# August August minirants! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 1, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068 "2012-08-01T16:21:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/181 "2012-08-09T03:07:55Z")
It’s 66 degrees out, expected low around 58-60, and my idiot neighbors have their AC running full blast. They’re from India. I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/182 "2012-08-09T04:17:05Z")
((( **digs** ))) Many thoughts going your way. I’m in total agree with you and hope that things work well. > [@Morgyn](#): > > 😕 > > \ > > OUCH! > > I seem pretty RL to me. > Of course, I can be loads meaner in RL, too, so maybe this isn’t RL. It’s confusing. > > No, really, we just don’t want to leave out in public the really mean stuff because then we might get arrested as accessories before the fact if something goes wrong with your educational efforts. I am so sorry for implying that the smartest people in the world aren’t real because they are so smart. But…your spoiler also said that you are even smarter than the people I see face to face. > [@anya\_marie](#): > > I have no bags anywhere. I’ve also managed to lose a DVD and my copy of One Nil. I have no fucking idea where stuff vanishes to in this crazy shitty house. It goes into a black hole and your bags end up in my house. I use resuable bags, I hates those grocery store bags with a passion, I never bring them home. I find them in the kitchen all the time. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’m going in for a PITA stress test next week because my doctor saw something odd on my EKG. The cardiologist did another one and said, “Oh, I see what they mean, but that’s nothing to worry about,” but we’re still doing the stress test. Your post is making me less irritated about doing what seems to be a pointless test. ☹ I"m so happy that you are taking care of this. I would miss your posts and wonder about you if you suddenly stopped posting. My rant: I think I’ve lost a stray. Fixed male who was always here when I got home from work, wanting scratches and cuddles, and gooshy food. I haven’t seen him since last night. I’ve been trying to get him to adoptions, but he was a black, adult male. I hope he comes back, but I don’t have a lot of hope. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/183 "2012-08-09T04:28:53Z")
That’s a long damn way for bags to go, considering tht you’re in the desert, **flatlined** and i am in Indiana. My latest complaint: Please take your yappy, stupid little fucking hairball inside and quit leaving it outside all fucking night to bark its stupid little head off. I hope that a coyote eats it for dinner, so i don’t have to listen to your asshole dog. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/184 "2012-08-09T04:29:29Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Hand it to a waiter, he takes it to the register. Is this not how it’s done in your world? Not in mine: they have to bring the machine to the table (or, if you prefer, you can go to the tiller and pay there). It used to be done the other way, but not any more. **Chimera** , one of my Miami roomies was from India. She kept the A/C running full blast all the time, often with a window cracked open. She’d leave the house on a Friday morning, knowing she wasn’t coming back until Monday night, and leave it full blast. Her usual power bill had been upwards of $300; on my first month there it went down to a bit over $30. Then again, it’s the same lass who spent any check as soon as she got it; the same one who, upon seeing the rug from the bathroom after I’d been in the house for half a day, exclaimed “oh, is that new?” “nope, washed it”, and whose reason to dump her American boyfriend for a Norwegian one was “with me so dark (giggle giggle, my mother would kill me, giggle giggle) and him so light, we just look SO cute together!” Life isn’t a benetton ad, dear… ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/185 "2012-08-09T05:56:40Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’m going in for a PITA stress test next week because my doctor saw something odd on my EKG. The cardiologist did another one and said, “Oh, I see what they mean, but that’s nothing to worry about,” but we’re still doing the stress test. Your post is making me less irritated about doing what seems to be a pointless test. ☹ If it’s good enough for Neil Armstrong… but then, he flunked his. Bet you’ll ace it. Thanks to everyone for your good thoughts for Steve. They discovered a weak blood vessel next to his heart, and put in a stent while he was in a coma. He kept getting worse, and they’d moved him to Hospice… But we just got word that they took him back to the hospital! And that his two little boys got to ride in the ambulance with him. A number of medical friends think that might mean he woke up… which’d be a minor miracle. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2012, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/186 "2012-08-09T06:09:34Z")
That’s really good to hear, **digs** ; thank you for taking the time to share it with us. Positive energy beams still being transmitted. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/187 "2012-08-09T06:26:57Z")
