually cook through, the shells are impossible to peel. The quality is just trash; the whites end up watery or have this weird, off texture. The whole thing is just... fake. Even back when I was buying eggs at the local grocery store ten years ago, they actually tasted decent, but these modern ones? Every single year, the quality just keeps sliding downhill. It feels like everything on the market right now comes from the exact same massive industrial suppliers—whether you're grabbing them at Walmart, Kroger, or Target, it's all the same mass-produced junk. Just total garbage. If anyone knows a spot where you can actually find organic or farm-to-table eggs that aren't total crap, let me know—but as for these, I'm officially boycotting them.
All good now. I just realized—Maltodextrin actually sits at a glycemic index of about 105. So, it's slightly lower than pure glucose, which is interesting since it's a bit pricier, but it seems to digest way faster in the stomach too. Honestly, I was a little tripped up because I thought it was categorized as a complex carb. Thanks for the heads-up, Nicholas Kern90. I mean, I knew about Maltodextrin before, but I was so focused on using things like Gatorade back in the day that I totally blanked on the fact that Maltodextrin was even an option. 🙈
So, I finally picked up some Carbo Energy from Inkospor at Helix today. Up until now, I’ve just been sticking to glucose powder in my PWM. And as far as I know, Maltodextrin is more of a daily carb thing. Since I need something in the PWM to actually spike my insulin, I can't exactly ditch the glucose. I could always just stick to honey and bananas like I have been—though honestly, honey isn't exactly perfect since it's basically a fifty-fifty split of glucose and fructose, but hey, it is what it is.
