"As your attorney, I advise you to take a hit out of the little brown bottle....

[pbkmaine]

Party A emails Party B with a business request and Party A does not want to do it but also does not want to go on record as saying no, so Party B just doesn't answer the email. If you are Party A I hereby grant you and Party A's everywhere blanket permission to hunt Party B down, even if you  have to take a plane to do it,  and ask Party B in person in front of at least 10 other people.

If you are a Party B, stop doing that. Man up, answer, and deal with the flack.

I worked at a firm with two offices. I never ever called or emailed people in my office. I walked over to see them. I made frequent trips to the second office. All to Get Things Done. Much harder to ignore someone physically present. I also spent a lot of time at clients, and would schedule extra days there to get to know people. If I needed something from a client, there were always a bunch of people I could call.

And to second something said earlier, pay attention to the admins! They are more than gatekeepers. Most work passes through them, and their own contributions are generally underestimated. Making friends with admins saved me time, money, and energy. I also got to know some great people.

[lemanfan]

Also working partly in information security, and will only add to the backup encouragement here!

[ender]

Do not say "Hi Paul" in an IM session and wait for me to greet you back or ask how I'm doing. Ask your fucking question. We can chit chat face to face.

I read that line and thought "this guy must be working with middle Eastern developers."

It's more common with India folks, too. Culturally they care a lot more about people than Westerners. Recognize that your attitude here will come across as quite rude and dismissive to them. Which might not be a problem.

I found that my "pointless" chit-chat with folks we had based in India built a lot of respect/trust from them that was very beneficial.

[Paul der Krake]

Do not say "Hi Paul" in an IM session and wait for me to greet you back or ask how I'm doing. Ask your fucking question. We can chit chat face to face.

I read that line and thought "this guy must be working with middle Eastern developers."

It's more common with India folks, too. Culturally they care a lot more about people than Westerners. Recognize that your attitude here will come across as quite rude and dismissive to them. Which might not be a problem.

I found that my "pointless" chit-chat with folks we had based in India built a lot of respect/trust from them that was very beneficial.

I don't mind the small talk, I like building relationships with my coworkers too. But when it's over IM and the window pops up, effectively forcing me to multitask, just get to the point. I need to decide whether to act on the information, or route to someone who can. If it takes more than a minute to do so, then direct IM was a poor choice of medium.

[maco]

As a fellow insurance professional I can not agree more. The only thing I will add is that if you have an agent, keep them in the loop about life changes. It's pretty important for them to know stuff like your adult child moved back home 6 months ago and has been driving your car daily. If your agent isn't calling you in yearly for a review of your insurance situation, it's time to find a new agent.

A couple years ago, I got engaged on my birthday. My agent called a couple days later, because he keys off birthdays for annual check-ins. So when I said I got engaged, he was going "ok, so we need to review your limits because there's some new expensive jewelry, right?" and I said "no, there's no new ring. It's not traditional in our religion." He thought I was joking at first. Turned out to be a good call after all, though. He came out the following week to do paperwork for life insurance, because the house is affordable on my income alone, but if I kicked the bucket, my husband would lose the house. So, now we have life insurance that can pay off the mortgage.

-----

And my suggestion, as another programming/security type:

Do not click links in emails that you did not specifically request. Hit the "forgot password" link? Fine, you requested that email. Anything else? Go to their website directly and use the built-in search feature.

[Bracken_Joy]

Learning a ton on this thread! Thanks everyone!

Pediatric Nurse. I would have to say:
1. Do the goddamn immunizations. No, they do not have formaldehyde. Even the rare ones that do, because you kid has an allergy to the alternative preservatives, are at lower levels than other exposures they have. If you'll take them to an ikea you're doing the same goddamn thing. So just immunize. My kids who have cancer and degenerative diseases who CANNOT get immunizations will thank you. And your own kids will fare better as well.
2. Take asthma seriously. Please. That steroid is NOT a rescue inhaler. It needs to be taken EVERY DAY as prescribed.
3. Take diabetes seriously. I don't care if they don't want to check their blood sugar. You or they need to check their damn blood sugars.
4. Think critically about what YOU yourself do. Your children are exposed to it, and one day, they will do it too. This means smoking, drinking soda, eating junk food, using perfumes or hairsprays with an asthmatic kid... etc etc. Fixing your own behaviors is one of the best ways to ensure lifelong health for your children.
5. Don't keep so much from your children. I know you think you're protecting them, and they are "too young". But they know something is wrong. They see it in your eyes, they can tell when people are trying to talk circles so they don't get the context. They live with these consequences too, they live in this world too. And particularly when it's an issue of THEIR health, you need to start early. They will not suddenly wake up one day and be good self-regulators and personal health advocates. Like anything else, it takes YOU modeling the behavior, it takes meaningful discussions, and it takes practice. Start early and practice often. This is particularly important if they have a chronic health condition.
6. MOST IMPORTANT. You are your children's best health advocates. Do not count on ANYONE else to be doing things right or connection symptoms, diagnoses, anything. You need to be involved and engaged in their healthcare. Don't be afraid to speak up or ask "dumb" questions. It can help to research and physically write down lists of questions/concerns before appointments. Demand the time you need. If you don't advocate, it can be far too easy to slip through the cracks.

[maco]

Affect is a verb, effect is a noun.

And that and which are not interchangeable.

Oh -- stop writing so many damn words.

Except when you need to effect change regarding your personal affects.

[lbmustache]

Working in education: being nice and smiling a lot goes a long way. A really long way. (probably applies to life in general too)

[Orvell]

As an artist:
1) That thing you see on the internet selling as a print for $20 that seems like 'too much money?' That took 30 hours to make. Don't print it out on your home computer, you asshat. Respect the time, effort, and skill it took to make it and help artists eek out a living wage from their craft.
2) For the love of god, don't re-post an artist's work without CREDIT. And seriously don't use a cool thing you saw on the internet on your website/bag design/t-shirt printing side business without a) permission and b) PAYING FOR IT.
3) Don't expect your artist friends to design your invitations/banners/holiday cards/a custom callendar for you for free. Just don't. They'll probably do it for a really nice dinner (if you have kind and/or generous friends) but realize that is an actual-fact skill they spent years developing and will take actual-fact hours and effort to do.
4) Artistic ability is not talent (unless you are an actual savant). I will go to my grave about this one. It is 10,000 hours of practice. It's less than awesome to hear, "You're so talented! I could never do that," because it devalues the fact that I have been making lines on paper since I could hold a pencil, and have put thousands of hours into improving my skill (and still have a long way to go!)

