Straight Dope Message Board

[Dancer_Flight]

My mechanic local didn't tell my my winter tires were shot when he pulled them off this spring so when I went to have them mounted remounted, (at a different shop, the place across from work), I'm told I'm in for new ones. They'll be in on Wednesday - so unexpected expense, yay! Also the first snow of the season is falling so I might not get to limp into work tomorrow.

Also working on a new fireplace surround. Did the shaping of the mantel piece and set up the mounting system. The wood was being finished today. Of course having wrestled the 8' hunk of fir beam up and down the stairs eleventy times yesterday and boring giant holes partway through and so forth, my no-longer twenty year old back decided to register its protests today with the occasional spasm and twinge.

So what's chapping your hide this month? 1

[Llama Llogophile]

I can live with the Xmas music. It is what it is. But what the fuck is up with TVs in public spaces?!

Today I was in a hotel lounge and there were no less than three TVs, all set up strategically such that you could not be facing away from one. Volumes up, no remotes around. The goddam things were sunk into the wall so you couldn't even get at the buttons on them to turn them down or off.

I'm running into this more and more. Who decided we have to be watching TV everywhere? I wouldn't complain about this in a sports bar or a few other types of spots. But lately it feels like I am just inundated with TVs, and there's no way to mute them or turn them off. I bought one of those TV B-Gone gizmos, but it doesn't work very well. Might have to invest in a hammer. 2

[galen ubal]

I've just arranged for flights to visit my folks in Michigan in late January - I live in Australia.
The rant is not about the cost, nor about the change from midsummer to midwinter. They're looking forward to seeing me, and I them. I'm used to the long flights, and even economy is fine. It's just...

I called them up once I finished booking flights, and they both sound so....old, and tired. I don't know how long they'll be around.

Aging sucks. 3

[slalexan]

I’ve been really depressed all year but, now, I’m finally able to crochet and enjoy it again. But it just hit me that I’m working on a baby blanket... and the baby it was for was born a year ago. And I just had a miscarriage so asking around for fresh babies isn’t a great idea for me. So now I’m sad about this baby-less baby blanket and my baby-less me. Double fail on my part for that one.

Also, I’m getting a cold. 4

[flatlined]

Hospitals and homeless shelters are always very happy to get baby blankets.

Hats and gloves are good for using up all the left over bits and pieces you have hanging around to allow you to start something new. Of course, this means you will have to go out and look at yarn and tools and socialize with fellow crafty folks, which might not be a bad thing either. 5

[Fretful Porpentine]

Dude, I don't know who advised you to e-mail all of your professors asking for last-minute extra credit assignments (I know SOMEONE advised you to do this, because you forgot to delete the "Send this to all your professors" part before copying and pasting), but it's very, very bad advice. First of all, I'm not about to give one student an extra credit opportunity without extending it to the whole class (and given that 85% of the class has outperformed you on the REGULAR credit assignments, the same thing would likely happen on any hypothetical extra credit assignment). Secondly, why on God's green earth would I give myself another thing to grade at this point in the semester? 6

[mhendo]

Originally Posted by Fretful Porpentine

Dude, I don't know who advised you to e-mail all of your professors asking for last-minute extra credit assignments (I know SOMEONE advised you to do this, because you forgot to delete the "Send this to all your professors" part before copying and pasting), but it's very, very bad advice. First of all, I'm not about to give one student an extra credit opportunity without extending it to the whole class (and given that 85% of the class has outperformed you on the REGULAR credit assignments, the same thing would likely happen on any hypothetical extra credit assignment). Secondly, why on God's green earth would I give myself another thing to grade at this point in the semester?

One of the first things I tell my students at the beginning of the semester is, "I don't offer extra credit." I've learned that getting it out of the way during the very first class meeting can save me from a lot of begging emails and office visits in Week 13.

