My Dad has a wood pellet stove. The wood pellets come in 40 pound bags, which is too heavy for my dad to bring in from the garage. So usually every Sunday when I visit, I bring in 8-9 bags. Well this Sunday they were predicting a nasty Nor'Easter. So I called my brother (who lives in the same town as Dad) and asked him to go over and bring in the pellets as I might not make it over because of the storm. He said he would.
So Sunday morning, the storm is really raging. I could have made it, but I didn't want Dad out driving, even the short trip to the train station to get me. So, I call him to say that I'm not coming. I also ask if my brother had come to bring in pellets. My Dad said that my nephew was over (This nephew is in the Marines and on leave right now) Dad said he told my nephew not to bring in any pellets as I would do it. It is our (mine and Dad's) system. Dad also said that he didn't even think about the storm. ARGH!!!!!!! I then told Dad that if anyone ever offered to bring in pellets, to let them. I also told him that I had called my brother to come over and bring in some pellets.
I should call my brother back so he can go over and bring in more pellets.
Posted by matlock on :
We had to have a new water line put in from the meter into the house. The existing line was polybutylene pipe which was the subject of a class action suit because it was faulty - it gets dry rot of all things. To make it more fun, whoever built our house ran the water line under where they laid the driveway, and up under the slab and into the house... somewhere. So a whole new line had to be laid leading into the garage and up over the ceiling into the utility room. My in-laws picked up the tab for now (really makes you feel good) and we'll pay them back over time. We can still apply to get a payout on the class action suit, I think. Sometimes I miss living in an apartment, yes I do.
Posted by Lard Lad on :
Bitch-bitch-BITCH!
Ah, I feel much better, now!
Posted by Spellbinder on :
When I saw moaning and groaning in the thread title, I foolishly assumed it was going to be a thread of a different type Posted by CJ Taylor on :
Cake has forced itself on us for the last time. You'll see- the penguins will never stand for such a waste of flour.
Posted by Kent Shakespeare on :
quote:Originally posted by Spellbinder: When I saw moaning and groaning in the thread title, I foolishly assumed it was going to be a thread of a different type
Somebody was bound to make the assumption. I might as well have been you.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
I'm coming down with a cold a week before Christmas. And taking a sick day during our busy time is out of the question.
<---------- annoyed.
Posted by Rockhopper Lad on :
quote:Originally posted by CJ Taylor: Cake has forced itself on us for the last time. You'll see- the penguins will never stand for such a waste of flour.
Actually, I've always sort of preferred cookies.
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
OK, so I got a pair of those combination mittens/fingerless gloves (where you can flip the mitten part over the fingers and take it off when you need to use your fingers for something) And I find that when I take the mitten part off, my fingers feel much colder than when I would take my whole glove off.
I have several theories to explain this. 1) because my hand remains in the glove part, my fingers feel colder by contrast with my hand that remains warm, or 2) the mittens keep my whole hand warmer than the glove did, so I didn't notice much difference when taking off my glove.
Does anyone have any other explanations?
Posted by Ram Boy on :
The circulation in your hand is decreased by wearing the glove? It's a haunted evil glove?
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
My Vent of the day:
On my way to my school library there is a + intersection. The street running vertical is one way heading from south to north. The left hand street is one way heading away from the intersection. Cars on the vertical street can turn right unto the right hand street, which also has cars traveling from the right to the left (either going straight or making a right turn). The right hand street has two lanes for those traveling left and one lane for those turning into the street. It is a tight turn.
The lights and walk signal for this intersection work amazingly well. The cars on the right hand street go first, then the cars on the vertical street go (either going straight or making a right turn). Finally all cars are stopped and pedestrians can cross.
And now here is the vent. Some people stand in the street right where the cars on the vertical street make the right turn. Some people cross the right hand street while the vertical street has the green light and the "don't walk" sign is on. This will screw up the traffic. What annoys me the most of these jaywalkers is the ones who just amble along as if they are the only ones on the street.
Now I have jaywalked this street myself. However, I make sure there are no cars coming to make the right turn.
I have vented.
Posted by mechana on :
Supermarkets:
People who stand in the aisle having a chat or examining the merchandise, oblivious to everyone around them, with their cart in the middle of the aisle so no one can pass them on either side.
Expired products on the shelves. I have found products on the shelves that have been expired by months! Does no one check for these things, or do they hope we won't notice? I shop in a very popular and busy market, so there's no excuse for it!
Posted by Kent Shakespeare on :
I agree.
I love the people whose carts are all the way on one side of the aisle, yet they have to reach out and strech across to the other, so they make sure to block the whole aisle.
I have better luck on expirations, although a tiny supermarket I used to go to had a problem with that.
I also dislike people who have to come to a complete stop once making it through the exit door, completely blocking those behind them. The rest of us would like to get out, too!
And then of course the people in line ahead of you that have to make a mad rush for that one forgotten item, leaving everyone else waiting because they are 3/4 rung-up, so the cashier is stuck, too. Some people do that in the express lane, too!
Posted by Faraway Lad on :
In Department Stores. People who stop at the top of the escalator's to look to see where they want to go. Comming up fast behind them with nowhere to go I am sure one of these days I am going to just knock em over and cause a pile up.
Move away from the top of the stairs godammit, then you can look around in peace.
Posted by Harbinger on :
The bloody rain, and flipping cold winds screamin off the north sea! I just hate them, there's no other word for it, I hate hate hate them. Winter is horrid to people with long hair!
If I didn't know it would make me look shorter I'd get a crew cut and wear a woolly hat.
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
quote:Originally posted by Faraway Lad: In Department Stores. People who stop at the top of the escalator's to look to see where they want to go. Comming up fast behind them with nowhere to go I am sure one of these days I am going to just knock em over and cause a pile up.
Move away from the top of the stairs godammit, then you can look around in peace.
I was a couple of people behind a couple who did this exiting the subway once. And it is not like the people behind them can stop going up.
No consideration for other people.
Posted by Caliente on :
It rained today. Now, I like the rain. A lot. But I have to walk to school. It took twenty minutes. IN THE RAIN. With cars NOT stopping for me and lots of general WETNESS. Twenty there, twenty back. I was tre bummed. And wet. My poor jeans...
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
quote:Originally posted by Caliente: It rained today. Now, I like the rain. A lot. But I have to walk to school. It took twenty minutes. IN THE RAIN. With cars NOT stopping for me and lots of general WETNESS. Twenty there, twenty back. I was tre bummed. And wet. My poor jeans...
After coming in all wet from the rain, there is nothing like a nice hot shower, then getting into dry clothes and relaxing.
Posted by Lance's realm on :
My current beef is this: If you live in this country you shouldn't be allowed to work in customer service if you don't speak English! Yes, I know I am politically incorrect and no doubt a class-A bigot, but I do so hate needing help somewhere and I can't understand what the service person is saying! I live in Kentucky!
Thanks for listening.
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
quote:Originally posted by Lance's realm: My current beef is this: If you live in this country you shouldn't be allowed to work in customer service if you don't speak English! Yes, I know I am politically incorrect and no doubt a class-A bigot, but I do so hate needing help somewhere and I can't understand what the service person is saying! I live in Kentucky!
Thanks for listening.
You know what is also frustrating? Watching a customer and a customer service person, for whom English is a second language, but have different first languages.
Posted by Fat Cramer on :
The guilt-inducing moaning, groaning vent: my 17-year old cat is in failing health and has taken up residence on the kitchen counter, which I find really annoying but then I feel so bad for her, I just work around her. Some days she looks like she's on death's door and I think about putting her down, then the next day she'll perk up.
She needs a tiny pill daily and it's a battle every time. If she weren't so feeble she'd probably shred my hands to pieces.
Posted by Lad Boy on :
quote:Originally posted by Quislet, Esq.:
quote:Originally posted by Caliente: It rained today. Now, I like the rain. A lot. But I have to walk to school. It took twenty minutes. IN THE RAIN. With cars NOT stopping for me and lots of general WETNESS. Twenty there, twenty back. I was tre bummed. And wet. My poor jeans...
After coming in all wet from the rain, there is nothing like a nice hot shower, then getting into dry clothes and relaxing.
don't skip the taking-off-the-soaking-wet-clothes-on-the-back-porch-and-enjoying-the-rain-for-a-few-minutes-the way-nature-intended step
[ January 31, 2008, 05:54 AM: Message edited by: Lad Boy ]
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
quote:Originally posted by Fat Cramer: The guilt-inducing moaning, groaning vent: my 17-year old cat is in failing health and has taken up residence on the kitchen counter, which I find really annoying but then I feel so bad for her, I just work around her. Some days she looks like she's on death's door and I think about putting her down, then the next day she'll perk up.
She needs a tiny pill daily and it's a battle every time. If she weren't so feeble she'd probably shred my hands to pieces.
Sorry to hear about this. This is one of those really hard decisions.
I remember one dog we had who developed arthritis. Dad would give her an aspirin a day. After a while she realized that the pill made her feel better and would take it with no problem.
Posted by Faraway Lad on :
quote:Originally posted by Fat Cramer: The guilt-inducing moaning, groaning vent: my 17-year old cat is in failing health and has taken up residence on the kitchen counter, which I find really annoying but then I feel so bad for her, I just work around her. Some days she looks like she's on death's door and I think about putting her down, then the next day she'll perk up.
She needs a tiny pill daily and it's a battle every time. If she weren't so feeble she'd probably shred my hands to pieces.
Cramer.
Its hard postion to be in Nancy. My Ex told me this week that she had had to put our 15 year old mutt to sleep. Still waiting to tell our daughter as she'll be distraught.
Posted by mechana on :
Oh FC, I'm so sorry! The uncertainty is the hardest part. And feeling like your punishing them when you're trying to help. Trying to get Leroy to take pills was a nightmare too. I had to try and give her human antacid to calm her stomach so she would eat, but of course they're all minty and she hated the mere whiff of it. Have you tried mashing the pill in a bit of butter? Or they sell Pill Pocket, hollow treats that you can put the pill inside. Best of luck!
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
OK, so last Sunday I called my brother and told him that our dad need some more wood pellets for his stove. My brother said he would get them. Wrote himself a note. I didn't tell Dad that I called him, so he would look good for remembering. I go today and no pellets. Grrrrr!!!! Posted by mechana on :
Annoyance du jour: when you're watching a program on TV, and you can barely hear it, but the commercial are deafingly loud.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
Annoyance du jour, part II: Those irritating scrolls across the bottom of the screen, which either remind you of what program you're watching (for those with short attention spans) or promote something coming up (just in case you're bored with what's on the screen).
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
Npt really moaning or groaning. just letting people know where I've been.
Last Week my dad went into the hospital to get a colonoscopy. He has been complaining abut gassy cramp like pain. So I was at his place (no internet) to take care of his dog. He's been out of the hospital since Thursday, but still feels weak and still with the cramps. They did take out four polyps when they did the colonoscopy. They think that his bowels have contracted due to age so, the gas can't get around or through his stool. Hopefully with fiber supplements & stool softeners, he'll be OK, but it will take a bit of time for them to work. And dad is not a patient man when he gets sick (I should be well now!!!!!!)
I don't know how long I'll be staying with Dad. But rest assured, that when I am back, I'm looking to take the top poster spot from Cobalt Kid.
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
OK, so I am sitting in my school library, posting to Legion World and playing spider solitaire when the libarian comes up to me with a security guard and the head of the maintenance. She says "I have to ask you to leave." And in my mind, I start to panic. What did I do that was wrong???
She then adds "Lexis-Nexis reported some heavy use and they traced it to you." So immediately I say "I don't use Lexis-Nexis here." (I actually don't use it anywhere else either) So she asked for my name. When I told her, she apologized and the three of them went off to another area. A few minutes later, I saw them exiting with an older gentleman.
It is scary when you get accused of anything.
Posted by Fat Cramer on :
There's a limit on Lexis-Nexis use in a library? Why don't they just time-out the session instead of coming down on people with security guards? I'm moaning and groaning about all this security stuff that's spreading everywhere.
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
I think it was a matter of using the law school's free Lexis-Nexis access.
Posted by Rockhopper Lad on :
Lexis-Nexis is a very expensive database and libraries that purchase it get rights to a limited number of searches. This explains why public libraries almost never have access to it.
That being said, security guards do seem a little extreme.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
I wonder what the older gentleman was searching on Lexis-Nexis??
Posted by Lard Lad on :
Uh...Porn? Posted by Fat Cramer on :
There should be a lot of porn-related subjects in a legal database, but I don't know if Lexis-Nexis includes exhibits from trials.
Posted by Sketch Lad on :
2 words for the vent thread....terrible drivers!
Posted by Stealth on :
I really shouldn't have anything to vent about. I have my health. I have a roof over my head. I make enough money to get by. I have friends. I have a good relationship with my parents, who live only ten minutes from me, and they've helped me through some tough times in the last few years. I don't have a significant other and I don't have kids, but I'm at a point where I don't want -- and I mean REALLY DON'T WANT -- either of those things, so it's probably better that I don't.
That's why I don't understand why I feel so empty, why I, a supposed adult, often backslide into petulant teenager mode, why I take everything personally, why I worry about what other people think of me (especially when they laugh at me just because I make an effort to not look like everybody else -- especially living in a place where most people are such stupid, shallow sheep that they base their appearance on what they see on TV.) But I do. And it hurts. And it frustrates me.
Posted by Rockhopper Lad on :
Stealth, will some hugs help?
Posted by Sketch Lad on :
Stealth, If it's any consolation, I didn't stop caring what others...even strangers... thought of me until I was thirty. And that was because a friend who was about a year older than me said something like, "I just don't care what people think. I'm 30!" Somehow that stuck with me and I applied it to myself. I wish, when I was 19, that someone would have said the same thing about being 20. Of course, it probably wouldn't have sunk in.
Posted by Stealth on :
Rocky, the hugs definitely helped. Thank you.
Sketchy, I appreciate your sharing that. I'll make my best effort to apply it to myself.
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
I have gotten new neighbors next door. They seem to all be young early 20-somethings.
OK so Sunday night around midnight, I go to bed. I can hear the TV from next door. However, the white noise from my fan blocks it enough so I can sleep. (when I woke up briefly at 5am, I could still hear the TV going). One of them also plays rap music loud during the day.
Last night (Monday), I again go to bed at midnight. I again hear the TV going. This time the fan doesn't block the sound enough. So I get up and get dressed and head next door. I assume that since I am on the third floor, the TV is on the third floor.
As I approach the house, I see a young woman entering it. So, I go up and ring the doorbell. I can hear people on the third floor deck. I ring several times, but no one comes down. A guy opens the door to the first floor. SO I explain to him that I am from next door, that there is a TV being played too loudly, and I can't sleep because of it. He doesn't say anything, but I leave thinking maybe he will go up and say something.
Nope. So after a few minutes, I go back down. I ring the third floor bell again. This time two young guys (I'd guess around 18-19) come down. I again explain who I am and why I was there. The one in front goes "Oh the TV's too loud." I say "thanks" and head home. After about 5 minutes, the TV is still going at the same volume. So back I go, but this time I take my phone with me & with the number for the police on it.
I ring the bell. This time a young woman comes down. She answers the door with a "yeah what do you want?" I say again that the TV is too loud. She responds with "I can watch my TV in my home when I get home from work. Call the police." "Maybe I'll call the police and say you are harassing me." So, I step down off the porch and proceed to call the police.
She starts talking to the people with her. "oh look the fat idiot is doing it" & "My uncle's a Boston City police officer, so it'll be OK." To me "Don't you know that the police have murders and fires and robberies to deal with?" Pretending to be me "Oh the TV is too loud". Eventually they go back inside, And I remained waiting for the police. (side item: She is smoking and flicks the butt onto the sidewalk. The sidewalk in front of their house is littered with cigarette butts. I also noticed that there were 5 names over the 2nd floor mailbox and 4 names over the third floor mailbox. And all the mailboxes were open)
So I am thinking "Great! Who knows what these people will do to me after this?"
In about 15 minutes, the police do arrive. You could hear the TV from the street. So I give my story to the police. I stay on the front porch to my house while the two police officers go and rng her bell. She is more courteous to them. They go up into her apartment. They come back down in a minute and go in the area between the two houses. They shine a flashlight up to the second floor window. Apparently the TV was on the second floor. The police ask her if she knows who is in the middle room on the second floor. She says something about it being "Derek's room". She is also on the sidewalk now and I ask her, "You can hear it now, can't you?" She didn't say anything.
Eventually the police get in and the TV is shut off.
The woman then says to me "I told you it wasn't our TV." To which I replied "No you didn't. You just said to call the police and then you started insulting me." The police officer just goes "Well it is off now. and If this happens again, just call us." The woman kind of apologizes. I also kind of apologize by saying "I wasn't trying to bother you, just trying to get that TV turned down."
Anyway, all these neighbors seem young and I am hoping that means they are transient and will be gone by the end of summer.
Posted by Fat Cramer on :
May I suggest Neighbours from Hell? At least you can get some comfort from the misery-loves-company principle.
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
I was thinking of registering at rottenneighbor.com just to report them.
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
More neighbor problems, but this time from the other side. About 3 houses down there is an autistic boy. And at times he will wail loudly for hours on end. I can hear him now even though the windows are closed. I feel sorry for him and his parents, but goodness is it annoying.
Posted by dedman on :
I don't really have much to moan about...however, my job is beginning to bring me down. Due to its location and my schedule, I have to be away from home for a two week streach of time. I've been here for almost a week now and i'm really homesick and miss my wife.
Quis, I sympathize with your plight...I have an Autistic cousin and she used to do the same thing when she was a child.
Posted by Exnihil on :
[Poster's regret] On second thought, never mind. That was too petty. [/Poster's regret]
[ September 21, 2008, 08:16 PM: Message edited by: Exnihil ]
Posted by veryvery on :
grosss. i hate young people that give the rest of us quiet folk bad names!
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
quote:Originally posted by Exnihil: [Poster's regret] On second thought, never mind. That was too petty. [/Poster's regret]
Nothing is too petty for this thread.
Posted by LardLad on :
I hate petty people. Posted by Stu Rat on :
I just went on a quick "field trip" for work today -- out and back. Unfortunately, I had to get up at a ridiculously early hour this morning.
I hate getting up so early that it's still dark when I leave home! It's depressing.
Posted by Pov on :
It's getting to be that time of year... dark when you get up in the morning, and dark when you're heading home from school/work. Posted by dedman on :
Dudes, I work nights....its still dark when I get off from work and dark when I go in. I haven't seen the sun in over a week
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
I am really really bummed out that Prop 8 passed in California. Not to mention bans in Florida & Arizona and prohibiting gay people from adopting in Arkansas.
There is absolutely no valid reason not to allow gay couples to get married. It is pure prejudice and ignorance to vote otherwise.
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
OK, so I've told you about my next door neighbors who play their stereo & TV too loud. Well last night the people on the other side had a party. Lots of young people. The music wasn't too loud but their talking was very loud. It even woke up my roommate. He also called the police twice.
He went back to bed and tried earplugs. I just went to bed. This was around 11 pm. At 1:30, I was woken up by the sound of a fire engine siren going down my street. Awake, I stayed up a little. They were still talking loudly. I went out on to my front porch and watched them. The people that ususally make the noise were also on their front porch. I think they were more amused by it.
Anyhow, two of the guys were having a shouting match, with a young woman trying to get one of them in a car. Eventually, one group get into their car and drive off. However, they drive around the block and the guy threw a bottle at the car. After that his friends managed to get him in a car and they drove off. I went back inside. Minutes later I hear a pop pop. I've actually heard fire crackers that were louder, but assumed it was gunfire. I immediately dialed 911, but as I was talking to the 911 operator, 6 police cars pull up. Of course by this time all the party goers were gone.
One of the guys on the other porch said the gunshot sounded like it was a 22 caliber. I think they were enjoying the fact that the police weren't call for them.
This morning when my roommate got up, I told him what had happened. He got very upset. About a month ago, he was held up at knife point walking home from the grocery store at 2 in the afternoon. So this afternoon, I here a yell from his room. I called out to see if he was alright. No response. About 5 minutes later he comes out yelling "this is a shithole!" And he is mad at me because he thinks I am not upset about what happened.
I do have to say, that I am not terribly upset about what happened. I am bothered by it and a little concerned. I mean I have lived in my neighborhood for 13 years now and this is the first time I've heard gunfire. He did come back out of his room about 40 minutes later to apologize for yelling at me.
Posted by Kent Shakespeare on :
writer's block... and three papers due this week. Posted by Rockhopper Lad on :
The contractors who were putting new siding on the building my condo is in were partway done when we were hit by two days of severe weather. The new siding was soaked and my interior kitchen walls have visible damage.
Add to this a young man who works for me posted on Facebook that he has an interview for another job tomorrow. He didn't even have the decency to tell me himself. If he leaves his job, it will be months before it's filled.
Throw in that after 48 years of marriage, my parents have decided that the best thing for their marriage would be to live in different states. Mother is moving here this fall, which is a good thing, but still sad that they are splitting up.
Also, the choir I'm in is having some issues that are too convoluted and confusing for me to try to explain.
*Heavy sigh*
Thanks for listening. Posted by cleome on :
Ugh. First of all, s all around. Quis, someday I have to tell you my favorite "but-marriage-is-just-for-straight-people" story. It probably wouldn't help today, though. It needs alcohol to really work right. (Or maybe chocolate if the involved parties are in recovery.)
Anyhow: Yeah, it's great that I've got three days of work coming up this week. The people are nice and the work is easy. It's not even a painful commute. Except for the endless turmoil this creates with the career peabrains at the Unemployment office. Really, I thought their neighbors on the Northern border were impossibly dense until I had to move my claim down here to the state of my residence. Basically this week will push me into the magical range for the second week in a row that disqualifies me for aid, just barely. That means that a week from today, I'll probably have to restart the entire claim from scratch all over again.
I might add that they ask a great many stupid and redundant questions that prove conclusively their inability to understand that "Temp" work is exactly that: TEMPORARY. Some weeks there is work but many more weeks there is not.
Aaaarggghh. There is a 12% Unemployment rate here right now. (Officially, which means off the books, it's much higher, of course.) I'm gonna' kick the next inspirational lecturer/wannabe' Herbert Hoover somewhere tender, believe me.
[cries] Thanks for listening.
Chocolate, anyone?
Posted by Arm Fall Off Boy on :
quote:Originally posted by Rockhopper Lad: The contractors who were putting new siding on the building my condo is in were partway done when we were hit by two days of severe weather. The new siding was soaked and my interior kitchen walls have visible damage.
