Pet Peeves: Aka Things That Make You Go "Gah!"

[auntlada]

It's my understanding that someone can be what is considered mentally ill, but not be legally incompetent. I'm not a lawyer, however, and I do not play one on TV. I just watch a lot of TV (or did at one point), and we all know how realistic those crime procedural shows are. [/sarcasm]

[TurtlePower]

5 minutes ago, Quof said:

Prison is full of stupid people.  If you plan well enough, you can get away with any crime. 

I'm prior law enforcement. Most criminals are in fact stupid, though of course a few are highly intelligent (quite rare). Often shitty investigation is a reason they are not caught  

Criminals always leave something behind and take something with when it comes to crime (Locard principle). Good, thorough investigators really help I've seen some piss poor cops fuck up scenes. Might as well give a dumb criminal a free pass. 

[TattleTeeny]

1 hour ago, ennui said:

When I studied criminal justice, the biggest thing that stayed with me is that criminals do not believe they will get caught. Most of us fear prison because we assume we will be tried and convicted. So, is thinking you are outside or above the law or that you are smarter than the police a defect?

And there's that whole "policeman at the elbow"/impulse control thing too--if you're "sane" enough to stand trial, you likely deliberately committed the crimes as covertly as possible because you're well aware that you are not supposed to be doing this shit--and maybe do think you're smarter than law enforcement, either because you are dumb enough to believe that's the case or because you have some kind of raging ego business going on.

Edited August 18, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[ennui]

48 minutes ago, auntlada said:

It's my understanding that someone can be what is considered mentally ill, but not be legally incompetent. I'm not a lawyer, however, and I do not play one on TV. I just watch a lot of TV (or did at one point), and we all know how realistic those crime procedural shows are. [/sarcasm]

True. Being incapable of distinguishing right from wrong is one example. So, if you're schizophrenic but aware that killing someone is against the law, you can be tried.

1 hour ago, ParadoxLost said:

I am currently trying to get my garbage company to actually come pick up my garbage for the 5th time in two weeks.

I've had issues with our garbage service, so I feel your pain. I get annoyed when I call three times and they say they have no record of it.

[theredhead77]

10 hours ago, TurtlePower said:

FB peeve--People who post cryptic messsges on fb and then don't explain what it is. "So and so needs prayers right now" or similar post: 

"omg what happened?" "???" "what's going on?"...................

"I'll message you." 

Well fuck, why didn't you do that in the first place? Or share the post only with certain people? 

It's called vaguebooking and the best course of action is either call them out or ignore.

[AgentRXS]

Quote

 did ask that US rep once if Comcast had a "list" of customers they really dislike and screw with on purpose (Like on Seinfeld) when they call.  Because seriously, they are incompetent in every way you can imagine.  That rep said I wasn't on a list but admitted that they had one and knew how many times  I had resorted to their number.  So I use it sparingly

If my name isn't at the top of that list, then I'm in the top 10, if not the top 5. I hate Comcast but stay because AT&T is just as shitty, IMO. After losing an hour of my life (while I had company)  repeating myself to an outsourced customer service rep, only for them to eff thing ups more because they didn't understand/refused to listen, I refuse to deal with them.  The only way I get a US rep is if I speak to the Customer Retention Dept, and that's who I ask for every time I call . I know their workers hate me just as much as I hate that lousy company.

[Bastet]

I'm perfectly happy with Dish, so I have no TV issues, but all the local options for internet service have issues.  I have AT&T U-Verse, and they piss me off on the regular (I'm forever having to renegotiate my rate, and they try to sneak stuff past me - yeah, nice try), but I do always get what I want, and when I hear neighbors' horror stories about their internet providers, I don't want to switch from the devil I know to one I don't.  Charter, in particular, is horrible, and I can't believe what people are putting up with! 

Back in the day, AT&T's landline phone and DSL internet were nice and hassle free.  U-Verse ruined everything. 

[TattleTeeny]

Oh, but Bastet, you can (if you are so inclined) watch Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes on U-Verse! I cannot. PEEVED!

[Bastet]

I don't have it for TV, just my internet and phone (and AT&T switched my landline from the regular deal to U-Verse without telling me [when I switched my internet from DSL to U-Verse] and has been making up for that ever since; whenever AT&T tries to jack up the cost, I remind the rep of that fact, and negotiate getting the lowest-price "bundle" deal available for new customers at the time) . 

