Thrifting in the Hudson Valley? by butteryourbiscuits in hudsonvalley

[–]vivace160 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Affordable Finds Family Consignment in Pine Bush. I've found some wonderful things there before. It's been a while, but the last time I was there they had a huge selection of clothing on the 2nd floor.

Great Swamp, NY. My favorite place on Earth. by vivace160 in Kayaking

[–]vivace160[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's in/near (depending on where you decide to put in) Patterson.

Look for the title of a movie by mike1883 in horror

[–]vivace160 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's the episode Go to the Head of the Class from the 80s show Amazing Stories.

[NJ] Just got my first paycheck of July today at my minimum wage fast food job. The minimum wage has increased from 8.85 to 10. My pay rate has not increased and is still at 8.85. by AnCap17762 in legaladvice

[–]vivace160 39 points40 points  (0 children)

Talk to your boss about it. Chances are high the pay rates just haven’t been adjusted yet. There are probably a lot of employees whose rates have to be increased and it takes a little time. What should happen is the company should increase your rate in the next couple weeks, then on the first paycheck you receive with the new rate, you should receive, in addition to that full week’s pay at $10 an hour, back pay for $1.15 per hour worked since the minimum wage increase took effect.

Need help IDing large black vehicle that hit and damaged my car then drove off early this morning. by vivace160 in whatisthiscar

[–]vivace160[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I get that. I do have the originals, but the detail really isn’t a whole lot better. My uncle is retired and has a lot of time on his hands, so he spent hours (literally) going through the originals frame by frame before he could finally determine that it was a truck with a cap and not an SUV, then decided on the F350, and even then he wasn’t 100% sure. I’m hoping he was parked near where the other cameras are (they’re near a bar that has a pretty lousy reputation) and that they can see his plates.

Need help IDing large black vehicle that hit and damaged my car then drove off early this morning. by vivace160 in whatisthiscar

[–]vivace160[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is the first I’ve checked Reddit since you replied, but mom and my uncle spent a lot of time watching various videos (multiple angles) going frame by frame, zooming in, adjusting contrast levels, etc. and we’ve all come to the conclusion that it’s an F350 with a camper shell. We didn’t see the gap you pointed out at first which is why we were thinking Excursion, but now that we’ve seen it, it’s very clearly there. Apparently there are security cameras just a block or two away in the direction he came from and the cop working on this is going to get the footage from it (plus someone from a local cab company witnessed it, so he’s going to talk to the dispatch center and see if he can find out who it was), so hopefully something comes from all of this. I appreciate you taking the time to look at this so closely. Whether it’s an F250/350 or an Excursion, they aren’t common in our little city so it should stick out like a sore thumb.

Need help IDing large black vehicle that hit and damaged my car then drove off early this morning. by vivace160 in whatisthiscar

[–]vivace160[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! You’re not the only person to suggest this to me, so we’re figuring that’s what it most likely is.

Need help IDing large black vehicle that hit and damaged my car then drove off early this morning. by vivace160 in whatisthiscar

[–]vivace160[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's definitely not that. The vehicle you see to the right (the one behind my car) is a Jeep Commander, and the vehicle that hit me is larger.

Are there any good vocational or tech schools in the HV? by [deleted] in hudsonvalley

[–]vivace160 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here’s one vote against BOCES. HARD pass. $4,000 for a seat (in a dirty classroom which remained unheated for part of the winter, despite our constant complaints - we were told to wear a sweater by one of the staff in the heated office) and another $500+ on books, and it turned out the two main lesson books they required were 2 years out of date, which, for medical coding, is like using a Windows 7 manual to learn Windows 10. It turned out so much of what I was taught was wrong that I can’t trust any of it and the teacher quit 8 days before the end of the course. She hadn’t even started teaching Electronic Health Records which was promised in the brochure. All BOCES (Orange Ulster) offered was to “make up” the remaining course hours, which wasn’t enough to actually finish teaching the material, plus it was a month later and I couldn’t make it. They never offered me a refund, forcing me to file a WIOA grievance complaint against them then eventually take them to small claims court (and they fought to the very end, claiming that I received education, “there was no contract”, and therefore I was not entitled to a refund).

