Instigating Little Shit

because like……….so does mine? at a certain point each day Grim decides she wants out, and until that happens she a) follows me about SCREAMING, and b) sits atop whatever I’m doing and bites my hands. this is not an exageration

wanna know what I do? I take her out. either supervised in my backyard or on leash in the front

she naps in the sunlight, eats copious amounts of grass, rolls in dirt, and murders butterflies. after 15-30 minutes (equivalent to the time you’d spend on a neighbourhood dog walk) I take Grim back in, and she happily sleeps/plays/cuddles indoors for the remainder of the day

the UK literally had so many pet cats killed by cars and dismembered by wildlife between 2014 – 2018 that the country thought there was a cat serial killer on the loose.  

and that wasn’t the first time, either – the EXACT same situation played out in the UK in 1990 because so many pet cats were dying in “safe neighbourhoods”

you want more information on your “culture”? cats kill 55 million birds per year in the UK.

Meanwhile, those in government got their fill just fine. As they always do. Honestly, I prefer walking past the people camping out in front of an Apple store, knowing that if they’re silly enough to want to stand in line for hours to buy a superfluous product, that’s their business, but I won’t have to present a stamped and dated coupon allotting me 1 litre of milk per day at the grocery store, only to be told they’re out and I should get in line NOW hoping for a delivery tomorrow morning.

As to art under socialism? Yeah, it flourished, fully funded, and it was also something that could get you thrown in jail or blacklisted for anti-governmental messages. Make all the art you want, as much as you want, but when the censor comes you better be sure you didn’t express any dissident ideas or he’ll shut you down. Maybe forever. 

That’s not a place where you can joyfully pursue art. That’s a hellscape where they can stop you from making art and working doing what you love with one slip of paper. Wanna leave the country to where they appreciate you better? Aw, sorry, you don’t get a passport.

Sound familiar? If you thought that sounds an awful lot like the complaints levied against labor outsourcing and destructive mechanization and you agree that those are problems, then congratulations, you just argued the exact same argument made by Marx himself against capitalism.

The point was that communism keeps failing because it relies on government officials not becoming corrupt which is a goddamn pipe dream no matter what time period you're living in, and people haven't been touting it as The Perfect System Someday When It's Ready, they've been touting it as something everyone should switch to right exactly now because look, everyone will be happy and won't have to work as much and we can craft the finest of costumes ! Communism is the ultimate ideal ! and they keep up with this bullshit grass is greener mentality all while actively ignoring the people who have lived under communism and have directly suffered the significant drawbacks and maybe have something to say about that. The solution is not to latch onto something that sounds good on paper and denounce anyone who disagrees as selfish, the solution is to find another alternative to capitalism. Whole damn world’s broken kids.

Here are a few pointers to start you off.

Wear layers. The more layers the better. Pockets of air get trapped between each layer and act like insulation for you so your stay much warmer than with a single heavier layer.

If you’re sweating remove some layers. Sweat can kill you. The last thing you want is your body producing liquid that can then freeze on your skin.

Get candles. As many as you can. If the worst case happens and you lose power a candle in a small space can keep you warm and alive for far longer than you would expect.

If you’re really concerned about losing power and don’t have anywhere to go for shelter, build your own. If you’ve got snow make a quinzee. It’s like a ghetto version of an igloo. You can find some instructions here. If you’ve got a way to pile snow quickly that’s even better. Believe me, a quinzee with a candle will keep you warmer than being in your house. Especially if you build a wind break wall. DO NOT forget to make sure there is adequate ventilation.

If you don’t have power sleep naked. At the most you can wear a pair of socks and a toque (knitted cap), anything more can cause you to sweat. Keep the clothes you are planning to change into in the sleeping bag/blankets with you so they’re already warm from your body heat when you go to put them on.

Do as little as humanly possible. Avoid being outdoors if you can and if you can’t protect yourself from the wind. Cover every inch of skin you can manage to cover.

If you have hypothermia warm yourself slowly!! Do not jump into a tub of hot water or you’ll likely burn yourself. You can’t tell how hot something is at that point. Same if you have frost bite.

If someone you love has hypothermia DO NOT share your body heat with them unless you can easily get warm again. I know it’s sexy in fanfics but in real life it can lead to you both becoming hypothermic and dying. You can use your body heat to warm some blankets and exchange them for the cooling ones they’re using until they can produce enough heat on their own to make their own pocket of warm air but be very careful that you don’t let your own temperature drop too much. Shivering is bad but not shivering anymore when it’s still cold is much worse.

If your hands are cold the best place to warm them against your body is under your armpits or, even better, your groin.

Snow makes an excellent insulator. If your car breaks down somewhere and you don’t know when you’ll be able to get help then cover your car in as much snow as you can manage (make sure you also make it obvious someone in the area needs help.) Even burying yourself in the snow is better than staying exposed to the air.

If your water shuts off don’t just melt snow to drink, boil it first. Snow, in general, is pretty safe but there is still a chance it can make you sick and you can’t risk that in a survival situation.

DO NOT START A FIRE IN YOUR HOME. Unless you have a fireplace with proper ventilation just don’t do it.

That’s Louis Rossman, a repair technician and YouTuber, who went viral recently for railing against Apple. Apple purposely charges a lot for repairs and you either have to pay up or buy a new device. That’s because Apple withholds necessary tools and information from outside repair shops. And to think, we were just so close to change.