(For TV, I have Dish Network as my satellite provider, and I own the dish and receiver, so all I pay for each month is the programming.) 

[Qoass]

Quote

Or just the several times a day "look at me" posts. I know someone who's posted 6 times today and I'm not the only one who's stopped liking this persons posts. 

Like, in one thread, you mean? Because I think I've posted multiple times some days and I don't want to be annoying. And I love getting Likes.

[janestclair]

I have Optimum for cable, and my internet speed is noticeably slower despite them advertising it as faster, and they just added a $5 monthly modem fee.  I've had cable internet pretty much since it's been a thing, and never once paid a modem fee.  I need to find out what modem I can use, buy my own damn modem, and give them theirs back, because screw that.  Or maybe I should call, and threaten to cancel my cable to get a discount.  

[TurtlePower]

1 hour ago, Qoass said:

Like, in one thread, you mean? Because I think I've posted multiple times some days and I don't want to be annoying. And I love getting Likes.

I didn't mean here.  I meant on FB--like selfies several times a day, continuous updates and such. 

Sorry for the confusion! 

[JTMacc99]

1 hour ago, janestclair said:

I have Optimum for cable, and my internet speed is noticeably slower despite them advertising it as faster, and they just added a $5 monthly modem fee.  I've had cable internet pretty much since it's been a thing, and never once paid a modem fee.  I need to find out what modem I can use, buy my own damn modem, and give them theirs back, because screw that.  Or maybe I should call, and threaten to cancel my cable to get a discount.  

I'll come back to what modem to buy in a minute, but first I have a question for you. Is it slower on a PC connected with an Ethernet cable directly from the modem or router, or is it slower on wireless devices?

Background for the reason I ask that question:

Typical cable provider will provision the speed to be a good 25% or more faster than what is the speed a customer pays for, to ensure that even when traffic gets really high, the speed promised is delivered. So we will typically see a device connected directly to the modem with a cable to ping at about 75 Mbs for a customer paying for 60 Mbs speed.  The only customers who wouldn't get at least 60 Mbs on a device hard line connected would be someone who has an 7 or 8 year old DOCSIS 2.0 modem, which is probably only capable of delivering 25 Mbs maximum.  I don't know what Optimum's plan is, but most of us are trying like mad to get rid of the 2.0 modems. Sometimes customers just don't want to go through any trouble at all with touching equipment and will not schedule us to come in and swap it out for a brand new one. So they don't get higher speeds.

So maybe you have an older modem if the speed on a hard connected device doesn't get above 20-25 Mbs.

And that's easily solved by going out and buying one of these modems for example (assuming you don't have phone service. If you have phone, you'll need something like this.) The cheaper modem isn't on the Optimum web page as a known model that is okay, but the Q&A section says it should work and that you should still call them and ask if this model can be authorized on their network. If not, you can pick one off of their list.  I wouldn't go out and purchase a top of the line 3.0 modem right now, because eventually DOCSIS 3.1, which allows 1 Gb service today and will go higher in the future will become the standard. You want to get your money's worth from this one, and a $60 modem pays back in one year. You'd should get at least 3-4 years from it.

 

Having said all of that, if you're getting the speed on your bill on a hard wired computer but not on phones and tablets, it's the WiFi router's problem. If you pay for Optimum's WiFi service, and want to keep it, that scraps the idea of buying your own modem, but it does mean you should turn in their old modem/router and make them give you a new one that will actually give you the advertised speeds on the WiFi network.

If you have your own router, and you aren't getting the same speed on the devices as you get on the hard line, you probably just need to upgrade to a nice new AC Router. The older N technology won't go through the air at the new higher speeds, and if you have router that hasn't been swapped out in more than a half dozen years, it could even be G, which definitely isn't going to deliver good speeds.

Okay, enough of this, my lunch hour is over and I need to go back to raising the rates and providing poor service for my customers.

Edited August 18, 2017 by JTMacc99

[janestclair]

@JTMacc99, thanks for all the info! That was very helpful!  The modem is definitely older than 6 years.  I'm only getting 28Mbs on my hardwired computer instead of the advertised 60Mbs, with similarly slow speeds on Wifi devices, so it must be the modem. I also have my phone through the modem, so I'll check out that second modem you linked to.  

Thanks again!   

