I read in the UT this morning that a merger was approved for Spectrum buying out Cox. We're in a Cox neighborhood. There have been brief outages but nothing major in recent memory. My rate hasn't changed for a few years. Well what's done is done, I'm just hoping not to get notification that Spectrum is raising my rates, lowering my speed, whatever. The monopoly on broadband coverage is such a scam.
Any other independent artists out there who use SoundCloud for distribution to streaming services experienced this: a couple of my recent releases simply aren't available for promotion on Instagram, TikTok, etc, whereas previous releases were available as soon as they began streaming on Spotify, etc. I remember seeing a note on the SoundCloud distribution page that TikTok etc may require additional documentation, but how do you know if that's the case? I won't waste my time contacting support. Just wonder if it's just me...
I've been with Kaiser forever and basically satisfied. I started in my home area of Los Angeles and now live in north San Diego county. Not long ago Kaiser completed construction of a new hospital at the San Marcos facility, which is maybe 20 minutes away from my home in Vista. Well a week ago I had serious heart pain and when the ambulance came, the ERs quickly determined I needed emergency care. I asked them to take me to San Marcos, but they explained that San Marcos has no cardiac unit, and with my condition, they had to take me to TriCity Hospital in Oceanside. In the middle of the night, TriCity was barely 15 minutes away.
Quick recap of the following week - Monday TriCity evaluates me, Tuesday performs angiogram, confirms need for bypass, performs by pass 5:30am Wednesday, Thursday ICU, recuperation through Sunday, discharge.
Monday I get a notification of a Kaiser letter. It does not allow replies. The letter blathers on about how great Kaiser facilities are and that members should always use those facilities and not out of network ones. Maybe "whenever possible", I don't recall.
Just bugged me. What's the purpose of the letter? Should I feel bad that I got the care I needed at TriCity instead of the paramedics perhaps driving me to San Marcos then being turned away because SM doesn't have a cardiac unit? I believe the closest Kaiser facility to me with a cardiac unit is in Clairmont Mesa, approximately 40 minutes away.
Anyway, Kaiser now takes over my care. We'll see what billing hijinks ensue. But man I really wanted to reply to that letter and say SYBAU.
Tuesday I drove up to Long Beach from Vista to visit an old friend. I lived in LA/South Bay for most of my life before moving to Vista in 2019, but I had forgotten how far north Long Beach is. Traffic wasn't that bad except for street sweeping the freeway (!!!) but anyway, felt like I had driven into north Cal! So coming home about 2:30, I was hoping the 5 south would not be a nightmare, especially the bottleneck at 78 interchange, and...it wasn't! Lucky me. What was awful? The 78 E from the 5 to about Emerald. About 3:30 pm. Is the 78 going to be that bad from now on? I couldn't see any sign of an accident. Where's everybody going? Maybe they all went to Long Beach and were on their way home too...I remember the days fighting through 5S traffic to the 78 interchange and being glad to reach the relatively open 78E. Those days are apparently over.
UPDATE: I am reading all replies, thank you. I want to reiterate - this was Tuesday the 16th, and I was expecting the 5S to be jammed approaching Oceanside, as it so often is, and sometimes as far back as Camp Pendleton. And it wasn't! Practically sailed up to the 78 onramp, which backed up only a little for the people who have to cut into the 78 exit lane at the very last second (you know who you are and you are bad people!). Then as soon as the ramp flowed into the 78E, even before Jefferson - jammed! And 78E stayed jammed until about Plaza Drive. I just wonder if soemthing had happened or if that's the new norm...
There's a recall for my 2021 Z4, something about the starter. Recall was first announced a while back but just became available for repair, at least for me here in San Diego area. Anyone had this recall performed? Just curious. I want to wait a bit for my next oil change. I also now qualify for the Ultimate Service package.
2025 Countryman SE owner. Had it a year this weekend, love it. But lately I am getting daily notifications on the MINI app about this "ChargeForward" reward program. Since I only use the SE for local trips, I basically only charge it once a week. As far as I can tell, over a year I might earn $5, which I think is the cost of a small fry at McD's now (half kidding). I don't want to turn off notifications because I like to know when a charging session is done, or get any other important alert. But I may anyway, because it's so annoying getting notifications almost every day. Just me?