Serial killer Todd Kohlhepp's wish list on Amazon:
Friday, July 07, 2017
Thursday, March 09, 2017
Why I Stopped Renewing My Sportsman's Guide Buyer's Club Membership
So I have a weird thing for military surplus. If you don't know, military surplus are goods no longer wanted by the military of any country. It usually gets sold at a government auction, then passes down to retailers then to the public.
The appeal of surplus is it's usually very high quality stuff at a low price. It's a great source for camping gear or GI Joe style clothing. Buying surplus online is usually a bit of a gamble. Clothing often doesn't fit, things can be worn out or moldy. But often you end up with a real bargain.
So one of the popular retailers for surplus is The Sportsman's Guide. They often have good prices and sell things in small quantities. They cater to gun enthusiasts and the hunting crowd. I enjoy shooting guns as much as any guy but killing animals is not something I'm into so I don't buy any of that stuff.
I had a Sportsman"s Guide Buyer's Club Membership from 2011 up until February of this year. The buyer's club is a savings gimmick they push on you at their site. You pay a fee to join, for a long time it was $29.95 a year. Last year they increased the price to $39.95 a year.
They used to offer a lot of incentives to join the club when it was $29.95. They would often have a free gift which was usually something decent worth like $15 or $20, sometimes they would throw in a gift card for $20 or $25. This was in addition to what you still get now, two $10 coupons, double discount and free shipping on first order. So at $29.95, it was a no brainer if you planned to buy a few things over the coming year.
So my last order was $35 plus shipping. They gave me the renewal offer for the club. I would have saved $13.00 on the last order but with the $39.95 charge and just the two future coupons, it's not worth it for me anymore. Now if you're someone who buys guns and ammo or expensive stuff from them regularly, maybe it's worth it.
And the club isn't everything it's cracked up to be. The two coupons they give you can't be used with any other offers they might have going. The 'Buyer's Club Only' special sales are never very appealing.
Another caveat, when you do join the club, they put you on auto renewal and it's very difficult to opt out of that on the site.
They have some other practices I don't care for like putting your credit card on auto save unless you notice it and uncheck the box. They also try to push a .99 cents package protection fee on you at the checkout. Seems like a scam, they're obligated to deliver your package intact anyway so this protection is meaningless.
Another thing, they sell some items as genuine military surplus but they're actually cheap repros from China. A perfect example of this would be the US Military wool blankets they're selling right now. The're actually cheap repros imported from who knows where. A genuine surplus item from any country will have a tag, label or stamp marking of some sort. In fact, I believe it's illegal to sell a new textile without a label.
One last gripe, and this might ruffle some feathers.
When you buy anything from them, Sportsman's Guide gives your name and personal information to the NRA.
Yes, you will begin to receive regular mailings from the NRA, all begging for donations. I've got news for Sportsman's Guide, not everyone who buys guns or surplus wants their name given to the NRA. I can see a retailer selling your name to another retailer, I don't like that either but it happens.
But giving your personal info out to some quasi-political group is disturbing and very unprofessional.
On that note, Sportsman's Guide is a great source for redneck 'Larry The Cable Guy' style shirts.
Who wears this stuff?
The appeal of surplus is it's usually very high quality stuff at a low price. It's a great source for camping gear or GI Joe style clothing. Buying surplus online is usually a bit of a gamble. Clothing often doesn't fit, things can be worn out or moldy. But often you end up with a real bargain.
So one of the popular retailers for surplus is The Sportsman's Guide. They often have good prices and sell things in small quantities. They cater to gun enthusiasts and the hunting crowd. I enjoy shooting guns as much as any guy but killing animals is not something I'm into so I don't buy any of that stuff.
I had a Sportsman"s Guide Buyer's Club Membership from 2011 up until February of this year. The buyer's club is a savings gimmick they push on you at their site. You pay a fee to join, for a long time it was $29.95 a year. Last year they increased the price to $39.95 a year.
They used to offer a lot of incentives to join the club when it was $29.95. They would often have a free gift which was usually something decent worth like $15 or $20, sometimes they would throw in a gift card for $20 or $25. This was in addition to what you still get now, two $10 coupons, double discount and free shipping on first order. So at $29.95, it was a no brainer if you planned to buy a few things over the coming year.
So my last order was $35 plus shipping. They gave me the renewal offer for the club. I would have saved $13.00 on the last order but with the $39.95 charge and just the two future coupons, it's not worth it for me anymore. Now if you're someone who buys guns and ammo or expensive stuff from them regularly, maybe it's worth it.
