Hobo Jungle

[webenda]

Three saddleback caterpillars (Acharia stimulea).

These caterpillars have a pair of fleshy "horns" at either end, and these, like much of the body, bear urticating hairs that secrete an irritating venom. Stings can be very painful. They can cause swelling, nausea, and leave a rash that can last for days. Individuals with sensitive skin are cautioned against coming into contact with them as the reaction can be more severe than the typical very painful reaction. They come out of their cocoon as dark brown, stout-bodied moths.

Sounds like it belongs in the Sonoran Desert where everything bites, stings or sticks, including the plants.

[v8vega]

California gasoline tax went up 4 cents a gallon July 1st. Thats 4 cents more each and every gallon the rest of my life. Its now 73 cents tax a gallon total.
Starting now until the end of the 4th of July each evening my high strung Border Collie runs around because of the fireworks and makes me nervous.

[2railjon]

Today is hump day!

[rogruth]

Not my idea of a great way to die.

[webenda]

That is a shame Jon. I think the cup of tea is a vital clue to what went wrong.

I don't know why, maybe because the camel story is from 2007, I am reminded of the Serbian eaten by bears in 2007. Local media reported that police found bricks, stones, beer cans and several mobile phones inside the cage.

Now why would anyone go the the trouble of climbing the zoo fence and getting close with bears? The zoo director theorized that the guy was either drunk, or on drugs, or an idiot. I have another theory. I think the cell phones are a vital clue to what went wrong. I think the bear has done this before... a serial killer.

Bear: “Psst. Hey, buddy.”

Drunk: “Whaaaa?

Bear: “Want to party with a bear?”

Drunk: “Um, sure, I guess.”

Bear: “Bring some beer and your cell phone.”

Then the bear eats the drunk and uses his cell phone to call other bears and compare notes.

Bear1: “Hey, Bruno. Guess what?”

Bear2: “What?”

Bear1: “I got an iPhone this time!”


Reference: http://gulfnews.com/news/world/other-wo ... e-1.196192

[rogruth]

Wayne,

If I wasn't laughing so hard I would tell you to stick to identifying plants.

[v8vega]

I got my carpet Steam Cleaned today the correct term is Hot Water Extraction. I am single and not a good housekeeper and spent considerable time and energy getting ready by cleaning behind and under the TV, computer, and furniture that never get cleaned.
I responded to a ad that said 3 rooms for $49.95 so I was taken aback when he gave me a estimate of $400. I got him down to $350 but if I could do it again I would have said I want to get another estimate. The carpet looks immensely better and my house is cleaner than its been in years.
The carpet hadn't been cleaned in years and I don't want to tell you how old it is, looks great now.
Later in the evening I got to wondering if he inflated the price and pocketed some of the money so I called the company and complained. They said he would call back and he did and he said after July 4 tomorrow he would talk to the company and see if he could get me a discount so I guess what I paid was legitimate.

[rogruth]

Is there an attempt to turn the Hobo Jungle into the Coffee Pot?
IMHO the Jungle is a place for talking about non model railroad topics but not individual daily doings.

[webenda]

Dennis,

Are you sure it said, "3 rooms for $49.95 "? Sometimes carpet cleaning advertisements for Simi Valley say "4 areas for $49.95 ". This one even limits the areas to 450 sq ft total. It may be $1 a sq ft after 450.

4 areas.jpg (23.37 KiB) Viewed 1602 times

http://www.simi-valley-carpet-cleaning. ... cials.html

Here is one that says "3 rooms for $49.95 ". Any Bathrooms or hallways and closets are additional $10 a room.

http://www.glendalecarpetcleaning.com/

If the advertisement said "3 rooms for $49.95" and had no disclaimers, then you were a victim of fraud in advertising.

