# Happy New Bitchfest! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 1, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605 "2014-01-01T00:37:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 33
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/641 "2014-01-29T21:13:02Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > . . . I’m also kind of angry with my mom for keeping it on there and subjecting me to listening to it without warning. At the moment, I’m just a sobbing mess. Sorry that you had this shock. It’s understandably upsetting. A lot of people think that it’s safer to have a man’s voice on the outgoing message. There are vague ideas that something might happen if a random dialer got the idea that they were calling a residence with a woman living there alone. My grown son put his voice on my answering machine because of that. You mom might feel that your dad’s voice is keeping her safe. There are other ways to get the same effect, but they take a little effort to arrange. Also, if she doesn’t ever call herself, it may have completely slipped her mind. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/642 "2014-01-29T21:17:51Z")
I’m going to pit the [adductor magnus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Anterior_Hip_Muscles_2.PNG) in my left leg. It started spasming last night at about 2:30 a.m., driving me in agony right out of a deep sleep. Fortunately, I was able to quickly locate a thick dishtowel, which I soaked in water as hot as I could stand, then applied to the muscle. Even more fortunately, the damn thing responded to the treatment. And I’m going to anti-pit my sister, the bio-ethicist. She came with us to the ocularist yesterday and advocated on our behalf to negotiate our co-pay on **kaylasmom** ’s new prostheses down from $2K to $1K. Thanks, sis! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/643 "2014-01-29T22:11:03Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Fuck Facebook for being very timely in showing me lots of memes and celebrity accounts and such, but waiting seven hours to show me the post from my friend who was hospitalized with her husband and their two young children for carbon monoxide poisoning. As in, hospitalized at the very hospital I work at, so maybe I could have stopped by to see them if they wanted, or brought them something if they needed it. Now I’m home and they’ve been released home. > > Thanks a lot, Facebook. Fuck your algorithms of what’s “important.” Do you have your sort set to Most Recent and not Top Stories? ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/644 "2014-01-29T22:21:06Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I got a flu shot last year for the first time since the late 70s, because back then, I got so sick, there was mucus coming out of my eyes, but because I was in the Air Force, and lived in the barracks, I had to go to work unless I was sick enough to go to the hospital. There were no sick days. I wanted to die. So I never got a flu shot again. And then last year, they kept saying, “Oh, you better get one, and besides, the flu shots these days are dead viruses, so you can’t get sick.” And that night, I had a fever of 102. > Never again. > [@Seanette](#): > > I followed similar logic. Flu shot = several days of guaranteed feeling cruddy, while I normally have a good chance of not catching something going around. Forgot to factor in that I now work in a thrift store and ride public transit, thus massively increasing my exposure. > > Still a wash for me so far, really. DH did get the shot, due to being in a high-risk group (diabetic), and he got a mild flu too. As a counter anecdote, I have been getting the flu shot for the 18+ years I’ve worked here and I can’t even remember the last time I had a sniffle. I also work part-time at a grocery store, so It’s not like I haven’t been exposed. I think I may have had a little cold last year, but not a thing this year so far. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/645 "2014-01-29T22:23:10Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > I have a dark sense of humor under the best of circumstances – and these are not the best of circumstances for me right now – but I find it bleakly hilarious that you managed to basically butt-dial your dead father. > (_ **Please** _ don’t be mad at me for saying that.) Nicely put. We just realized that we have our daughter’s voice as our outgoing message. Recorded when she was a grade schooler, and she’s been “all growed up ‘n’ moved out” for years now. But we never call our own landline, and only rarely does anyone else when we’re not home. So really, virtually no one’s listened to our outgoing message in years. Well, my mom left us a message the other day saying “I just heard Ana’s voice! How nice…” and we went “Huh?” And were surprised when we called our own number and let it ring through to the machine. Yeah, it is like we butt-dialed ‘Little Ana With A Lisp’. So I bet that Mom doesn’t even remember that Dad’s voice is on there… ---
**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:** [January 29, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/646 "2014-01-29T23:24:26Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Do you have your sort set to Most Recent and not Top Stories? Yup. Hate the Top Stories setting. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/647 "2014-01-29T23:41:16Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Fuck Facebook for being very timely in showing me lots of memes and celebrity accounts and such, but waiting seven hours to show me the post from my friend who was hospitalized with her husband and their two young children for carbon monoxide poisoning. … > Thanks a lot, Facebook. Fuck your algorithms of what’s “important.” > [@Kimballkid](#): > > Do you have your sort set to Most Recent and not Top Stories? > [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Yup. Hate the Top Stories setting. I detest that Top Stories setting, and **in particular** I detest the fact that Facebook in its infinite wisdom keeps periodically switching back to it. One other tip that seems to help - make any friend that matters a Close Friend. That seems to ensure you see everything they post. ---
**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 29, 2014, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/648 "2014-01-29T23:58:57Z")
I think Facebook chooses “Top Stories” based on how many likes/comments a status/post receives. I also wish it’d stop switching to Top Stories from Most Recent. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/649 "2014-01-30T00:02:55Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Do you have your sort set to Most Recent and not Top Stories? > [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Yup. Hate the Top Stories setting. Mine re-sorts to Top Stories every time I open it. Sometimes it won’t if I check more than once the same day, but I just assume that it’s set wrong. Sorry to hear about your friend. ---
