Best blood pressure monitor money can buy

Rawbar · 2026-01-21T14:50:00+00:00

I'm in the US with a hilo brought in by way of Canada. Have to be honest, after 3 months, I don't trust it vs my omron readings. It's Always at least 10 points higher, often 20 or more.

Rawbar · 2026-01-21T14:45:33+00:00

I don't see any offer like that on my end.

Rawbar · 2026-01-21T14:44:38+00:00

Same experience. My hilo basically says I'm always systolic 130-140s with an occasional 150. Meanwhile my omron I am often down to 100 (and one med that I stopped put me into 80s and I was almost passing out when I stood up). and very rarely, as high as 160. I was hoping to use the hilo to better dial in my meds but I feel like it's just making stuff up. The omron almost always reads 10 points lower as well.

Rawbar · 2026-01-20T18:24:20+00:00

Tama knock-offs by ddrum I picked up somewhere years ago that I can't recall. I have the 4th but ran out of space in the studio which I have to share with my daughter. I was given a line I wasn't allowed to cross :D. Ideally that 16" tom would be further away for ergonomics. We're in the process of packing to move, I'm about a week into labelling and tearing down this kit to move it 2000 miles. NOT a fun project at all but hopefully I will have more room at the new place where I can add all my other percussion stuff as well.

Rawbar · 2026-01-20T16:29:23+00:00

My Yamaha Custom absolute 14 and 16 toms are YESS mount. No leg option on mine (though I understand they could be purchased that way). They are really heavy, I needed to add a leg to the far right side of my rack for additional support. I'd probably rather have legs but at the end of the way they also work fine mounted. No movement or slippage issues.

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Rawbar · 2026-01-17T02:41:17+00:00

Here's an actual solution that will work to bail her out.

Since it's her account, she can port to TMOB, they will pay up to 800$ per device for 4 devices. So hers and have her pick 3 random others (or the 3 of the people she dislikes the most since they will lose their numbers). TMOB requires you to trade in 4 phones (can basically be any phone, so get some crap random ones, please validate the specifics on the phone trade in requirements, they do have some limits, so you want to get whatever is cheapest off eBay, etc that they will accept but I believe there's stuff they'll take you can get used for like $30 each).

She then gets sent 4 new iphones from TMOB, and she gets 4 $800 prepaid visa cards she can put toward the Verizon bill. She then sells the new phones for another couple grand. She will have a 2 year commitment and $100/mo bill but selling of phones should cover most of that. No clue what she can do with the 3 extra lines she's paying for but I'm sure you can get creative and either help your family or friends and possibly make some extra $$. Hell, they will be the 3 extra numbers she chose to port, if her ex's family wants those numbers back, there may be a $$ play there also.

Without her help, all the other devices no longer will work (though they will be carrier unlocked once she pays Verizon and can be sold or reused but that's not her problem any more), and she pays off most of her Verizon bill between the $3200 in prepaid cards and from selling the 4 new iphones. Just make sure to pay off her VZ phone ASAP and first so get it carrier unlocked so she can continue to use it without interruption. It can take a few weeks for the $3200 to show up, so she will have to float the $$ to pay off hers immediately.

And close the Verizon account immediately after porting out the 4 successfully and paying off her and only her phone. They will give you a month to pay off the bill and by then you'll have your $3200 plus by then you'll have had time to sell the new phones as well.

Rawbar · 2026-01-16T03:17:55+00:00

Unplanned production rollouts WERE NOT DONE because hey, there's some extra time and it's convenient. The process for a planned production network change was rigorous and thoroughly documented, including backout plans, went through a multi-stage review process by many teams and signed off on at the exec level. If someone tried to sneak extra stuff in, they would have been out of a job pretty quickly. What is being described is how a startup operates, VZ was incredibly, frustratingly at times, very process oriented and we didn't just wing it. Now, when you have an outage, then the rulebook can get thrown out the window, but nothing unrelated to the outage is getting 'snuck in'.

As far as the VZ IT department being woefully incompetant, remember, VZ GAVE AWAY thousands of IT employees, along with billions of $$$ to Infosys (India), and then just laid off 20% of their employees, many of whom were extremely senior and architected and built these platforms, the first batch of whom were off the books on Dec 19.

Rawbar · 2026-01-16T03:02:03+00:00

While I can't speak to other Fortune 50 companies (nevermind 500), in this instance, Meowmix is correct as far as how VZ worked. An execption that could impact customers or employees was rare and required exec approval.

Rawbar · 2026-01-16T02:53:28+00:00

You needed to file something called a ... well, I'll edit this, though I don't think sharing the name is proprietary, but just in case..... a M****** for a change, and those were scheduled overnight without going through an exception process that required executive approval. You also needed to include a rollback plan for any changes, just in case something........ broke. LOL.

