# And here's your Dec. rants thread - Merry Christbitchmas! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 1, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693 "2011-12-01T13:07:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/61 "2011-12-02T18:26:44Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > We need a new fridge (our fridge basically has a diaper for the unfixable leaking issue), and I’m paying attention to your ranting - GE is definitely off of our list. Hopefully I will have made your life easier. 🙂 As an update, I finally got the fridge issue resolved today, I _think_. Unfortunately, that involved waiting for a half hour on hold, then spending more than another half hour working it out with the customer service agent. Apparently the agent I had been working with had a recommendation for a new fridge for me, but had failed to provide it to me. This guy did, I said yes, then it took yet another 20 minutes of hold time for him to confirm that yes, it was in stock, and yes, he could find a trucking business to get it to me. He was perfectly cordial (as were all the other agents, but I’m not given to yelling anyway, which I’m sure helps), but this was the second time I’ve spent well over an hour at one time trying to get this resolved. Now, having picked out and confirmed a fridge, I have to wait until next Tuesday when someone will follow up with me to confirm all this crap, then the trucking line has to call me to set up a time and only then will I get to have my new fridge, presumably within the next 2-3 weeks. I’ll have to let you know if it actually arrives before the end of the year. In the event that you ever do go with GE, their policy for fridges (which I found out today) was that if it will take 10 days or more for parts to arrive, they are required to replace your fridge for free. And apparently Roto Rooter entered the incorrect time into their system as to when they’d arrive. The guy remembered talking to me and remembered when I had _asked_ to be scheduled. He apologized, which was nice of him, and will come tomorrow during the earliest time available. I do NOT have good luck with household appliances and repairs. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/62 "2011-12-02T18:31:19Z")
Aaaaaaa! It’s urgent! She needs to go to the bank to pay her home health service! (I have a suspicion that our errands earlier this week were to reverse the automatic payment drafts that her daughter probably set up to avoid these emergencies. And yes, I’m going to figure out how to contact the daughter. Mrs. L has said a few things that make me think that her hinges aren’t well-oiled… like commenting about how nice City Hall looks now: the restoration was completed about 5 years ago.) Anyway, I’ll take her again, but I’ve made it plain that we are going ONLY to the bank, because I have to play mommy taxi later, and we can’t leave until the boy gets home to babysit due to the vehicle issues. I need a drink later. (Well, actually now, but that wouldn’t be prudent.) ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_of_the_Lake)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/63 "2011-12-02T18:54:29Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > Aaaaaaa! It’s urgent! She needs to go to the bank to pay her home health service! (I have a suspicion that our errands earlier this week were to reverse the automatic payment drafts that her daughter probably set up to avoid these emergencies. And yes, I’m going to figure out how to contact the daughter. Mrs. L has said a few things that make me think that her hinges aren’t well-oiled… like commenting about how nice City Hall looks now: the restoration was completed about 5 years ago.) Yikes! You are now her personal chauffeur, yay? (I have no advice on how to get out of this. Yikes!) ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/64 "2011-12-02T19:04:54Z")
> [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](#): > > Yikes! You are now her personal chauffeur, yay? > > (I have no advice on how to get out of this. Yikes!) I know. And I truly don’t mind if it’s once a week, let’s go get groceries, pay some bills, and run to the pharmacy. Or give me a list and I’ll grab your groceries while I’m out. But I don’t have an extra 10 hours a week to play chauffeur! Nor do I want the poor little widow down the street to be without food or her home aide or such… I really need to find that daughter’s phone number. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/65 "2011-12-02T21:33:51Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > We need a new fridge (our fridge basically has a diaper for the unfixable leaking issue), and I’m paying attention to your ranting - GE is definitely off of our list. > That may be one of the stupidest things I’ve heard in a long time. Going out of your way for all the hassles of marriage without getting any of the benefits - I’m guessing your brother-in-law is not the brightest bulb on the tree. Seriously. They expect everyone else to shell out major bucks for their pseudo-wedding but can’t be expected to fork over the [significantly smaller amount](http://www.weddingcram.com/planning/marriage_license_requirements.htm) for a license? Arrogance at its finest, right here folks! ---
