biggie

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People keep talking about shrinkage and shoplifting as reason for these stores closing. The real thieves are the PBMs, but their stealing is going on unregulated

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This is what it boils down to. The pharmacies are losing money due to poor reimbursements on certain meds. The independents are “out of stock” on those to avoid losing money. Unless there is major overhaul, the pharmacy scene that you see today will no longer exist in a few years. Expect even longer waits as the only entity able to profitably fill your prescription is your insurance company (mail order).

It’s criminal what the insurance companies are doing. The pharmacy can only accept so many $20 to $100 loses per prescription. They may make $5 on average on other prescriptions. That’s not a sustainable business model and unless there are drastic changes to reimbursement, there will be a huge disruption of pharmacy services in the coming years.

That’s not even accounting for these post-paid audits where an insurance company may recoup the total amount that they paid due to a provider not writing the amount of grams daily of a cream to use on a rash. It’s insane.

It’s a state highway, not a parish road.

Vail is HUGE, almost too big for my tastes. I’ve been a few times with locals who kind of guided the way, so I was able to enjoy it more than I would finding the good runs myself.

I’m a huge fan of Beaver Creek, which isn’t too much further away. This time of year, it’s more about how much terrain is open. Download the EPIC app and you can see what mountains and/or trails are open. You’ll also be able to see the complexity of each run. Keep in mind that the blue trails in Breck may be greens in other places.

I bought one a few months back because I wanted to buy one before they were discontinued. I have the exact same issue with the pull cord basically every time I mow. I learned when that happens to engage the lever and move the mower forwards then backwards a few feet. It always works. Not sure the mechanism behind it.

A friend had the same issue. He brought the original mower back and still has the same issue with the new one.

I called a “local” company, Surgi’s, when they were advertising an $89/unit maintenance charge. I would have never thought my two 7 year old Trane units could have so many problems. I knew they would try to upsell me, but never thought it would be as blatant as it was.

The tech checked amperage and suggested that it was pulling a little more than it should, so my capacitor was likely going bad. I let him finish his spiel that included needing 3 or 4 lbs of freeon. I then reminded him that I had variable speed units with no capacitors. He claimed that he mis-spoke.

I had a buddy (who used to actually work for that same company, and now does HVAC on the side as opposed to full time) come by to put a second set of eyes on it. He actually put gauges on it, and of course the freeon was exactly where it should have been with no other major issues.

He explained to me that alot of these “local” companies get bought out; this particular one by a larger company in Ball, LA. The techs are then pressured to become salesmen with the goal of upselling a million dollars in products and services a year. They of course do get a small percentage of everything they sell, including service plans. I’d like to have hope that HVAC guys aren’t going the way of car salesman and real estate agents, but I fear they are.

Since we’re bringing COVID treatments up… I wonder how many non-diabetic people who chose not to get vaccinated due to not knowing the long term side effects, jumped on this bandwagon and ignored that same logic.

Please name and shame. I recently had an issue with Surgi’s, so I’d like to know who else to avoid.

I’ve done this a few times for basic labor and honestly each time I wished I hadn’t. The language barrier makes it a bit difficult to communicate clearly, but I think sometimes they may “play dumb”. Twice I’ve shown the guys pictures of whatever I needed done and agreed upon a price. Halfway through the day, they wanted more money and we parted ways. Another guy that I picked up for a landscaping project started out good, but then started asking if his friends could come and it just got annoying, so we parted ways.

I’ve tried using neighborhood kids and offered to pay $20/hour, but they’ve flaked out

What is working for me now is finding guys already on a crew. They usually know basic English, are good workers, and if they can’t do a job, they know someone who can. You get less BS this way. Even if let’s say you find someone on a roofing crew, they’re usually willing to do landscaping or other labor. Just keep their numbers and you’re good to go until they move elsewhere

I calculated as 1.5 times normal rate for all hours after 40.