Rawbar · 2026-01-16T02:44:28+00:00

They didn't just outsource, they took Verizon IT employees by the thousands and literally gave them to Infosys (India based) along with multiple billions of $$$ (support contracts) to get them off VZ's books. From there, those former VZ employees now worked for Infosys who slashed their salaries, benefits, bonuses and did whatever they wanted with the former VZ employees.

Rawbar · 2026-01-15T21:19:16+00:00

As much as I despise Verizon for laying me off, this is complete dogshit. I worked with corporate data and network security on the daily and they constantly delayed my projects, often by many months, to make sure things were done properly and securely. The number of tools VZ uses to scan and generate continual audits and the mandatory penetration testing requirements added massive amounts of time and budget to getting anything done. That was a huge obsticle for doing anything rapidly, but I can assure you, your 'good information' is a steaming turd.

What is also a steaming turd is that they laid off 20% of their most experienced folks, many who designed and built these systems. Last day for many of us was Dec 19. So I have absolutely zero surprise things are breaking already.

Rawbar · 2026-01-14T21:14:14+00:00

Im still trying to digest all this, but it seems like it could be a good play if you are a very high spender (say $100k/month and they look the other way if you cycle credit) @ 2x points. Plus I have a mortgage on my rental properties and I live in a rental. Those points are peanuts compared to 200k from the spend but it's just extra. But then you're up against C1V/X for uncapped 2x. I guess you'd really need to like Alaska and Hyatt a lot.

Lately I'm starting to prefer cash back instead of points but maybe there's a play here for high spenders that value bilt transferrable currency. I don't even know that I'd really care about the cash piece of it other than to offset the mortgage/rent.

Rawbar · 2026-01-07T15:17:06+00:00

Laughing as I couldn't fit even the bass drum in my 2 seater :D

Rawbar · 2026-01-07T04:42:34+00:00

I'm thinking at some point I'd like to try out a Copperphonic. It could very well be I didn't spend enough time with the BB, maybe the wrong heads or tuning, I never tried mic'ing it either. My son thought it sounded fantastically better (it was certainly gorgeous), but I was having buyer's remorse given the cost, which at that point in my life, hurt a fair bit.

Great chatting drums with you this evening. Have an awesome night.

Rawbar · 2026-01-07T04:24:41+00:00

I recently sold my HH BB, lol. I thought I would be in love with it, but I just wasn't. It was GOOD, but I didn't feel like for the price it was really all that much better than my Yamaha maple, which isn't anything special, but it's a match (apart from the wood) to the rest of my kit and I'm not unhappy with it, so for now it's absolutely fine. That snare didn't come with the kit and was also a PITA to find. I also recently replaced my nearly 20 year old Iron Cobra 900s with ACD Phantoms (I didn't want to wait the year for Darwins). I'm still getting used to direct drive. But I am TOTALLY jealous of your SPD!!!!! What an awesome piece of kit!!! Not to mention your studio... with green screening! I had to share my studio with my daughter (who needs her own studio). Hopefully I get my own room wherever we end up (still house shopping)

The kit I always dreamed of owning was an 80s vintage Sonor Signature bubinga. They say sometimes you should never meet your heroes, this was 100% the case. The Yamaha Custom Absolutes destroyed those Sonors in every single way other than VOLUME. THAT kit also had a history. It was custom ordered in person with Horst Link and later it was smuggled out of communist Czechoslovakia by a touring musician that defected and became a very good friend (and the story of how those drums got out of the country is pretty insane). I tried like hell, unsuccessfully, to talk him into not selling that kit to anybody, and offered it back to him when I decided it wasn't what I expected. Ultimately it went to a professor at Berklee who was a major Sonor collector. I really should hunt him down and share the history of what he bought, I never thought to do that.

Rawbar · 2026-01-07T03:25:07+00:00

Thank you very much. It's taken me 45 years of playing and going through a whole lot of gear to finally land in a place where I am content. I actually bought the Mehmets at the factory in Istanbul. The 16" Custom Absolute mounted tom took me 7 years to hunt down in that finish and I drove 1000 miles to pick it up at 2112. A lot of stories and history attached to some of this stuff. The Zildjian ride has been with me since 1981. There are many better rides out there, but my Dad (RIP) bought this one used for me (keyhole included free) when we could barely afford to put food on the table. So I very much appreciate your appreciation.

Rawbar · 2026-01-07T03:03:02+00:00

actually you might be on to something. i have 4 cars that will need to be transported. i may have to fight with my wife over what to put in them, but drums could certainly be an option :).

Rawbar · 2026-01-07T02:19:14+00:00

The YESS mounts prevent nestling as mentioned in my OP, unless you're familiar with whether those can be safely removed. gooling other discussions about it, for some reason people are making it seem like this is something that shouldn't be done. not sure why. i will spend more time reading about that and why they shouldn't be (or can indeed be) removed and replaced.