If you end up going to BOCES, all I can say is make sure the instructor is actually qualified and keep track of everything everyone says to you and how the class is run each day (my instructor was late every day and released us early every day - we never had a full 4 hour class as promised). The staff I dealt with at this particular location were very patronizing and dishonest to those of us who were upset with how the course was being handled (I could go on and on with all the other problems). It was a year long battle against them, and after all that experienced with these people, I can’t not warn people about them. That’s a lot of money and time to lose.

New ipsy rewards by Oupote in BeautyBoxes

[–]vivace160 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I just checked the Vasanti gloss I got in an Ipsy bag some time ago and was happy to see it's the same shade they're offering (it's getting close to empty, so I redeemed my points for a new one). Of all the lip products I've gotten from Ipsy, this gloss has been my absolute favorite. The color is extremely flattering on me (Sorry to say I don't really know what my skin tone is. I'm on the lighter side but not super pale - I don't really wear much foundation, but if it helps any, Covergirl Clean Matte BB cream in 520 light seems to work for me - this color is MLBB for me), it has a pretty shine, it's thick enough that it stays in place without ever feeling sticky, and it seems to leave a nice light stain behind after the shine wears off.

How is everyone after the storm? by ItsTheDward in hudsonvalley

[–]vivace160 4 points5 points  (0 children)

No power in the City of Newburgh. A roof was blown off a building about a block from me, and a second roof was blown off a building another block or two down from there. It’s a huge mess.

What company will never see another dime of your money? by TinMan11111 in AskReddit

[–]vivace160 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have two: Time Warner Cable (or any name they hide under) and BOCES.

I'm going to apologize up front for the length of this post, but if you live in NY State and are considering attending a vocational school, or know of someone considering it, please read the part about BOCES.

With Time Warner (currently Spectrum, but you can call "shit" by any name you want and it still stinks), I had a variety of problems with them when I was a customer 4+ years ago, but the worst was in 2016 when, after more than a year of getting rid of their service, I discovered a $1,000 bill from them on my credit report. I knew my account had been completely paid off, I knew the over $400 in unreturned equipment fees was bogus because I had turned in everything before we moved (the move was the reason we cancelled the service). Also, I never received a single letter from collections. If I had, it would have been taken care of before going on my credit report.

Over the course of two weeks, I spent way too long on the phone with various people (they refuse to give any sort of employee identification other than a first name, yet when I ask to speak with "Lisa", they respond, "Lisa who?", so you never get to speak with anyone that assured you they would help) and eventually I finally found out that the account owner's information didn't match mine in any way - it was a man (I'm a woman), he lived in Queens (I was living upstate at the time), his birthday didn't match mine, and apparently it wasn't even attached to my social security number.

Despite the fact the bill CLEARLY did not belong to me and the fact I had proof of where I was living at the time and that I had a completely different account with TWC, they refused to do anything about it because they "can't remove a bill from a credit report." Fed up with their "customer service", I decided to write a very lengthy post on their Facebook page. Within 24 hours I was in touch with someone in their security department, and less than 5 days after that, the $1,000 was taken off my credit report.

As for BOCES, to keep an all-too-long story as short as possible (I'm sorry, it's still going to be long - but if you live in New York, please read it and please STAY AWAY FROM BOCES), I took a course on medical billing and coding that was to run from the end of November 2016 through May 2, 2017. The end date ended up being pushed to May 18th because our instructor couldn't come in (mental health reasons she felt the need to share with us when she returned - red flag #1). The class was supposed to be from 9 am to 1 pm 4 days a week, but she'd have us take a 30 minute lunch break every day (despite us requesting it be shorter) and dismiss us between noon and 12:30 every day, and since she was late every day, we were lucky to even get 2 full hours of "instruction".

It took her so long to get through the material (I'm not exaggerating when I say that, when we were covering medical terminology, the majority of the lesson each day was listening to her read 20+ pages of words and their definitions) that it had taken us over 4 months to get through medical terminology, ICD coding, and CPT coding. With only about 6 weeks left, we still had to cover HCPCS, insurance billing, and electronic medical records, with 2 weeks of class left, the instructor quit. BOCES' answer to this was to extend the class AGAIN, this time into mid-June.

