samhexum

My last four apartments have been in buildings that weren't individually metered. (NYC buildings are no longer allowed to be built that way). Utilities were/are part of the rent/maintenance. I do pay $15/mo year round for each air conditioner unit. I'm on the top floor, with a black roof over me, and I can't stand heat, so my a/c's are usually turned on sometime in mid-to-late May and are turned off in late Sept. Also, my building tends to give too much heat at times, so it is not unusual to be outside late at night in the winter and hear some a/c's running.

I get those, too. But I especially love the calls about my electric bill, or an 'apology' from my electric company. I haven't paid utilities in approximately 35 years.

Angie’s List changes its name in a complete rebranding In the early days of the internet, it was novel and exciting to find ratings and reviews of contractors on a site like Angie’s List. That’s long changed — and it’s one reason the Angie’s List brand is being retired on Wednesday. In an ever-so-slight name change, Angie’s List will rebrand as Angi starting Wednesday. The company’s owner will change its name from ANGI Homeservices to simply Angi Inc. (Its ticker symbol will remain “ANGI.”) Angi CEO Oisin Hanrahan told CNN Business the name change is meant to help highlight that the company owns other housing-related services, notably HomeAdvisor and gig economy marketplace Handy. (Hanrahan is a Handy co-founder, who joined Angi in 2018 after the company bought his startup.) “The Angie’s List brand is known and loved … People understand what it stands for and trust it,” Hanrahan said. “The challenge is that we’re not just a list anymore. Customers were confined and constrained by the literal nature of the name.” He noted Angi has focused on all aspects of the home improvement business, giving customers an easy way to find contractors, book them and pay them — not just a place to review them. That strategy has paid dividends in the past year, when millions have been stuck at home during the Covid-19 pandemic or fleeing to the suburbs for more space. Wherever they live, many people have been looking to improve their residences, or they’re taking on big projects like moving to a new house. Shares of Angi are up nearly 25% this year and have soared about 250% in the past 12 months. That makes Angi the latest of a growing list of companies that are thriving after being spun off by Barry Diller’s media and e-commerce conglomerate IAC. — along with Tinder owner Match, LendingTree, Expedia and TripAdvisor. IAC is planning to spin off video tools company Vimeo next. But what will happen to Angi now that many people stuck at home during the past year are looking to travel more thanks to greater availability of vaccines and the economy’s reopening? They may not be as focused on trying to find painters or people to fix a broken closet door. Hanrahan concedes that Americans want to get out and start doing things. But he thinks the broader trend of people improving their homes won’t change — and they will increasingly want to use services like Angi on their phones to find, book and pay professional handypeople, he said. “Of course as people start to travel again, there will be a shift in how people spend. But the much bigger shift is from offline spending to online spending in general,” he said. As for the eponymous Angie of Angie’s list, Angela Hicks Bowman is said to be cool with the name change. In fact, Hicks is still with the company, serving as both Angi’s chief customer officer and a board director. “She’s incredibly excited about the evolution and mission of the company,” Hanrahan said. “Home is the most important place on Earth and we want to help people love where they live.”