Thanks… I appreciate the good vibes. But it seems so unnatural to not be snarky and “clever” in the Pit. I might need someone to slash me with their rapier wit, or tell me a joke where a rabbi, a priest and a guy in a coma walk into a bar … ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/188 "2012-08-09T10:38:02Z")
Hey, local library: if it’s widely considered to be one of the greatest novels ever written, and there’s about a dozen different English translations out there, maybe we could get crazy and, I don’t know, _buy more than one translation_. I know this is not a hugely popular library, and I know you’ve got budgetary limits, but I’m not looking for some sort of crazy obscure text. We’re talking about fucking _Tolstoy_. You have _one_ translation of “Anna Karenina.” This is wholly unacceptable. Worthless fucking morons. (Yes, I know about ILL, but I don’t want to wait two goddamn months.) ---
**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:** [August 9, 2012, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/189 "2012-08-09T12:10:08Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > It’s 66 degrees out, expected low around 58-60, and my idiot neighbors have their AC running full blast. > > They’re from India. > > I don’t get it. Ours runs all the warm time too, because of the geography, our condo unit only gets a breeze in the wind is blowing _just_ the right way, and it is a thermos other times. (we are on the water in New England, gas bill to heat last year was $360) The other problem is the colony of pissed off skunks behind the house… ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/190 "2012-08-09T13:54:28Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Thanks… I appreciate the good vibes. But it seems so unnatural to not be snarky and “clever” in the Pit. > I might need someone to slash me with their rapier wit, or tell me a joke where a rabbi, a priest and a guy in a coma walk into a bar … Wouldn’t the guy be in a coma _after_ walking into the bar? ---
**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:** [August 9, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/191 "2012-08-09T14:24:06Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > Attention loser in the Student Driver car: if you can’t make it above 35 in a 55 zone, you should be driving a moped, not a Chevy HHR. Cut the new driver some slack - I didn’t learn until I was 36 and anything over 40 km/h was terrifying at first. If it WASN’T a “Student Driver” car then you can rant. PS: I drive a Jeep now and my default speed seems to be 55-60 km/h around town, which is 50 km/h everywhere. It takes a while to build up confidence. IMHO, anybody who bitches about learning drivers needs to chillax and remember when THEY were first learning. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/192 "2012-08-09T14:33:27Z")
> [@anya\_marie](#): > > … My latest complaint: Please take your yappy, stupid little fucking hairball inside and quit leaving it outside all fucking night to bark its stupid little head off. I hope that a coyote eats it for dinner, so i don’t have to listen to your asshole dog. I had a neighbor who did that when she first brought home a fluffy poodle puppy - left the poor thing outside day and night to bark its bored, lonely head off. Some relief did occur when I pointed out that FluffyMcBarky _ **would** _ end up as a coyote dinner if she kept leaving the damn thing outside at night. It was no lie - I told her coyotes had been spotted a few blocks away by my father-in-law (although, well … I may have fudged on how _recently_ said coyote had been seen :o ). Anyway, she got a :eek: on her face, and afterwards, at least brought the thing inside at night. I highly recommend pointing this out to your neighbor as well … (Hell, if the dog’s small enough, telling the owner that the local raccoons or possums might hurt or kill it, too, might be enough!) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/193 "2012-08-09T14:35:20Z")
I won’t cut them any slack. Driving 20 mph under the speed limit is dangerous and increases the likelyhood of an accident. You either drive closer to the fucking speed limit, or you drive on roads with lower speed limits. Hell, most places you can get a ticket for driving that far under the speed limit. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/194 "2012-08-09T14:43:13Z")
