Straight Dope Message Board

[Sailboat]

Internet (both wi fi and smartphone) went down last night. Restarting router did not work. Eventually I called Verizon and they fixed it remotely by resetting something from their end..

Today there's a follow-up e-mail from Verizon telling me an even faster way to get help next time this happens: use their website!

[Projammer]

Originally Posted by Broomstick

That said, yes, some labels are clearly of the CYA variety.

Reminds me of a label I saw when I was just a kid back in the 70's. There was a box with hand holes in the end. Printed just below the holes was "Holes for observation of contents only." My thought at the time was something along the line of "WTF!? Those are obviously for carrying the box."

Older, more cynical, me now recognizes that as a CYA warning.

[Guest-starring: Id!]

Originally Posted by MissTake

Get it towed to the shop. Owner asks "What did you do?"

What a douchey, not to mention red-flaggy question.

A good response would've been "What did you do?"
Confrontational, sure, but sounds like there's a hint of skeeve with that garage.

[MissTake]

Originally Posted by Guest-starring: Id!

What a douchey, not to mention red-flaggy question.

A good response would've been "What did you do?"
Confrontational, sure, but sounds like there's a hint of skeeve with that garage.

And here's a frustration - we've used this garage for almost 40 years. My dad was their main parts guy from the day they opened until he retired. After dad died, they were good for quite a while, but this whole situation has made me so upset. I'm sure he meant it as "haha" joking. Only, I was not laughing.

[digs]

Rant: "new" battery in vintage iPhone went bad after a month. But that was only one of five things wrong with the bent, cracked piece of crap (screen, dock, camera, SIM...). But was limping along with unreliable phone, because wife was sure we'd be in the poorhouse if I paid for a new phone.

Anti-rant: Tried an old trick from back when I bought my first iPod Mini... went through Craigslist ads from November and December, and emailed them asking if they still had their phone. Got a reply in ten minutes: "Still got it. Brand new in box, $250. Can meet in half an hour."

Woo-hoo! I've used the phone all day, and still have battery. I plug it in, it charges! The camera works every time, and never says "No SIM detected". And no broken glass snagging my finger...

[Morgyn]

Originally Posted by Spice Weasel

I work at a DV shelter. This woman stopped me in the parking lot as I was entering the building to ask me where local bus stop was. I wasn't positive so I opened my GPS and attempted to find it... It's 0.7 miles away and I tell her she might make it if she hurries. She says she's not going to bother if she won't make it on time, and insists she has to be there in the next five minutes. I said you're probably not going to make it.

She explodes, "I hate this fucking place! This place is the worst! I fucking hate white people!"

Does she think if I were black I could bend the fabric of space-time, or what?

More than likely she was pissed you didn't take the hint and drive her to the bus stop.

ETA: Note that I'm not agreeing with her, because that's some entitled shit right there.

[Spice Weasel]

Originally Posted by Morgyn

More than likely she was pissed you didn't take the hint and drive her to the bus stop.

ETA: Note that I'm not agreeing with her, because that's some entitled shit right there.

Yeah, that occurred to me after, and I definitely would not have been allowed to do that due to liability issues. Considering we offer all kinds of transportation help up to and including cab fare, and she could have received a bus schedule and map if she asked for one, and she left five minutes before she needed to be there, I figured it wasn't that big of a priority for her.

I don't work directly in the shelter, just admin. I honestly think one of the hardest parts of working in the shelter for direct service staff must be constantly reminding themselves that our clients are victims under a lot of stress. They can really be very rude.

[dzeiger]

Originally Posted by Nava

The Newest Nephew's school has banned candy for birthdays and set a limit on the price of the small gifts that can be brought. TNN brought balloons: way under the limit and every toddler in the class was superhappy.

The first reaction of most people when hearing of the ban is , but between allergies, diabetes... as TNN's mom said "being a child is so much more dangerous today than when we were little!"

Well, they were all happy except for the kid with the latex allergy...

[John Mace]

Here's a hearty fuck you to the guy on the phone today who just had to crap on my already kind of crappy day (due to sickness). This is someone I have a business relationship only and don't know well at all.