Rocky, I don't know if you have homeowner's insurance or not, but in my state, rain coming in through an open window and doing damage is covered-you may want to check into it.
[ April 20, 2009, 12:57 AM: Message edited by: Arm Fall Off Boy ]
Posted by Rockhopper Lad on :
quote:Originally posted by Arm Fall Off Boy: Rocky, I don't know if you have homeowner's insurance or not, but in my state, rain coming in through an open window and doing damage is covered-you may want to check into it.
The condo association will take care of this one. It's very clearly their fault. It's just the fact that it must be done when it was totally preventable that bothers me.
Posted by Fat Cramer on :
Yesterday I was in Halifax, walking down one of the main commercial/restaurant streets. It was really hot, lots of people were out, some with their dogs. The sky was still hazed over with fog and some clouds. Suddenly, this really gigantic roar started, and increased. My first thought was that some airplane was about to crash on the street, and I was just immobilized and trying to think, where do I go? and looked for the plane to break out of the haze. In true brave superheroine fashion, I grabbed my husband's arm...
It was a fighter jet doing an extremely low flyover. That totally pissed me off. I suppose they were saying, we're in control and we'll do whatever we want here.... People on the street didn't seem that disturbed by it, but my heart was pounding and I had a terrific headache. A few minutes later, another one did the same thing, really low then zooming straight up. That one set off all the car alarms and I saw two dogs totally freaking out (fortunately they were on leashes).
People in Labrador complained for years about these low flyovers. I can't imagine this on a regular basis. I guess it was part of some military show, but it seemed stupid/arrogant/reckless to do it right over the downtown core. They usually have these things out at airfields.
Posted by Pov on :
Oh.
I thought...
That is to say...
I thought this was a different kindof thread entirely. I shoulda read the entire title...
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
quote:Originally posted by Pov: Oh.
I thought...
That is to say...
I thought this was a different kindof thread entirely. I shoulda read the entire title...
Spellbinder made the same joke on page 1.
Posted by Abin Quank on :
After all this time you're expecting original material from Pov?
Posted by Pov on :
*swings rubber chicken at Chuck-Fillet...*
In my defense, I don't remember ever seeing p. 1... Posted by Pov on :
P.S.-- I still think my post is funny. Sue me. Posted by Everyday Girl on :
Ohmygod Mr Perv, don't like let Gramps get on your like last good nerve. He's just like being a grumpy old coot this weekend.
I think it's cuz Gram is still laughing at the Arkansas Cowboy outfit he brought home.
Posted by Pov on :
Aw, thanks EG!
Posted by Blockade Boy on :
quote:Originally posted by cleome: Aaaarggghh. There is a 12% Unemployment rate here right now. (Officially, which means off the books, it's much higher, of course.)
Wow, you guys are actually doing pretty good.
Halibutt in Halifax. When jet plane fly overhead, dive into bar. Yeah, that one. I forget it's name, but it's a pretty good one.
Spent hours getting my syllabuses ready, sent out welcoming email with a leeetle assignment for the students to fill out and bring with them Monday.
Got a couple emails back asking if they couldn't wait until class on Tuesday. "Waits" I says to myself, class is on MW. These students must have changed sections, so I check the on-line rosters.
Well.... someone assigned me TR classes. I NEVER do TR classes.
Took 3 hours and an embarrassing email correction to edit my coursework.
Blah.
Posted by Everyday Girl on :
Ohmygod, so I like get back from the beach today and some like sadistic, over eager, teacher is like sending out homework assignments by e-mail two weeks before school even like starts...
Posted by Blockade Boy on :
and you'd better get them in on time "young lady."
Posted by cleome on :
No job this week.
Butterscotch the Evil needs a trip to the vet.
They're being complete jaggoffs at the Unemployment Office. Again.
I have a bad wisdom tooth, and with things like they are, the "treatment" will consist of aspirin and those vile numbing drops and chewing on the "good" side of my mouth for a very, very long time.
That's enough for now, isn't it? Posted by Fat Cramer on :
Are you near a dentistry school? They're supposed to offer cheap treatment by students, closely supervised by the teachers.
I've wondered why there aren't garage dentists who offer super cheap treatment. Well, there are, but some of them are suspect, not even real dentists. Maybe a wisdom tooth is difficult, depending on the tooth, but a lot of dentistry is pretty simple stuff, just drill and patch work. I pay a small fortune to a woman who is trained for all sorts of complications as well as administration of anaesthetic to a wide variety of clients, when 90% of my dental work could be done by a less-expensive technician.
Anyways, dental problems are always top of my moaning and groaning list. I hope yours gets resolved soonest.
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
FC,
I have gone to a dental school in the past. They charged costs only, but depending on the procedure, that can still be $$$.
I did like the service I got there. However the appointments would last pretty much half a day. For example: filing a cavity. The student would drill and clean out the tooth, then have to get the instructor to inspect. After approval from the instructor, the cavity would be filled. Again the instructor would have to check out the filling work. Of course there were about 20 other students who needed to have the instructor check their work, so it could be a wait for the instructor.
The wait aside, I was very pleased with the work done.
Posted by cleome on :
(snip)
quote:Originally posted by Fat Cramer: Are you near a dentistry school? They're supposed to offer cheap treatment by students, closely supervised by the teachers.
The last time anyone suggested that was when I had hopes of getting my couch re-upholstered in lieu of throwing it out. Maybe it works better with dentists than upholsterers, though.
There are occasional "dental fairs" here where people literally line up for a hundred shots at free basic care from dentists who donate their time. Those are generally intended for people that are capital-I impoverished, though. Also, I'm guessing they couldn't tend to a bad wisdom tooth, since that requires more than a half hour while dozens of other candidates stand around waiting.
Thanks, though.
Posted by Kent Shakespeare on :
Okay, now I'm in a bad mood and can't get any of the work done that I wanted to get done.
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
And what caused this bad mood?
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
Oh this group of kids have started hanging out in front of the house across the street. They can be quite loud and periodically you can hear a shriek. It is fairly cold out at night now, you would think they would be indoors. My roommate and I wonder where their parents are. Hopefully when it gets real cold, they will stay indoors.
Posted by cleome on :
I get that I'm lucky to have any damn job at all, and that it's not the worst job that I could have nor am I the most stellar employee that ever lived, but still... [deep breath]
Click Here For A SpoilerIs it too much to hope that once in a while, my employers could thank me for fixing some small but recurring problems that would cost them money and make them look bad to their customers if the customers saw them? Y'know, not dinner, flowers, and a great big hug but maybe just a "nice catch, cleome." Really? Just once... now that I've been there on and off for nearly six frickin' months?
If they can't manage that, could they at least refrain from snapping at me when I try to fix problems that would cost them money and make them look bad to their customers?! Gahhhhhhhh!! Posted by Lardi on :
quote:Originally posted by cleome: Y'know, not dinner, flowers, and a great big hug but maybe just a "nice catch, cleome." Really? Just once...
Your employers know you as "cleome" as well? Is that your real REAL name? Or was that just for the sake of the anecdote? Posted by cleome on :
All IRL names have been changed to protect the culpable, Lardi. Not to mention that I can't afford a lawsuit.
Posted by cleome on :
I apologize in advance for spoiling everyone's happy warm anniversary fuzzies with my grumbling, but I so need this off my chest right now...
Click Here For A SpoilerAt 9 AM this morning, the temp agency calls me to come back to work at the warehouse first thing Monday. Great. I said "fine." I complain about this job when I'm on it, but the truth is that I have done and doubtless will do much worse.
Then fifteen minutes later, they call back again to tell me they've changed their minds and that I can forget about it.
I head out of the house at 9:30 AM to go help mr_cleome with some of his work downtown-- as I'm known to do on occasion. Since nobody is looking for me, we go have lunch with one of our mutual buddies and have a nice time. I reach home at 1:30 PM to a message from the agency. It's about another job that they wanted me to report to by noon today. FWIW, it was way out in the boonies, and I never would have made it there on such short notice without an automobile. However, if they'd only called sooner, I probably could've roped mr_cleome into giving me a lift out there and then picking me up in the evening when the job was through.
I am so sick of having to kiss the butts of so-called professionals who never seem to behave like professionals! Gah!! WTF, people! If I'm organized enough to work your lousy jobs, how about being organized enough to stop playing these obnoxious bait-and-switch games with me! Sweet Aunt Petunia! What the hell do they pay you for, anyway!?
Okay, now I feel well enough to go finish out the week's online grovelling for work with less of a headache. Carry on, LMB.
Oh, and happy anniversary.
Posted by Kent Shakespeare on :
temp agencies are a bunch of sprocks, in my limited experience.
Posted by cleome on :
Yes, and sadly, this is actually one of the better ones.
Thanks for listening, K.
Posted by Dev Em on :
I've put up with more crap from my current $7.50 part time job than I did at much much better paying ones. Been treated like crap by my boss, who thinks he's funny putting people down all the time, while not liking it if you even remotely joke back at him.
I am feeling like crap, so I called off as to not potentially expose anyone else to what I might have...he gets an attitude and wants a Dr.s not. Which in all reality is fine and not something I have a problem with. Thing is the other time I have called in sick is when he came to work sick for a week solid, then I got sick. He got an attitude when I called in then as well...even though I was running a 101 fever.
I will go to the clinic and get a note, after I can drop the kids off at my in-laws. I am tempted to drop the note off and put my notice in...but I probably will not.
Oh yeah, he's also lied to me about getting a full time position...just to get me to do more during the holiday season.
Posted by dedman on :
So, my brother-in-law and his girlfriend are living with us. They are not paying any rent, don't pay bills and rarely buy thier own food. Of course we don't get a word of thanks for this. They never clean, can't even manage to get their dirty dishes into the dishwasher most days. The girl spends every waking moment playing world of warcraft and screaming at people on her headset. Despite having his own computer, late at night it's mine that gets used. Which in and of itself is not a problem, except he frequently does stuff to screw up my settings. Last night he managed to get a nasty virus onto my laptop that completely messed it up. Not even system restore would work. So I just had to restore the system to factory defaults, losing all my info on the laptop.
I've had it with these kids and can't wait for them to leave.
Posted by cleome on :
Dev Em, $7.50 an hour for this?!
[feels bad for complaining now, because even the lousier temp jobs here start at $9.00, usually]
Ugh, deddy. That's awful. Have they actually committed to a departure date? I hope so. Posted by Dev Em on :
Never feel bad complaining...it's all relative. I'm going in tomorrow, no matter what I feel like. They can, and probably will, send me home shortly thereafter.
Posted by cleome on :
In a way, being broke is easier than making even a nominal regular wage. The latter leads to domestic skirmishes regarding how it gets spent.
Grrr...
Add to this: somebody close to mr_cleome's family is dying of cancer right now. It always seems to happen to the good ones, you know?
Posted by Kent Shakespeare on :
lotsa hugs, cleome.
Posted by cleome on :
Appreciate it.
Really, it's the folks back East that need them most, though. And there's no way in Hell I can be there for them.
Posted by Mattropolis on :
Best wishes, Cleo
Posted by cleome on :
Thanks, M. I'll pass them on.
Posted by Dev Em on :
Prayers for the family C. Cancer is never a fun thing, evenif it's beatable. Seen too many friends and family deal with it. Lost some good ones along the way, and seen some miracles. One is my daughters best friend.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
Prayers and best wishes, cleome.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Sorry to hear that, cleome, my thoughts are with you.
Posted by cleome on :
quote:Originally posted by Dev Em: Prayers for the family C. Cancer is never a fun thing, evenif it's beatable. Seen too many friends and family deal with it. Lost some good ones along the way, and seen some miracles. One is my daughters best friend.
That's great about your daughter's friend, though.
The friend on our end is my FIL's girlfriend. They've been together seven years, more or less. The docs are trying "aggressive, last-ditch" treatments and trying to keep her comfortable;they're hoping she'll get a few more months from them, at least.
Thanks again for the nice words. You guys are the best.
[ETA- She passed away early Tuesday afternoon. Damn. ]
[ May 05, 2010, 11:43 PM: Message edited by: cleome ]
Posted by kidflash2fan on :
Moving sucks
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
cleome, My condolences on your loss.
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
Damn it... I don't know what to say that has any more meaning then I'm sorry.
Posted by Dev Em on :
Sorry to hear that C.
I think I'm personally on the verge of a breakdown or a breakthrough...
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
I'm in the middle of a breakthrough of a breakdown. This is like the third time this week I've had to give condolences.
Posted by cleome on :
Thanks, Guys.
She was very devoted to her pets in life, so I sent a little money to a Pittsburgh no-kill shelter in her name. They sent a condolence card to the FIL, who's also a big cat-person.
Posted by Mattropolis on :
Best wishes, Cleo...
Posted by MLLASH on :
AAAAAIIIIAIAIAEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My check didn't come today! I was gonna do stuff! SO FRIKKIN MAD.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
That's so ridiculous when that happens--and illegal.
Employers should know better than to allow that to happen.
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
I had my wisdom teeth removed, I have stitches in my mouth and it WON'T STOP HURTING!!
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
Guys please! The pain won't stop and I want somebody to talk to!
Posted by Pov on :
Did they give you anything for pain management, SK? Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
now i'm told to put ice on my mouth which i'm doing now
Posted by Vee on :
That's what I've always heard works best SK! Hope it helps a bit.
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
It wasn't. i had to keep moving it from cheek to the other back and forth.
Posted by MLLASH on :
You should have been given pain pills; after mine were removed I slept for a whole weekend!
Posted by Mattropolis on :
Ugh. I just found out that for the next month (after this coming weekend) that my off days are going to be Wednesday and Thursday! Normally, I wouldn't care except that next week is my birthday and I was going to go out of town to celebrate that weekend.
Looks like my trip is now delayed about a month.
Bluh!
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
They did, I've already taken two but I don't want to be dependent on them.
Posted by cleome on :
Please accept another Gemini's condolences, Matt. Hopefully your getaway will be even better when it finally arrives.
Sorry, SK. But as long as you're taking care of yourself, you should heal quickly.
(I've only had one wisdom tooth out, and that was late last year. It takes us old fogies a long time to get better, comparably speaking. )
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
So, one of the delightful little scamps that play on my street has taken to making loud cawing bird sounds. He's been doing it for a week and a half now.
Any hunters want to shoot some birds on my street? Posted by Mattropolis on :
Ugh, had to go in on my offday for additional training. I had already had this training less than a year ago but it was decided that all managers should have it again.
I am salaried so it's not like I even got paid for it.
Bluh
Posted by Chief Taylor on :
I only have one more day 'til my vacation ends. It's gonna SUCK to go back to work on a frickin' SATURDAY!!! Posted by Dev Em on :
I don't have enough time...
Posted by Mattropolis on :
OK. When you have an ex, eventually in the course of thing if you are mature you become friends again. I whole hearredly agree that is the way it should be, if possible.
But then, the person the ex left me for decided to friend me on facebook and wanted to chat (!) with me as if we had been best friends forever. The things he knew about me were very telling (things that happened after the break=up that I told my ex in confidence).
NOW I get to watch as my ex gushes over the IPAD his new man bought him. I don't usually care enough to get jealous, but I really really don't care to see how happy they are and how much disposable income they have.
I know Im probably being childish here. I'll get over it. Just wanted to let it out somewhere...
Posted by MLLASH on :
Not that you asked for advice, but as a big fat knowitall, here's what I say:
Defriend his ass pronto. Those wounds are still too new.
The love of my life and I broke up in 1996 (14 years ago this month, actually), and I can ***still*** get a mild twinge of jealousy over whatever is happening in his life.
And I certainly don't care to speak at all to his current whatever.
Posted by Mattropolis on :
Done and done. I deleted both. I don't wish anything bad to either of them. I just don't need to know about it.
Posted by MLLASH on :
I'm glad you did. I know that breakup was hard on you.
Posted by Mattropolis on :
It was. But it was long ago. I'm stronger than that. I had a small mini tantrum, but Im ok now Posted by MLLASH on :
Urge to kill... RISING>>!!!!!!
Okay, okay... I'm over it now... >whew!<
Posted by Mattropolis on :
YOu look uh... cute in pink...
giggle
Posted by Exnihil on :
Not to make light of your situation, Matt (it does sound very annoying and very thoughtless of your ex), but when I first looked at this thread, I just sort of just scanned your post at the top of this page and saw:
"ex" and
"decided to friend me on facebook"
for half a second I thought, "Oh, no... what did I do to him?" Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Its no secret... I got the diabeties. And now I can't eat, basically.
I'm 6'4" and have a solid build. The metformin I'm taking can have a very certain... side effect, which it apparently does for me. Add to that I'm only allowed so much food... and dammit, I'm hungry.
I'll do everything I'm supposed to, I'll stay away from the hidden sugars, the fatty foods, the popcorn that made certain things in life bearable... but I could eat a honkin' big grilled steak with bell peppers and onions smothering it and a real glass of tea like nobody's business.
Add to that I've reached my forties and my eyesight is suddenly going to hell. My arms aren't long enough to hold the books far away enough for me to read, the glasses I bought to help are not that great and give me headaches, I can only read about thirty minutes before I have to quit....
This getting old crap is for the birds. It damn sure ain't for the weak.
Posted by cleome on :
[snip]
rickshaw1 wrote:
quote: And now I can't eat, basically.
I'm 6'4" and have a solid build. The metformin I'm taking can have a very certain... side effect, which it apparently does for me.
"Side effect" as in, "loss of appetite," or "nausea," or what?
I have a couple of hereditary ticking time bombs in the midst of my carcass, too, Dude. Sorry I can't offer anything else but,
Posted by cleome on :
quote:Originally posted by Mattropolis: It was. But it was long ago. I'm stronger than that. I had a small mini tantrum, but Im ok now
I suspect that you still might be more mature than me, Matt. One of the main reasons that I avoid Facebook is out of dread that some ex might suddenly decide to Friend me-- and then get all huffy when I either ignored them or told them to go cram it.
Posted by Mattropolis on :
Obviously I wasn't being that mature yesterday. LOL
Posted by Mattropolis on :
quote:Originally posted by Exnihil: Not to make light of your situation, Matt (it does sound very annoying and very thoughtless of your ex), but when I first looked at this thread, I just sort of just scanned your post at the top of this page and saw:
"ex" and
"decided to friend me on facebook"
for half a second I thought, "Oh, no... what did I do to him?"
LOL Your post made me smile. Sorry I made you think that.
Posted by Mattropolis on :
quote:Originally posted by rickshaw1: Its no secret... I got the diabeties. And now I can't eat, basically.
I'm 6'4" and have a solid build. The metformin I'm taking can have a very certain... side effect, which it apparently does for me. Add to that I'm only allowed so much food... and dammit, I'm hungry.
I'll do everything I'm supposed to, I'll stay away from the hidden sugars, the fatty foods, the popcorn that made certain things in life bearable... but I could eat a honkin' big grilled steak with bell peppers and onions smothering it and a real glass of tea like nobody's business.
Add to that I've reached my forties and my eyesight is suddenly going to hell. My arms aren't long enough to hold the books far away enough for me to read, the glasses I bought to help are not that great and give me headaches, I can only read about thirty minutes before I have to quit....
This getting old crap is for the birds. It damn sure ain't for the weak.
Yeah, it does suck reaching a certain age. I am lucky that because I have lost weight I am still able to do certain things now that I never could before. Even so, I hear you about the eyesight.
[ July 04, 2010, 07:41 PM: Message edited by: Mattropolis ]
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
&@#*$%@ fireworks! I live on a pretty narrow city street and yet people are setting off fireworks right outside my house in the street. I hope the house does not catch fire.
Don't get me wrong. I love the big organized fireworks displays.
Posted by Mattropolis on :
I ususally don't notice them myself. but this year, they are everywhere...
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
quote:Originally posted by cleome:
quote:Originally posted by Mattropolis: It was. But it was long ago. I'm stronger than that. I had a small mini tantrum, but Im ok now
I suspect that you still might be more mature than me, Matt. One of the main reasons that I avoid Facebook is out of dread that some ex might suddenly decide to Friend me-- and then get all huffy when I either ignored them or told them to go cram it.
Cleome, I was trying to not gross everyone out but lets just say that what I can eat, doesn't hang around very long, and I ain't talking about a return trip. Doc warned me about it. Seems like if there's a side effect, I'm gonna be in line for it.
I spent this afternoon playing 18 holes of golf with my son with me and when I checked it earlier, I was at 240. So, I'm thinking the metformin might not do the job, but its still early on and I an not gonna be spending money all the time on Imodium.
Posted by cleome on :
quote:Originally posted by rickshaw1: Cleome, I was trying to not gross everyone out but lets just say that what I can eat, doesn't hang around very long, and I ain't talking about a return trip. Doc warned me about it. Seems like if there's a side effect, I'm gonna be in line for it.
I spent this afternoon playing 18 holes of golf with my son with me and when I checked it earlier, I was at 240. So, I'm thinking the metformin might not do the job, but its still early on and I an not gonna be spending money all the time on Imodium.
Oy. Sorry to hear that.
Well, if it doesn't work, I hope you can lean on the doc to keep searching until you find something that does work.
mr_cleome is taking something that's probably in that same family of meds. They warned him about the same type of side effect, but he's not having any problems. OTOH, one of his buddies had to quit the same medication because he was having them. (Needing frequent bathroom breaks when you drive a bus for a living is naturally not a good thing.)
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
No, tisn't, lol. And I spend most of my day in a truck driving to timber tracts as well. Course', I'm out in the rural areas where there's a bathroom behind every tree. But then we get onto the Redbug subject again, lol. And trust me, they are bad enough on my legs....
Posted by Ram Boy on :
quote:Originally posted by Mattropolis:
NOW I get to watch as my ex gushes over the IPAD his new man bought him. I don't usually care enough to get jealous, but I really really don't care to see how happy they are and how much disposable income they have.
I know Im probably being childish here. I'll get over it. Just wanted to let it out somewhere...
Matt, I think I found the perfect song for that situation -
a friend, who I busted my arse for clearing out his storage unit and shipping things to in Austria, is being a real ungrateful, manipulative prick.
Posted by Outdoor Miner on :
I really don't want to go to work tomorrow. More so than usual.
Posted by Chief Taylor on :
I never want to go to work these days. What a shithole my company's turning into. Posted by cleome on :
[hugs for my LMB buddies]
[plus maybe a shot of bourbon]
Posted by cleome on :
I am trying to apply for a job I really, really want in the worst way.