[JTMacc99]

ETA:  Actually, I'd like to change slightly what I'm about to say here. I think I would go ahead and swap out the old modem with Optimum (and do the complaining thing I describe below) before you go purchase anything. If you get the advertised speeds with the new Optimum modem, THEN you can feel safe to go purchase your own.

 

So the payback with the phone modem is not as great as with just internet. If they're only charging $5 a month, that's 30 months for $150 modem. If you can get one of their approved models refurbished or on eBay and hope it works, you can shorten that up.  If you decide to just pay the fee* then take the old modem to the Optimum office and tell them it doesn't seem to be giving you the right speeds and you want a new one. They will probably do so. Complain and tell them you're thinking about dropping your service because it's so expensive while you are the office. Sometimes the people working the desk have the ability to take a look at your package and say "let's see if I can save you some money".  Last time I went to the Time Warner office to return a DTA converter because I didn't want to pay the $4 for it, the kid lowered my bill by $40 for the next twelve months.

* So I said that $150 divided by $5/month is a 30 month payback. As a subject matter expert, I would probably hunt around for the best deal I could find on a phone/internet modem that will work with Optimum and do it anyway. Because I will bet you a dollar right now that the $5 modem charge will be at least $7.50 within 24 months. And if you keep renting for the next year or two, you will have given them all that money that for sure you'll stop giving them when it goes up by another $2.50/month.

And definitely check out your WiFi router while you are at it. I bit the bullet last year and got a nice new AC one like I linked above, and our home is a much happier place of streaming fools than it was before I did that.

Edited August 18, 2017 by JTMacc99

[TattleTeeny]

5 hours ago, Qoass said:

Like, in one thread, you mean? Because I think I've posted multiple times some days and I don't want to be annoying. And I love getting Likes.

Oh, everyone does and it is fun. I'm actually talking about just the selfies with everything arranged just so (and, oh my goodness, usually in the same pose every time) for the sole purpose of compliments and with one of two kinds of captions: self-deprecating or bordering on conceited.

[slf]

22 hours ago, TurtlePower said:

I'm prior law enforcement. Most criminals are in fact stupid, though of course a few are highly intelligent (quite rare). Often shitty investigation is a reason they are not caught  

Criminals always leave something behind and take something with when it comes to crime (Locard principle). Good, thorough investigators really help I've seen some piss poor cops fuck up scenes. Might as well give a dumb criminal a free pass. 

THANK YOU. God. I've watched so many true crime shows and it never fails to amaze me how investigators and journalists talk about how smart, how slick, a criminal was and when you finally get to see an interview with said criminal they're dumb AF. The thing that finally got them caught was something really obvious the police didn't pay attention to. It bothers the hell out of me, this sort of mythologizing of criminals to cover for incompetence on the part of cops. 

One of my pet peeves is when people expect me to be able to medically diagnose myself. I cannot say I feel sick or my knee hurts without certain family members wanting to know why- why exactly, is it a tendon in my knee ("I don't know, I know nothing about my knee other than it hurts"), do I have some illness? I don't know. I'm not a doctor. Maybe I'll go to the doctor and he can tell me. How is this helpful? Drives me bonkers.

[bilgistic]

I'm sure there are people in the forums who get tired of my feminist rants, but I'm glad there's an "ignore users" feature on this site. I haven't used it on any of you lovely folks in this thread, but boy, I've had to elsewhere. Emphasis on boy.

[Cherry Bomb]

2 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

I'm sure there are people in the forums who get tired of my feminist rants, but I'm glad there's an "ignore users" feature on this site. I haven't used it on any of you lovely folks in this thread, but boy, I've had to elsewhere. Emphasis on boy.

The thing is with forums is you have to be who you are and if people don't like what you are saying "So What". It is one persons point of view on something. That other person can choose to either, like you said ignore it or post there view on the subject. The problem stems when people start getting personal which there is no need for that sort of stuff on a forum. 99% of the time you are never going to meet these people on the forum so why get so involved to make something personal out of it. All that is doing is stirring up trouble in my opinion.

[Zola]

9 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

I'm sure there are people in the forums who get tired of my feminist rants, but I'm glad there's an "ignore users" feature on this site. I haven't used it on any of you lovely folks in this thread, but boy, I've had to elsewhere. Emphasis on boy.

Nothing wrong with a few feminist rants - always nice to get it off one's chest, even if some peeps choose not to read it.