And the club isn't everything it's cracked up to be. The two coupons they give you can't be used with any other offers they might have going. The 'Buyer's Club Only' special sales are never very appealing.
Another caveat, when you do join the club, they put you on auto renewal and it's very difficult to opt out of that on the site.
They have some other practices I don't care for like putting your credit card on auto save unless you notice it and uncheck the box. They also try to push a .99 cents package protection fee on you at the checkout. Seems like a scam, they're obligated to deliver your package intact anyway so this protection is meaningless.
Another thing, they sell some items as genuine military surplus but they're actually cheap repros from China. A perfect example of this would be the US Military wool blankets they're selling right now. The're actually cheap repros imported from who knows where. A genuine surplus item from any country will have a tag, label or stamp marking of some sort. In fact, I believe it's illegal to sell a new textile without a label.
One last gripe, and this might ruffle some feathers.
When you buy anything from them, Sportsman's Guide gives your name and personal information to the NRA.
Yes, you will begin to receive regular mailings from the NRA, all begging for donations. I've got news for Sportsman's Guide, not everyone who buys guns or surplus wants their name given to the NRA. I can see a retailer selling your name to another retailer, I don't like that either but it happens.
But giving your personal info out to some quasi-political group is disturbing and very unprofessional.
On that note, Sportsman's Guide is a great source for redneck 'Larry The Cable Guy' style shirts.
Who wears this stuff?
Tuesday, March 07, 2017
Why Zoloft is a Terrible Drug for Anxiety
Yeah, so I've had issues with anxiety for a long time, a long time as in my whole life. It didn't start having a negative impact on my health until I was a young adult (early 20s). I believe it is what's known as Generalized Anxiety Disorder or GAD. I also believe it runs in my family. My mother had very similar symptoms. We never discussed these types of things in my family though.
So I've experienced just about every symptom there is for GAD. I get both physical symptoms as well as the mental anxiety. Some of the physical symptoms will change over time, the general mental anxiety stays the same.
Some of the more pronounced symptoms I've had or still have include:
- Extreme difficulty falling asleep
- Large itchy skin rashes
- Painful lumps, like hives or cysts, especially on the fingers, eyes and armpit areas
- Unexplained severe joint or muscle pains
- Panic attacks
- Unable to swallow, especially while speaking
Early on, I went to quite a few doctors for the physical symptoms. I had no idea what was causing it then. The doctors had no explanation, they would just make a guess and give you something for it which didn't help. Eventually, much later on, I figured it out myself that everything stemmed from anxiety and got much worse under stress.
So, let's cut to the chase here.
Eventually I went to a doctor and sought out help for anxiety. I was prescribed Xanax.
It worked like a miracle. For the first time in years, I was able to sleep like a normal human being. The rashes cleared up, the lumps went away, the body aches vanished. My income went up, my social life improved, I got laid more, everything.
I had the same prescription for Xanax (Alprazolam) for 5 years. I took it on an 'as needed' basis. I mostly took it at night before bed. I had periods of days, sometimes weeks where I didn't take any at all. I'm not saying it was a perfect drug, it didn't cure everything but it certainly worked well for me.
So after 5 years my regular doctor gets replaced by a different doctor at the practice I went to.
New doctor asks me the usual questions, how's it going..etc.. I tell him the Xanax is still working out fine and explain how it's improved my life.....
New doctor says "Well, Xanax is a dangerous drug so we'll have to stop that immediately"....
I'm just in utter disbelief as he goes into a sales pitch for Zoloft. I bluntly declined the prescription for Zoloft and left with nothing. That was the end of the Xanax.
So I'm back to the same crap, not sleeping and breaking out in hives. I went like that for a while then tried a new doctor. He gives me the same spiel about drug addiction and tries to give me Zoloft. I again decline. At this point, I'm starting to feel hopeless so, against my better judgement, I go to a psychiatrist...
And you can guess what happens at the psychiatrist.....yes, he only offers me Zoloft.
Yes, Zoloft (Sertraline)....That's apparently the only present day option available to treat anxiety. Anything else is out of the question, don't even ask. If you even mention another drug option, the guy looks like I asked him for a bag of crack. So, completely out of options, I finally took it.....
It takes 4-6 weeks just to start working. The first month I took it, I was sick as hell. This stuff has many side effects.
The first side effect was nausea and vomiting....yay! After the daily vomiting subsided, the extreme acid reflux kicks in, another wonderful side effect. I was spending most of my day standing over a sink drooling non-stop for a month.