FCC enforces largest fine ever of $225 million against telemarketers who made 1 billion robocalls The Federal Communications Commission issued its largest ever fine of $225 million to Texas telemarketers who sent about 1 billion robocalls falsely claiming to sell health insurance for Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield and other companies. John Spiller and Jakob Mears, who did business under the names Rising Eagle and JSquared Telecom, faced the fine, proposed in June 2020 by the FCC, for massive spamming of spoofed robocalls in the U.S. in 2019. Spoofed calls have a false caller ID that makes them appear to come from a nearby location. Consumers would be asked if they were interested in "affordable health insurance with benefits from a company you know?" and companies including Aetna, Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield and United HealthCare were mentioned. If they pressed 3 to get an agent, the consumer would be transferred to a call center unaffiliated with any of those insurers. One of the robocallers' largest clients, Health Advisors of America, was sued in 2019 by the the Missouri attorney general for telemarketing violations, the FCC says. Spiller told the USTelecom Industry Traceback Group, a group authorized by the FCC to investigate robocalls, that he knowingly called consumers on the Do Not Call list, the FCC says. He told the group that his firm made millions of calls per day and that he was using spoofed numbers, the FCC said in its original fine proposal. In addition to enforcing the agency's largest-ever fine, the FCC also issued several cease-and-desist orders against other robocallers and created a robocall response team. “Unwanted robocalls are not only a nuisance, but they also pose a serious risk to consumers who can inadvertently share sensitive, personal information in response to bad actors’ malicious schemes," acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. "I’m proud to unveil my first set of actions to put a renewed focus on what the FCC can do to combat the issue that we receive the most complaints about." The cease-and-desist letters went to six firms charged with making or facilitating robocalls: RSCom of Canada, which was warned in May 2020 to cease making scam calls involving COVID-19, Social Security, the Internal Revenue Service, electric utilities and Apple Inc. Stratics Networks of Canada for facilitating fraudulent calls about COVID-19, student loans, political campaigns, and discounts and upgrades for AT&T and DirecTV. Yodel Technologies, a Florida provider, for facilitating fraudulent calls related to Social Security, health insurance, and debt reduction services. Icon Global, a U.K.-based company, for facilitating robocalls that inundated the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department, as well as those falsely representing Apple and the Social Security Administration. IDT Corporation of New Jersey, for transmitting, on behalf of clients, illegal robocalls about COVID-19 and health insurance, Social Security, fictional Amazon refunds, computer services, credit cards, and fraudulent calls threatening to disconnect utilities without payments. Third Rock Telecom, of Canada, which is suspected of transmitting robocalls about fictional Apple/iCloud account breaches, Social Security scams, and credit card fraud. A new Robocall Response Team, a group of 51 FCC staff members, will coordinate anti-robocall efforts. Rosenworcel also sent letters to the Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department, and the National Association of State Attorneys General about anti-robocall collaborative efforts. "Today’s cease-and-desist letters should serve as a warning sign to other entities that believe the FCC has turned a blind eye to this issue," Rosenworcel said. "We certainly haven’t and we’re coming for you."

@Phil_musc beat me to the punch and stole my thunder. ???????????

Ain't it amazing the kind of expert advice and knowledge you can get on this forum?

tee-hee

Former NBA center Shawn Bradley suffered a traumatic spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed, according to a statement released on his behalf by the Dallas Mavericks. On Jan. 20, Bradley was struck from behind by an automobile while riding his bicycle a block from his home in St. George, Utah. He underwent neck fusion surgery and has spent the past eight weeks hospitalized and undergoing rehabilitation. "With his wife Carrie at his side around the clock, and supported by an amazing team of rehabilitation specialists and family, Bradley is in good spirits," the statement read, in part. "He plans to use his accident as a platform to bring greater public awareness to the importance of bicycle safety." Bradley, 48, was the No. 2 pick in the 1993 draft, selected by thePhiladelphia 76ers after spending two years on a Mormon mission following his freshman year at BYU. He's 7-foot-6 and averaged 8.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks during his 12-season NBA career, spending the last 8½ years of that time with the Mavericks. "We are saddened to hear of Shawn's accident," Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said in the statement. "Shawn has always been incredibly determined and shown a fighting spirit. We wish him nothing but the best in his recovery. He will always be a part of our Mavs family."

Well, as @WilliamM recently shocked me by telling me WITH NO SPOILER ALERT!, we all die sometime.

My best friend and I once ate lunch at the restaurant below her apartment. Not because of anything to do with the case, but because we were seeing a movie across the street, and because I got airline miles for eating there. https://www.google.com/maps/place/82-70+Austin+St,+Jamaica,+NY+11415/@40.709539,-73.8298802,3a,75y,221.02h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1se1IQq9kqV-ScjF9Wy7Ym6g!2e0!6shttps://streetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com/v1/thumbnail?panoid=e1IQq9kqV-ScjF9Wy7Ym6g&cb_client=search.gws-prod.gps&w=86&h=86&yaw=221.0221&pitch=0&thumbfov=100!7i16384!8i8192!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c260bcb3238e25:0xd4fd82e5ee34433a!8m2!3d40.709375!4d-73.830072