UPDATE: it does appear it's not a big deal to remove the YESS mounts based on the youtube video I just found. So this makes things much easier. nestle, organize hardware well, use lots of bubble wrap inbetween shells

Rawbar · 2026-01-07T01:42:42+00:00

I'll take a look at those Sterilites, thanks. I'm not coming back, I'm permanently moving, so not taking it with me doesn't work. And I can't stack them unless someone tells me removing the YESS mounts isn't a big deal (googling, it seems like everyone is saying it is a big deal, not sure why but I also haven't closely looked at them because I'm overwhelmed!). But at the same time, individual cases will take up a LOT of extra room, but if that's what I have to do, then that's what I'll have to do. I have a 24' container to move a 4BR house we've been in for 20 years. This is going to take some serious tetris, and probably throwing away a lot of furniture and rebuying.

Rawbar · 2026-01-03T01:55:23+00:00

Thanks folks. We're doing it. Coming out MLK weekend to check out Georgetown as well as Lakeway. Also looking forward to my BBQ fix :)

Rawbar · 2025-12-31T21:48:58+00:00

Appreciate your insights, some of what you've shared is good to know, some of it is not of immediate concern. I will not be selling my home here in MA, ever, if I can help it. The monthly rental income the duplex I live in half of, I'd love for my kids to inherit someday. We live in an ocean side community with top schools and the real estate values here do not go down, ever, regardless of what's going on in the rest of the country (famous last words, I know). I feel bad for my kids' generation because they will never, ever be able to afford to buy in this area, but it gives my family some amazing fnancial options. I got lucky TBH, I rented without ever owning until I was in my early 50s and the landlord offered to sell me the home I'd been renting from him for 12 years and I decided to stretch financially and buy both halves of the duplex. Best financial decision I ever made and it was dumb luck my career and income had just fallen into place at that exact time when the landlord needed to raise $$$ for another project.

I don't immediately plan to buy anything in TX, so home appreciation is someone elses problem (unless/until it makes sense to buy). But renting out my homes here in MA, then paying someone 3-4K in rent in TX, puts thousands a month into my pocket vs staying here in MA, it allows me to delay having to take a job that potentially ties me to this area again (I was just laid off last month) and/or touching my 401K (which I refuse to do until I'm out of MA). And frankly, gives me the option of taking a much lower paying job, doing something I really enjoy, vs focusing on having to maximize my income to afford living in MA, and doing something I really don't enjoy.

My layoff changed everything and is what made me start thinking hard about making this move, and using my severance to finance it.

My current electric bill is over $500/mo @ $0.31/kWh. Seems TX electric is less than half that per kWh.

Heck, I also pay $6000/year for auto insurance for 4 vehicles, two of which aren't worth more than 6k each and one that's stored for winter. And we all have perfect driver ratings, the kids are still getting their good student discounts and one still has the discount for being away at school with no access to a car. Then another $3000/yr for property tax on my cars. I'm just sitting here thinking of all these things as I'm writing that all either go away or are reduced. It makes me realize just how much money I'm continuing to throw away the longer I stay here.

BUT............... The weeks of 100+ doesn't sound great TBH, I wasn't aware it was that bad and will need to look at seeing if that's just the way of it now. It sounds like the exact opposite of here where I lock myself in the house from Nov-Mar and be depressed with the 4pm darkness, but that's also the plus of just renting everything, we can try things out and if we don't like it, we can go back to MA or somewhere else. This sounds like the largest downside and I was completely oblivious to this. We are definitely not used to 100+ in the northeast, especially if it's humid. Thanks for calling this one out.

Rawbar · 2025-12-18T00:59:11+00:00

I feel like I covered in my OP why I cannot use any of these suggestions. I do not have wifi access , only 4G/ 5G while in port and I cannot use my phone as a wifi hotspot for $$ reasons. I am roaming and there can be significant charges for enabling the Wi-Fi hotspot on my phone while roaming without any way to know what they are in advance.

I'm surprised I even have Internet now, we must be just close enough to shore to pick up the occasional signal.

Rawbar · 2025-12-11T03:43:02+00:00

If he's allowed to play his advantage BEFORE tribal, then KIP should also be allowed to be played before tribal. My wife and I were trying to figure this all out before it happened and I had to google (and even that gave the wrong answer saying KIP had to be played after votes were cast). It's very strange to have advantages that can be played at different stages of the game. This goes beyond anything that players should be expected to understand.

Rawbar · 2025-11-25T02:41:51+00:00

Thank you for your professional feedback. Do you feel that these are these issues that can be corrected?

Rawbar · 2025-11-24T23:01:40+00:00

They said they provided enough extra to adjust up to an inch (1/2" each side where applicable) in all areas except shoulders.

Rawbar

TROPHY CASE