[Spork]

As a forum reader:

Arguing with a random stranger over emotional hotbed issues* on an internet forum is likely not to make you feel better, not likely to convince the other party of your wisdom and sometimes it's just easier to avoid those topics entirely.

*hotbed issues including, but not limited to: religion, politics, ethics, abortion, climate change and the best shade of blue.

[maco]

If you are under 50 years old ask yourself if you could run 10 kilometers in under an hour. If you can't you need to reassess your priorities and get your life in order before you start having serious health complications.  If you tell me you have bad knees, hips, or ankles you are likely making excuses for not looking after your health in the first place.

Heh, so I'm in the "bad hip (just one), knees, and ankles" category, with a connective tissue disorder diagnosis and a "no running*, and I'm not so sure about that double black diamond skiing hobby of yours either--at least stop doing jumps" from my doctor. I've never been a distance runner, but I'm that hyperactive person who sprints down the hall at school or at work. Not sprinting takes a lot of thought!

But I'm a little perplexed by something my PT said at the beginning of my last two rounds of physical therapy (dangit, I am not getting into a car crash or otherwise getting hurt this year!). He said I'm really strong. I've never thought of myself as strong. I can't easily lift a bag of topsoil or mulch into a wheelbarrow. On the one hand, I wonder if he's comparing me to his geriatric patients. On the other hand, he's also a personal trainer at a gym. He and the head-PT there both express surprise at which therabands and weights I use.

So, is it that they're surprised I can be in decent shape (I'm a thin woman, and my go-to if my traps are stiff is to do 30lb rows 3x10) and still have my connective tissue disorder affect me? Is the bar for not-a-weakling really that low?

* things I have discovered can dislocate or subluxate a hip:

• running
• standing up out of a chair
• straightening knees while lying down
• moving left knee to the left while sitting in the car
• walking in ski boots (ski boots are heavy)

[SilveradoBojangles]

Interested in supporting sustainable seafood but don't know what to buy?

Buy anything from Alaska. Seriously, they have excellent fisheries management policies, and due to it's remote location heavy commercial fishing didn't really ramp up until about 40-50 years ago, around the time when we started enacting legislation to prevent overfishing. As a result you are more likely to be buying something that comes from a sustainable stock. Compare this with New England, which had hundreds of years of overfishing before any rules were put in place (and as a result, no more cod).

Buy local. It's much better to buy seafood that comes from the US, where we have a management system in place that protects both the environment and the health of fishermen, than anything from the third world. Yes, Costco has lobster tails from Nicaragua for really cheap. But do you know how many young men are paralyzed or killed each year diving for lobster using horribly unsafe practices? A lot. And the Caribbean lobster stock is extremely overfished, with no enforceable regulations in place.

If I'm buying seafood, I look at what's from the US. I'll preferentially buy from Alaska > West Coast > South-eastern US/New England. New England v. SE US is kind of a toss up because New England has lots of historical damage but better management practices now, and the SE is just a clusterfuck.

Not in the US? Australian seafood is similar to Alaskan seafood - they have good management, and they got that management system in place before heavy damage was done to their marine ecosystems. So you can buy from there too. Europe's seafood management is less good. Thousands of years of heavy fishing has taken its toll, and there are too many countries fighting for access of a scarce resource to set reasonable limits.



 

[RysChristensen]

Pet Sitter:
1) Your dog is fatter than you think s/he is. No, really. The fact that they have ribs shouldn't be a well hidden secret. And if your dog loses a pound of the 10 they're overweight, please don't ask me "doesn't s/he look great?"- lying pisses me off, the truth pisses you off. And yes, I do get the irony of me being fat.

2) There is no "-ish", written or implied, when answering the question of when you're dropping off or picking up your dog. 9 is 9. 9:30 is not 9. 8:45 is not 9 either. Texting me at 9:10 to let me know that you need to delay/reschedule is not cool. (Onlookers should not confuse the slightly hysterical WTF surprised laughter with actual mirth when watching me get a text 15 minutes after the arranged meeting time rescheduling because you're still an HOUR AWAY. Did you not notice that you still had over 60 miles to drive and were in an entirely different state? Thanks for wasting a useful chunk of my free time.)

3) No, you wouldn't love to have my job. (Oddly, said when sunny and 70, but never heard when it's 34 and pissing icy cold rain down the back of your neck). And no, I don't get to "play with dogs all day". They play, my job is 1/3 admin, 1/3 bus driver, and 1/3 preschool teacher (only louder and with swear words) to students with sharper teeth, pointier nails, the ability (if mostly not the inclination) to shred each other, and what they're eating isn't paste.

4) For the love of God, learn some basic canine body language. You dog "wants to play so badly" that they're terrifying smaller dogs by charging at them? Not a proud moment, your dog is being an asshole. The other dog "started it" by growling at your perfect dog? The look your kid tossed around was as good as walking up to the other dog and whapping them across the face with a glove and challenging them to a duel. And here's a hint: if your dog can run through a heavily treed area with a pack of dogs for a hour and not hit anything, but routinely runs into humans? S/he can totally help it and is just demonstrating total disrespect for your space. You can let it happen to you as much as you want, but don't for a minute imagine that I won't correct them for aiming straight at me.

5) All that aside, yeah, your dog is pretty freaking adorable. But still don't text me at 5 am.

[shanghaiMMM]

As someone who works in information security...

• The guy on the phone is not from Microsoft.
• The stranger who sent the email is not going to send you money or have sex with you.
• There's no authority that makes sure people tell the truth on the Internet. Assume anything you hear is suspect.
• Don't click on that. Or that. Goddammit.

Retired security nerd here.  To add to this list:

* Whenever someone says "stored in the cloud" they are actually saying "stored on someone else's computer."  That means you probably don't know/can't verify whether they're backing it up or keeping other people out of it.  It also means they could just decide to stop serving that data and you're SOL.

OK IT people, I'm curious. What's the best way to back up your data if not to the cloud? I have an external HD and cloud set ups because my external HD is a few years old and if it died I would cry. Enlighten me!

[lemanfan]

OK IT people, I'm curious. What's the best way to back up your data if not to the cloud? I have an external HD and cloud set ups because my external HD is a few years old and if it died I would cry. Enlighten me!

It all depends on your situation, I guess.   The cloud can be a good "second step", especially if the data is not extremely sensitive - i.e. if it is not a disaster if hackers got hold of the data.  But I would still recommend that you have backups that you are in total, offline control of too.