I happen to agree with this guy that extra credit is unfair to students. 7

[Monty]

Originally Posted by Fretful Porpentine

Dude, I don't know who advised you to e-mail all of your professors asking for last-minute extra credit assignments (I know SOMEONE advised you to do this, because you forgot to delete the "Send this to all your professors" part before copying and pasting), but it's very, very bad advice. First of all, I'm not about to give one student an extra credit opportunity without extending it to the whole class (and given that 85% of the class has outperformed you on the REGULAR credit assignments, the same thing would likely happen on any hypothetical extra credit assignment). Secondly, why on God's green earth would I give myself another thing to grade at this point in the semester?

• Conversation I had with one of the worst teachers I've ever encountered (about three years ago)
  
  Horrible teacher: Don't you want to give extra credit assignments to your class? Here are some ideas for you if...
  
  Me interrupting him: I don't give extra credit to groups who don't do regular credit. Got it?

Yeah, I wasn't sad at all when he left. Oh, and I'm with you: extra credit opportunities get listed in the syllabus, along with a very clear statement: these are opportunities for those who have submitted all of the regular work. 8

[DummyGladHands]

Originally Posted by Llama Llogophile

I can live with the Xmas music. It is what it is. But what the fuck is up with TVs in public spaces?!

Today I was in a hotel lounge and there were no less than three TVs, all set up strategically such that you could not be facing away from one. Volumes up, no remotes around. The goddam things were sunk into the wall so you couldn't even get at the buttons on them to turn them down or off.

I'm running into this more and more. Who decided we have to be watching TV everywhere? I wouldn't complain about this in a sports bar or a few other types of spots. But lately it feels like I am just inundated with TVs, and there's no way to mute them or turn them off. I bought one of those TV B-Gone gizmos, but it doesn't work very well. Might have to invest in a hammer.

Football weekend, maybe??

slalexan, if you're interested, you might look up blankets for baby rhinos. Among other critters. 9

[kambuckta]

I know this sounds like first-world, privileged elitism at its worst, but we're on hols in Bali at the moment and there is a driver who is giving us the shits. He sits outside the hotel entrance and badgers us when we dare to go anywhere without him. One morning he hassled us as we were eating breakfast, demanding to know our plans for the day.

Fuck off Brooksie, you could have earned yourself a shitload of rupiah if you hadn't been such an arse about it. 10

[slalexan]

I’m sorry, baby rhinos need baby blankets?!? Well, now I have a new project for my scraps. Project codename big warm babies is a go!

When I was in college, I found extra credit wasn’t really a thing. Of course, I also went to engineering school, where I barely had time to wipe my own ass, let alone do extra credit work.

The cold is progressing. I’m losing my voice and I’m just generally miserable. 11

[kayaker]

Originally Posted by Llama Llogophile

I'm running into this more and more. Who decided we have to be watching TV everywhere? I wouldn't complain about this in a sports bar or a few other types of spots. But lately it feels like I am just inundated with TVs, and there's no way to mute them or turn them off. I bought one of those TV B-Gone gizmos, but it doesn't work very well. Might have to invest in a hammer.

We spent Saturday drinkshopping* in Ligonier and this topic came up. Huge televisions have become lightweight and dirt cheap. Mounting brackets make it easy-peasy to hang a tv anywhere. And cable!

I remember sitting in a bar, watching local sports on a tiny portable black&white tv with rabbit ears, precariously balanced on a shelf alongside top-shelf liquor bottles. But, hell, Willie Stargell!

* drinkshopping: my gf has devised this scheme whereby I do not complain about accompanying her on shopping trips. We arrive in Ligonier and first stop is at Wicked Googly for Bloodies. Then we walk to a clothing store, where she shops and I sit outside on a bench, sneaking tokes on my pen. She buys stuff. Then we go to Joe's for drafts. Then we go to a store. Rinse-repeat. 12

[Morgyn]

I'll be damned. I've been put in Twitter prison for hoping that Devin Nunes would be slapped silly. Mind you, I was responding to a tweet about a move in VA to severely limit SLAPP lawsuits, like his lawsuit against the Twitter account of Devin Nunes' Cow. It was a pun. But I've violated their standards against targeting harassment and threatening harm. I strongly suspect multiple Nunes' fans are to blame for this.

