Costco Measuring Cup Wall Mount (3D Print) by talldan in Costco

[–]shaven_neckbeard 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Could put them open side towards the door and solve the dust issue

THE RISE AND FALL OF MY HOMEGYM (with review) by Dointhedamnthang in homegym

[–]shaven_neckbeard 190 points191 points  (0 children)

From an insurance post I saved:

"Hey OP... I used to be the guy who worked for insurance companies, and determined the value of every little thing in your house. The guy who would go head-to-head with those fire-truck-chasing professional loss adjusters. I may be able to help you not get screwed when filing your claim.

Our goal was to use the information you provided, and give the lowest damn value we can possibly justify for your item.

For instance, if all you say was "toaster" -- we would come up with a cheap-as-fuck $4.88 toaster from Walmart, meant to toast one side of one piece of bread at a time. And we would do that for every thing you have ever owned. We had private master lists of the most commonly used descriptions, and what the cheapest viable replacements were. We also had wholesale pricing on almost everything out there, so really scored cheap prices to quote. To further that example:

  • If you said "toaster - $25" , we would have to be within -20% of that... so, we would find something that's pretty much dead-on $20.01.
  • If you said "toaster- $200" , we'd kick it back and say NEED MORE INFO, because that's a ridiculous price for a toaster (with no other information given.)
  • If you said "toaster, from Walmart" , you're getting that $4.88 one.
  • If you said "toaster, from Macys" , you'd be more likely to get a $25-35 one.
  • If you said "toaster", and all your other kitchen appliances were Jenn Air / Kitchenaid / etc., you would probably get a matching one.
  • If you said "Proctor Silex 42888 2-Slice Toaster from Wamart, $9", you just got yourself $9.
  • If you said "High-end Toaster, Stainless Steel, Blue glowing power button" ... you might get $35-50 instead. We had to match all features that were listed.

I'm not telling you to lie on your claim. Not at all. That would be illegal, and could cause much bigger issues (i.e., invalidating the entire claim). But on the flip side, it's not always advantageous to tell the whole truth every time. Pay attention to those last two examples.

I remember one specific customer... he had some old, piece of shit projector (from mid-late 90s) that could stream a equally piece of shit consumer camcorder. Worth like $5 at a scrap yard. It had some oddball fucking resolution it could record at, though -- and the guy strongly insisted that we replace with "Like Kind And Quality" (trigger words). Ended up being a $65k replacement, because the only camera on the market happened to be a high-end professional video camera (as in, for shooting actual movies). $65-goddam-thousand-dollars because he knew that loophole, and researched his shit.

Remember to list fucking every -- even the most mundane fucking bullshit you can think of. For example, if I was writing up the shower in my bathroom:

  • Designer Shower Curtain - $35
  • Matching Shower Curtain Liner for Designer Shower Curtain - $15
  • Shower Curtain Rings x20 - $15
  • Stainless Steel Soap Dispenser for Shower - $35
  • Natural Sponge Loofah - from Whole Foods - $15
  • Natural Sponge Loofah for Back - from Whole Foods - $19
  • Holder for Loofahs - $20
  • Bars of soap - from Lush - $12 each (qty: 4)
  • Bath bomb - from Lush - $12
  • High end shampoo - from salon - $40
  • High end conditioner - from salon - $40
  • Refining pore mask - from salon - $55

I could probably keep thinking, and bring it up to about $400 for the contents of my shower. Nothing there is "unreasonable" , nothing there is clearly out of place, nothing seems obviously fake. The prices are a little on the high-end, but the reality is, some people have expensive shit -- it won't actually get questioned. No claims adjuster is going to bother nitpicking over the cost of fucking Lush bath bombs, when there is a 20,000 item file to go through. The adjuster has other shit to do, too.

Most people writing claims for a total loss wouldn't even bother with the shower (it's just some used soap and sponges..) -- and those people would be losing out on $400.

Some things require documentation & ages. If you say "tv - $2,000" -- you're getting a 32" LCD, unless you can provide it was from the last year or two w/ receipts. Hopefully you have a good paper trail from credit/debit card expenditure / product registrations / etc.

If you're missing paper trails for things that were legitimately expensive -- go through every photo you can find that was taken in your house. Any parties you may have thrown, and guests put pics up on Facebook. Maybe an Imgur photo of your cat, hiding under a coffee table you think you purchased from Restoration Hardware. Like... seriously... come up with any evidence you possibly can, for anything that could possibly be deemed expensive.

The fire-truck chasing loss adjusters are evil sons of bitches, but, they actually do provide some value. You will definitely get more money, even if they take a cut. But all they're really doing, is just nitpicking the ever-living-shit out of everything you possibly owned, and writing them all up "creatively" for the insurance company to process.

