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

[Bastet]

I like the McMansion hell website, but had forgotten all about it - thanks for the reminder.

My pet peeve for today is how fucking awful the Giants have been so far this season.  I know it's only less than a half into week two, but damn. 

Also that I forgot to turn off the ringer on the phone in my parents' bedroom when I went to bed there last night (I'm kitty-sitting every other night while they're on vacation, and I sleep in their room rather than my old room because it has a Sleep Number mattress [so I can make it feel just like my mattress, plus they have a much fancier version than mine so I can elevate the head to watch TV, elevate the feet to help my circulation if my feet/legs are sore, etc.], a king-size to accommodate two cats and me, and a big ol' TV).  They have one of those phone numbers that, despite being on the Do Not Call registry, gets a shit ton of sales/scam calls.  They have a call blocker device that blocks them after one ring, but that one ring starts at some unholy hour.  So I got woken up at seven-something, thought, "I need to turn that off," and went back to sleep, then got woken up at eight-something - lather, rinse, repeat.  It's off now, along with the ringers on all but the living room phone, which is far enough away it generally doesn't wake me, so I'll be good for the rest of their trip.  But every time it woke me up, it woke Chester up, and he tried to lick me into agreeing to get up and feed him. 

[Mindthinkr]

2 minutes ago, Bastet said:

But every time it woke me up, it woke Chester up, and he tried to lick me into agreeing to get up and feed him. 

Funny how when we wake up, the cats think that it's an auto response for us feed them. Mine have me trained to feed them before I even put the kettle on for a cuppa. Spoiled rotten I tell you! 

[TattleTeeny]

26 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

The phone ring tones catch me off guard. I start looking for my phone only to realize that it's not mine! 

I do this even when the ring sound is not even remotely like mine! 

Someone in my office has the ring tone that sounds like an old-school corded phone; every time I hear it, I think of the movie Cujo.

[Mindthinkr]

3 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

I do this even when the ring sound is not even remotely like mine! 

Exactly lol! 

[Moose135]

39 minutes ago, Bastet said:

My pet peeve for today is how fucking awful the Giants have been so far this season.  I know it's only less than a half into week two, but damn. 

They've looked awful so far this season.  Their O-line (again) is killing them.

[Tunia]

I want to do serious harm to whoever coined the term "nothingburger" to indicate something of minor importance.  It's bad enough that the word itself is annoying as hell, but I'm hearing it used more and more by seemingly concise, educated and prominent commentators on otherwise serious programming, such as The Rachel Maddow Show, Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Meet The Press, Anderson Cooper 360,  and the like.  GAHHHHHH!   Thank you...I needed to get that out.

[riley702]

4 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

I do this even when the ring sound is not even remotely like mine! 

Someone in my office has the ring tone that sounds like an old-school corded phone; every time I hear it, I think of the movie Cujo.

I'm sorry. I'll put it on vibrate.

[JTMacc99]

10 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

Just as commercials and songs on radio stations shouldn't be allowed to use certain traffic noises, TV commercials shouldn't be allowed to use ringing door bells in their commercials.

My dogs love those commercials. 

And yes @Bastet, the Giants need to get their act together and fast. Too much talent to suck like this. 

[Qoass]

Quote

  22 HOURS AGO, QOASS SAID:

So this week's Entertainment Weekly is a double issue again so obviously they're trying to transition to fewer issues a year. How clever of them to place the cover photo so that it obscures the "weekly" part of the logo.

Good grief, you mean there aren't enough movies, TV shows, books, plays, video games, etc. to fill one issue every seven days? But you have plenty of material for your website and podcasts. Grrr.

Maybe something to do with less overhead?

Except I'm PAYING for the magazine which also has ads in it. The podcasts are free to all.

[Zola]

TV ads.

They really do my head in sometimes, especially at peak time. On terrestrial TV (ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 etc.) the ads seem to go on forever, although I think its more like 12 minutes per hour (which is the current UK limit); but that doesn't factor in channel trailers, which bites another couple of minutes into the hour - so 14-15 minutes typically. That said, terrestrial commercial TV is free-to-air here.

When I used to have Sky Satellite, not only did I have to pay an expensive monthly subscription, but had to put up with those TV ads as well - double whammy. So it was quite annoying having to pay £50-£70 per month just for the privilege of watching premier film channels, AND having to put up with 15-20 minutes worth of ads and trailers per hour! So I canned Sky and went to Kodi.

