I had my own modem and router, but they routinely "stop supporting" those here - like every 2 years. So now I'm just renting from them - I got tired of always having to replace my modem and router and them claiming every problem was on my end.
I have no idea what she's trying to do - but it sounds and feels wrong, so don't do it.
If you really want to put effort into it, ask your own accountant or attorney to explain it. I'd personally rather GIVE my own mom 7k if she was having a tough time (put it on her mortgage for her) than her using me to do something that seems wrong and will get us all in trouble.
Can you just hurry and repay the loan to her and move on? I'd try to get a bank loan and repay her and get away money-wise from her!
I could be wrong, but I believe this suspect was very recently released from prison/jail for a previous crime of sexual assault.
"Benjamin had just recently been released from prison after serving time for sexually assaulting a juvenile."
I saw a photo of where he attacked them - it was a secluded spot not on the main beach. DNA will tell the story, I assume, but the suspect does have a history.
ETA: If I recall correctly, the husband is older - I think he's 65? I could easily see a 65 year old man not being able to fight well against a young assailant.
I've heard rumors that Super Bowl Sunday is the BEST day to buy a car. I have no idea if that's true - but if car dealerships are open in your state that day, it might be worth it to wait until then.
I personally would pay for another week of a rental because I don't rush decisions and it would cause me stress to do so!
My next car will be an SUV of some kind. I like the Toyota Rav4 and the Kia Sorento. I liked the Rav4 best out of those 2.
So if people had been in the car and injured, would anyone have been at fault?!?!
I would fight this with the condo association and with Visa. You did not cause the damage.
Iceland is a different culture - it seems to me to be a very easygoing, no worries, no suing place.
I wanted to call the police for the ice fall but no one really thought I should - I'd have made a report.
People don't even shovel or salt their sidewalks - so different than the states. And that's not a bad thing - would save SO much time. But it's like "if you slip, you slip" - it's not like here where the property owner is responsible for the walks.
The rest of the week, my sister and I kept pulling each other in when we got too close to the edge of buildings where giant ice was falling. My mom always told me an icicle can kill you!
If we had been injured, I guess there would be no need to sue - healthcare is free! I'd still be stuck paying for the car though.
I learn so much from this board. I didn't realize you could race a car you take the kids to school in. I am very naive to this world of racing. I also never knew it would be so much $ to race a Ford Focus. I thought in the OP's post that her DH was driving Porches as like rentals on the track. **the more you know**
I don't know how much you make to say if 5k a year is reasonable or not. That's almost $500 a month - that does seem high to me BUT I don't know what kind of money you make and where you live.
If you live in Pittsburgh, you make 200k a year - seems totally reasonable. If you live in NYC and make 100k a year - probably way too high.
I'd probably try to compromise and go with 3x a year instead of 4, just to keep costs down, but other than that, if he loves it, sure.
That said, I am the kind of person who is "good" for awhile when I do something and always feel like "I just did that" when in fact it was 3 months ago or whatever. I know everyone's different - a leisure activity can carry me for a long time but I know others are different and have more fun outings frequently.
I can't remember the time I asked an actual MM question on here. I need the advice/help of some smart people, especially those of you who have traveled abroad. LONG story
Summary: Car rental was damaged while overseas, cost to repair was almost $1300 WITH insurance, should I bother filing with my Visa card or just accept it?
Story time: I went to Iceland and rented a car. If you Google "Iceland rental car insurance" or "Iceland rental car damage" - there are quite a few stories out there where people ended up owing big time. I was determined to avoid that. I did not avoid that.
My credit card offers rental car protection as primary when traveling abroad. I sort of knew this from a previous trip, but didn't think I would need it.
I rented a car online and the company I rented from included 4 types of insurance. These were free. Seemed good at the time. I went back to the website yesterday just to make sure I had this right - their website says this insurance is included in every rental there. They do not seem to have any cars without the insurance available. When I tried to uncheck the boxes for insurance today JUST to see, you are not able to. This insurance they include lowers your liability to roughly $1100 US. There is no $0 deductible insurance in Iceland - this was the top of the line insurance they offer. Plus it was included.
There was one optional insurance and according to my contract with them, I did not elect this (sand and ash insurance). Additionally, the windshield is not covered with any insurance in Iceland on the cars according to them, so that's 200 Euros more on top of any other insurances.