I have been staring at the application for an hour and for the life of me, can think of nothing to say.
I have to hand it in tomorrow morning, because Saturday's the deadline and we're going out of town in the morning for a day-trip.
I honestly don't know how to convincingly write on an app that I am golly-gee-whiz-teh-awesomest-splendidest-bestest-employee-EVAH-who-you'd-be-INSANE-to-not-hire!; Really, I've tried it 4,000,000,000,000 times in the last two years and it NEVER flies!
At best, my current job, which is no great shakes even in the current pathetic-butt job market, won't last past next February. I need to get off my duff and WRITE SOMETHING IN THE SPACE!!11
And I can't.
Posted by Tamper Lad on :
Microsoft why did your new Windows Live software break your SMB authentication stack?
SAMBA team, why does your client not connect properly?
When will you release a patch?
Posted by cleome on :
It really stinks trying to write coherently while spaced out on anti-inflammatory meds. I'll be taking them for the rest of the week, thanks to the fact that I re-injured my left foot Thursday.
I'll be lucky if I can limp to work tomorrow and manage to not crash into a wall or a forklift in the first hour back. I already blew work off on Friday because I was in too much pain, but temps don't get paid sick days and now I'm gonna' have to soldier on.
Stupid traitorous mutant feet. I hate you.
Also, the Feds are trying to reel me in for jury duty again this Tuesday. Last time turned out to be a false alarm. They didn't want me, and I desperately hope they don't want me now. Sick days + jury duty does not = popularity with managers.
Gah.
Posted by Dev Em on :
I will one day rant about what I really want to rant about...but cannot yet. Too much happening in life right now.
Grraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
I've been on the road so much for work that I'm feeling awfull lonely lately. I miss my wife and I really miss my baby. This was a lot easier before I was a father.
I'm almost through my heavy travel season...just a few more trips.
I make the best of it and enjoy, and I put on a front for my friends because I know people who have something real to complain about. But I miss my family.
Home late tonight and them back out on Sunday.
Almost there...
Posted by Pov on :
Hang in there, Des... Posted by SharkLad on :
it's too complicated to get into the details leading up to it, but I had a six year emotionally disabled kid spit in my face today... not just a raspberry but a big ol' blob of spit right below my left eye... a lot of folks think working with kids is great cause "they're so cute" and the whole summers off thing, but sometimes... well, sometimes you get spit in the face...
Posted by Dev Em on :
quote:Originally posted by Cobalt Kid: I've been on the road so much for work that I'm feeling awfull lonely lately. I miss my wife and I really miss my baby. This was a lot easier before I was a father.
I'm almost through my heavy travel season...just a few more trips.
I make the best of it and enjoy, and I put on a front for my friends because I know people who have something real to complain about. But I miss my family.
Home late tonight and them back out on Sunday.
Almost there...
Hang in there man, you're doing what is best for your family...making a living. Trust me, I had to travel when Jon was only a couple weeks old. It sucks majorly...and there is nothing to feel bad about if you need to vent about it. It's what you're going through...and it's a good thing to miss the wife and baby...shows the love is still real and growing.
Posted by Dev Em on :
My grip on my emotions is stretched so freakin thin right now it isn't even funny. The slightest thing is going to set something in motion that may not be a good thing, and may be the thing I need most.
I need something to give...
Posted by Quislet, Esq. on :
Cobalt Kid, Hang in there. You'll be back with the family in no time.
Shark Lad, never fun to get spat upon.
Dev-Em, Do some deep breathing. They (the mysterious, omniscient "they" that everybody refers to) say that is a stress reliever.
Posted by Dev Em on :
...and the hits just keep on coming. Muther...
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
I'm sorry you have to deal with that Dev-Em.
Posted by Dev Em on :
No problem. Lessons learned and all that. Things have to get better at some point...right?
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
Yes. They have to.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
quote:Originally posted by Dev Em: My grip on my emotions is stretched so freakin thin right now it isn't even funny. The slightest thing is going to set something in motion that may not be a good thing, and may be the thing I need most.
I need something to give...
Hope things are easing up, Dev. Also hope comics, movies and other forms of escapism are allowing you to do exactly that, even if only for 5 minutes at a time.
Posted by cleome on :
Ugh.
for you all.
I'll add that being sick as a dog on a beautiful Fall day is pathetic. I managed to pull myself together enough this morning to make brunch, but that's about it.
(And at least my supervisor was nice to me at work yesterday, and thanked me for coming in even though I wasn't feeling well.)
Posted by cleoMeLASH on :
I'll try to keep this one short, but I'll probably fail:
Click Here For A SpoilerSunday night, around 8 PM, The Sid got on the counter and devoured a 5" piece of kitchen string that had been around a cooked roast beef.
We turned dinner off and rushed him to the Emergency Vet.
$1800 later!!!!, the little sh#t is quite recovered.
My finances, however, will NEVER be the same. I had just gotten done paying off my credit card a week or so before. It had taken me TWO freakin' years! And I didn't even get ONE LOUSY MONTH to savor my triumph before running the damn thing allllllll the way up again!!
Posted by Power LLASH on :
oh .... ouch. that makes the time my dog chewed up the remote seem like no big deal.
we just got pet insurance, after some long debate, as i am from the country and we don't insure no animals .... or usually have health insurance ourselves ... ;P
but after getting lab results on a tumor removed from my big dog i sided with my bf .... since the lab results cost twice as much as MY lab results do. yes .... the dogs lab results are more expensive than mine. and he cost 40 bucks at the pound. and he's a mutt.
sorry cleoMeLASH !!
Posted by QuisLASH, Esq. on :
Cleome,
So sorry to hear that. Sid is lucky to have you though.
Posted by He Who LASHES on :
Sorry to hear that, cleome. I'm glad Sid is okay, though.
Posted by cleoMeLASH on :
Thanks, Guys.
Power Boy, unfortunately the money that could've gone to things like pet insurance goes to things like human insurance. And credit cards.
And, yeah, The Sid is much better. We are determined to train him to stay the hell off the kitchen counter, though. Bought an extra spray bottle for that purpose, and now mr_cleome and I have to take turns listening for his trespassing and spraying him with water. Little jerk. Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
Guys, do you ever have those days when you realize your birthday is coming up, and it frightens and/or depresses you that you're getting older.
In 2004 the next few days after my birthday and the approaching New Year I got depressed realizing how old I was.
The first time it happened was when I was really little, and I started crying because I didn't want to get older.
I don't know if it's just the empty December atmosphere with no Christmas decorations but, I realized, I'm turning twenty. I opened a letter in the mail from weeks ago that I said I, myself, owed 300 dollars to a dentist. The thought terrified me, even when my mom explained she and dad were the ones who were supposed to pay it.
I'm turning twenty and that scares me.
...
Huh, I guess all I can do on the internet is whine about trivial things.
Posted by MLLASH on :
Child, call me when you're turning 40. We'll talk. Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
I guess it doesn't have to be my birthday that causes it.
We were in a crappy part of Brooklyn and, well, I HATE the city during winter. Well, those partly cloudy days.
Posted by MLLASH on :
Seasonal affective disorder.
It hits me weird. I get frustrated and depressed when winter doesn't kick in like it should. Today was sunny with temp in the 60s.
BLAST YOU, Mother Nature--!!!!
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
When it's all sunny in winter, I don't mind. But those partly cloudy days when sunset makes it really weird, gets me very uncomfortable.
It can really suck if your birthday's Christmas and it doesn't snow. Or hasn't snowed, at all.
Posted by MLLASH on :
I'll probably be wearing shorts, a tank top and flip-flops on Christmas. Stupid South!!!!!
Posted by Dev Em on :
Move to Michigan Lashie...we gots the cold now.
Posted by dedman on :
lol, I got about 8 inches of snow down and a warm day is -10C (14F)
Posted by cleome on :
quote:Originally posted by MLLASH: Child, call me when you're turning 40. We'll talk.
I'm more startled at the swiftness of time passing than I am particularly obsessed with how old I am. It actually feels kind of neat to have made it this far.
One thing I miss at this time of year is the childhood excitement about snow, presents, time off... the whole nine yards. Last week I wasn't really thinking about how neat it was to get time off from work. I was mostly thinking about how tough THIS week would be, because I'm not compensated for time off.
[grumble]
Posted by lil'rhino on :
Sauerkraut.
Posted by MLLASH on :
I just walked to the gas station-- BRRR, it's cooled off! Checked the forecast, it will get down to 31 tonight with a high in the lower 40s tomorrow. FINALLY.
Cleome, one thing I have realized while doing pretty much nothing the past 8 months... time has moved by EVEN FASTER. Weirdness.
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
Not weird.
You ever notice how time seems to just stand still when you keep going back to look at a clock, but you largely ignore the clock and hours could by in what feels like no time at all.
Posted by MLLASH on :
Yes, the Watched Pot theory... it really is true.
Posted by Tamper Lad on :
Ugh stupid LEG CRAMPS. I will never make fun of pro-athletes again when they writhe on the field in agony from this affliction.
Now which one of you wants to pay me millions to grab mycalf and groan, while a teammate helps me stretch it out.
Posted by cleome on :
[snip]
quote:Originally posted by MLLASH:
Cleome, one thing I have realized while doing pretty much nothing the past 8 months... time has moved by EVEN FASTER. Weirdness.
Hey, now. It's not "nothing." It's art!
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
So at the locker room at my gym, there are usually towels left on the floor or the benches. How hard is it to carry a towel 7 steps to the used towel bins? Another thing I see that bugs me there is people who leave the locker door open. Are you so fatigued by your workout that it becomes too difficult to shut the darn door?
Posted by Fat Cramer on :
Lobster, again! Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
I don't know how you can stand it FC.
It is probably best to eat lobster sitting down instead of standing.
[ December 12, 2010, 04:41 PM: Message edited by: Quislet, Esq ]
Posted by Dev Em on :
About ready to explode...I'm letting too many things get to me, and not doing enough to change them. Time to make changes in my life...and a lot of people are not gonna like them.
Posted by He Who LSHes on :
, Dev.
Posted by future king on :
How come every time I spend 15 minutes waiting in a line the person in front of me has to throw salt in the wound by having 11,000 items to be rung in? And then proceeds to ask the cashier " do you have this, and do you have that...?" "Can you get someone on the floor to check the price of this for me?" "Oh and can I have...". AAHHHRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
Oh well, my fault for braving the craziness of retail on Boxing Day I guess.
I will never learn.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
Something that bothers me is when you are in line at a fast food place. They have the menu on the wall above the register and it can be seen by everyone in line, but the person in front of you waits til they are at the register to think about what they want.
Posted by cleome on :
quote:Originally posted by Quislet, Esq: So at the locker room at my gym, there are usually towels left on the floor or the benches. How hard is it to carry a towel 7 steps to the used towel bins? Another thing I see that bugs me there is people who leave the locker door open. Are you so fatigued by your workout that it becomes too difficult to shut the darn door?
I may be able to top this one.
In the warehouse where I temp, we get tons of goods in carboard boxes. Almost all the cardboard boxes have an extra sheet of cardboard placed atop the goods before a box is closed for shipping. It's nicknamed a "slit" and it's the first thing that we have to remove from the box so we can get to the items to fill the orders. Presumably it's placed in the box in the first place to keep items or their shipping bags from being sliced open when the recipients (ie- us) cut open the box after it's shipped.
Almost everyone just takes the "slits" out of the boxes and throws them on the floor. This drives me nuts! It's both a nuisance and a safety hazard; because you could step on one of the things and skid and lose your footing on the floor.
It's just as easy to throw them on the cart or into the bin with which you're gathering items and then throw the "slits" out as soon as you pass a trashcan or recycling bin.
Of course, some people don't throw them on the floor. They throw them behind stacks of unopened boxes where they attract tons of dust and/or snag on the shelves and make it that much harder to pull the new goods forward when it's time to get a new box. Oh, and some winners just raise the "slit," pick an item out of the box and leave the cardboard over the remaining items: where it'll be in the way of the next poor slob that has to go and pull an item.
Gah. I get that a warehouse is not the place to expect Martha Stewart-levels of Neat 'N Clean, but c'mon, People!
[ December 26, 2010, 07:38 PM: Message edited by: cleome ]
Posted by Pov on :
quote:Originally posted by MLLASH: I'll probably be wearing shorts, a tank top and flip-flops on Christmas. Stupid South!!!!!
Yeah, so how'd that work out Mikey? Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Well, where I am, we've gotten the first snow in the south in a couple of years. Christmas night. No shorts for me here in lake city, SC.
Posted by Exnihil on :
This is something that has bugged me for years, but I just saw the most extreme example of it today so...
Why is it that whenever I see someone selling comics outside of a comic-specific venue (i.e. at a garage sale, a flea market, an antique store, etc.) the asked-for prices are just sooooo ludicrous? It is though non-collectors just assume, "Hey... I heard that comic books are valuable; I'm going to make a bundle off these."
I could understand if someone bought a price guide and decided to price all of their books at suggested "Mint" prices because they didn't know about grading, but it's never even that simple. It just always seems completely arbitrary.
I was in a mall today and there was a baseball card show going on (so one would assume these dealers are not entirely unfamiliar with the concept of price guides) and one fellow had a few boxes of comics. I started flipping though and I was just astounded at how ludicrously priced these were. It is not as though they were even uniformly high priced (like every book for $5 or something), they were individually priced at ridiculous prices.
Of the couple that caught my eye, he had a few mid-eighties Who's Who's for $10 apiece, some Byrne-era Superman for $40 apiece and the one that I actually was interested in, Adventure 345 - the second half to the Nardo story - at $120!
Now, I happen to have a price guide right here (admittedly from 2001... but let's take a look)... OK, Adventure 345... in Near Mint ... $30, in good (which is closer to what the book in question was) ... $3. So either that book has quadrupled in value over the past 10 years, or this guy is yet another example of someone who has no idea what he's doing.
The real irony of the situation to me is that I can't imagine who the target buyer would be in this situation. Someone who has no idea about comic value I wouldn't imagine would casually drop $120 on some random back issue, and someone who does would never pay that price.
I just wonder whether these fellows ever move any of their books, and, if they don't, do they ever question why that is?
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
Did you bring it to his attention how ridiculously priced his books were?
Posted by Exnihil on :
I actually did.
Not in an overly rude way, but when he asked me if I saw anything I liked I said, "Yes, but these seem a little high." He replied that sorry, most people thought they were fair.
I was going to try to negotiate, but, honestly, we were coming from such completely different mindsets (the majority of what I would have asked about, I would have been prepared to pay only between 25 cents to a dollar for), I didn't want to waste either of our time.
Posted by He Who LSHes on :
Perhaps the price of # 345 has indeed quadrupled since Lash has been using Nardo as his avatar.
I think the seller either was ignorant or was expecting his customers, casual buyers in malls, to be ignorant. If you know nothing about comics and you see an issue with a $120 price tag, you might assume that the seller knows what he's doing . . . particularly since it may be your only chance at procuring such a treasure for yourself!
Years ago, I was at a store that sold collectibles of various kinds, including a fair-sized collection of cheap comics. There was an issue of Crisis on Infinite Earths (# 10, I think) with the name "Dick Giordano" written across it in felt-tipped ink. My first thought, of course, was it was an autograph from Giordano, the DC bigwig who had inked Crisis. I bought the comic--it was less than three dollars--even though I already had a copy. The only reason I bought it was because of the hope, however slim, that the signature was real.
I never tried to sell the issue, however, as I came to realize how silly and greedy my thinking was. What difference would if make if it was Giordano's signature? He was hardly the superstar that penciller George Perez was. Also, I have no way of authenticating the signature, so any attempt to persuade a buyer that it's genuine would be dishonest.
However, the incident taught me a valuable lesson: fans such as me tend to perform mental cartwheels when we think we've stumbled upon a hidden treasure. Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
quote:Originally posted by He Who LSHes: Perhaps the price of # 345 has indeed quadrupled since Lash has been using Nardo as his avatar.
Don't doubt his influence! I paid like 14 bucks for an issue of Groovy 70s Teen Titans because of his talking up the series!
Posted by Chief Lardy on :
I wish reprints of Groovy 70s Teen Titans would in fact be titled "Groovy 70s Teen Titans". Life just ain't fair. Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
So I'm basically venting here because I don't feel like arguing with the people involved.
This morning on Facebook some friends (well, people I know from High School) were complaining about "greedy" songwriters who expect you to pay everytime their musics is performed, and how they used to copy tapes all the time but now musicians all complain about "illegal downloading".
The thing is that I know a lot of working musicians who basically are lucky if they break even on their music. For many independent artists, *if* almost everyone who acquires your music actually pays for it, then that means that you can basically recoup the costs you put into making the music and it won't be cutting into the money that you make at your day job as a UPS worker or something. Even the vast majority of musicians who manage to devote themselves to music aren't exactly making tons of profit off it, and illegal downloads or illegal use of copywrited material seriously lessons the likelihood that they actually can survives off their craft.
Of course, my frustration with these folks on Facebook is heightened by the fact that they (or at least most of them) are self-proclaimed "right-wingers" and "Reaganites" who think Obama is a "socialist" and complain about "redistribution of wealth", etc. But apparently when it comes to some product that they want but don't want to pay for, it's all "from each according to his ability, to each according to his [want]".
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
Things like that on facebook drive my wife crazy. I generally ignore any comments by anyone online unless they are funny or ones that I already agree with! Posted by cleome on :
quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: So I'm basically venting here because I don't feel like arguing with the people involved.
This morning on Facebook some friends (well, people I know from High School) were complaining about "greedy" songwriters who expect you to pay everytime their musics is performed, and how they used to copy tapes all the time but now musicians all complain about "illegal downloading".
The thing is that I know a lot of working musicians who basically are lucky if they break even on their music. For many independent artists, *if* almost everyone who acquires your music actually pays for it, then that means that you can basically recoup the costs you put into making the music and it won't be cutting into the money that you make at your day job as a UPS worker or something. Even the vast majority of musicians who manage to devote themselves to music aren't exactly making tons of profit off it, and illegal downloads or illegal use of copywrited material seriously lessons the likelihood that they actually can survives off their craft.
Of course, my frustration with these folks on Facebook is heightened by the fact that they (or at least most of them) are self-proclaimed "right-wingers" and "Reaganites" who think Obama is a "socialist" and complain about "redistribution of wealth", etc. But apparently when it comes to some product that they want but don't want to pay for, it's all "from each according to his ability, to each according to his [want]".
I sympathize with the musicians. But then again, almost every creative person I know gripes about this sort of thing. Most musicians who turn even a modest profit do so by touring, not by selling CDs or merchandise or what-have-you. And the ones who reap a modest profit usually do so by going out without the dubious blessings of a record label.
I myself do not buy new music. I borrow it or buy it used, when I can afford to, which is rarely. Not only are new downloads on Amazon and its ilk hideously overpriced, there's the recent unpleasantness with large corporations going after Wikileaks. I can't stomach the thought of even using PayPal any more; their behavior is so vile. There is nothing, alas, I can do about Visa. I'm yoked to them for eternity, basically.
If somebody goes to my art site and wants to do a click-and-save on my work for free, there's nothing I can do about that, either. When I sell an original work, it's stipulated that the new owner owns only the original, not the right to copy the image and sell it for profit. But the truth is that if somebody did that very thing, I might never find out. Even if I did, it's unlikely that I'd be able to stop them unless I had a pod of lawyers handy-- and something to pay them with.
Posted by Chief Lardy on :
Speaking of FB, some of my friends just give too many updates! My best friend took a plane flight today and had a separate wall post (not replies to the first) with every changeover he made and several updates aboard the plane and a few that detail different stages of being at his destination (including getting his rental car, etc.)! A total of TEN DIFFERENT wall posts! He does that crap all the effin' time!
I know this is a minor annoyance at worst, but when I click the "home" page to see the latest updates it's really annoying. He does this crap all the time! Some of my other friends are just as guilty. If you're gonna be prolific in your wall posting, at least be as entertaining as Lash, for Chrissakes!!!
Posted by Fat Cramer on :
After having no health problems for years and years, I am now plagued with one infection after another, with even more antibiotics. Next Tuesday, the root canal starts!
And amid all this, my husband announced he wants us to move to Ireland. I already live in a broke, messed up province, why move to a broke, messed-up country?
Posted by cleome on :
[snip]
quote:Originally posted by Chief Lardy: Speaking of FB, some of my friends just give too many updates! My best friend took a plane flight today and had a separate wall post (not replies to the first) with every changeover he made and several updates aboard the plane and a few that detail different stages of being at his destination (including getting his rental car, etc.)! A total of TEN DIFFERENT wall posts! He does that crap all the effin' time!...
It's too bad that airlines don't really serve meals anymore. He could emulate one of my favorite cartoonists and link you to amusing hand-drawn diagrams of whatever crap/haute cuisine they gave the passengers to eat and drink. Posted by Rockhopper Lad on :
to you, Cramey. We love you now matter where you are and what oral surgeries you have.
Posted by cleome on :
^ ^ ^ What he said. (But I'm wondering why Mr. Cramer wants to go live in Ireland all of a sudden?) Posted by Ambush Bug on :
quote:Originally posted by Chief Lardy: If you're gonna be prolific in your wall posting, at least be as entertaining as Lash, for Chrissakes!!!
YES! For gods sake...YES!
Posted by Chief Lardy on :
quote:Originally posted by Ambush Bug:
quote:Originally posted by Chief Lardy: If you're gonna be prolific in your wall posting, at least be as entertaining as Lash, for Chrissakes!!!
YES! For gods sake...YES!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that kind of anal/share everything ad nauseum pattern of posting (like what my friend I referred to does, not what Lash does) more appropriate for Twitter? Should I encourage him to Tweet instead since I have absolutlely ZERO interest in Twitter and won't continue kinda-hating him because he has, like, TEN new wall posts every time I click "home"?
Posted by Ambush Bug on :
Definately Lardy. I have a few friends that are like that, and I have blocked a few from my feed. I do not need to know every detail of your life as it happens. hell, I don't even want to know the details of my own life that well half the time.
Posted by Ambush Bug on :
Lash and Matt are two of my favorite FB friends because of the way they post.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
Grand Jury venting
I am enjoying my grand jury duty except for some of my fellow jurors, especially the woman sitting next to me. While people are testifying, she is either texting ot doing a Sudoku. And yet she complains if we have some downtime between cases. (granted she only complains when the downtime is a half an hour or more) Why are you complaining, you are only going to ignore the person testifying. And the guy on the other side of me also texts while people are testifying. At first I thought it was related to his real job, but one time I looked over and he was looking at coats. He also will read a magazine while someone is testifying. I understand that is is boring when you have the 10th witness describing the same incident, but it is the first time that witness has been before us. I find it disrespectful to the witness, to the Assistant District Attorney presenting the case, and to those of us actually listening.
