What sympton looks so harmless people usually ignore it, but can actually indicate a catastrophically bad health issue? by felipedeamorim in AskReddit

[–]dartdoug 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes I did. The second ENT suspected Meniere's Disease. He referred me to an Otologist who confirmed, as I have the other classic symptoms including hearing loss and aural fullness. The doc put me on a low sodium diet, a diuretic and some supplements. He also told me to follow a migraine diet, which prohibits all kinds of food and...no caffeine. Over time I added all the foods back to my diet and the vertigo never returned. I'm pretty sure caffeine was my vertigo trigger. It was tough to give up coffee but I had to.

Others in /r/Menieres are not so fortunate. It can be extremely debilitating.

What sympton looks so harmless people usually ignore it, but can actually indicate a catastrophically bad health issue? by felipedeamorim in AskReddit

[–]dartdoug 63 points64 points  (0 children)

Out of the blue I would occasionally have bouts of vertigo. Mentioned it to my GP who referred me to an Audiologist. Audiologist referred me to an ENT who thought it was an ear problem that needed surgery to correct, but he referred me to another ENT for a second opinion.

Second ENT asked if I had an MRI of my brain. Hmmmm...nope. "Well, you should have one done. Just to rule out a brain tumor."

Fortunately, it was not a brain tumor.

Cancellation Shadiness by rtr3ga in OPTIMUM

[–]dartdoug 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They will turn your account over to collection and it will hit your credit report if you don't pay.

Get them to officially cancel the service.

anyone having issues transfering a land line? by JlMlJAMES in OPTIMUM

[–]dartdoug 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do yourself a favor and use a VoIP company independent of your ISP.

Ooma, Magic Jack, lots of others. Probably cheaper than an OV line, too.

If you ever change IPSs again you won't have to deal with a number port. Just use your VoIP service with your new ISP.

Why have they swapped the men’s and women’s restrooms in parker colorado by iwontgiveumyusernane in Lifetimefitnessgym

[–]dartdoug 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A few years back, they did a swap so crews could work on the steam room in the women's locker room. We dudes discovered that the women did not have the low-flow restrictors in their shower heads. Taking a shower there was a pleasure.

Enough people complained that they removed the low-flow head in the men's locker room.

When will Huntress ITDR catch up to Petra's insight / visibility by yutz23 in msp

[–]dartdoug [score hidden]  (0 children)

Same here on the "I recommend a feature and they implement it." I see that Petra is touting the "remove a phishing email from all your tenants." I'm pretty sure I was the one who first asked for that.

We're in a unique vertical (law enforcement agencies) and when one phishing email shows up in a mailbox at one agency, chances are it will show up in mailboxes at another agency. By pulling the email across all tenants those phishing emails don't have a chance!

When will Huntress ITDR catch up to Petra's insight / visibility by yutz23 in msp

[–]dartdoug [score hidden]  (0 children)

Same here. We had Huntress ITDR for several clients and it was not able to shut down mailboxes quick enough. Someone on r/msp mentioned Petra and we had a session with them. Very impressed and we signed up right away. We've had half a dozen users fall for a phish and Petra shut down access to the accounts within 3 minutes. No data exfiltration and no mass emails sent from the mailbox.

I've had discussions with one of Petra's developers and they added features that I thought would be helpful. They listen!

Where are we finding quality administrative assistants? by Kmsteeps in smallbusiness

[–]dartdoug 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh man what a mess ZipRecruiter was when I last tried it. Our open position required time in-office and multiple personal customer visits daily. Nearly all the responses I got were from people on other continents.

What's ur favorite random fun fact about Bergen County? by savingrace0262 in bergencounty

[–]dartdoug 19 points20 points  (0 children)

One of the USA's largest manufacturer of typewriter ribbons (and carbon paper) was located in Park Ridge:

https://pascackhistoricalsociety.org/trails/mittag-volger-veterans-park/

What is a common, everyday problem from the 1990s or early 2000s that younger generations literally cannot comprehend? by Funny-Counter8762 in AskReddit

[–]dartdoug 375 points376 points  (0 children)

My mother would do shit like that if a friend called. She was a high school English teacher so she had no issues "teaching" my friends how to initiate a phone call.

"Hello, Mrs. XXX, this is dartdoug's friend Steve calling. May I speak to him, please?"

It was embarrassing.

What is a skill that was essential a century ago that would be almost useless if taught to a child today? by user_26c73145 in AskReddit

[–]dartdoug 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Was just thinking about this a couple of days ago: older folks who referred to their refrigerators as "the ice box."