I drove the car very carefully. I would check it over at each stop and photographed the damage it already had when picking it up. I parked the car for the night and walked around it carefully checking it over (I'm paranoid and we were out driving in a storm), then we ran inside because it was freezing.
We returned to the car in the morning and the windshield was totally smashed in, GPS knocked down, hole in the windshield. Was it vandalism (crime is very rare in Iceland)? Had I somehow hit a rock the night before in the dark and not realized it since it was dark? (This is my anxiety talking because I'm always afraid of something like this -no way - because glass was all over the passenger seat where my sister's butt was - she would have been sprayed in the face/body with glass - you couldn't have missed it we realized when we got in and tried to drive the car to the rental place - undriveable) Finally realized there were chunks of snow and big pieces of ice on the car's hood and ground - ice had fallen from a roof on a condo and smashed the car it seems.
We got another car after hours and hours of waiting, all was well. Had a great trip!
In the end, I had to pay $1279. The windshield and the full damage deductible. I did it because we had a flight to catch and I didn't know what else to do. (If they didn't have the insurance included - the damage would have been double that and I would have had to pay it all right there and get it back from my credit card later, I guess - seems like a mess/nightmare and I'd have been close to maxing out my limit)
I contacted my credit card that night and they said if I elected or bought other insurance, I'm out of luck. Fine. I was still in Europe and didn't have my paperwork, so I dropped it because I knew I had some sort of insurance on it but I wasn't sure what. Someone who lives in Iceland told me to contact the condo board homeowner's insurance as you are responsible for falling ice there supposedly, I did, I've been denied but I can file an appeal. Text is in Icelandic, so not sure why I was denied - think it has something to do with the weather.
But I got to thinking today - I didn't *elect* the extra coverage. It wasn't optional, in my opinion - I mean, I guess I could have purposefully rented with a company that gave no coverage, perhaps, if that even exists there?
Visa says "To activate coverage, complete the entire rental transaction with your eligible Visa card and decline the collision damage waiver (CDW) coverage if offered by the rental company." And "What if the auto rental company insists that I purchase the auto rental company's auto insurance or collision damage waiver?
Call the Benefit Administrator at 1-800-847-2911 for help. If you are outside the United States, call one of our toll-free numbers." I should have done this. Didn't even think of it.
I called Visa Benefits and the rep told me they can't really tell me what to do.
So, do I have a case? Should I try to apply for the benefit? Appeal the homeowner's association insurance? Or just move on and be thankful (I am!) that the damage was only $1279?
My gut says at this point just move on and accept that, sometimes despite doing things carefully, you just get screwed. I am so glad we were not in the car or even next to the car/getting out when the ice fell. It looks like it could have killed someone, the weight and sharpness of it. So glad we weren't climbing in or out when it happened.
You know, when I lived in Florida, there was a case of this teenager who walked in the hospital and just started doing exams and stuff. He posed as either a doctor or a PA, I can't remember which. He wasn't getting paid, even, he just did it because he wanted to - not sure if he was interested in medicine or what.
I believe he did it and got caught at two separate hospitals a year apart or something. He was giving pelvic exams, I think! And once he did CPR - but the guy lived, so hopefully he didn't cause any deaths.
How did this guy do it? He walked in like he owned the place. Had scrubs. Made a fake badge or somehow got one. No one questioned or if they did, they all thought someone else had vetted/checked him out.
Ever meet someone (in your neighborhood, at work, friend of a friend or whatever) whose story is "too good to be true"? And you feel like a jerk for saying it to family and friends so you don't. But you sit back and wonder how a family with a dad working as a pastor is affording X. Or "Sally says she's out of town for work again - but isn't she an elementary school teacher?" or other weird stuff. But you brush it off.
And it's only when all your friends get together and start talking that you realize you ALL think it's weird, 2 and 2 don't add up.
I wouldn't care about the WiFi. Having a tv is nice though in case the weather is bad and you can't really do anything outside the condo. If that won't be an issue that I would be okay with that.
I thought about that - it's walkable to the lodge and they have a spa, some mini golf, a pool, a roller rink haha, etc. and of course bars. And I guess we could go hot tubbing at the condo. And I think snow tubing and skiing pretty much run in any weather - although I'm not sure if there was a blizzard. Actually, if the weather was a blizzard, we'd have to postpone because of the mountain roads.
Sadly, in this day of global warming - I'm more afraid of a 60 degree rainstorm that cancels winter plans!
