# And a bitchy New Year - January 2012 minirants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 1, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003 "2012-01-01T02:05:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/221 "2012-01-13T05:00:01Z")
Goddammit, my laptop has started popping up a warning that the battery is not charging normally and I should replace it. The website charges 130 dollars for a replacement battery. Son of a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/222 "2012-01-13T13:09:30Z")
First flu in twelve years. Holy crap, I forgot just how debilitating a flu can be. Spent six days sick and in bed, getting up to occasionally feed the cat and drink another glass of water so the bouts of vomiting every half hour wouldn’t hurt so much and would slow down the dehydration. I think I’ll not ignore my flu shots again (or at least the next few years, then I’ll forget again). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/223 "2012-01-13T13:11:58Z")
> [@Chef\_Troy](#): > > Today is my crazy mom’s birthday. … > > Sometimes mom will do this thing where she really wants to do something, but she won’t say so - she wants US to beg her to do it… > > I just wish she was accessible to reason on the subject of… oh, let’s say _everything._ If the date wasn’t so completely wrong, I’d think you’re Littlebro :dubious: (Middlebro’s English is, shall we say, creative) ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/224 "2012-01-13T13:57:58Z")
> [@Student\_Driver](#): > > First flu in twelve years. Holy crap, I forgot just how debilitating a flu can be. Spent six days sick and in bed, getting up to occasionally feed the cat and drink another glass of water so the bouts of vomiting every half hour wouldn’t hurt so much and would slow down the dehydration. > > I think I’ll not ignore my flu shots again (or at least the next few years, then I’ll forget again). If you have vomiting and diarrhea that’s not the kind of flu that flu shots prevent (although flu shots are still a good idea). ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/225 "2012-01-13T14:40:41Z")
Ah. I had thought it might be food poisoning instead (though lack of diarrhea seemed a bit weird), but when I got to work last night, it turned out that something like 1/3 of the people at work (and we have about 400 employees) have had the same thing over the last couple of weeks, and none of us had shared food, nor even been on the same shift… and a number of their family members fell victim as well, so . Whatever it was spread from person to person over the course of several days… and whatever it is sucked. Good news is that I got to use 32 hours of my sick time; I’ve been maxed out at 192 hours for a while, and it’s nearly impossible to actually use them due to work policies. I’m wanting to leave there this autumn for grad school, and I’ve been despairing of ever getting to use much of it up. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/226 "2012-01-13T15:01:09Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > The nurse advised me to work along the edge of my fingers. My joke on that is that eventually, due to all the pin pricks, I will have perforated skin on both hands and someday all the skin will just peel off like a paper towel or something. Another thing to try is to make sure you have warm hands – I never bleed if my hands are cold. (Though to be honest, I’m not a fan of the Delicia, even on the deepest setting, I could never get blood easily, whereas my Freestyle lancing device gives me blood easily after one try. Maybe its the lancing device?) My mini-rant: the student who decided to shout over me whilst I’m explaining the differences between two text books to another student… :smack::smack: ---
**Author:** ![cards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@cards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cards)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/227 "2012-01-13T15:38:33Z")
“Efforting that”. OK I first heard this on sports talk radio a few years back and wondered how the hell is effort turned into a verb? Today one of the news anchors on local a local TV station used it to say “we’re efforting to get that report to you right now”. Jeez, I mean c’mon, that’s not proper usage. Is this happening everywhere or just in my neck of the woods. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/228 "2012-01-13T16:50:26Z")
Never heard it, never want to, **cards.** And I’m sorry, **Baracus** , that couldn’t have been a fun thing to learn. I’m glad the story (appears to have) ended there with no further damages wrought. Confidential to the driver of the white something-or-other sedan in front of me this morning: I have no problem with you changing lanes, even if you don’t bother to signal. But for chrissakes, _commit_ to the lange change! Don’t just straddle the line for another quarter-mile hogging two lanes - MOVE IT! MOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVE!!eleventy1!! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/229 "2012-01-13T17:50:40Z")