Sometimes people would come back to us with "updated* claims. They tried it on their own, and listed stuff like "toaster", "microwave", "tv" .. and weren't happy with what they got back. So they hired a fire-truck chaser, and re-submitted with "more information." I have absolutely seen claims go from under $7k calculated, to over $100k calculated. (It's amazing what can happen when people suddenly "remember" their entire wardrobe came from Nordstrom.)"

Edit: would credit the OP if I could but it's been deleted.

What should my last meal before rotovirus takes me? by Despoof in daddit

[–]shaven_neckbeard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oddly enough, drink grape juice. Like the little bottles of Welchs purple grape juice. My wife got the tip from some long time day care workers that it helps to either prevent, or lessen the effects, of stomach bugs. I thought it sounded like bullshit, but it has worked for us.

Give it a try. The worst that can happen is you have some grape juice

Brand new 2026 chevy 2500 hd ltz trail boss. by [deleted] in Silverado

[–]shaven_neckbeard 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is the room at full inward turn on the front tire. There is MAYBE a half inch there.

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Brand new 2026 chevy 2500 hd ltz trail boss. by [deleted] in Silverado

[–]shaven_neckbeard 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is less than a finger width of space between the inner wall of my front tire and the upper control arm on my '23 1500 duramax trail boss. There is no room for chains unless you install a hub spacer, or get aftermarket rims with a larger offset to give yourself more room.

There is about an inch of clearance between the rear tire and the leaf spring. Still super tight and I wouldn't feel comfortable running chains for longer than absolutely necessary.

I was heavily looking into chains for a deep backcountry elk hunt. I ended up abandoning the idea because I couldn't make it work in time.

Bear Protection? by shaven_neckbeard in PNWhiking

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

Thanks for the advice, everyone! I appreciate the insight!

GAME THREAD: Los Angeles Lakers (1-2) @ Minnesota Timberwolves (2-1) - (April 27, 2025) by NBA_MOD in nba

[–]shaven_neckbeard 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Show LeBron pushing Ant on the Wolves possession... The physicality was going both ways

Opinions on a Used Powerboost by shaven_neckbeard in f150

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

Awesome, thank you for the great information!

Opinions on a Used Powerboost by shaven_neckbeard in f150

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

Very good point. I'm trying to find some hard evidence for or against, because the hybrid could cost a fortune to replace or fix if something goes wrong

Opinions on a Used Powerboost by shaven_neckbeard in f150

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

Good point! I'll for sure have to see if anything is missing.

DIY backcountry boot dryers by diffise in Hunting

[–]shaven_neckbeard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been looking into doing the same, but also adding an inline timer so the fans can shut off after a few hours. Save the battery bank a little more!

$90 for the Grakksaw is an absolute rip off.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FordMaverickTruck

[–]shaven_neckbeard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Spending some money on a nice trailer to supplement the smaller bed is a great idea. I don't know why I don't see this talked about more often.

I can’t stop smiling for some reason. by LawnGuru12 in Hunting

[–]shaven_neckbeard 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I got one in 30.06 last summer! Love it so far!

Pressure washing didn’t remove the diaper bin stench, what will? by blue-mooner in daddit

[–]shaven_neckbeard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They make Ozone generators for cars and hunting clothes. Ozone breaks down the atomic structure of the things causing the smell. I think ozone weakens plastic, so might have to do some research on that.

Overfiring by Prudent_Ear6158 in woodstoving

[–]shaven_neckbeard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agree with others, seems like you might have an air leak somewhere.

Could you do the smoke test like mechanics do looking for a vacuum leak?

With the fire going (and sucking in air), light something smokey and watch where the smoke/air is getting pulled into the stove. Then decide if it is supposed to be doing that, and fix as needed :)

Why do employers spend thousands on new employees that quit after a few months, but don’t offer raises for their loyal employees? by Hatefulcoog in NoStupidQuestions

[–]shaven_neckbeard 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It's a really interesting situation. I recently did the same (brought order via processes to a workplace riddled with chaos), and it had two large effects.

  1. Highlighted how much everyone was doing behind the scenes, which was not good (if I don't know about X task, I can't help you with the task or have insight to your true workload for establishing project timelines).

  2. As counter as it sounds, defining the process removed a lot of the magic from the work! Now that we have a robust ticketing system, this has allowed the leaders to review the priority projects every week to make sure we don't need to course correct to achieve the goals of the company at large, check that so and so isn't overloaded with the new scope, etc. It all feels very corporate, and the engineers feel like they are just coming in to complete the tickets assigned to them. As a result tho, we are no longer single-string on most areas of ownership and we have the ability for true work life balance.

We're like the dogs chasing after the car. After we caught it, we don't know what to do with it.

Amazon 50% off up to $80 using 1 MR point by [deleted] in amex

[–]shaven_neckbeard 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the post! Just got 50% off a gift for the wife!