# Decemberrants: Yule post'em here, plz **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 1, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207 "2013-12-01T14:01:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 38
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/741 "2013-12-29T15:24:46Z")
Thank you Emily I think so too! Sorry to go OT with the cat stuff (is there a dedicated Cat Thread btw?) but I think its hilarious the way Max does [this.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qqy5dlYRTI) (thats not him tho) ---
**Author:** ![Boggette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@Boggette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boggette)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/742 "2013-12-29T18:34:14Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Do you use it with socks? I’m thinking I may need to do something for my feet and lower legs. The skin is very dry. I do socks for my feet. He doesn’t use gloves for his hands. I’m not sure you _need_ to, but I do it to make sure I don’t goop up the footrest on my chair. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Boggette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@Boggette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boggette)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/743 "2013-12-29T18:42:57Z")
> [@Dr.Girlfriend](#): > > My mom just started using the Working Hands stuff. She sews for a living and the ends of her fingers get deep cracks in them that bleed sometimes. She says it’s working pretty well. … Bog works outside chopping wood, tending the property, etc., and his finger ends crack and bleed, too. He sits each evening and rubs this into his fingers and it works. I’m not as clockwork about doing my feet, or I’m sure they’d look and feel much better, but I’m lucky mine is minor. His is not. Hope it works as well for your mom! ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/744 "2013-12-29T20:16:26Z")
Re the dry hands and feet thing and Vaseline: I use the occlusive method sometimes by putting plastic bags over the Vaseline before slipping on heavy wool socks. It seems to help the Vaseline penetrate better and soften the calluses. I also have to exfoliate frequently with a FootFile (from Sally’s) and keep them moisturized. Good idea about wearing gloves too for chores. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/745 "2013-12-29T20:24:38Z")
You can also slather up your hands with Vaseline before doing the chores (and then putting gloves on) - when you wash your hands afterwards, the Vaseline acts like a protective barrier against the very drying soap. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/746 "2013-12-29T21:46:38Z")
I have several facebook friends who are the parents, siblings or aunts of children with autism. As such, many post about their efforts to encourage autism awareness, research, etc., so much so that I am now heartily sick of facebook posts saying, “I love someone with autism” or insisting that people with autism are just as or more special than those without. What really sucks is that several of these kids are old enough to be on facebook themselves and they keep getting tagged in this shit. If you want someone to be considered just another person and not defined by a syndrome, why must you insist that this condition makes this person better or just the same? Especially when said kid (two of them teenagers) probably just wish they fit in? Awareness is one thing, but forcing someone to live a syndrome for purposes of somehow mainstreaming them seems really, really shitty. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/747 "2013-12-29T22:15:14Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > If you want someone to be considered just another person and not defined by a syndrome, why must you insist that this condition makes this person better or just the same? Especially when said kid (two of them teenagers) probably just wish they fit in? Awareness is one thing, but forcing someone to live a syndrome for purposes of somehow mainstreaming them seems really, really shitty. I’ve often wondered that myself. It seems to me that a lot of these parents, well-intentioned or not, are defining themselves by their children’s issues. “Look at me! I have a **special needs child**! Aren’t I such a wonderful person for taking care of them and accommodating their issues?” No. You are not. All parents do that. The more I see this sort of thing, the happier I am that my parents never did that with me and my health and mental issues. They took the old-fashioned way of saying, “Well, SpazCat is _Just That Way_” and moving on. It’s kind of liberating. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/748 "2013-12-30T00:03:42Z")
> [@keturah](#): > > And the poofy wedding dress!! YES!!! > [@flatlined](#): > > I’m not sure if it was the purrs, or the headrubs on my hands or the way he looked at me and only me while the vet was looking him over. I think it was probably the way he reached for me while he was getting taken off to get bloodwork that did it. Many years ago, one of my cats did this except it was when they were bringing her back out after her spay. As soon as she saw me, she turned around in the tech’s arms, held out her paws and started demanding I save her. Totally favorite kitty … > [@SpazCat](#): > > I’ve often wondered that myself. It seems to me that a lot of these parents, well-intentioned or not, are defining themselves by their children’s issues. “Look at me! I have a **special needs child**! Aren’t I such a wonderful person for taking care of them and accommodating their issues?” No. You are not. All parents do that. > > The more I see this sort of thing, the happier I am that my parents never did that with me and my health and mental issues. They took the old-fashioned way of saying, “Well, SpazCat is _Just That Way_” and moving on. It’s kind of liberating. Seriously. I just broke off online communication with a woman my age (50ish) who has spina bifida. Her parents not only raised her to be a cripple, they also gave her an entitlement attitude that is hard to believe. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2013, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/749 "2013-12-30T01:02:52Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > As such, many post about their efforts to encourage autism awareness, research, etc., so much so that I am now heartily sick of facebook posts saying, “I love someone with autism” or insisting that people with autism are just as or more special than those without. “Click ‘like’ and share if you love someone with [insert syndrome/disease/disorder here]!” Uh…no (for all the reasons mentioned previously). To be sure these people have figured out that I’m just not responding to that shit. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/750 "2013-12-30T02:34:19Z")