And during downtime we do chat with each other, but when an Assistant District Attorney comes in, you know they are there to present testimony in the form of a witness. Stop talking. But no some people continue to talk.
And then there are videos we are supposed to be looking at during the downtime. Usually it is a videotaped interview of a child who has been sexually assaulted. And the audio is not the best. Yet there are people who are just chit-chatting away. One time I asked 3 times for people to be quiet so that those of us watching the video could hear. Even after the 3rd time people still were talking. And a couple of them have those voices that you can pick out even in a noisy crowded room. And we do have a breakroom right there. If they really wanted to talk rather than watch the video, go in there.
And these are not young 20somethings. The woman next to me is 29. I think one other woman is in her mid 20's. Everyone else is in their 30's, 40', and 50's. Everyone is an adult!
Venting done.
Posted by cleome on :
[snip]
quote:Quislet, Esq.: Grand Jury venting...
Quis, I'm surprised they are even allowed to play around like this while hearing testimony! I did the Grand Jury thing about four years ago, and the only thing we were allowed to have while hearing testimony were small notebooks that the court provided. We had to take notes on the testimony, then the court collected those notes at the end of each day for their own files.
Posted by He Who LSHes on :
Re: Grand Jury venting . . .
I bet if those people were on trial, they'd want the jurors to pay attention.
I've never gotten to serve on a trial or grand jury, but when I hear stories like this, I think of the classic film "12 Angry Men" . . . a film that makes me realize just how precarious our legal system is, and how the fate of a person can depend on jurors who bring their own prejudice, indifference, or personal problems with them.
Yet at least there's hope, as the film demonstrates, that one brave, patient, and intelligent soul can convince the jury to do what it's supposed to do.
Posted by cleome on :
Another long one, Folks.
Click Here For A SpoilerSo I just spent two weeks temping in the Southwest suburbs of Portland. This entailed getting up at 5:15 in the morning, running my rear off for the majority of the day, and (if I was lucky) getting home from work by 6:15 in the evening.
I accepted a pay cut to take this job. What choice did I have?
Our main supervisor was an obnoxious ass who was rude to everyone, including most of his own managers. He had a "down-home" accent (think Boomhauer from King of the Hill) so damn thick that half the time I couldn't understand what he was telling me to do. But if I needed clarification on an order, of course I was the idiot.
The place was badly ventilated and full of chemical smells and dust. My allergies were bad when I arrived, and they were about ten times worse by the time the job was completed. Nobody ever propped open a door because they were concerned about theft. Nobody ever turned on the air conditioning.
New temps arrived on the job without being given proper safety briefings. Yesterday, one woman was using a safety ladder to stock store items 8'-10' feet off the ground without its "brake" properly engaged. She'd never done manual temping before and couldn't understand why the ladder kept wobbling and moving around, so I called her down, explained how to properly use the ladder to her, and took over the stocking job. Since she was understandably a little freaked out, I gave her a sheaf of price tags I'd been pasting on a rack by the front door and we switched tasks.
The manager came over and growled at us for "chattering" when we should have been working.
Later on Friday, this [bleep] sent me out to the store parking lot to pick up litter. Mostly the cigarette butts he'd been throwing everywhere during the two-week run for this job. (I love how it's just sooooooo hard for smokers to stub out their damn cigarettes and then throw them away somewhere!) Somehow this major chain store had not thought to purchase dustpans to keep its store clean. So it was myself and some poor sap in his twenties, on our hands and knees in the parking lot, picking this [bleep] up bare-handed. It took us well over an hour. The only saving grace was that it wasn't windy or rainy out there.
Wait. Here comes the best part: somehow the manager didn't get our time cards in to the agency on time, so my two-week stint with him is complete, but I have no money.
I swear. Hell will freeze over before I ever shop at this effing chain. EVER. I plan to tell everyone I know to avoid it like the plague, too. At this point, I'm so angry that I'm seriously thinking of writing a letter to their corporate headquarters... Just as a friendly reminder that, yeah, I have no soul and no dignity while I'm working. But once I'm done working I'm a consumer, like everyone else. And there is such a thing as word of mouth, and if you treat people like [bleep], what you reap is bad, bad word of mouth.
What a bunch of [bleep]s. Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
OK, so what chain is this? Does it rhyme with Hall Bart?
Posted by cleome on :
No such luck, Quis.
I think the Wal-Mart employees get together and laugh at people who work at this place and call us a bunch of beaten-down inbred rubes who likely don't bathe.
Posted by future king on :
It doesn't matter how dark and stormy, windy or pouring rain it gets out there, some drivers just will not turn their damn lights on!
Posted by Dev Em on :
So much to vent about and so little time...
Let's just say electrical problems in the minivan have been added to the list of about 534 problems that conspire to give me a headache/migraine daily.
Posted by future king on :
Why, oh why does Saturday night prime-time television have to suck so badly?
Not all of us have time to go to dinner and a movie every single Saturday night you know!!
Posted by He Who LSHes on :
quote:Originally posted by future king: Why, oh why does Saturday night prime-time television have to suck so badly?
Not all of us have time to go to dinner and a movie every single Saturday night you know!!
That's why God gave us board games, conversation, and sex.
Posted by cleome on :
Wait! I have to save all that for Saturday?
Posted by He Who LSHes on :
Gives you something to look forward to, doesn't it? Posted by Dev Em on :
GAH!!! URK!!! GRRRR!!!! ROAR!!!!!!!!
Posted by He Who LSHes on :
(Dev can't wait until Saturday to get his Monopoly fix.)
Posted by cleome on :
Posted by Dev Em on :
If I don't get the car...there's gonna be hell to pay!!!
Posted by He Who LSHes on :
You can have the car. I prefer the top hat.
Posted by cleome on :
Posted by future king on :
This is such a nice thread! What a great way to get what's bothering you off your chest and shove it in the faces of those you call friends!
KI-dding!!!!
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
So, I was going to have my great nephew and his friend come up to Boston for the day this coming Saturday. The Boston Library has a Civil War collections and they give tours on Saturdays. My great nephew and his friend are into the Civil War.
However, the Bruins won the Stanley Cup. And they are having a victory parade for them on Saturday. The parade ends at Copley Square. The library is in Copley Square. I am sure that if the Bruins had known about my plans, they would have thrown the game.
Luckily the exhibit is running through the summer. So I called my niece to move the date back a week.
Posted by cleome45 on :
[snip]
quote:Originally posted by Quislet, Esq: ...I am sure that if the Bruins had known about my plans, they would have thrown the game.
Luckily the exhibit is running through the summer. So I called my niece to move the date back a week.
And people act confused when I explain that Portland's overall lack of major sports franchises is one of its strongest selling points.
Posted by cleome45 on :
Damn it.
Click Here For A SpoilerSo I volunteered at our local co-op for nearly six years. I was also a founding member when they were still just a tiny buyer's club meeting in the basement of a church fifteen blocks or so up the street-- back in 1999. Over the years, I've invested who knows how many thousands of hours and thousands of dollars in the place. When there was a labor dispute there last Spring, I gave the employees verbal and written support. I went to meetings to try and let the managers know that the customers were on the workers' side in the dispute.
But our relationship overall has gradually gone south over the last year or so. I was, in a very passive-aggressive, high-handed way, shuffled out of my regular post there so they could bring in somebody else-- who I guess was a "hipper" brand of artist than myself. They didn't have the decency to do this to my face or set anything else up for me. It was up to me to scrounge around for other work and beg other people to find it for me.
Then the one board I was still permitted to letter and illustrate once a week got smaller and smaller, until I was working in a space that was maybe eighteen by eighteen inches.
I applied for regular work there twice in the last year, when they were hiring. Though they've known me for years and once even voted me a "Volunteer Of The Month" I never got called for an interview. Never even got a form rejection or any acknowledgment of my application.
This is the kind of behavior that's par for the course with large businesses, but it's a huge slap in the face coming from people who claim to be a local concern that cares about its members.
The other day I showed up for my shift to find that somebody else has taken over the tiny bit of space that I was still so generously permitted to letter. Something just snapped. I walked out ten minutes into my shift. Yesterday I resigned from my post by email.
I'm taking a week away to cool off, but I don't think I want to shop there or be a member anymore. They wanted my money and my time, but they don't want me. Eff 'em. I might as well just go shop at the damn Mal-Wart, which I at least always expected callous, predatory behavior from.
Damn it. I admit it. I actually went home and cried. I was that upset.
[ June 16, 2011, 06:38 PM: Message edited by: cleome45 ]
Posted by cleome45 on :
In other news, The Sid has needed two more trips to the vet in the last three weeks.
So much for whatever scant headway I've made paying down the credit cards in the last three months.
I should just max everything out fixing up the house, going to the doctor, buying myself some new eyeglasses (that I could actually see out of) and maybe that fancy juicer I've always wanted-- and then declare bankruptcy. What the hell? Everyone else is doing it. Posted by future king on :
I get that construction on our roads needs to happen in order to improve quality, etc. I also get that it needs to happen in the nice weather such as spring, summer and fall ... so far so good.
My biggest beef is WHY OH WHY does the ministry of transportation reduce a 3 or 4 lane hightway down to just ONE lane? And it's not even 10:00P.M. yet when they do???
It's summer, people are out visiting/travelling, AND malls are open until 9P.M. as well anyway!
Some of us are just trying to get home from work ya know!!!
Sheesh!
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Get'an offroad vehicle. Cut through people's yards. Run over garden gnomes. Crash the rail at the mall and send people running... EMBRACE YOUR INNER VILLAIN AND SPREAD DESTRUCTION UPON AN UNSUSPECTING POPULACE..... and get home in time for dinner.
*post said only in humor. Homeland security need not launch an investigation.
Posted by future king on :
quote:Originally posted by rickshaw1: Get'an offroad vehicle. Cut through people's yards. Run over garden gnomes. Crash the rail at the mall and send people running... EMBRACE YOUR INNER VILLAIN AND SPREAD DESTRUCTION UPON AN UNSUSPECTING POPULACE..... and get home in time for dinner.
*post said only in humor. Homeland security need not launch an investigation.
Wow, I guess I must be slowing down. Why didn't I think of all that???
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
LET THE STREETS RUN RED... WITH SLUSHIEEEEEEEE!
RAISE THE MIZENMAST, UNFURL THE SAILS, TONIGHT...TONIGHT WE DINE ON HOOHOOS AND 5 HOUR ENERGY DRINKS.... YAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!
Posted by future king on :
Oh lord, he's been watching those damned zombie movies again!!!
Posted by Dev Em on :
God. I need a vacation. Not gonna get one though for who knows how long.
Laptop is out of commission...gonna have a friend (in the IT biz) look at it Monday to see if it can be salvaged...I hope so.
Just got my daughters room open...the door knob snapped inside...fun to pry everything away enough to jimmy it.
Yep...no time off for me anytime in the foreseeable future...cannot afford it. Living paycheck to paycheck (when you're about three paychecks behind) is really not any way to live.
[ June 26, 2011, 03:17 PM: Message edited by: Dev Em ]
Posted by FUBAR KING'S ALTER EGO on :
<cleansing Dev's aura as I type>...
... Oh negative energy gods, leave the presence of my buddy Dev Em RIGHT NOW!!!!!
There. That outta do it! <fingers crossed>
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Dev, amigo, I hope it gets better. Broke this weekend because a contract that would either let me buy gas for next week to work on or pay a payment to the loan company arrived on saturday instead of friday. Oh, and my and Carol's anniversary is next week, so one way or the other, gotta figure out how to get her an anniversary gift.
hang tough amigo. Just remember, someone, somewhere, is living the good life and laughing at us. Posted by Dev Em on :
Oh yeah...Anniv. is coming up in early July as well.
Posted by He Who LSHes on :
So . . . is that a good thing or a bad thing? Posted by Dev Em on :
Well, no money to do anything. 14 years this year. Have not gone anywhere for our anniv since our 1st...and we barely afforded that.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Great thing. together ten years, married 8. Kid five years old. Wouldnt' trade Carol for anything in the world.
Posted by FUBAR KING'S ALTER EGO on :
Congrats to you both for your upcoming anniversaries!
It was 16 years (20 total) for Cathy and I on the 11th. Wow did it really fly by, it actually only feels more like 8 or 9 years went by, not 16!! I guess that means I'm having a good time, right? I can't say the same for my wife though! Posted by Dev Em on :
We've been together 15 years.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
It drives my wife nuts. I knew before she did that she was the one for me and vice versa. I knew befoe she did that she was pregnant. I was the one that knocked her (not physically, mind you) speechless with my proposal.
and I never let her forget that it was her choice of pastor that included "and obey" in the vows that she agreed to, lol. *But only in a fun, loving way.
Posted by cleome45 on :
quote:Originally posted by Dev Em: Oh yeah...Anniv. is coming up in early July as well.
August for us. I doubt any extravagant gestures are in the offing, either.
A trip to the next suburb over to hit a yard sale is my current idea of an "exotic vacation."
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
OK I know that not everybody has a cell phone, but there seems to be an awful lot of friends of my neighbors that don't have cell phones. Why else would they beep their car horns repeatedly?
Posted by future king on :
Besides my pet peeve about society's poor driving habits, my other, less serious one would have to how people at work leave their half empty water bottles lying around! Either drink it and get rid of it or else take it with you when you leave. I don't want to be cleaning up after you, and neither does anyone else!
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
To add to that, I hate when people waste perfectly good food. I can understand if they're full, but I've seen people throw out whole sandwiches. Good grief! Don't go complaining about not having enough money when you can't even save a sandwich for later.
Posted by cleome45 on :
I am scheduled for a job interview on Monday. The agency (which I think is run out of its owner's living room) didn't tell me the name of the company that's hiring until after we scheduled an interview.
She said I sounded "like just the person they were looking for." It's unfortunate that after she hung up the phone, I did a little detective work with Google maps and discovered that the job locale is almost one mile outside the range of local mass transit. And I don't drive.
Of course, I still have to waste everyone's time by going to the interview tomorrow. The last thing I want to do is explain to Unemployment why I was scheduled for a job interview and then never showed up for it.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
quote:Originally posted by future king: Besides my pet peeve about society's poor driving habits, my other, less serious one would have to how people at work leave their half empty water bottles lying around! Either drink it and get rid of it or else take it with you when you leave. I don't want to be cleaning up after you, and neither does anyone else!
Happens all the time at the college. People leave water/juice/sports drink bottles all over our lobby. Some empty, some half empty and some full. Annoying.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
If you drop off paperwork for myself or my boss to complete, and I tell you that we will call you when it is completed so you can come pick it up...calling me 2 to 5 times a day is not going to get it done any quicker. Not going to drag my feet on it, but things happen and sometimes other things do not get done as quickly as you would like.
Posted by Legion Tracker on :
quote:Originally posted by Dev - Em: ...calling me 2 to 5 times a day is not going to get it done any quicker. Not going to drag my feet on it, but things happen and sometimes other things do not get done as quickly as you would like.
Yeah, despite the adage, greasing squeaky wheels is not in my job description, nor is it in my list of life values.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
So, my roommate hates the hot weather. But he keeps his room sealed up tight which makes the temperature in his room 5 to 7 degrees hotter than the apartment. He does have an air conditioner in his window, but will give various "reasons" not to run it. "It's too noisy" . And tonight, it is because the outside temperature is 69 degrees and the AC manual says not to run the AC when the temperature is below 70 degrees.
I don't have AC for the rest of the apartment, but I get by just fine with fans and keeping the windows open. Yesterday I came home and 2 windows were shut. The reason was that the neighbor on that side just put in an AC unit and it was loud and sounded funny and it was bothering him. Yes it was a bit loud and sounded like it was on its last legs, but not enough to close the window and stop air from circulating in the apartment.
Also in the hot weather, I always try to get on the shady side of the street. But he always walks on the sunny side. The other day we were both going to the subway. The half of the stairs going up to the station was in the sun and the other half shaded. I went up the shaded side. He went up the side in the sun.
And yet I have to listen to him complaining how hot it is.
There I have vented.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
quote:Originally posted by Dev - Em:
quote:Originally posted by future king: Besides my pet peeve about society's poor driving habits, my other, less serious one would have to how people at work leave their half empty water bottles lying around! Either drink it and get rid of it or else take it with you when you leave. I don't want to be cleaning up after you, and neither does anyone else!
Happens all the time at the college. People leave water/juice/sports drink bottles all over our lobby. Some empty, some half empty and some full. Annoying.
This reminds me of my pet peeve at my gym. In the locker room lots of guys just leave the towel they used on the bench or floor. What are you too tired from working out that you can carry a towel 3 feet to the used towel bin? If so maybe you better cut down on the routine.
Also they leave the doors to the lockers open. And then there are those who don't shut off the shower all the way. Sometiomes it is just a drip, but sometimes it is a flow of water. Grrrr...
Posted by cleome45 on :
My left ankle is swollen again.
Thank you, former temp job, for aggravating this condition originally and thus giving me a reason to always remember you. Even though you left me high and dry without so much as a "thank you" seven months ago.
I've been icing it down for a few minutes every hour or so. I probably need pills to bring the swelling down, but since it doesn't hurt I balk at the thought of giving the bloodsuckers at my HMO even one dime in co-pays. Grrr. If it doesn't go back to normal by next week, I'll have to, I suppose.
Also, I don't want them to tell me that I should forgo riding my bike. It's A) the only physical fitness I can afford at the moment and B) about the only thing that gets me out of the house and keeps me from losing my mind.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
Why do people think that they can wait until a week before classes start trying the entire process (applying, getting financial aid, meeting with a counselor) and then get mad at us because we tell them it is not going to happen.
Posted by MLLASH on :
I am really concerned that it is getting very near the point where I will have to move in with my grandparents permanently.
I am not ready for this yet.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
I lived with my Grandma for about 6 months after my Grandpa died. Only thing that comes close to being a regret is not staying with her longer...maybe she would have stayed more independent if I had...
Never an easy choice Lash. But it can be a rewarding experience...
Posted by cleome45 on :
quote:Originally posted by Dev - Em: Why do people think that they can wait until a week before classes start trying the entire process (applying, getting financial aid, meeting with a counselor) and then get mad at us because we tell them it is not going to happen.
I think you just answered your own question. It's a time-consuming, annoying process, so some people will postpone it for as long as possible. But, yeah, obviously that's not your fault.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
The disease is also called self entitlement with some of them. They think that because they are there right at that moment...they should be taken care of right then. Never mind the hundreds of others that came in with the same expectation that are still being worked through because more and more people keep coming in and trying to get in late.
I can literally get a call from someone, who I am working on a problem for three to ten times a day. If I stop to answer every call, I will never get to your problem...which actually takes me time to work through. Then, when presented with the facts of the situation, they deny that they actually did wha they did. Case in point. A young man registered and was dropped for non-payment. He came back in and got back into his classes (signed the paperwork to do so) and got a hold placed on his account because he was part of the government sponsored retraining program.
A year later he calls up and says that he should not owe money because he was dropped from his classes, and never went to them. When presented with the facts of the situation (I actually have the signed paperwork putting you back into classes...with your signature on them) he says that he does not remember that and wants to see the 'paperwork'.
I said fine, and told him to come in any time. That was weeks ago. Nobody wants to take responsibility for their actions. You do something...there are results. Some good for you, some bad.
Like my boss always says...reading is fundamental.
Posted by cleome45 on :
A person should not work 112 hours in two weeks and yet, at the end of those two weeks, STILL not have a dime in their pockets and STILL be using credit cards to pay for food and transport.
Monday is a Federal holiday. The earliest moment at this point where I might actually be solvent is Wednesday.
Drop dead, Temp Agency Du Jour. I really hoped you were different than all the others, but apparently you aren't. Seriously. Hanging is too good for you. Jerks.
Posted by cleome45 on :
I'm looking for work again. Didn't even manage to get in a full three weeks of temping before the axe fell again at 9AM Thursday. I wasn't terribly surprised. But of course I still look like a fool and that's what really matters, right?
I have another interview this coming Wednesday. I can't wait. Every job experience somehow manages to be worse than the last, though this shouldn't be possible beyond a certain level of abuse. After this most recent horrible experience, what could a worse management style possible consist of?
Maybe my future manager will make me submit to a strip search every day. Maybe he'll be a raging psychotic who'll punch me in the face when I don't work fast enough. I can't wait to find out.
In other news, mr_cleome was in a car accident yesterday. Nobody was hurt, but the other driver didn't have collision insurance.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
to everyone venting on this thread. I'm glad Mr. Cleome is alright!
Right now I'm pretty confused at work, too. Apparently I'm supposed to be responsible for directly interfacing with our contact abroad, yet my boss keeps reviewing my work and my email drafts. But he blasted me for NOT taking more initiative. Then, when I talk to him about it, he's all "I understand" with a big smile on his face, and apologizes to me because he was in a bad mood.
This is really confusing, and I'm totally going to bring it up on Monday because I have no idea anymore what exactly is expected of me.
I also spent the last two weeks working 12-hour days, and my body clock is now completely messed up.
Posted by cleome45 on :
Thanks, IB.
Sorry you have to work ridiculous hours for yet another bozo, though.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
back. Ah well, such is life.
Posted by future king on :
I'm glad Mr Cleome is ok too!!! I think the 3 of us work the longest shifts of anyone on here. (Unless more do but don't speak up about it!).
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
Glad all three of us still manage to post a lot on the boards, though!
Posted by future king on :
Nah, of coarse not. We don't let a little thing like long hours at our jobs keep us from being post hogs! (I'm speaking for myself only!) Posted by cleome45 on :
quote:Originally posted by future king: I'm glad Mr Cleome is ok too!!! I think the 3 of us work the longest shifts of anyone on here. (Unless more do but don't speak up about it!).
Not anymore, I don't.
That's what floors me. I bent over backwards to do whatever the creeps in Management wanted, no matter how grueling, unsafe, or just plain suspect/contradictory it was. Made no difference. I still got humiliated and kicked to the curb. It happens over and over again in the climate of 9+% unemployment. We aren't human beings, just chattel. And the people in charge make damn sure that we never forget it.