[MargeGunderson]

My neighbor across the street is currently blowing leaves and debris into the street, from whence it will be blown into my yard. He does this every fall; I guess he's getting an early start. Maybe this is the year that I blow all the leaves and crap in my yard into the street on a day with a strong west wind. 

[Mindthinkr]

2 minutes ago, MargeGunderson said:

My neighbor across the street is currently blowing leaves and debris into the street, from whence it will be blown into my yard. He does this every fall; I guess he's getting an early start. Maybe this is the year that I blow all the leaves and crap in my yard into the street on a day with a strong west wind. 

Ah neighbors. Two weeks ago mine resodded their lawn. The access was way was through my property. It was pouring rain. I got deep ruts. I complained to the lawn company. They didn't regrade it but did throw some pine straw on top to disguise it. Now the rain has settled the straw and I see the ruts. I'm not happy but not ready to make enemies with the new neighbors. 

[Zola]

A petty little peeve - sometimes I may post a comment on a online newspaper article: it could be a paragraph in length, and hopefully very insightful. 

A few hour later, I go back to the article thread and see that my post may have had one or two "likes", which is fine: everyone likes a like, I  guess. But then when I read a few posts from other people I see a comment that simply says "OMG" or "Wow" or "Asshat" - and they get 9 or 10 "likes" !!

It makes me wonder about the level of debate people are willing to bother with when all they can conclude with is some asinine, but seemingly populist, comment 

[Sun-Bun]

56 minutes ago, Zola said:

A petty little peeve - sometimes I may post a comment on a online newspaper article: it could be a paragraph in length, and hopefully very insightful. 

A few hour later, I go back to the article thread and see that my post may have had one or two "likes", which is fine: everyone likes a like, I  guess. But then when I read a few posts from other people I see a comment that simply says "OMG" or "Wow" or "Asshat" - and they get 9 or 10 "likes" !!

It makes me wonder about the level of debate people are willing to bother with when all they can conclude with is some asinine, but seemingly populist, comment 

 I know what you mean---some people's most idiotic/pointless Facebook posts/comments receive far more "likes" than they dare deserve. I usually get a good amount of Likes/Comments under my photos((I don't overdo it with posting pics there either, a restraint tactic that I wish many other folks would learn: quality over quantity!!)); but then maybe I'll post an article or hilarious video clip that leaves me weeping with giggles and I'll somehow get less than half as many "likes" as usual. I don't get it.

As for the liking of comments on Facebook, I don't bother liking comments that don't even show a fair amount of humor and/or insight. And I will like the shit out of a funny gif/pic posted in response to a post there. But the people who just moronically post responses like "LOL!!!" or "IKR" or some other stupidly redundant little response irk me too. This is one reason why I love that this forum won't even allow posters to respond in such a pointlessly space-wasting fashion!

I do know that a lot of Facebook "likes" depend upon the time of day one is posting, the amount of friends/popularity one has((how many people are actually Following you regularly)), and the amount of "likes"/comments you share with others---I'm constantly having to remind my husband that if he wants to receive more likes and comments on his posts there that he'll have to give more likes and comments on his friends' posts too. I think being stingy with likes/comments at Facebook is very rude((maybe because I have had several so-called friends who got some weird power trip over denying likes/comments))---ditto Instagram. It takes barely any effort to simply touch your screen or keyboard and make a friend feel even more appreciated!

But then again, I'm a serial-liker on both forums and find it oddly relaxing to "scroll and like" after a long day of work, so whatever.

[Zola]

6 minutes ago, Sun-Bun said:

 I know what you mean---some people's most idiotic/pointless Facebook posts/comments receive far more "likes" than they dare deserve. I usually get a good amount of Likes/Comments under my photos((I don't overdo it with posting pics there either, a restraint tactic that I wish many other folks would learn: quality over quantity!!)); but then maybe I'll post an article or hilarious video clip that leaves me weeping with giggles and I'll somehow get less than half as many "likes" as usual. I don't get it.

As for the liking of comments on Facebook, I don't bother liking comments that don't even show a fair amount of humor and/or insight. And I will like the shit out of a funny gif/pic posted in response to a post there. But the people who just moronically post responses like "LOL!!!" or "IKR" or some other stupidly redundant little response irk me too. This is one reason why I love that this forum won't even allow posters to respond in such a pointlessly space-wasting fashion!