After 6 weeks the vomiting and drooling subsided. Now the real fun begins.....After the junk kicks in, I have no energy or motivation. I start sleeping like over 18 hours a day, I am not exaggerating. I can only stay up for a few hours then I go take another nap. I had the dosage adjusted 4 times and there was no difference. The psychiatrist will not give me anything but Zoloft. After staying on it for one year, I just stopped taking it and stopped going to the psychiatrist.
From my one year experience, Zoloft was a horrible drug. I have never taken anything in my life with so many bad side effects. Did it ease my anxiety? Yeah, it did. But I spent 6 weeks throwing up and drooling, then another 10 months almost comatose, sleeping all day. I didn't care about anything when I was on it. I also gained over 20 pounds from lack of exercise.
The one and only side effect from Xanax was short term drowsiness, that's it. I never had any addiction to it whatsoever. I think this whole dangerous drug hysteria about benzodiazepines is a bunch of BS. If you hear these horror stories of benzo addiction, the idiots are taking ridiculous massive doses of it. They're taking more in one day than my whole prescription for 30 days.
So I've experienced just about every symptom there is for GAD. I get both physical symptoms as well as the mental anxiety. Some of the physical symptoms will change over time, the general mental anxiety stays the same.
Some of the more pronounced symptoms I've had or still have include:
- Extreme difficulty falling asleep
- Large itchy skin rashes
- Painful lumps, like hives or cysts, especially on the fingers, eyes and armpit areas
- Unexplained severe joint or muscle pains
- Panic attacks
- Unable to swallow, especially while speaking
Early on, I went to quite a few doctors for the physical symptoms. I had no idea what was causing it then. The doctors had no explanation, they would just make a guess and give you something for it which didn't help. Eventually, much later on, I figured it out myself that everything stemmed from anxiety and got much worse under stress.
So, let's cut to the chase here.
Eventually I went to a doctor and sought out help for anxiety. I was prescribed Xanax.
It worked like a miracle. For the first time in years, I was able to sleep like a normal human being. The rashes cleared up, the lumps went away, the body aches vanished. My income went up, my social life improved, I got laid more, everything.
I had the same prescription for Xanax (Alprazolam) for 5 years. I took it on an 'as needed' basis. I mostly took it at night before bed. I had periods of days, sometimes weeks where I didn't take any at all. I'm not saying it was a perfect drug, it didn't cure everything but it certainly worked well for me.
So after 5 years my regular doctor gets replaced by a different doctor at the practice I went to.
New doctor asks me the usual questions, how's it going..etc.. I tell him the Xanax is still working out fine and explain how it's improved my life.....
New doctor says "Well, Xanax is a dangerous drug so we'll have to stop that immediately"....
I'm just in utter disbelief as he goes into a sales pitch for Zoloft. I bluntly declined the prescription for Zoloft and left with nothing. That was the end of the Xanax.
So I'm back to the same crap, not sleeping and breaking out in hives. I went like that for a while then tried a new doctor. He gives me the same spiel about drug addiction and tries to give me Zoloft. I again decline. At this point, I'm starting to feel hopeless so, against my better judgement, I go to a psychiatrist...
And you can guess what happens at the psychiatrist.....yes, he only offers me Zoloft.
Yes, Zoloft (Sertraline)....That's apparently the only present day option available to treat anxiety. Anything else is out of the question, don't even ask. If you even mention another drug option, the guy looks like I asked him for a bag of crack. So, completely out of options, I finally took it.....
It takes 4-6 weeks just to start working. The first month I took it, I was sick as hell. This stuff has many side effects.
The first side effect was nausea and vomiting....yay! After the daily vomiting subsided, the extreme acid reflux kicks in, another wonderful side effect. I was spending most of my day standing over a sink drooling non-stop for a month.
After 6 weeks the vomiting and drooling subsided. Now the real fun begins.....After the junk kicks in, I have no energy or motivation. I start sleeping like over 18 hours a day, I am not exaggerating. I can only stay up for a few hours then I go take another nap. I had the dosage adjusted 4 times and there was no difference. The psychiatrist will not give me anything but Zoloft. After staying on it for one year, I just stopped taking it and stopped going to the psychiatrist.
From my one year experience, Zoloft was a horrible drug. I have never taken anything in my life with so many bad side effects. Did it ease my anxiety? Yeah, it did. But I spent 6 weeks throwing up and drooling, then another 10 months almost comatose, sleeping all day. I didn't care about anything when I was on it. I also gained over 20 pounds from lack of exercise.