I'd be interested to know how many minutes per hour Americans have to put up with, especially at peak time? I recall watching a Super Bowl game a year or so ago, and nearly every couple of minutes there was an ad break!

That would totally drive me insane.

[JTMacc99]

TV and Movies are extraordinarily expensive to produce. Even the bad ones.

The money has to come from somewhere. We can either pay a hell of a lot more through subscriptions and direct purchases, or we can put up with advertising. 

 

Sorry. One of my pet peeves is complaining about having to pay for entertainment. It's best summed up by this line in an episodes of The Simpsons when they were discussing not wanting to pay for a movie ticket: "All we want is brand-new, big budget entertainment in our homes for nothin'. Why doesn't Hollywood get that?"  

[auntlada]

I've been watching a lot of Netflix lately, and while the lack of commercials means I can see a whole show faster (I am catching up on stuff made for broadcast TV), it also means I don't have breaks for going to the bathroom, getting a snack or looking at the book or screen in my lap. (I like to do crosswords while watching TV. Yes, I am one of those people who wants to do more tham one thing at a time. Otherwise, I fall asleep in front of the TV because I really ought to be in bed.)

I can always pause the show, of course, but it's just not the same. I have to choose to take a break, and sometimes that's just too much work.

I have also realized that by not watching commercials, I almost never know what new movies or TV shows are coming.

[TattleTeeny]

Do younger siblings ever stop being copycats? I mean, whatever--people need to do what makes them happy and all, and who really gives a damn but sometimes you just want to say cut the shit, man!

OK, I feel better now!

Aunt Lada, I'm the same way but also I sometimes feel like the DVR makes me take longer to watch stuff because I have the ability to pause every time some random thing I want to do crosses my mind.

Edited September 19, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[EighteenTwelve]

DVR pet peeve: the only thing I record is football games, and I don't always have three and a half hours to watch the whole recording.  Either it's not possible to stop watching a recording before the end, or I haven't figured out the right question to ask Google.

[Mindthinkr]

Here's one:

The Drs office is calling in a prescription. You go to the pharmacy 6 hrs later to pick it up. You are supposed to be getting 3 (I made this trip as a kind gesture for someone else). Pharmacy states there is only 1. So you get it, and take it to the sick person. The ill person calls the pharmacy to ask where the other 2 are. One of the other 2 were there but the technician could only find only 1 (and yes I explained that I was supposed to be picking up 3). Now a second trip is necessary today to get the second one. The insurance won't pay for the other one until tomorrow so a third trip will be necessary tomorrow. No good deed goes unpunished lol. 

[JTMacc99]

3 hours ago, auntlada said:

I've been watching a lot of Netflix lately, and while the lack of commercials means I can see a whole show faster

On my topic of entertainment not being cheap:

Netflix's business model is unsustainable without at some point splitting the service like a Spotify or Pandora, where we pay more for commercial free or live with advertisements.  

The big thing preventing them from doing it right now is that they don't want to share how many people viewed what. That information will be required to sell advertising, but it would also give the companies who sell content to them power of pricing they currently don't have. 

Regardless of that, at some point Netflix is bound to have commercials.

Edited September 19, 2017 by JTMacc99

[auntlada]

I'm OK with that, really. I also have Hulu and don't mind the commercials. I have Netflix because I almost never watch live TV because I can't watch what I want to watch when it is on. Either we are busy or the boy is still awake. He's too young for soapy drama or crime procedurals, and I don't want to have to explain the jokes on the comedies. Also we use it for movies -- along with Amazon and Hulu.

We used to have TiVo, but it was really old and didn't work with our cable when the cable company changed something (I did not understand what). It would have cost a lot more to upgrade, so we just got Netflix instead.

I am old, though, and am used to commercials. The thing I really miss is flipping channels and finding stuff that I didn't know I wanted to watch right then but that I do. Now I have to actually pick something.

[BooksRule]

I'm beginning to check ahead on the TV onscreen guide (and online) to find out when my favorite shows will be beginning their new seasons.  I've already set the DVR for 'The Big Bang Theory' and 'NCIS: NO' for next week's premieres, and still have to get 'Grey's Anatomy' set.  I think the other shows I watch won't start until October.  I know I'll soon have a peeve to report when there will be one night each week that will have several shows all bunched up at the same time on different channels and I can't record/watch more than two at a time, while other nights don't have anything scheduled that I watch.  I don't watch that many shows--I hate it when the networks don't take me into consideration when they schedule the shows and don't spread them out a little more, LOL!  