I personally do three different kinds of backups:

1.  To an external hard drive that I keep connected to the PC using the Windows 10 "File History" function.  This gives me quick access to a lost or damaged file.  Will probably not save me if I encounter ransomware. 

2.  To an additional external hard drive that I put in a location which is not my home.  Since this is not done daily, but rather monthly or so I will probably lose some files if I need this - but most stuff is safe.  Since it is offline most of the time, it's pretty resilient to ransomware viruses, and if kept far away it's also safe against physical disasters (fire, lightning strike etc).  Mine is kept in a safe deposit box at a local bank which is probably very VERY secure, but actually a bit too close for some disaster scenarios (150 meters from my home or so).

3.  To a remote disk using CrashPlan, http://www.code42.com/crashplan/ ... This software can use the cloud, but I use the software to backup to my dads home computer, 2 hours away by car.  And he backs to mine.  Cloud-like but the actual storage is not done in "the cloud".  This basically gives me the same protection as numer 2 above.  Slower access, but more frequently taken.

What you need depends on how sensible the data is:

How much of a disaster is it if you cannot restore a file? How frequently must you backup to avoid disaster?  How long can it take to restore a file or a whole computer?

This gave me my options three options.  Losing all historical data would be really bad, but I also want to be protected from deleting the wrong file.  This also says "dont trust ONLY the cloud" since  the cloud provider you chose can have problems of its own.

How bad is it if the wrong person gets hold of the data? Like a hacker, your business competitor or your ex-spouse?  :)

This could rule out cloud storage, depending on how sensitive data you hold and how paranoid you are.  I would not like for a hacker to have all my economic files and contracts I have scanned, so I skipped the cloud.

You might come to a different conclusion.

[Campanula]

Discovered recently that this is not obvious to everyone: check your payslips. If you're being underpaid, it may be that no-one but you will ever notice. If you're being overpaid, someone will probably eventually notice and you may owe a lot of money. And if you move within an organisation, check that any overtime or benefits that don't apply to your new post have been removed or again, you could be asked to repay the money from your new, lower-than-you-thought-it-was salary.

[Spork]

OK IT people, I'm curious. What's the best way to back up your data if not to the cloud? I have an external HD and cloud set ups because my external HD is a few years old and if it died I would cry. Enlighten me!

It all depends on your situation, I guess.   The cloud can be a good "second step", especially if the data is not extremely sensitive - i.e. if it is not a disaster if hackers got hold of the data.  But I would still recommend that you have backups that you are in total, offline control of too.

I personally do three different kinds of backups:

1.  To an external hard drive that I keep connected to the PC using the Windows 10 "File History" function.  This gives me quick access to a lost or damaged file.  Will probably not save me if I encounter ransomware. 

2.  To an additional external hard drive that I put in a location which is not my home.  Since this is not done daily, but rather monthly or so I will probably lose some files if I need this - but most stuff is safe.  Since it is offline most of the time, it's pretty resilient to ransomware viruses, and if kept far away it's also safe against physical disasters (fire, lightning strike etc).  Mine is kept in a safe deposit box at a local bank which is probably very VERY secure, but actually a bit too close for some disaster scenarios (150 meters from my home or so).

3.  To a remote disk using CrashPlan, http://www.code42.com/crashplan/ ... This software can use the cloud, but I use the software to backup to my dads home computer, 2 hours away by car.  And he backs to mine.  Cloud-like but the actual storage is not done in "the cloud".  This basically gives me the same protection as numer 2 above.  Slower access, but more frequently taken.

What you need depends on how sensible the data is:

How much of a disaster is it if you cannot restore a file? How frequently must you backup to avoid disaster?  How long can it take to restore a file or a whole computer?

This gave me my options three options.  Losing all historical data would be really bad, but I also want to be protected from deleting the wrong file.  This also says "dont trust ONLY the cloud" since  the cloud provider you chose can have problems of its own.

How bad is it if the wrong person gets hold of the data? Like a hacker, your business competitor or your ex-spouse?  :)

This could rule out cloud storage, depending on how sensitive data you hold and how paranoid you are.  I would not like for a hacker to have all my economic files and contracts I have scanned, so I skipped the cloud.

You might come to a different conclusion.

Mine is somewhat similar:
* backups happen Monday/Wednesday/Friday every day.  It's an automatic system that interleaves full/incrementals.  I always have a full backup of every partition at least once every 2 weeks.  I use Amanda.  It's awesome, but probably more than most people need.
* backups occur to a separate hard drive on a server.  I keep 40 iterations going back (so that's 13 weeks at 3 per week).
* once a quarter I do a full backup on an external drive.  That drive goes into my safe deposit box at the bank.
* When I do something big (lets say a full OS upgrade).  I'll do a full copy of a disk with clonezilla.  Depending on how important that is, I might throw it away in a week or two once the new OS is going well.  Or, I might keep it for years (in the case of my dad's laptop after he passed away... I will probably keep that forever just in case there was some file in there I want.)

I've never had to to a full recovery on my home systems.  When systems have crashed (and they have)... I've always managed to re-read the bad disk.  I'm all Linux (and before that I was all SunOS)... and Unix-type systems give LOTS of warning before disks crash.  If you have some automated eyeball on the logs, it will tell you before it happens.  I have, however, done lots of "damn, I wish I had that file".  Sometimes its something I accidentally deleted.  Sometimes it's something from weeks back.

[Paul der Krake]

I've never had to to a full recovery on my home systems.  When systems have crashed (and they have)... I've always managed to re-read the bad disk.  I'm all Linux (and before that I was all SunOS)... and Unix-type systems give LOTS of warning before disks crash.  If you have some automated eyeball on the logs, it will tell you before it happens.

Please share your script. Typing this from a 2009 Thinkpad...

[Uturn]

I would recommend not keeping your backup full time connected.  If badshit^TM happens to your computer, it's very possible that it will happen to your backup at the same time. 

[Spork]

I've never had to to a full recovery on my home systems.  When systems have crashed (and they have)... I've always managed to re-read the bad disk.  I'm all Linux (and before that I was all SunOS)... and Unix-type systems give LOTS of warning before disks crash.  If you have some automated eyeball on the logs, it will tell you before it happens.

Please share your script. Typing this from a 2009 Thinkpad...

#1. Enable SMART on disks.  Enable smartd.  You can configure it to raise alerts, log to syslog, email you, etc.  I think by default it will email root.  This gets you pretty much there.

