Thanks again to kaylasdad for starting this thread early so we could have a cool title for it. I just saw that someone had posted in GQ on 11/30 asking who gets to name the December mini-rant thread because they had a name in mind.
Y’know, if I were a jerk (big if, I know…), I could’ve started this thread and given it an exciting name like “December Ranting Here”. Or “George” (always was one of my favorite names…)
I’ve never noticed it being a male or female thing, but as we just got through several consecutive days of rain here in DC, I saw plenty of it. I’ve never confronted anyone about it because I worry about coming off like the bad guy.
But it just seems to be part of a larger trend of people being so incredibly self-absorbed that they have no awareness of how they’re impacting the people around them. This includes people who get on the subway without taking off their backpacks, and then turning their bodies this way and that, oblivious to hitting other passengers. I have occasionally jammed my hand into their bag to stop them from hitting me (or someone else) in the head.
Fucking clueless.
I have done it more than twice.
I found that a fierce look and the comment “Don’t hit me with your goddamn umbrella” cut off protests at the pass, as it were. Even if they didn’t actually manage to hit me, they don’t get credit for my excellent reflexes.
My personal ire today is directed towards the special snowflakes who, on crowded, busy exit ramps, halt their vehicle several car lengths behind the person in front of them - thereby contributing to the line of stopped cars that is backing up onto the goddamn highway. If your stupid ass would just pull forward, the chances of whoever the poor asshole at the back of the line (which is occasionally me, thankyouverymuch) dying in a hideous car crash because we have cars randomly at a full stop backed up onto the highway around a fairly tight curve goes way down. I know you know this is kind of an issue for this exit because YOU ARE RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME AND JUST PULLED DOWN IT YOURSELF.
What the fuck are they worried about that they need to stop three car lengths behind the guy in front of them? That he’ll suddenly get a crooked hair and back up into them? It can’t even be worry that he’s driving a manual transmission and might roll a couple of feet backwards when re-engaging after the stop. WE’RE AT A DOWNHILL ANGLE HERE.
Dammit Dammit Dammit
Big package item shipped via UPS was originally scheduled for upcoming Monday.
Good job UPS pushing that up a few days and notifying me that the delivery will be tomorrow (Friday). Except I’m not home Friday so I paid a $5 fee to move the delivery back to Monday (original date).
Then I get an email notice saying that the package just arrived at the holding facility 10 min away from my office. Oh good, I’ll just change it to a self pick up at the holding facility and pick it up this afternoon. I don’t care if it costs me another $5. Getting it today would smooth out some wrinkles.
Two minutes later I get a message saying it will be delivered Monday. I sign in and try to change it to self pickup - Sorry only one scheduled change allowed!
WTF UPS? You missed an opportunity to pick up another $5 and free up delivery truck space.
Okay, I get it: drug seekers and street trade have necessarily made it more difficult to obtain prescription pain medicine. And pharmacies (like any other business) won’t dispense without authorization and confirmed method of payment. But the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia - the self-insuring group that covers workers compensation for my husband - can collectively kiss my ass. Tony has been without his pain prescription for almost a week - the insurance will only authorize 60 pills at the time, once per month, and the 'scrip calls for 4-6 per day. Tony rations them, mostly because he doesn’t want to take opioids, but also because he has to last the month on a 10-15 day supply. His appointment last month got cancelled, so the prescription ran out. Last night, he finally drank enough (very cheap) beer to sleep for 3-4 hours. He finally was able to see the doctor today for a new prescription, and has been waiting at the pharmacy for two hours waiting for the fuckers at the insurance office to approve the cost. We can’t pay it out of pocket right now, because property tax was paid on Monday, along with the mortgage and power bill, and the truck repair sucked up all of our available credit. ACCG has also dicked around for over two months on paying mileage reimbursement, which is why our credit cards are maxed out to pay the mechanic. And Tony is sitting in the truck at the pharmacy, literally in tears from pain, waiting for the medication that he doesn’t want, but desperately needs, while some schmuck in an office up in Atlanta takes a long lunch or swaps thumbs or something. (And if this were the first delay? I’d be more patient. But Tony waited ten months for surgical repair of his shoulder. I waited 48 hours once because the insurance wouldn’t approve his goddamned Flexeril and iron supplement, 'tho the hydrocodone went right through. These fuckers have offered a “settlement” of $30K and six months of medical coverage for a set of injuries that has put Tony on the sidelines for almost 3 years. And they can all fuck the hell off.)
I signed my daughter up for a combined 1st/2nd grade basketball league through her school district. She’s tall, as she’s not quite six years old yet and is four feet tall; even as the youngest kid in her class, she’s on the big side.