Edited September 19, 2017 by BooksRule

[peacheslatour]

20 hours ago, auntlada said:

I'm OK with that, really. I also have Hulu and don't mind the commercials. I have Netflix because I almost never watch live TV because I can't watch what I want to watch when it is on. Either we are busy or the boy is still awake. He's too young for soapy drama or crime procedurals, and I don't want to have to explain the jokes on the comedies. Also we use it for movies -- along with Amazon and Hulu.

We used to have TiVo, but it was really old and didn't work with our cable when the cable company changed something (I did not understand what). It would have cost a lot more to upgrade, so we just got Netflix instead.

I am old, though, and am used to commercials. The thing I really miss is flipping channels and finding stuff that I didn't know I wanted to watch right then but that I do. Now I have to actually pick something.

Lol. That's why we almost never watch any of our approximately fifty two thousand, nine hundred and sixty eight dvd's any more. Too many decisions. I like to be pleasantly surprised.

[Katy M]

I had to change the batteries in the smoke detector (which oddly enough did not die at 2 a.m., it was more like 9 p.m.) and my pet peeve is either that I'm short or that the ceiling is too high up.

[topanga]

12 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I had to change the batteries in the smoke detector (which oddly enough did not die at 2 a.m., it was more like 9 p.m.) and my pet peeve is either that I'm short or that the ceiling is too high up.

The ceiling is too high up.Ha. 'Things Never Heard on House Hunters for $1000, Alex.'

[Katy M]

15 minutes ago, topanga said:

The ceiling is too high up.Ha. 'Things Never Heard on House Hunters for $1000, Alex.'

I wonder why not. Low ceilings are good.  They keep your heating bill down.  I mean as long as they're at least 6 and a half feet or so, so that nobody is hitting their head.  But, I had to get a chair and then put a big book on top of the chair, and I was just like "this is so not going to end well."  But, I did not end up falling to an embarrassing death after all.

[MrSmith]

On 8/24/2017 at 3:41 PM, Mindthinkr said:

I don't drink much soda...I was always told to wash the can tops before drinking out of them because when in storage they can sometimes be sprayed with a insect or rodent repellent. I guess the answer is to literally wash everything that can be washed. This includes cans before opening them. 

 

On 8/24/2017 at 7:40 PM, Smurf said:

Ewwww, Thanx for posting that. I don't drink much soda but I do drink a lot of Water Bottles and Snapple Teas. That is just gross to think.

Hope no one has a Pet Peeve of Thanks being spelled Thanx. :)

 

On 8/25/2017 at 1:14 AM, bilgistic said:

Dang, I was waiting for something really gross. I've heard about rats running over tops of cans and leaving poo behind.

This is also why you wash the tops of cans off. Rats and mice defecating on cans is not an urban legend.

[MrSmith]

On 8/25/2017 at 0:14 PM, Blergh said:

Anyone else see this in their locale yet?  HALLOWEEN store displays over two months before the actual event! ARGH!!

 

 Come on. I know summer's over, the kids are back-to-school but can't they just let folks have normal non-holiday downtime for even a few weeks  in the stores before having to hype displays and costumes that'll likely be ignored/forgotten about by those few folks' kids who successfully pester their folks to buy?

 Sadly, I'm already anticipating the hours-long 'downtime' between Halloween and Christmas Day that'll happen in the wee hours of November 1st. Boo.

That's cute. You think there will be time between Halloween stuff being displayed and Christmas stuff being displayed. All the stores we frequent (not just Wal-Mart) for the last several years bring out Christmas stuff while the Halloween stuff is still out. I hate it. I also hate that stores are open on Thanksgiving Day. If anyone deserves to have a day off from work to spend with their families, it's the people who work those jobs - especially the people who depend on those jobs for their survival. Plus, I just think this country needs to have at least one(!) day every year where everything is closed and nothing is transacted.