#2. There are a bunch of different log scanners.  This is probably overkill if smartd is running.  I've historically used swatch because I'm a perl geek and it is just a tool that writes you a perl regex to watch logs.  You can run swatch as a daemon and look for disk failure signs and it will email you.  Warning: when they fail, they are chatty.  You may get lots of email.  I actually run a small local sendmail server to catch in-house mail like this without passing it to my "real" email. 

Patterns to look for will vary slightly with type of disk (scsi/SATA/ATA)... google is a good friend here.  But some good patterns for sata (for example) are:
Sense Key
DRDY ERR
Unrecovered read error
I/O error


In real world production settings (not at home) I used  to have a gigantic swatch config where I basically listed a regex every error I didn't care about from syslog.  Everything else would fall through and you'd get a daily email for them.  If you didn't care about them, add them to swatch config and repeat.  Eventually you just get good stuff (especially if the syslog is a centralized syslog of several thousand systems).  I don't seem to have a copy saved of this... but its easy to build over time.  You always get an email of everything you haven't seen before.  Things that are super important, you can add a regex and run a constant swatch to watch for and email.

[TheThirstyStag]

This thread reminds me of the following (opens 90's vault):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OojsLDYr7RY

[maco]

I would recommend not keeping your backup full time connected.  If badshit^TM happens to your computer, it's very possible that it will happen to your backup at the same time.

Yep, ransomware got one of my in-laws AND his network-connected backup drive.

[Bicycle_B]

The speed limit is a limit, not a goal. 

Not in Texas.  The speed limit is the lowest possible speed that you can travel which does not induce road rage.

Texas is also the state with the most traffic deaths per year. :(

Though to be fair, there are a lot of people in Texas.  Several other states have more deaths per vehicle mile - Wyoming, Montana, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Dakota, even Alaska, which has very few roads. 

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/general-statistics/fatalityfacts/state-by-state-overview

Paying some attention to the speed limit everywhere is a good idea.  And avoid the cell phones.

[kittenstache]

Learning a ton on this thread! Thanks everyone!

Pediatric Nurse. I would have to say:
1. Do the goddamn immunizations. No, they do not have formaldehyde. Even the rare ones that do, because you kid has an allergy to the alternative preservatives, are at lower levels than other exposures they have. If you'll take them to an ikea you're doing the same goddamn thing. So just immunize. My kids who have cancer and degenerative diseases who CANNOT get immunizations will thank you. And your own kids will fare better as well.
2. Take asthma seriously. Please. That steroid is NOT a rescue inhaler. It needs to be taken EVERY DAY as prescribed.
3. Take diabetes seriously. I don't care if they don't want to check their blood sugar. You or they need to check their damn blood sugars.
4. Think critically about what YOU yourself do. Your children are exposed to it, and one day, they will do it too. This means smoking, drinking soda, eating junk food, using perfumes or hairsprays with an asthmatic kid... etc etc. Fixing your own behaviors is one of the best ways to ensure lifelong health for your children.
5. Don't keep so much from your children. I know you think you're protecting them, and they are "too young". But they know something is wrong. They see it in your eyes, they can tell when people are trying to talk circles so they don't get the context. They live with these consequences too, they live in this world too. And particularly when it's an issue of THEIR health, you need to start early. They will not suddenly wake up one day and be good self-regulators and personal health advocates. Like anything else, it takes YOU modeling the behavior, it takes meaningful discussions, and it takes practice. Start early and practice often. This is particularly important if they have a chronic health condition.
6. MOST IMPORTANT. You are your children's best health advocates. Do not count on ANYONE else to be doing things right or connection symptoms, diagnoses, anything. You need to be involved and engaged in their healthcare. Don't be afraid to speak up or ask "dumb" questions. It can help to research and physically write down lists of questions/concerns before appointments. Demand the time you need. If you don't advocate, it can be far too easy to slip through the cracks.

I'm a pediatrician and agree with all of the above.
Also:
Antibiotics will not treat you child's cold.
Your 2 year old that likes to run around and play does not have ADHD. Being active and playful is a normal part of childhood.

[Spork]

I would recommend not keeping your backup full time connected.  If badshit^TM happens to your computer, it's very possible that it will happen to your backup at the same time.

Yep, ransomware got one of my in-laws AND his network-connected backup drive.

So: the problem here is that the userid you would be surfing with SHOULD NOT HAVE WRITE ACCESS TO THE BACKUP!  Separate privileges!

[PAstash]

I have been a security professional for over ten years. Law enforcement/military/vip protection/money transport/private investigation.

1.situational awareness is key when you walk into a room you should make a mental note of the following things.
a. weapons
b. exits
c. phones
d. keys
e. enemy's
f. allies (law enforcement/friends ect...)


2. actively avoid confrontation at all cost it almost never ends well it is not worth the cost associated with legal feels damage to your reputation jail time ect...

3. if you MUST get into a confrontation speak clearly and loudly your voice is a powerful weapon and can end the confrontation before it even begins.

4. if it MUST get physical the follow things need to be taken into account
a. size and physical stature of the your opponent(s)
b. training you may have
c. your physical condition (are you athletic? injured? intoxicated?)
d. everyone gets cut in a knife fight
e. you can die from getting punched.

5. you should own one firearm and...
a. be trained in it's proper use
b. storage
c. know how to keep it in proper working order.

6. be in good athletic shape. capable of moving the body weight of a average human 150-200lbs. be able to jog at least three miles. 

the average response time when dialing 911 is 45 minutes. the only person who can protect you and your family is yourself until authorities arrive. the chances of you being the victim of violent crime if you pay attention to where you travel in the States is surprisingly small. However there are countless victims of violent crime every year. " a ounce of preparation is worth a pound of cure."

[shanghaiMMM]

5. you should own one firearm and...
a. be trained in it's proper use
b. storage
c. know how to keep it in proper working order.

How about just have tighter gun la..


Joking, let's not go down that path :-p

[The Happy Philosopher]

Don't take opioids for chronic pain.

Don't smoke.

Don't buy a rental car.

[maco]

I would recommend not keeping your backup full time connected.  If badshit^TM happens to your computer, it's very possible that it will happen to your backup at the same time.

Yep, ransomware got one of my in-laws AND his network-connected backup drive.

So: the problem here is that the userid you would be surfing with SHOULD NOT HAVE WRITE ACCESS TO THE BACKUP!  Separate privileges!

I think he was setup for automatic real time backup :-/ Though I guess if an admin account was logged in at the same time and could read his non-admin user account and then write to the remote backup... hmm

[Sibley]

Balance your checking account monthly, ...

Don't lose your tax forms ....

Not filed returns; just old blank forms, right?

You are joking, aren't you?

