# Aw, Dang! Syne: January Minirants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 1, 2013, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745 "2013-01-01T11:31:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/341 "2013-01-15T21:17:19Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > My rant: Isn’t Houston supposed to be warm? I thought that the Golf Coast would warm things up, but its flipping cold outside. Isn’t that supposed to be the ‘Gulf Coast’ as in the Gulf of Mexico? 🙂 > [@Chimera](#): > > Minnesota laughs at your idea of “cold”. 😛 So does South Dakota. It’s supposed to be in the upper 30’s/low 40’s tomorrow, I might have to switch to a lighter coat. I found it really funny on the Golden Globes the other night when everyone was bitching about the cold and they even had heat lamps all around. They were pretty stylish heat lamps, but still. ---
**Author:** ![FrancisCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b4bc9f/32.png) [@FrancisCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrancisCastle)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/342 "2013-01-15T21:23:08Z")
Two of my three kids also have the pukies. For the second time this season already! The last one was so disgusting, I couldn’t handle cleaning it up. I just put everything into a garbage bag and it went straight outside. Thankfully, I don’t have morning sickness. There’s no one to clean up my puke! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/343 "2013-01-15T21:27:10Z")
> [@Dr.Girlfriend](#): > > I don’t have anything to rant about (yet) today, I just wanted to say I really like this! 🙂 Thanks. I know this is for rants, but it can’t hurt to make some ranters feel a little bit better, too, eh? I freely admit that stopping the pay of the military is unlikely, but something will have to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/344 "2013-01-15T22:26:14Z")
Considering the voluntary membership-with-annual-dues policy here… Is anyone besides me mordantly amused by the irony that virtually all those who are preaching mandatory self-reliance and the evilness of taxing to help others, and claiming that voluntary charity will adequately provide for those who need help, are all Guests?" :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/345 "2013-01-15T22:32:50Z")
I hate it when I book a non-smoking room but when I arrive all they have left is smoking rooms. Now I can’t tell if I’m getting a cold or if I’m reacting to the smoky room. Grrrr. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/346 "2013-01-15T23:02:48Z")
I keep finding my friend’s party events on Facebook. I keep inviting myself to them because they, uh, keep forgetting to invite me. ☹ ---
**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:** [January 16, 2013, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/347 "2013-01-16T00:50:01Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Oh god, the image that creates… 😃 Wish I could take credit for it…the phrase popped up in a parody TLC promo on YouTube. 😃 > [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Now mentally cue up the 1812 Overture, which when properly done, calls for cannon accompaniment… 😃 I was thinking that it would involve a lot of fluttering skirts, sort of like that scene in the _Ace Ventura_ sequel. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/348 "2013-01-16T02:09:32Z")
> [@FrancisCastle](#): > > Two of my three kids also have the pukies. For the second time this season already! The last one was so disgusting, I couldn’t handle cleaning it up. I just put everything into a garbage bag and it went straight outside. Thankfully, I don’t have morning sickness. There’s no one to clean up my puke! ☹ Gak! I was surprisingly ok the first two rounds, the third I was getting a little urpy myself. I totally rule though, because while only 66% of your kids were barfing, I score a solid 100% 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/349 "2013-01-16T02:16:33Z")
I have a bad knee (left) and a bad hip (left). On the morning buses, there are handicapped/senior seats that face sideways and have plenty of leg room for me to stretch my leg. If I sit in the regular seats where I cannot straighten my leg, I’m usually in a bit of pain by the time I get to work. My late buses home, which I take in even months or when I work longer hours, have these too. As I get on at the very first stop, this is never an issue. However, my early bus home, which I take in odd months, doesn’t have these. There is one row (the 5th row) that has a bit of extra leg room on the left side seats, otherwise I’m screwed. There are only 3-5 of us that get on at this stop, but unless I’m the first or second person on, the first person tends to take the first seat, then the next person runs straight back to the extra leg room row. Not wishing to sit right next to them on an otherwise empty bus or make a fuss about it, If my leg is not doing well then I then sit in an aisle seat