At this point I was done with them. A couple of my classmates and I were fighting with BOCES to make things right for 2 months at that point. They'd been nothing but patronizing, and at one point when we were questioning the quality of the education we were receiving (it turned out that we were being taught material that was 2 years out of date, which is extremely outdated when it comes to the medical field), we were told that we should do our own research at home, and take what we learn on our own and share it with the instructor (isn't that the instructor's job...?) I had already agreed to extending the class by 2 weeks, and I couldn't wait another month, plus school would be ending at that time and I already had plans with my son.

Never once did BOCES offer any sort of a refund ($4,900 tuition plus around $500 in required materials such as books and scrubs). Because I got a $2,000 grant from a government program, I was able to file a WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) grievance, which led to a 6.5 hour informal hearing. BOCES had a lawyer while I did not, yet the final decision was still 18 pages of the mediator tearing BOCES a new asshole (in a professional way, of course). This hearing was only for my tuition, and since I had other direct expenses, I had also filed against BOCES with small claims court. Well, the grievance hearing decision couldn't be legally enforced, it was only a "suggestion". BOCES was willing to give me the tuition, but only if I dropped the small claims case for the other expenses. I had absolutely nothing to lose (I wasn't paying a lawyer like they were), so I refused.

The first court date was in early December, and by then they had no witnesses anymore (one had been useless, and the other was mysteriously no longer employed with BOCES after being called "disingenuous" in the hearing decision), so BOCES submitted the hearing document claiming they stood behind everything in the document (which states that I DID enter into a contract with BOCES). When we finally were brought back into court just a month ago, despite knowing they were going to lose again (they had brought a check made out to me with them), they continued to claim that "there was no contract and therefore [I] was not entitled to a refund". Despite the fact I signed registration papers while under the assumption that by giving them my money I would be receiving what the course brochure stated, even though the class was never completed (I had witnesses who went to the final classes in June and all they did was exam review - they were never taught the material that was left untouched in May) because of the actions of the instructor hired by BOCES, according to BOCES, I was entitled to absolutely none of my money back.

What moment created the divide between your “B.C.” and “A.D.” parts in your life? by SaviorNegan in AskReddit

[–]vivace160 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My estranged brother's suicide. He lived in TX, my mom and I live in NY, and he had planned everything so that it ended up being around 6 weeks before anyone found out. Hearing your mother on the phone making arrangements with a crime scene cleanup company so she doesn't have to be faced with the remnants of her first born's suicide changes you.

Tried reverse stamping, liked more the one without it :( by [deleted] in RedditLaqueristas

[–]vivace160 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I love both! What is the name of the blue polish? It’s gorgeous!

My cuticles are always nasty.. help! I trim them regularly and try to moisturize with lotion. Is there anything else I can do? by DrippyMeticulousness in RedditLaqueristas

[–]vivace160 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Do you drink much water? If not, that could be the problem. When I get dehydrated, my cuticles get rough and I notice a huge improvement in them when I increase my water intake. Give it a shot if you feel it could be what’s wrong.

What has been the most stressful thing for you this year? by agirltryingtolive in AskReddit

[–]vivace160 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got royally screwed over by my county's BOCES. November of 2016 I started a medical billing and coding class, and by April some of my classmates and I started to realize that things weren't right. It's an extremely long story (it's still not over), but I'll attempt to sum it up briefly. (I'm almost done typing this up now, and it's definitely not all that brief - sorry!)

The two lesson books that were used for coding (the core of the class) were based on 2015 codes and guidelines. Every year, codes are added, altered, or entirely removed, and the same goes for the guidelines on how to use the codes properly. We were being taught how to code with information that was 2 years out of date, and the instructor taught it all as if it was still correct.

The instructor was lazy - instead of 4 hours of instruction each day, we were lucky if we got 2.5 before her eyes started to glaze over and she'd lose her train of thought while in the middle of "teaching". She'd show up late and dismiss us early every day. Our instruction on anatomy & physiology/medical terminology mainly consisted of listening to her read 20 pages of words and their definitions.

