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Such a scam. Healthcare.gov shows me cheaper individual plans available for 2027 from ambetter that ambetter doesn't show on their website. Looked it up. I've spent $68,000 in premiums the last 5 years and got nothing out of it except a few doctors visits and labs.

osu1991 said:

I've spent $68,000 in premiums the last 5 years

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That's why I cancelled ours and just started saving the money. We're about to do the same thing with our home insurance.....not cancel it outright but do away with the portion which covers wind damage. We're paying over $5k right now and that is AFTER I dumbed things down...and it keeps going up. Got a couple trees I want to have taken down first before I do that however. After we do that, it will knock about $3k off our annual premium.

dishstaller said:

not cancel it outright but do away with the portion which covers wind damage.

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Other than fire, what other kinds of damage do you guys get down there?

harshness said:

Other than fire, what other kinds of damage do you guys get down there?

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Not much else. Fire is the only thing I really worry about. I honestly didn't know I could remove wind coverage until someone told that they had....dropped their annual rate from $6,500 to $1,800. I'm currently paying $5,160.

dishstaller said:

Not much else. Fire is the only thing I really worry about. I honestly didn't know I could remove wind coverage until someone told that they had....dropped their annual rate from $6,500 to $1,800. I'm currently paying $5,160.

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Does the Wind portion cover Hurricanes ?

Jimbo said:

Does the Wind portion cover Hurricanes ?

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Yes. I covers ANYTHING wind related. If the wind blows down a tree on my roof...that is wind related.
That is why I want to take out a few trees first before I drop it.

I'm not worried about my roof. House was very solidly built and has hurricane straps. I put the metal roof on myself with the help of a friend and I recently replaced all of the outer screws with #12 2 in screws which I also dipped the tip in silicone before driving them in. Any other damage I'll fix myself like I did after Michael gave us a visit in 2018.

dishstaller said:

Yes. I covers ANYTHING wind related. If the wind blows down a tree on my roof...that is wind related.
That is why I want to take out a few trees first before I drop it.

I'm not worried about my roof. House was very solidly built and has hurricane straps. I put the metal roof on myself with the help of a friend and I recently replaced all of the outer screws with #12 2 in screws which I also dipped the tip in silicone before driving them in. Any other damage I'll fix myself like I did after Michael gave us a visit in 2018.

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So, the Roof will stay, hopefully the rest of the house stays as well ... if the Hurricane decides to take the house and move it down the street, well at least the roof will go with it !

Jimbo said:

So, the Roof will stay, hopefully the rest of the house stays as well ... if the Hurricane decides to take the house and move it down the street, well at least the roof will go with it !

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Why be such a smartbutt.
We went through a cat 5 hurricane.....the foundation is sound. Trees hitting the house are the only thing I am worried about when it comes to wind related damage.
IF you had actually been through multiple hurricanes like I have, you would know that most of the damage, unless you were stupid enough to build along the coast.....something ALL of our ancestors knew better than to do, is roof related. In a lot of cases the roof gives way and then the house suffers water damage due to the heavy rain.

osu1991 said:

Such a scam. Healthcare.gov shows me cheaper individual plans available for 2027 from ambetter that ambetter doesn't show on their website. Looked it up. I've spent $68,000 in premiums the last 5 years and got nothing out of it except a few doctors visits and labs.

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have you even been abroad. talk about the cost of health care the whole cost of living in merica is a scam. were taxed to death so bad everyone's a slave to the govt. explore the cost of living in other countries it might blow your mind!!!

slow_poke_pete said:

have you even been abroad. talk about the cost of health care the whole cost of living in merica is a scam. were taxed to death so bad everyone's a slave to the govt. explore the cost of living in other countries it might blow your mind!!!

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Yes and they have healthcare.

AZ. said:

Yes and they have healthcare.

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There are some recent videos on Youtube where Americans who left the US for the utopia of Europe are having serious second thoughts and the "free healthcare" is one of the primary things they mention.

I've had CTs etc within MINUTES of entering an ER (A&E).

In Canada, they publish wait times (months) for CTs. And track the number of deaths of such people while waiting.

In 1993 they were trying to address healthcare, now the problem is a damn monster!.....We need more drs, and nurses to start. Rural hospitals are closing down left and right. It looks like my closest hospital(26 miles away) doesnt think they will make it through next year. The whole thing is a mess! And by the first of the year it will be on steroids!

hold on tight

navychop said:

I've had CTs etc within MINUTES of entering an ER (A&E).

In Canada, they publish wait times (months) for CTs. And track the number of deaths of such people while waiting.

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CT scans in Canada are based on a priority rating, your ER visit and scan would have been a Priority 1 (Emergent) and been done fairly quickly (depending what the situation was) or at the very most, within 24 hours.

AZ. said:

We need more drs, and nurses to start.

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That's a big ask, given the liability situation and the demands from the insurance companies. My podiatrist spends 20% more on liability insurance than I made in a year.

dishstaller said:

There are some recent videos on Youtube where Americans who left the US for the utopia of Europe are having serious second thoughts and the "free healthcare" is one of the primary things they mention.