One of the country’s most famously creepy houses is back in the news. Ronald DeFeo Jr., the notorious killer at the “Amityville Horror” house — a dwelling whose mystique continues to fascinate the public in the wake of a subsequent book and film franchise — died in prison Friday at 69. DeFeo, whose nickname was Butch, spread terror across Long Island following the gruesome 1974 slaying of his family at their home at 108 Ocean Ave. The home — its original address was 112 Ocean Ave. but was changed to 108 to deter tourists — was purchased by George and Kathy Lutz one year after the murders. But they ditched the property after only one month due to reported paranormal activity, which inspired a 1977 book and 1979 movie. On Nov. 13, 1974, DeFeo — who was 23 at the time — shot and killed his parents, Ronald and Louise DeFeo, both 43, and his two brothers and two sisters, ranging in age from 9 to 18. The house has been on the market four different times since the murders. It was last listed in June 2016 and sold in March 2017 for $605,000, according to property records. Built in 1925, the single-family home sits on a 10,900-square-foot lot. DeFeo Jr. was convicted in 1975 of six counts of second-degree murder and received six sentences of 25 years to life. He was serving his sentence at Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, New York, when he died. He had been transferred to Albany Medical Center and pronounced dead at 6:35 p.m. An autopsy is underway. https://nypost.com/2021/03/15/inside-the-amityville-horror-house-today-long-islands-most-notorious-mansion/

Well, none of my (barely) middle class friends or I have ever had a card that wasn't made of plastic.

I wake up and remember I don't have rich people problems.

'Affordable' Housing: Affordable Housing Lottery Opens for six Units in Bed Stuy, Starting at $2,245 a month Monthly rents for the income-restricted apartments -- two one-bedrooms and four two-bedrooms -- are higher than for market-rate units in the building. Of the income-restricted apartments, there are two one-bedroom units and four two-bedroom units. Monthly rents start at $2,245 and top out at $2,710. Current market rate listings show available two-bedroom units asking $2,261 a month and three-bedroom units asking $2,705 a month, which is actually $449 and $5 less than the income-restricted two-bedroom units, respectively.

Because this thread was started about the first on-going gay male relationship (not one-shot patient storylines with characters never seen again), as opposed to the numerous lesbian relationships the show has had.

I'm just impressed that a high school student with only piano accompaniment can sound that good. And that song speaks to me... if I had to sing a song about how I've lived my life, it would be called I'm So Afraid Of Everything. I always let fear of failure stop me from trying anything scary or out of my comfort zone. So that song, sung by a high school student with the guts to be a performer, makes me sad and nostalgic for myself, but uplifted by her talent.

A Far Rockaway social worker was charged Thursday with grand larceny and identity theft after she allegedly stole nearly $150,000 from an elderly patient at a rehab center where she worked in 2019. Olivia Gordon, 28, was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on March 11 on a host of charges, following allegations that she robbed a 90-year-old patient in her facility after getting access to her bank account, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. Gordon, who’s from Hempstead, Long Island, was serving as the director of social services at a Far Rockaway rehabilitation and health care center in March 2019. That month, a 90-year-old woman was transferred to the facility after falling over and injuring herself inside her Brooklyn home. Upon her admittance to the facility, Gordon gained access to the woman’s bank account statements and other financial documents. Shortly after the woman was admitted, Gordon allegedly began taking money out of the woman’s account and transferring it into her own. In May 2019, Gordon made multiple withdraw’s from the patient’s account, including one of $106,148, according to the criminal complaint. Each withdraw from the elderly woman’s account corresponded with a payment made by Gordon a short time later, according to the DA. Late in June 2019, Gordon paid off a federal student loan with a single payment of $106,148, the charges state. Gordon also allegedly used the stolen cash to pay off several credit cards. But Gordon went further, attempting to make her self the legal heir to the woman’s nearly $1 million fortune upon her death, Katz said. On May 7, 2019, the company holding an annuity for the 90-year-old received a fax from Gordon claiming that she was the “caretaker/pseudo grandchild” of the woman, according to the authorities. Several days later, she allegedly sent a second fax requesting the company send her cash. The company denied the request after being unable to verify the claims with the 90-year-old. Gordon, who will return to court on May 4, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

I don't enjoy musicals on screen or on stage. Although I did enjoy my niece's high school production of On The Town. This isn't my niece; I just like her voice.