[MrSmith]

On 9/19/2017 at 1:56 PM, JTMacc99 said:

On my topic of entertainment not being cheap:

Netflix's business model is unsustainable without at some point splitting the service like a Spotify or Pandora, where we pay more for commercial free or live with advertisements.  

The big thing preventing them from doing it right now is that they don't want to share how many people viewed what. That information will be required to sell advertising, but it would also give the companies who sell content to them power of pricing they currently don't have. 

Regardless of that, at some point Netflix is bound to have commercials.

If they have commercials on Netflix, then it's not worth as much to me. Of course, there are shows on Netflix that I'm hooked on (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, future Punisher series) and so they'd still get my $11 every month. I don't subscribe to Hulu because I feel like I'm getting nickel-and-dimed. Of course, I still have a full cable subscription, which contributes to my feeling that way.

[Katy M]

35 minutes ago, MrSmith said:

That's cute. You think there will be time between Halloween stuff being displayed and Christmas stuff being displayed. All the stores we frequent (not just Wal-Mart) for the last several years bring out Christmas stuff while the Halloween stuff is still out. I hate it. I also hate that stores are open on Thanksgiving Day. If anyone deserves to have a day off from work to spend with their families, it's the people who work those jobs - especially the people who depend on those jobs for their survival. Plus, I just think this country needs to have at least one(!) day every year where everything is closed and nothing is transacted.

I try not to get "too judgy" but my best friend has taken to going to WalMart on Thanskgiving Day ever since they decided they needed to open earlier.  I tell her not to (because I'm bossy and admit it).  She asked why not and I said nobody should have to work on Thanksgiving.  Of course, doctors and nurses and police officers, etc, will have to because that's just life, but not minimum wage service workers.  She said they don't have to work, and I told her not to be sure about that.  And then I dropped it.  But, ugh, it just annoys me to no end.

[Mindthinkr]

If enough people boycott then it has the propensity to change. 

Too many people I know would agree too, but then the marketing and prices would draw them in. 

[auntlada]

Our Walmarts have always been open Thanksgiving Day, not just in recent years. They close for 24 hours at Christmas.

The grocery stores were traditionally open on Thanksgiving morning as well, presumably for people who forgot an ingredient or ran out of something.

[peacheslatour]

On 9/18/2017 at 11:13 AM, annzeepark914 said:

Years ago I decided I'd had it with men telling certain jokes that always made fun of either female anatomy or female intelligence.  I started speaking up and saying, "Hey - I don't want to hear these jokes".  And I'd say it whenever "those jokes" would start up (I'd say it in a semi-fun, little bit of drama way, raising my hands).  Fortunately I changed jobs a few years after that and didn't have to endure that stuff any more.  @Zola--it's never your fault!

In late on this. I told my husband in no uncertain terms when we first got together that jokes about women and their anatomy were right out. If he were to attempt to tell me such a joke, I would leave the room. He got the message.

[KittyMom4]

4 minutes ago, auntlada said:

Our Walmarts have always been open Thanksgiving Day, not just in recent years. They close for 24 hours at Christmas.

The grocery stores were traditionally open on Thanksgiving morning as well, presumably for people who forgot an ingredient or ran out of something.

LOL, the last part of your post "presumably for people who forgot an ingredient or ran out of something", my daughters both work for a major grocery store chain and tell me stories of customers who come in to do their regular full cart shopping on Thanksgiving, customers who wait until that day to get a FROZEN turkey and then complain after the holiday that it didn't thaw in time, customers who come in 15 minutes before close, when all the employees are trying to get out and be with their families, and get huffy when they are told they only have 15 minutes to shop. The best story was the customer who came in to get the on-sale turkey to find out we had sold out and then demanded that he get a fully cooked Thanksgiving dinner for free since the store ruined his family dinner by not having a turkey available. 

I refuse to shop on Thanksgiving Day, and while I don't judge anyone who does, I do judge those who are rude and selfish to the retail employees who don't get to enjoy the holiday with their families because they have to work. 

[peacheslatour]

Quote

 refuse to shop on Thanksgiving Day, and while I don't judge anyone who does

I do to a point. If you are so disorganized that you have to your shopping on a holiday, I don't have much sympathy.

[Katy M]

34 minutes ago, GoodieGirl said:

The best story was the customer who came in to get the on-sale turkey to find out we had sold out and then demanded that he get a fully cooked Thanksgiving dinner for free since the store ruined his family dinner by not having a turkey available. 