Me: Hi. Pardon my cough, I've been sick for a few days.
Him: You need to get over to the drug store and buy yourself some blah, blah, blah
Me: Thanks, but I've got some stuff I'm taking and it's working OK. I just hope to get through this in a few days. It's been pretty bad.
Him: Oh, no, you're going to have this for at least another week!

Well, fuck you. You have no idea what the fuck I have or how fucking long it's going to last. I'm not really interesting in your fucking over-the-phone diagnosis. But thanks for making me feel worse than I already do!!

[Spice Weasel]

Feel better, John. On your own time schedule!

[ThelmaLou]

Okay, this is petty and nit-picky, but that's why we're here, right?

Amazon reviews that are one or teo words. WTF?
"Great book"
"Loved it"
"Hated it"
"Insightful!"
"Excellent!"
"Huh?"
"Terrible writer"
Those are not helpful and I rate them as such.

OTOH God bless the people who take the time to write long, well-informed, articulate, HELPFUL reviews of books and products. There is a special place in heaven and in my heart for them.

[Beckdawrek]

I worked a ball game tonight. WTF? Who gives a 6 year old a $20 bill and sends them to the concession stand. So all his friends can clog up the line begging him to buy them something. I had to send him back to his Mother with a note, telling her this problem he was having. She marched down there and griped me out because she was missing half the game. When she ordered we put her on the slow track, she had to wait longer. That is just how we roll. People, hear this; we are volunteers, we don't owe you anything, we are not MickeyDs, we are here to help the band program, and, NO you ain't getting nothing free!!

[Spice Weasel]

Originally Posted by ThelmaLou

Okay, this is petty and nit-picky, but that's why we're here, right?

Amazon reviews that are one or teo words. WTF?
"Great book"
"Loved it"
"Hated it"
"Insightful!"
"Excellent!"
"Huh?"
"Terrible writer"
Those are not helpful and I rate them as such.

OTOH God bless the people who take the time to write long, well-informed, articulate, HELPFUL reviews of books and products. There is a special place in heaven and in my heart for them.

My friend self-pubbed a novel and his biggest complaint is that people review the book without providing specific feedback. Even for a negative review it's important to be specific. And it can also be helpful to say, "this book would be good for people who like..." even if you hate it.

[Rilchiam]

Originally Posted by Rilchiam

So my cousin's husband, with whom I am Facebook friends (though I'm not FB friends with my actual cousin), messages me to tell me my aunt (his MIL) is in hospice, and will I please pass this news on to my mother (whose sister this is) and my sisters. Okay then. This branch of the family is seriously petty and passive-aggressive.

Update: Aunt J. died. Yesterday morning. My mom called me, having heard from their brother. "Well, she's in hell now," says my mom. Seriously? This is a rivalry going back to 1940, if not earlier, so no use calling her on it. Still, IMO there's fault on both sides.

[kiz]

Originally Posted by Spice Weasel

My friend self-pubbed a novel and his biggest complaint is that people review the book without providing specific feedback. Even for a negative review it's important to be specific. And it can also be helpful to say, "this book would be good for people who like..." even if you hate it.

And given that a lot of self-published books are *reviewed* by friends and family as opposed to actual reading public...and that your rating Amazon rests on how many five-star reviews your work has...and those five-star reviews will no doubt be from the one-word-review friends and family...

This was a huge issue in the group I was speaking about in another thread, Spice. The more five-star reviews your self-published work received, the more the group dismissed you as a self-congratulatory ask-everyone-for-reviews hog. It was interesting when these people moved to Facebook, made separate *author* pages to separate the book(s) from their own accounts, and Facebook promptly shut them down because they weren't *legitimate* enough. It also recently happened to a friend of mine who was never part of the group. Facebook shut down her author page because they claimed she created it to garner more reviews.

[Spice Weasel]

Originally Posted by kiz

And given that a lot of self-published books are *reviewed* by friends and family as opposed to actual reading public...and that your rating Amazon rests on how many five-star reviews your work has...and those five-star reviews will no doubt be from the one-word-review friends and family...