I follow a woman who is actively anti-racist. She gets tweeted DEATH THREATS, and as far as I can tell, Twitter has done nothing about the threateners. I make a joke and get hobbled for 12 hours. Seriously?

I decided not to appeal, because technically it is a violation, but I'm steamed. 13

[Kelevra]

Opened a new carton of milk this morning, poured it on The Boy's and my cereal. We took simultaneous bites and then simultaneously spit it out. Mouthful of spoiled milk. two hours later I can still taste it. 14

[Nava]

Originally Posted by slalexan

I’m sorry, baby rhinos need baby blankets?!? Well, now I have a new project for my scraps. Project codename big warm babies is a go!

And I swear, they look like something designed by an anime artist. Their ears look like they're almost as big as once they're grown up, but of course the rest of them is a lot smaller, and I mean a lot, and no horns. They kind of look like baby hippos with large rhomboidal ears. And yeah, baby hippos count as cute overdose, I mean, hippos are absurdly cute for something that big... 15

[Jackmannii]

Originally Posted by kambuckta

I know this sounds like first-world, privileged elitism at its worst, but we're on hols in Bali at the moment and there is a driver who is giving us the shits. He sits outside the hotel entrance and badgers us when we dare to go anywhere without him. One morning he hassled us as we were eating breakfast, demanding to know our plans for the day.

Looking out the window at a typically dreary, cold, drizzly early December day in central Ohio, I feel deeply for your anguish in Bali. 16

[overlyverbose]

I'm sorry for your loss, slalexan, and I hope you feel better soon (from your cold; having lost a baby who would've been 8 next month, I know that doesn't get "better"). If you do make a blanket for a baby rhino, you'll need to post some pics or it didn't happen. 17

[overlyverbose]

My mini-rant is about one of my coworkers (soon to be former b/c she's mercifully switching teams). She's ok on a personal level, but on a professional level she is a hot damn mess. Her biggest issue is that everything she says she says in really obnoxious corporate speak that sounds like utter bullshit. It's so bad someone called me about it after being copied on the below email (some items changed to protect the witless).

Hi, overly,
We are still discussioning the architect solution for X with our innovation counterparts to identify optimized times for solutioning. In the meantime, relative to this initiative, would you please correspond with your agreement with respect to moving the needle on this critical moonshot project in advance of EOW?

Employee

The first sentence alone is jaw-dropping, which is ironic coming from someone with my handle. I'm still trying to figure out how long that would take to write or if it's possible that someone thinks in those terms. 18

[kaylasdad99]

Dang. If that coworker ever becomes a Doper, we might have to confiscate your username and give it to her. 19

[Nava]

Hey, you're overly verbose, not overly I Ate A Corposhit Dicshonary For Breakfast. Those sentences aren't just full of two-dollar words, they contain two-dollar words used wrong. 20

[DummyGladHands]

Originally Posted by slalexan

I’m sorry, baby rhinos need baby blankets?!? Well, now I have a new project for my scraps. Project codename big warm babies is a go!

When I was in college, I found extra credit wasn’t really a thing. Of course, I also went to engineering school, where I barely had time to wipe my own ass, let alone do extra credit work.

The cold is progressing. I’m losing my voice and I’m just generally miserable.

Baby rhinos & elephants sunburn. These blankets go to orphans whose mothers have been killed by motherkillingfuckering pieces of shit waste of skin asshole poachers for their horns or tusks.
, 21

[cochrane]

Originally Posted by overlyverbose

My mini-rant is about one of my coworkers (soon to be former b/c she's mercifully switching teams). She's ok on a personal level, but on a professional level she is a hot damn mess. Her biggest issue is that everything she says she says in really obnoxious corporate speak that sounds like utter bullshit. It's so bad someone called me about it after being copied on the below email (some items changed to protect the witless).