I took the civil service exam again several months ago, even though I once swore I never wanted to be in the Government work culture again. But if they end up offering me work at this point (it could still happen. Public service wheels grind verrrrrrry slowly.), I'll jump at it.
I give. I wave the white flag. I surrender. Whatever the right term is.
I'm sick and tired of managers who are incapable of acting responsibly or even with simple decency towards me. Union shops aren't perfect, Lord knows. But at least I'd get some modicum of protection from this never-ending horde of stupid, exploitative, pathologically lying a-holes. Grrr...
[ October 16, 2011, 09:15 AM: Message edited by: cleome45 ]
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
Really sorry to hear that, cleome
Whatever happened to the days when managers were leaders, and looked out for their employees?
Posted by cleome45 on :
Thanks, IB. Honestly, I consider it some kind of miracle that I got out of that place and away from those smug creeps on Thursday morning without ending up in jail on assault charges. In the back of my mind somewhere was the thought that for three weeks I'd been treated like a petty criminal or an extremely stupid animal on a very short leash, so what difference would it really make if I acted like one?
Thankfully, I managed to gather up my stuff and get out of there without incident. I'm still not sure how I did it.
Those managers you're thinking of are obsolete. They got chucked in the trash along with benefits, the living wage, and all those other hallmarks of civilized behavior.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
I hear you, I hate it when they jump on you for small, honest mistakes and go all like, "Why the hell did you do that?" Hey, if I'd known it was the wrong thing to do, I wouldn't have done it.
Perhaps it's time to go entrepreneurial. Or start our own colony on a beautiful island far, far away from civilization.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
By the way, I was going to post on your flicker, but I couldn't figure out how to do that without registering for an account. I'm a bit lazy about signing up for it, since I don't plan on sharing any photos there at all
Love how you have so much going on in the collages without making them too overcrowded!
Posted by cleome45 on :
quote:Originally posted by Invisible Brainiac: I hear you, I hate it when they jump on you for small, honest mistakes and go all like, "Why the hell did you do that?" Hey, if I'd known it was the wrong thing to do, I wouldn't have done it.
Oh, come now! If you aren't psychic, what made you think you were qualified for such a prestigious job in the first place?
quote:Perhaps it's time to go entrepreneurial. Or start our own colony on a beautiful island far, far away from civilization.
Hey, I'm already an entrepreneur! I sold three cards last month! I would have made a net profit of almost fifteen bucks, except my Art Rep. spent her own money for gas to ferry all our stuff around, so I decided to let her keep eight out of the fifteen.
I'd rather export our overlords to an island while I stay here. All my comics are here. Posted by cleome45 on :
quote:Originally posted by Invisible Brainiac: By the way, I was going to post on your flicker, but I couldn't figure out how to do that without registering for an account. I'm a bit lazy about signing up for it, since I don't plan on sharing any photos there at all
Love how you have so much going on in the collages without making them too overcrowded!
Thanks for looking. (And I think flickr does have friends 'n family-only settings, if you ever change your mind about joining. I never use those settings, but it's good to know they're there, right?)
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
You make an awfully good point there. You'll be the first to know if I ever do decide to sign on
quote:Originally posted by cleome45: Hey, I'm already an entrepreneur! I sold three cards last month! I would have made a net profit of almost fifteen bucks, except my Art Rep. spent her own money for gas to ferry all our stuff around, so I decided to let her keep eight out of the fifteen.
I'd rather export our overlords to an island while I stay here. All my comics are here.
Well, this calls for a celebration! Let's pass around the tequila. I heard the cactus they produce it from is dying out, so we should enjoy it while it lasts.
Yes, I think our thick-skinned and thick-headed overlords would greatly enjoy living in Antarctica. We don't have a big enough ship, though, so I hope they like making the voyage in a crowded cargo hold.
Posted by future king on :
I know it's November 3rd and we are well into autumn and all, but does it really have to get so dark by 6:15 every night??? I'm just sayin'.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
Will need a job again in about three weeks. Blah.
Posted by He Who LSHes on :
Dev
Posted by future king on :
quote:Originally posted by Dev - Em: Will need a job again in about three weeks. Blah.
What sort of work are you looking for?
Posted by Dev - Em on :
The kind that pays. Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
Dev! Hope you also find one that you can truly enjoy.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
quote:Originally posted by future king: I know it's November 3rd and we are well into autumn and all, but does it really have to get so dark by 6:15 every night??? I'm just sayin'.
And as of this Sunday it will be getting darker even earlier.
Posted by future king on :
Yeah .... thanks for that! Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Every night since I got my cat, when my roommate comes out of his room to brush his teeth before bed, she starts crying the most pitiful meows for no disernable reason. She would have been curled up, but once he comes out - meow meow meow meeeeeeeooooowww. And pacing throughout the apartment, sometimes coming to me. And then the minute he goes back into his room, she settles right down. It drives me crazy!
And because she is a cat and not a dog, I can't just tell her to be quiet and she'll be quiet.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
Install lock on roommates door...from the outside.
Posted by LASHbrain on :
$600 for car repairs... but fortunately, I am blessed with the bestest luck, boyfriend, Grandmother and friend-friends EVER.
So... I guess this post is off-topic...
Posted by Dev - Em on :
We've had 800, that we have to pay back to my parents...and we have one more car to get fixed.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
One car down...1000 to get it running good enough to see what is wrong with the electrical/computer system.
Now the real scramble begins...
Plus, I start training my replacement tomorrow.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
...and when I thought it could not get worse...let's heap it on!
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
it's only tuesday and I'm already broke.
Posted by Pov on :
quote:Originally posted by Quislet, Esq: AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Every night since I got my cat, when my roommate comes out of his room to brush his teeth before bed, she starts crying the most pitiful meows for no disernable reason...
I bet he kicks her when you're not there...
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
or...loves her.. That's why she follows him around. Kitty Love. Fear it, if you dare!
Posted by Dev - Em on :
quote:Originally posted by Dev - Em: ...and when I thought it could not get worse...let's heap it on!
...and now...a glimmer of hope...
Posted by cleome45 on :
I have another temp job on Monday and the thought is making me a nervous wreck.
The agency that found it for me is the same agency that found me my last job. That last job was so horrible that I'm now trying to get into therapy. (Unsuccessfully, so far.)
It would be really nice to have an Xmas where I could gift my long-suffering spouse with something other than a kiss on the cheek and a large Diet Dr. Pepper, but... I'm really not optimistic about this. Bosses suck and temp agencies just plain can't be trusted any further than they can be thrown.
Posted by Fanfic Lady on :
Cleome
Posted by cleome45 on :
If I can actually keep this job through 12/31, Baby, just remember: any pair of socks you want from the Fred Meyer Supercenter is yours!
Click Here For A SpoilerYes, even if they have glitter AND My Little Ponies on them!
[ November 19, 2011, 11:19 AM: Message edited by: cleome45 ]
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
to you all.
So I'm semi-grounded for damaging the car. Dammit. It'll be 2-3 weeks before I get it back, too.
Posted by dedman on :
@ Cleome...alrighty I want those socks! umm, for my daughter, yeah, for her! Men's size 10 please!
Posted by future king on :
When will someone invent the robot that does all the menial yard labour, like cutting the grass and raking the leaves?
Do I really have to invent this myself AS WELL?
*sigh*
Posted by LASHbrain on :
I'm up way too early with very little to do today!! I had a yummy SuperSonic breakfast burrito breakfast already, nothing much is going on here or at Facebook as is normal for Sunday morning.
I've got an annoying case of the ennui-feh-blahs.
Posted by cleome45 on :
quote:Originally posted by dedman: @ Cleome...alrighty I want those socks! umm, for my daughter, yeah, for her! Men's size 10 please!
If you order the Size 14DD, one sock will accommodate an entire baby!
Posted by cleome45 on :
Right now I'm having the worst left-hand carpal tunnel of my life. Most of my left hand is literally numbed/without feeling for a huge portion of the day. My fingers are also frequently sore. (Yes, I am typing this almost entirely with my right hand. Now you have a clue why my contributions here have been so sparse this week.)
I do a ton of hand-transcribing at my current temp job, and now I may lose even this pitiful drop of income, because my right hand won't ever have the speed and accuracy of my left.
Also: No paid sick time + no willingness to spend all of Saturday waiting at Urgent Care = No getting this looked at until a week from today, at the very earliest.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
I have a bad cold and have not been able to work out all week! I feel fat, lumpy, out of shape and I think I will collapse if I so much as run a lap.
Plus, I can't stop coughing!
Posted by cleome45 on :
Sit it out, Doll. A little flab around the middle is still easier to deal with than bronchitis. (Which I've gotten a couple of times by dragging myself back to work before I was really ready. Ugh.)
Now drink this soup. Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
Awww, you take such good care of me. Will you fluff my pillows too?
--> I have to be careful not to push that too far...
Posted by cleome45 on :
One morsel of good news, at least: Back in June I posted here about resigning from a long-running volunteer gig because I was sick of being treated like crap.
In late Summer, one of the staff took me aside while I was shopping, and wanted to know why she rarely saw me around the place anymore. So I told her. She seemed very unhappy and confided that there had been "procedural problems" as the org was continuing to grow and that she'd mention my frustration to the rest of the staff.
Well, long story short: Last week another staffer informed me that they'd removed the old volunteer supervisor from her post. So I could re-start as a volunteer in 2012 if I wanted to.
I'm still thinking about it, but these rare moments when somebody in a work or work-type environment/position of authority looks to have been telling the truth are worth noting for posterity, right?
Stay tuned for the flying pigs and the river that runs backwards!
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
Wow!
I think I just saw a slab of bacon fly past my window.
There's hope yet - and for that, we deserve a toast! Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
cleome, I hope your hand gets better soon. Posted by cleome45 on :
Thanks, Quis. I spoke on the phone to the nurse, and she persuaded me to come to Urgent Care tomorrow instead of letting this marinate for a whole week more.
7 AM is when they open. So much for my leisurely Sunday. But I've decided to tell them it's a Worker's Comp claim, which might at least stave off a huge bill down the road.
A day of not having to grind out 40-50 pages of numbers in eight hours time has already made it feel much better. I'm eternally grateful that the jobsite is too stingy to demand mandatory overtime, unlike the last place I temped.
Posted by cleome45 on :
quote:Originally posted by Invisible Brainiac: Awww, you take such good care of me. Will you fluff my pillows too?
--> I have to be careful not to push that too far...
"Who's Been Fluffing Your Pillows, Baby, While I've Been On The Road?" Sounds like the B-Side of a Nineteen-Sixties R&B single.
Posted by MLLASH classic on :
I don't feel comfortable saying this on Facebook -bitchy queens get to making shit up, you know- but I am pretty sick right now... It's been a DREADFUL weekend... I'm on antibiotics (today -Monday- is day 5 of 10) but they have been slow to kick in it seems, and things are just rough right now. I'm trying to keep the old spirits up but I am pretty miserable.
Posted by Power Boy on :
awww
poor lash !
Posted by Fat Cramer on :
I DEMAND that Lash get better, right away!
Posted by Power Boy on :
... and I will *destroy* any bitchy queens that get in his way!!!! Posted by MLLASH classic on :
Thanks y'all! I very VERY stupidly was still taking Nyquil to help me sleep and realized earlier this evening- that contains ALCOHOL, DUMMY... which inhibits antibiotics. Which is partially why I am up so late (it's 3:30am here)... When I realized that, I *really* about freaked out that I had ruined my likelihood of getting better in 10 days!
Posted by MLLASH classic on :
Apparently I have some major cooties... I now have 14 additional days of antibiotics plus a 6 day dose of steroids to take.
*moan, groan*
Posted by Dev - Em on :
Sore throat, tired...no fever so far.
>glares at Lash<
Posted by MLLASH classic on :
*moans toward Dev*
Posted by cleome45 on :
You both need to stop with the moaning and glaring and get some sleep! Tsk!
I'll be over later with some nice chicken noodle soup. And not soup from a can either.
Razzin' frazzin' kids these days... [grumble] Posted by Dev - Em on :
quote:Originally posted by MLLASH classic: *moans toward Dev*
OH MY GOD...HE's A WALKER!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
oh...sigh...never mind.
Posted by MLLASH classic on :
Today is the first day in a WEEK that I have felt better and not worse... which is actually off topic so... ummm...
It's raining!!
Posted by cleome45 on :
Well, I woke up at 4:30 this morning. Did some chores, because I just hate lying in bed unable to sleep.
Either I'm also turning "walker," or it's my twice-yearly ten-day bout with disordered sleep: right on time for Winter Solstice, too.
I'll be ready for bed by the time I have to leave for work, of course.
Posted by cleome45 on :
It's too bad that I'm not either a friend or partner of any managers at work. Then I too could get away with blowing off a third of the day's work and constantly distracting other people actually trying to get sh*t done with my endless personal drama on my portable phone-- which I would then re-enact over and over and over again in exhaustive detail for all the other workers whether they cared to hear about it or not. Everyone would just laugh it off and I'd never, never be fired.
Work would be great if it didn't involve co-workers. Really.
[ January 07, 2012, 10:00 AM: Message edited by: cleome45 ]
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
So... I've just learned that Jim Shooter wrote a story about Ms. Marvel being raped, giving birth to her rapist, and the Avengers are all peachy keen with her going to live with him because they're a couple of "love birds".
My opinion of Jim Shooter has gone down a notch.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
SK, the story in question was from AVENGERS # 200, with a sequel in AVENGERS ANNUAL # 10. Yes, it was very controversial.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
I have that issue somewhere. I remember thinking it was really bizarre when I was a kid.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
I once read an article in a fan publication, I think, which suggested that this was Marvel's way of getting rid of Ms. Marvel, who had become something of an "embarrassment" to the company.
Like many characters, including Dazzler and Silver Surfer, Ms. Marvel was designed to capitalize on a trend, in this case the Women's Lib movement and the popularity of "Ms." as an address. When that term became passe in the early '80s, Marvel was left with what to do with character and so they chose to write her out.
The article argued that the way in which she was written out was meant to re-establish male dominance and put women in their place.
Whatever Marvel's motives, the sequel partially redeems the story by having the former Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers, sharply criticize the Avengers (and, by extension, the creators of the original story) for not questioning her decision to run off with Immortus. Ironically, however, Carol had already been stripped of her powers after an unfortunate run-in with Rogue, so she was still "in her place".
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
Hmm, yes, I was hasty at judging Jim.
Can I still be confused and irritated at the story?
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
I think that's one of the most devastating panels in comics I've ever seen.
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
I need to talk about Mr. Claremont about this story at some point. It seems like this is an excellent learning experience.
Seriously though, I can only imagine what people thought of that story when it came out.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
By the way, I can't help noticing that the scene of Carol's confrontation with the Avengers takes place at Xavier's pool, and that she and every other female character is wearing skimpy bikinis(including Wanda, whose costume always resembled a bathing suit).
While sex appeal has always been a part of super-hero comics, it seems greatly misplaced here. Yes, female empowerment takes another hit, thanks to the cheesecake factor.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
SK, FYI, Claremont then went on to feature Carol in X-Men for about two years as a supporting character before making her Binary and a member of the Starjammers. He spent quite a bit of time 'restoring' Carol in the role of a strong, female character that could move on from Avengers #200.
Posted by cleome45 on :
I thought it was funny (as in "eye-rolling") that Claremont was angry at the Micheline rape-pregnancy story;angry enough to pen a whole annual that rebuked it. And yet Claremont did some amazingly awful things to other female characters both before and after that story appeared. There was a gratuitous and unnecessary rape in his Epic Marada comic, and Dani Moonstar was psychically raped by "evil" Xavier in the oh-so-regrettable-on-every-level X-Men/Micronauts crossover mini. To name just a couple of cringeworthy "fridging"-type events that happened years before Gail Simone helpfully coined the term.
Ah, pop culture. Never change.
[bangs head on wall]
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
I've posted further thoughts on Avengers #200 on my blog.
Posted by cleome45 on :
I got a form letter from my dentist yesterday, which helpfully informed me that I could have a horrible gum/jaw disease and not know it. MY TEETH AND JAW AND ENTIRE FACE COULD FALL OFF TOMORROW UNLESS I COME IN FOR A CHECKUP ZOMFG!!11 LIKE RIGHT NOW
Every few months, this dentist's office calls me to tell me I need to come in for a cleaning. And every time it's the same. I tell them I'm broke, jobless (or underemployed), and can't afford to come in. Apparently it hasn't sunk in for them, because now I have the scary, scary form letter which talks to me like I'm a five-year-old who doesn't understand that humans need dental care. They have "penciled me in" for the first week of April, because, you know... stupid people like me clearly don't understand how appointments work.
I know from previous visits that there's no way I can ever get in and out of their office for less than a hundred bucks. Perish forbid they should offer me a discount. You'd think that they'd be thrilled to see uninsured patients. Imagine the hours and miles of stupid, pointless paperwork that we save them. But-- no.
I left them a snappish message on their answering service last night, saying that no, it does me no good to be pencilled in for a service I can't afford, and could they MAYBE have mentioned somewhere in their ooga-booga scary form letter lecture what the procedure costs these days, at least?
Jackasses. Posted by cleome45 on :
Also, a very important function/program on my computer just died over the weekend, about half an hour after I'd fixed another problem with it.
Click Here For A SpoilerAnd on top of everything else, ALICE FAYE GOES TO THE BIG CITY AND LOSES HER VOICE!!
(I threw that in just in case He Who Wanders is reading.) Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
So, it is a beautiful warm sunny day out. I had been away most of the day. When I get home, I can hear kids playing out in the street.
My roommate comes out of his room just as the kids get particularly loud. He said "This had been going on since noon. I almost called the police."
They may have been loud, but they are just kids playing. My roommate is too sensitive.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by cleome45: Also, a very important function/program on my computer just died over the weekend, about half an hour after I'd fixed another problem with it.
Click Here For A SpoilerAnd on top of everything else, ALICE FAYE GOES TO THE BIG CITY AND LOSES HER VOICE!!
(I threw that in just in case He Who Wanders is reading.)
I'm just now seeing this.
I hope Alice got her voice back. Posted by Dev - Em on :
Okay. Having a cast n your leg is bad enough, especially when it almost goes to your knee...then having the furnace stop turning on the AC just makes everything more freakin miserable.
Ah well...at least the convention was air conditioned this year. Cut down on the funk that usually accompanies gatherings like that.
Posted by matlock on :
quote:Originally posted by Dev - Em: Okay. Having a cast n your leg is bad enough, especially when it almost goes to your knee...then having the furnace stop turning on the AC just makes everything more freakin miserable.
You sound like Jimmy Stewart in "Rear Window!" Watch out for any Raymond Burr lookalikes in your area.
Posted by cleome45 on :
So, while we were sleeping in this lovely Sunday, a fissure opened up in our water heater and flooded the crawlspace. Managed to shut off the water main, eventually, but not before the water began lapping the furnace. We bailed some of that, but I suspect there's already been damage.
Happy effing Three-day weekend.
[ETA- The plumber just came and declared the water heater DOA. So we're off to look at new ones.
I guess on the plus side, no plans for the holiday = no ruined plans for the holiday.]
[ May 27, 2012, 03:45 PM: Message edited by: cleome45 ]
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
Darned mechanical thingamabobs. Always breaking down at the worst possible times.
Posted by Kent Shakespeare on :
yow! just now seeing this. hugs!
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
My roommate is so paranoid.
When I came home last night, he says to me "Make sure you lock the door when you go out. You did today. But when I was going out I heard the kids across the street saying 'We should just take it.' and then when they saw me coming down the steps they were all like 'Shhh! Don't say anything.' "
He is always worrying that people are looking at him and know that he is gay. If someone on the subway laughs, he is half convinced that they are laughing at him.
My back porch is enclosed (and on the third floor). In the pantry is a small window to the back porch. A child could fit through it, but not so much an adult. In the summer I like to leave it open so my cat can go out to the back porch when she wants to. He is worried that robbers will enter the apartment through it. Even though I pointed out that a robber would have to climb to the third floor and break in through the enclosed porch before reaching that small window and that more likely, a robber would just break down the back doors, he still worries about someone coming into the apartment through that window.
And while I am venting about him another thing. I noticed that on my cat's left rear leg, her fur was getting all knotted and it looked like some was missing. So, I call the vet and make an appointment for this Tuesday. I then ask him if he'll be around Tuesday to help me get her into the traveling case. He says "I don't know what's wrong with her and I always catch everything." So, I said "Well you could just hold the case. I'll put her in." He replied "Can't you just toss a treat in there?"
ARGH!!!!!
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by Quislet, Esq: porch is enclosed (and on the third floor). In the pantry is a small window to the back porch. A child could fit through it, but not so much an adult.
You better not mention Verne Troyer.
Sorry that your roommate is so paranoid, Quis. It must make living with him difficult at times.
Posted by Lard Lad on :
quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: Sorry that your roommate is so paranoid, Quis. It must make living with him difficult at times.
Hopefully, the sex is good enough to make up for it, Quis!
j/k
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
quote:Originally posted by Lard Lad:
quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: Sorry that your roommate is so paranoid, Quis. It must make living with him difficult at times.
Hopefully, the sex is good enough to make up for it, Quis!
j/k
Oh he though I was coming on to him at one point. Even though I told him I wasn't and he seemed to accept that, I am sure in the back of his mind he still believes I was coming on to him.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
For the moanin' groanin' thread...I'm tired'a moanin' and groanin'. Literally. I'm tired of being so sore that when I sit down for a few minutes, my body literally stiffens up to the point standing up or walking is painful. I'm tired of being tired, and I'm tired of working seven days a week 12 hours a day or better.
Yeah, it's for a great cause, building our house, but I'm ready to be finished and in.
*side note, the only way we can afford the house is if I do this, so i'll keep doin what I'm a'doin, but I'm tired.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
Okay. Furnace still not working. So no AC. 89 inside the house right now. Feel like I have a lead weight on my leg (cast).
...and on top of it all, after over a year of having no neighbors, we finally have some. They finished moving in today, and are now sitting on their deck smoking and smoking one Cig after another. Earlier there were about 5-6 people puffing away at one time. The problem with this...the fan in my kitchen window is pulling in the smell. Not terribly strong, but it is there.
Posted by cleome45 on :
All sympathy to my buddies who are wading hip deep in it.
I have a job interview in 90 minutes. The agency never got around to telling me the hours, the pay, or what I'll be doing. All I know is that it's part-time temporary and in a locale where I'm royally screwed if my shift begins or ends anytime between 9 AM and 1 PM.