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I'm not surprised. Most of these Americans never got outside of their hometown let alone do international travel. They hear about the "positives" and think it's utopia in European countries. I have both lived in and visited many European countries. There's no place better than here. And then there are those Americans that complain about our country but I don't see many leaving even though I wish they would.

harshness said:

That's a big ask, given the liability situation and the demands from the insurance companies. My podiatrist spends 20% more on liability insurance than I made in a year.

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Well the number of Drs is controlled. So it would make it more like what it was 60 or 70 years ago. Remember when they had their own offices? Easy to get an appointment? Seen asap when sick? Our emergency rooms do that now, and that adds to the price. We dont have many Drs out here lots of Nurse Practitioners, and Phyctian assistants. You hardly get seen by a Dr. But this is very rural area, maybe the big city is different? Left the city 20 years ago.

Keith Brannen said:

CT scans in Canada are based on a priority rating, your ER visit and scan would have been a Priority 1 (Emergent) and been done fairly quickly (depending what the situation was) or at the very most, within 24 hours.

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And yet…..

AZ. said:

We dont have many Drs out here lots of Nurse Practitioners, and Phyctian assistants.

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I've gone from an MD in the 1980s -> DO -> FPN -> PA-C.

The FPN went into teaching.

dishstaller said:

Why be such a smartbutt.
We went through a cat 5 hurricane.....the foundation is sound. Trees hitting the house are the only thing I am worried about when it comes to wind related damage.
IF you had actually been through multiple hurricanes like I have, you would know that most of the damage, unless you were stupid enough to build along the coast.....something ALL of our ancestors knew better than to do, is roof related. In a lot of cases the roof gives way and then the house suffers water damage due to the heavy rain.

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A good friend of mine is a general contractor. He has quite a large network of builders throughout the U.S. In certain parts of the country roof straps, brackets, clips are a code requirement now. Older homes can be upgraded if they have attic access. These roof reinforcing methods significantly strengthen roof integrity during high wind events.

Washington Post

SpaceX has held talks with Boost's parent company EchoStar in recent months about launching its own signature wireless service through a deal with the company, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.
Musk, the SpaceX CEO, has discussed the deal personally, meeting with EchoStar chairman Charlie Ergen last month, according to the people. The potential deal may result in SpaceX acquiring Boost Mobile or SpaceX gaining access to its network, which it leases from AT&T and T-Mobile US, the people said.
Access to those lease agreements would be a coup for SpaceX. The back door would allow Musk to make a play for a U.S. wireless market that equity research firm MoffettNathanson estimates is worth $235 billion. But the proposed service may need consent from those carriers for the service to actually launch, the people said.

nelson61 said:

Washington Post

SpaceX has held talks with Boost's parent company EchoStar in recent months about launching its own signature wireless service through a deal with the company, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.
Musk, the SpaceX CEO, has discussed the deal personally, meeting with EchoStar chairman Charlie Ergen last month, according to the people. The potential deal may result in SpaceX acquiring Boost Mobile or SpaceX gaining access to its network, which it leases from AT&T and T-Mobile US, the people said.
Access to those lease agreements would be a coup for SpaceX. The back door would allow Musk to make a play for a U.S. wireless market that equity research firm MoffettNathanson estimates is worth $235 billion. But the proposed service may need consent from those carriers for the service to actually launch, the people said.

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Can't remember where or who I saw predict this.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Elon soon own all of DISH / Echostar in the future.

Scott Greczkowski said:

Can't remember where or who I saw predict this.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Elon soon own all of DISH / Echostar in the future.

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So Charlie is going to sell out and give it all the Elon?

Scott Greczkowski said:

It wouldn't surprise me to see Elon soon own all of DISH / Echostar in the future.

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Again, why would Musk want a TV Service, specially one that is losing over a million subscribers a year.

Phone service…maybe, but not TV.

MikeD-C05 said:

So Charlie is going to sell out and give it all the Elon?

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I would say yes, but he will stay on board with Elon somehow.

Bruce said:

Again, why would Musk want a TV Service, specially one that is losing over a million subscribers a year.

Phone service…maybe, but not TV.

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I know he wants TV. He wants to deliver EVERYTHING to EVERYWHERE.

Scott Greczkowski said:

I know he wants TV. He wants to deliver EVERYTHING to EVERYWHERE.

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Again, if so, why would he want Dish/Sling of all the providers?

He could deliver anything without actually owning, for example, watching the Lions game in my Tesla Y on it's screen via the YT app, while on the way to my future in-laws on Sunday.

If Musk did acquire DISH, he would just convert it to use his own satellites to deliver it. Might be easier than creating a new startup. Change my dish out to one which connects to Starlink? Who knows?

Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol

Night Patrol - Michael Martin Murphey

Because the Night - Patti Smith Group

Fly By Night - Rush

Last Dollar (Fly Away) - Tim McGraw

Watch Big Brother, dvr The Traitors, check on football game and watch if it draws me in...

MLB wild card games…

Will be avoiding the networks tonight for obvious reasons... might watch some classic NCIS to fill the gap.

dfergie said:

Will be avoiding the networks tonight for obvious reasons... might watch some classic NCIS to fill the gap.

