# April showers may bring glowers (Mini rants) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 1, 2016, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817 "2016-04-01T08:42:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817/201 "2016-04-29T19:30:57Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > My mother just defriended my husband on Facebook. This is going to be interesting. 😃 I’m not normally one for drama, but . . . ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817/202 "2016-04-29T23:11:59Z")
And the AC just took a fucking dump. Great. High today was 85 (feels like 88+) and our house faces west. Buddy who’s an AC guy says it’s a Freon leak and my unit is notorious for those after a few years. He’s gonna be here in the morning and try a leak stop thing and recharge the unit. Then we get to wait and see if the coils need replacing. Look, I know that people lived in Florida for a long time without AC, but I ain’t used to it and don’t care for it for one fucking bit. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817/203 "2016-04-29T23:35:27Z")
From very recent experience, a couple of 5000 BTU window units ($112 plus tax at Walmart) can save your sanity. (Says the south Georgia native who grew up without a/c, mostly. I don’t care whether people used to live just fine without air conditioning. Enough folks also lived without antibiotics and automobiles and indoor plumbing. This doesn’t mean that I have to.) Also - and I will freely grant that I’m complaining about a problem that I have helped create - I just got summoned by my husband to answer for the sin of using bok choy in the main course. And my internal voice was all “Listen here, asshole: when I ask what you want, the answer is always “whatever you cook is fine.” If it’s not fine, tell me what you want. I have waited on you hand and foot for 3.5 years. I am PMSing like hell, and dealing with hot flashes, and children, and bronchitis and I have a goddamned beard hair growing from my chin. Do you want to eat that bok choy, or shall I shove it up your over nourished ass?” Instead, I just asked whether he wanted a sandwich, because I truly try to act like a grown-up. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817/204 "2016-04-29T23:38:37Z")
I just came back from my local doc-in-a-box. Both my ears, my sinuses, and salivary glands are infected. Cool, prescribe me a Z-Pac, and I’ll be on my way. Nope. Due to kidney failure, they will not prescribe me anything. Choice is either go to the ER ($125 and god knows how long of a wait on a Friday night) or hope my nephrologist will prescribe me something with just a phone consult. To say I hate kidney disease is a fucking understatement. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817/205 "2016-04-29T23:54:16Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > Littlest Miss got a little radio thing, which plays an extremely tinny version of Tomorrow. It remains the very favorite toy in the history of all toys. And the stupid batteries will. Not. Die. Aaargh! Big button battery + tiny modern electronic components = MWA HA HA Seriously, I have the noise maker and actuator from a birthday card my mom got last year…even with the extra parts, it won’t stop. And whenever it does, the battery is replaceable. Now to find a use for this lovely device… 😃 And you can send the bok choy this way. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817/206 "2016-04-30T01:26:29Z")
I would think that all those little toys with tinny speakers and long-lived batteries might fall on the floor and get stepped on “accidentally”. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817/207 "2016-04-30T01:41:09Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > I would think that all those little toys with tinny speakers and long-lived batteries might fall on the floor and get stepped on “accidentally”. Just sayin’. Speaking as the voice of experience, that’s a WHOLE lot less effective than you would think. They’re tough little bastards. ---
**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:** [April 30, 2016, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817/208 "2016-04-30T01:57:28Z")
Trust me, I have the twisted ankle to prove it. Annoying toys are indestructible, and little children can smell a discarded toy if you try to hide it in the trash. But if I ever need a pacemaker, I want a battery sourced from a manufacturer of annoying toys. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817/209 "2016-04-30T02:22:35Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > Trust me, I have the twisted ankle to prove it. Annoying toys are indestructible, and little children can smell a discarded toy if you try to hide it in the trash. > > But if I ever need a pacemaker, I want a battery sourced from a manufacturer of annoying toys. You probably need a tri-bladed screwdriver, but I’m sure some late night elective surgery might silence the evil noisemaker. Bonus points for applying a coat of clear nail polish on the contacts… ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817/210 "2016-04-30T04:55:37Z")
I’d recommend my brother’s solution to the annoying “make sounds” toys I used to (evilly) give my nephews: he’d “accidentally” leave them at grandma’s house. So the kids would get to play with them there, and then “whups” they’d be forgotten again. And then I’d have to nod in sage sympathy as my parents complained on and on about how _terrible_ the toys nowadays are. Everyone wins! ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817/211 "2016-04-30T16:13:06Z")
> [@The\_Vorlon](#): > > You probably need a tri-bladed screwdriver, but I’m sure some late night elective surgery might silence the evil noisemaker. My husband and I like to joke about “midnight batterectomies” (now that our kids are mostly past that stage). ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817/212 "2016-04-30T16:37:42Z")
I used to be all smug and feeling lucky because Thing 1 absolutely HATES toys that sing at her, talk at her, generally make unwarranted noise. So the batterectomies got performed the second someone gave her a toy like that, and everyone was happy. And then along came Thing 2, who is all on for stuff that makes unwarranted noise. So now not only do we have the annoying toys, but we have the big dramatic fights between Thing 1 and Thing 2 about whether and when the horrible toys should be deployed. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817/213 "2016-05-02T00:27:15Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > However, apparently she and your teachers fell short in conveying correct rules of grammar. > > 😃 Grammar ain’t got shite to do with proper speech - however proper pronunciation, speaking at a suitable volume for the occasion and assorted other things are proper for a therapist. Grammar is a different discipline. [though I still get sloppy and slide into the Rochester broad ‘a’ if I am not paying attention. Worse how that I am temporarily back in Rochester until my Mother and Brother both pass on. Double funeral, yay me.:(] [URL=“[http://boards.straightdope.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://boards.straightdope.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817/214 "2016-05-02T01:26:44Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Grammar ain’t got shite to do with proper speech - however proper pronunciation, speaking at a suitable volume for the occasion and assorted other things are proper for a therapist. Grammar is a different discipline. [though I still get sloppy and slide into the Rochester broad ‘a’ if I am not paying attention. Worse how that I am temporarily back in Rochester until my Mother and Brother both pass on. Double funeral, yay me.:(] > [URL=“[http://boards.straightdope.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://boards.straightdope.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] Deepest sympathies; both for your brother and mother and for having to be back in Rochester. Mostly for the first two though. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817/215 "2016-05-02T13:11:51Z")
Got back from a wonderful vacation in Mexico… to 30 inches of snow. That puts us at 76 inches for April. My neighbor did plow for us, but we spent most of yesterday digging out, and today I’ll plow some more. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817/216 "2016-05-02T14:58:37Z")
April, she has ended. Once again, new month’s thread didn’t get linked. [May Glowers Bring (out) Grim Pills [May mini-rants thread] - The BBQ Pit - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=791819) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers-may-bring-glowers-mini-rants/750817.md?page=10)