But I still have to dress nice, be all happy and perky and CAN-DO, BOSS! and go out there and put on another humiliating show. (Oh, and pay for freaking cab fare home. See my above comment. The bus line has "dead hours" in the middle of the day and I have no desire to sit in a parking lot twiddling my thumbs for four hours once the interview's over.)
Click Here For A SpoilerI DON'T WANNA' DO THIS ANYMORE!! FOUR YEARS ON THIS FREAKIN' MERRY-GO-ROUND IS MORE THAN ENOUGH, DAMNIT! FOR THE LOVE OF DOG! WHO DO I HAVE TO TRIP, MAIM, OR KILL TO PLEASE JUST MAKE IT
And when I get home it's more trawling, more useless attempts to tweak my resume, more repetitive apps that nobody ever answers, more groveling and begging. Of course.
[ June 12, 2012, 08:42 AM: Message edited by: cleome45 ]
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
I am never going on Newsarama again.
Also, UGH! I've been reading Puella Magi Kazumi Magica and the latest chapters aren't online! I haven't been positively full of suspense about a comic in years!
Posted by Dev - Em on :
I realized something not to long ago, and it continues to play itself out.
I took phone calls from a friend of mine at very late hours helping him thorough a very tough time. He said that if I ever needed to talk about anything he was there to listen...anytime.
Well, he has answered two calls of about 35 in the last two months. I then usually see him posting about what he has been doing...which is usually not something that he couldn't stop for a few minutes to talk. Oh yeah, and one of the times he answered it turned immediately into what he was going through, instead of picking up where we had left off the other time he answered and said that he wanted to continue what we were talking about because he had a thought about it.
Just feeling really f'ing alone sometimes...and really unappreciated.
Yes, I know there are people here that are here for me...but some things require certain knowledge of situations over time...
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Ugh. There's few things I hate more than people who expect you to be there for them but are never there when you need them.
Been there, got a closet full of t-shirts.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
Yeah...all too often.
Turns out...the people I know from on lone are better friends than most of my real life ones.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
Ok, I am not the best housekeeper and I can let the dishes pile up for a couple of days. But my roommate has let his dishes (which are actually mine) go for a couple of weeks. He had dirtied all the bowls. He'll wash one to use in the morning.
So, this morning I said to him "Could you wash the dishes you used in the sink? I wanted to use a bowl last night but they were all dirty." He responded with "I just use the bowls." & I said "Yes, and they are all dirty."
A few minutes later, he comes out of his room. "You know the reason I haven't been doing the dishes is my plantar warts which you gave me. It makes it hurt to walk or stand." I was like "That I gave you???" "You purposefully infected me with the virus." He then went and washed some dishes. (I haven't looked to see how many he washed) And is now in his room.
I am so sprocking mad right now.
Posted by Dave Hackett on :
Just think of the amazing book this will all make one day.
In fact, you should follow him around the apartment notepad in hand, furiously jotting things down whenever he does anything at all.
That should set him on edge nicely.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
Trust me, it takes even less than that to set him on edge.
Posted by matlock on :
The optometrist told me today that if I don't like taking off my glasses to see up close then I have the option of bifocals. I knew it was coming but... bifocals?
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
I think I fell asleep for a half hour or an hour.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
quote:Originally posted by matlock: The optometrist told me today that if I don't like taking off my glasses to see up close then I have the option of bifocals. I knew it was coming but... bifocals?
They call them "progressive lens" now. There is no line like bifocals used to have.
Posted by Power Boy on :
How does one give another plantar warts? Just asking.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
Well, I just talked to my roommate. I just don't know about him.
When I asked him if he really thought I purposely infected him with the virus that causes his plantar warts, He replied "Well I didn't have them when I moved in and I don't know who else could have given them to me." I responded with "I don't have the virus. BUt I am very offended that you would think that I would purposely infect you." He was like "well I would hope you wouldn't. But I remember watching TV with you once and a guy had penile warts and you were laughing at him for having penile warts." Me; "I don't remember that at all." plus it doesn't sound like something I would do. He then went into a lament about all the things wrong in his life and how others have done worse thing to him. In response to my saying that I would not do anything like that, he said "I would hope not."
I also told him that I didn't like his silent treatment. He did say that he can be like that to others too, not knowing how to respond (which is true). But really, your roommate walks in to the apartment and says "hi" and you don't know how to respond?
The conversation ended with me saying again how much it offended me to have him think I would do something like purposely infecting him with a virus. He again said that he would hope not and that he was sorry. I did say "If you really think that I would do anything to hurt you, maybe you shouldn't live here. If someone was trying to hurt me, I wouldn't want to be around them."
We shall see how things are for the next few days. I don't want to kick him out because he really doesn't have any place else he could go to. But if he makes me feel uncomfortable in my own apartment, then he will have to go.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
quote:Originally posted by Power Boy: How does one give another plantar warts? Just asking.
Well according to some medical web sites, they are caused by HPV (Human Papillomavirus). The virus can infect from direct contact, such as communal showers. So really if anything, he could be giving them to me seeing as we use the same shower.
Why he thinks I have HPV, I don't know.
Posted by Power Boy on :
shower shoes. shower shoes.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
Yeah, I need to buy some tomorrow
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
You have kind, compassionate, and patient soul, Quis.
Have you tried establishing boundaries? For example, you could tell him, "I want you to continue living here, but you're going to have to do x, x, and x" (such as "not hurl false accusations at me," "not give me the silent treatment," etc.) Perhaps he will respond well if someone sets boundaries for him or lets him know his behavior has consequences. If he does not agree to your terms and moves out, then a) you've lost nothing, and b) you know where you stand.
Posted by cleome46 on :
quote:Originally posted by Quislet, Esq:
quote:Originally posted by Power Boy: How does one give another plantar warts? Just asking.
Well according to some medical web sites, they are caused by HPV (Human Papillomavirus). The virus can infect from direct contact, such as communal showers. So really if anything, he could be giving them to me seeing as we use the same shower.
Why he thinks I have HPV, I don't know.
I went looking up that info yesterday after reading your previous post, Quis.
Honestly, even if you felt real malice towards this guy (which I know you don't), it sounds like he'd have to have pretty poor personal habits himself to catch plantar warts from somebody he was living with.
I hope you can work it out, but I wouldn't blame you if you got fed up and told him to pack his bags.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
I did say that I did not want the silent treatment. I said "you don't have to be the life of the party or engage in deep conversations, but just acknowledge me when I say 'Hello'."
The thing about the false accusations, he said he was sorry and that he hopes I wouldn't do things like that, but that last bit makes me think that he is still thinking it. There was no "yeah, I don't know what I was thinking to have thought that."
I really do have to think about if I want him to keep living here. As it is only my name is on the lease as being responsible for the rent. He is listed as only living here.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: You have kind, compassionate, and patient soul, Quis.
Also known as a sucker. Posted by cleome46 on :
quote:Originally posted by Quislet, Esq:
quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: You have kind, compassionate, and patient soul, Quis.
Also known as a sucker.
Yeah... Jeez. Didn't they teach how to ditch all that quaint, old-fashioned thinking when you were in law school, Quis?
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by Quislet, Esq:
quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: You have kind, compassionate, and patient soul, Quis.
Also known as a sucker.
While some may see it that way, I think, in general, it's better to err on the side of compassion.
Posted by cleome46 on :
BTW, wayyyy back on 6/12, I vented in this thread about going on another job interview.
On Thursday, I heard back from the agency that sent me (after they'd ducked my calls for ages) saying basically: The woman who interviewed you liked you. She was overruled by a superior, but the person the superior liked didn't work out. So now that superior has relented and we want you to report to work on Monday.
I'd like to rejoice, honestly, but I'm too jaded and stressed from being jerked around by these places as many times as I have been. Plus, it feels wrong to be excited when some other poor slob, possibly through little/no fault of their own, had to be canned so I could get a crack at this job. (Which is still only part-time and temporary, though the hourly wage is enough to make it worth doing-- for reasons beyond just keeping Unemployment off my tail.)
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
This is good news, cleome!
Please, do rejoice! Don't let your past experiences cloud your expectations of this job. It could be a blessing in disguise.
Also, don't feel too sorry for the other person, as you'll likely never know what truly happened. It's just as possible that he or she didn't show up for work, didn't do the job, or had a lousy attitude.
So, go crack open a bottle of wine, already!
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
cleome,
I would say that it being a part time temp job, it would more likely than not have to be the employee's fault for getting fired rather than to give you an opportunity to do the job. Or she/he could have quit.
Hopefully, you'll be reporting to the woman who liked you and wanted you in the first plac.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
Okay. I put up with a guy at work who is basically Andrew Dice Clay Jr. Same hairstyle (does the comb thing...really), talks like him with the same accent. I just have not heard the nursery rhymes from him yet.
Anywho...Last Thursday, he bring me some things that need to be tested. They are not fully done (another in a string of things that his group has not completely finished before giving it to me, of which I have sent most back lately to be completed). The ground wires are not there from the door of the box to the box itself to the panel mounted in the box.
He looks at me and says...seriously, he sauid this..."yer jus gonna have to bite the bullet on this one and do em."
Now, I would normally have done what I am about to do anyway, but this sent my brain into a migraine immediately. I let myself calm down until Friday, while I got the ground wires ready, and completed the two boxes I had with me and gave the rest of them to the woman wiring the other boxes and she put those on for me.
Now, Mr. (If I can talk louder than you I am right and you will do as I say) was in the back of the shop getting a pop (soda) when I had to go back and grab some terminal jumpers for the remainder of the boxes from this group, because all of them were missing them. So I see him and roll (remember, I'm on a scooter) over to him. I get uncomfortably close to him on purpose (about half a foot from his face) and I say in a low tone "Blahblah, between you and me...I'd appreciate it if you never ever said that I need to bite the bullet and do something that your group forgot to do ever again." I open my hand and show him the terminal jumpers. There are 6 in my hand which need to be cut in half and both halves installed. "See these?" I say, "I'm going to be installing these because your group didn't again. I do this kind of s#!t for you all the time, and I do not need you to F'ing tell me what to do."
With that, I turned around and scooted away to continue my work. I left him standing there with his mouth hanging open like someone told him his puppy just died.
Then, Saturday...he was really really nice to me all day.
Point Dev.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
Good for you, Dev!
Posted by cleome46 on :
Thanks, Guys. (HWW & Quis)
Originally when I went on the interview, I literally knew nothing about the job other than where it was and the name of the interviewer and her company. The agency hadn't bothered to tell me anything else, no matter how many times I contacted them asking for details.
I didn't know the hours, the wage, the type of work I'd be doing. I was trying to have my game face on, and the whole time, I felt like a complete fool. Then the agency wouldn't talk to me post-game. I figured this meant they'd never seriously thought I was good enough to do the work, but they had some quota to fill and they knew I couldn't refuse an interview no matter what their agenda was.
I was so furious that I was happy to avoid them for a couple of weeks in favor of one of their competitors-- even though the competing agency paid lower wages and sent me to overall crappier jobs. (Yogurt squeezer/Wal-Mart flunkie, anyone? )
So this could be some kind of miracle or it could just be the prelude to one more clusterf*ck. But there's no way to find out without actually reporting to work.
Yes, wine is called for. Maybe in an hour or so after it's had time to chill.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by cleome46:
So this could be some kind of miracle or it could just be the prelude to one more clusterf*ck. But there's no way to find out without actually reporting to work.
Just as I think it's better to err on the side of compassion, so, too, do I prefer to err on the side of miracle. Posted by Legion Tracker on :
Hi cleome and Dev and Quis. I'm following your stories and hoping the best for you and applauding your efforts and successes. I'd add more but, hey, HWW is saying it all so well! :-)
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
My turn to vent (though this is not even on the radar screen of problems, compared to some vented here) . . .
Several months ago, a filmmaker asked to interview me for a documentary he's making on comic book fans. Since I'm an adjunct professor, he thought "the academic perspective" on comics would add something to the film.
I agreed to the interview, and even obtained permission from my dean to film in a classroom, but the filmmaker's schedule and mine did not coincide. I heard nothing more from him for six months.
Then, last month, he emailed me and said he was making a longer version of the documentary and still wanted to interview me. I said yes and gave him the contact info for my dean so we could reserve a classroom. I heard nothing more for about a month.
Then his director of photography emailed me to set up the interview. As I'm currently teaching on a different campus, I had to get permission from the administrator here. No big deal. We set up the interview for last Tuesday.
The guy didn't show up.
I got an email from him saying he was on his way to interview me when his car broke down. Okay, that's understandable. He wanted to reschedule the interview for today. I agreed.
Guess what.
Still no show.
I'm sitting here waiting when I could be at a coffee shop, drinking coffee and writing the next chapter in my novel-in-progress. (I could start writing it here, but I'd hate to get in the groove and have to stop, should he show up.)
Minor annoyance? Yes. My life won't end if this interview does not take place. Still, it would have been a fun and novel experience, and perhaps a chance to promote myself as a writer (maybe even show on film the comic book I published and still sell).
Looks like Tom Cruise is going to have to wait another day for the rivalry of my film debut.
[ July 03, 2012, 12:45 PM: Message edited by: He Who Wanders ]
Posted by Legion Tracker on :
HWW, are you being docu-punked? Maybe he's there and you don't know it....
;-)
Posted by cleome46 on :
quote:Originally posted by Legion Tracker: Hi cleome and Dev and Quis. I'm following your stories and hoping the best for you and applauding your efforts and successes. I'd add more but, hey, HWW is saying it all so well! :-)
Thanks, LT. You're a doll.
(Though at this point, if anyone gives me any grief, I'll just call in Dev.)
Posted by cleome46 on :
[snip]
quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: I'm sitting here waiting when I could be at a coffee shop, drinking coffee and writing the next chapter in my novel-in-progress. (I could start writing it here, but I'd hate to get in the groove and have to stop, should he show up.)
So, stood you up twice? And not even an explanation the second time?
I thought we here on the Left Coast had the market cornered on that level of flakiness.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by Legion Tracker: HWW, are you being docu-punked? Maybe he's there and you don't know it....
;-)
Docu-punked? I've never heard of that before.
If it was a Candid Camera-type thing, I'm afraid I disappointed him. All I did was sit at a computer and visit Legion World. Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by cleome46: [snip]
quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: I'm sitting here waiting when I could be at a coffee shop, drinking coffee and writing the next chapter in my novel-in-progress. (I could start writing it here, but I'd hate to get in the groove and have to stop, should he show up.)
So, stood you up twice? And not even an explanation the second time?
I thought we here on the Left Coast had the market cornered on that level of flakiness.
The first time, he emailed me after a couple of hours to explain that his car had broken down.
This time, as of five minutes ago, nada, zip.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
quote:Originally posted by cleome46:
quote:Originally posted by Legion Tracker: Hi cleome and Dev and Quis. I'm following your stories and hoping the best for you and applauding your efforts and successes. I'd add more but, hey, HWW is saying it all so well! :-)
Thanks, LT. You're a doll.
(Though at this point, if anyone gives me any grief, I'll just call in Dev.)
Be glad to be of assistance. Posted by He Who Wanders on :
Dev: Legion World's enforcer.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
If need be. Thing is, if you have a 300 lb frame...might as well use it once and a while.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
Well, I spoke to my roommate a couple of days ago. Since then, he has been keeping up with the dishes and has stopped with the silent treatment.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
That's good news, Quis. Hope he continues to progress in his behavior.
Posted by matlock on :
cleome, I really hope the job situation resolves itself soon. I've been temping at the same place for over a year and I'm about at my wit's end. I have a 2nd meeting with my boss about getting on full time. I don't think they realize how grueling it is to have no job security or benefits but be expected to function the same as a regular employee. Good luck!
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by matlock: I don't think they realize how grueling it is to have no job security or benefits but be expected to function the same as a regular employee. Good luck!
Oh, I'm sure they realize it. They either 1) don't care, or 2) feel bound by the "system" in which they themselves have achieved some measure of success (if success is defined as a full-time position, a decent salary, and benefits).
As an adjunct professor, I face a similar situation. I have no benefits, no health insurance, etc. (though, now that Obama's law has been upheld, I wonder how I will afford this mandatory "tax"). I also have no guarantee that I will be employed from semester to semester. Our college recently went through changes which have resulted in a domino effect, meaning fewer class offerings for adjuncts. I'm lucky--because of my seniority, I'm on board for two classes next spring. Six or seven adjuncts who came after me may simply have no classes. (No classes=no paycheck.)
Even being "on board" is no guarantee. Should a full-time professor's class get cancelled, guess whose class they will be given to fulfill their teaching load? That's right: an adjunct's. This has happened me in the past.
I always try to balance this situation against the positives: I love to teach, and my college treats adjuncts fairly well (unlike certain other colleges I've taught at, where adjuncts were regarded as a necessary evil, like employing undocumented workers to do the jobs you think you're too important to do.) I genuinely love teaching, and I love the college where I teach, but the system itself is inherently unfair.
(The assistant dean who hired me, since retired, admitted during the job interview that the system was exploitative. This, in my experience, has been true of most jobs.)
Bottom line, I guess, is that the people who make these decisions have their own concerns, their own jobs to do, and their own bosses to please. It is not their job, they may argue, to do what we may think is fair. That's why the government makes so many regulations--and we all know how that works.
The answer, I guess, is that we can't rely on any employer to do what we think is right. The old model from my grandfather's day of working for the same company for 30 or 40 years and then retiring is, plain and simply, obsolete. Somehow, we've got to think outside the box to get what we want in life.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
quote:Originally posted by Legion Tracker: Hi cleome and Dev and Quis. I'm following your stories and hoping the best for you and applauding your efforts and successes. I'd add more but, hey, HWW is saying it all so well! :-)
What LT said And to HWW, too.
Dev, good for you telling that guy off. He sure sounded condescending.
Cleome, I hear ya. If only all interviewers would give feedback to the applicants who pass through them.
HWW, that sounds plain rude of that guy. If he's going to flake he should at least let ya know.
Quis, thank goodness your roommate was mature enough to listen to you.
Re employers - I agree, employment is more of a stepping stone in today's world. Job security ain't all it's cut out to be now, nor is it reliable. And employing companies are mostly run by people who are, themselves, employees - which doesn't give them the best of motivations for caring about employee welfare.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
quote:Originally posted by Dev - Em: Okay. I put up with a guy at work who is basically Andrew Dice Clay Jr. Same hairstyle (does the comb thing...really), talks like him with the same accent. I just have not heard the nursery rhymes from him yet.
Anywho...Last Thursday, he bring me some things that need to be tested. They are not fully done (another in a string of things that his group has not completely finished before giving it to me, of which I have sent most back lately to be completed). The ground wires are not there from the door of the box to the box itself to the panel mounted in the box.
He looks at me and says...seriously, he sauid this..."yer jus gonna have to bite the bullet on this one and do em."
Now, I would normally have done what I am about to do anyway, but this sent my brain into a migraine immediately. I let myself calm down until Friday, while I got the ground wires ready, and completed the two boxes I had with me and gave the rest of them to the woman wiring the other boxes and she put those on for me.
Now, Mr. (If I can talk louder than you I am right and you will do as I say) was in the back of the shop getting a pop (soda) when I had to go back and grab some terminal jumpers for the remainder of the boxes from this group, because all of them were missing them. So I see him and roll (remember, I'm on a scooter) over to him. I get uncomfortably close to him on purpose (about half a foot from his face) and I say in a low tone "Blahblah, between you and me...I'd appreciate it if you never ever said that I need to bite the bullet and do something that your group forgot to do ever again." I open my hand and show him the terminal jumpers. There are 6 in my hand which need to be cut in half and both halves installed. "See these?" I say, "I'm going to be installing these because your group didn't again. I do this kind of s#!t for you all the time, and I do not need you to F'ing tell me what to do."
With that, I turned around and scooted away to continue my work. I left him standing there with his mouth hanging open like someone told him his puppy just died.
Then, Saturday...he was really really nice to me all day.
Point Dev.
Simply awesome. Metaphorical punch to the nuggets. Good for you.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Quis for the win in a classy way, natch.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
For me, I guess it's the fact that every day I work with a fellow that is effed in the head after too many redneck years of smokin' "perk" and other abuses.
In many ways, he's a stand up guy. You mistreat a kid around him, he'll take your head off and not give a damn about it.
In other ways, he's the worst stereotype of jerk, he was taught construction by others, one of whom was my grandfather. And one of ole' Alfonso's stories that he taught this guy, and tried to teach me, was to treat "ladies like a whore and whore's like a lady". He has one thing and basically one thing only on his mind for twenty two hours a day, the other two involve smokin weed or fishin, or comibinin' the two.
I love my family and friends and would almost anything for them, but this guy is the reason I'm gettin into heaven. I haven't killed him yet.
He means no harm, but he never. ..ever.. .ever. ..ever shuts up.
Sometimes, I need quiet. Peace. A few minutes to get my diabeties meds mind in gear. Never happens. I finally had enough the other day and lowered the boom on him and about five other people. Since then, it's been marginally better, but not a lot.
Ahhh, but one day... one day I will have my small one man boat, and I will have my truck, and a lake... and the cell phone will be shut off.
Course, that's when pop will be rushed to the hospital, my step father in law will crash out, mom will be frantic, and the wife will be in tears. I'll feel like such an ass I wont even be able to enjoy five hours of quiet on the lake.
And that's my moanin and groanin for the year.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
I remember a line by Superman in JLA Heaven's Ladder. Superman's idea of heaven was "going to sleep with the feeling that anything that I had to do... could wait."
Hope ya get your little slice of "heaven" soon rick!
Posted by cleome46 on :
quote:Originally posted by matlock: cleome, I really hope the job situation resolves itself soon. I've been temping at the same place for over a year and I'm about at my wit's end. I have a 2nd meeting with my boss about getting on full time. I don't think they realize how grueling it is to have no job security or benefits but be expected to function the same as a regular employee. Good luck!
Aw, matlock.
Yeah, honestly. After being fired with zero warning and crapped on by my last "permanent" employer, then four years on the temp merry-go-round, my sympathy reserves for these people are beyond exhausted. I don't feel bad for them, I don't go the extra mile for them, and I don't waste valuable time/energy considering any of them my friends. It's remarkably freeing, all told.
The current job market has given most of them a hugely inflated sense of importance, and my usual coping mechanism when dealing with them is an inner chuckle and the thought that one day the hammer will fall on them, too. Then they'll finally learn something. Posted by cleome46 on :
[snip]
quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: ...Somehow, we've got to think outside the box to get what we want in life.