“We’re efforting to get that to you?” I’m afraid if someone said that to me, I’d stare at them incredulously and say, “What?” (Even my spellcheck agrees that that is not correct English. 🙂 ) Two things that need to be put right AfrickinSAP - the height of paperbacks is now two different heights (and widths, but that’s not as important), so they get stuck in the paperback slots in the library, as well as making bookshelves at home more difficult. I’m sure there’s a reason that paperbacks are becoming tall and thin, but I can’t think of it myself. The second is also height related - the height of cereal boxes. Do they really need to have such a range? Can this not be standardized for weight of contents (for example, three different sizes of cereal with three different sizes of box)? It irritates me every time I have to cram my Raisin Bran into the shelf that it barely fits in. ---
**Author:** ![Runestar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/74df32/32.png) [@Runestar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runestar)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/230 "2012-01-13T19:04:24Z")
Slipped on a patch of ice yesterday. Badly sprained my left knee and broke a small bone in my right wrist. So now I have a cast on my right arm and a brace on my left knee. Grumble. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/231 "2012-01-13T21:24:02Z")
> [@Baracus](#): > > . > Now I am 90% sure that [Santa was a pervert.](http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/10592713/) Blech. I’m sorry, but… John Thomas Peters??? Really??? I don’t think he had any choice BUT to become a pervert. Jeez. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/232 "2012-01-13T22:05:08Z")
My cat was meowing and pawing on my bedroom door for a solid 45 minutes this morning, about 2 hours before I actually needed to get up. So because I am NOT a morning person and did not want to get up 2 hours early, I threw a slipper at the door in hopes that the noise would make her shut up and go away for awhile. Turns out the slipper had something on it and now there is a dirty footprint on my wall. I live in an apartment. Cleaning it will be fun. Serves me right. It did do the trick, though. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/233 "2012-01-14T00:23:26Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Two things that need to be put right AfrickinSAP - the height of paperbacks is now two different heights (and widths, but that’s not as important), so they get stuck in the paperback slots in the library, as well as making bookshelves at home more difficult. I’m sure there’s a reason that paperbacks are becoming tall and thin, but I can’t think of it myself. > > The second is also height related - the height of cereal boxes. Do they really need to have such a range? Can this not be standardized for weight of contents (for example, three different sizes of cereal with three different sizes of box)? It irritates me every time I have to cram my Raisin Bran into the shelf that it barely fits in. I do not like trade paperbacks. More and more, it seems that my choice is hardback or trade paperback, and the books I want NEVER come out in standard paperback. And why are the currency slots in women’s wallets just a couple of hairs narrower than a US bill? If I only have to carry one or two bills, then I can sort of take a tuck in them in the middle. If I have more than ten bills (and that’s easy to do), the bills are not going to fit properly in that slot. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/234 "2012-01-14T01:36:04Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > John Thomas Peters??? Really??? Who else heard Monty Python in their head? “I can put whatever I want on my John Thomas…” ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/235 "2012-01-14T04:07:59Z")
I was IM’ing with a childhood friend just now and she was fairly bursting to tell me she’s been sleeping around on her husband because she’s lonely, he’s bad at sex and she thinks he’s cheating on her. I get it - he’s not giving you what you want or need. So stop being married, dammit! Don’t fuck a bunch of guys you’ve never met before. Especially not when you have two little kids at home. God, I wish I’d never responded to her. Christ. I just didn’t need this in my brain. I can’t do anything about it, I’m not stupid enough to get in the middle of this shit (hell, I hardly know the woman anymore and the person I thought I knew has obviously been abducted by aliens) and do. Not. Want. To. Know. At one point, she said, “You probably won’t approve.” Well, fuck no, I don’t approve of what you’re doing, you giant dumbass. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/236 "2012-01-14T07:45:20Z")