Hi, overly,
We are still discussioning the architect solution for X with our innovation counterparts to identify optimized times for solutioning. In the meantime, relative to this initiative, would you please correspond with your agreement with respect to moving the needle on this critical moonshot project in advance of EOW?

Employee

The first sentence alone is jaw-dropping, which is ironic coming from someone with my handle. I'm still trying to figure out how long that would take to write or if it's possible that someone thinks in those terms.

You should reply with the famous quote by Samuel L. Jackson, "English, Motherfucker! Do you speak it?" 22

[DummyGladHands]

https://www.blanketsforbabyrhinos.or...r-baby-rhinos/

If anyone is interested 23

[BobLibDem]

I'd like to take the person who came up with the meme of the hysterical pointing women and the smart ass white cat and slap them silly. I haven't seen a funny one of them yet and they've jumped the shark long long ago. 24

[Isamu]

Originally Posted by cochrane

You should reply with the famous quote by Samuel L. Jackson, "English, Motherfucker! Do you speak it?"

I agree that the needle should be moved? Backwards? 25

[saje]

Originally Posted by BobLibDem

I'd like to take the person who came up with the meme of the hysterical pointing women and the smart ass white cat and slap them silly. I haven't seen a funny one of them yet and they've jumped the shark long long ago.

Omg yes, and yes again. Not remotely funny. 26

[Seanette]

Originally Posted by BobLibDem

I'd like to take the person who came up with the meme of the hysterical pointing women and the smart ass white cat and slap them silly. I haven't seen a funny one of them yet and they've jumped the shark long long ago.

I'm on board with this. I got over watching that shrieking drunken bimbo after about the second viewing. 27

[kaylasdad99]

OTOH, it might be nice to see it once, just so I can know wtf you’re talking about... 28

[panache45]

Originally Posted by Jackmannii

Looking out the window at a typically dreary, cold, drizzly early December day...

You sound like Paul Simon:

"A winters day
In a deep and dark December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island." 29

[BobLibDem]

Originally Posted by kaylasdad99

OTOH, it might be nice to see it once, just so I can know wtf you’re talking about...

If you haven't seen the meme, here are some. 30

[peedin]

Can't say I've ever seen the white cat meme. My sour is that my Ursala Kitteh had dental surgery to the tune of over $400. She's fine now and I had the money but I didn't like the thought of her going under. Also, the bronchitis that has been in my lungs since November is starting to really annoy me. I'm getting better after a trip to ED at 1:30 on a Sunday morning, breathing treatments every 4-6 hours, 15 days of Prednisone, 8 days off work. The gunk is starting to come up so I'm coughing phlegm. 31

[The Vorlon]

Originally Posted by peedin

Can't say I've ever seen the white cat meme. My sour is that my Ursala Kitteh had dental surgery to the tune of over $400. She's fine now and I had the money but I didn't like the thought of her going under. Also, the bronchitis that has been in my lungs since November is starting to really annoy me. I'm getting better after a trip to ED at 1:30 on a Sunday morning, breathing treatments every 4-6 hours, 15 days of Prednisone, 8 days off work. The gunk is starting to come up so I'm coughing phlegm.

That should also be guck coming up from smoking. It's going to take some time to get all that gone too. If you think its bad NOW, just think how much worse it could have been....

Keep on getting better! 32

[Spiderman]

This week's sign of the apocalypse: Sure, you like your airpods but they fall out sometimes; why not get a holder for them...or just buy a pair that is already connected for about ½ the cost.


