# Got August Gripes? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 1, 2015, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712 "2015-08-01T07:48:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/261 "2015-08-24T04:48:58Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > That. Get the file onto your iPhone or whatever playback device you have, get a patch cord, and set your stereo for “Aux.” > > Not sure if that’s something you can do with a library rental. But you COULD get a Discman-type portable CD player and do pretty much the same thing. She could see if the library has Overdrive or a similar program. They have audiobooks that way available for download and many libraries offer that as an option. Or just rip or copy the CD to her computer. I use those as alternatives to audible, much cheaper too. I just cancelled my subscription because of the way the dollar is going and will focus on those alternatives. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/262 "2015-08-24T06:55:48Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > We eat dinner out two or three times a week. I can’t remember the last time I had a problem that wasn’t promptly addressed when pointed out. Thats fine but these are issues I come up with again and again and again in more than one restaurant. So, consumers pointing out these individual mistakes are not solving the problem it is obvious that it is endemic in the restaurant industry. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/263 "2015-08-24T06:57:00Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > With an attitude like yours, no wonder you get slow service. Try being a decent human being and see if that improves your day any. Im VERY nice to servers, even if they suck: by taking my frustrations out here, and not in their face, I insure at least half these idiots don’t spit in my fucking food. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/264 "2015-08-24T07:13:39Z")
Is it THAT hard to ask sporting events actually start on the time they are advertised??? Fer instance I decided to go an Indy Car race at Pocono Raceway yesterday under the premise the race time according to their website was going to be at 2:00; its a 500 miles race, good, Ill be out of there by 5-5:30ish and on my way home for dinner with my wife, if all goes well. I buy the ticket, and it prints up as “green flag” last 2:30. A little bait and switch but OK. I get to the racetrack, ticket in hand, and make it to the grandstand at 2:20, because, surely, theres going to be a few formation laps, right? The drivers weren’t even in their FUCKING CARS. No, there was no rain. They were still parading the drivers to pit lane. Then the invocation. Then the National Anthem which took an extra 10 minutes so some parachutists could bring down the American flag. It was 2:45 until the “START YOUR ENGINES” call came out, and 2:50 before the “green flag” that was supposed to be 50 MINUTES EARLIER according to the racetrack fucking website BEFORE i bought the god-damned ticket. Now, there were 50+ laps on yellow, including a horrific accident which has NOTHING to do with this rant before you even try that, and I cant blame the race organizers for that, but partly because of this scheduling incompetence and lying, I left the race before the finish. Just don’t tell me the race is at 2:00 then green flag almost an hour later. I put up with this same shit Saturday night when it was advertised that the Eagles-Ravens preseason game would start at 7, and kickoff wasn’t until almost 7:15. This is Saturday night. I have to carefully plan it around my wife’s plans, which understandably don’t necessarily surround football. “Gee honey, I want to go out, but Id like to see the first quarter of this preseason game so I can see how Sam Bradford does.” “Thats fine. When will the first quarter end so I can call the other couple?” “The schedule says the game starts at 7, so lets say 7:45 that will give us 15 minutes to get to the restaurant, tell them 8!” NFL, you SEE how pushing kickoff back 15 minutes totally fucks me up, RIGHT? LOOK, I don’t care if the Indy Car race starts at 1 in the fucking morning, just let me know EXACTLY when it starts. NFL, same for you. Im not quibbling of 1 or 2 minutes. 50? Come on, now.:mad: ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/265 "2015-08-24T09:41:46Z")
First day on vacation and I manage to forget to apply sunscreen to my upper arms. You can quite clearly see exactly where I forgot as I go from bright red to not even tanned along the side of my arms. Ugh, what a dumb mistake. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/266 "2015-08-24T13:16:52Z")
It’s been too humid to do anything around the house. Our A/C has been working overtime. There is a correlation between barometric pressure and arthritis. Your elder family members weren’t kidding when they said they could predict the weather with their knees. I know this because I now can do the same. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/267 "2015-08-24T16:31:21Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > Im VERY nice to servers, even if they suck: by taking my frustrations out here, and not in their face, I insure at least half these idiots don’t spit in my fucking food. In my opinion it’s all about expectations. If you expect to be served by idiots who suck at their jobs, you think they can’t tell that, however “nice” you think you are? Body language and facial expressions tell the story more than what you actually say. Your posts seem to me to be one long string of frustrated entitlement. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/268 "2015-08-24T18:52:56Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > In my opinion it’s all about expectations. If you expect to be served by idiots who suck at their jobs, you think they can’t tell that, however “nice” you think you are? Body language and facial expressions tell the story more than what you actually say. > > Your posts seem to me to be one long string of frustrated entitlement. I agree. And being frustrated that a sporting event begins 15 minutes late is really just ridiculous. If you really truly expect events like that to start on the dot you are doomed to a life of frustration. Very sad. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/269 "2015-08-24T20:45:47Z")
It’s just a damned shame the entire world doesn’t order itself to his time expectations… ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/270 "2015-08-24T22:50:19Z")