on the right side, where I can straighten my leg out into the aisle periodically. Most weeks I’m fine, this week has been bad. So yesterday, we get to the last stop, I’m getting evil looks by a few of the people who have walked past me (thinking I’m intentionally blocking the window seat but not asking to use it) until someone finally DOES ask, at which point I cheerfully got up and let her in that seat. Today we drive past all those just fine (except for the evil looks) and stop at a freeway stop where we pick someone up like once a month. This girl gets on and walks right past me. As we pull out and onto the freeway, I’ve got several women jabbing me forcefully in the back and demanding that I move over. So I stand up on the still accellerating bus and let her have the seat. As yesterday, I apologize and explain that I need the aisle seat because of my bad leg. She’s fine with it, but I hear the women behind me muttering and badmouthing me for half of the rest of the drive. Whatever happened to “May I sit there?” or “Excuse me, is that seat taken?” I have a legitimate physical issue that makes it painful for me to sit with no room to straighten my leg, and I happen to get on the bus at the first stop. I can’t help it that two other people keep racing me for the one row that can accomodate me in either of it’s two seats, and however I may come across on this board, I’m not the type of person to berate them for doing so when I can easily sit somewhere else. So seriously bitches, shut the fuck up with the behind my back sniping or put on your big girl panties and straight out ask me why I sit like that. I’ll be happy to tell you. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/350 "2013-01-16T02:33:15Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > You know, in the Paths of the Dead , they say our heart is weighed against a feather, and if the balance is true, we are vindicated, we have led a good life. But if your heart is just a little out of balance, things don’t go so well. Bast, the cat goddess also sits there, watching. And if you have been one of the humans that adopted one of Her children and gave him a good home, She will slip her paw onto the scale to balance it. I’m in full agreement with **Dr.G**. That is very nice 🙂 Now that I’m settled in, I’m looking for a rescue group to join. I haven’t found one that focuses on ferals yet, but Houston is a big place. I’m sure I’ll find one. > [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > There is snow on the ground here. SNOW. In TEXAS. We’re supposed to be hotter than hell here. Bill lied to me about the weather. He said it was temperate here. Its COLD! I have a list of things he’s lied to me about. I was able to get over him not being a real Texan. I forgave him for telling me that I didn’t need to sort his books because he could find anything he wanted. (don’t know that I mentioned this, but he can find the book he wants because he looks at the shelves and then goes online and orders a new copy), but this weather thing might be a deal breaker. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/351 "2013-01-16T02:54:15Z")
Two things: 1. At work: most of the stuff we do _is not optional_. Not as in, “Not doing it will get you fired” and more like, “Hey, not only could you get fired, you could also get your employer almost all of our clients in trouble.” Which is why I fail to understand why my counterpart did not let me know that she had an issue with a file that was crucial to her performing her job function. While what she did was a pretty serious offense, it is fixable and probably not something you’d get fired over. Ordinarily. Unless, of course, you don’t tell someone for more than 10 days after you first noticed the problem. And unless you haven’t done this with _every fucking project you’ve touched in the past six months_. 2. Would someone please take a damn minute to make some damn dinner when I’m walking my son through his homework beforehand? Or buy something to eat for damn dinner, dammit? We really need to do things in tandem instead of one of us laying on the couch reading (ahem, husband, dear) while the other one is watching two children, walking one kid through his homework and simultaneously making food for four. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/352 "2013-01-16T03:59:47Z")
Some days I think have more cat hair than keyboard. And more cat hair than human hair. ---
