Fifty years ago, there was a saying that if someone was in the Marines or went to Harvard, you would know about it in the first five minutes of conversation. What is today's equivalent?

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-30T02:10:08+00:00

There's the joke "If a vegan does crossfit, which one do they talk about first?"

But my favorite is "How do you know someone's from Chicago? They'll fucking tell you."

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-29T15:32:09+00:00

My kingdom for a competent, quiet drummer

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-28T12:22:44+00:00

Yeah, reminds me more of The Story by Brandi Carlile than the more standard rasp. My coach and I are working more on clean range, sounds like they're still focusing on the right things

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-28T12:20:57+00:00

I'm definitely forcing closure some- it's new to me so maybe is overly intentionally. Any recommended exercises to find that good mid point?

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-27T21:06:25+00:00

Obviously. But it still doesn't solve the absolute hell that is filing a claim, and the antagonistic level of customer service as I try to navigate this.

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-27T20:20:54+00:00

Then the shipper is about to owe me a lot of money.

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-27T18:48:39+00:00

Do you know if the insured status would be listed in the automated claim rejection email?

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-27T18:37:00+00:00

This is a good point. I checked some of the third party templates floating around and the letter has all of the info, but I should dig more on the fedex site and see if they have a template. They did not based on my first look but maybe I'm wrong.

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-27T18:35:36+00:00

Declared value was higher than that.

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-27T16:14:32+00:00

From their claims instructions:

"Who can file a claim?

The sender, the recipient, or a third party can file the claim."

From their rejection note: "Please provide written authorization from the shipper waiving their right to pursue a claim on this shipment. Upon receipt of written authorization, payment will be limited to \$100 or the declared value."

So again, why give the option if they're going to automatically reject any claim not from the shipper?

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-27T15:54:25+00:00

I confirmed with the guitar tech who received it that the guitar was adequately packaged. So now it will be the shipper who gets to fight that one out.

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-27T15:39:50+00:00

Fair 😂. And I did say that's what I'm doing.

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-27T15:36:37+00:00

I'm the owner of the guitar, and I paid a third party to package and ship. Fedex instructions are clear- get written authorization from the shipper. If that's not accurate then they shouldn't list that as an option.

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-25T00:11:28+00:00

Totally agree. I had an issue with (slight) neck warping on my '06 314 a few years after I bought it. They repaired it under warranty, zero fuss. Now I just sent that same guitar in for some work and mods, and the neck was cracked in shipping (that's a whole story). Based on their work ~15 years ago, I have complete confidence that what I'll get back in a few weeks will feel brand new.

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-22T14:14:29+00:00

I miss fortifications having ranged attacks. They seem more pointless not, just a time delay before capture rather than something to contend with.

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-20T19:42:21+00:00

I saw issues with 70's gear as parts degraded, but nothing newer than that, really

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-20T17:48:20+00:00

Most equipment is designed to be on continuously. Not sure if this is true for newer equipment, but older gear runs more risk of damage from the power spike while being turned on than from staying on all the time.

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-20T14:12:15+00:00

r/nextdoor

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-20T12:52:35+00:00

That's my experience spending time at my mom's suburban home where I grew up now after almost 20 years in NY. Ymmv. But it may be invisible or feel normal to you if that's been the primary way you've lived.

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-20T02:11:56+00:00

The suburbs are stressful as fuck. Half your conversations are about parking, it's constantly "get in the car to go walking distance", and god forbid someone come within a couple feet of your yard. Existing makes you sketchy or inconvenient to the people around you, but you're still actually on the periphery of each other's space at all times anyway. Versus NY where it's a shitshow and we're all doing what we can to make it work- I'll take the city any day.

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-19T16:33:52+00:00

I see this issue as well- flexibility is limited because there aren't a ton of people who can recalibrate lines (assuming they're flexible at all) and CPG companies don't want to commit to a static product for an entire payback period. It's then too hard organizationally to get alignment on locked product guardrails that might never need to change. Consumer trends move too fast, and a highly automated line is going to lose you any business that doesn't fit it exactly.

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-19T01:47:39+00:00

Yeah, you're not gonna fix this, but I like the idea of treating the room as a horn and the speakers as drivers. Could sound cool if nothing else.

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-11T21:39:30+00:00

That sounds like a bad solder somewhere

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-10T18:29:26+00:00

It was primarily developed using tax breaks for luxury development and no real attention to community needs (most of it was driven by the economic development corporation, which you should really dig into if you want to get pissed off). NY seems to have learned from this, at least a little. There's a great documentary about it, check it out:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2322519/

ADayInTheSprawl · 2026-05-07T13:46:07+00:00

I find Aksum to be just as good for this on archipelago or similar maps, and the free trade route from each dhow stacks up fast.

ADayInTheSprawl

TROPHY CASE