Have an iPhone and are in need of repairs

Have a friend with that problem

Hate Apple and are more than happy to spite them in some way

If you have an emergency and have to go to the hospital, you’ll owe the hospital a lot of money. (I got into a car wreck and broke my ankle and my arm. My hospital bill was around $20,000)

You’ll also owe the ambulance provider, if you need one. (My ambulance bill was about $800)

You may get separate bills from the anesthesiologist or surgeon. (My anesthesiologist bill was $1,700)

You may need follow-up appointments. (My orthopedic surgeon billed me for the appointments and his surgery together and it was about $1,000)

You’ve also got to pay for medical equipment you need afterward, like crutches or a walking boot. (Mine cost about $75)

Altogether, I ended up with almost $24,000 in medical debt from one car accident. That’s a really scary number for someone like me who makes $10/hr at a 12 hour a week job.

I got my debt down to $1075 by making some phone calls and submitting some paperwork.

The first thing I did was contact the hospital. They don’t make it easy to find, but many hospitals (perhaps most hospitals?) have financial assistance programs for people who can’t afford medical bills. I don’t make a lot of money, and I have bills to pay, so they were able to help me. I called the billing department and asked if they had any assistance programs for low income people who can’t pay their bills. I had to call multiple times, and I got transferred in circles by people who didn’t know what I was talking about. Finally, I got an appointment with someone in “Eligibility Services” (I don’t know what other hospitals call it, if it’s something different). I had to bring my pay stubs and copies of all of my bills. When I got to the hospital for the appointment, nobody knew what I was talking about so I had to wander a little to find where I needed to go. I spoke with the guy in Eligibility Services, and I waited for a decision on how much of the bill they would forgive. A month later, I got a call telling me it was totally forgiven.

I did the same thing for my ambulance bill and my anesthesiologist, but the process was a LOT easier. I just had to mail some paperwork and it was totally forgiven.

I didn’t bother with the medical equipment suppliers, since the bills came from separate companies and I didn’t feel like going through the process twice for $75. I was assured at the hospital that they had similar programs for debt forgiveness, so I could have probably avoided paying that too.

The only thing I couldn’t get taken care of was the surgeon/follow-up appointment cost, but they were able to put me on a no-interest payment plan.

Ya boi just took some asshole for a ride. Some schmuck called me from a (spoofed) DC number with some cockamamie story about how he’s with the Federal Government and they’ve randomly selected me to receive a $7000 grant, oh and I’ll have to go pick it up at any of several chain grocery stores. Keeps using these “check-in” phrases that are meant to prompt you to say yes.

But see, joke’s on him: I’ve heard of this scam, and I don’t talk like most people. When I answer the phone and someone asks for me by name, I say “Speaking,” not “Yes.” So every single time this assclown tried to get me to say “Yes” I’d say something like “Understood” or “Go on.”

You see, the scam is, they trick you into saying “Yes,” and bonus if they can get you to repeat numbers (esp. 0-9) and/or “I agree.” What these low-lives do is record your voice and then use the sound bytes to make fraudulent charges in your name.

So fuck this guy right off the bat.

The more I dicked him around, the more frequently he started trying to goad me into saying the y-word. The funniest part came when he was going to “give me a confirmation number.”

Him: The confirmation is seven, one, three…

And he just STOPS. The “three” was pitched up to indicate there’d be more. I wait. He waits. I say, “Go on.”

And this bitch goes, “Yes, the confirmation number is seven, one, three…”

And he STOPS AGAIN. I wait. He waits. I say, “Go on,” again.

And he STARTS! OVER! AGAIN! He did this TWO MORE TIMES before giving me the “full confirmation number” and a “number to call,” which together JUST HAPPEN to include all ten digits, 0 through 9.

This entire time I haven’t said a single word that could be construed as agreement. So he asks me to repeat the numbers back to him. I decide I’ve had enough at that point. I tell him to get a better job, hang up, and block the number.

Another “DC” number immediately calls me. I reject & block it.

And then I filed a report with the Federal Trade Commission. :3

BE WARY. Get yourself on the National Do Not Call Registry. If a number you don’t recognize calls you, DON’T REPLY “YES” OR ANY OTHER GENERIC AFFIRMATIVE TO ANYTHING THEY SAY OR ASK.

I’m trying not to be annoyed by this

but I’m annoyed

I understand that this is tunglr dot hell and people love to make up wild shit but llllllook boys girls and others this literally happened to me, personally, exactly as I described it. Here’s the screenshot of the two “DC” numbers that called me—the one I answered at 12:35, dicked around, and hung up on, and the one that called me immediately after which I rejected.

Here are some news articles about the “yes” scam:

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/fcc-warns-consumers-phone-scam/story?id=46405703

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2017/03/27/dont-say-yes-when-robocall-scam-rings/99709634/

https://www.freep.com/story/money/personal-finance/susan-tompor/2017/02/01/mystery-phone-calls-dont-say-yes/97237592/

Here are some articles about the fake $7000 grant scam:

https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/2014/12/14/20401343/

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2013/05/fake-government-grants-real-refunds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW6zh3GJZ98

https://www.scam-detector.com/article/government-grant-scam

On reflection I do partway suspect that it might have just been the fake grant scam, but I still gotta say, super fucking fishy that he kept trying so very hard to get me to say yes and repeat numbers.