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This is why I record everything we watch. I have a lot of options instead of election crap.

I'll catch up on the new SWAT series on Starz.

I end up watching the opening and a few minutes after Survivor every week before moving on.

I like this more, for the most part, than Survivor lately. Wasn't a fan of the Big Brother season, but I do like this one.

In a world where Chromebooks are retailing for upwards of $600, that probably isn't enough for a self-respecting Windows laptop.

Come to think of it, it is barely enough for a reasonable mini PC with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse these days.

If a laptop is a mandate, you're looking in the used market, and that's a complete crap shoot unless you can get a factory refurb with a >90-day warranty.

After checking on new laptops and not liking the prices I checked to see when I replaced the battery in mine. It was about five years ago. I also installed a bigger 1TB SSD drive a few years ago. It already has 12GB of RAM which was more than most new laptops I looked at. I plan on replacing the battery to see what happens. The laptop is a Dell Inspiron 5570. Is there anything else I need to replace?

reubenray said:

After checking on new laptops and not liking the prices I checked to see when I replaced the battery in mine. It was about five years ago. I also installed a bigger 1TB SSD drive a few years ago. It already has 12GB of RAM which was more than most new laptops I looked at. I plan on replacing the battery to see what happens. The laptop is a Dell Inspiron 5570. Is there anything else I need to replace?

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Maybe replace the CMOS battery? Power on while taping the F2 key to get into the Setup screen, then take photos of all your cmos settings before replacement, so you can easily restore them after replacement.

primestar31 said:

Maybe replace the CMOS battery? Power on while taping the F2 key to get into the Setup screen, then take photos of all your cmos settings before replacement, so you can easily restore them after replacement.

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What is the difference between a standard CR 2032 3v battery and a CMOS CR2032 3v battery?

reubenray said:

What is the difference between a standard CR 2032 3v battery and a CMOS CR2032 3v battery?

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There isn't one. CMOS is what the battery powers.

Oooo, quite the show now. All three vents have doming and overflows. The cone that built up around the North vent lost its upper quarter at 02:50 Oct 17 and is now spewing lava at a healthy rate. Don't know if I would say it's a fountain, but it's close.

edit: The USGS has called the official start of Episode 55 as starting at 03:19 HST Oct 17, 2026:

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Alert Level: WATCH, Color Code: ORANGE 2026-10-17 13:43:56 UTC
HVO/USGS Volcanic Activity Notice

Volcano: Kilauea (VNUM #332010)

Current Volcano Alert Level: WATCH
Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE

Issued: Saturday, October 17, 2026, 3:43 AM HST
Source: Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
Notice Number: 2026/H488
Location: N 19 deg 25 min W 155 deg 17 min
Elevation: 4091 ft (1247 m)
Area: Hawaii

Summary: Episode 55 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption began at 3:19 AM HST on October 17, 2026.

Volcanic Activity:
Episode 55 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu began at the summit of Kīlauea began at 3:19 AM HST on October 17, 2026.

Fountain heights are relatively low at about 100-150 feet (30-45 m), and it is not clear whether this episode will evolve to the same heights as previous episodes. Continuous overflows from the vents began yesterday, October 16, just before 6 a.m. HST and transitioned into episode 55 fountains at 3:19 a.m. HST this morning. The current forecast is for winds are blowing from the north-northeast direction, which suggests that volcanic gas emissions and volcanic material may be distributed to the south-southwest direction from Halemaʻumaʻu.

• All eruptive vents and lava flows are confined to Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Tephra fall from volcanic ash clouds is greatest within 3 miles (5 km) of the vents, lighter ash and Pele's Hair may stay suspended for large distances from the vents.

Kīlauea seems to be returning to the "normal" eruption script, impressive fountaining from the North Vent. For once, the V2 Cam has the best overall shot:
The lava flows have covered a good portion of the Halemaʻumaʻu crater floor.

Looks like Episode 55 is over at 09:00 HST, just under six hours. The USGS said the fountains reached 720' or 220 meters.

The USGS Kīlaeua Webcam #1 has been showing overflows and doming from the North vent overnight. Maybe the volcanic plumbing has settled back into its two-three week cycle of fountaining?

But I do miss the little cinder cone that broke up in the last episode.

Since it was already "paid" for, I spent the two hours of my time watching the John Cena action movie on Apple TV, "Matchbox The Movie" even though the reviews were brutal. It was better than I expected, so I didn't feel like I had wasted an afternoon watching it. But it felt like another "Reacher"/"Neghley"/"Mission: Impossible"/"Fast & Furious" crash and blow stuff up with lots of automatic gunfire mixed in movie featuring covert CIA operatives.

I don't think we'll get a follow-up movie from this. I expect Mattel will have other toy lines to exploit.

View: https://youtu.be/0-p9SIKs1K8?is=CXuDXVPi5oT6t_b0


Barbara Hershey

osu1991 said:

View: https://youtu.be/0-p9SIKs1K8?is=CXuDXVPi5oT6t_b0


Barbara Hershey

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Last of the Dogmen is my favorite of hers.