This was a huge issue in the group I was speaking about in another thread, Spice. The more five-star reviews your self-published work received, the more the group dismissed you as a self-congratulatory ask-everyone-for-reviews hog. It was interesting when these people moved to Facebook, made separate *author* pages to separate the book(s) from their own accounts, and Facebook promptly shut them down because they weren't *legitimate* enough. It also recently happened to a friend of mine who was never part of the group. Facebook shut down her author page because they claimed she created it to garner more reviews.

Wow. This group sounds kind of toxic. I know I'm lucky to have mine. We're like a family that can be brutally honest with one another. One thing I love about it, it's never about ego. Nobody positions themselves as superior. We're just there because we love to write and we want to improve.

I intend to give a review for my buddy's self-pub. I plan to give it 3.5 stars with a breakdown of what worked and what didn't. For me, for a writer, honesty is love. I know he would do the same for me.

[kiz]

Originally Posted by Spice Weasel

Wow. This group sounds kind of toxic. I know I'm lucky to have mine. We're like a family that can be brutally honest with one another. One thing I love about it, it's never about ego. Nobody positions themselves as superior. We're just there because we love to write and we want to improve.

The toxicity was another reason why many people left. The ones who remained are the "love to write/want to improve" types. As a group they don't like to socialize very much. The majority of the group, at least back in the *glory* days, was as much for socialization and the ensuing drama as it was for the actual writing. Because of that, it was, in some ways, a more lively group.

I intend to give a review for my buddy's self-pub. I plan to give it 3.5 stars with a breakdown of what worked and what didn't. For me, for a writer, honesty is love. I know he would do the same for me.

I wish my group had had more people like you. Looking back, I think a lot of those people in my group who'd jumped on the self-pub bandwagon were very much attracted to the *shiny* of it. It's not surprising that most of them haven't self-pub'd anything -- or have even written anything else -- since.

[ioioio]

My 90-year-old father is in a nursing home that used to be a good place but has been going downhill since a change in administration.

Last week dad’s roommate died. Later that same day, the staff moved in a new roommate, complete with extensive isolation paraphernalia because the new guy has a C diff infection. Not only did the staff pair an infected person in a small room with a non-infected person, but both persons ate their meals in the communal dining room.

The situation was discovered by my sister the next day, and she raised a bit of hell. Still, it took the staff several days to relocate the infected roommate.

[Spice Weasel]

Kiz:

We do socialize a lot. Most holidays we have some kind of party, we do BBQs and we always have dinner before our biweekly meetings. Then there's the constant chatter on Hangouts. But we are a very no bullshit crowd. We've been together for a little over two years and I've yet to see any drama. These people really have become my best friends. It's a small miracle we found each other.

The only potential drawback is that in an effort to preserve what we have, we've been really picky about who joins. It's a juried process (supermajority vote) so it can be intimidating for people who want to get involved. But there are 8 of us, I'm not sure we're in need of more members. We made it juried because we had too many people dropping in and not taking it seriously. One guy even fell asleep on us!

If you're ever looking for honest feedback, feel free to shoot an email my way. The give and take of critique and development of trust between writers is one of my favorite things about the process.

[bobkitty]

I had a very intense, vivid dream last night about a former extremely close friend. We fell out, badly and irreparably, in 2005. I ended up wide awake at 2AM, near tears and heartbroken as if the falling out happened yesterday. Now I'm just agitated, sad, and tired.

If that wasn't out-of-the-blue enough, I got a notification that someone had viewed my LinkedIn profile. I dutifully checked to see if it was some super awesome recruiter that wanted to pay me $100,000 a year to do little to nothing... no such luck. It was a former fiance, who cheated on me and dumped me in a movie theater while we were watching Twister back in 1996. I have absolutely no clue how he tracked me down.. I've changed first names since then, have no mutual contacts with him, and we are in extremely different fields. He didn't message me, thank god- just viewed my profile like a creepy stalker.

What the hell, blasts from the painful pasts??

[Spice Weasel]

Oh, bobkitty, that sucks. I know what those dreams are like. They stay with you for a long time.