So far as I can tell, "Think outside the box" is just code for higher-ups who want to screw everyone underneath them and get a fat golden parachute for doing it.
IRL, the majority of people who endeavor to work for themselves without first earning the good graces of authority figures mostly find themselves ruthlessly crushed by authority. It's to the credit of some people that they don't give up, but honestly: if I ever succeeded in figuring out a way to work effectively around the people in charge, the last thing I'd do is bring it to their attention by crowing to the press or on the internet about it.
And I've already gone on record about my utter disgust with President Hope and his healthcare bailo-- er, "reform." So I'll spare everyone that for today. Except to say once again how happy I am that I never voted for the jerk, and I won't be doing so this time out, either. Posted by He Who Wanders on :
Well, cle, I'm in no way a "higher up" and I don't want to screw anybody out of anything. Yet I do believe it's not up to employers or the government to take care of us or do what we think is fair. It would be nice if life worked that way, but it doesn't.
So, what are we left with? A cynical outlook that nothing we do matters and those in power just want to get us? I'm not sure if that's what you're saying, but that's how it comes across. I reject that notion. Buying into that philosophy leaves me nowhere else to go except the bottle or suicide.
In some ways, where I am now is the result of thinking outside the box. You see, I was supposed to grow up, get married, get a good-paying job (it didn't matter what kind of job--any good-paying job is the only kind of job that matters, I was told), have kids, etc. College was a means to a specific end (good-paying job, again), nothing more.
For various reasons, I never fit into the mold of what I was supposed to do. I wasn't good at sports. I wasn't popular with other kids. Heck, I was such a social misfit, I couldn't finish high school in the traditional way. In other words, I lacked the "foundation" for doing what I was supposed to do: you know, get a good-paying job, get married, have kids, etc.
So it's really quite surprising to me that I'm where I am: teaching at the college level, writing a book, keeping a blog, etc. None of this fits into the "box" I was given.
It's not a perfect outcome. It doesn't mean all my problems are solved. But I do think I'm a lot happier than I would have been had I struggled to conform to the mindset I was taught.
(Oh, and by the way, the "box" would have required me to outgrow comics at some point, probably during my adolescence when other kids started making fun of me for continuing to read them. Yet, here I am, three decades-plus later, chatting about the Legion and similar topics on the Internet with like-minded individuals who also didn't "outgrow" comics. Take that, box!)
Thinking outside the box is not a cure-all for anything. Nor is it an empty catch-phrase. To me, it expresses the idea that life is never what we expect but it is what we make it.
Posted by cleome46 on :
[snip]
quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: Well, cle, I'm in no way a "higher up" and I don't want to screw anybody out of anything.
I wasn't referring to you as a "higher up," HWW. It's just that in my memory, the phrase "Think outside the box" showed up in the public consciousness during the era of massive downsizing and internet bubbles-- from high-paid tastemakers and corporate marketers. I don't recall it growing organically at the ground level, or being particularly popular with people I knew doing local activist/community work. I've always bristled especially at the "we." Those who first popularized the phrase pretended to think collectively by using it, but generally it's a cover for them doing the opposite of collective thinking: To act on their own behalf first and to hell with everyone else.
quote:Yet I do believe it's not up to employers or the government to take care of us or do what we think is fair. It would be nice if life worked that way, but it doesn't.
Well, in that case, I'd have to say the people who are living the furthest "out of the box" would be War Tax Resisters or those who practice civil disobedience. Unfortunately, the same government and business barons who want all the onus for decent/responsible behavior to be on our end don't react well at all to that kind of thinking.
And I don't call that observation "cynicism." I call it realism.
For the record, I think you should feel proud of your accomplishments and for the chances you took. But not everyone who stepped off the familiar path ended up managing so well. There are just too many variables involved, many of them completely outside the individual's control, for me to say that "Thinking outside the box" is going to fix what's wrong with the country.
I also don't want it to be a continuous get-out-free card for people (elected or not) to grab whatever they want and to hell with who their greed hurts. I don't want it to be a continuous excuse for people who want the perks and ego gratification of authority (elected or not) without any of the attendant responsibility that comes with it.
But, again, I wasn't referring to you personally when I started grumbling about it. Sorry.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
I don't know when "thinking outside the box" became a popular catchphrase. You could be right about its origins. I've adopted it more or less as a personal slogan, something that describes what I said: acknowledging that life isn't what we expect but we can still make the best of it.
If the phrase itself is a stumbling block, let's look beyond it and get at the heart of what we're saying (or at least what I'm trying to say).
I'm finishing up a book called "How Do We Know When It's God?" by Dan Wakefield. A novelist and former TV writer (he created the TV series "James at 15"), Wakefield describes his return to Christianity after several years of atheism. The book, I stress, is not an indictment of atheism but merely an account of one person's journey and grappling with the persistent question, how do you know what God wants you to do (or, if you don't believe in God, how do you know what the right course of action is in any given situation)?
What stands out to me is that, even after his return to Christianity, Wakefield made choices he knew were not in his best interest--including his third marriage, which lasted approximately six months. Sometimes, discernment is the problem. We do what we think is "right" or "best," and we look for signs from God (or the universe or whatever) to support the choice we've already made.
Late in the book, Wakefield writes, "Trusting in a God we do not understand is where faith comes in. And that's why it's so hard. I suspect we make it harder than it has to be, though. I know I do. As I look back I see that in the struggle to 'know when it's God,' the simplest rule of discernment is probably best, and is probably all we need. . . . Whenever I feel shaken in terms of a crisis, when a decision I'm about to make or the struggle to make it brings mental and physical rumblings (thoughts in chaos, pulse rising), it is 'wrong' or not the will of God" (199-200).
Again, this is one man's interpretation of how to discern what is right for him. Later in the book, he describes several positive life changes he's made (moving from Boston to NY, from NY to Florida, etc.) that felt right, even though they came out of the blue and were choices he wouldn't have made a few years earlier or were choices frowned upon by some Christians (e.g., taking Zoloft for depression and anxiety).
Wakefield expresses what I think of when I use the term "thinking outside the box." This term does not equate with working for oneself or civil disobedience, though, for some individuals, it might involve those actions. Rather, the term means being open experiences and opportunities that fall outside the norm of what we've been led to believe is acceptable or even possible.
The Wright Brothers were thinking outside the box when they invented the airplane.
Bill Gates thought outside the box when he revolutionized how we use computers.
But one doesn't have to make widespread changes to the world in order to improve one's own life. Sometimes, the hardest changes to make are personal ones because they involve our own private risks. They invoke challenges to our cherished beliefs or conceptions of ourselves, including our limitations. They involve looking beyond the limitations imposed on us by politics and our present jobs (which is not to say we shouldn't work to improve those things).
So, for me, the phrase takes on a much more personal dimension than it appears to do for you. This may be because I see the hand of God in many of the events of my life. (I'm going to go out on a limb and say believing in a higher power is the most radical form of thinking outside the box--it flies in the face of much of what our contemporary culture teaches about faith.)
The term "thinking outside the box" is ultimately meaningless (though I still like it). What really matters is discerning the best course of action for us (individually or collectively) to take.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
Oh, and by the way, I didn't think you were referring to me personally in your previous post, though, since you were responding to something I wrote, it seemed that I should attempt to clarify where I was coming from.
Posted by Exnihil on :
Not a huge earth-shattering vent here or anything, but just... ugh.
I just read an article referring to the "Indiana Jones Quadrilogy".
I freaking hate that word. I first saw it about ten years ago on a DVD set for the "Alien Quadrilogy," and I wanted to scream.
It is a completely made-up word based on nothing but sheer laziness on the part of Marketing people. The correct word for a series of four works is a "Tetralogy" - "logia" being a Greek word that should be preceded by a Greek prefix, not the Latin equivalent.
- We don't call the Department of Defense Headquarters the "Quintagon".
- We don't use web colors based on "Sextadecimal Code".
- We don't call smooth jazz guys from the 1940's "Sep Cats".
OK... fine... that last one doesn't make any sense... but, seriously, "Quadrilogy"?
Ugh.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
That reminds me of the United Negro College Fund's slogan, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." It annoyed one of my professors, who said a mind is never a terrible thing.
True . . . but language is flexible, constantly changing and adapting to the needs of the people who use it. I don't think marketers are necessarily lazy when they use "quadrilogy". They probably know most of their audience has no idea what a tetralogy is. On the other hand, most people can figure out "quad."
Marketers are not in the business of educating people (unfortunately). They are in the business of selling products to people who don't know better.
That said, my pet grammar peeve is when people use "whenever" instead of "when": "Whenever I went to the store last night . . ."
Ugh and ugh some more.
Posted by Exnihil on :
quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: ... language is flexible, constantly changing and adapting to the needs of the people who use it.
It's funny... about an hour after I wrote my little vent, I started thinking that - particularly as a Legion fan - I might be being a bit hypocritical. Somewhere out there, there is probably a grammar minded comic fan who dies a little every time he hears a Legion fan say, "3-boot".
On a completely different note, I have decided that the phrase "Hep Cat" does indeed contain the prefix for 7.
Follow my logic:
- The jazz slang for somebody out of touch with the current trends was "square". - Another way of saying that was to say they were an "L 7", basically making a square out of the two shapes. - But why "square" at all? Well... because the number "7" is the number traditionally associated with perfection... but if you were to reflect that back on itself you'd get the opposite... ergo the "L". - So those who weren't square were "7" or - using the prefix - "Hep".
If anyone plans on telling me that the prefix is actually "Hept" and not "Hep"... I will not stand for having my beautiful hypothesis slain by your ugly facts.
It makes just as much sense as "Quadrilogy," and more thought went into it. Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: That reminds me of the United Negro College Fund's slogan, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." It annoyed one of my professors, who said a mind is never a terrible thing.
But they are not saying that a mind is a terrible thing. Wasting it is a terrible thing. Your professor is annoying me now. Posted by Legion Tracker on :
Just move the last two words to the front. "To waste a mind is a terrible thing."
Posted by Legion Tracker on :
It's my day off. I left the house this morning planning to stop at the bank and then meet a friend for lunch. I'm about 3 minutes on the road when the car's temperature gauge rises to the red zone. I call my friend to cancel lunch and drive to the mechanic.
They're busy and can't check it till late this afternoon. So I call my boss, he picks me up and takes me to our office, where I stay the rest of the afternoon. (So much for the day's plans.)
A call at 5:10 says my car is ready. It was a leak in the coolant hose. $240. But the fan isn't working either, and I'll have to bring it back Monday.
I pick up the car. The mechanic wants me to drive it over the weekend to be sure the head gasket isn't blown (he doubts it) before he works on the fan. So my mind is not at ease as I drive away.
I stop to get gas. After filling up, I drive toward the station's exit to get onto the highway. There are 3 cars waiting in line. Now, I'm facing straight toward the exit, while car #3 has come from my right and is angled from that direction. A big gray truck slides in behind him.
As the first two cars pull onto the road, I pull in behind car #3, since it's "my turn" as next in line. But big gray truck doesn't think so. He apparently thinks he's in the "official" line and I'm a usurper...plus I'm just a little Honda. So he keeps pulling toward my car as if he's going to hit me. I can't see the driver, but I can see a kid in the passenger seat, about 11 years old, looking at me as if he's scared to death. The truck keeps coming...there's already nowhere else I can go...so I put out my arm in a stop signal. The truck is inches from my car. Just then the car in front of me moves, and I pull out onto the road.
The truck follows me half a mile until we get onto the interstate ramp. There are two lanes on the ramp. I take the right one, he flies up on my left. The lanes merge on the ramp, and although I have the right of way, he keeps barreling beside me as the lanes merge until he's no more than 5 inches or so from my car. I hit the brakes and fall back.
Once we get on the interstate -- 4 westbound lanes -- he gets in the far right lane and seems to be in no hurry. In order to keep up with traffic flow, I get in the next lane and glide past him. We look at each other for the first time, and I just shake my head.
I wonder if he feels like a big man in front of his kid.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by Exnihil: Follow my logic:
- The jazz slang for somebody out of touch with the current trends was "square". - Another way of saying that was to say they were an "L 7", basically making a square out of the two shapes. - But why "square" at all? Well... because the number "7" is the number traditionally associated with perfection... but if you were to reflect that back on itself you'd get the opposite... ergo the "L". - So those who weren't square were "7" or - using the prefix - "Hep".
At what point does this connect with Kevin Bacon? Posted by He Who Wanders on :
Sorry you had such a bad day, LT. At least no one was hurt due to the truck driver's irresponsibility.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by Quislet, Esq:
quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: That reminds me of the United Negro College Fund's slogan, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." It annoyed one of my professors, who said a mind is never a terrible thing.
But they are not saying that a mind is a terrible thing. Wasting it is a terrible thing. Your professor is annoying me now.
Actually, it would be correct to say "It is a terrible thing to waste a mind."
Correct, but not as catchy.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
But the point remains that how they worded it gets the point across and is not confusing in any way.
Was this professor an English (language, not nationality) professor?
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
I believe so. I'm trying to remember who said it, but it was years ago.
You're right that the meaning is clear, which goes back to my point about language being flexible.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Yes, but waste is a terrible thing to mind.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
Leave it to Rick to put it all in perspective. Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
So one of my Facebook friends posts that she had just bought some kettle bell weights and that she did not know how to use them. I went on Google and started typing "Kettle Bell exercises" got an automatic fill in of "kettle nell exercises for women". I copied the url and pasted it on to her Facebook entry.
Google is your friend!
Posted by Fat Cramer on :
Does it annoy you that people don't seem to know how to do their own Google searches? It annoys me.
Posted by matlock on :
Yes, especially when they post things on Facebook about stuff they heard from reliable sources like talk radio.
Also annoying: we've joined the broken a/c club. It's a bajillion degrees in here. I'm trying to eat some sherbert but it's evaporating.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
What annoys me is all the political memes on FB.
As if we don't have ENOUGH political ads. Posted by Legion Tracker on :
I share HWW's annoyance! :-(
Posted by Shining Son on :
Cramer, have you heard of "Let Me Google That For You?"
Posted by Fat Cramer on :
I hadn't, but I googled it. Good idea, but it still might not enlighten some people.
Posted by Shining Son on :
I think it's more of a snarky tension release, but a good one. Hard to fix stupid but lazy people might get the point.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
When did the majority of people forget the basics of driving. I mean, seriously. People drive like they are the only person on the road.
Posted by cleome46 on :
quote:Originally posted by Quislet, Esq: So one of my Facebook friends posts that she had just bought some kettle bell weights and that she did not know how to use them. I went on Google and started typing "Kettle Bell exercises" got an automatic fill in of "kettle nell exercises for women". I copied the url and pasted it on to her Facebook entry.
Google is your friend!
I don't know what this says about me, but I was sure this was going to end with Quislet saying that his Facebook friend was confusing "Kettle" with "Kegel."
Posted by Kent Shakespeare on :
quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: What annoys me is all the political memes on FB.
As if we don't have ENOUGH political ads.
If i am an offender, i can block you on those posts. I do it for others, and it is quite easy to add you, too.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
I find your posts more humorous than political, Kent, though politics are certainly involved.
There are certain others that are just mean spirited. As much as I agree with the left side of things, demonizing the right, Romney, and the Tea Party serves little purpose other than perpetuating the narrow-minded and self-serving antagonism that already exists. Portraying others as ignorant, buffoonish, and corrupt does little to address the very real differences in world views and fears people have and which lead them to vote as they do. Such attacks, in short, preach to the converted.
So, you don't need to block me, but thanks for the offer. Chances are, the true offenders would never see themselves as such.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
I find it annoying that some of my friends will call me up on a Tuesday to invite me out on a Wednesday evening. On Tuesday I tell them I may not get off work in time on Wednesday, so I can't commit.
On Wednesday I keep them informed of my schedule and advise them it might be best not to wait for me, but they insist on waiting. And when the evening rolls around, and I'm still tied up at work, they call the meeting off - AND they get mad at me! I warned them, didn't I?
Posted by Power Boy on :
I haven't been to the comic store in three weeks.
My store only keeps them on the shelf for three weeks. I must go tonight.
Too much work during the week. too much going out of town on the weekends.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
PB, doesn't your comic book shop have a pull list for the regular customers?
Posted by Power Boy on :
yes. It does. I do not use it ... I like to browse the racks, for fun, seems more romantic than just picking up a package. also I like to drop or add comics due to any tantrums I might spontaneously have (usually resulting from guest pencillers.)
I may have to start using a pull though as I'm getting busier.
Posted by Fat Cramer on :
My dog rolled in otter poo this morning. It's not as bad as skunk, but it's pretty bad, even after a good rinse. And of course she wants to get all chummy now and sit in my lap and spread the joy.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
quote:Originally posted by Power Boy: yes. It does. I do not use it ... I like to browse the racks, for fun, seems more romantic than just picking up a package. also I like to drop or add comics due to any tantrums I might spontaneously have (usually resulting from guest pencillers.)
I may have to start using a pull though as I'm getting busier.
Having a pull list doesn't mean you can't still browse the racks. Even if I buy a title not on my list, I still get the pull list discount. Plus my shop always asks if I want to add or drop any titles when I go to pick them up.
I imagine that if you don't do the "I don't want to buy this particular issue" move too often, then the CB shop shouldn't have a problem with it.
I've found that most shops are good to their pul list customers because they know that those customers will buy on a repeat basis.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
quote:Originally posted by Fat Cramer: My dog rolled in otter poo this morning. It's not as bad as skunk, but it's pretty bad, even after a good rinse. And of course she wants to get all chummy now and sit in my lap and spread the joy.
Our dog does that a lot too, FC. He also pooped on two of my backpacks the other day. Ugh!
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
The most I have done lately was post a single story on fanfiction.net that wasn't DC related, and try to spread word on a kickstarter project.
When I'm not at work I'm sleeping all day and doing absolutely nothing on the internet.
I'm stuck in another rut and I don't know how to get out. God I can't wait for another convention.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
Spent a lot of time at the drawing table tonight, with only minor time out for chores, but... I'm going through one of those patches where nothing will jell the way I want it to.
[grumble]
I need to get out of this hyper-critical frame of mind I've been in now for, oh, over a bloody YEAR and just finish something already.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
*sends some good vibes cleome's way as encouragement*
Attagirl, cleome! Knock em dead!
Posted by Legion Tracker on :
cleome, get out the crayons and draw on the walls. ;-)
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
I just don't understand my roommate's thought processes at times.
He likes the blinds down so that the neighbors can't see into the apartment.
In the summer, I have the windows open, including the one in the bathroom. The window is right over the tub/shower, so I pull the shower curtain for the window aside to let the air in, but pull the other shower curtain half way across to block the view of the toilet. Yet my roommate, who is afraid of anyone looking into the apartment, pulls that shower curtain back so that both are open and the neighbors on that side have a clear view into the bathroom.
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
Finally getting to Macau later this week, but I won't get to bungee jump because I injured my foot! Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
Finally getting to Macau later this week, but I won't get to bungee jump because I injured my foot! Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
Are there other things you can do or were you going just to bungee jump?
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
Oh, there are other things I can do, and the trip was free anyway.
I don't mind going back to Macau just to bungee jump, but it sure seems like a waste of plane fare. So bright side is, next time I go to Macau I'll use it as a stopover to somewhere else in China.
Posted by cleome46 on :
quote:Originally posted by Legion Tracker: cleome, get out the crayons and draw on the walls. ;-)
Alas, I donated all the crayons to a nonprofit about two years ago.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
I am so sick of political postings on FB. I wish people would get their heads out of their own asses for more than a second and think about things logically.
Take the latest condemnation of Obama over apologizing for a movie stuff that is currently clogging my feed.
First off, the U.S. embassy in Cairo issued the statement about the movie, before the main attacks happened. There had been protesters, but no outright attacks from what I have been able to find. Why, you may ask is this little nugget important? Let's see. You're sitting in the middle of Muslim territory, with protesters outside. These protesters have been known in the past to get violent...what the hell are you going to say? I mean seriously...I'd be saying anything to try and calm anyone I could. Then Romney gets on his high horse after the Embassies are attacked and spouts about how they should have been condemned...the whle freakin point of what the Embassy put out was to try (even if was totally in vain) to stem what they thought could happen.
Coming out and telling them that they should get over it and go home, would not have helped the situation. It probably would have made it worse than it actually was. Or maybe not...but either Romney or Obama using this as an election point is showing me that this country is in trouble no matter what happens in November.
I am not a huge fan of Obama, nor was I a huge fan of Bush. Hell, I have not really liked most Presidents during my lifetime. But his election seems to have brought about blind hatred towards people running for President. A lot of it is ironically coming from my Christian friends...which I thought was supposed to be about loving your neighbor as God loves you. Maybe the stuff I have learned over the years as a Christian is somehow wrong...I do not remember Jesus giving any disclaimers about loving your neighbor. It was pretty plain and simple.
Sorry, but this election has really gotten to me. I am sick of both sides, and will be really happy when it is after the election, so then the posts will drop by about 5%...cause no matter who wins, the other side is going to be having a field day attacking the other side.
I may start dropping friends (or at least blocking people from my feed on FB at that point.
Posted by cleome46 on :
I also can't stand either of them. But I'd at least agree our foreign policy has way bigger problems than whether or not to issue an official apology over a Grade "Z" biopic.
There are a great many legitimate reasons to dislike Obama as far as I'm concerned. As there would have been McCain had he been elected. Especially when it comes to foreign policy. Invariably there are no major differences between the two parties in that regard. Only cosmetic ones.
And at the risk of repeating myself, I've never understood why anyone is on Facebook.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
Re Facebook, I consistently hide the newsfeeds of people who annoy me. I've seen the silliest of opinions and the craziest of flame wars (here, it's the RH Bill).
I also block the feeds of people with awful self-absorbed postings, like this one guy I know who begins every invite with "who wants to join this pretty face in...". What a loser.
Posted by cleome46 on :
IB, I am SO joining Facebook right now just so I can preface every comment I make with that very phrase!
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
But cleome, at least if it's you it's true! and charming, and actually makes me wanna join you ^^
Posted by cleome46 on :
Yeah, but everyone else would clog my page with comments about what a great face I had for radio.
(I admit to having a somewhat morbid fascination with the political circus at this moment. Since I'm a registered Green and have been for years, my usual sentiment seeing these staged brawls between the Big Two Party Flacks is Good. I hope you beat some sense into one another, but I won't hold my damn breath.)
Posted by Dev - Em on :
I like Facebook because I have been able to get in touch with friends that moved away that I would never had had a chance to find again.