The one and only side effect from Xanax was short term drowsiness, that's it. I never had any addiction to it whatsoever. I think this whole dangerous drug hysteria about benzodiazepines is a bunch of BS. If you hear these horror stories of benzo addiction, the idiots are taking ridiculous massive doses of it. They're taking more in one day than my whole prescription for 30 days.
Monday, March 06, 2017
Blog Update 2017
Some people asked for an update so yeah, so it's 2017 now. Donald Trump and legal marijuana.....well, at least we had one good change. I haven't looked at this blog since 2012. It actually took me 2 weeks to figure out how to log onto it, I forgot the password and account info.
I have one follower of the blog after 10 years. I'm assuming this person either died or doesn't use the account anymore. I think the most followers it ever had at once was 3.
I'm not proud of this blog at all. Looking back now, I went way overboard with it and I feel bad about much of what I posted. It's one thing to post a few pics and stories but this was way beyond that. I have my own problems with anxiety disorders which played a big role in it, I might get into that more another time.
If anyone is crazy enough to read through the whole thing, you might notice some stuff that doesn't make sense. I went through the blog and deleted a bunch of old posts back in 2012 and more of them recently. That's why some references won't make sense now. Some of the stuff was just plain dumb, overly mean or inappropriate in some manner. Heck, the whole thing was inappropriate...
I will say, I still find some of it to be quite funny, that's sort of what I was going for but much of it is just being nasty and mean and I regret that.
One thing I should make clear now is Bob was not a bad person. He was actually very nice if you could get him to speak. He was also very intelligent, like book smart intelligence. He was a slob of the highest order however and he had some mental issues. I know nothing about him now, haven't seen or heard anything since.
This blog has 210,000 views now, not sure how that happened. I have another unrelated internet site that I make a little money off of with google ads so I threw them on here. The ads are not doing well here. I earned a whopping 85 cents in the first 2 weeks. The click cost pay rate is very low for this blog. I think the inverted crosses, satanism and subject matter might have something to do with it.....
Anyway, I might post some random nonsense once in a while. I'm not really sure if anyone reads blogs much anymore. I don't even get the spam comments anymore and I have the comments wide open, there used to be lots of spam comments.
I have one follower of the blog after 10 years. I'm assuming this person either died or doesn't use the account anymore. I think the most followers it ever had at once was 3.
I'm not proud of this blog at all. Looking back now, I went way overboard with it and I feel bad about much of what I posted. It's one thing to post a few pics and stories but this was way beyond that. I have my own problems with anxiety disorders which played a big role in it, I might get into that more another time.
If anyone is crazy enough to read through the whole thing, you might notice some stuff that doesn't make sense. I went through the blog and deleted a bunch of old posts back in 2012 and more of them recently. That's why some references won't make sense now. Some of the stuff was just plain dumb, overly mean or inappropriate in some manner. Heck, the whole thing was inappropriate...
I will say, I still find some of it to be quite funny, that's sort of what I was going for but much of it is just being nasty and mean and I regret that.
One thing I should make clear now is Bob was not a bad person. He was actually very nice if you could get him to speak. He was also very intelligent, like book smart intelligence. He was a slob of the highest order however and he had some mental issues. I know nothing about him now, haven't seen or heard anything since.
This blog has 210,000 views now, not sure how that happened. I have another unrelated internet site that I make a little money off of with google ads so I threw them on here. The ads are not doing well here. I earned a whopping 85 cents in the first 2 weeks. The click cost pay rate is very low for this blog. I think the inverted crosses, satanism and subject matter might have something to do with it.....
Anyway, I might post some random nonsense once in a while. I'm not really sure if anyone reads blogs much anymore. I don't even get the spam comments anymore and I have the comments wide open, there used to be lots of spam comments.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Why I Stopped Selling On Ebay
Ebay has a mind boggling system of endless fees. It's so complex, I won't even try to explain it all.
To put the fee schedule into a very general sense....
-You pay 10% of whatever the item sold for
-You also pay 10% of whatever it costs to ship the item
-You also pay 2.9% of whatever the item sold for as a Paypal fee
-You also pay 2.9% of whatever the item costs to ship as a Paypal fee
Now there's a myriad of other nickel and dime fees, but let's just stop here.
Let's pretend you list your old boom box radio on eBay. Let's say it sells for $40.00...yay!
Okay so eBay skims $4.00 off it, not bad right? Ahhh...
So your boom box is pretty heavy so it costs $30.00 just for the postage, so eBay skims $3.00 off that. Oh and then they skim the Paypal fee off your item value plus the postage, that's another $2.10.
