# Auld Lang Sighin' (January mini-rants) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 1, 2025, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421 "2025-01-01T05:10:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/161 "2025-01-13T21:39:28Z")
What fucking irritates me is that it was a good marriage, for the first 8 years. And 4 years dating before that, so a decent time together. Then somehow we both fucked it up. I seem more able to admit fault, but at the same time less able to move on. She admits no fault and has moved on, has a new guy in her life. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2025, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/162 "2025-01-14T02:03:29Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > @wolfpup it’s a laptop; does your library have wireless you can easily plug into w/o changing your configuration? No, but I can visit the aforementioned friend who I recently helped set up their new Dell laptop, and temporarily connect to their wireless. It would probably be easiest to just temporarily open up my own wireless to be open and unsecured, though I fear it may forget its original security settings. Among other things, I have a shit-ton of MAC address filters. It would be a pain to re-enter them all, but at least I have a record of them. > [@Spiderman](#): > > Got my car registration renewal, like always it came almost 3 months in advance of when the current one expires. There is a one year option & a two year option for exactly double the cost of a one year option. Why anyone would take the two year option is beyond me. I’m grateful to my province for doing away with plate renewals altogether, but back when they had them, the advantage of a two-year renewal was just postponing the renewal hassle, whether or not you had to actually visit a DMV office. You’d get a sticker that was good for two years instead of one. If you sold the car or anything happened to it, you could transfer the same plates to a new car, or else get a credit or refund for the remaining time. > [@scudsucker](#): > > What fucking irritates me is that it was a good marriage, for the first 8 years. And 4 years dating before that, so a decent time together. > > Then somehow we both fucked it up. > > I seem more able to admit fault, but at the same time less able to move on. > > She admits no fault and has moved on, has a new guy in her life. I obviously don’t know the specifics of the situation, but in general time is a great healer. Right now she may be inclined to think of the new guy as Mr. Perfect and you as Dr. Evil, but what will she be thinking a few years down the road? Your rant is understandable, but like a good wine, things often mellow with time. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2025, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/163 "2025-01-14T03:04:44Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > You’d get a sticker that was good for two years instead of one. If you sold the car or anything happened to it, you could transfer the same plates to a new car, or else get a credit or refund for the remaining time. We don’t even get a sticker, or a registration card any more. If you do it online you’re supposed to print it yoself. It’s nothing but a tax for owning a vehicle ---
**Author:** ![InsomniaMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@InsomniaMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InsomniaMama)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2025, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/164 "2025-01-14T13:03:49Z")
Fairy Chat Mom, offer the plant up in a Buy Nothing group. You don’t have to keep it. I have a peace lily from my MIL’s funeral. It’s massive, and I smile when I water it. My MIL was a hateful bitch. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2025, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/165 "2025-01-14T13:09:50Z")
> [@InsomniaMama](#): > > Fairy Chat Mom, offer the plant up in a Buy Nothing group. You don’t have to keep it. I do - my husband loves it. Dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2025, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/166 "2025-01-14T13:11:32Z")
Make _him_ take care of the stupid high-maintenance plant, making sure he’s aware it should be kept well away from kitty attention (IIRC, lilies are toxic to cats). ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/167 "2025-01-14T13:15:32Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Make _him_ take care of the stupid high-maintenance plant, You made a funny joke! He’s as adept with plants as he is at cooking. No matter. I just ordered a large planter and he’ll help me transplant it. With luck, having a bigger pot will allow for sufficient water that it’ll be on the same watering schedule as the rest of my greenery. And no problem with the cat - she spends most of her life under the bed or on the cushion next to my nightstand. Our last cat was a leaf-eater, but this one just wants her kibbles and treats. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/168 "2025-01-16T05:06:23Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I found that you can protect yourself against winter storms by sending money to my Snowplow Guy. His “snowplowing contract” isn’t really for snowplowing. Once it’s paid, he utters some kind of mystical incantation that prevents it from snowing all winter. Of course, if I ever refuse him, I’m sure he has other mystical incantations that will bring on the Storm of the Century. Posting a followup to this, because there recently were headlines about a snowmaggedon that was due earlier this week, around Tuesday and Wednesday, that was supposed to dump as much as 40 cm (16 inches) of snow both north and south of me. I don’t know how much of this actually happened, but Snowplow Guy’s incantations are powerful. There was virtually no snow here at all this week, just like any other week. I occasionally wonder why I keep paying the guy, year after year, but then I realize the truth: I don’t pay Snowplow Guy to plow snow, I pay him to **prevent** snow. On a different topic, I pit the Ontario government for opening up wine, beer, and mixed-drink sales in supermarkets. There’s no real advantage to it for those of us who visit liquor stores anyway both for better quality wines and for hard liquor, but there’s an unintended and probably unanticipated side effect. These products are **profitable** , so it’s no wonder that stores have gone into this business in a big way. Did no one stop to think that this takes up lots of space? And the space it occupies means space unavailable for other things, like groceries! Case in point is the supermarket where I buy my coffee. They had a whole big section of wall with a wide variety of different coffees, all freshly roasted in-store, in a long row of bean dispensers, with two coffee grinders, one at each end, for those who pre-grind their coffee. Now, that whole section is occupied by shelves of wine. Coffee is now relegated to a tiny little nook with only 4 or 5 different kinds, and a single grinder off to the side, looking sad and lonely. And my standard go-to Guatemalan coffee that I’ve been buying for years is no longer there. Pisses me off. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/169 "2025-01-16T05:08:02Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I don’t pay Snowplow Guy to plow snow, I pay him to prevent snow. The man has created a new industry… Pre-plowing. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/170 "2025-01-16T07:28:40Z")
No kidding! This is what winters used to be like, before Snowplow Guy. There’s more snow there than the grand total we’ve gotten in the last five years! [![](https://i.imgur.com/jRTsfNA.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/jRTsfNA.jpeg) ---
**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:** [January 16, 2025, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/171 "2025-01-16T07:54:05Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > > [@InsomniaMama](#): > > > > Fairy Chat Mom, offer the plant up in a Buy Nothing group. You don’t have to keep it. > > I do - my husband loves it. Dammit. I don’t want to come off as insensitive, but since he’s the one who loves it, is he maybe qualified to be the one who cares for it? Okay, never mind. I got ninja’d on that pretty severely. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/172 "2025-01-16T07:56:40Z")
I remember southern Ontario winters. They could be brutal, back in the day. Of course, nobody ever heard about them, because Buffalo’s winters got all the publicity. But ours were just as bad. Aside: That’s a great photo! Your dog? Anyway, it would be a good candidate for the “Caption Contest” thread in Thread Games. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2025, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/173 "2025-01-16T08:00:17Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Aside: That’s a great photo! Your dog? Anyway, it would be a good candidate for the “Caption Contest” thread in Thread Games. _Whose woods these are I think I know, His house is in the village, though…_ ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/174 "2025-01-16T08:06:07Z")
_… He will not see me standing here_ _To watch his grill get covered in snow._ ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/175 "2025-01-16T08:09:03Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Your dog? Former dog. He has since passed over the Rainbow Bridge and is dearly missed. As a Bernese Mountain Dog, I imagine in that photo he’s enjoying ancestral memories of the Swiss Alps! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/176 "2025-01-16T08:14:48Z")
Sad to hear that. He was a great looking dog! ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/177 "2025-01-16T08:17:49Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > He was a great looking dog As is the avatar…. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/178 "2025-01-16T08:23:26Z")
Looks like a big huggable cuddly ball of floof. Must have been a great dog. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/179 "2025-01-16T10:26:35Z")
Thanks for the kind words. The best picture I have of him is one of the last, just a snapshot taken by my son while trying out a new lens, but captures his look perfectly. **[I used it to create a tribute to him](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-pictures/920105/20)**. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421/180 "2025-01-16T14:46:20Z")
Time for another account about the course of life at _chez Wolfpup_, in the form of a helpful Q & A: Q: What time is garbage and recycling picked up at this august doghouse? A: It depends. Q: On what? A: On whether **Wolfpup** wishes to go somewhere, or is just planning to languish in his bathrobe all day. Q: How does that affect the pickup schedule? A: The official instructions say to put the bins at the curb by 7:00 AM on collection day. If the pup wishes to go somewhere that day, and the bins are blocking the driveway, they won’t be picked up until around 4:00 PM. If the pup couldn’t care less, they might be picked up at any time, except in the special case where the pup forgets to put out the bins the night before, happens to be up early, and rushes the bins to the curb at 7:15 AM. In that case, the pickup will have occurred at 7:01 AM. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auld-lang-sighin-january-mini-rants/1012421.md?page=10)