[carnivorousplant]

Originally Posted by bobkitty

It was a former fiance, who cheated on me and dumped me in a movie theater while we were watching Twister back in 1996.

A woman I dated some years ago with brown eyes dumped a guy at a movie because he told her how pretty her green eyes were. She went to the lobby and called her Father to come get her. Didn't tell the guy. Can you imagine that poor bastard trying to figure out how to tell her parents that he lost her at the theater?

[Lightray]

Originally Posted by carnivorousplant

A woman I dated some years ago with brown eyes dumped a guy at a movie because he told her how pretty her green eyes were. She went to the lobby and called her Father to come get her. Didn't tell the guy. Can you imagine that poor bastard trying to figure out how to tell her parents that he lost her at the theater?

I'm red-green colorblind: green eyes literally are brown to me. I can rarely tell brown from green eyes. It's not too uncommon in men.

That guy dodged a bullet.

[Spice Weasel]

Originally Posted by Lightray

I'm red-green colorblind: green eyes literally are brown to me. I can rarely tell brown from green eyes. It's not too uncommon in men.

That guy dodged a bullet.

Seriously. What a stupid reason to dump someone. And a terrible way to do it.

[Bookkeeper]

Originally Posted by Chimera

I can't honestly say that Malt Vinegar would be any worse than those poor troglodytes that put MAYONNAISE on their fries.

I was passing through Brussels in the late 70s, and decided to get French fries (invented in Belgium) from a stand by the railway station. It had a couple of dozen different flavours of mayonnaise to put on them, as well as white and malt vinegar. No ketchup, though. I was happy with vinegar, but my friend was quite bummed not to be able to douse his in ketchup.

[carnivorousplant]

Originally Posted by Spice Weasel

Seriously. What a stupid reason to dump someone. And a terrible way to do it.

I think she was sixteen, is that somewhat of an excuse?

[Jeep's Phoenix]

Originally Posted by John Mace

Well, fuck you. You have no idea what the fuck I have or how fucking long it's going to last. I'm not really interesting in your fucking over-the-phone diagnosis. But thanks for making me feel worse than I already do!!

Was this person a Delsym evangelist? People who can use the stuff seem to think it's a miracle drug and won't shut up about it, no matter how many times you try explaining to them that the effects you experienced don't even begin to make the stuff worth your time.

[bobkitty]

Originally Posted by Spice Weasel

Oh, bobkitty, that sucks. I know what those dreams are like. They stay with you for a long time.

Yeah, I think I'm going to be revisiting a few feelings over the next several days. I know that you of all people understand that annoying process. Thanks for the sympathy!

Originally Posted by carnivorousplant

A woman I dated some years ago with brown eyes dumped a guy at a movie because he told her how pretty her green eyes were. She went to the lobby and called her Father to come get her. Didn't tell the guy. Can you imagine that poor bastard trying to figure out how to tell her parents that he lost her at the theater?

LOL, my fiance and I have an ongoing debate about what color my eyes are (in his defense, the color is quite fluid). It's a very good thing I'm not as sensitive to the error as your ex!

[carnivorousplant]

Originally Posted by bobkitty

LOL, my fiance and I have an ongoing debate about what color my eyes are (in his defense, the color is quite fluid).

Mrs. Plant's (v.3.0) are brown, and become green when she is very happy or angry.

[Beckdawrek]

I have color changing eyes, it freaks people out. I can't control it at all. My mid.wrekker daughter has the same eyes, hers go all the way black at times. It is strange to watch.

[Chimera]

My eyes are dark green right now except for the inside quarter of my right eye, which is lighter green, but it blends so you wouldn't notice it unless you were very close.

Over the years, they've changed between dark green and a more medium green with reddish bits, then back again.

[flatlined]

I am a total bibliophile. There are certain things that I like to read and other things I can read and appreciate the writing, but are not to my taste.

I write to authors and tell them that I liked their book and why. I'll bring up things that I really enjoyed and I will mention parts that I thought could have been improved, with suggestions.

Every single person I have written or emailed to has answered in the same medium and I can tell that its not a form letter because it addresses points that I brought up.