Went to the grocery store yesterday. Put the cold stuff away in the basement freezer but somehow put down the bag for the kitchen fridge & got distracted. I will not be having steak tonight (which has been sitting out for 24+ hrs). 33

[margin]

Originally Posted by Dancer_Flight

My mechanic local didn't tell my my winter tires were shot when he pulled them off this spring so when I went to have them mounted remounted, (at a different shop, the place across from work), I'm told I'm in for new ones. They'll be in on Wednesday - so unexpected expense, yay! Also the first snow of the season is falling so I might not get to limp into work tomorrow.

Also working on a new fireplace surround. Did the shaping of the mantel piece and set up the mounting system. The wood was being finished today. Of course having wrestled the 8' hunk of fir beam up and down the stairs eleventy times yesterday and boring giant holes partway through and so forth, my no-longer twenty year old back decided to register its protests today with the occasional spasm and twinge.

So what's chapping your hide this month?

My ongoing dental issues with the VA.

I should point out that the VA says you can go to a non-VA emergency room, but when I did that in May, the ER couldn't figure out what was wrong with me, so the VA turned around and said, "Non emergent. Give us $6700.00."

So I've been dealing with dentists. Broke part of a tooth off a while ago, but then three weeks and six days ago the rest of it broke off at the gumline.

Today, I talked to another dentist. "Well, the VA says we have to spell out exactly what we need to do to get pre-authorization. They won't pay for anything unless it's ore-authorized."

"Okay?"

"But we can't tell what we need to do without an exam first."

"So------?"

"The VA won't pay for an exam."

Catch-22.

Fuck every last one of these goddamned assholes. 34

[purplehorseshoe]

Heard back about a job application late in the week before Thanksgiving, replied with my availability for a phone interview the following week.

{crickets}

Sent a polite nudge the Tuesday before T-Day along the lines of "Heeeyyy, if the holiday threw your schedule around, I have roughly similar availability next week too. Holla at me, bitches!"

Okay, not that last part; not explicitly. More crickets, until early today ... advising me of a timeblock tomorrow morning that's earlier than what I specified. Wrote back asking if the hiring manager has availability later in the day tomorrow; still no reply.

So, with my luck, if I make myself available early tomorrow morning anyway, I won't hear from 'em ... but if I continue with my planned schedule, they'll call & miss me and I'll never get this particular freelance gig tied down.

I kinda liked it too, based on the trial assignment I completed for them as an application step.

HARRUMPH job hunting sucks donkey balls.

Originally Posted by overlyverbose

...
Hi, overly,
We are still discussioning the architect solution for X with our innovation counterparts to identify optimized times for solutioning. In the meantime, relative to this initiative, would you please correspond with your agreement with respect to moving the needle on this critical moonshot project in advance of EOW?

Employee...

"Discussioning" really?!? Discussing crossed with .. negotiating? Or is that a typo?
Dear god, are people applying the Brangelina Principle to everything now? 35

[Morgyn]

FML.

The water heater shut itself off for a "Thermostat temperature limit was exceeded." condition. According to the manual I found online, that means the gas control valve/thermostat needs to be replaced. No hot water until it is.

It's just a damn good thing I was washing dishes late, or I wouldn't have known the heater had turned itself off. The manual is VERY CLEAR about saying that when this happens you have to turn the gas off at the control box AND the gas line. Or maybe boom. Or carbon monoxide. Or something equally dire. Additionally glad that I have a carbon monoxide detector about 8 feet away from the water heater.

So I'm working from home again and with luck someone will be able to come fix it tomorrow, or I shall be very stinky very soon. I'm too old for cold water showers. 36

[DummyGladHands]

Anyone who thinks cats don't fart, has never spent a night with my two gassy devils. 37

[Nava]

Went to the movies yesterday but didn't go in as the time was different from that posted in their website that same morning. I thought maybe I'd misread.

Turns out they change their times. The times shown for today today are also different from the ones which were posted for today yesterday. I do not approve. 38

[nightshadea]

and the plumper the cat the stinker the fart and box .... 39

[kaylasdad99]

Originally Posted by BobLibDem

If you haven't seen the meme, here are some.