My husband and I had been talking about our favorite local restaurant/bar and how the two of us were going there for New Year’s, when we were at at Christmas with his family. We love the place and want to promote it as a nice spot to go to, since they’re new. When we got home from the Christmas get-together, he asked me to post to his family’s private Facebook group the link to the restaurant’s info, since we’d been talking about the place. His alcoholic (and probably addict) sister (who thinks she does a great job of hiding it, but couldn’t get through their eldest sister’s funeral without shaking from the DTs) made reservations and has been posting and texting about how she’s going with us (uh, what? wait?). And she texted him about how her train gets in an hour before the party starts. Well great, I hope she has plans to go somewhere that isn’t our apartment for that hour, and that she pays attention to when the return trains are running to take her home afterwards. She acts helpless, but she’s not. She can manage to set up weeklong vacations to Las Vegas to get her drink on, but when it came to having to make hotel reservations around their sister’s funeral, suddenly she’s hopeless and can’t arrange a hotel or any transportation, and sponges off her family. Sorry, don’t buy it. So I’m not going to hold her hand when she’s thinking this is a big ol’ party with us (as we’ve never ever gone out for NYE with her before), and I’ll be damned if she makes us look bad to the owners and staff of this restaurant, who we adore. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/751 "2013-12-30T04:35:25Z")
Getting blood drawn tomorrow for a PSA test\*. Means no sex (of any kind) for 3 days prior. I’m white-knuckling it at this point. \*I know the PSA test is not considered worth much any more, and I will be speaking to the urologist when I see him next week about better methods. But this is what’s available for now, I guess. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/752 "2013-12-30T04:49:56Z")
Call you mom. Call her right now. My mom died in June of 2012. We had our enormous differences when she was alive. She was not a particularly good mother. She did things I do not care to remember even today. But she made up for it once my eldest was born. She was a good grandmother, and even a great grandmother in the literal sense of the word. We made our peace five years before she died, helped by the love we both felt for my children. I want to call her so badly right now. I want to tell her that my eldest did a cartwheel and my youngest said fried squid. I want to tell her about my new blog and ask her what she thinks of the couch I bought. And I can’t. Call you mom. I want to call mine and all I have is instead is her memory. And tell your loved ones to never, ever smoke. My mom had emphysema even though she’d quit smoking more than four decades before. I would like to set every single damned person who promotes the stuff on fire right now. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2013, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/753 "2013-12-30T05:53:10Z")
Sorry, my mom’s asleep already. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/754 "2013-12-30T06:29:44Z")
So I checked Google News just now and saw that 10 people had been killed in a bombing in Volgograd. “Oh, good, they revised the death toll down a little bit from this morning,” I thought. Nope. Turns out this is a second massive bombing in the same city in 24 hours. Human beings, WTF. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/755 "2013-12-30T13:26:39Z")
This head cold can go fuck itself right in the eyeball. ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/756 "2013-12-30T13:37:08Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > Call you mom. Call her right now. My mom died in June of 2012. We had our enormous differences when she was alive. She was not a particularly good mother. She did things I do not care to remember even today. > > But she made up for it once my eldest was born. She was a good grandmother, and even a great grandmother in the literal sense of the word. We made our peace five years before she died, helped by the love we both felt for my children. I want to call her so badly right now. I want to tell her that my eldest did a cartwheel and my youngest said fried squid. I want to tell her about my new blog and ask her what she thinks of the couch I bought. And I can’t. > > Call you mom. I want to call mine and all I have is instead is her memory. And tell your loved ones to never, ever smoke. My mom had emphysema even though she’d quit smoking more than four decades before. I would like to set every single damned person who promotes the stuff on fire right now. LavenderBlue, Im so glad you had the chance to make peace with your mom. Some dont have that luxury and I agree: do it while theyre alive no matter how hard you imagine it will be. Another thought: you can always have those convo’s now _spiritually_. I talk to my parents all the time in my head and they answer me (no not literally but I feel them answering me). Its never too late to make amends. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/757 "2013-12-30T15:05:44Z")
I’m going to put this in mini-rants even though it is kind of a good thing. My brother sent me the link to a Craigslist ad for a car that’s the same year and model as my first car. I really wish he hadn’t. I just can’t afford it right now. Well, I could, but I don’t want to short myself. Also, what bank would lend over $6000 on a 50 year old car. But, damn, it is nice and I want it bad. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/758 "2013-12-30T15:15:20Z")
Ugh. End of year retrospectives. Hate 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/759 "2013-12-30T15:21:21Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > This head cold can go fuck itself right in the eyeball. Since it’s eyeball is your eyeball… Well, these things never work out as intended. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207/760 "2013-12-30T16:12:52Z")
Hey, 2013, you’ve been the shittiest year EVAH and the sooner you’re in the rearview mirror the better. Go. Away. Piss. Off. > [@Chimera](#): > > Since it’s eyeball is your eyeball… OK, that was funny. 😃 **ignores it’s/its error** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207.md?page=37) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decemberrants-yule-postem-here-plz/675207.md?page=39)