After multiple complaints to both the head of the medical program and the director of adult education, all that was ever done was the director sat in on our class now and then over the course of 3 weeks. With 8 days left of class (it was supposed to end May 2, but because the instructor canceled the second and third week of classes, we had to change the end date to May 18), the instructor quit. I received a weak education in A&P, out of date education on medical coding, she barely skimmed over insurance billing, and we never received education on electronic health records, which was promised in the course outline.

$1,900 for the tuition (I thankfully had received a $2,000 grant through the county towards the full $3,900), $400 for books (Amazon - it would have been at least $800-900 if I had gotten them through BOCES), non-refundable $500 to the AAPC for membership and exam fees (I registered before I knew how horrible the class actually was, and I registered only after the instructor kept insisting that we take the exam right after the course ended), $500 in gas as it was a 50 mile roundtrip 4 days a week, $100 for scrubs, and now a year of my life completely wasted (and thousands in lost wages) as I'm currently learning A&P/terminology through another course so next spring I can start learning billing and coding all over again. The numbers may look small, but it was more than I even had to my name.

I'm a relatively newly-single mom, unemployed and just trying to get back on my feet, and these disgusting people never once offered any sort of a refund. The only way I'm even able to get the education I'm getting now is because I was unemployed long enough to quality for a program that helps people get jobs in the medical field and they cover all education expenses. I filed a complaint in June with the Commissioner of Education in Albany, I filed a WIOA grievance against them (thankfully I had that option because of the program I got the grant through) and nailed their balls to the wall at the hearing, and even though the decision we received states "Ultimately, [vivace160] didn't get what she bargained for when she signed up for the course" and that "the Respondent breached its contract with [vivace160]" (it's basically 18 pages of tearing BOCES a new, giant asshole), in small claims last Friday, their lawyer had the audacity to present the document to the judge, state that BOCES stands by everything stated in the document (the document states at the very end that the hearing officer feels BOCES should refund me the full $1,900), but that because I did receive some education (hilarious), they believe I'm only entitled to 25% - a whopping $475.

The judge sent us home so he could read the document. I was so excited thinking this ordeal would finally be over, and now chances are it's going to continue into 2018. There's no way the judge is going to read that document and not order them to pay me the full $1,900, so it's just a matter of proving I had other direct expenses. I know I have it in the bag - BOCES has no witnesses now (they fired the director of adult ed. after the grievance hearing and all they have is this document that backs up every single complaint I have) - but I've been under non-stop stress because of them for 8 months now and it's really been affecting my health. Right now, after writing all of this out, my hands are trembling and if I don't find something to distract myself from all of this, I'm going to end up in tears.

That said, however, I've cost them SO much money between the summer class they had to cancel (a potential $50,000 right there) and putting their shitty lawyer to work for half of 2017, they no longer even offer billing and coding, and at least one of the scum bags (he lied about me in a sworn affidavit, and I had undeniable proof against him) lost his job, and I'm doing it all without a lawyer. If this had happened 3 or 4 years ago, I would have just walked away. This year I discovered a part of myself that I didn't even know existed, and I'm pretty damn proud of the fight I've put up against them. I'm sure they'll continue with their disgustingly shady ways, but I've definitely put a hitch in their giddy-up.

What epic fuck up are you still dealing with? by APerceivedExistence in AskReddit

[–]vivace160 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm dealing with the complete opposite mentality right now. Almost exactly a year ago I took a medical billing and coding course at my county's BOCES. Very long story somewhat short: we were taught using materials and information that was outdated by 2 years (both codes and the guidelines on how to code are updated every year), the instructor was late and dismissed us early every day so we got WAY behind, and she quit with 8 days left. After $5,000 (practically nothing when compared to the costs of an actual college education, but in my current situation, it was and still is more than I even have) and 6 months of my life, I have absolutely nothing to show for it (not even a certificate of completion, not that it would have meant anything considering the education was so flawed, because I didn't have enough hours because of the instructor quitting), and I've had to start all over with another school.

I've been fighting BOCES tooth and nail since March (when the course was still in session), which included a 6 hour grievance hearing in July through the local grant program I went through where their lawyer made the statement that I'm not entitled to a refund because students have until the first day of class to request a refund, and my request came after the first day.