I saw one of those of FB the other day. The woman was saying “Theater!” The cat was saying “theatre.”

Had no idea it was a meme. That’s the only one I’ve seen. Seems about as pointless as “Okay boomer.” 40

[Seanette]

Originally Posted by DummyGladHands

Anyone who thinks cats don't fart, has never spent a night with my two gassy devils.

You never experienced my dove after she got into cat food. You could have used that bird for chemical warfare, except that her output would have probably violated several treaties. 41

[aurora maire]

So I reached peak I-don't-need-this-shit at work a while back and announced my retirement at the end of the year. That seemed a really good time to go. With the holidays, everything slows down so the last few weeks should be a breeze. Just ease on out of there. Yeah, right.

Today my main backup told me she's had enough shit and has resigned. Her last day is Dec. 13. The other backup and I will have to split her work since there is no way they hire someone to take her place by then. They haven't even started interviewing for my position! Well, ok, we can deal with it and it won't be my problem for long.

But then, the other backup told me she is taking vacation from Dec. 23 to Jan. 2. (My last day is Jan. 10.) Now that will leave me responsible for 3 jobs for a week and a half. Yeah, it's the holidays and there probably won't be any major issues but I'm assuming I'll also be training someone for my position, if they ever get around to hiring someone. Damn it, I don't want to be stressed out right at the end of my career. I should have seen it coming. Toxic workplace has to be true to the end. I can't wait for Jan. 10 (that's 38 days but who's counting - oh, right, that's me with a countdown sign behind my desk). 42

[Folacin]

Originally Posted by aurora maire

But then, the other backup told me she is taking vacation from Dec. 23 to Jan. 2. (My last day is Jan. 10.) Now that will leave me responsible for 3 jobs for a week and a half. Yeah, it's the holidays and there probably won't be any major issues but I'm assuming I'll also be training someone for my position, if they ever get around to hiring someone. Damn it, I don't want to be stressed out right at the end of my career. I should have seen it coming. Toxic workplace has to be true to the end. I can't wait for Jan. 10 (that's 38 days but who's counting - oh, right, that's me with a countdown sign behind my desk).

They are paying you for one job, presumably. Do that one, go home at 5:00. Let whatever manager approved the alternate backup's vacation figure out how to get that work done.

What are they going to do, fire you? I'm assuming one month's salary wouldn't affect your retirement finances. 43

[margin]

Originally Posted by DummyGladHands

Anyone who thinks cats don't fart, has never spent a night with my two gassy devils.

Ah, I remember having eyebrows once upon a time....

Took my plump little charmer to the vet to get her butt shaved because she has....issues. (Nowadays, I've got my own shaver for that issue to shave off the vet bill issues. Shave off...get it? I crack myself up sometimes.) Anyhoodle, she's yowling in rage as the vet and the vet tech and myself struggle to contain one cat, when the little demon reached her limit with being handled, and she .......she evacuated her anal glands at the vet. Deliberately.

Forget thumbs. If they learn to aim their butts at their owners like this, and really get some distance, the human race is screwed.

On the other hand, if I could just aim her butt at Moscow, my own little weapon of ass destruction could finally give Putin a taste of his own medicine. 44

[Seanette]

Are you sure she's not part skunk? 45

[peedin]

Cats have anal glands???? 46

[Morgyn]

Originally Posted by peedin

Cats have anal glands????

Yes, yes, they do. And if they get impacted, things get nasty. 47

[kayaker]

Originally Posted by peedin

Cats have anal glands????

Yep, as do dogs, skunks, and ferrets. 48

[margin]

Originally Posted by Seanette

Are you sure she's not part skunk?

Christ, I'll never have cilia again, will I? 49

[Seanette]

Sick today. The especially bad part is basically no audible voice, since I work in a call center. 50