**Author:** ![eulalia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eulalia/32/457_2.png) [@eulalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eulalia)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/66 "2011-12-02T21:54:00Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Not sure who to pit. After two attacks of pancreatitis in the last two months, they did enough scans to decide that my grown son who lives in Colorado probably has [pancreas divisum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancreas_divisum). On Tuesday he had [the procedure](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ERCP). Or, rather, he had half of it. > > Basically, they put you out and run tubes down your throat to do remote work on the ducts connecting to your duodenum. The procedure was supposed to go in two parts. 1) Confirm the diagnosis suggested by the scans. 2) Do a little snip-snip or stretching to make the main duct big enough to handle the load. > > Unfortunately, just after #1 was complete, he woke up. That is, the anesthesia wore off or stopped working. Not being asleep, he started choking involuntarily on the tubes. End of procedure. > > They’re going to try again today, with a different anesthesiologist. I don’t know when, so it might actually be happening. We’re hoping this goes better. Pancreatitis sucks dead donkey balls. Oh, and he’s not getting a discount on today’s second procedure. After two hospital stays and an aborted ERCP to pay for. Fuck. > > On the up side, he says that the nurses have been fantastic. When they found out that his wife (and designated driver) worked swing and graveyard, they found her a recliner in a dim room so that she could nap. So, thumbs up for the nurses. I’ve had the procedure done several times to find out why I kept getting pancreatitis, also in Colorado at the UCH Anschutz facility. One time I woke up in the middle and started gagging and pulled the tubes out. This was the last time they tried the conscious sedation thing with me, with subsequent ERCPs I have been fully sedated. Is it possible that this is what happened with him? The nurses there are really nice. They do a lot of these procedures there and it looks kind of like an assembly line, but they do take good care of you. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/67 "2011-12-03T00:43:45Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > Fuck you, cold virus. Fuck you so hard. I woke up with a puddle of snot all over my pillow, and i’m still headachy and tired and sniffly, and I’ve got work tomorrow. As a nurse. Fuck. I should call in, I really should, but I need the money, and the hospital’s been cutting my hours. Fuckety fuck! If you are anywhere near Rhodes Island, having a brand new cold can make you $160 for participating in a medical study … it has to be brand new within 3 days, and you have to be able to take what might or might not be mucinex. And you have to be able to go in 3 days, original intake appointment, one midway through the week and one at the end. I had my second appointment this morning and my outgo appointment is Tuesday, then the check arrives 30 days after Tuesday 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/68 "2011-12-03T00:52:15Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > However, the 17th is in TWO WEEKS! I have cookies to bake, decorations to put up, presents to wrap and two birthday parties for my son to host before then. Now I have to plan a turkey dinner, as well. AND I CAN’T FUCKING WALK! I know I will completely pull it off but right now I am in a full panic. > > \*The scare quotes here are a very long story. You can prop yourself up to work standing at a kitchen counter in one of 2 ways, axillary crutches if you have good balance, or propping your knee on a kitchen stool if not. Conscript the hubby to decorate, not sure how old your son is, but if they want stuff done, they can damned well do some of the work. And if you tell us what you want in the way of a turkey dinner, and what type of kitchen appliances you have to work with, I am sure we can come up with the grocery list, and a list of recipes, and a schedule of when to make whatever. The dope is a large dysfunctional family, we do care [we put the fun in dysfunctional…] ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/69 "2011-12-03T03:52:33Z")
Sometimes I hate being an introvert. There are two parties I’d like to go to tomorrow. Time-wise I could both of them. But the last time I did two events one day, the next day I basically spent in bed. And I need to actually do shit this weekend after putting everything off to write for a month. And Sunday is going to be stressful anyway, because Dad is doing Thanksgiving which means no going anywhere near the kitchen the whole day. And I love the man, but he radiates stress over the tiniest things. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/70 "2011-12-03T05:23:08Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > I dunno. I am putting this one at my sil’s door. My ‘bil’ had the option of breaking up with his longtime partner (10 years) or having a ‘wedding’ as a compromise. Are they also in Ontario? If so, [they’ve already been married at common law for seven years.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common-law_marriage#Ontario) Albeit with fewer of the benefits, property rights-wise. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/71 "2011-12-03T05:26:06Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > I know. And I truly don’t mind if it’s once a week, let’s go get groceries, pay some bills, and run to the pharmacy. Or give me a list and I’ll grab your groceries while I’m out. But I don’t have an extra 10 hours a week to play chauffeur! Nor do I want the poor little widow down the street to be without food or her home aide or such… I really need to find that daughter’s phone number. Definitely make contact with the daughter. Find out how the old lady managed her life before you moved in. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/72 "2011-12-03T05:28:58Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > Sometimes I hate being an introvert. There are two parties I’d like to go to tomorrow. Time-wise I could both of them. But the last time I did two events one day, the next day I basically spent in bed. And I need to actually do shit this weekend after putting everything off to write for a month. > > And Sunday is going to be stressful anyway, because Dad is doing Thanksgiving which means no going anywhere near the kitchen the whole day. And I love the man, but he radiates stress over the tiniest things. 