Oh god the market is tumbling down. EEEKKK. How much can the DOW lose? I didn’t panic in 2008 but I am tempted to this week. We have hundreds of thousands invested there right now. The fact that they’re raising our property taxes to make up for the incompetence of the local school supervisor and the plumbing is falling apart in my house yet again is not making for a happy day. We tried to oust a school board member for voting to fire our beloved school principal and engaging in fiscal incompetence but that effort had to be abandoned alas. We couldn’t get enough sigs to get the recall effort on the ballot in the little time the local board alloted us. So we have three school board members who cannot be gotten rid of for at least a year. The school board allowed the sup to hire a crony for an outrageous daily sum while they look for someone willing to wade into the mess the sup created. Ugh. This is kind of a crappy year so far. Bring on Yom Kippur and put it to bed! ---
**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:** [August 25, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/271 "2015-08-25T00:15:39Z")
Re: investments, anyone who panics and sells now will regret it later. Either stand pat, or buy if you can afford to while your desired stocks are down. US fundamentals are solid, and even a stock disaster in China will only affect a few US companies. That is, unless lots more people panic, then there will be more losers than there should be. Caution: I am not an investment expert, but this is what every expert I’ve listened to today is saying. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/272 "2015-08-25T00:33:54Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Re: investments, anyone who panics and sells now will regret it later. Either stand pat, or buy if you can afford to while your desired stocks are down. US fundamentals are solid, and even a stock disaster in China will only affect a few US companies. That is, unless lots more people panic, then there will be more losers than there should be. Caution: I am not an investment expert, but this is what every expert I’ve listened to today is saying. Oh I agree. But it’s still freaky seeing all those bad headlines. But it’s either the market or a bank account that pays just about nothing no matter how much money you put away in it. So it’s the market or you’re screwed by inflation. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/273 "2015-08-25T05:20:42Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > In my opinion it’s all about expectations. If you expect to be served by idiots who suck at their jobs, you think they can’t tell that, however “nice” you think you are? Body language and facial expressions tell the story more than what you actually say. > > Your posts seem to me to be one long string of frustrated entitlement. There’s entitlement, then theres a minimum set of expectations. I don’t think its unreasonable for someone to express frustration at the same annoyances they experience at restaurant after restaurant after restaurant all by completely different people. If you don’t like me calling people names here out of frustration instead of acting like a boor and saying it in their faces, then you clearly don’t get the point of this thread. ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/274 "2015-08-25T05:49:34Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > I don’t think its unreasonable for someone to express frustration at the same annoyances they experience at restaurant after restaurant after restaurant all by completely different people. Oh look, a theme. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/275 "2015-08-25T06:16:36Z")
What is the deal with people who realize they’re in the wrong lane and then just sit there blocking everybody in that lane so they can get over? Look, I’m sorry you realized after sitting at the red left turn arrow for 2 minutes that you actually wanted to go straight, but too fucking bad! That doesn’t mean you get to just sit there at a dead stop when it turns green because the thru lanes still have a red light. There are 20 people behind you and you are blocking all of us! When I make a mistake like that, I just go the wrong way and turn around, because my error doesn’t entitle me to inconvenience everyone else on the road while I sort myself out. I sat on the horn in one solid blast until she finally inched out of the way enough that I could squeeze past and got savage pleasure when everyone else behind me also honked at her on the way by. Selfish jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/276 "2015-08-25T13:04:35Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > I have now fixed the Flymo lawnmower, and my dad bought me a new strimmer (without even asking me, I’m touched) 🙂 Guess who just broke the new strimmer! (the safety guard bit just flew off, so it still basically works. I’m sure I can screw it back on too…) ---
**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:** [August 25, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/277 "2015-08-25T15:18:30Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Re: investments, anyone who panics and sells now will regret it later. Either stand pat, or buy if you can afford to while your desired stocks are down. US fundamentals are solid, and even a stock disaster in China will only affect a few US companies. That is, unless lots more people panic, then there will be more losers than there should be. Caution: I am not an investment expert, but this is what every expert I’ve listened to today is saying. I just started investing this week. Purely by chance I picked the best time to buy. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/278 "2015-08-25T15:40:17Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > Guess who just broke the new strimmer! > > (the safety guard bit just flew off, so it still basically works. I’m sure I can screw it back on too…) Do you and **flatlined** share a common curse? Maybe an exorcist could help you guys out. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/279 "2015-08-25T16:42:22Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > In my town bicyclists can ride on the sidewalk when there’s no bike lane. But I live in a mountain town with a lot of narrow curvy streets that don’t have room for expansion. I live in a similar hilly area. Some sidewalks 'round here _are_ the official bike lane. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712/280 "2015-08-25T17:15:51Z")
WTF six inches from by bumper and texting!! Moron. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-august-gripes/726712.md?page=15)