I do know that a lot of Facebook "likes" depend upon the time of day one is posting, the amount of friends/popularity one has((how many people are actually Following you regularly)), and the amount of "likes"/comments you share with others---I'm constantly having to remind my husband that if he wants to receive more likes and comments on his posts there that he'll have to give more likes and comments on his friends' posts too. I think being stingy with likes/comments at Facebook is very rude((maybe because I have had several so-called friends who got some weird power trip over denying likes/comments))---ditto Instagram. It takes barely any effort to simply touch your screen or keyboard and make a friend feel even more appreciated!

But then again, I'm a serial-liker on both forums and find it oddly relaxing to "scroll and like" after a long day of work, so whatever.

wow! 

 

(You just knew that was coming from some smartass; so it may as well be from me, lol)

[Sun-Bun]

54 minutes ago, Zola said:

wow! 

 

(You just knew that was coming from some smartass; so it may as well be from me, lol)

ROFL!!!!! ((har-har))

Okay, and as an extra online courtesy, I will *always* like any comments in response to my own posts. So there you go, @Zola. ;)

[millennium]

I have been to a couple amusement parks this summer (one just last night) and was both dismayed and annoyed by the ubiquitous loud rap/hiphop music -- some of it laced with profanity -- being played on the rides and the midway.   It was blaring away even as moms and dads were wheeling little kids around in strollers. 

It puts a grating racial edge on what should be an experience that can be enjoyed by all, regardless of background.  What happened to the old generic organ/calliope carnival music?    Why does everything today have to be ugly?

[topanga]

29 minutes ago, millennium said:

I have been to a couple amusement parks this summer (one just last night) and was both dismayed and annoyed by the ubiquitous loud rap/hiphop music -- some of it laced with profanity -- being played on the rides and the midway.   It was blaring away even as moms and dads were wheeling little kids around in strollers. 

It puts a grating racial edge on what should be an experience that can be enjoyed by all, regardless of background.  What happened to the old generic organ/calliope carnival music?    Why does everything today have to be ugly?

I totally hear you about the profanity-laced rap music. And I love calliope music at amusement parks. But I just want to point out that rap music is listened to--and performed--by people of different races and backgrounds. So the edge that the music created was based on the genre and the language, and not necessarily race.

 

On 8/17/2017 at 7:13 PM, ParadoxLost said:

I am currently trying to get my garbage company to actually come pick up my garbage for the 5th time in two weeks.  Its really starting to smell and attract flies now

Any update? Did someone come yet?

[millennium]

9 minutes ago, topanga said:

I totally hear you about the profanity-laced rap music. And I love calliope music at amusement parks. But I just want to point out that rap music is listened to--and performed--by people of different races and backgrounds. So the edge that the music created was based on the genre and the language, and not necessarily race.

I anticipated someone would say that.   I was around when Run DMC first popularized it and watched it grow through the 80s, 90s and beyond.  I don't think my impression that rap/hiphop has been a predominantly African American genre is terribly off base.   I acknowledge, it has spread to a more mainstream audience in recent years but for someone who has witnessed the evolution of the form, it's nearly impossible not to associate it with black performers/audience. 

[Cherry Bomb]

1 hour ago, topanga said:

I totally hear you about the profanity-laced rap music. And I love calliope music at amusement parks. But I just want to point out that rap music is listened to--and performed--by people of different races and backgrounds. So the edge that the music created was based on the genre and the language, and not necessarily race.

 

Any update? Did someone come yet?

First I want to say I don't get into Rap Music but really it isn't because of the profanity. Hell, you pretty much turn on the Pop Stations now and Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande, and let's not forget Miley Cyrus are swearing in a lot of music they are performing. The thing that really turns me off about Rap music is how most of the lyrics have a terrible message behind it or they are degrading to women. That is what turns me off to the whole Rap music scene. 

[BookWoman56]

I don't really like rap/hiphop, so I'm not going to debate its merits as a musical genre, but in general I despise having background music at amusement parks or other places. There's enough damn noise as it is at those places, with kids shrieking and adults arguing over what to do next, plus general chatter while posing for the gazillion selfies that must be taken to prove that people went there.  So in terms of adding even more noise to that already unpleasant mix, WTF is wrong with silence? 

[Quof]

For the love of god....

Any of you have teenagers struggling with career choices?  May I suggest a trade school to become a carpenter, or electrician.  Or just a general Handy(wo)man. 

