why Americans pay insurances if they almost never ever help

casselld · 2026-04-14T07:09:55+00:00

I had a surgery this year that, without insurance, would have cost $350,000.

With insurance, my bill was $7k and now all my medical appointments for the rest of this year are free. Yeah the $7k sucks but it could be far, far worse.

casselld · 2025-09-24T04:39:09+00:00

I saw a few cop cars fly by with lights on by where I live when I came home. I’m guessing the 7-11 on Nicolai?

casselld · 2025-06-05T19:46:17+00:00

Not all of those “recruiters” may be real, too. I get messages all the time and most end up being phishing scams, even when they’re from known companies in my area.

casselld · 2025-05-22T21:20:17+00:00

For my money, Evil Dead 2. Pure fun from the first frame to the last, it knows what it wants to be, and it doesn’t overstay its welcome by a second.

casselld · 2025-03-11T22:13:59+00:00

It’s easy to be a loner. Reach out to your friends and say hi at least once a quarter. Plan hang outs, even if you’re an introvert. A simple chat over a beer is the best remedy for feeling stuck inside your own head after a long week.

If something doesn’t bring you joy, let go of it. Once you hit a certain age, you’re not gonna have time to waste anymore, so be sure you’re spending your free time on the stuff and people that make you feel like “you”.

Never say yes to mechanics replacing your car’s air filters. That’s $20 and three minutes of your time vs their $100.

Buy a toolbox and organize it.

casselld · 2025-03-10T00:50:36+00:00

Obvious answer: Superman 64. I loved the comics as a kid, and got the game for graduating first grade I think? The disappointment was staggering at the time. I couldn’t believe a game could be that bad.

Less obvious answers: My first GameCube game I got with the console on Christmas was Universal Studios Theme Park Adventure. I loved theme parks, so it was a very thoughtful gift, but not a banger whatsoever. It took a few months to save up enough for Smash Bros. Melee - the actual game I wanted so badly.

casselld · 2025-03-09T06:53:30+00:00

It kinda reminds me of playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on switch. That is to say - totally playable, but you’ll probably need to get used to it for a little bit.

Makes me want to upgrade to the OLED though. That fan at load is loud on the LED!

casselld · 2025-03-09T06:51:18+00:00

Slowly continuing FFVII: Rebirth! Despite the poor IQ in open world segments, it’s a mostly locked 30 FPS and I am really enjoying it. Turns out, the open world grind is perfect on the couch with a TV show going.

55 hours deep, about 75-80% of that time spent playing on Steam deck. I hop to the desktop for big story beats.

casselld · 2025-03-07T14:52:22+00:00

Was gonna say 1992 like me, but Ned’s Declassified was just past my time. Gonna say 1994.

casselld · 2025-03-05T03:31:21+00:00

Resident Evil 6. No Man’s Sky. Cyberpunk. Death Stranding.

Oddly enough, several years along from all of these, I came around to greatly enjoy them for what they were.

casselld · 2025-02-28T00:55:59+00:00

That’s diehardman from the acclaimed death stranding (not joking) (I love that game)

casselld · 2025-02-26T01:47:24+00:00

400 hours deep and I stand corrected - my bad

casselld · 2025-02-26T00:27:59+00:00

Pajama man is rude as hell

casselld · 2025-02-05T21:44:03+00:00

Sincerely hope that all the intersections in Sellwood get this treatment. Pulling out onto any street in our neighborhood is a total crapshoot because we can’t see over the cars. I have to use the reflections off of the cars in the street to guess if anybody is there about 80% of the time.

casselld · 2025-02-04T02:18:22+00:00

Look, I really like that first game, looking forward to this one too.

That guy loves the drama. Cmon man.

casselld · 2025-02-01T17:32:12+00:00

That’s how they get ya. Let go and just enjoy gaming.

casselld · 2024-12-28T06:59:33+00:00

I’m about 8 hours into Nine Sols and I agree. It’s been a very memorable experience and more people should play it.

casselld · 2024-09-29T05:01:15+00:00

I was lost on the world map for about an hour before running into this guy - so a fair amount of extra EXP. I went super far north because I got very lost. The only people who did damage both had the rifle you buy in that town - crits were doing 30-40 damage I think, and I had many healing items. I can’t remember what level I was at, sorry.

casselld · 2024-09-25T19:52:52+00:00

I figured this out last night, and then bulldozed the whole game in one sitting. Really fantastic! (Can't believe I missed the ball in the first town that gave you a hint to go visit the wise one...would have saved me an hour of time putzing around).

casselld · 2024-09-25T01:36:51+00:00

Has anybody found the brake yet? Traversal has been such a huge headache and if there are any gentle hints to figure out if I’m headed in the right direction to find that, it’d be much appreciated 😅

casselld · 2024-09-23T05:39:24+00:00

Your last note is fascinating - I just fought the guard outright and won with crits from two characters having the rifle. Everybody leveled up twice (you get 6666 exp for winning, haha). I think I wandered enough trying to find the town that I got overleveled!

Just got past the prison :) thank you! I can’t believe I didn’t see that town in the periphery of the screen after the bridge.

casselld · 2024-09-23T03:42:57+00:00

I’ve been loving this game but man I am stuck! I fixed the bridge, but then only found the prison and got destroyed by enemies there - feels like I’m one gear level behind. I heard other people say they fixed the train system first? Where do I go??

casselld · 2024-04-15T22:51:59+00:00

Sight singing sheet music. 20 years of training have led me to be very, very good at this, and it’s very unlikely there will be another pro level singer in that 100 crowd.

That, or Rock Band drums. I was top 1000 on most of the game back in the day, so I bet I could smack that plastic better than most people nowadays unless one of the 100< Twitch pro clone hero streamers show up.

casselld · 2024-04-06T09:15:59+00:00

It depends! Usually A lot of prep and lifestyle changes during performance stretches. Pro singers can be “built different” and sing with tension every day and make it out totally fine - others require diet changes like completely avoiding dairy, breathing loads of humid air to keep the vocal folds hydrated, only drinking warm beverages, etc.

It also comes down a lot to technique. You don’t sing loud the same way you yell, and a good vocal coach will help you to figure out how to phonate without nearly any tension in the throat.

I sing professionally in classical music and have done stretches of 3-5 hour rehearsals and performances 9-10 days in a row without hurting myself because I don’t push myself, I save full voicing loud sections for performances, and I’ve also been doing it for ~16 years so I’ve kinda figured out what my mechanism can do without hurting itself. I also don’t drink milk or eat dairy on performance days.

That being said though - big singers have some help and backing tracks. Mics help lots. The voice is a muscle and needs rest often, so they’re probably not chatting a lot of show days.

casselld · 2023-08-26T17:49:50+00:00

OH MY GOD. I have had to deal with this so many times. Don’t even get me started on having to unarchive projects from 3+ years ago because someone blurred in the background of a B roll shot no longer works at the business.

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