> [@Glory](#): > > My fingers are crossed for the best possible outcome. Can you get a couple of blood tests at the hospital? If the numbers are going up (especially if they are doubling every 2 days), it’s a good sign the pregnancy is continuing. If the numbers are going down, or going up very slowly, there is a good chance the pregnancy will end. Ah crap. You were right - the hospital took bloods on Monday, as well as doing the scan (and telling me they saw nothing/no one in there). They called me back in yesterday, took more bloods, and yes, the numbers had doubled in two days :eek: I now have \*\*no \*\*idea what’s going on. I’m getting another scan tomorrow to see if anyone’s big enough to be seen now, or to start looking suspiciously in my fallopian tubes ☹ ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/195 "2012-08-09T15:40:34Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > Ah crap. You were right - the hospital took bloods on Monday, as well as doing the scan (and telling me they saw nothing/no one in there). > > They called me back in yesterday, took more bloods, and yes, the numbers had doubled in two days :eek: > > I now have \*\*no \*\*idea what’s going on. I’m getting another scan tomorrow to see if anyone’s big enough to be seen now, or to start looking suspiciously in my fallopian tubes ☹ I feel for you. There is nothing worse than not knowing if a major life change is happening. Or not. Be kind to yourself. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/196 "2012-08-09T16:28:36Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > I now have \*\*no \*\*idea what’s going on. I’m getting another scan tomorrow to see if anyone’s big enough to be seen now, or to start looking suspiciously in my fallopian tubes ☹ Look at it this way, before accurate blood tests and ultrasounds, ectopic pregnancies tended to be found _after_ the tube got blown out by the fetus growing ☹ You will have a much better chance of not dying of peritonitis. That being said, I hope it is just the kidlet being hidden in a deep fold somewhere safe. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/197 "2012-08-09T16:33:30Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > PS: I drive a Jeep now and my default speed seems to be 55-60 km/h around town, which is 50 km/h everywhere. It takes a while to build up confidence. IMHO, anybody who bitches about learning drivers needs to chillax and remember when THEY were first learning. > [@Chimera](#): > > I won’t cut them any slack. Driving 20 mph under the speed limit is dangerous and increases the likelyhood of an accident. You either drive closer to the fucking speed limit, or you drive on roads with lower speed limits. When I was learning to drive, my first lessons were not on a busy highway. I don’t know how long this car had been out before I got behind it, but there are stretches of that road that are flat-out dangerous for a first-time driver. Actually, the instructor should probably take most off the blame for this incident…there are plenty of roads in the area that are much more suitable for lessons. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/198 "2012-08-09T16:36:03Z")
When I learned, we drove twice around the school parking lot, then straight out onto the road, which was a county road with a 50mph speed limit, then straight onto I-35 and into Minneapolis. He required us to drive the speed limit and stay in the right lane so that we could get used to cars merging around us from on-ramps. Then we went to some inner city streets to deal with stop signs, lights, one ways and pedestrians. Kinda throwing us straight to the wolves, but it was effective. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/199 "2012-08-09T18:49:52Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > I feel for you. There is nothing worse than not knowing if a major life change is happening. Or not. > > Be kind to yourself. Thank you - yes, it’s the not knowing (again) that’s really messing my head up. I thought I’d had the answer on Monday, I’d accepted it, I thought the blood tests were just aftercare, I didn’t realise this was still a possibility! > [@aruvqan](#): > > Look at it this way, before accurate blood tests and ultrasounds, ectopic pregnancies tended to be found _after_ the tube got blown out by the fetus growing ☹ > > You will have a much better chance of not dying of peritonitis. > > That being said, I hope it is just the kidlet being hidden in a deep fold somewhere safe. True, not dying in agony is always a plus 😛 Ah, I’m very confused by the possibility that there is still a kidlet - like I say, I thought I’d had the final news on this one back on Monday, and had accepted it. I’m not so prepared now to entertain the real-life possibility of a kidlet that I’d already mentally filed under “lost”. Which sounds heartless, I know. Gah. Just… gaaaah. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068/200 "2012-08-09T19:17:47Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > Thank you - yes, it’s the not knowing (again) that’s really messing my head up. > I thought I’d had the answer on Monday, I’d accepted it, I thought the blood tests were just aftercare, I didn’t realise this was still a possibility! > > True, not dying in agony is always a plus 😛 > > Ah, I’m very confused by the possibility that there is still a kidlet - like I say, I thought I’d had the final news on this one back on Monday, and had accepted it. I’m not so prepared now to entertain the real-life possibility of a kidlet that I’d already mentally filed under “lost”. Which sounds heartless, I know. > > Gah. Just… gaaaah. Good luck! I’ve had multiple losses, including an ectopic (that ruptured just before I got in to the ER) and beta hell is…hell. Are your beta numbers within range for how far along you are? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-august-minirants/630068.md?page=11)