I was feeling a little run-down, hot-eyed and scratchy-throated yesterday, so I took a couple of generic Nyquil-type pills last night, and the daytime equivalent this morning. Feeling better - but what is up with the combination of nearly-impossible-to-open blister-pack things, and the incredibly slippery, hard to handle and easy to drop incredibly slippery (bears repeating) pills inside? I want a little relief, and suddenly I’m starring in friggin’ Ocean’s Eleven. I know, I know - get the liquid. I guess I’ll just have to get over the taste. And while I’m busy ranting on the subject of packaging, why are all boxes that have perforations for opening SPECIALLY REINFORCED AT the perforation? :smack::smack::smack: I suspect it’s some dark Federal psychological frustration trial to see just how much the sheeple will put up with…
Right now my Max Dog is at the vet’s undergoing tests. Yesterday he collapsed at the foot of the driveway as we were starting our afternoon walk – no warning, no nothing. He ate his dinner but otherwise didn’t want to move. This morning my husband had to help him into the car.
Max has had Lyme before and has been in remission for awhile. My husband is petrified he might have bone cancer. Our Jack Dog (RIP) had that and it was discovered under the same circumstances.
Meanwhile I’m trying to distract both myself and our other dog. I have a feeling the other dog will be getting a lot of walks today.
My thoughts are with you and Max,** kiz**. My dog has bone cancer as well. We keep thinking she’s near done living, but then she keeps on doing it.
My gf decided she wanted to do some remodeling, including a complete demolition/rebuild of the guest bathroom (the bathroom that gets used for one weekend every year or two). That’s fine; it’s her money.
But, she works until 8 pm every day, while I get home around 2. So every afternoon the contractor asks me questions about “the project” and everyday I tell him to call her and ask because I don’t have any idea and I don’t really care.
I started off polite. “You’d better speak with her, this is her project”. But he continues to ask. Yesterday I just kinda stared at him without saying a word. He took the hint.
One of the people who emailed me and said they wanted to interview me… two weeks ago, finally called at 7pm yesterday and wants to interview me at 5pm today. I really don’t understand how things work here in FL, but “unprofessional” seems to be the best definition.
No, sorry, this doesn’t fly. There is a limit to how much right the people behind me have to tell me to hurry up. Here is a handy guide.
Activities one should not do at the head of a line of people checking out:
. Chitchat with the clerk preventing him/her from doing their job
. Keep talking after everything is rung up and bagged, instead of paying
. Fail to pay attention to obvious activities like the fact that you have to pay for your stuff (i.e. at least have your wallet out when the total us rung up)
Activities you may do at the head of a line of people checking out:
. Put your money away (although it would be nicer if you moved away from the checkstand to do this, but sometimes there is nowhere else to go)
. Write a check (yes, you heard me) as long as you start writing it while the clerk is ringing you up
. Take 30 seconds to find correct change
. Take 10 seconds to make sure you have everything before you move away
. Be old enough to take a little longer than other people to do everything
In other words, it works both ways - you want to get through the line, I want to finish my transaction in the way that works best for me. Both sides need to be a little more reasonable and calm about life’s transactions.
I should’ve known better.
When roommate said he needed to move last term, because he couldn’t afford the rent, I should’ve just made the clean break. Realizing it’d be cheaper for him to have a roommate than to get a place of his own, I offered to move with him, as long as it wouldn’t be a one-and-done thing, as I hate the process of moving.
Well, Sunday, he informed me that he wants to move in with his boyfriend - the on-again / off-again one with whom he had a huge fight the night before, to the extent that the boyfriend didn’t come home (yeah, for all intents and purposes, the guy essentially lives with us, drives my roommate’s car [since I don’t think he has his own], etc.) that night, and so he’s giving the 60-day notice to the leasing office.
I tried to tell him that he might want to reconsider, considering he lost all his friends when they got together, and that this would basically put him at the “mercy” of the boyfriend, since the roommate has no identity outside of the relationship. Roommate is (still!) unemployed, and the boyfriend pays for everything (food, rent, etc.), so I get that there’s a certain amount of control held over the roommate, but still… Given their tumultuous (to put it nicely) history, there’s no way this will end well. I picture a Stockhom Syndrome-esque situation.
On the other hand… Not my monkey, not my circus. This will be the final nail in the coffin of removing myself from his poor choices and being stuck in his infinite loop of the emotional roller coaster that is his life. The good news is I won’t have to be around when it goes south.
I just hate that now I have to figure out what I’m going to do. I really hate apartment shopping, moving, etc. I wish I would’ve trusted my gut and cut bait last year, so I wouldn’t be moving twice in two years.
There are two things I miss about my job - the pay and the benefits. We just got excellent dental insurance this year, and my husband’s teeth are falling apart. I’m going through my COBRA information and there’s no option to COBRA the dental. And COBRA for my medical is more expensive than a Platinum plan on the healthcare exchange!
I don’t miss anything else about that job (except some of my co-workers) and I don’t regret walking out, but darn I miss those benefits!
Amazon reviews are fucking useless, at least for some products.
I’m considering a pair of relatively cheap bluetooth earbuds, so i started comparing a few proper reviews (CNet, etc.), as well as reviews of some different products on Amazon.
The highest-rated product in my price range has a four-and-a-half star rating on a total of about 400. “That seems pretty good,” i thought.