Acne, I hate you and wish that you would die a horrible, horrible death. I don’t care if acne’s supposedly a thing that anyone can have at any age, I am too old for this shit. Another thing: I bought my boyfriend a pocketwatch just before Christmas…and promptly had to return it to get it repaired because the pin was coming out of the hinge. We just got it back today…and the pin was still hanging out. :mad: Got a full refund for it, but uuuuuuuuugh that pissed me off. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/237 "2012-01-14T21:16:24Z")
I’m sick of being asked to sign up for things through my Facebook account. Facebook has quite enough information about me already. The companies don’t really need the facebook info. I am willing to give them everything that’s actually relevant and my money. That should be more than enough, especially since two years ago, it would have been. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/238 "2012-01-14T23:38:28Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Two things that need to be put right AfrickinSAP - the height of paperbacks is now two different heights (and widths, but that’s not as important), so they get stuck in the paperback slots in the library, as well as making bookshelves at home more difficult. I’m sure there’s a reason that paperbacks are becoming tall and thin, but I can’t think of it myself. I’m so with you on this one. Books should stay the same size always. And boxes need to be standard as well. I collect pulp fiction paperbacks from a specific genre. The ones from the 70’s are small and compact. Sometime in the 80’s, paperbacks got about 1/4 inch taller. I vote that all paperbacks are sized like the pocket books in the 50’s and 60’s. They actually fit in a pocket. (yes, I do read my old, beat up paperbacks. I make covers for them and carefully glue the loose pages back in. It ticks me off when I have to make yet another different sized cover before I can read my new book) My rant. Its Tony. Again. His dogs ran away yesterday. His untrained, big, unruly but friendly dogs. Dogs that have never worn a collar or walked on a leash. Tony is so busy being paraniod about people letting his dogs out that he won’t make the calls to find them. We’ve talked 6 times today and Tony is convinced that someone opened the gate and stole his dogs. I’m convinced that nobody would ever steal his dogs and that he didn’t double check the padlock on the gate. So, after I got tired of telling Tony to call the pound and rescue groups, I made the calls. I found them. I’m out of the state and I made the mistake of telling the person I talked to that they weren’t my dogs, so I can’t use my bank card to pay the fines and have them chipped. Maybe I’m pitting the pound as well…they should be happy to get money no matter where it comes from, and chipping the dogs would be a good thing. I should have had them chipped when I had them fixed. So I’m a dumbass as well. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/239 "2012-01-15T02:35:02Z")
I pit the political system in California where a good environmental issue (waterless urinals) is effectively destroyed by a lobbyist working for the unions. > **[Lobbyist Scott Wetch bends Legislature to benefit labor unions](https://www.latimes.com/business/la-xpm-2012-jan-14-la-fi-lobbying-wetch-20120114-story.html)** > > Lobbyist Scott Wetch bends Legislature to benefit labor unions > [@](#): > > Then he took a more direct approach, reminding Democratic lawmakers that the bill threatened a key constituency — labor — and specifically his client, the California State Pipe Trades Council and its 30,000 plumbers and pipe fitters. > > Finally, he splintered his opponents by crafting a compromise designed to appease environmentalists. The revised bill, signed into law in 2007, allowed developers to install waterless urinals. But they would still have to install the pipes, just in case something went wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003/240 "2012-01-15T17:03:40Z")
I like the snow. I’d rather live in a place where it snows a lot - like Milwaukee or Minneapolis than a place where it is really sunny and hot - like Phoenix or Las Vegas, but it rarely snows here and when it does we only get an inch or two - which shuts down the entire city usually, btw. It was forecast to snow here today and it did - everywhere but in my neighborhood. I live on the river - actually on an island in the river, so that acts as a moderating influence on the river - plus it’s about the lowest elevation you go. If its going to snow here - as little as it does - then want snow on my front yard goddammit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-bitchy-new-year-january-2012-minirants/608003.md?page=13)