😕 Where are you that you celebrate Thanksgiving in December? ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/73 "2011-12-03T05:46:06Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > Two weeks ago I returned to Edinburgh for a meeting with work and to visit my girlfriend. I had a single, carry-on suitcase with me. To get from the airport to the city centre, I took the airport bus. As the bus was packed, I left my suitcase on the luggage rack downstairs, covered by CCTV cameras, with dozens of other suitcases, and then went upstairs to find a seat. > > When I finally got downstairs to get off the bus in the city centre, at the last stop, there weren’t any suitcases left on the rack. Convinced somebody had stolen my case, I got the driver and a supervisor to help me search the bus. Nothing to be found. I ride the airport bus at least twice a month visiting the city and have never heard of a theft on the bus. Further, when reporting it to the bus company, they’d never heard of a theft on the airport bus neither, as it tends to be only people who have just arrived in the country who use it, or who are flying back out. All of my clothes for the week were in the bag, along with a Kindle and a brand new, unworn pair of shoes. After estimating the cost for the police report, it was \> £400 worth of stuff. > > Fast forward two weeks. I’ve had to go out and buy a whole new set of clothes to last me through the week (thankfully it was my birthday the day after the bus ride, so I received some clothes as a gift). I’m now back in Italy. Some guy e-mails me two days ago saying a back had been left at the reception of the French Institute in Edinburgh. I’ve never heard of the French Institute in all my life, so I’m a bit puzzled how it got there. The only thing I can surmise is that somebody mistakenly removed my bag from the bus, worked out it wasn’t theirs, and then instead of reporting it straight away to the bus company or police, decided to keep it for two weeks before dumping it back at the reception of the place they’ve been visiting whilst flying back out. > > Whoever did this is a fucking cunt. For a start, who the fuck removes a bag from a bus that they didn’t get on with? It’s not as if they could have mistaken my bag for their own as they didn’t leave another bag in its place. Further, who the fuck, in the unlikely event they take somebody else’s bag, sits on the damned thing for two weeks, instead of handing it in to a police station or to the bus company straight away? Especially so when the bag’s filled with clothes? Did this fuckup not think a bag full of clothes is a pretty important item for somebody visiting a city? Prick. > > (Nothing was stolen in the bag, despite there being a Kindle in the front pocket, so it’s unlikely it’s an aborted theft. My girlfriend, who lives in Edinburgh, managed to pick it up yesterday.) Isn’t it obvious? Your bag was used by a spy who was trying to shake a tail. He got on the bus at the airport and took your bag because whoever was tailing him called ahead to watch the stops. It was less suspicious than leaving the bus empty handed, and someone else probably lost stuff to so he could disguise his looks. He then dropped the bag off at the French Institute and continued on his merry way. Likely in a spot where your bag was overlooked until just before you got the call, probably discarded in favour of another disguise. Edited to fix typo. Favour, not flavour.. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/74 "2011-12-03T06:11:32Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > 😕 > > Where are you that you celebrate Thanksgiving in December? California and it’s only _barely_ December… We went up to my grandparents for the holiday, where the stuffing was inedible (I don’t like Grandma’s anyway, and she said it was bad :rolleyes: ). My dad has done most of the cooking up there before, but not this year, because apparently my aunt said something that hurt Grandma’s feelings. So now Dad is making a turkey and we probably won’t run out of leftovers until Christmas when it starts all over again. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/75 "2011-12-03T06:25:49Z")
**Lacunae Matata** you have my sympathy. How does one tell an elderly person to go away? I think that’s why SG has hung on so long, everyone feels sorry for him. You will feel like the bad guy if your neighbor falls and breaks a hip while waiting for a taxi, but you really don’t have the time or energy for this. It won’t get better. I agree with the others that you need to contact the daughter. Its very possible that the daughter will be upset that her Mom is asking strangers for help instead of calling her. Its also possible that the daughter has tried very hard to help her mother who keeps slamming the door in her face. Best of luck with this one. My rants, yes I have 2 of them today. Bill wanted to take me shopping so we went to the mall. It wasn’t bad, not terribly crowded or anything. I am so disgusted with my body right now. I feel betrayed. I’ve only been sitting on my butt for a month, I shouldn’t have turned into a weenie that soon. It was all “hobble into a store, turn the fucking singing cows off (and turn the batteries around), hobble around the store and then hobble out to sit on a bench and rest”. (I’m actually doing much better, the pain is gone but my big toe is numb and my balance is off) After my exhasting hour at the mall, we went home and I took a nap. Then I fired up Hellgate. This is mindless monster