If I think that the latest book I couldn't get through is totally dreck, I won't post a review or write a letter or email. That would be mean. Someone worked really hard on their love child and offered it up to the world. Just because I think something is horrible doesn't mean someone else wouldn't just love it and might not look at it if I had posted a bad opinion. I certainly won't email the writer to say that I didn't like it.

My rant: I hate where we are living. I hate the landlord and am going to be seeing him in small claims court over the furnace (and likely because he's the sort who will find a million reasons to keep our deposit despite the fact that we have someone who comes over every day to clean.) I hate the carpeted floors, I hate the curtains, I hate the carpeted!!! bathrooms. I hate the white walls and the popcorn ceilings. The ONLY thing I liked about this place was the privacy fence between our bedroom windows and the neighbor's windows about 10 feet away.

Fucking wood fence planted in wet Houston ground with no concrete footers fell down today.

We are moving on the 25th. That's all that is stopping me from finding our asshole landlord and beating him about the head and shoulders with a piece of his cheap, rotten wood. (The wood is so punky that I couldn't be able to hurt him, but it would make a mess all over his clothes and if I was lucky might even make him sneeze a lot.)

[Roderick Femm]

I don't know why, but people using untreated wood to construct something outside (unless it is wood designed to be outside, like redwood or cedar) just gets in my nose something fierce. Maybe because the previous owners of this house used untreated wood to replace some of the planks in the deck, which is about 11 feet above ground. Then they painted it, so we can't tell which wood is good or which is bad. I ended up replacing all the planks and the steps as well. Don't people know any better than that?

[Folacin]

Originally Posted by Roderick Femm

I don't know why, but people using untreated wood to construct something outside (unless it is wood designed to be outside, like redwood or cedar) just gets in my nose something fierce. Maybe because the previous owners of this house used untreated wood to replace some of the planks in the deck, which is about 11 feet above ground. Then they painted it, so we can't tell which wood is good or which is bad. I ended up replacing all the planks and the steps as well. Don't people know any better than that?

Doesn't painting count as 'treating'?

[Seanette]

Grrr. Very little sleep, surprise alteration of the bus schedule, so DH is taking me to work, and he's getting all dramatic over other minor issues.

Must be Monday. $DEITY alone knows how bad the callers will be.

[Nava]

Originally Posted by Folacin

Doesn't painting count as 'treating'?

That depends on the paint. In general, wood should get treated (either at the factory or onsite) with a first layer which protects it from rot and insects, then painted.

Varnish (including colored ones) will protect the wood; paint does not; the pre-paint layer is not varnish (varnish makes it difficult for anything else to stick on). Or at least that was the main division between "colored varnish" and "paint" when I worked in the industry, God knows what the marketing people have come up with since.




But I have to admit that the idea of "wood not designed for outdoor use" is triggering Daliesque images of growing olive trees and piñon in the living room...

[Spice Weasel]

Originally Posted by Seanette

Grrr. Very little sleep, surprise alteration of the bus schedule, so DH is taking me to work, and he's getting all dramatic over other minor issues.

Must be Monday. $DEITY alone knows how bad the callers will be.

I've been awake since 2am (10:23am now.) I had a doctor's appointment this morning that I missed because I'm unsafe to drive and know it. I guess I could have Ubered but I didn't really want to go. Now I have to reschedule.

I was really hoping to do something productive today, but signs point to too fucking tired.

[minor7flat5]

Originally Posted by Sailboat

Internet (both wi fi and smartphone) went down last night. Restarting router did not work. Eventually I called Verizon and they fixed it remotely by resetting something from their end..

Today there's a follow-up e-mail from Verizon telling me an even faster way to get help next time this happens: use their website!

Aside from the irony of your situation, it always bothers me when I call any place of business for help and they say the same baloney:
"Your call is important to us"
"We are experiencing an unusual call volume"
"Please listen carefully because some of our options have changed"
and
"Did you know that you can get help for many common problems by going to our website at ...."

I wonder how many minutes of my life have been wasted listening to these four useless messages.
If I'm calling their help line it's because I spent ten minutes at their website already, searching for the carefully hidden phone number and sifting through all of the silliest FAQs that are probably neither F nor A. To be honest, I had already Googled the problem thoroughly and come up short.