I think I'll try that some time. Just my luck they'll have a whole bevy of frozen turkeys left Thanksgiving morning.  JK. 

I remember once when I was in HS I was working at McDonald's. This guy came in at 10 at night when everything is cook to order.  (still took less than 5 minutes).  Anyway, he asked what we had ready and I told him it was cook to order.  He yelled at me and said he was hypoglycemic and could not wait to eat.  I got a bit snippy and told him to look around and notice he was the only customer and obviously if we kept food cooked we'd just have to throw most of it out.  He actually apologized and asked how long a cheeseburger would take.  I think the answer was 2 minutes.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 9/18/2017 at 6:38 PM, Bastet said:

I like the McMansion hell website, but had forgotten all about it - thanks for the reminder.

I found it a while back and haven't looked at it lately, but I did learn a lot, especially about things like window placement and symmetry--things I would never be able to put my finger on.

 

On 9/19/2017 at 6:47 AM, Zola said:

I'd be interested to know how many minutes per hour Americans have to put up with, especially at peak time? I recall watching a Super Bowl game a year or so ago, and nearly every couple of minutes there was an ad break!

Most 30-minute programs are I think 22 minutes of content, and hour-long programs are 44 minutes.  Something around that.  When they show the full one-hour British Top Gear on American TV, the slot they give it is an hour an 20 minutes, because BBC America adds commercials. 

I do wonder how football games sell ads, since you can't know for sure how much down time there's going to be, especially because it can go into overtime.  I'm sure with the Super Bowl, they program the commercials first, and fit the game into allotted spaces.

 

 

On 9/19/2017 at 8:25 AM, auntlada said:

I've been watching a lot of Netflix lately, and while the lack of commercials means I can see a whole show faster (I am catching up on stuff made for broadcast TV), it also means I don't have breaks for going to the bathroom, getting a snack or looking at the book or screen in my lap. (I like to do crosswords while watching TV. Yes, I am one of those people who wants to do more tham one thing at a time. Otherwise, I fall asleep in front of the TV because I really ought to be in bed.)

I can always pause the show, of course, but it's just not the same. I have to choose to take a break, and sometimes that's just too much work.

I have also realized that by not watching commercials, I almost never know what new movies or TV shows are coming.

I can't have a DVR, but I do have a recording device that uses a hard drive (like a VCR, but no tapes).  The only way something gets recorded is if I set a timer (like a VCR), but if it's not recording a timed event, it caches six hours worth of whatever's being shows (that's dictated by the satellite receiver).  It's clunky, but beats the hell out of tapes.

HOWEVER, it has this "feature" where after a timed event ends, it turns itself off, so it's not caching.  After the timed event, a screen comes up that asks if you want the machine to turn off, but the default is OFF.  I hate it because there's stuff I don't want to bother to set a timer for (or to use up disk space for), but I wouldn't mind catching it if it's in the cache.  But then the other day, I noticed that it wasn't turning itself off.  YAY!!! 

But why?  It worked one way for several years, and now this??  I started doing testing, by doing timed events that started when the machine was on and when the machine was off, and it didn't make a difference--it stayed on after the timed event.   It was doing the same thing it's always done, only now staying on instead of turning off.  Weird.  But good.

But then a week later, it's gone back to turning itself off.  WTF?  It's not hooked up to anything other than to receive whatever the satellite receiver is giving it, so it's not like it updated something inside.  I had a brief period of happiness, but all it's done is reminded me how little control we have over electronics, when control over electronics should be the easiest thing in the world to have.  They're programmed.  Just program them another way.  Sheeeesh.

And, my satellite receiver allows me to "autotune" programs, so the receiver switches the channel to that show.  But some channels (some of which are known to be "interactive" ones, like the Weather Channel) won't allow themselves to be switched away from with an autotune.  So if the receiver was left on the Weather Channel, it won't change over to the movie I autotuned unless at some point I've hit a button (any button) while the receiver was on the Weather Channel--I think of it as taking it out of its trance.  CNN was like that for a while, but is now "normal" and doesn't block succeeding autotunes.  Sports channels like ESPN do it, even though not all of them are interactive.  I can't imagine the hours of my time that's been spent trying to figure all this out. 

