“wearing a watch is like being handcuffed to time.”

That's perfect! I'm stealing this. I HATE, despise, loath in every respect clocks, watches, calendars and any other form of scheduling oppression. Go pound sand - I'll show up when I show up.

I love how these extremist Christian Republicans always go on about the mark of the beast and how everyone will be forced to wear it but that the righteous man won't wear it....

All of them will do this, mark my words. These fuckers are worshipping Satan as far as they know and they're fine with it.

From: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/21/rfk-maha-ultra-processed-foods

A key adviser to Kennedy, Calley Means, could directly benefit from one of the campaign’s stated aims: popularizing “technology like wearables as cool, modern tools for measuring diet impact and taking control of your own health”.

Calley Means is a senior Kennedy adviser, and was hired as a special government employee to focus on food policy, according to Bloomberg. He founded a company that helps Americans get such wearable devices reimbursed tax-free through health savings accounts.

Casey Means is Calley’s sister. She also runs a healthcare start-up, although hers sells wearable devices such as continuous glucose monitors. She is Kennedy’s nominee for US surgeon general, and a healthcare entrepreneur whose business sells continuous glucose monitors – one such wearable device. Calley Means’s company also works with Casey’s company.

Due to Calley Means’s status as a special employee, he has not been forced to divest from his private business interests – a situation that has already resulted in an ethics complaint. Consumer advocates, such as the non-profit group Public Citizen, had warned such hiring practices could cause conflicts of interest. HHS did not respond to a request for comment about Calley Means’s private business interests, or his role in crafting the publicity campaign.

Everyone in America has to give out their social security numbers to every fucking company and government department because it’s the closest thing we have to a national ID.

Why can’t we have a real, secure, National ID system? Because it’s the mark of the beast!!

But now that RFK Jr wants to hunt people for sport I’m sure they will fall in line.

You would have a nervous breakdown in my house. Clocks in every room and 20 watches hanging in my room.

The doctor bill is separate because they're not hospital employees. The only have privileges to work at a given hospital, not for them.

The separate ER bill is likely some fuckery I'm ignorant of.

Only up to $500 though? And if you keep ignoring them, what will you do when you run out of providers? I can't go to the one hand expert in the area because I owe him money. Same for the CVS doc.

I've got 20 watches and only ever change the Swatch batteries. They're laughably inefficient. One is an old smart watch, but it needs charged daily and I'm not up to all that.

I have a decent sense of time

I don't lol. I mean can check outside, even out in the middle of nowhere, and have a rough idea; but I like knowing it because that's just how my brain works.

and an abundance of options to verify it

Sure. Phone, computer, microwave, oven, TV, wall clock, city clock tower, someone else's watch, etc. But again, I like having it right on my wrist. I've worn watches by my own choice since I was a kid, and now I've got a small collection.

Same, I loved my Pebble Time Steel. I still do, and I still wear it sometimes (still got a week long battery life), but my daily driver is my PineTime.

Interesting. I've never had an issue with it over multiple insurances. Maybe it's just the plans my employers went with ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Stop it Patrick! You're scaring him!

Dude I used my Pebble way more organically than I ever used my much fancier Fitbit

I don't know if the USA currently sells data. It appears to be illegal but the current administration doesn't always play by the rules.

Have you ever used a phrase activated voice assistant (hey Google, Alexa, Siri). They are always listening in case you use the phrase. Amazon and Google both admit they record and stores voice data. Google sells ads based on search history.

Because then I could know that I could control where the data went.

It being open source doesn't mean you can mosify and run your own software on it and still have the agency accept you are compliant.

So they aren't, and the devices work exactly as expected by the public. I'm not shocked.

Anti-science brain worm dumbfuck says what?

They send it to the same collection agency. They have never denied us care yet.

Still rocking a Pebble Steel from a decade ago, I tried a fitbit and Galaxy one but this Pebble has outlived them all. Thankfully I managed to find a silicon band for it when the leather one finally gave up on me.