I’m the same way, I wouldn’t even try it if I was a passenger in a car

If you have insurance through your employer, then no the insurance company can’t raise your rates. And part of the reason for the Affordable Care Act (ACA, sometimes called Obamacare) was to make it so people who are getting the insurance themselves also can’t have their rates raised or get turned down for insurance because they have pre-existing conditions. However insurance companies can raise everyone’s rates when the insurance is up for renewal each year.

Most insurance plans have several different costs: 1. The monthly premium you pay to have insurance coverage. Some employers pay this themselves, otherwise it gets taken out of every pay check.

2. Co-pay: Usually a set amount ($30, for example) you pay to see a doctor for office appointments that aren’t an annual check-up*. So say I get an ear infection and see my primary doctor to get it treated, I’d pay the co-pay for that visit. Sometimes things like x-rays, blood work, CTs can be a set amount, other times it’s something like insurance will cover 65% of the cost. For some plans, co-pays are included when figuring out if you’ve reached your deductible.

3. Deductible: The amount you have to pay before “co-insurance” kicks in. Co-insurance being the percent of your bill insurance will pay (for us it’s 75% after we pay $3500 in a calendar year).

4. Out of pocket max: When you’ve spent this amount in a calendar year after that insurance covers 100%. Often plans have both individual and family maximums, with the family amount being higher.

Usually the more you pay in monthly premiums, the lower your deductible and out of pocket maximums will be. So each year people have to try and decide what they think their health bills will be next year when picking their plan (you can’t change plans mid-year unless something happens like changing job, getting married/divorced, having a kid). If you’re pretty healthy you might pick a lower monthly plan with higher out of pocket amounts because you don’t expect to have to pay much out of pocket. If you’re someone with a chronic condition or you’re expecting to need surgery or a costly treatment you might go with the higher monthly plan so you don’t have as high of out of pocket amounts.

For example, my spouse had to go to the ER a few years ago for what turned out to be a collapsed lung. They didn’t have to stay in the hospital overnight. I forget the total bill (or I’ve just blocked it from my memory), but our part ended up being about $5,000. Insurance kicked in after the bill got to $3,500, and they covered 75% of everything that was over $3,500. The most we would’ve paid was $6,000 (the individual out of pocket max), however we would still have to pay bills for myself and our kid up to $12,000 (family out of pocket max).

*Another part of the ACA was to make annual preventative screenings (like annual physical, mammogram for women over a certain age, prostate screening for men, etc) free.

Hello Mittens

Someone curling their eyelashes while driving 65mph

Sending you a hug

My kid is devouring the wings of fire series.

For me I’d say the Children of Man series by Elizabeth C. Mock. I hadn’t read Wheel of Time before starting Children of Man. Now that I have I see a lot of Wheel of Time influence, so in that genre Children of Man isn’t really groundbreaking.

That said though, I still really enjoy the characters and the story, and am anxiously waiting for the release of the 4th (and final) book.

Agreed. I should have been more clear, I was just trying to say the “findings” were a bunch of politician-speak that actually says nothing

“Based on the information available to me, it is my assessment that the IDF strike on the WCK aid workers was not knowingly or deliberately directed against the WCK.”

Maybe I’m just too jaded, but this statement bothers me. No, I also don’t think Israel woke up that day and said, “Let’s take out some World Central Kitchen today.” But what the world wants to know (more like wants confirmation of) is that Israel knowingly hit an aid convoy. And to me his statement doesn’t clear that up.

Edited to add the emphasis in the quote is mine

We have a rabbit and a cat. The cat has been with us longer. Whenever I’m petting the rabbit, the cat comes up and wants to be pet too. And only with the hand I’m already petting the rabbit with. If I try to use my free hand, he’ll ignore it and head bump the hand petting the rabbit.

That assumes the buildings can handle them. A company I used to work for was planning to put solar on pretty much all of their buildings. Until they found out most of their buildings couldn’t handle the weight without significant (expensive) reinforcing. Many of their installations ended up on the ground instead.

I have a cat, a dog, a rabbit, and chickens. Now I’m wondering what people assume about me because of them.

I think people who have active dog breeds (like shepherds, huskies, and other working dogs) are probably active themselves. Beyond that it’s more telling to me how they treat their pet, regardless of what kind of pet it is.

Find out if your local county or municipality has a required timeframe. By us it’s every 3 years.

As far as how to tell in the short term, is there a tank between your house and the drain field that you can access (has maybe a round metal or concrete cover or a plastic riser with lid)? If so, lift the lid and see if you can see the top of the pipe going in the direction of the drain field. If so it’s likely draining fine. If the liquid is near the top of the tank and you can’t see a pipe, you’ll want to get someone to look at it sooner rather than later.

It’s emulsified like you’re making a vinaigrette and my grandma always serves it warm

My grandma always makes both kinds for family gatherings (the mayo kind and the vinegar kind, vinegar being what she calls German potato salad). The way she makes it, the “sauce” part that coats the potatoes is bacon fat, vinegar and a little sugar.

Very true. I got more curious and found this discussion trying to trace “debug.”

Also how debugging got its name, because bugs would get into the vacuum tubes

Edit: I did some digging and found what’s claimed to be the actual “de-bugging”. Turns out it wasn’t as widespread as my memory made it out to be.

Poor, long-suffering baby! Obviously needs more balls to lose and an automatic ball retriever

From the original court filing: “Defendant would show that any injuries or illnesses alleged to have been sustained by Plaintiff, Mary Doe [the 9 year old girl], were proximately caused by Plaintiff’s own fault and negligence, were proximately caused by Plaintiff’s use of the compromised lavatory, which she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device.”

American Airlines is passing the blame to their “outside legal counsel.”

Parentheses and emphasis are mine.

English word: curmudgeon or cattywampus

French word: hippopotame

Edit: This shirt says it all

https://www.raygunsite.com/products/gop-vagina-1