**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 16, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/353 "2013-01-16T04:08:54Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I always harken back to January 2002 when my then fiance and I went to Florida. Fine beautiful day at Downtown Disney. 65 degrees and sunny. Fiance and I are walking around in jeans and t-shirts thinking it was totally awesome weather. > > Shivering little woman in a windbreaker walks up to us, totally astonished that we aren’t wearing coats because it’s\* so cold\*. 😛 My sister and I had a similar experience in Los Angeles - walking around in t-shirts on a similar day, and everyone looking at us like we were aliens for not being bundled up and shivering! > [@curlcoat](#): > > I don’t know about the other places but here we don’t tend to have much in the way of insulation because, you know, it’s not supposed to get cold! And no scramble to replace leaking windows, etc. Because it’s not supposed to get cold! :D\ But…but…it’s only around 5ºC! That isn’t cold! Yeah, I get your point - it’s a lot easier to take cold temperatures when you have a nice, insulated house with a good furnace. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/354 "2013-01-16T05:09:32Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > My sister and I had a similar experience in Los Angeles - walking around in t-shirts on a similar day, and everyone looking at us like we were aliens for not being bundled up and shivering! > > But…but…it’s only around 5ºC! That isn’t cold! Hey, a couple of times it got all the way down to zero C! :eek: ---
**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 16, 2013, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/355 "2013-01-16T06:55:26Z")
There was a lot of tension on my dad’s side of the family between my dad and his siblings. My dad is the oldest of five-- a brother, two sisters, and another brother followed. When Grandpa died eight years ago, we all lost all touch with that side of the family, not that I been close with them all that much since I was a kid. I recently started working a new job with a guy who happened to grow up with some of my cousins. This inspired me to reach out to four of them via Facebook. No one else in my family followed suit. When I told my dad, he lamented that he didn’t even know if the older of his brothers --who wasn’t in the best of health at Grandpa’s funeral-- was alive or dead. It turns out my uncle was alive-- until he passed away today. One of his sons posted about it. As soon as I found out on FB, I told my family. It really sucked being the bearer of such bad news. I don’t know if I committed a faux pas or not, as I let my dad, my sister, and my brother know via text. Is that acceptable? My dad is away on a business trip and isn’t in the best of health himself these days to boot. We weren’t the close with that side anymore, but I’m strangely very saddened at the news. I feel especially bad for my dad. I think he wants a reconciliation, but doesn’t know how to get it. Another cousin, one my aunt’s sons, informed me after I already found out. He urged me to tell my dad, although he understood if my dad didn’t care. Ouch. I think there is a lot of misunderstanding going on. The split is especially bad between my dad and this cousin’s mom. I hope my dad wants to and gets to go to his brother’s funeral. Maybe they can start healing over their grief. ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/356 "2013-01-16T14:15:53Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > Bill lied to me about the weather. He said it was temperate here. Its COLD! I have a list of things he’s lied to me about. I was able to get over him not being a real Texan. **I forgave him for telling me that I didn’t need to sort his books because he could find anything he wanted. (don’t know that I mentioned this, but he can find the book he wants because he looks at the shelves and then goes online and orders a new copy)**, but this weather thing might be a deal breaker. Heheh. Pretty sure I’m married to Bill’s bibliosoulmate. There are still at least 10 boxes of books in the attic (4 years after our move) that I’m guessing are 50% duplicated despite quite a few empty bookshelves throughout the house. “No honey, I’ll unpack them” he says. “I like to sort them so I can find them again”. And that doesn’t include the duplicates purchased for the same reason that you point out. Gotta love the guy. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/357 "2013-01-16T15:18:57Z")
**flatlined,** , just wait until summer. Then you won’t know if you supposed to breathe the air there in Houston, or drink it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/358 "2013-01-16T19:16:14Z")
If you toss handfuls of sugar into the air during Houston’s summers, do you get tea? ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/359 "2013-01-16T19:17:07Z")
> [@Cheez\_Whia](#): > > **flatlined,** , just wait until summer. Then you won’t know if you supposed to breathe the air there in Houston, or drink it. 😛 The air will be quite breathable–once you wring it out. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745/360 "2013-01-16T19:18:26Z")
Who puts bananas at the bottom of a bag to be piled upon by heavy, sharp-cornered items? And why are you, the slowest cashier in the universe, working the express lane? And stop licking your fingers to open the bags…ugh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-dang-syne-january-minirants/645745.md?page=19)