So you ended up paying $9.10 in fees to eBay for an item which netted you $40.00.....Holy crap! That's 25%! ........And I didn't even factor in the little nickel and dime extra fees you'll probably encounter.
Okay, so you're paying 25% commission to sell on a venue where you do all the work. You have to write the listing, take the photos, then package the item and drive it to the Post Office.
And it is a lot of work, I've done it. You could easily spend 2 or 3 hours of your time listing then packaging this boom box.
So maybe you're saying, "But eBay has the most traffic and I'll get top dollar for my item".....Uhm, unfortunately no.
I started selling on eBay in 2001. Back then, eBay did have tons of traffic. You could list the most common, mundane item and it would get over 100 views. Now the same item would get maybe one view and it's probably from you looking at it.
The traffic on eBay has declined dramatically in the last 8 years. There are hardly any actual auction listings. This was a big part of the appeal for eBay, auctions were fun to watch and bid on. Now it's mostly all set sale listings.
The final nail in the coffin for me was putting ads on your listing directing people to buy the exact same item from someone else! Great concept... no thanks.
Realtor Burglarizes Deceased Man's Home On Christmas Eve
Sourced from the CT Post, original article here.
STRATFORD — A local real estate agent is a suspect in a number of burglaries of homes to which he had access, police confirmed Tuesday.
John Rose Jr., 49, who works for the William Raveis agency, was arrested Christmas Eve after police said he was caught burglarizing a home on Lordship Road along with a friend who is a hairdresser.
Rose and Raymond Feliciano Jr., 47, of New Britain, were each charged with third-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit third-degree burglary and possession of burglar tools.
They were released after each posted $10,000 bond.
Police said that on Christmas Eve they received calls from neighbors on Lordship Road reporting two men carrying large sacks from the home of a man who had recently died.
Officers said they arrived at the address just as Rose and Feliciano were about to drive away. Inside their, car police said they, found numerous antique items including dolls and picture frames that had been taken from the home. Police said they also found a bag containing screwdrivers and pry bars.
Police said they are investigating a number of other burglaries in town of homes Rose would have had access to through his job.
STRATFORD — A local real estate agent is a suspect in a number of burglaries of homes to which he had access, police confirmed Tuesday.
John Rose Jr., 49, who works for the William Raveis agency, was arrested Christmas Eve after police said he was caught burglarizing a home on Lordship Road along with a friend who is a hairdresser.
Rose and Raymond Feliciano Jr., 47, of New Britain, were each charged with third-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit third-degree burglary and possession of burglar tools.
They were released after each posted $10,000 bond.
Police said that on Christmas Eve they received calls from neighbors on Lordship Road reporting two men carrying large sacks from the home of a man who had recently died.
Officers said they arrived at the address just as Rose and Feliciano were about to drive away. Inside their, car police said they, found numerous antique items including dolls and picture frames that had been taken from the home. Police said they also found a bag containing screwdrivers and pry bars.
Police said they are investigating a number of other burglaries in town of homes Rose would have had access to through his job.
My Life In Hell UPDATE:
According to court records, Mr Rose was arrested again on January 6th for 'Failure To Appear' in regard to this case. He was released on $35,000 bond. He has pled not guilty to the charges and is scheduled to appear again in court on 3/13/17.
A search shows he is still working as a real estate agent, possibly for Larracuente & Johnson Realty of Stratford, CT.
Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/John-Rose-Real-Estate-124406777670064/
...Hide the silver!
Monday, February 20, 2017
Alleged Christine Chubbuck 1974 On Air Suicide Video Leaked
Real or fake?
Christine Chubbuck was a television news reporter for WXLT television in Florida. On July 15th 1974, she committed suicide by shooting herself in the head during a live broadcast on WXLT channel 40. Details of the case can be found on her Wikipedia page here.The broadcast had been taped by the station but the copies were never shown to the public. It was long assumed the footage was destroyed.
In 2016 it was revealed that the tape did exist. The late station owner, Robert Nelson, had indeed kept a copy of the broadcast at his home. It was reported his wife, Mollie, had given the tape to a law firm.
The video footage below mysteriously appeared in January 2017. The authenticity of this video is unconfirmed. Former WXLT news director, Gordon Galbraith has stated that the video is a fake. Others believe it to be real. The origins of the video are still unknown. It should be noted, the news set in the disputed video is strikingly similar to the original set.
Update 3/7/13 - The video appears to have been disabled. Not sure if Blogger, which is a Google product (isn't everything a Google product?) removed it or it's just not working. At any rate, you can find it easy with a search and watch it elsewhere.
Police photo taken after incident.
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