Fashion Board 2-3-04 to 3-5-04

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
Kite deaths mar Pakistan festival {BBC}

That's not the odd part. The odd part is that there's more than one way to get killed by a kite.

No. thats not the "odd part" Abu. here's the odd part:


It is not the first time Lahore has seen kite-related deaths

Okay you go to the kite festival last year- its sound like a fun way to spend the day- a carefree harmless little diversion- AND PEOPLE DIE! you're going back next year?

Maybe you got some Koran cite to explain how death from kites gives you virgins in heaven or something, but mostly I don't get it.

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
No. thats not the "odd part" Abu. here's the odd part:


It is not the first time Lahore has seen kite-related deaths

Okay you go to the kite festival last year- its sound like a fun way to spend the day- a carefree harmless little diversion- AND PEOPLE DIE! you're going back next year?

Maybe you got some Koran cite to explain how death from kites gives you virgins in heaven or something, but mostly I don't get it.

I knew a guy who sold a board game to Parker Bros. for several million dollars. He retired to Boulder to smoke pot and fly kites. I always assumed kite flying was an Activity of Peace. I now realize it is an Activity of Death and Hate. I'll alert Ashcroft.

[Skeks in the city]

Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick

I was watching one of my favorite shows: Plastic Surgery - Before and After on the Discovery Health Channel (soon to be renamed the Discovery Plastic Surgery Channel), and it was one of the all- New York episodes.

Plastic surgery is way overrated. It can correct some major flaws, like a hooked nose. Correcting a major flaw is frequently enough to bring someone from ugly to OK-looking, but it is rarely enough to bering someone from OK-looking to hot. There aren't many people who would be hot, but for the flaws in their face that could be corrected with plastic surgery. Plenty of flaws are not correctable, period -- ain't no MD gonna bust open someone's skull and reposition their eyes. Most guys aren't shiite crazy enough to fly to Switzerland for some doc to make them taller by sawing open their leg bones.

[Skeks in the city]

Originally posted by dtb

My brother (who, not to sound too Sebby about this -- wasn't it Sebby who talked about what a babe his sister was? -- is a very good-looking guy) thought that the chicks in NY were hot, hot, hot. He never lived in LA, though, but he did live in SF.

From what I've seen, professional women in LA eat healthier, work out more, and get more plastic surgery than professional women in NY who themselves eat healthier, work out more, and get more plastic surgery than professional women in London.

[Fugee]

For years my extended family blithely ignored what I did. I do a couple favors and BOOM!, I'm the consigliere.

During a nasty snowstorm here a couple weeks ago, my aunt and uncle totalled their car. It's 6 years old but loaded with lower than average miles and tires that were 6 days old at the time of the accident. Adjuster gives them a number that is 25% below blue book and says that's the value here. Not surprisingly, he's calling them daily to get them to agree to their offer.

Any good tips on how to make the adjuster prove the value he's putting on the car or otherwise increase his offer?

Oh, and my sister told me their homeowners insurance company sent out a guy to do a outside "field inspection" on their house. Despite the fact that all the houses here, including hers, have at least 10 inches of snow on the entire roof, they decide that she needs to have a new roof installed before June 29 or their will drop their coverage. Can they do that?

ETA: I just looked at the Minnesota Dept. of Commerce web site and apparently they in fact can cancel or not renew homeowners' insurance if the condition of your home increases the risks of damage and you don't make the demanded repairs. I'd still like to know how they decided the roof was bad under a foot of snow coverage.

Originally posted by Fugee
Any good tips on how to make the adjuster prove the value he's putting on the car or otherwise increase his offer?

For each of his totalled cars, my brother pulled up ads from the local papers and internet ads for the region showing the value of the car he had crushed. It worked each time to get him a fair settlement. Also, I think kellybluebook.com takes location into account (by zip code), but I haven't used it in awhile.

-TL

[Jack Manfred]

Originally posted by Skeks in the city
Plastic surgery is way overrated. It can correct some major flaws, like a hooked nose. Correcting a major flaw is frequently enough to bring someone from ugly to OK-looking, but it is rarely enough to bering someone from OK-looking to hot. There aren't many people who would be hot, but for the flaws in their face that could be corrected with plastic surgery.

These women beg to differ.

Spree: website where women beg for the money to pay for their breast implants. Inappropriate for work. Inappropriate period.

[dc_chef]

Originally posted by Fugee
Any good tips on how to make the adjuster prove the value he's putting on the car or otherwise increase his offer?

Can they do that?