Sorry, a little late seeing this! My friend this year lost both her 2014 filed tax return and her 2015 W-2 and a 1099. So exasperated with her. (all sorted out now, but she doesn't seem to have learned a lesson about organization)

[Sibley]

Here are my contributions from the animal kingdom:

Most behavioral problems people have with their dogs can be quickly resolved by either: (1) telling the dog not to do the thing (clearly and consistently) or (2) blocking access to the situation in the first place.

Most behavioral problems people have with their cats can be quickly resolved by blocking access to the situation in the first place (or...not having a cat).

Your kids will get bored of the non-dog/non-cat pet you have given them as a compromise, and you will be the one stuck cleaning fish tanks, bird cages, reptile habitats until the pet dies (often due to human related neglect).
[Added Note: Your kids will probably get bored with the cat and dog too.]

Multi-dog training and household management is much, much harder than single dog, even if the dogs getting along great.

Living long-term with cats may actually be harmful to your health. Research is really unclear on the effects of toxoplasmosis for people in general (not just pregnant women).

FYI, you can actually test cats for toxoplasmosis and then TREAT them. And if you wash your hands after cleaning the litterbox, that helps too.

[DeepEllumStache]

From a prior experience handling medical for auto claims:

Many health insurances in the US do not cover or provide extremely minimal coverage for Air Ambulance (LifeFlight/helicopter/Air Lift/CareFlight) type transport. For auto accidents as of 10 years ago, the bills would run around $7K-$13K. Don't assume your insurance does cover this, check and then decide if you need to carry higher auto medical coverage or not.

When we had insureds use air ambulance transport, I'd have them immediately call their insurance to find out if it was covered. Then call back so I would know whether or not to pay/track down any other bills before that one came in.

[Spork]

I would recommend not keeping your backup full time connected.  If badshit^TM happens to your computer, it's very possible that it will happen to your backup at the same time.

Yep, ransomware got one of my in-laws AND his network-connected backup drive.

So: the problem here is that the userid you would be surfing with SHOULD NOT HAVE WRITE ACCESS TO THE BACKUP!  Separate privileges!

I think he was setup for automatic real time backup :-/ Though I guess if an admin account was logged in at the same time and could read his non-admin user account and then write to the remote backup... hmm

Most of the ransomware stuff is some form of trojan.  They require you to click on a link, download something or open an attachment.  As long as you're not running that sort of stuff as admin, you foil a large amount of them.  The worst case they should be able to do is trash your own files in userspace.  They should not be able to trash system files.  They should not be able to trash backups.  If they can... the system is put together wrong or you're doing daily tasks as a user with admin authority.

[ohana]

Affect is a verb, effect is a noun.

And that and which are not interchangeable.

Oh -- stop writing so many damn words.

Except when you need to effect change regarding your personal affects.

Spot on Maco, but my students have never, I mean never, used these words in that manner.  :)

[Clever Name]

- If you're shooting for college, treat SAT/ACT prep like your most important class. Lots of kids spend less than 5-10 hours preparing for that test, and colleges look at it as equally important as your GPA, which you spent thousands and thousands of hours on.

Yes! I don't recall ever being told that I should (or even could) STUDY for the SAT! I only began to wonder about it years later when I had to take a zillion similar but more specialized tests for my career. There's no reason one can't prepare for the SAT outside of what they may or may not do to help you in school. I'm so lucky that I was a reasonably smart kid who ended up doing well, but I've always wondered if I could have done shockingly well if I had studied!

Another one that even less people know about is the PSAT. You take it the year before the SAT and no one even told us it existed, much less advised us to study for it. If you think there is even a chance that you or your child would do well on the SAT, you/they should study for the PSAT. It's used to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship program and many, many colleges have their own scholarships programs that are also based primarily on PSAT performance. I was offered a full scholarship to several dozen schools across the country based on my score (some quite highly ranked), but I had classmates who could have also qualified if they only knew to study for it.

[lemanfan]

  If they can... the system is put together wrong or you're doing daily tasks as a user with admin authority.

What you're saying makes total sense in a professionally managed IT environment.  But I think this advice misses the targets for the home computers of amateurs in the sysadmin field.

[RetiredAt63]

Seriously?  My high school, way back when (60's) had anyone who was planning to take the SAT do the PSAT the year before.  Quebec (Canada), not USA. I would have thought it would be automatic for a school that administers SATs to also offer the PSAT.

Another one that even less people know about is the PSAT. You take it the year before the SAT and no one even told us it existed, much less advised us to study for it. If you think there is even a chance that you or your child would do well on the SAT, you/they should study for the PSAT. It's used to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship program and many, many colleges have their own scholarships programs that are also based primarily on PSAT performance. I was offered a full scholarship to several dozen schools across the country based on my score (some quite highly ranked), but I had classmates who could have also qualified if they only knew to study for it.

[Bracken_Joy]

Seriously?  My high school, way back when (60's) had anyone who was planning to take the SAT do the PSAT the year before.  Quebec (Canada), not USA. I would have thought it would be automatic for a school that administers SATs to also offer the PSAT.

Another one that even less people know about is the PSAT. You take it the year before the SAT and no one even told us it existed, much less advised us to study for it. If you think there is even a chance that you or your child would do well on the SAT, you/they should study for the PSAT. It's used to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship program and many, many colleges have their own scholarships programs that are also based primarily on PSAT performance. I was offered a full scholarship to several dozen schools across the country based on my score (some quite highly ranked), but I had classmates who could have also qualified if they only knew to study for it.

I have never heard of the PSAT. I don't think it was offered? I just took the SAT twice, since I sat on the border of when they changed the test, and different schools wanted old vs new scores!

[Clever Name]

Seriously?  My high school, way back when (60's) had anyone who was planning to take the SAT do the PSAT the year before.  Quebec (Canada), not USA. I would have thought it would be automatic for a school that administers SATs to also offer the PSAT.

Another one that even less people know about is the PSAT. You take it the year before the SAT and no one even told us it existed, much less advised us to study for it. If you think there is even a chance that you or your child would do well on the SAT, you/they should study for the PSAT. It's used to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship program and many, many colleges have their own scholarships programs that are also based primarily on PSAT performance. I was offered a full scholarship to several dozen schools across the country based on my score (some quite highly ranked), but I had classmates who could have also qualified if they only knew to study for it.

They did have everyone take the test. They even administered it during school hours. But they didn't tell us ahead of time that it was coming, or advise us to study for it. We showed up one day and they said "You'll be taking the PSAT today". The worst part is that they described it as merely a practice test for the SAT that doesn't really count for anything, so a lot of people didn't take it seriously. No mention of the fact that it qualifies you for scholarships.

[forummm]

Similarly, I don't usually recommend an umbrella policy, except for high-asset people with high-risk exposures like teen drivers, home swimming pools, in-home daycare, etc. Insurance companies as a whole make more than twice the profit on Umbrellas as they do on regular Auto policies. There just aren't that many large losses.

Do you have a threshold for what constitutes "high asset people"? As our stash grows, I've been considering adding an umbrella policy, but your advice seems contrary to that. A complicating factor that concerns me is that our home address is "XYZ Fancy Subdivision Blvd". AKA people assume we're flush because of where we live.

It depends way more on your state than your subdivision. Your 401(k) is protected from judgments by a federal law (ERISA), but whether your primary residence or IRAs are protected is a state-by-state thing.

In my state, my IRA and primary residence are protected fully (not subject to a limit). So, when I think about protecting assets, I need to subtract out my 401(k), IRA and house. And, frankly, that doesn't leave a whole lot to be protected by insurance.

Does the Rousey v. Jacoway decision only apply to bankruptcy?

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/05/business/supreme-court-ruling-bars-creditors-from-ira-assets.html

So if I'm in a state that doesn't protect IRAs, then I would have to declare bankruptcy to shield my IRA if successfully sued?

And if I'm in an IRA-protecting state, and therefore don't carry an umbrella policy, I would still have to hire my own defense attorneys if sued (instead of letting the insurance company defend me if I had the policy)?

[merula]

Similarly, I don't usually recommend an umbrella policy, except for high-asset people with high-risk exposures like teen drivers, home swimming pools, in-home daycare, etc. Insurance companies as a whole make more than twice the profit on Umbrellas as they do on regular Auto policies. There just aren't that many large losses.

Do you have a threshold for what constitutes "high asset people"? As our stash grows, I've been considering adding an umbrella policy, but your advice seems contrary to that. A complicating factor that concerns me is that our home address is "XYZ Fancy Subdivision Blvd". AKA people assume we're flush because of where we live.

It depends way more on your state than your subdivision. Your 401(k) is protected from judgments by a federal law (ERISA), but whether your primary residence or IRAs are protected is a state-by-state thing.

In my state, my IRA and primary residence are protected fully (not subject to a limit). So, when I think about protecting assets, I need to subtract out my 401(k), IRA and house. And, frankly, that doesn't leave a whole lot to be protected by insurance.

Does the Rousey v. Jacoway decision only apply to bankruptcy?

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/05/business/supreme-court-ruling-bars-creditors-from-ira-assets.html

So if I'm in a state that doesn't protect IRAs, then I would have to declare bankruptcy to shield my IRA if successfully sued?

And if I'm in an IRA-protecting state, and therefore don't carry an umbrella policy, I would still have to hire my own defense attorneys if sued (instead of letting the insurance company defend me if I had the policy)?

Defense expenses are almost certainly covered by your underlying liability policy, outside of the limits of insurance. Buying an umbrella for the defense expense coverage doesn't make sense. The insurer has a duty to indemnify you (pay damages up to your limit) and a separate duty to defend, which is broader than the duty to indemnify. Courts have found that the insurer can't just tender limits to get out of the duty to defend.

As to the bankruptcy question, I am neither an attorney nor an accountant. Hypothetically, if there was a $100 million judgment against you awarded by a court, and you didn't have insurance limits sufficient to cover that, I think whoever was awarded that judgment would still be a valid creditor of yours. Therefore, you would need to declare bankruptcy and your assets that aren't protected would be divided among your creditors.

BUT, in practice, no one is going to spend the kind of money needed to pursue an extremely large judgment against someone who can't pay it.

Plaintiff: merula was the driver of a car that t-boned me. I have damages! I want to get paid!
Plaintiff's attorney: I subpoena'ed some documents. merula has a $300,000 limit. We can prove damages in excess of the limit, but let's offer to settle for the limit because we're not likely to get much more than that.
Plaintiff: No! I want justice.
Plaintiff's attorney: OK, my rate is $400/hour and I need a $50,000 retainer.
Plaintiff: Oh. Yeah, let's go with settle.

[retiringearly]

- If you're shooting for college, treat SAT/ACT prep like your most important class. Lots of kids spend less than 5-10 hours preparing for that test, and colleges look at it as equally important as your GPA, which you spent thousands and thousands of hours on.

Yes! I don't recall ever being told that I should (or even could) STUDY for the SAT! I only began to wonder about it years later when I had to take a zillion similar but more specialized tests for my career. There's no reason one can't prepare for the SAT outside of what they may or may not do to help you in school. I'm so lucky that I was a reasonably smart kid who ended up doing well, but I've always wondered if I could have done shockingly well if I had studied!

Another one that even less people know about is the PSAT. You take it the year before the SAT and no one even told us it existed, much less advised us to study for it. If you think there is even a chance that you or your child would do well on the SAT, you/they should study for the PSAT. It's used to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship program and many, many colleges have their own scholarships programs that are also based primarily on PSAT performance. I was offered a full scholarship to several dozen schools across the country based on my score (some quite highly ranked), but I had classmates who could have also qualified if they only knew to study for it.

That is weird - my high school required us to take the PSAT twice - we had to take it Sophomore & Junior years.  We also were required to take both the SAT and ACT.

[Bracken_Joy]

- If you're shooting for college, treat SAT/ACT prep like your most important class. Lots of kids spend less than 5-10 hours preparing for that test, and colleges look at it as equally important as your GPA, which you spent thousands and thousands of hours on.

Yes! I don't recall ever being told that I should (or even could) STUDY for the SAT! I only began to wonder about it years later when I had to take a zillion similar but more specialized tests for my career. There's no reason one can't prepare for the SAT outside of what they may or may not do to help you in school. I'm so lucky that I was a reasonably smart kid who ended up doing well, but I've always wondered if I could have done shockingly well if I had studied!

Another one that even less people know about is the PSAT. You take it the year before the SAT and no one even told us it existed, much less advised us to study for it. If you think there is even a chance that you or your child would do well on the SAT, you/they should study for the PSAT. It's used to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship program and many, many colleges have their own scholarships programs that are also based primarily on PSAT performance. I was offered a full scholarship to several dozen schools across the country based on my score (some quite highly ranked), but I had classmates who could have also qualified if they only knew to study for it.

That is weird - my high school required us to take the PSAT twice - we had to take it Sophomore & Junior years.  We also were required to take both the SAT and ACT.

