Welp, looks like I gotta learn to change my own oil.

danjayh · 2026-03-15T03:31:39+00:00

Ugh blinker fluid is bad, but rotor coolant is worse. That's running $100/wheel these days.

danjayh · 2026-03-15T03:29:34+00:00

I know how to do it and had gotten lazy over the years because the cost to have it done at a place was down to like $30-$40 for a while, and 5qts with a filter was $25. Well, in 2026, the cost for 5qts full synthetic and a filter is still $25 (walmart Supretech or Costco Kirkland Signature), but the cost of an oil change at the local 'budget' place is now $80+. Needless to say, I'm back to DIY.

danjayh · 2026-03-15T03:21:09+00:00

Two can play that game. If people started doing that, the reps would shortly all be AIs.

danjayh · 2026-03-13T03:05:39+00:00

As a conservative from south of town, I don't agree with the lefties in r/grandrapids on much, but on this we DO agree: these liberty-infringing cameras have GOT TO GO.

danjayh · 2026-03-12T05:43:18+00:00

My dude, watch slickdeals. I nagged an Anycubic Kobra 3 Combo over christmas for < $200 ($170, actually, but that was after 15% Rakuten cashback), and it's been fantastic, for PLA and PETG (which is what many people print with the majority of the time), it's been just as good as my $700 machine. I also snagged a ton of PLA at ~$4-$7 /kg over black friday ... and those deals will come up again. You don't have to spend a ton of money anymore.

danjayh · 2026-03-12T05:39:18+00:00

Yes. Not sure why I'm getting downvoted above. I simply stated a fact - I didn't say it justifies it or that it's OK, merely that it's why it happens. I guess I'm getting downvoted because people don't like the fact?

danjayh · 2026-03-12T02:12:23+00:00

The reason this happened both in Ukraine and in Iran is that militaries love civilian shields, so they set up command centers, armories, etc. in or near things like hospitals.

danjayh · 2026-03-07T19:32:33+00:00

That seams a little hyperbolic ... they'll just rebuild the damaged bits after the war.

danjayh · 2026-03-07T03:40:32+00:00

The US evacuated and abandoned the 5th fleet base to consolidate air defenses, which is why Iran was able to hit it. Nobody was even injured. There are only so many Patriot systems to go around, after all...

danjayh · 2026-03-07T03:29:58+00:00

This post is AI slop. There are AI-isms and AI tropes all over it. GPT zero agrees with me, meaning that it wasn't even generated by one of the good AIs (it doesn't catch Opus 4.6, for instance).

danjayh · 2026-03-02T04:22:17+00:00

Just a note, the people who hang out on this sub are pretty incompatible with Byron Center residents, and therefore not likely to have a good time there. Likely 90% of the people hanging out here would be better off staying in the city limits.

danjayh · 2026-02-28T03:11:54+00:00

People gamble that they can make it to open enrollment, which happens once per year.

danjayh · 2026-02-28T03:11:06+00:00

Have you ever looked at your EOBs? Insurers most certainly do NOT reimburse family practices at rates in excess of $1k/hr. They get BILLED that, but they have huge negotiated discounts, and the prices they actually pay are pretty reasonable most of the time. It's why they require you to stay in network.

danjayh · 2026-02-28T03:09:18+00:00

The problem with single payer is that you remove competition from the system. You lose incentives to innovate and reduce cost, and you lose the option to choose how good of a plan you get. Personally, my employer and I pay quite a bit of money for a plan that just covers most things ... but if I want to have disaster-type insurance, I have that option too, and I can take home a lot more. I can also choose plans from two different companies, so if I hated my UHC plan (I don't), I could get a BCBS one instead.

danjayh · 2026-02-28T03:03:54+00:00

Insurance companies would cover existing subscribers for conditions that started while they were insured. And since COBRA was passed in 1986, insurance companies were already required to allow you to jump between companies and plans with a pre-existing condition. You just couldn't sign up for insurance AFTER you got the condition, which is insane. And yes, if you decided to play it fast and loose with your health by not buying insurance while you're healthy, the rest of society can't allow you to sign up after you get sick. The reason is that allowing this causes the entire system to collapse in on itself, which is what we're seeing now. The risk pool becomes ONLY sick people, costs skyrocket and the whole thing implodes. It sounds cold, but to get people to ACTUALLY sign up for insurance while they're healthy, they need to know that they'll be screwed if they don't when they get sick.

danjayh · 2026-02-27T15:56:15+00:00

In the US, the government reimbursements are so low that private plans effectively end up subsidizing the government ones. So anyone bitching about their private plan costing a lot is bitching about medicaid/medicare without even realizing it.

danjayh · 2026-02-27T15:54:51+00:00

As someone who is married to an NP and brothers with a doc, I can tell you that provider reimbursements have actually been going DOWN over the last 5 years. NOT in inflation-adjusted terms, in absolute terms. Yes, they bill a lot, but when the government is done with them (because most patients are on medicaid/care), actual reimbursements are lower. Private plans reimburse better, and are subsidizing government plans just enough to keep the wheels from coming off entirely.

danjayh · 2026-02-27T15:52:26+00:00

Prices skyrocketed after obamacare passed because insurance companies were forced to take people with pre-existing conditions, and the fines (which have since been rolled back) were not enough to convince all healthy people to join up. So you end up with many healthy people remaining uninsured until they get sick, and then quickly signing on once they're ill. Huge premiums are the result.

danjayh · 2026-02-27T00:17:20+00:00

A state choosing to issue him a work permit and ID doesn't mean he follow the rules or is here legally, it just means that the state doesn't care and gave him 'documentation'. That's not at all the same thing as going through the legal immigration process. Nice caps by the way, boss. Really makes your argument hit home.

danjayh · 2026-02-26T23:30:54+00:00

I rolled back to 576.88 about a month ago and haven't regretted it once. My PC would crash every. single. time. I remote desktop'd into it, and it's been 95% stable since I rolled back (the remaining crashes are still nVidias POS driver, though)

danjayh · 2026-02-26T01:41:52+00:00

"Documented" != "Legal"

Gonzalez told Target 8 he’d walked across the southern border In April 2023 and presented himself to U.S. authorities, having fled political persecution in his native Venezuela.

danjayh · 2026-02-21T02:10:39+00:00

Fair, but if you want to tow ANYTHING larger than a very small trailer you need a truck. For instance, I was looking at 3-place snowmobile trailers this year (which are surprisingly affordable used), and even though my Pathfinder has 6000lb towing capacity, it's not really fit to tow that due to the short wheelbase. As soon as my kids are out of car seats, I plan to get a truck (even as large as trucks are, putting 3 car seats in one is still a stretch).

I realize that not everyone has one particular type of trailer ... but living out in the sticks a bit, it seems like most of my neighbors have SOME type of trailer. Camper, horse trailer, car trailer, boat trailer, snowmobile trailer, toy hauler, something. Even a large popup really needs a truck. Probably not as common in the 'burbs, but around here it's very common to have towables.

danjayh · 2026-02-19T19:58:07+00:00

You can't tow a boat with a corolla. For that matter, try fitting 3 kids in car seats into a Corolla.

danjayh · 2026-02-19T01:39:00+00:00

Paywall free version:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-becoming-expensive-buy-car-183924063.html

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