bashing, demons invaded the world and the survivers all live in underground shelters game. What do I find in the shelters now? CHRISTMAS TREES AND SNOWMEN AND PRESENTS ALL OVER THE FLIPPING PLACE!!! Its the end of the world as we know it and the game people had to put Christmas decorations up!!! Screams in outrage, this is so wrong!!! pant, gasps, checks blood pressure. Oh, there is a third rant. The parents of the teenagers who ran into my fence called and asked if they could pay to have it fixed instead of putting it on the kid’s insurance. I said yes. I don’t really care who pays for it, as long as it gets fixed. The fence guy called me and said that he couldn’t do a proper fix until the ground dried up from the snow. I get that, and I’m OK with it. From the pictures I’ve seen, the fence is propped up enough to keep the range cows out. I spent almost half an hour telling Tony that he shouldn’t worry about the damage, it wasn’t his fault, don’t worry, the feral cats don’t hang out in that part of the yard and the rest of the fences were good, so they could always get to a safe place. It won’t surprise me one bit to come home and find an improvised tent made out of tarps in the south 40 so that Tony could stay semi dry while defending my roses from hordes of invading range cattle, javalina and the occassional zombie. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2011, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/76 "2011-12-03T07:40:05Z")
Fuck your 20s. I know ATMs only ever disperse 20s. Still, fuck your 20s. And your fifties, fuck those too. And especially fuck you to the dweeb who wanted to pay for a 2 dollar coffee with a hundred. You’re quite baller, now fuck off. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/77 "2011-12-03T17:02:41Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Fuck your 20s. I know ATMs only ever disperse 20s. Still, fuck your 20s. And your fifties, fuck those too. And especially fuck you to the dweeb who wanted to pay for a 2 dollar coffee with a hundred. You’re quite baller, now fuck off. This reminded me of the guy who came into the drug store I used to work at years ago and wanted to pay for a 50 cent newspaper with a $100 bill first thing on a Saturday morning. I told him I had just opened the drawer and only had $50 in change in the drawer including all the loose coin and he flipped out. He managed to find a $5 though… My multi-part rant for the day: I have a Christmas party to go to this afternoon, and I was drafted to make a cake. So I used one of my easy feeds a crowd sheet cake recipes. Damn thing collapsed in the middle as it was cooling. I don’t have the time or energy to run to the store to get stuff to make another, so I filled up some of the crater with extra frosting and I’ll hide the rest with whipped cream. After the cake issues last night, I woke up this morning to a big wet spot on my dining room ceiling. I called maintenance, and to their credit, a guy showed up within 10 minutes. Guy comes in, looks at spot, says “hmmm, that’s coming from upstairs.” Really? You think? So he treks upstairs, hammers on idiot upstairs neighbor’s door. I hear them tramping around upstairs for a few minutes, then maintenance guy comes back to my place. Turns out idiot upstairs had blown out the sealing gasket in his garbage disposal with potato peels and grease. _Again_. After the wet spot dries out maintenance will be back to fix the spot. This is one of the times I’m glad I rent. And finally, my hip hurts! I messed it up when I was about 15 (bizarre gym class volleyball net incident) and 20+ years later it still bothers me when it’s cold and damp out. Sigh. I wanna go back to bed… ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/78 "2011-12-03T17:31:37Z")
> [@Dr.Girlfriend](#): > > And finally, my hip hurts! I messed it up when I was about 15 (bizarre gym class volleyball net incident) and 20+ years later it still bothers me when it’s cold and damp out. Sigh. I wanna go back to bed… Y’know, jumping over the net to congratulate your defeated opponent for a well-played game is a _tennis_ cliche, not volleyball. Actually, by now you probably _do_ know that… ---
**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:** [December 3, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/79 "2011-12-03T17:49:14Z")
> [@Dr.Girlfriend](#): > > \ After the wet spot dries out maintenance will be back to fix the spot. This is one of the times I’m glad I rent. On the other hand, if you owned your own place, you might not have anyone living above you, and you’d be able to not do stupid things to your own house. 🙂 > [@](#): > > And finally, my hip hurts! I messed it up when I was about 15 (bizarre gym class volleyball net incident) and 20+ years later it still bothers me when it’s cold and damp out. Sigh. I wanna go back to bed… My sympathies on the hip pain - I have calcified tendonitis in both hips, and my many hours a week walking habit doesn’t seem to be making it better at all. On the other hand, it would probably be much worse if I didn’t use it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693/80 "2011-12-03T18:34:50Z")
I have often said I wouldn’t _have_ the job of a hockey referee. However, if you are going to take the job you need to remember that it is NOT your job to change the outcome of the game. If you happen to notice you are calling penalties on one team and not the other, you might want to consider that you are missing something. Yes, I understand you ejected our coach for telling you you’re a bloomin’ idiot. But spending 15 minutes trying to decide on penalties when there’s only 15 seconds left on the clock makes you look even more like a wanker. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-heres-your-dec-rants-thread-merry-christbitchmas/604693.md?page=5)