biodork

After much consternation and twisting of the idiot appraiser's arm to do their freaking job, got final approval from the underwriter on my mortgage today and should be a green light for closing on Tuesday morning. Huzzah!

No good deed goes unpunished, apparently.

That is seriously cool stuff, Jo!

Glad she's okay! Mine for the week? My dad and stepmom found out on Monday that they're getting kicked off Medicaid effective 7/31. The reason? Now that she's getting unemployment benefits they make "too much money" to qualify. Let's recap: - My dad has been fully unemployed and on either disability or social security since July last year because he was unable to work while going through cancer treatment, recovery, and now jaw reconstructive surgery - My stepmom was laid off in November and given a 7 month lump-sum severenace package, and she only just became eligible for unemployment in July. Her benefit is about $1300/mo BEFORE taxes. She's been looking for work all along, but so far, nothing. (Doesn't help that she's 54.) - They are both on several medications, and hers alone would could them $1300/mo without insurance. He's still got several doctor's appointments and follow-up care scheduled that would need to be canceled if they're truly ineligible. They were able to submit an appeal to keep their insurance until a hearing to make their case, but they have yet to find out when that might be. I don't know how it is that the R's can keep screaming about moochers abusing the system, because they legitimately need this and are getting forcibly thrown off the plan. :censored: Oh, and icing on the cake? She had applied to a local training program that would teach people how to do coding and place them in well-paying internships afterwards for guaranteed job experience. It's competitive and they do several rounds of tests and projects to narrow it down before the actual program starts in Sept. She found out last Friday that she didn't make the last round of cuts.

Jo -- I know we only hung out once, but nothing about your appearance (either in person or photos) would compel any sane person to draw comparisons to either men or overweight women. So FWIW coming from another female, I think you look great and am super-impressed by your athletic ability. I know it's easier said than done, but try to keep focusing on what your body can DO and how it feels vs your perception of the reflection in the mirror. I agree with Taro on the caloric intake strategy, too.

Check out Meetup.com and see if there are any groups that interest you... there are tons of them out here (some better than others) for everything from hiking to snowboarding, and most are free to join! Check out the Sierra Club, too. Edit: Eleven beat me to it about Meetup.

Dudacek, those are great! That green water... swoon. And JJ, it hasn't rained here much recently, but it storms briefly most afternoons so I guess that's been enough to keep things going. The trail we did is typically only open from July-Sept since it's above 11,000 ft, so must be there's usually snow outside of those months!

This is exactly where I am. ... although I can't disagree with this line of thinking, either. In years past I've heard people say they weren't voting because they didn't like either candidate, but this is the first I've actually understood how they felt.

Did a 2 hr ride today (not sure how far)... pics are from the reservoir at a large state park and then from the opposite end of the park looking back at the reservoir. Woo doggy. Legs are tired after some decent changes in grade, but I got a new saddle last week and that makes a huge difference in my willingness to ride for longer periods of time. Edit: Looks like somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 miles. Not much by Robin's standards, but considering my previous high was closer to 13 miles, I'm pretty happy about it!

So tiny! This was from yesterday's hike (more wildflowers for PA) at Shrine Ridge near Vail. Gorgeous day.

New apps for navigating the National Parks with no cell service required! What a great idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DrbtKxYMHQ http://3blmedia.com/News/Chimani-and-Subaru-Launch-Free-Mobile-App-Travel-Guides-National-Parks

'Art Of The Deal' Ghostwriter On Why Trump Should Not Be President http://n.pr/2acSPBU Yikes.

I know this is schadenfreude, buy they deserve it so I don't feel bad. The scummy sellers for the last property I'd had under contract who backed out at the appraisal over $4000? Their house just came back on the market a few days ago after yet another buyer backed out. :devil:

My lender submitted an appraisal order on 7/5, and on 7/8 they gave him a delivery date of 7/25. Ugh. Fast forward to this week, and my lender and I are both ticked because the appraiser still hasn't gone to do the inspection and they aren't responding to his calls requesting an update. Finally this morning they tell us the inspection is scheduled for Sat. morning and their boss told them it has to be back by 7/25. If it comes in any later week have to postpone our scheduled closing on 8/2, which I really don't want to do because I need to decide whether to give 60 days notice at my apt or just pay $2000 to break my new lease in Sept. This bozo appraiser is charging $750 for taking 3 weeks to get the job done, and if they half-ass the report and don't take good comps because they're in a rush, I'm gonna be pissed.

lol me too... I just got around to putting the summer wax on my board last night, and I'm already looking forward to when I can take it back out in November. :)

Thanks! And yep, cell phone pics (Nexus 5X) unfortunately, although not too bad for a camera phone. Always some snow at 14,000 ft! ;) Great pics, ubkev! I love waterfalls.

You're welcome! Hopefully they'll continue to update the N5... my dad has been getting the monthly security updates (once he un-rooted his phone, anyhow), so that bodes well. As long as it won't be quickly outdated it'd be a good pickup, IMO. I don't know much about the others, but I switched to Nexus after HTC declined to further update my One S a mere 6 months after I got it, and I have to wonder if you might run into the same issue if you went with a mid-range branded phone... all depends on how new they are, I guess.

Ask and ye shall receive.

At PA's request, I give you Mt. Bierstadt! The photos of the wildflowers do not do it justice; the variety and colors were beautiful.

I have the Nexus 5X on T-Mo and love it, but unfortunately (as you probably already know) you can't finance it through them, so the cost is higher than your budget. The Nexus 5 is still a great phone (I gave mine to my dad after 2 years and he's quite happy with it), but you may want to wait a couple of weeks to see if it's going to get the next OS update. Rumors are that Android 7 / N (Nougat) will be released next month, and hard to say whether the N5 will get it or not, but Marshmallow (6) is still very solid if not.

THIS. I tried to do my normal walk around the park this evening since it was finally under 90 degrees, and kept running into clumps of idiots meandering about, staring at their phones. :lol: I did the same this evening! My computer at work has apparently decided that the Aud Club (but not SabreSpace) should be blocked from their network, making it difficult to keep up on the threads here. Boo.

Gravity suggests otherwise. :P

Yeah the water is the tricky part (and the inevitable result of consuming it... you guys have it so easy). That is pretty bad-ass. My brain keeps trying to invert the words say tube top. :doh:

The one guy in our group wanted to do it, but it was cold and windy at the top and none of us had slept much last night, so we tabled the idea. But perhaps will try the reverse (Evans to Bierstadt) at some point!

I may go somewhere scenic and work hard once or twice a week, but you, my friend, are kickin' a$$ on the daily and crushing it with your rides! :worthy: