arch_8ngel

8 minutes ago, Astor Reinhardt said:

I can't take out a loan unless I have income that isn't SSI. I'm disabled, no job. No one can touch my money. So no one is going to give me a loan. I'd have to save it up myself.

Same with payment plans. No one is going to work with me for that. It's illegal for businesses/companies/people to take my SSI money. I don't fully understand it but that's the gist of it...something about it being disability through the government means it's got some sort of protection on it.

Insurance company covers only front teeth, this is the far back molar. I'm fucked. I can't even change insurance. Because Washington Apple Health is the only dental insurance I get as someone with Medicaid. I'm not the only one who's screwed, everyone who has free/low cost health care has the same issue as I do. It's actually been talked about several times, how bad this insurance is. How they cover extractions but won't cover saving the tooth, even though pulling can lead to issues down the road.

With medicaid, and a back tooth, I'd circle back to just having it extracted.

The reason they don't want to do a root canal that far back in your mouth is because the tooth isn't as structurally important if it isn't between two other teeth.

Also, if you have ANOTHER rotten tooth, to where you basically need two extractions, you are very likely better off in the long run NOT having those teeth, so that they don't just cause problems again later. 

Because it sounds like you have a brushing technique problem that isn't taking care of your molars that will only make this same problem rear up again down the line.

12 minutes ago, ExplodedHamster said:

Oh no, I complete understand and agree. But I just go back to my point that it’s essentially impossible to get a subjective grading company off the ground and operate in a thriving market without a large portion of people thinking that at some point. 

My point from yesterday was that sometimes avoiding an apparent conflict of interest involves some measure of sacrifice from potential participants.

In this case, the conflict could have been avoided entirely by people who served as "directors" or "advisers" agreeing to not use the service, rather than risk the appearance of conflict that in turn damages the credibility of a subjective service.

In other hobbies, there is apparently plenty of precedent of people NOT being willing to make such a sacrifice, so in turn, it sounds like Wata and associated parties decided they didn't need to make that sacrifice either.

That is their prerogative, but now they have to live with the appearance of potential conflict of interest.

In terms of some of the advisers participating in early grading to get the service wrung-out before going public, that could have relatively easily been handled by slabbing all of those games with special "promo" / "demo" / "test" slab designations rather than having them as part of the normal graded population. 

It seems to me like the pro-Wata side of this discussion believes that everyone, no matter how involved, should be allowed to use such a service.

But this is a "can't have it both ways" kind of scenario -- either the service can be viewed as objective and anonymous, or it allows within-arms-lengths transactions that damage their credibility.

15 minutes ago, ExplodedHamster said:

Eh, the named part is perfectly justifiable because the collection objectively is worthy of a pedigree. If anyone else had bought it, it would similarly have gotten a pedigree based on its own standing.

I understand not liking collections pedigreed, but in a world where they exist in comic collecting and now video game collecting, it’s entirely legitimate that Dain’s collection would get one. There are at least two others out there for video games, so it’s not like this is a first for WATA, either.

Ha, nice timing MW!

No offense to Dain, but his collection is no more worthy of a special title than any other large collection.

There is nothing inherently special about it just because he owned it.

And as far as I am aware, it isn't the most complete, or the first-to-complete for any specific system is it?

That said, I don't take issue with the pedigree concept, in general.

But I think it makes for an interesting ethics footnote when looked at in this case, where a "director" of the grading company gets their own large collection that they bought wholesale labeled with a pedigree.

Simply put, it looks bad from the outside in a way that discredits the perception of the  grading company's objectivity.

Whether it actually damages the objectivity is unknowable, but the Wata supporters in this thread seem way too quick to wave away the concerns as an "everyone is doing it", which when it comes to these kinds of things is a bad argument to make, IMO.

41 minutes ago, Bronty said:

Interesting and news to me.    You know, I used to feel the same way as you guys about stuff like this because the same relationships exist in comics, ie, the auction house principals own at least a chunk of the grading company and they are perfectly on record and transparent about that.

The SEC filing issue above is a bit different than that, though, because here we're potentially talking about a guy having a pre-existing stake in the grading company going on to have his own very large collection not just graded but NAMED as a "special" collection of some sort.

The thing that I find funny about the SEC filing shenanigans, is that my understanding of the regulations would be that they never even needed to file in the first place.  (few enough shareholders and low enough revenue)

Seems like they lifted their skirt for no discernible reason.

Yeah, that is kind of bizarre, but I suspect it points to a country of origin for the underlying software package.

I had always assumed they flew too close to the sun doing the cartridge for the DuckTales press kits and the notoriety came back to haunt them in some way.

1 hour ago, cj_robot said:

Haha great to see Air Fortress getting some love here. I never usually see anyone talking about that game, I thought maybe I was the only person who liked it. 

The real question is whether you guys get the double dose of nostalgia from the Air Fortress space man looking like the 80's Construx space man...

7 minutes ago, peg said:

Kid icarus has that weird final stage.  Back to the future also has some weird levels thrown in like the cafe stage and final racing stage

Kid Icarus also switches up the level style substantially for the palaces, going from scrolling platformer to a more exploration based single-screen mode.  

2 hours ago, neodolphino said:

I still secretly think you intended this to be NES Shadowrun

j/k

Honestly, making a Shadowrun-style adventure game on the NES would be awesome.

Though I'd update the combat to be turn-based -- that is really my only gripe with the SNES game.

3 minutes ago, BriGuy82 said:

That looks more like a portrait of @arch_8ngel. 

Just now, Bronty said:

Who?   Easy to say in theory, hard to do in practice.

Furthermore if the board doesn't meet anymore, what does it matter if board members send in games, or not?

I understand some of the questions and I don't mind them.    This discussion now is great.    Its the finger pointing and accusations that are off base.   Tempest in a teapot stuff.    Again, I think some of the expectations are naive and/or unrealistic. 

Grading co's are not free from appearances of conflict.   Heck they probably aren't free from actual conflicts.   They don't exist in a vacuum.   But to suggest its all essentially a scam is just misinformed and fearful.

Pointing out conflicts of interest (real or just appearance) is not quite the same as saying it is "essentially a scam", at least not in my opinion.

And I'm not suggesting that avoiding the conflicts is easy to do in practice -- that is why major companies have entire departments devoted to it when the stakes are higher -- because it can be really difficult to navigate.

It's a tough problem, made tougher by a relatively small/close community of potential contributors.

It may be too tough of a problem to practically solve... but that doesn't magic away the issue from existence.  

4 minutes ago, phart010 said:

What about getting one of these special cards that offer zero interest for 1 year. Put it on the card and pay it down monthly over the course of a year.

If you can't cover an $1800 expense outright a special credit card is either unavailable entirely or will have a ludicrous behind-the-scenes interest rate if the payoff doesn't happen on time.

0% cards are for if you're earning money on your money and want the longer float.

They are usually a horrible idea if you are at any risk of not paying off in full, due to how they compound back-interest at the full rate.

6 minutes ago, MachineCode said:

Oh man, I LOVE Air Fortress. Such a cool and unique game that had so much potential. The sheer thrill of escaping the fortress before it blew up, with the lights out and the screen shaking as the end drew closer, was awesome. More enemy variety and some more music would have done wonders for it. I feel like the extra SNES power would have really helped that game realize its potential. What I wouldn't give for a solid sequel.

Add to that, there is quite a bit of strategy in managing your energy so that it isn't artificially low when you run into mini-reactors or other space men.

The big benefit of SNES would have been enhancing the control scheme in some way. 

It works well on the NES, but having 4 extra buttons to work with could have led to some interesting changes.  (could have worked well as a twin-stick shooter for instance)

22 minutes ago, Bronty said:

Anyways, I agree that some might perceive a conflict with a board member selling games but I think that's frankly an unrealistic expectation and more a problem with the reader's expectations than with the actual situation.    How would you do it any other way?    You're not going to find qualified people  that aren't active in the hobby for neutrality purposes, because you have to be active to have any knowledge in the first place.

That's the rub.  But just because it may be unrealistic to not allow board members to participate in the service at all, that does not mean that the appearance of conflict doesn't exist.

You could certainly have qualified people like yourself willing to provide the input and be neutral, but still "active in the hobby", but also willing to forgo using the grading service or associated auction house directly.

Nobody is saying it wouldn't represent a sacrifice.  And that sacrifice may be significant, if use of the service creates a significant boost in value for an item.

But that is hand-in-hand with avoiding the appearance of conflict-of-interest.

In this case, all of the players simply decided they weren't willing to make such a sacrifice to avoid the potential appearance of conflict.