People that fall out of your life for various reasons, but not due to not wanting to talk to them, just busy with life stuff. I have a friend that lives in Japan with his family now that I had not talked to for years. Now we can chit chat and interact.
That's why I do it anyway.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
quote:Originally posted by cleome46:
I also can't stand either of them. But I'd at least agree our foreign policy has way bigger problems than whether or not to issue an official apology over a Grade "Z" biopic.
There are a great many legitimate reasons to dislike Obama as far as I'm concerned. As there would have been McCain had he been elected. Especially when it comes to foreign policy. Invariably there are no major differences between the two parties in that regard. Only cosmetic ones.
I would agree with you on all these points Cle. I am pretty middle of the road with leanings both ways on certain subjects.
Posted by cleome46 on :
quote:Originally posted by Dev - Em: I like Facebook because I have been able to get in touch with friends that moved away that I would never had had a chance to find again.
People that fall out of your life for various reasons, but not due to not wanting to talk to them, just busy with life stuff. I have a friend that lives in Japan with his family now that I had not talked to for years. Now we can chit chat and interact.
That's why I do it anyway.
I understand, Dev.
I just like to give people a hard time.
mr_cleome loves FB for that same reason. Also he's a liberal in a liberal stronghold, so I'm guessing he wolfs down the election year stuff like it's potato chips.
I'm not a liberal, so national politics is one of those things we really have to avoid conversing about at this time of year. It's the same deal when my Mom calls me. If she starts in about politics, I just hand the phone to mr_c.
I'm way too Left for most of my friends and family, but the internet is vast and wide. There are certain political junkies out there who think I'm a Right winger... Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
Same reason I Facebook. One good thing about it is it lets you choose whom you want to keep connected with Posted by Fat Cramer on :
Got a problem with a neighbour? Why not suggest they move to Amsterdam's Scum Village.
Amsterdam is to create “Scum villages” where nuisance neighbours and anti-social tenants will be exiled from the city and rehoused in caravans or containers with “minimal services” under constant police supervision.
Holland’s capital already has a special hit squad of municipal officials to identify the worst offenders for a compulsory six month course in how to behave.
Social housing problem families or tenants who do not show an improvement or refuse to go to the special units face eviction and homelessness. Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
What a great idea. Unless you are required to go to Scum Village
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
STILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL in the process of moving into the new house. It's been since before thanksgivin and I am really, truly, completely sick of the move. Pluss, there's still things to do on the house. Carol finally told me to take December off some, but there's still to effin much to do.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Gotta agree with Rob on this one. Annoying neighbors are a problem, but I gots to say that the government being allowed to force you to move outta your home because someone doesn't like you...that's bullshite!
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
Eviction and homelessness does seem pretty harsh a penalty! I wonder how they determine who is classified as a "nuisance" or "antisocial" person?
Posted by cleome46 on :
No kidding. I can just imagine how my neighbors feel about the crappy exterior of my house and yard. It looks that way because I'm broke all the time, not because I want to spite them.
Some people do, in fact, equate lack of money to keep up appearances with willful "antisocial" behavior.
Posted by Viridis Lament on :
quote:Originally posted by cleome46: [QB]No kidding. I can just imagine how my neighbors feel about the crappy exterior of my house and yard. It looks that way because I'm broke all the time, not because I want to spite them. [QB]
The outside of my place is somewhat in disrepair as well, though not due to finances. But when we bought the house it was a real fixer upper and making the inside nice (and comfy) for wifey and girlie girl is a higher priority than making sure the outside is pretty.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
I don't think the neighbors should have any complaint, as long as your roof isn't crushing their car or falling into their yards. Although some people are just too nosey for their own good...
Posted by Fat Cramer on :
The concept of Scum Village is quite horrifying, like a modern penal colony. Of course it will be used to settle scores. Also, it's probably easier than the old Soviet gambit of sending political dissidents to psychiatric facilities.
Most communities have an "unsightly and dangerous premises" bylaw, which may be used in personal vendettas or by picky people with nothing better to do than complain.
When I lived in a Montreal suburb, I had a lot of grief from a particular neighbour and the Council about my vegetable garden. It didn't conform to the manicured lawn standard. They would have liked to send me to Scum Village but I fooled them and moved to Nova Scotia (which according to our Prime Minister, is one giant Scum Village, but that's another story. And since this is a moaning thread, I don't like Stephen Harper either.)
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
I bet they're still shaking their fists at your old vegetable garden. Some people can be so awfully vindictive...
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Oh heck, Ibby, just say it like it is. Some people are petty, small minded assholes that deserve to get their comeuppance any way others can hand it to them. I may not like Old Man X, but I'm damn sure not gonna cost him his house because of it.
Posted by Power Boy on :
I really want some chocolate now. That is what I am griping about.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
Along the lines of Fat Kramer's vegetable garden, My father got upset when he read about a homeowners association that prohibited people from having a clothes line.
Posted by Viridis Lament on :
From George Takei, but it drives me bonkers too: Electronics on airplanes Posted by Conjure Lass on :
HOW THE HELL DO YOU MAKE NEW FRIENDS IN YOUR 30's?!! HOW!?
(This does not apply to all of you, as it really *has* been nice to make new online pals)
People tell me all the time that I need to make new friends and maybe go out on a date. How does one DO that? Where do I go to meet these new and exciting people?
That's it...I'm doomed. Label me Forever Alone.
(Thanks for letting me indulge in that pity party, thanks.)
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
Hey, Conjure Lass,
For what it's worth, I'm 49 and the best friends I've made have been after I turned 40. I made them through a writers group, a comic book creators group, and church.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Ugh. I hate having to make friends. The worst part is that the more you're actually intentionally trying to make friends, the less likely it is that your going to end up making genuine friends.
But, really, the best thing is, as HWW suggests, find activities you're interested in, and get involved.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
Get involved in something larger than yourself and don't focus on your own wants and needs so much.
Posted by Power Boy on :
... I just got used to having less friends.
<--- grumpy cat.
....................................
Why can't I find a good free movie on the internet to watch! Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
Well, you know what they say: Outside of a dog, a book is one's best friend. And inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
Posted by Blockade Boy on :
That explains a few things.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
I've also found myself drifting apart from childhood friends, and friends I've made in college, due to lack of shared interests and values. I just genuinely find that we don't have much to talk about anymore. On the other hand, my childhood friends are among the first people I'd go to if I really were in a major bind.
I hate having to meet new people too - most just turn into acquaintances who clog up your social networking sites but whom you will probably just talk to once a year to exchange birthday greetings
I guess the best thing is, as others have suggested, to get involved in activities you genuinely find interesting. Then choose which relationship to keep maintaining.
Posted by cleome46 on :
quote:Originally posted by Conjure Lass: HOW THE HELL DO YOU MAKE NEW FRIENDS IN YOUR 30's?!! HOW!?
(This does not apply to all of you, as it really *has* been nice to make new online pals)
People tell me all the time that I need to make new friends and maybe go out on a date. How does one DO that? Where do I go to meet these new and exciting people?
That's it...I'm doomed. Label me Forever Alone.
(Thanks for letting me indulge in that pity party, thanks.)
I agree with what others have said. You just have to get out to places where other people are likely to have shared interests with you, and then see what happens. There's no "winning formula" that I know of.
Also, as with romantic relationships, I think it's okay if everything doesn't stay new and exciting forever. Longevity brings other compensations, IMHO. I have tried not to be one of those people who just swaps out friends like they're shoes that don't feel as comfortable as they did when I was Twenty. Posted by cleome46 on :
I'm on another board where one veteran poster has been trolling me for three months, almost from the day I started posting. She's a Grade-A jerk, who accused me of being a sockpuppet for various other women posters who she disliked. If other posters are to be believed, she made these now ex-posters so miserable that they left that particular community for good.
I told her after the initial troll that I wasn't interested in her accusations, and that my personal life was none of her damn business. I also told her that I would not be responding to her posts again at any point in the future. I have kept this vow.
But Great Dog Almighty, I wish she'd back off already and go find a new pigeon. Three blasted months of her paranoid, gibbering crap?! Gah.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
If only there was a hide feature so her posts would be invisible!
Posted by cleome46 on :
Tell me about it, IB. :/
Posted by Power Boy on :
I am still sick after two weeks. I slept in until 2 today and yesterday ... I am still hanging on to my work schedule though since I can do most of it anytime I want and fortunately my meetings have been in the late afternoon!
enough already!
Posted by Conjure Lass on :
AAAAAAAAAAARRRGGGG. CAR REPAIRS AT CHRISTMAS TIMMEEEEE!!! AAAAAAAARRGGG!!
Posted by Power Boy on :
That really sucks.
It's always like "SURPRISE 800 DOLLARS!"
"SURPRISE 300 DOLLARS RIGHT NOW!!!!"
:C
Posted by Conjure Lass on :
quote:Originally posted by Power Boy: That really sucks.
It's always like "SURPRISE 800 DOLLARS!"
"SURPRISE 300 DOLLARS RIGHT NOW!!!!"
:C
That is EXACTLY how it is. The mechanic calls me and is all "Well, gonna be about 300 bucks". NOOOOOOOOOO!!!
I thank you or your empathy, dearest. XD
Posted by Power Boy on :
300 is good. 300 seems to be the minimum. Posted by Conjure Lass on :
The funny part is that even when the repairs start around 100$...they somehow always manage to grow into 300$. EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
Okay...so, my group at swork has enough to do to work 12 hours a day till the end of the year. Yet, because the main group has not much to do we got put back on 8 hours a day again today.
Yet they want me to finish way too much work in a week...oy.
To be fair though, I am loving the frantic aspect of my job right now.
Posted by Conjure Lass on :
Enjoy that new and wondrous feeling before you wind up like me cursing world as I wake up for work every morning.
Seriously though, i'm glad you're enjoying work. That's always a nice feeling. Posted by Dev - Em on :
When the alarm goes off before 5 am, I am not a happy man. But the challenges of the day are always new (yet the same.)
Things are shifting right now as they got someone to help test stuff. Which is building up more and more everyday.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
Re car repairs, I also hate when they say they'll have your car ready by next Monday, and you end up waiting until Friday! Don't make promises you can't keep, pal!
Re work, been pulling a lot of overtime lately too - 2 straight weeks of 12 hour days. It's physically tiring, and I hate not being able to run errands/work out because I'm too exhausted, but I do love my job. And it's only temporary because of this big project we have right now.
Posted by Blockade Boy on :
At end of day, I saw a former student in the halls, I knew to have withdrawn. He had been involved in a couple violent happenings (been shot, been in fights, gang association). I notified the Principal that the kid was in the building.
He said
"Maybe he's coming up to your classroom to shoot you."
sigh
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
Hopefully he said that to you before he heard about Connecticut. After his little "joke" did he do anything about that kid?
Posted by Blockade Boy on :
Yes it was before. No he did not. I'm still deciding whether or not to file a grievance. The union rep (friend of the Principal) didn't supply the paperwork three days after I requested it. When I asked her why, she said she didn't think I had anything to grieve, there were no witnesses (there actually was but it was another FOP).
Last year I found myself alone in midst of 20 boys about to fight because he ignored my warnings about students roaming the building and letting outsiders in. Inexplicably, they backed off "teacher voice." One kid was going to try something but thought better after "teacher glare." lol
Teacher glare > thug behavior.
I'm not the type to file "grievance." Rather just bury my head and try and get out of the school, which I would need his recommendation to do. I'm not sure I look forward to this.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
Well, hopefully after Friday, your principal will think twice about school security.
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
My dad won't stop bothering us about something he was supposed to get in the mail so he can conduct fire drills at the nursing home he works at. We're not responsible for his mail, it's not supposed to come here anymore, but it still frazzles me because my brother moved all this mail we kept on top of the microwave during Thanksgiving and he doesn't know what he did with it. My dad is threatening to come by the house while we're not here to look for it himself.
I'm stuck between my dad and my brother because my brother's right and we're not responsible for his mail but I'd be a hypocrite because I just asked him about something involving insurance.
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
And of course the reason why I have mail addressed to me as Jude Deluca is so it doesn't accidentally end up at my dad's.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
This is a little old, but just came back into my mind.
Went to a local eating chain for a carry out. The girl behind the take out counter was helping someone so I stood a respectable distance back and waited. The man sat down, and I moved forward a little and the girl looked at me and then started doing something on the register/computer. Fixing something from the looks of it.
I waited about 5 minutes whole she finished. I again took a step forward and she looked at me and turned and walked away. She went and talked to someone, came back, looked right at me again and turned and walked away again.
I asked the next worker I saw for the manager, who it turns out had come up when the girl was working on the problem to help her with it.
I explained the situation and added that I would have been fine if the girl had said one acknowledging word to me that she would be with me as soon as she could. But she said nothing. I made it clear that I was there to order, yet nothing.
The manager did what she should and aasked me what she could do for me to make it alright. I know full well that I could have gotten my daughters meal for free, but I simply said to her that I would not be coming back there and that she had lost a regular customer because her employees had no customer service training apparently. ]]I can handle people being busy. I can handle people needing to go get help for something...but acknowledge your customer and let them know that you will help them.
Did not want that girl to loose her job or anything...but I also do not want her to ever treat another customer like that. I saw the manager talking to her as I got in my car to leave...the manager did not look happy. Hannah loved the pizza I got her though. Posted by Power Boy on :
I fell asleep on the floor at what I assume was 8 or 9 ... woke up felt like I slept for ages ... heard a baby crying ... saw that the tube was open ... and assumed it was morning but still dark ...
it was 11:22pm! I can't sleep now feeling totally rested. argh. what a bad time to take a nap.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
quote:Originally posted by Power Boy: I fell asleep on the floor at what I assume was 8 or 9 ... woke up felt like I slept for ages ... heard a baby crying ... saw that the tube was open ... and assumed it was morning but still dark ...
it was 11:22pm! I can't sleep now feeling totally rested. argh. what a bad time to take a nap.
YEsterday, I put my kids in quiet time and decided to lay down for a few minutes before starting some chorse. This was about 3 in the afternoon. My daughter woke me up about 6:15 because she was getting hungry for dinner. Felt lethargic for a few hours and then had trouble falling asleep thlast night. Oy...
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
quote:Originally posted by Dev - Em: This is a little old, but just came back into my mind.
Went to a local eating chain for a carry out. The girl behind the take out counter was helping someone so I stood a respectable distance back and waited. The man sat down, and I moved forward a little and the girl looked at me and then started doing something on the register/computer. Fixing something from the looks of it.
I waited about 5 minutes whole she finished. I again took a step forward and she looked at me and turned and walked away. She went and talked to someone, came back, looked right at me again and turned and walked away again.
I asked the next worker I saw for the manager, who it turns out had come up when the girl was working on the problem to help her with it.
I explained the situation and added that I would have been fine if the girl had said one acknowledging word to me that she would be with me as soon as she could. But she said nothing. I made it clear that I was there to order, yet nothing.
The manager did what she should and aasked me what she could do for me to make it alright. I know full well that I could have gotten my daughters meal for free, but I simply said to her that I would not be coming back there and that she had lost a regular customer because her employees had no customer service training apparently. ]]I can handle people being busy. I can handle people needing to go get help for something...but acknowledge your customer and let them know that you will help them.
Did not want that girl to loose her job or anything...but I also do not want her to ever treat another customer like that. I saw the manager talking to her as I got in my car to leave...the manager did not look happy. Hannah loved the pizza I got her though.
One of my pet peeves is when the cashier at the grocery store talks with the bagger while ring up my order.
I usually use the self-check-out now.
I also have extreme patience with a customer service rep who is busy, but working.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
Okay...seriously peeved off right now. Yesterday, I needed to refill my insulin prescriptions. We have a $40 co-pay for these so my wife went with $80 to get them. The Cashier at the pharmacy told her the total was $200.
Now...I called Medco, because my insurance is only open bankers hours during the week, and they said that it was due to the cost of the medication going up.
Went on to the providers site and found that if the price went up, it was less than 10%...as opposed to the 150% my co-pay went up. So not buying that.
Now, here's a more likely option. My plan requires that we see a Dr. and have paperwork sent in to receive the maximum benifits. Found out late this week that neither of us had had our paperworkk sent in by our Doctors office. That would probably explain the jump in prescription prices...and is not going to bode well for them when I get off work tomorrow and go up to their office to ask them what they are going to do about screwing me out of $120 the week before Christmas because their staff is incompetent.
I won't yell or scream or do anything that could get me thrown out, but I will leave with some sort of plan from them as to how they are going to rectify the situation...if it is indeed their fault.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Don't feel alone. one diabetes med... $200 for one month. the other, $16. So, my doctor gives me a card that is supposed to cut it to ten and four, affordable, right?
Nope, walmart says the card is only in conjunction with regular insurance, which I no longer have because Carols' former company, Monster, is cutting jobs left and right as they head into the crapper.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
Ric...check with the the drug makers. They may have a prescription assistance program. My two insulin's did and I got them for free when I did not have pharmacy coverage.
Turns out it was indeed the Doctors Office fault for screwing up our forms. Now everything, including Hannah's 2 Hospital stays and other 2 E-Room visits have to be resubmitted.
I also have a long road trying to get reimbursed for the Docs screw up costing me 120 more than it should of right before Christmas.
Xanax is a wonderful thing...
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Thanks Dev. Need to do something. And after all this, I'm seriously thinkin' bout waky weed, lol. *not really.
Posted by Fat Cramer on :
Just FYI, not preaching: many diabetics have gotten off their meds by following a plant-based diet with no added fats. Some info here.
The movie Forks over Knives is very informative on this subject as well. Dr. Neal Barnard is another advocate of this diet to eliminate diabetes.
Following this type of diet sent my cholesterol, blood pressure and weight plummeting - to very healthy levels - in the course of four months. Just something to look into (and probably wait until after Xmas, 'cause there's no turkey, no butter and no apple pie - but I couldn't believe how much fantastic food is allowed.)
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
Thanks for sharing this, Cramer. I think it's worthy of FB posting.
Posted by cleome46 on :
Actually I'm reading Linda Bacon's Health At Every Size right now, with its "Eff All Diets" philosophy. I only wish I'd discovered it twenty years ago, before I got pulled into stupid fad diets and disordered thinking about food that, if anything, probably made me fatter in the present than I would have been otherwise.
Via wiki's page about the book. (There are copious footnotes, BTW.)
quote:...Recent evidence from scientific studies have provided rationales for a shift in focus in health management from a weight loss to a weight-neutral outcome.[5] In 2005, a study of around 3000 Finns over an 18-year period showed that weight loss from dieting can result in increased mortality, while those who maintained their weight fared the best.[6][7] Similar conclusion is drawn by other studies where intentional weight loss is found to be associated with slightly increased mortality for healthy individuals and the slightly overweight but not obese.[8][5][9] This may reflect the loss of subcutaneous fat and beneficial mass from organs and muscle in addition to visceral fat when there is a sudden and dramatic weight loss.[7] Intentional weight loss appears to be of benefit only to those classified as unhealthy.[8]
Long-term studies of dieting also indicate that the majority of individuals who dieted regain virtually all of the weight that was lost after dieting, regardless of whether they maintain their diet or exercise program.[5]
To be clear, Bacon is not a fan of the quasi-compulsory meat-eating that's such a big part of U.S. culture. Nor does she dismiss the negative impact of excessive fast food on the health of North Americans. But she takes considerable pain to do what few other experts on food issues do when talking to the public: She de-couples the supposedly obvious link between a spare tire around your waist and an early grave.
I found this noteworthy, because both mr_cleome and I are overweight, but neither of us currently suffers from high blood pressure, heart trouble, or diabetes.
Another study I checked into when reading Bacon's book and related works was one that pointed out extra weight as a protective factor in certain diseases. PKD, for example, which I inherited from my late father, has better survival rates in its later stages for patients who have a little extra fat on our bones.
Posted by Legion Tracker on :
About 6 months ago I started eating mainly greens, raw or steamed vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and fish. I've been exercising more regularly too. I've lost 20+ pounds, and I just found out today that my cholesterol has dropped to a good number and all my other numbers are good as well.
My starting point was Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book Eat to Live. There's no "diet'; just learn what's healthy to eat and season it in healthy ways. The surprising thing was that (1) I really like healthy food prepared well, and (2) I don't crave the unhealthy food I used to eat. I used to eat 2 to 3 cartons of Ben & Jerry's a week; now I don't even desire ice cream. That said, I don't feel guilty for eating a little ice cream or anything else now and then. I'm just satisfied with having a little of it.
I wish I had done this years ago.
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Lots of good info, guys. thanks.
Posted by Fat Cramer on :
Dr. Fuhrman's another good one, pretty much the same as McDougall and Barnard, and he has a new book out on eliminating diabetes (haven't read it).
A lot of us (especially women) have spent a lifetime on one diet after another, with little regard to health. I don't see anything wrong with extra pounds if your health is good, but these things have a way of catching up with you in middle age.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Hug]](graemlins/hug.gif)
Cramer. ![[Mad]](mad.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Embarrassed]](redface.gif)
![[choke]](graemlins/choke.gif)
![[ROTFLMAO]](graemlins/rotflmao.gif)
Aw, thanks EG!
![[sigh]](graemlins/sigh.gif)
I get that I'm lucky to have any damn job at all, and that it's not the worst job that I could have nor am I the most stellar employee that ever lived, but still... [deep breath]![[Confused]](confused.gif)
![[AHHHH!!!!]](graemlins/scream.gif)
Click Here For A SpoilerAt 9 AM this morning, the temp agency calls me to come back to work at the warehouse first thing Monday. Great. I said "fine." I complain about this job when I'm on it, but the truth is that I have done and doubtless will do much worse.![[Yes]](graemlins/nod.gif)
![[No]](graemlins/shake.gif)
Dev Em, $7.50 an hour for this?!![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Shudder]](graemlins/shudder.gif)
![[Whizzy]](graemlins/Whizzy.gif)
![[tease]](graemlins/tease.gif)
![[Holt]](graemlins/Holt.gif)
![[Gasp]](graemlins/faint.gif)
![[LOL]](graemlins/lol.gif)
![[Love]](graemlins/love.gif)
![[Cheers]](graemlins/cheers.gif)
![[Poverty Lad]](graemlins/PovertyLad.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[Poke Joke]](graemlins/poke.gif)
![[shrug]](graemlins/shrug.gif)
![[Evil]](graemlins/devil.gif)
![[Hmmm?]](graemlins/hmmm.gif)