Have your family members ask to speak with supervisors, and then supervisor's supervisors, and see what progress they make. (That worked for a friend of mine, who had hurricane damage.) Then, if that didn't work, send get a claims person's name, and send a letter to that person, explaining the situation, and ask for a detailed explanation as to why your family members have been told what they've been told. Recall also that first party claims require lots of supporting information, so consider that in the initial letter or follow up letter in response to any letter that the insurer writes back to your family members.

[dc_chef]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
Wow, what a moron.

But hot and fun to watch.

[Alex_de_Large]

Originally posted by Dave
In case it doesn't make news:

Marco Pantani found dead

Holy shit. I wonder what they're going to find in Elefantino's blood?

[baltassoc]

Originally posted by Fugee
Oh, and my sister told me their homeowners insurance company sent out a guy to do a outside "field inspection" on their house. Despite the fact that all the houses here, including hers, have at least 10 inches of snow on the entire roof, they decide that she needs to have a new roof installed before June 29 or their will drop their coverage. Can they do that?

ETA: I just looked at the Minnesota Dept. of Commerce web site and apparently they in fact can cancel or not renew homeowners' insurance if the condition of your home increases the risks of damage and you don't make the demanded repairs. I'd still like to know how they decided the roof was bad under a foot of snow coverage.

Many insurance companies are fleeing from the homeowners' insurance field, mainly due to mold claims. They will often use any excuse to get out of a contract.

I would write a letter requesting information about what, exactly, was the observed problem with the roof. It may be helpful to take some pictures of the roof right now as well. Your relatives will get one of three responses: an explanation that makes since ("The middle of the roof was bowing under a mere ten inches of snow."), an explanation that doesn't make sense ("Exposed shingle nails"), or nothing (or nothing substantive). In the first case, fix the roof. In the last two cases, escalate. Either way, don't let the bastards win. Damn insurance companies.

ET spell "shingle" correctly.

[evenodds]

Originally posted by Alex_de_Large
Holy shit. I wonder what they're going to find in Elefantino's blood?

It's unbelievable.

The medical reports from the scene mentioned bottles of painkillers and anti-depressants.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Fugee
For years my extended family blithely ignored what I did. I do a couple favors and BOOM!, I'm the consigliere.

During a nasty snowstorm here a couple weeks ago, my aunt and uncle totalled their car. It's 6 years old but loaded with lower than average miles and tires that were 6 days old at the time of the accident. Adjuster gives them a number that is 25% below blue book and says that's the value here. Not surprisingly, he's calling them daily to get them to agree to their offer.

Any good tips on how to make the adjuster prove the value he's putting on the car or otherwise increase his offer?

Oh, and my sister told me their homeowners insurance company sent out a guy to do a outside "field inspection" on their house. Despite the fact that all the houses here, including hers, have at least 10 inches of snow on the entire roof, they decide that she needs to have a new roof installed before June 29 or their will drop their coverage. Can they do that?

ETA: I just looked at the Minnesota Dept. of Commerce web site and apparently they in fact can cancel or not renew homeowners' insurance if the condition of your home increases the risks of damage and you don't make the demanded repairs. I'd still like to know how they decided the roof was bad under a foot of snow coverage.

The National Automobile Dealers Association, which puts out the "official" Blue Book, publishes different versions for each major market or geographic region. They can demand to know what version the adjuster is using, and appeal to the Insurance Commission or bring a bad faith action if the adjuster is using the wrong Blue Book. OTOH, it will probably not be enough of a difference, dollar-wise to make it worth suing, and if they do sue, the insurance company is almost sure to drop them and the suit will make it very difficult to get coverage by a quality insurance company.

Basically, insurance law is designed to allow companies to screw the customer and win almost every time. That's the main reason I start laughing every time I hear about the current "tort crisis" and how it's the plaintiff's bar that's keeping the cost of insurance high. The industry gets to set its own odds, decide what to charge, and when and if it will pay a claim.

[ThrashersFan]

Originally posted by baltassoc
[Roof problems]

And Fugee, tell your lazy-ass brother-in-law to shovel the roof off. Or get those nifty electric gadgets you put on the roof that heat up and melt the snowpack. If they don't have roof problems already, they certainly will with that habit of leaving 10 inches of snow up there to compromise the structural integrity and also to slowly melt and rot those shingles.

[dc_chef]

I'm interested in hearing people's thoughts on the various pay music services e.g., Napster, iTunes, Liquid.com. I've use iTunes and Liquid.com fairly often, but have not tried out the new Napster. Anyone here use it? Recommend it?

I usually burn the downloaded music onto CDs, and sometimes put tunes onto my Rio mp3 player (some sports model). (I haven't bought a bigger jukebox-type portable music player, like an iPod or something similar, because I use my mp3 player at the gym or on the rare times that I go running.)