But back to commercials, even when I watch something "live," I don't start it until 15 minutes in, so I can skip the commercials.  My 30-second skip button doesn't work well, so I actually FF through them, and have to watch what's going by to know when to stop, and I do every once in a while see something like a commercial for the season premiere of a show I watch, and I stop it to get that information.  But I just can't stand to sit there while commercials run in real time. 

I've watched a couple of things over the internet, when I've had a good enough connection, and the commercials that you can't skip through drive me insane.  There's no way I'll ever get used to commercials again.

[annzeepark914]

On 9/21/2017 at 2:27 PM, MrSmith said:

That's cute. You think there will be time between Halloween stuff being displayed and Christmas stuff being displayed. All the stores we frequent (not just Wal-Mart) for the last several years bring out Christmas stuff while the Halloween stuff is still out. I hate it. I also hate that stores are open on Thanksgiving Day. If anyone deserves to have a day off from work to spend with their families, it's the people who work those jobs - especially the people who depend on those jobs for their survival. Plus, I just think this country needs to have at least one(!) day every year where everything is closed and nothing is transacted.

Several years ago I saw faux Christmas trees out on the floor in Lord & Taylor's the day before Labor Day weekend.  They hadn't been set up at that point but they were out and about, so to speak.

[MrSmith]

17 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

Several years ago I saw faux Christmas trees out on the floor in Lord & Taylor's the day before Labor Day weekend.  They hadn't been set up at that point but they were out and about, so to speak.

That would revolt me. I probably would stop what I was doing and leave. There's absolutely no reason to set up Christmas stuff until late November.

[bilgistic]

I was getting spaghetti noodles out of the pantry and dropped the sauce jar sitting beside the noodles. In what felt like slow motion (noooooooo...!), the jar broke and sauce went everywhere, including in the metal track for the sliding pantry door. I have another jar in the fridge, but I didn't want spaghetti any more after cleaning up all that sauce. It's even underneath where the vinyl flooring has lifted from age next to the track. I was digging out sauce with a tiny spoon.

I very stupidly started picking up the sauce with a dishtowel and dumping it in the sink. While I picked out most of the glass that fell in, the disposal has seized up. It's times like this that I'm glad I rent my apartment but I'm not sure how the maintenance crew is going to get it working again without disassembling it.

I feel like an idiot.

[theredhead77]

That's something I would do @bilgistic. Sometimes I have to tell myself "I'm not the first and I won't be the last person to do [fill in the blank].

Re: Christmas decor up way too early, years ago at Target (it was like September) I wandered upon their Christmas display and let out this OMG, are you kidding me. The employee didn't miss a beat and answered with I know, right? It's not even Halloween.

In my world there is no Halloween until October 1st and Christmas season doesn't start until Black Friday.

[auntlada]

I have been thinking about Halloween and decorations probably since last Halloween, although I won't start on anything until it is too late to do what I had in mind.

I also think about Christmas presents and decorations year-round. I think I just want to decorate the house for holidays. I ought to do others as well, but I never think about it until too late.

I guess my peeve is that I procrastinate. You'd think I would do something about that.

[Mindthinkr]

25 minutes ago, auntlada said:

I have been thinking about Halloween and decorations probably since last Halloween, although I won't start on anything until it is too late to do what I had in mind.

I also think about Christmas presents and decorations year-round. I think I just want to decorate the house for holidays. I ought to do others as well, but I never think about it until too late.

I guess my peeve is that I procrastinate. You'd think I would do something about that.

Last year when I went out to get stuff to decorate for Halloween, in the beginning of October, they were all sold out. Same crap happened when I was looking for a cornucopia at Thanksgiving. It's as though everyone has been trained to shop a season early due to this change in marketing. I strongly dislike this new trend  

I travel a fair bit. When I see cute or interesting things that I think someone would like, I buy them and stick them away in a closet. This also reduces the amount of actual Christmas shopping I have to do during the holidays. My other strategy about this is that prices are marked up for the holidays. I dislike having to shop in crowds so don't do the big sales/Black Friday discount days. That's a strike against me...or my pocketbook. 

Museums are a great place to find different and interesting stuff. 

 

Lol, you are just procrastinating doing something about your procrastination! 

[ABay]

You'll get around to doing something about your procrastination. Eventually.

