IcePrick

I get that they spent significant capital developing, testing, and marketing some treatments... I'd be the last person to deny a company rewards for their risks, recoupment of their capital expenditures, or continuing profits from them. There seems to be a vast grey area between healthy capitalism and outright greed. What bothers me is when the price is 2x for the government or insurance company, and cheaper when they say "oh, YOU are paying for it out of pocket?" I'm not sure how that isn't fraud or price fixing. If anything, the insurance company price should arguably be cheaper because there is volume through providers at large scale. They're only charging more because those third party check writers will simply pay the inflated price without argument.

Can you expound on this? My opinion is that most things paid for by insurance are artificially inflated. As examples I am familiar with, such automotive collision repair, auto window glass, roof damage from hail, and yes, medical treatments. The theory is that people pay in, and when they have a claim, it's someone else writing the check and they already paid their fair share so there is little interest in ensuring the price is reasonable. "Who cares, insurance is paying for it" and "It's about time I got something for all that money I've been sending them every month" are common refrains I hear. In the automotive world, any oversight by the insurance company only seems to result in a reduced quality of work and materials, and while possibly meeting an expected price point, only further victimizes the consumer with a lower standard of repair. On the other hand (in my experience), consumer to business transactions result in a cost considerably less than what companies charge for insurance-funded work. While I agree there is a certain administrative overhead in conducting these complex transactions, I find it difficult to believe that it justifies the percentage of total that is a premium for submitting qualifying paperwork. Several medical transactions I've had have been self-funded after denial by my insurer; when the providers learn that the patient is paying, the charges are mysteriously reduced sometimes more than 50%. I don't think it's because they know I'm such a great guy or have empathy for my status as a lowly government pensioner, and they've already expended the administrative effort to at least twice submit the charges to insurance - so why the discount? If this system of overcharging insurance companies (and thus everyone who makes a payment on a policy) is what powers innovation in the medical industry, it is not built on logic, honesty, or sustainability.

Got it again when posting this, all typed in from my laptop with no cut/paste or quote:

Man, that thing is really perfect. GLWS.

I typed everything in from a blank reply box this last incidence. Mac/Safari, no weird juju. Although I will say that this last time, it didn't lock me out like it has in the past. Thanks for listening to me whine.

Hardware is there, requires subscription? Wouldn't be the first time automakers installed hardware and required you to pay for a service to use it.

Happened again today, this time it contained no cut-and-paste content.

Reparations? Dang, gotta be quick around here.

I tried to post some content last night that was cut-and-paste from a (reasonably) reputable website (cbsnews.com), and received a 403 Forbidden error that included a line that stated I had used an "ErrorDocument". I edited the attempted post and tried again, same error. Went back and removed the content entirely, rejected again. Now I am unable to load the forum at all. I have tried closing browser (Safari), dumping cookies, reboot, even trying another browser - still fails to load, eventually times out with "server failed to respond". I'm assuming there's a self-protection IP (or GUID) lockout to prevent accidental or intentional corruption by whatever an ErrorDocument is. This is the second time this has happened, once was a few months ago but it self-resolved after a while. It also involved pasted content (text) and a 403 error. Posting now through a different IP.

I haven't seen that part (yet), but I assume it is top notch.

Photo is of the subject. Possibly manipulated, but it is Carolina Gutierrez. Photos of this individual are abundant on the Internet and individual has been in numerous television productions including NCIS: Los Angeles. I assume individual's head is attached properly enough for individual to act in a TV show.

Battery disconnect switch?

Former penis owner.

I was taught to never use an extension (busted), always keep the wrench beam 90* to the fastener (technically true), hold the wrench ONLY at the handle (true), and pull smoothly and evenly at 90* to the handle (untested). Follow assembly instructions, if the torque value given is with the fastener lubed in one specific area and you lube the whole thing, or don't lube it at all, or use the "wrong" lube, torque will be wrong (seems to likely be true from the video). Also, repeatedly "checking" torque can cause torque creep and fastener failure (untested). Always return the wrench to zero (true). Don't ever use a torque wrench to loosen a tight fastener (untested, but I don't see the issue as long as you don't go too far beyond the torque the wrench is set to).

So the manufacturer (or the previous owner last time he changed the bearings) went to more reliable sealed bearings and didn't eliminate the grease zerk. Stupid, yes, but not the crime against humanity the toothless YouTube drunk would have you believe.

I was just lamenting the demise of my hitch hauler. Thankfully, provenance intervened. I'm not a hoarder. I'm not a hoarder. I'm not a hoarder.

I wouldn't say it's ABnormal here... hoping for some rain in May.

There's currently an ongoing hailstorm outside here, but once it's over, let me go down to the shed and get the one I have out. I'll measure it and snap a couple pics. Maybe give it a try first? It's a pretty good one, don't remember the brand though.

Is it a special one for the Rivian?

Same conundrum for me, except the bed is out (Excursion, and that's MY bed). A hitch hauler was nearly perfect for what I did for a long time, even with the 990ADV. But now there are at least two bikes. The self-leveling would be an amazing benefit whichever way you go. But Tom makes the likely accurate observation that no matter which one is on the carrier, it's the other one you'll want to use. You'll be motherfucking that choice every time you have to drop the hitch hauler bike to get to the one in the bed. Rivian may not have a place at the table yet in terms of aftermarket support, but there are those bed extenders that double as a ramp and work pretty well. I may actually have one from a GMC if you want to try to retrofit it. Final answer though - I'm with Tim. Though it is an additional piece of equipment to register, maintain, store, etc... it's just the best answer. I'm slowly coming around to it myself, and it's painful because I like a simple, self-contained one-piece unit. But it isn't simple anymore (or... again). And that's okay, the benefits largely outweigh the negatives, just have to adapt.

Good call - that should have been first, check oil level and odor.

Check to see if the fuel shutoff is still working. They are known to go bad after 20 years or so. Me, I'd pull plugs and get a look inside.

Oh, damn. I wish he'd have called me, I drive by his street at least 3 days a week. Now that Jeff is working at that repair shop, he should take it there for stuff that's beyond my experience level. Other than mounting and balancing a tire (not worth the effort), I would have done all of that for a couple beers and the cost of parts. Those Impalas are actually pretty decent cars, I had one as a unit and I liked it.