**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:** [January 30, 2014, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/650 "2014-01-30T00:50:02Z")
They’re ok, thank god, but I’m pissed that I’m looking like the worst friend ever, checking out everyone’s mundane stuff on Facebook when maybe she could have used a friendly ally at the hospital. Meanwhile seven hours later I finally see the post from her and have to post ‘holy crap, FB didn’t show me this, so sorry, glad you’re all doing better.’ At least everyone’s seen something like that happen to them before, but this just particularly galled me. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/651 "2014-01-30T01:51:55Z")
Well, I knew the day would come: Niece is now selling Girl Scout Cookies. I have, of course, cheerfully bought 6 boxes because, adorable and all. But I can’t stand the damn things; they taste like cardboard with additives, maybe dipped into Hershey’s vomit-aftertaste chocolate. _sigh_ Coworkers will be happy, though. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/652 "2014-01-30T02:13:53Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > They’re ok, thank god, but I’m pissed that I’m looking like the worst friend ever, checking out everyone’s mundane stuff on Facebook when maybe she could have used a friendly ally at the hospital. Meanwhile seven hours later I finally see the post from her and have to post ‘holy crap, FB didn’t show me this, so sorry, glad you’re all doing better.’ At least everyone’s seen something like that happen to them before, but this just particularly galled me. A friend of mine also didn’t see my hospitalization post - three days later! Since I was still there, he was able to still come and visit, but he felt awful he didn’t get the original post. My solution to getting stuff from my friends in a timely manner has been to create a separate feed under my location. Under “favorites” there’s a selection (I think for everyone) with your location - mine says “Chicago, Illinois Area” and it loads whatever friends are in your same town automatically. (It’s been a long time, I think that was how it worked) You can then edit/add whoever you want to that list. So all the friends I want to get updates from, especially when they post personal pics and/or plain text. It’s nice because it doesn’t have all the other stuff from ‘liked’ pages and advertisements and extraneous stuff like that. The only maintenance I have to do is when I make new friends who aren’t showing Chicago as their location, I have to remember to add them to that feed. That’s it. So I use my news feed for actual news updates like Tom Skilling’s weather updates and the local NBC news highlights, plus posts and links to my interests from ‘liked’ pages like Cracked and Food Inc., and my “Chicago, Illinois Area” feed to see posts by actual human friends. Anyway, hope that helps. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/653 "2014-01-30T06:22:29Z")
Huh. Nothing to rant about today. Got a surprise raise show up on my paycheck, IRS accepted my return early so should get my refund in the next couple weeks, and my farmer is making home deliveries (her big box freezer truck won’t start) tomorrow so I don’t have to leave the house. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/654 "2014-01-30T16:16:44Z")
Six telemarketing calls yesterday. And another one from a local elected official about some bullshit the pompous twit decided was important. I called his office and they refused to apologize or agree never to call again. So I’m not only getting bullshit calls from Rachel at Cardholder services and scum who think I’m eighty and need nursing services, I’m also getting them from someone I probably helped elect, who’s salary I pay. Charming. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/655 "2014-01-30T16:42:37Z")
Repeat after me; _My telephone is a tool. That exists for my convenience. When it stops being convenient, I stop using it._ ---
**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:** [January 30, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/656 "2014-01-30T17:08:29Z")
_" … and doggone it, people like me."_ ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/657 "2014-01-30T17:13:44Z")
I suppose I should be thankful that the plow drivers are going slow today, as it allowed me to get out of my driveway since we received ANOTHER SIX GAWDDAMNED INCHES OF SNOW. I have a 6’ high fence separating our property from our back neighbors. In our patio area, only about 1’ of fence is showing, due to drifts and the seemingly every other day occurrence of the white stuff. Plus - my favorite shovel broke. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/658 "2014-01-30T18:16:40Z")
Yeah, traffic was ridiculously slow this morning, primarily because it was snowing heavily _during_ rush hour. Took my bus an hour and a half for what is normally a 30-35 minute ride. But this is normal for us and we don’t turn into pussy assed zombie apocalypse town (like Atlanta) over a couple of inches of snow. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/659 "2014-01-30T19:13:32Z")
I have had a cold since Sunday. It’s pretty awful and I have also contracted what I call ‘snot stomach’ as a result. I thought I felt just about as bad as it could get. Nope. From having the chills, my nipples keep getting hard. They are now chafed. Ow ow ow! ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/660 "2014-01-30T19:57:06Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > But this is normal for us and we don’t turn into pussy assed zombie apocalypse town (like Atlanta) over a couple of inches of snow. I won’t snark on those down South who never learned the art of driving on snow/ice, because it’s such a rare happening for them AND their DOT is not equipped for it. A friend from Louisiana came up one year during the St Paul Winter Carnival. He had driven through states with snow, but never actually experienced it. He was bundled up like the little brother from “A Christmas Story”, waddling around like a penguin. He could NOT walk on ice - instaturtle. Going tubing was a hoot. He kept asking me why we play in the snow. Why not? However, if he had asked me to come down to his area in Louisiana in August? No way in hell. I’d melt into a puddle. Plus I think of our fellow Minnesotan drivers after the first snowfall. Idjits, the lot of them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605.md?page=32) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605.md?page=34)