The rim for this league will be set at nine feet. I’m six feet tall, so a regulation, 10-foot-tall basketball rim is set at 166% of my height. It’s challenging, but doable. For my daughter and her friends, the rim will be set at approximately 225% of their height, which is insane to me. It would be like the rim for me being set at 13.5 feet.
On top of just the disproportionality of the rim height, these kids don’t have strong arms and chests yet: they’re 5-8 year old girls! How many of them can even shoot that high? So, we’re going to have a bunch of scores of 4-2 because the grown ups can’t figure out how to scale the game down.
My biggest problem with it is that there’s no way these girls can learn basic skills and shooting form like this. I used to coach high school freshman girls, and a lot of them had messed up shooting forms from learning on an inappropriately-sized rim: they learn that they need to shoot from way down low in order to generate enough power to get the ball to the rim, and once they get to high school those shots from waist-high are blocked regularly.
Eh, it’s frustrating. At least she loves soccer, and that’s scaled appropriately.
I just had some soup, so I’m not hungaria any more.
Lacunae, I know that with Tony being a cop this might have implications, but do you have any acquaintances who may be able to get him some weed? I live in a state where it’s legal and know some people with chronic pain issues and the same prescription med problems who have had quite a lot of relief with it.
And a bonus rabid skunk to the dear drivers who pause at a four-way stop while you are still several hundred feet away on the intersecting street, and who wait
and wait
and wait for you to get there, overcome with fear that you will just buzz on through and T-bone them, finally edging cautiously onwards while you wait out their timorousness.*
*while suddenly gunning the engine in neutral just to scare the crap out of them.
…so little ammo.
I’m glaring at you, T-Mobile and Samsung. That little software update you so nicely pushed to my phone dammed near bricked it. What took seconds to text now takes minutes. My phone now takes laggy to a new art form. The worst part is I got this coded-by-monkeys-with Tourettes update 48 hours ago, and come to find out, it has been wrecking havoc on other Samsung phones for months. Here is a clue–when you are in a deep hole, STOP DIGGING. It was bad enough that the Bluetooth would fail every 45 seconds in linking with my car, now I could drive the 25 miles to my mothers house faster than trying to text her. Everyone is pointing fingers at each other, yet nobody is in front of a keyboard to fix this clusterfrak.
You ALL deserve to have your wedding tackle masticated by rabid badgers in heat. Gargle with FOOF and Die!
Car in front of me wants to turn left but will wait first for a car over two blocks away going 25 mph. After that they’ll gun it for the turn no matter how close the next car is.
The driver of this maneuver is invariably a woman. I suspect it’s an inherent issue of fairness for the gender. ‘I let one go, then I get to go’. It’s just poor driving all around though.
Comcast, you are an irritating unreachable itch on my proverbial back. So believe me when I tell you that if I share anything about you with my friends, it will be “stay away from those dingbats” and “where the law allows, make an audio recording of any and all conversations”.
And X1 will change someone’s life…into a tornado of crazy wrought by you and your deep need to be a complete set of horse droppings.
Foof?
The best driving advice I ever got (courtesy of these very boards) is “don’t be polite, be predictable.” It needs to be painted in large letters on the walls of every DMV in the nation.
FOOF - I wanna play with some!
:eek:
You have fun with that.
People, the sign that says “Open 9 - 2” means we close at 2 in the afternoon. No, there is not an exception for people who “only need one item.” Or who were working “and couldn’t get here any earlier.” Or who “are willing to pay cash so you can hold it till tomorrow” (and lose my job in the process)." Or who “were here earlier but forgot something.” Or 'should be able to shop after 2 because YOU (the employees) can." Or consider it “bad customer service not to let people in after you close.” Or “drove a long way to shop here.” Or “really need stuff for a party tonight.” Closed means CLOSED, dammit.
And after you buy things on Sunday and ask me how we can be open, and I explain that stores owned by Jewish people are exempt from the Christian blue laws, don’t tell me “Well, I think all stores should be forced to close on Sunday.”
Annie, sounds like you need to head over to customerssuck.com . You will find your people there. 
My parents put their cat to sleep on Friday. I haven’t lived at home for about 4 years now but we got Duchesss when I was 9 so though I remember a time before her, part and parcel of being home was Duchess. And now, the next time I visit, she won’t be there. I thought the fact that I didn’t live at home or see her very often anymore would help it to hurt less but all I want to do is cry.
I miss you so much, Duchess. I don’t know what it’s like inside a cat’s brain but I hope you knew I loved you and that our family was so much richer for having you and so much emptier for losing you.
I’m sorry,** Inner Stickler**. I’m a sucker for those beautiful orange kitties. 
But do you get annoyed when they show up at 1:45?