This morning, I accidentally took the girl cat's medicine along with my own. It's probably surprising it hasn't happened before this since I use the same pill cutter for hers and mine and prepare everything together. CVS didn't think it would be a problem because it's such a small dose and leaves the system quickly. It's been about 5 hours and the only side effect is obsessively self-monitoring for side effects.

[annzeepark914]

Egads!  Between ABay taking her cat's meds and bilgistic having sauce flying all over the kitchen, my flat tire this morning (sitting in the garage, thank God) doesn't feel so bad now. AAA is repairing the tire right now so I can use it when they leave. Whew!  Now, ABay...if you start hissing or purring, let us know immediately (you know us--we'll be sure to come up with a cure).  And bilgistic?  Pour yourself a glass of Prosecco or other wine and try to relax (then pour another glass for good measure!)

[MargeGunderson]

An update to my extra nightstand problem (recap: Overstock.com sent me an extra nightstand, then wanted me to haul it to a UPS store to return): I swapped the extra nightstand for one I originally put next to my bed that turned out to have a drawer that didn't like to stay close unless slammed. Guess it was good to get an extra! The other one I put on Craigslist for a very reasonable price (and a caveat about the cranky drawer).

Thanks everyone who convinced me that it was OK not to send it back, which would have been a pain to deal with. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

17 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I was getting spaghetti noodles out of the pantry and dropped the sauce jar sitting beside the noodles. In what felt like slow motion (noooooooo...!), the jar broke and sauce went everywhere, including in the metal track for the sliding pantry door. I have another jar in the fridge, but I didn't want spaghetti any more after cleaning up all that sauce. It's even underneath where the vinyl flooring has lifted from age next to the track. I was digging out sauce with a tiny spoon.

It's a story that works best in person, but I'm reminded of the time Mr. Outlier (before he knew me, thank heavens) had a critter die in the attic and he was on a ladder pulling down the access door and there was a dead rat on it, and it slid off that door and onto Mr. O, bounce bounce bounce, and when it hit the floor, maggots exploded out of it, and a bunch of them ran under the metal thing that is between carpet and vinyl flooring, and for a long time afterward, every time someone would step on it, maggots would come out.

When he told me this, I was like, "Now exactly which side of your head did that rat land on?" 

[MargeGunderson]

@StatisticalOutlier, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a nightmare about this tonight. Shudder.

[bilgistic]

OH DEAR GOD! That story needs a warning!

...while it reminds me of the time my mom and I killed a spider at my sister's house.

Spoiler

It was a mother spider, and allllll the newly hatched baby spiders bursted out and ran free on the carpet.

[Petunia13]

On 9/21/2017 at 2:24 PM, auntlada said:

Our Walmarts have always been open Thanksgiving Day, not just in recent years. They close for 24 hours at Christmas.

The grocery stores were traditionally open on Thanksgiving morning as well, presumably for people who forgot an ingredient or ran out of something.

The big box liquor chain in my region is also open on thanksgiving and Christmas. Last minute hostess gifts guests grab. I worked it one year as my second job and everyone was so happy and elated! Haha 

[Mindthinkr]

@StatisticalOutlier  Gosh, and I just finished an afternoon snack...ewww...

Glad it was before your time! 

[janestclair]

Oh god, the maggots and the spiders are both disgusting and I'm not sure which is worse.

So today is the first full day of fall, which makes it officially ok to put out Halloween decorations and such.  I don't want to think about Halloween when I'm back to school shopping.  On the topic of fall, I think pumpkin spice is officially played out - I saw pumpkin spice flavored dog treats in the store. 

[bilgistic]

51 minutes ago, janestclair said:

On the topic of fall, I think pumpkin spice is officially played out - I saw pumpkin spice flavored dog treats in the store. 

This reminded me of this article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/i-used-every-pumpkin-spice-product-i-could-find-for-a-week-now-my-armpits-smell-like-nutmeg/2017/09/13/a2d52580-926b-11e7-8754-d478688d23b4_story.html?utm_term=.6e8e5f911041

[MargeGunderson]

4 hours ago, bilgistic said:

OH DEAR GOD! That story needs a warning!

...while it reminds me of the time my mom and I killed a spider at my sister's house.

  Reveal hidden contents

It was a mother spider, and allllll the newly hatched baby spiders bursted out and ran free on the carpet.

I knew I shouldn't have revealed the hidden contents. Now I'm not going to sleep at all.