Archive for the ‘Random’ Category

Despite being promoted by lots of YouTube influencers, it’s not really cheap.

• You get billed every 4 weeks, not by session. Even though they say it’s $90-$100 a week, they bill you every 4 weeks regardless of any cancellations by the counselor, holidays etc (which means you lose that week’s session). A year of sessions, will cost you $4,680-5,200.
• They don’t accept insurance.

You are really better off finding someone else that can do remote sessions in your state for less or even looking for counselors outside the US. It can take awhile to find someone international that speaks English, but now days with virtual sessions, there is no reason to pay more for someone local.

I think their target market are people that don’t have insurance, their insurance won’t cover counseling or the deductible is too high (like they would have to spend $5,000-10,000 before it would kick in).

Some possible deterrents.

While nothing is 100% effective, the name of the game is to make it harder, slower, noisier and more expensive for auto thieves to commit the crime.

• If you have a garage, keep your car in your garage, it’s more valuable than the other junk you store in there.
• Do not leave any valuables inside your vehicle, empty it out as much as possible, even your insurance card, should be in your wallet. Items like jumper cables can be put near the spare tire
• Install a fuel pump switch. When turned off each time you park, no one can drive your vehicle away. Keep the switch hidden somewhere.
• You could also get a starter or ignition disabler or fuse cut-off.
• Do not leave your vehicle running idle to warm up, stay inside of it
• Etch your VIN # on all windows (there are kits to do this cheaply)
• You could pay for a monitoring system that follows your car by GPS, so in the event it is stolen it can be tracked and found (although there might be a monthly fee for this kind of service)
• Use lug nut locks to deter tire/rim theft
• Get license plate security screws (some thieves are stealing license plates to commit other crimes and avoid being tracked)
• Etch your VIN or license plate # on your catalytic converters.
• Spray paint your catalytic converter with bright high temp paint
• Install a skid plate or large cover to the bottom of your vehicle to prevent catalytic converter theft.
• Use aftermarket products like straps or wire cages to make it harder for your catalytic converter to be cut off
• On an incline, leave your car in park with the wheels turned toward the curb or some other obstruction to make it hard to tow.
• Get a key signal blocking case to prevent thieves from amplifying its signal. Companies have started selling these cases to help car owners protect their keys. These cases will completely block your key’s signal so thieves cannot use it to unlock your car wirelessly.
• Check your car’s manual to see if you can turn the keys keyless feature off. Turning the key off makes it impossible for thieves to amplify the key’s signal.
• Steering wheel locks, brake pedal locks, theft deterrent decals and/or blinking led light on the dash can possibly deter non-professional thieves
• Park your vehicle up front & under lighting as much as possible. Parking in a far spot in the parking lot, dark area or on the side of the building, just makes it easier for someone to go unnoticed stealing.
• Make sure you have a working car alarm, especially one that can activate when the vehicle is jacked up on one side.
• Install a secondary car alarm in your car for extra protection. Secondary car alarms have a wide range of capabilities. The best on the market is able to tell you if your car doors are open or closed
• Upgrade your horn to one that is louder so when the alarm goes off, it will be much louder than usual.
• Install a CCTV (security) camera and motion detection lights at your house.
• Roll up your windows and lock the doors (this should go without saying)

Don’t wait until your vehicle is stolen, take these measures as soon as possible.

Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp are all on the ball. What is with eBay? Surely someone has taken a photo with their iPhone and needs to upload it to eBay. And why can’t they handle large image files? All these other sites don’t have a problem and resize it for you so you don’t end up TV wallpaper size images on the site.

I’ve noticed that Google’s Verify It’s You feature now locks you out of your account. For instance I have some old accounts that I never associated with a phone number and I never put in a secondary email either. When I log in it then sends me a code to my email address, so I put that code into the system it then tells me it doesn’t recognize my system or location.

Well duh, because people probably don’t have the same IP address they had years ago and don’t have the same computer/laptop they had back then either. So it asks me for a secondary method of a phone number, but I never put in a bloody phone number into the system. Why does it want one now?

So basically the account is unusable because of this, despite the fact I can check my emails, have the correct password and put in the correct code they gave me.

I even had this issue with another account but had the phone number, but because it didn’t recognize my IP or Computer, it wouldn’t accept my login. Not sure the folks at Google have tried testing their own software and of course there is no support for Google.

I’ve had 2 pairs of Zenni Optical glasses for over 7 years. My second pair finally broke after 4 yrs. I find that whatever coating they put on them (I’m guessing its the UV coating) wears off afterawhile and it looks like water spots on the glasses from a distance. I don’t really notice it when wearing, but anyone looking at my lenses will be able to see these spots. Both pair I had were metal. They were both super flimsy metal, very bendable but held up for years. One of them broke on the metal and the other broke near the edge of wear it held onto the lens. Since the frames were so cheap they were light and anytime I looked down or bent over for some time, my glasses would fall off since the lenses we heavier than the rest of the frame. Since they were both very bendable it was hard to get them straightened out to not be lopsided as sometimes you would bend it too much and trying to get it right was a bit of a pain. Because they could get thrown out of wack in a dopp bag or in a pocket as they might end up bending.

I never tried their plastic frames, but not sure I’d want to either. The site is now more complicated as they require you to put in the PD (Pupillary Distance), which can be hard to figure out. Also you can’t filter glasses by your prescription, even if you saved it in your profile. So this can result in you being shown glasses that they won’t let you buy because your prescription is too strong. So you end up wasting time on looking at glasses they won’t even sell you anyway.

Too often, so many reviews online and on YouTube praise their glasses based on price or just because they want to make money via their affiliate link. The lenses are cheap, but you have to add in the cost of frames which will bump that price up another $30-50 dollars. Still not bad, but I’m going to try out another company for a similar or slightly higher price, hoping the quality is better.

Many companies try hard to not let you cancel your account and even if you say you moved, they want to know if they can provide that service to you elsewhere. If not, they ask if anyone in the old location needs the service. They will ask multiple questions and sometimes you just need to cancel the account.

So here are some ideas to get them to just cancel the account and stop asking questions

• I’ve been told I have 1 week to live
• I’m going to jail
• I’ve lost my job and will be homeless next week
• I’m going bankrupt and will be homeless next week

Any sales person that still tries to sell after those questions, would be pretty rude. Post any other ideas you have.