So the lady I am looking to rent from is supposed to send me a contract, but she mentioned she has other properties not on the resort website. I'm going to ask her if she has any Wifi+hot tub places just to see before I sign on to this one! I took a trip to Europe and we had a major cell problem in all of Iceland (wouldn't charge due to a fault outlet not our converter) - and it was hard to get around without it, but we managed.
I've spent a week searching for a little ski condo/cabin about an hour away. It's my sister's 30th birthday and I wanted to do a little getaway for her - skiing, snowtubing, hot tubbing, drinking (well, not so much me), spa day.
I'm inviting her friends to come and we have a group of 5 so far, maybe 6 - possibly 7. I got turned down for my top choice of place (they do not rent to singles - only to families with children, not 6 adults together unless you are related).
I'm not asking anyone to chip in any money - they can come and stay for free in the condo. They just have to pay to ski if they want it, dinner out or spa day, etc.
It has been a bit hard to find all my "wants" - on property (ski in ski out even), 2 bathrooms to make getting ready faster, not super super expensive, hot tub, will book single people, not scammy/asking me to go off the website to book, etc.
I found one and while a bit smaller than what we wanted (a 2BR but sleeps 6+), it's perfect. Contacted them and dates are available.
I just realized - no TV and no WiFi when I looked at the photos closely and read the listing again. Is this bad? Lodge has WiFi, restaurants/spa have WiFi. We could bring games and I guess some DVDs on a laptop.
My sister said people aren't going to want to waste their data all weekend. I thought maybe they could just use sparingly and use more when we go out to eat, if someone needs to check work email they could go to the coffee shop?
What's weird - I LOVE internet, but never thought to check. Don't want to disappoint ppl.
Cancer sucks. I am so sorry for your loss. Sometimes, you just want other people to agree and say "This is truly terrible and horrific" than offer platitudes and uplifting words.
Widow to widow - I am so sorry, life is unfair, and this fucking sucks. ((Hugs)) to you from Pittsburgh. There are a few of us younger widows on here and we're all here to support you.
Interesting. I have definitely been in the US Embassy here somewhat randomly (accompanying someone), and while they do make you leave your phone, the rest of your purse is fine to go in. Maybe they're more relaxed because Santiago probably gets less traffic and is also less of a danger zone than many other places?
In London there are two sides - for american services you can bring things in that you can't bring in on the visa/non american services side.
Also with regards to that specific couple in Paris I read that they likely didn't have their passports on them so that is another reason they weren't allowed in.
I read of another American woman (or two, I think) who called the Embassy as they were trying to get their guests/friends visiting them back to their AirBnB and the embassy told HER not to come for fear of an attack there and instead, go to the nearest hotel. Which she did, but then just walked home, I believe.
Not sure I am comfortable with telling all these random ppl to go to hotels - that isn't really the hotel's responsibility and they have to worry about security there too. I guess the best option is just shelter in place/get off the street, but do not go somewhere you can easily be trapped. I would say probably a private home would be best if you could get to there?? Just people trying to take care of their fellow man/woman.
This brings back nightmares for me. As some of you here know, my husband passed away from suicide - he kept his depression very hidden. Call 911 and the hotline and don't wait. Depression and suicidal thoughts are heartbreaking and even the replies here on this thread - it seems like not much really can be done for someone if they don't get into a hospital for treatment immediately voluntarily/involuntarily. Mental illness is terrible and I'm saddened to read someone else is going through it. Hugs to you - just do your best to help him.
kwynn Do you have any updates that you can share? I really do help that you are feeling better and found a doctor that listened to your concerns.
I will gladly update!
Long long story short - physical therapy took away the headache. A chiropractor (I was previously very skeptical) took away the other weird symptoms - dizziness, twitching, etc.
I *still* get headaches and symptoms if I don't go to the chiropractor or don't spend enough time lying down - like if I get a short night of sleep, I am more affected. But I am fully functional now and have been at at least 70% since May and 100% since August as long as I stay on top of it.
Possible diagnoses are SCM muscle problem or atlas/vertebrae out of place, or maybe a combo of being out of alignment and then the muscle pulling. I believe - my theory - that I have a pinched nerve and my artery is being pressed on by muscle/bone when I am upright and it eases off when I am laying down.
However, as a result of my involvement with the podcast, I am getting an angiogram on my carotid artery to make sure I don't have a dissection. I doubt the test will show anything - since my problem is when upright and the tests are done while lying down.