Wait, you were REQUIRED to take the SAT and ACT? That's super bizarre. But then, my HS had horrible drop out and teen pregnancy rates and drug rehab rates and all that jazz, so maybe that wasn't high on the priority list =P Did you go to a nice school?

[forummm]

Similarly, I don't usually recommend an umbrella policy, except for high-asset people with high-risk exposures like teen drivers, home swimming pools, in-home daycare, etc. Insurance companies as a whole make more than twice the profit on Umbrellas as they do on regular Auto policies. There just aren't that many large losses.

Do you have a threshold for what constitutes "high asset people"? As our stash grows, I've been considering adding an umbrella policy, but your advice seems contrary to that. A complicating factor that concerns me is that our home address is "XYZ Fancy Subdivision Blvd". AKA people assume we're flush because of where we live.

It depends way more on your state than your subdivision. Your 401(k) is protected from judgments by a federal law (ERISA), but whether your primary residence or IRAs are protected is a state-by-state thing.

In my state, my IRA and primary residence are protected fully (not subject to a limit). So, when I think about protecting assets, I need to subtract out my 401(k), IRA and house. And, frankly, that doesn't leave a whole lot to be protected by insurance.

Does the Rousey v. Jacoway decision only apply to bankruptcy?

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/05/business/supreme-court-ruling-bars-creditors-from-ira-assets.html

So if I'm in a state that doesn't protect IRAs, then I would have to declare bankruptcy to shield my IRA if successfully sued?

And if I'm in an IRA-protecting state, and therefore don't carry an umbrella policy, I would still have to hire my own defense attorneys if sued (instead of letting the insurance company defend me if I had the policy)?

Defense expenses are almost certainly covered by your underlying liability policy, outside of the limits of insurance. Buying an umbrella for the defense expense coverage doesn't make sense. The insurer has a duty to indemnify you (pay damages up to your limit) and a separate duty to defend, which is broader than the duty to indemnify. Courts have found that the insurer can't just tender limits to get out of the duty to defend.

As to the bankruptcy question, I am neither an attorney nor an accountant. Hypothetically, if there was a $100 million judgment against you awarded by a court, and you didn't have insurance limits sufficient to cover that, I think whoever was awarded that judgment would still be a valid creditor of yours. Therefore, you would need to declare bankruptcy and your assets that aren't protected would be divided among your creditors.

BUT, in practice, no one is going to spend the kind of money needed to pursue an extremely large judgment against someone who can't pay it.

Plaintiff: merula was the driver of a car that t-boned me. I have damages! I want to get paid!
Plaintiff's attorney: I subpoena'ed some documents. merula has a $300,000 limit. We can prove damages in excess of the limit, but let's offer to settle for the limit because we're not likely to get much more than that.
Plaintiff: No! I want justice.
Plaintiff's attorney: OK, my rate is $400/hour and I need a $50,000 retainer.
Plaintiff: Oh. Yeah, let's go with settle.

So my insurance limits are available to an opposing litigant?

[fiveoh]

Hey specialists and professionals - what free advice do you give to your family and friends that you wish the world understood and acted on routinely?  

I am a pharmacist in behavioral health. Here are three things I would tell everyone:
(1) If you take a sleeping pill every day, you will train your body (a la Pavlov) to have chronic insomnia. (You can unlearn this but it is hard). So, don't start the pills. Learn some simple cognitive and behavioral techniques to deal with bad sleep.  Learn the names of planets and stars, take up landscape photography, or do something else creative with your nights when you cannot sleep.  Catch up on the sleep tomorrow. 
(2) You might have ADHD and only be realizing it now at the age of  40 to 65.  On the other hand, that stimulant medication (e.g. Adderall, Vyvanse, or Ritalin) that you want to try has not really been tested long term for safety in people your age, nor with your heart, blood pressure, diabetes, etc. conditions.  One day when researchers get around to looking backwards at your generation of ## year olds (one of whom will be you), they may show that stimulants (which accelerate heart rate and elevate blood pressure) had no impact whatsoever on mortality and heart attacks, but I am not willing to take that risk, and neither should you. Alternative to taking that stimulant? Look back on all the ways you learned to function with ADHD, and without taking a drug.  Keep doing those things, and invest in learning additional techniques.  Kick some ass and keep your heart and brain working the old-fashioned way. 
(3) According the the World Health Organization, anxiety affects something like 25% of workers worldwide (not sure how many REs).  The choice of treatment for anxiety has been undergoing change. Old-school types are still using benzodiazepines like alprazolam, lorazepam, clonazepam and diazepam. (You can bring your anxiety from doctor to doctor and eventually one will offer you lots and lots of these pills.) BUT - benzodiazepines are not so great.  In addition to shutting down anxiety, they shut down lots of other parts of your brain.  In fact they work on GABA, a diffusely spread neurotransmitter whose primary role everywhere in the cortex is to turn stuff off.  Benzodiazepines are a dimmer switch for your brain.  When you dim your brain, you lose the ability to learn, to grow and to move past the anxiety.  People on benzodiazepines are more likely to have motor vehicle accidents and old people on these drugs fall over and get hurt 3-4x more often then old people not on these drugs. So what is the alternative? I would suggest you invest in some solutions by doing about 6 - 10 weekly sessions of manualized cognitive behavioral therapy. If you can't find that or you really want to take a pill, try an anxiolytic antidepressant like Prozac, Zoloft or Effexor. Leave the benzodiazepines out of your medicine cabinet. 

Want one more freebie: OK here it is.  If you have a mental illness like depression or anxiety or bipolar, you are not doing yourself any favors by drinking booze or smoking pot.  Instead of one more trial of a different antidepressant or a new augmenting drug, try giving up the booze and/or the pot.  Give it up for 12 weeks and see if the world is a little brighter place.  (Pro tip: if you cannot quit for 12 weeks, you should talk to your doctor about whether you have a problem. Double Pro Tip: if you want to really find out if you have a problem, be honest with your doctor and make sure she doesn't have her own substance related problem).


Best wishes all, Ap.

Any links or suggestions for "Learn some simple cognitive and behavioral techniques to deal with bad sleep. "?

[Spork]

  If they can... the system is put together wrong or you're doing daily tasks as a user with admin authority.

What you're saying makes total sense in a professionally managed IT environment.  But I think this advice misses the targets for the home computers of amateurs in the sysadmin field.

Actually, I think this is why home computers have so many issues.  Pretty much out of the box people run everything as admin -- and that is a huge part of the problem.