I have now read through the first ten pages of reviews. About 85-90 percent of the reviews say either “I received this product at no cost in exchange for my honest and unbiased review” or " I received this product at a discount in exchange for my honest and unbiased review."
And–surprise, surprise–almost 100 percent of those reviews give the product five stars. And some reviewers that find significant problems with the product still give it four stars. There are one or two critical reviews among the pay-to-play reviewers, but it’s a tiny minority.
Now, it could be that these actually ARE the best bluetooth earbuds in the world. But, of the reviews i managed to find that were NOT subsidized by the company, the average rating is closer to three, or maybe three and a half stars, with a few two-star ratings in there as well.
Amazon needs to insert a radio button in its review process that reviewers are required to check if they have received the product for free, or at a discount, from the company. And Amazon should then install a filter on its review pages so that people reading the reviews can filter out the bribery.
Installed Windows 10 upgrade this past Saturday…naturally, my sound card quit working. I was finally able to get audio output from a single jack by installing a generic driver (at 6 AM Sunday morning). Having resigned myself to this setup, I promptly ordered a 3.5mm Y-splitter so I could at least have output to my monitor and a set of speakers.
Windows located a working driver for the sound card on Monday. 
The splitter arrived today, and I can’t decide if I should keep it or not.
Yeah, I know. But YOU try telling him that.
How in the world is a purchased review “unbiased”?
This, plus I know many people who love it if I do give them exact change. The bakers, the canteen ladies in my last job… evidently that depends on location (paying 65c with a 50€ bill should be actionable, seriously).
Re. those reviews, I used to do that. You don’t get paid in cash, you just get the objects. So for example I’d get sent three bottles of shampoo and I’d be asked to give my opinion on them, filling up a list of questions. If someone else had tried them, I sent their opinion as well. Saying which of three specific scents did you like most and least or which of two anti-dandruff shampoos lasted longer isn’t exactly earth-shattering work. By doing that kind of opinion groups, the companies get a wide and diverse pool of testers, or at least that’s the idea. Those mhendo mentions seem to be using the system wrong, though.
Oh boy, you just moved to Florida? Which are you, retired or a student?
Neither, I’m about 10 years out from retirement and just got sick of winter. 
You should definitely be able to COBRA your dental if you were signed up for it before quitting. I just did ours, as the ortho coverage on my old plan was excellent. Call and find out.
This is an odd rant. I’m grateful to get the small stuff, including change. It’s like I tell them: “We can always use the small stuff.”
You apparently don’t like working retail, why do you continue to do it?
I quit trying to train this crap out of our people a long time ago. I’ve worked retail since before most of them were born and they just won’t listen, so I quit trying. In addition to the coins on top thing, they still do other stupid things that will end up burning them someday but, of course, I don’t know anything.
They’re not.
The subject of user reviews triggered a mini-rant in me.
Typically, unmoderated reviews are mostly idiotic. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen something get 1 out of 5 stars, and you read the review, and the negative review falls into a handful of categories of stupidity:
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I wanted the product to do something it doesn’t do, so it sucks that it didn’t work for that task. “This Phillips head screwdriver sucks for flathead screws. 1 out of 5 stars”
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I used the product in an unintended/unapproved manner, and it failed, so the product sucks. “This 1/2 ton jack failed when I was trying to jack up a tank with it. This thing sucks. 1 out of 5 stars”
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I got a defective one, so rather than return it, and try again, I’m going to have a shit-fit and badmouth the company, the product and proclaim that I’ll NEVER buy from this company again. 1 out of 5 stars."
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I’m angry that the product lacks a feature/doesn’t do something it wasn’t designed to do. “This dishwasher sucks because it’s not energy efficient. 1 out of 5 stars” (hint: energy efficiency is published and usually listed on the front of the appliance!)
I’ve been irritated with low-ranking reviews because of how stupid they typically are; I quit actually reading the negative reviews unless they’re a significant percentage, because they annoy me so. Now I mostly look at the average value, the number of reviews, and the proportion of the different values- something overwhelmingly 5 star usually warrants further scrutiny, and something with mostly 3, 2 and 1 stars warrants avoidance.
You forgot a few items on the idiots review list.
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The UPS truck drove over my package as they were leaving. One star.
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I’m upset because of an intrinsic property of the merchandise. “This 50# anvil is too heavy!”
- I’m really upset that my $50 gadget doesn’t have the capabilities of the $500 version. One star.
Aaaand, the Boy just called to tell me he had a wreck. His first words when I answered: “I just t-boned someone.” (Cue maternal heart attack.) And technically, he did t-bone the other car, but it was while pulling out of a parking lot, and he was doing 3 mph. Some scratched paint on the other car, a few wrinkles around his headlight, a failure to yield ticket. We shall see what this means for his insurance rate. Oy.
I’m not mad or anything - we all did stupid crap like this when we were younger. If anything, I’m grateful that he learned this lesson in a low speed fender bender, with no injuries. But he’s being very grumpy, and the Mister is really anxious about the condition of the truck: “What if the fender is bent and scrubbing the tire?!” Other than his skateboard, that’s The Boy’s only transportation. He has taken that little truck apart and put it back together. There is no chance he is risking his ride to something that obvious. I’m just not looking forward to the next few hours of moody teenager plus pessimistic husband, you know?
My point exactly.
The Yelp restaurant review equivalent of this is:
The food and service were fine, but parking is impossible in this neighborhood. One star.