I have about an hour's worth of handyman/carpentry type of tasks that need to be done outside.    I can do some of them, but some will require a ladder to the second floor, so it makes more sense to just a hire somebody to do it all.  You can't imagine the time I am having. Friends/spouses of friends say "they might be able to help" (I have offered cash, fresh vegetables and baked treats), but no one has really committed, so I have gone looking for a "pro."  My usual guy is injured.   People don't respond to my calls or emails.  Or they can't come for 10 days (that's the most promising so far).  One guy swears he was at my house today, as scheduled, but there was no one here.  It took a while to convince him he must have gone to the wrong house, because I was sitting here waiting for him, and yes, my car WAS in the driveway.  He might be able to come tomorrow.  

I'm at the end of my rope. 

[TurtlePower]

Autocorrect! Or should I say autoincorrect. I spend more time correcting this feature than ever before. In fact, it just turned the word "feauture" into "gesture" which I had to fucking correct. And it thinks I meant to put "ducking."  

Go duck yourself autocorrect! 

[Mindthinkr]

I have eclipse company. Why can't ppl just be on time?  After cooking dinner yesterday, only to find that it had to be served over an hour late annoyed me.  Tonight I said screw it, that I'd just take them out (I had already done breakfast and lunch) Well we are an hour late. Someone is on their phone so it looks like it will be another hour until dinner (this guest wants to shower before going and I understand, but then why didn't they make an effort to get back to the house earlier to make it timely?  Eating my dinner at bedtime is raising havoc with my stomach. Sorry. I guess I'm tired and cranky from a weekend full of catering and sleeping off schedule. 

[Quof]

I hate that.  When I'm hungry, you need to feed me NOW. 

[theredhead77]

39 minutes ago, Quof said:

For the love of god....

Any of you have teenagers struggling with career choices?  May I suggest a trade school to become a carpenter, or electrician.  Or just a general Handy(wo)man. 

I have about an hour's worth of handyman/carpentry type of tasks that need to be done outside.    I can do some of them, but some will require a ladder to the second floor, so it makes more sense to just a hire somebody to do it all.  You can't imagine the time I am having. Friends/spouses of friends say "they might be able to help" (I have offered cash, fresh vegetables and baked treats), but no one has really committed, so I have gone looking for a "pro."  My usual guy is injured.   People don't respond to my calls or emails.  Or they can't come for 10 days (that's the most promising so far).  One guy swears he was at my house today, as scheduled, but there was no one here.  It took a while to convince him he must have gone to the wrong house, because I was sitting here waiting for him, and yes, my car WAS in the driveway.  He might be able to come tomorrow.  

I'm at the end of my rope. 

Have you tried one of those apps like Task Rabbit or the newest one, Tackle?

[Quof]

Canada, no such beast : (  

I have tried the Canadian equivalent of Craig's List (Kijiji) and have had a few responses, but still no commitment.  

[ParadoxLost]

21 hours ago, topanga said:

Any update? Did someone come yet?

They have now missed the third regularly scheduled weekly pick up.  The smell and the flies are not good.  They did get the recycling but I think that is a different truck.  I don't know how they can 't recognize their own bin.  Its not like they haven't been picking it up from the exact same spot for more than ten years.

I've reached a point where I'm quoting Roadhouse in my head.  Someone is going to get an earful tomorrow.  Called their competition too.  Will likely switch, but someone is going to bear the brunt of my displeasure first.

[annzeepark914]

I'm so sick of hearing about the eclipse I could scream.  And of course, as I predicted, we had cloud cover just during the particular time we'd get to see 80% coverage (complete w/ one roll of thunder).  I'm sorry.  I'm just grouchy cause I hate when stuff is overhyped/over talked about (and then, I couldn't even witness it).  We always have cloud cover whenever something celestial occurs ;>(  Time to go read a book!

[Wiendish Fitch]

I missed the eclipse, don't even care. Now, if there was a rainbow big enough to cover the entire sky? That I'd regret missing (though a sky-covering rainbow might be cause for concern)!

[voiceover]

Putting on my professor specs for the following:

     loose: as in, "not tight"         

     lose: as in, "don't win"

And:

"A lot" is two words.*

*the motto from my undergrad English Dept, which I then wrote into every syllabus for every kind of course I ever taught

3 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I missed the eclipse, don't even care. 

If this was a t-shirt, I'd wear it all fucking week.