[Uturn]

Actually, I think this is why home computers have so many issues.  Pretty much out of the box people run everything as admin -- and that is a huge part of the problem.

You are quite correct.  That is why my original suggestion to not keep backup full time connected.  We can discuss all day how to reduce security risk, but some people don't care to understand or have no idea the different access privileges.  "just disconnect your backup" is easier to grasp. 

[G-dog]

Hey specialists and professionals - what free advice do you give to your family and friends that you wish the world understood and acted on routinely?  

I am a pharmacist in behavioral health. Here are three things I would tell everyone:
(1) If you take a sleeping pill every day, you will train your body (a la Pavlov) to have chronic insomnia. (You can unlearn this but it is hard). So, don't start the pills. Learn some simple cognitive and behavioral techniques to deal with bad sleep.  Learn the names of planets and stars, take up landscape photography, or do something else creative with your nights when you cannot sleep.  Catch up on the sleep tomorrow. 

Any links or suggestions for "Learn some simple cognitive and behavioral techniques to deal with bad sleep. "?

I used to suffer from problems falling asleep/ sleeping in college. Not sure that this was clinically insomnia, but it was frustrating.
1. Relaxation techniques help - deep breathing, learn to relax muscles (learn to identify tension in muscles), learn postures that help you physically relax. And / or meditation techniques - stop thinking about the last or the future, practice relaxing and letting go of your day.
2. Have a bedtime ritual - start winding down about an hour in advance, and use this time to establish your pre-bed habits (wash face,brush teeth, change into sleep clothes, listen to calm music, etc)
3. Go to bed at the same time every day - most important during the training period.
4. If you can't fall asleep or you wake up and can't fall back asleep - don't get up and read or watch TV or otherwise get re-stimulated (obviously if you have a biological need to attend to, get up). Instead, stay in bed, and use the relaxation / meditation techniques again. Don't worry about what time it is, what you need to do at work, etc. just relax, and lay in a comfortable position. Even if you don't fall asleep immediately, at least you will be resting and relaxing.
5. Check your sleep environment regarding temperature, light, and noise. Adjust as needed (cooler temp more comfy and sleep supporting than too warm, no - low light, no - low noise). Check your bed and pillows too - do you need more/less/thicker/thinner/fluffier pillows?
6. Be diligent about practicing these habits - it us hard at first, but your body likes schedules and will build the habit of better sleep. You'll keep some of the above practices automatically, and even if you go off schedule later, these behaviors will cue your body that it is time to go to sleep.

[TrMama]

Similarly, I don't usually recommend an umbrella policy, except for high-asset people with high-risk exposures like teen drivers, home swimming pools, in-home daycare, etc. Insurance companies as a whole make more than twice the profit on Umbrellas as they do on regular Auto policies. There just aren't that many large losses.

Do you have a threshold for what constitutes "high asset people"? As our stash grows, I've been considering adding an umbrella policy, but your advice seems contrary to that. A complicating factor that concerns me is that our home address is "XYZ Fancy Subdivision Blvd". AKA people assume we're flush because of where we live.

It depends way more on your state than your subdivision. Your 401(k) is protected from judgments by a federal law (ERISA), but whether your primary residence or IRAs are protected is a state-by-state thing.

In my state, my IRA and primary residence are protected fully (not subject to a limit). So, when I think about protecting assets, I need to subtract out my 401(k), IRA and house. And, frankly, that doesn't leave a whole lot to be protected by insurance.

Does the Rousey v. Jacoway decision only apply to bankruptcy?

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/05/business/supreme-court-ruling-bars-creditors-from-ira-assets.html

So if I'm in a state that doesn't protect IRAs, then I would have to declare bankruptcy to shield my IRA if successfully sued?

And if I'm in an IRA-protecting state, and therefore don't carry an umbrella policy, I would still have to hire my own defense attorneys if sued (instead of letting the insurance company defend me if I had the policy)?

Defense expenses are almost certainly covered by your underlying liability policy, outside of the limits of insurance. Buying an umbrella for the defense expense coverage doesn't make sense. The insurer has a duty to indemnify you (pay damages up to your limit) and a separate duty to defend, which is broader than the duty to indemnify. Courts have found that the insurer can't just tender limits to get out of the duty to defend.

As to the bankruptcy question, I am neither an attorney nor an accountant. Hypothetically, if there was a $100 million judgment against you awarded by a court, and you didn't have insurance limits sufficient to cover that, I think whoever was awarded that judgment would still be a valid creditor of yours. Therefore, you would need to declare bankruptcy and your assets that aren't protected would be divided among your creditors.

BUT, in practice, no one is going to spend the kind of money needed to pursue an extremely large judgment against someone who can't pay it.

Plaintiff: merula was the driver of a car that t-boned me. I have damages! I want to get paid!
Plaintiff's attorney: I subpoena'ed some documents. merula has a $300,000 limit. We can prove damages in excess of the limit, but let's offer to settle for the limit because we're not likely to get much more than that.
Plaintiff: No! I want justice.
Plaintiff's attorney: OK, my rate is $400/hour and I need a $50,000 retainer.
Plaintiff: Oh. Yeah, let's go with settle.

So my insurance limits are available to an opposing litigant?

Interesting discussion. We're Canadian, so the US rules don't apply here. However, some Googling tells me that my RSP (401K equivalent) is only protected if I'm holding a specific type of (expensive) investment. My TFSA (IRA equivalent) and the kids RESPs (college savings) aren't protected at all. And if I declare bankruptcy I only get to keep $31K worth of home equity. Presumably any investments held in taxable accounts are also fair game. On the bright side, DH's pension appears to be safe.

Thanks for pointing this out. It was a helpful exercise.

[merula]

So my insurance limits are available to an opposing litigant?

Subpeona was the wrong word, I meant a document request during discovery. But yeah, if it's considered relevant to the case, they can get your whole policy. They will also probably be able to get your insurance case file, including anything you said to the claims adjuster when you first called.

Interesting discussion. We're Canadian, so the US rules don't apply here. However, some Googling tells me that my RSP (401K equivalent) is only protected if I'm holding a specific type of (expensive) investment. My TFSA (IRA equivalent) and the kids RESPs (college savings) aren't protected at all. And if I declare bankruptcy I only get to keep $31K worth of home equity. Presumably any investments held in taxable accounts are also fair game. On the bright side, DH's pension appears to be safe.

Thanks for pointing this out. It was a helpful exercise.

Glad I could help, at least a little. You can feel a little better that Canada isn't as litigious as the US, so this whole scenario is less likely.