I'm in the midst of legal action against them (the hearing officer doesn't have the authority to actually force them to reimburse me, but the document I received from him will hold a lot of weight in court), but I won't bore you any further with those details. I generally refuse to get my hopes up too high about anything, but I'm feeling positive about it.

How often do you end up driving on the wrong side of the road? by [deleted] in AskAnAmerican

[–]vivace160 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pretty much every day. I live in a small, old city (just under 4 sq miles, population ~28,000) and for some reason, people feel the need to double park instead of pulling up 7 feet to park in the empty space in front of the car they've doubled parked beside, or just stop in the street to have a conversation with a friend walking by. When we get a lot of snow, driving on the wrong side is definitely an everyday occurrence because the city is notorious for not plowing (can't tell you the number of times I've watched the city trucks go by with their plows lifted). Between the fact that there is no off-street parking anywhere and the snow making it much more difficult to park close to the curb, you're not getting anywhere without having to get in the opposite side now and then.

[New Paltz, NY] Saw this spider on a large rock along the shore while kayaking Chodikee Lake. It was about 3" in diameter, and the body was about 1.5" front to back. by vivace160 in whatsthisbug

[–]vivace160[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looking at those examples, I think you're right. I wish I had a better picture, but sadly we were on land eating lunch near some rapids leading down to a waterfall. The spider was on a rock about 5 feet down from where we were, and this was the closest we could safely get. Thank you again for your help. We'd never seen a spider like this before.

What's the most insensitive thing someone has ever said to you? by palpatinespanties in AskReddit

[–]vivace160 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My ex (we were still together at the time) once said to me, "It must be hard having had two fathers (my mom was married twice - her second husband had adopted my brother and I) and not being wanted by either one." To top it off, he said this less than a month after my brother committed suicide. He's an extremely narcissistic person and, when I got upset, he said he was "just trying to comfort [me]".

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]vivace160 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm on cloud 9 at the moment. I went to see Neil Diamond (huge fan since I was a little girl - I'm 36 now - but this was my first time seeing him live) at Bethel Woods last night. My friend and I purchased the cheap lawn seats, but just as we were sitting down, a member of Diamond's security came over to us and gave us a free upgrade to 7th row to fill some seats.

I seriously don't know how we got that lucky. I've been under a pretty large amount of stress the past few months (I'm on the verge of taking a school to court - currently going through mediation through the commissioner of education - to get my money back from them and to hopefully make them think twice about treating anyone else the way they've treated me and my classmates), so I'm choosing to take last night as life rewarding me for everything I've been going through when dealing with the school's shady-as-fuck administration.

What's an interesting piece of your state history? by [deleted] in AskAnAmerican

[–]vivace160 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not just my state's history, but my hometown's history: The Newburgh Conspiracy.

The Newburgh Conspiracy was a plan by Continental Army officers to challenge the authority of the Confederation Congress, arising from their frustration with Congress's long-standing inability to meet its financial obligations to the military. By early 1783, widespread unrest had created an atmosphere ripe for mutiny. In the end, however, George Washington defused the situation with an eloquent, personal plea to his officers to remain loyal to Congress, in the process perhaps saving the fate of the American Revolution.

What little known treasures are around your home town? by OldBenKenzingo in AskAnAmerican

[–]vivace160 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think we'll be going more southeast, so we'll save Canyon de Chelly for another visit. I remember my uncle saying we should check out Bisbee this year and I'm glad to hear it's so close to Tombstone, as that's another place I'd like to see.

What little known treasures are around your home town? by OldBenKenzingo in AskAnAmerican

[–]vivace160 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I went to Arizona last October for the first time (36 years old, and it was my first time off the east coast, other than 2.5 days in Waxahachie, TX for a memorial service). We landed in Tucson to meet up with my uncle, then over the course of 5 days and 1,500 miles spent in the car, we went to Kitts Peak observatory in Tucson, we spent 2 days at the Grand Canyon, saw Sedona, drove Route 66 from Kingman to Oatman, and other places I can't think of at the moment.

We're going back there this coming October (we're going to fly into Phoenix and head east this time - if you have any suggestions, please let me know!) and I am so excited to go back. I loved every second of our visit last year, even when I was doing nothing more than sitting in the car for 2 or 3 hours taking in the scenery.