Nobody wants to call an endless phone tree that dumps you into a half hour wait, so ...yes, I am aware that your business has a website.

[Roderick Femm]

Originally Posted by Folacin

Doesn't painting count as 'treating'?

Not if that's all you do to it, even if it's "porch" paint. The wood rots from exposure to moisture, it get's spongy and then after a little longer your foot goes through it when you step on it.

[ThelmaLou]

Originally Posted by minor7flat5

Aside from the irony of your situation, it always bothers me when I call any place of business for help and they say the same baloney:
"Your call is important to us"
"We are experiencing an unusual call volume"
"Please listen carefully because some of our options have changed"
and
"Did you know that you can get help for many common problems by going to our website at ...."

I wonder how many minutes of my life have been wasted listening to these four useless messages.
If I'm calling their help line it's because I spent ten minutes at their website already, searching for the carefully hidden phone number and sifting through all of the silliest FAQs that are probably neither F nor A. To be honest, I had already Googled the problem thoroughly and come up short.

Nobody wants to call an endless phone tree that dumps you into a half hour wait, so ...yes, I am aware that your business has a website.

Several times recently when I've gotten that "Our call volume is unusually high. Your wait time is 10 minutes" blahblahblah, I've waited and got a CSR in less than a minute. I think they play that message to discourage people from waiting, in fact, from even calling.

[Lightray]

Originally Posted by flatlined

... I hate the carpeted!!! bathrooms.

Ugh. When I bought my condo, all the bathrooms were carpeted, apparently by the nice old lady who didn't like cold feet in the morning who had the place built. It was gross, but I'm lazy, so I put up with it for a few years.

Then... my brother had a son, then another son, and I realized that nephews would be visiting. The idea of them hosing down carpeted bathroom floors finally got me to remodel the bathrooms. Where someone pointed out to me that the nice old lady could have put in heated floors for minimal electricity $ and no grossness without suffering cold feet.

[minor7flat5]

Originally Posted by ThelmaLou

Several times recently when I've gotten that "Our call volume is unusually high. Your wait time is 10 minutes" blahblahblah, I've waited and got a CSR in less than a minute. I think they play that message to discourage people from waiting, in fact, from even calling.

Given that I always hear those same messages, my bet is on laziness. They simply leave them on all the time.

[Chimera]

What usually happens is that a lot of people wait for a few minutes and then hang up, so that the queue suddenly gets a lot shorter. I've also seen (from being on the call center side) that it will drop suddenly as a new shift comes on the phones. Or the lines, which were down at one site due to whatever, suddenly are available again and 150 people are able to take calls.

[carnivorousplant]

One time it was some nice Blues music, and I asked the guy to let me listen for a couple more minutes.

[raventhief]

I got a message yesterday :
Your call will be answered in no more than 37 and a half seconds.

How very precise.

[kaylasdad99]

Precise is cool.

Was it true?

[Folacin]

Originally Posted by Roderick Femm

Not if that's all you do to it, even if it's "porch" paint. The wood rots from exposure to moisture, it get's spongy and then after a little longer your foot goes through it when you step on it.

Originally Posted by Nava

That depends on the paint. In general, wood should get treated (either at the factory or onsite) with a first layer which protects it from rot and insects, then painted.

Learned something today - thank you both!

[Beckdawrek]

Rant..The weather is gonna be snowy here in the great outback of So. Arkansas. There is not a loaf of bread for a 100 miles. These people act like they will be snowed in for weeks. You are not gonna die if you don't have bread for 1.5 days. I promise. You are already overweight, it will be several weeks before you start losing a mass ammount of weight. Go home and eat all those snacks in your cart, you won't even miss the bread. AND...why did I come to the grocery store at all? Oh yea, chocolate, I may be snowed in awhile.☺

[kayT]

Well yeah, chocolate is a lot more important than bread. You surely made the right choice, Beckdawrek.

[carnivorousplant]

NLR here. Calm down, you're gonna bust something!