Your first defense against fraud is to arm yourself with knowledge of the frauds and scams being perpetrated against seniors in your area and learn how to avoid being victimized. The Simi Valley Police Department offers Fraud Prevention Seminars for citizens. Give them a call and ask when the next seminar is taking place, you want to sign up. Simi Valley Police (Non-Emergency) Services Phone: (805)583-6950

Simi Valley Police.png (189.93 KiB) Viewed 1602 times

Reference: http://www.ci.simi-valley.ca.us/index.aspx?page=225

Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/mar/02/ ... artner=RSS

Your second defense is to ask the company to honor "3 rooms for $49.95 ".

Your third defense is small claims court. If you choose this route, the cleaning company will ask for an extension on the court date to study your complaint (called discovery time.) You will show up at the appointed time, they ask for an extension because this is all new to them, they didn't know you were unhappy with their service. This may happen more than once. Miss a court date and suddenly they are ready--you lose. You have to be persistent to win. You also need documentation, such as the advertisement, your bill, proof you paid it, copies of certified letters asking them for your money back and the certified receipts to prove they received the letters.

There are probably more things you can do, the above is just what I came up with off the cuff.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

...........so I guess what I paid was legitimate.

Are you sure it said, "3 rooms for $49.95 "?

Be very sure and follow Wayne's advise.

Sounds like there's a disconnect somewhere - I get my entire house, minus the basement rooms, cleaned once a month for about a 1/3 of what you paid.

[webenda]

Dennis,

I don't know how good the "... For Dummies" books are, but I found an excerpt from "Filing & Winning Small Claims For Dummies" on line. Might help.

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/f ... S2_CONTENT

[v8vega]

Thanks for your advice but I'm not going to sue them. I did call a couple of other carpet cleaning companies after they were done and gone and tried to get a estimate over the phone. I told them living room, dining area, hall, and bedroom and told them the carpet hadn't been cleaned in years and was plenty dirty. I got lower estimates than what I paid but I am near sure what they all do is when they get to your place the price goes up from the ad unless you had the carpet cleaned every 6 months or something. My carpet was dirty and they did a good job, I wish I had got another estimate just to ease my mind especially as I'm cheap all the time but the chances are good they all would have charged me about the same.

[webenda]

...I'm not going to sue them.

That is the course of action most people take when swindled. They either are too embarrassed about being taken to tell anyone (not in your case) or feel it is not worth $300.05 to go through the hassle of suing. Shysters depend on our silence.

It is not just people, but companies often will not pursue being swindled. My automobile insurance company is an example. When I dented my truck door, the repair garage doubled the repair cost by replacing things that were not damaged or not involved in the accident. The BCM was reporting, " Driver Door AJAR ", so they replaced the BCM. The rear bumper was not involved with the door accident, but was about 1/2 inch off center. They replaced it.

I reported all this to my insurance agent who told me, "They do that all the time. It is not worth the cost of suing, so we just pay the bill."

I confess to doing the same. Sometimes it is not even worth driving back to the store to get a few dollar error corrected.

[rogruth]

My father-in-law was in a nursing home in Kentucky.My mother-in-law paid the monthly cost.
The nursing home also billed and was paid by Medicare.Medicare monthly statements say to report fraud.
Nursing home had a public list of costs.M-i-l had all of the reciepts for his stay.We reported to Medicare.
Medicare said it was our word against the nursing home.If the nursing home did this for half of their residents
they defrauded Medicare of @ $225,000.00 a month.Contacted an attorney to try to get m-i-l some refund.
No one was interested.I don't/won't report fraud anymore unless it directly affects me and then don't expect much.

[Mitch]

Wayne, the BCM is pretty expensive in any vehicle, and in many models, it also holds and records the vehicle mileage, and therefore, they are usually ordered on an exchange basis. The fault code for the door ajar most likely was coming from the door latch, which was probably slightly sprung, and since most vehicles don't have the little courtesy lamp switches in the pillars anymore, it probably was off just enough to trigger the courtesy light/door ajar fault. They probably fixed the door, which re-aligned the latch and put the light out, then they pocketed the money for the BCM. This is why insurance rates are much higher than they need to be. And why include the bumper when it wasn't involved? And where the hell was the insurance adjuster? Never underestimate a business to commit FRAUD!!!