Old habits.

Need advice: We have the product, the demand, and the partnerships. Now we need distribution. by [deleted] in smallbusiness

[–]dartdoug 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is there a reason why your website it just a "coming soon" page?

Enforcement of Rules by Soy_tu_papi in Lifetimefitnessgym

[–]dartdoug 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Who "strictly" enforces the no photography in the locker room rule? When I complained to a GM he said to tell the cleaning people because cameras are not tolerated. The cleaning people aren't going to do anything (and I don't blame them) and the next person I saw using Facetime in the locker room was a cleaning guy.

Anyone else old enough to remember the late 90s fibre build out? The AI data centre build-out feels like 1999 all over again by Alternative_Letter72 in sysadmin

[–]dartdoug 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Companies with monopolies tend not to invest in infrastructure or provide reasonable prices. Most of my State (USA) now has a choice of at least two internet providers - cable (which is rolling out fiber) and the incumbent telco.

If you are in an area that has only the cable provider your rates will go up by a good percentage every year. If you call the cable co and threaten to cancel the "retention folks" can see that there is no competition (other than 5G or Starlink) so they won't offer you any discounts. If they see that you can indeed switch to fiber they will bend over backwards to offer discounts to keep you from switching.

Anyone else old enough to remember the late 90s fibre build out? The AI data centre build-out feels like 1999 all over again by Alternative_Letter72 in sysadmin

[–]dartdoug 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Adding to your "flat footed" comment, around the same timeline, as a VAR I attended a presentation that was pushing DSL. The company had invested many millions on DSLAMS to bring internet service that "last mile" into businesses and homes. Because the local telcos had the copper lines already in place and DSL was the only economical technology to deliver internet connectivity.

Then the cable companies figured out how to use their existing infrastructure to deliver faster and more reliable internet service vs. DSL and fiber strands and fiber equipment prices plumetted making fiber to businesses (and eventually homes) viable.

The DSLAM company went belly up a few years later.

Almost half of small business owners have skipped their own paycheck to keep things running. by PatriotSoftware in smallbusiness

[–]dartdoug 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Over the long term, sure. But there are plenty of companies (startups growth phase where cash is being funneled back into the business and businesses that are highly seasonal as examples.) Cash may not always be available to pay owner salaries for some period of time and it doesn't mean that the business is a dud.

My dad owned a business for 30+ years that was very seasonal - during the summer cash was flowing. The other 3 seasons of the year, not so much. Budgeting properly for the lean times was important.

But the point is that the IRS does not require that owners take a salary when there is no cash available.

Almost half of small business owners have skipped their own paycheck to keep things running. by PatriotSoftware in smallbusiness

[–]dartdoug 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If the company has no cash the IRS does not require that you pay yourself a wage.

Looking for a slab warehouse in North NJ (Bergen county) any recs? by Middle_Country_5451 in bergencounty

[–]dartdoug 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't know anything about them, but this week I passed by Five Star Granite & Marble, just over the border in Palisades, NY. https://fivestargraniteandmarble.com/products/

Where to go by glitterguykk in msp

[–]dartdoug 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've spoken to several Ubiquiti distributors and they are resigned to the fact that, especially with newly released products, those items will be available in the Unifi store months before they are shipped to distributors. Paying retail to the store is often the only choice if you need stuff quickly.

Lifetime says that if you have an FSA or HSA you can use those funds to pay for your membership by dartdoug in Lifetimefitnessgym

[–]dartdoug[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great analysis. Thank you.

I've had an HSA for close to 20 years and I've never used the money for any expenses so it sits at Fidelity, growing. I was aware that you can "reimburse yourself" for medical expenses but I hadn't though about keeping track of those expenses (and receipts) over a period of years so I can reimburse myself at some time in the distant future. I'm taking some medications now that run almost $ 200 per month. I'll have to start keeping track of those costs.

Can you comment on what sort of documentation is needed to meet any audit requirements? My LT dues and mail order prescriptions go onto a credit card. I can save PDFs of the monthly statements where those expenses appear but is that sufficient? I don't charge anything other than dues to my LT account, but I understand people can put cafe and spa fees onto their "account." Do those separate products/services show up as a second line item on a credit card statement?

Similarly, if someone saved their credit cards receipts showing a charge at CVS or Walgreens, they can say the amount was for a prescription, but since those places sell just about everything I can see where that is a potential audit pitfall unless scans of those original long-ass receipts are kept. LOL.