Edited August 22, 2017 by voiceover

[bilgistic]

40 minutes ago, voiceover said:

"A lot" is two words.*

*the motto from my undergrad English Dept, which I then wrote into every syllabus for every kind of course I ever taught

Have you read about the alot on the "Hyperbole and a Half" blog?

[voiceover]

4 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

Have you read about the alot on the "Hyperbole and a Half" blog?

Bwah!

IIRC, a former student showed me that page, or something similar.  But it's such a good read.  Thanks for posting it here!  I promptly forwarded the link to one of my undergrad profs.  

I always said that, even if that saying was the only thing I ever taught that was remembered*, I could live with it.

 

*sadly, possibly true?

[millennium]

11 hours ago, Quof said:

For the love of god....

Any of you have teenagers struggling with career choices?  May I suggest a trade school to become a carpenter, or electrician.  Or just a general Handy(wo)man. 

I have about an hour's worth of handyman/carpentry type of tasks that need to be done outside.    I can do some of them, but some will require a ladder to the second floor, so it makes more sense to just a hire somebody to do it all.  You can't imagine the time I am having. Friends/spouses of friends say "they might be able to help" (I have offered cash, fresh vegetables and baked treats), but no one has really committed, so I have gone looking for a "pro."  My usual guy is injured.   People don't respond to my calls or emails.  Or they can't come for 10 days (that's the most promising so far).  One guy swears he was at my house today, as scheduled, but there was no one here.  It took a while to convince him he must have gone to the wrong house, because I was sitting here waiting for him, and yes, my car WAS in the driveway.  He might be able to come tomorrow.  

I'm at the end of my rope. 

Your jobs are too small for today's service contractors.

Where I live, no independent contractor wants to do a job worth less than a thousand dollars.    They don't even want to come out.   And this includes jokers on Angie's List.

The only way I can get something done -- plumbing, electrician, carpentry, etc. --  is to call a larger company that has many contractors and many vehicles.

[Quof]

See, and I recognize that.  It's about an hour's worth of unskilled labour.   Surely some body (a student, an underemployed young person) would like to spend an hour of their evening or weekend to make 50-75 tax free dollars.   I just need to find them.

[Zola]

Stickers!

I don't know if I'm just unlucky, but whenever I buy say a saucepan, frying pan, a plastic lunch box, a flask etc. I will always find on opening a label stuck to it.

This label could be as simple as the name of the manufacturer; basic instructions, or a safety notice. But the bugbear is trying to unpeel it in one piece, and without leaving any gum behind! 9 times out of 10 I'm successful, but there's always one that require some soap and water and a whole lot of rubbing and careful scraping to do the job.

Yesterday, I bought some horizontal blinds for my study room; and again there was a big red "Warning" sticker on the base, which try-as-I-might couldn't remove cleanly; and is now clearly visible to all and sundry when the blind is fully up!

I do sometimes wish manufacturers would give a little thought to either a)where they put these stickers, b) more practical alternatives  

[JTMacc99]

1 hour ago, Zola said:

Stickers

You are too young to be cranky about such trivial things. Go worry about the world. Leave stickers to us older folks who have already given up on the big picture. 

[DeLurker]

1 hour ago, Quof said:

See, and I recognize that.  It's about an hour's worth of unskilled labour.   Surely some body (a student, an underemployed young person) would like to spend an hour of their evening or weekend to make 50-75 tax free dollars.   I just need to find them.

Maybe place an ad in the local college online classified or check under student entrepreneurs.  

The guys I knew who were firemen usually did jobs on the side because of their schedule. 

Good luck.

[Mindthinkr]

2 hours ago, Quof said:

See, and I recognize that.  It's about an hour's worth of unskilled labour.   Surely some body (a student, an underemployed young person) would like to spend an hour of their evening or weekend to make 50-75 tax free dollars.   I just need to find them.

Do you know a real estate person? I found mine to be a wealth of information about people available for odd jobs, as well as skilled labor. Good luck. I sympathize. Right now I need to find someone who can bring a ladder over to change my a/c filters which are 14' up. I did get the name of a handyman from the realtor so I may ask him to do it. 

[DeLurker]

1 hour ago, Mindthinkr said:

my a/c filters which are 14' up

My Mom's are like that too - maddening!  She has the ladder, purchased for that sole purpose, but as she gets older it is no longer a good idea that she do it.  I think she's finally passed the stage of rejecting her children's concerns as nonsense.  But I made sure my son did it before we left there a few weeks ago, so they should be good for a few more months.