Sooo - it is open-ended. Podcast should be updated when they know more.
The podcast is called "Reply All." And don't judge me too harshly for it - I was emotional about things that were brought up, especially my late husband's passing and I was also nervous. There are a ton of grammar mistakes too which I am kicking myself for.
Ummmmm, I *may* have. Why? Did you hear something that sounds familiar and want to *reply* to it?
You should have seen me having my aha moment on the train today, lol. You sounded great!
I'm glad you're feeling better!
Thanks! I hate the sound of my own voice and I made a lot of grammar mistakes. It's hours of interviews edited down and I am embarrassed of all my umms and "likes" but hey, I did the best I could - there were some emotional moments during the interview and I was also nervous.
I live in the suburbs and my friends wanted to take Uber to the airport. They talked to the Uber guy ahead of time (he had ridden them earlier in the week) and he came out there for them at the pre-assigned time, then when they sat in the car, they called Uber and he got the job. I guess that's an uber workaround?
I am wanting to plan a trip for early/mid December and I'm going with my sister. She wants to go to London, so that's a must. The question came up of "Well, should we go somewhere else while we are already headed that way/in Europe?"
I don't know! I understand it is an easy jumping off point to a few other places.
Would you do an entire week+ in London (we are flexible on dates and can do anything from a week to probably 10 days total) or would you go somewhere else?
I know Paris is a popular second city, as is Amsterdam. Any other recs?
Also, is that a bad time to go? Due to our work schedules, we can only really travel in the winter (December through March) but it doesn't have to be December - we just thought it might be cool if places are decorated for Christmas.
Any thoughts at all are welcome from you experienced travelers!
I don't understand why you would need to be quiet? Isn't it just sitting and looking out the window and drinking? Seems weird that people wouldn't essentially be partying - I thought that was the point?
I PM'd you. Thanks for responding. When I read my post back again, it just was my anxiety talking and me being hyper-alert and profiling, so I DD'd.
You are right, if I saw two white women acting this way, I would have just thought they were possibly confused travelers and paid no attention.
I appreciate you responding kindly to me and affirming that, yep, I'm just being a paranoid tourist and need to not profile people. I try not to let any racial prejudice ever creep in in my life and feel terrible for letting it happen while traveling. I try to be aware of my privilege and culturally sensitive - something I am always working on. I apologize for the previous post.
Where I worked, originally, ESE and non-exceptional ed were more mixed together in true inclusion - so in a general English class, you might have 3-4 students who used IEPS and 20 that didn't.
But eventually, if the schedule permitted, they started to gather the ESE students into one class period and had the special education teacher come in too. The class was co-taught, and she did assist all the students, while the regular ed certified teacher did most of the content area teaching, and the ESE served to be more on the "how to teach" side since she wasn't content certified.
Now, when we had parapros in the room, they were assigned to and only assisted with their one student, as indicated by the IEP.
Our class was 19 kids and I think 10-11 had IEP's for learning, emotional, or behavioral support.
In the school where I was, every ESE by nature of the class was lower functioning. Not life-skills level, but probably would have been in a pull out situation if that still existed. The only kids not in inclusion in the district were life skills. But I should note, this is high school, where a higher functioning student who utilizes an IEP would not be in "general" or lower level English/math/science - they'd be in AP or College Prep if their interest and grades allowed. So you were going to have NT and ESE's in the class, all of them electing the lowest level English when scheduling, for a variety of reasons.
I think "regular" refers to "regular ed" versus "special ed" - regular ed is no IEP's. In high school, we called it "general" or "college prep." I think it just refers to the kind of "ed" the class is made up of and not the kids.
Everything I read says they do not have a system at all to track new charges. As a matter of fact, a friend of mine bought a bagel one Thursday morning. The following Tuesday, she closed the account. It was a HUGE ordeal that the bagel charge hasn't hit yet, the bank charged her a ton of fees, said it was actually criminal to close an account with outstanding charges, etc. All over $4.
I know I had a savings account at the college bank that stayed open until I graduated. That may have mitigated some of the issues. But closing the account also means that you account for outstanding checks, debit card charges and cancel all auto pays. Not hard. Like, don't buy bagels with your debit card less than 5 days before closing the account?
I just don't know how long is a good cushion - I mean, I have people that wait 3 months+ to cash a check from me. I once had a check go uncashed for a YEAR before they finally cashed it. This is why I never close accounts - always worried something will pop up that I forgot about.