That is your, and their, prerogative.  But that means valid criticisms about conflict of interest will continue to exist, as well.

27 minutes ago, Californication said:

Mexico does good dental work. I had a root canal done for $800 that was qouted at $3,400 in San Diego. And I should say the dentis office I went to was nicer in Tijuana than in the U.S.

My family has traveled from central california, like 9 hours plus hotel multiple times to have their dental work done; veneers, bridge, root canal.

Arizona and California have good cross points and dental border towns, Idk about New Mexico and Texas.

I'm not saying they don't do good dental work in a major tourist city.

I'm just surprised that the border cities would fall into that category, given the other issues they are known for.

5 hours ago, Californication said:

If you are anywhere near a border state, go to Mexico. 

 

Are border-towns really medical/dental tourism destinations?

I thought that sort of thing was more about having otherwise VERY expensive things done in the major cities (that you would fly to) -- i.e. for dental getting numerous implants done at once (what might be $20k-$30k in the USA done for less than $10k, flights and lodging included).

That said, IF OP could afford the root canal and crown, then for a similar price he could probably travel to Mexico and get an implant instead.

But that isn't where he is, financially.

5 hours ago, phart010 said:

 

Dental implants seem to have gotten pretty good. You should probably have those done pretty soon after an extraction to keep other teeth from shifting.

If he is worried about the cost of a root canal not being covered, then I suspect dental implants are WAY outside of his price range.

I guess what isn't clear is whether that root canal cost also includes a crown -- based on the price, I suspect it might.  Otherwise, that is an extra expense that would eventually be needed.

EDIT:  also, with regards to clinics and cheaper options -- my brother-in-law has had wisdom tooth extractions done via very-cheap-might-as-well-be-free clinic and was satisfied with the outcome.

20 hours ago, mbd39 said:

 

I'm not a fan of KFC's regular chicken but I like the strips and the sandwiches. The Nashville Hot strips are excellent.

The first time KFC offered Nashville Hot, they were awesome.

The second time they were released, at least in my area, the sizes of the strips were noticeably smaller and made for a much worse deal.

If it is your farthest-back tooth I'd seriously consider an extraction.

If it is further forward, I'd seriously consider the root canal.

Generally speaking, keeping the tooth when you can is structurally important to the surrounding teeth, where removing a tooth will destabilize surrounding teeth and lead to a cascade of problems as you get older.

Just now, DefaultGen said:

I meant in relation to Wawa. I love Sheetz. I can get a made to order, hot 6" sub at Sheetz for $2. Just to get to a dirty Wawa I'd have to drive 2 miles off the highway because they never buy prime highway real estate those cheap mfers.

This must be a regional thing.

Maybe since the more southerly Wawa's are newer, they are generally nicer than the filthy Sheetz that the region has had for ages.

15 hours ago, Alder said:

Like a Sheetz, but worse? 

You're crazy!

Wawa is WAY better than Sheetz.

Thanks for digging back into the details, Orab.

For some reason I thought there were like 80-86 copies of this one, don't know why.  (maybe that was the original price, is why that number is in my head?)

But regardless, the demand was through the roof, and there was practically a frenzy to get them initially.

13 minutes ago, Boosted52405 said:

All our Popeye's here in Iowa, I believe, are all fresh/new builds so they are pretty nice and clean from my limited exposure.

Funny story of a Popeyes visit like a year ago.  I ordered some chicken and a large pop - the drive-thru guy goes "Hey, for 40 cents more we'll upgrade that to a gallon of pop".  I'm like what, seriously, okay sure whatever.  Sure enough, they hand me a plastic bag/jug with a screw on cap.  Certainly couldn't drink it all lmao. 

Don't even want to think of how many calories that was!

Ha!

I have never heard of being offered a gallon jug of soda, but they definitely offer gallon jugs of lemonade or sweet tea in my region (since fried chicken is popular picnic food to share with a group).

11 minutes ago, LtCasual said:

I'll give it a shot if/when the madness dies down, but I'm a little concerned because the closest Popeye's to me is a little sketch. 

Unless you're in an airport, pretty much EVERY Popeye's is "a little sketch". 

Like Long John Silver's, I don't particularly care about the cleanliness of the dining area, because I'm not planning to eat there...and I just trust that the fact that everything comes out of the fryer hot, it's "clean enough" when it goes in the bag