# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/101 "2014-01-03T16:30:33Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > High today in the low 20’s with a 60% chance of freezing rain overnight tonight. > > Then the bottom falls out and there’s a zero percent chance of road salt clearing that shit up. > > Saturday night -24 > Sunday night -27 > Monday night -24 > > I’m expecting at least a third of the state (Minnesota) to call in sick on Monday or work from home. Huh, I thought Minnesotans were blase about temps above -40, sort of like Winnipeggers. Ranty rant: you are a well known douchebag around these parts, but not salting/sanding your sidewalk in front of the neighbourhood post office box? That’s extra super douchey. I don’t want to be “that guy” and call by-law, but with a number of seniors in our area, I’m thinking it might be time for a visit. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/102 "2014-01-03T17:11:18Z")
Well, note that is air temperature, not WIND CHILL, which will be considerable, since they’re saying we’ll be eating 20+mph winds over the weekend and through Monday. ---
**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 3, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/103 "2014-01-03T17:14:40Z")
I rent, and the landlord is responsible for snow removal. Interestingly, I can’t find anything in this new town’s regulations about sidewalk snow removal, so for all I know, the town is supposed to handle that near downtown, which is where we are. Whoever he hires is great about plowing the lot behind the building, because that’s fast and easy - pickup truck with a blade goes zip, zip and it’s done. But the sidewalk hasn’t been done quickly, which sucks. This morning I walked out of the building… to find the front walk between front door and sidewalk had been cleaned very nicely, and the sidewalk was untouched. I don’t even know what that person was thinking. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/104 "2014-01-03T17:22:36Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > High today in the low 20’s with a 60% chance of freezing rain overnight tonight. > > Then the bottom falls out and there’s a zero percent chance of road salt clearing that shit up. > > Saturday night -24 > Sunday night -27 > Monday night -24 > > I’m expecting at least a third of the state (Minnesota) to call in sick on Monday or work from home. > [@Chimera](#): > > Well, note that is air temperature, not WIND CHILL, which will be considerable, since they’re saying we’ll be eating 20+mph winds over the weekend and through Monday. I see that your governor has canceled all schools for Monday and urged caution for everyone else. Smart man. ---
**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:** [January 3, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/105 "2014-01-03T17:28:01Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > \ > Lots of people stop her to ask about the bat! Part of what gets Mom so riled up about the dog situation is the number of people – including the neighbor in this recent encounter – who insist that “the doggy just wanted to play”. Mom grew up around dogs (and cats – her childhood home was located at a crossroads way out in the country, and people would frequently dump animals there); plus, she’s involved with a dog rescue. She’s very familiar with the difference between an overexcited dog who really does want to play and one that’s likely to attack. Every time an uncontrolled dog comes bounding up to me, the owners say, “He won’t hurt you!” One of these days, they’re going to be wrong. It’s a dog - they don’t know what it’s going to do. I’m sure every Doper is the World’s Most Responsible Dog Owner, but the people in my neighbourhood (and your mom’s) are not. > [@MissTake](#): > > I’m in office today, but I tell ya - I will NOT be going outside unless absolutely necessary Sunday or Monday. I will be working from home Monday. It’s snowing here again - I’m going to go for a long walk. I have too much Christmas food in me still. 🙂 > [@Dante](#): > > \ > Ranty rant: you are a well known douchebag around these parts, but not salting/sanding your sidewalk in front of the neighbourhood post office box? That’s extra super douchey. I don’t want to be “that guy” and call by-law, but with a number of seniors in our area, I’m thinking it might be time for a visit. I tweeted a picture of a local fire hall with ice-covered sidewalks last week, and the sidewalks were cleaned off next time I went by. You just have to @ the right people. 🙂 ETA: I realized that it’s a private sidewalk, not a post office sidewalk. Yeah, I’d try to call the by-law people (note I say “try” - see my post earlier this thread on how useful they are around here). ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/106 "2014-01-03T17:43:10Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > I see that your governor has canceled all schools for Monday and urged caution for everyone else. Smart man. Now if only he would show as much courage in supporting Medical Marijuana, which he says he’ll veto since Law Enforcement opposes it. :rolleyes: Despite 65% public approval of MM. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/107 "2014-01-03T19:18:57Z")
Stupid disagreement today with husband. I had bought him a wall calendar for Christmas, with pictures of our breed of dog. I noticed it lying around the bedroom today, and asked him if I should bring it with us to work (we work in the same office). He said, no, he didn’t plan to hang it up. I was a bit hurt and surprised, but it’s not the first time I’ve failed at buying him gifts, so I put it down and went back to eating my lunch. A few minutes later, he said, “You’re upset about that calendar, aren’t you?” I acknowledged that I was sad he hadn’t liked it, but was trying to think if anyone else might want it or if we could return it. He got exasperated, went to fetch it, said he’d put it up. I told him I wasn’t trying to force him to use it. No, he’s going to hang it up now. He just doesn’t approve of that stuff. WTF? He says he doesn’t think people should put up pictures and things in their office, because it’s, you know, _work_. If I understood him better I would know that. Well, I had always known he was not the frivolous sort, but I didn’t realize it was some sort of [del]crazy[/del] deep-seated personal belief I had stumbled against. I could honestly return that calendar and not hold a grudge, but what I couldn’t ever do is get him to believe that. He thinks I’m annoyed with him, he will solve this problem by hanging up the evil calendar, end of discussion. Now I should cheer right on up, unless I’m sulking. I’m not sulking, but seriously. I think we need to drop this subject forever. ---
**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 3, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/108 "2014-01-03T19:40:19Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > It’s snowing here again - I’m going to go for a long walk. I have too much Christmas food in me still. 🙂 Snow I can handle. I can drive in snow. Snow is my favorite. Cold, though? Bitter, cannot breathe cold? Oh no. I would much rather have a foot of snow than the forecasted windchills of -40F. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/109 "2014-01-03T19:47:11Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Gee, the poor guy just got elected. Doesn’t he get a little grace period before being declared a dumbass? > > Sorry, it’s New York, I forgot. No, damn it. It was a freaking blizzard. Half the kids were going to be home anyway. I would have been very miffed had I still been living in NYC needing to sit around and wait for him to make the obvious call. Of course all the snow did not prevent Stupid the Cat from running outside after I grabbed the mail this morning. He ran from me and promptly jumped into a snowdrift where he mewed himself silly until I stopped laughing and rescued his wet rear. He’s now sitting on my living room ottoman, licking his backside and giving me dirty looks. Foolish feline! ---
**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 3, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/110 "2014-01-03T20:01:51Z")
Why do some people have to yawn so loudly? Some things are annoying but necessary. Yawning loudly is both annoying and unneccessary. ---
**Author:** ![Tracyfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f14d63/32.png) [@Tracyfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracyfish)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/111 "2014-01-03T20:18:56Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > The news story about a bad flu season and everyone lining up for flu shots is irritating me - flu shots have been available for free since October\* (my husband and I got ours in November). Did all the people who are now lined up just think we would have no influenza this year? I don’t get it - you get a vaccination before the flu season starts, not once the news starts reporting people are dying. > > \*Just saw another news story that confirmed when the vaccination was available. I’m one of those people. My company gives free flu shots in the office each fall, but since I was working from home, I missed it and forgot about it. My husband asked his doctor about getting a flu shot when he was there for an appointment last September or October, and his doctor told him he didn’t need one because he doesn’t ever get sick. Now my husband is coughing and had aches/chills yesterday. I have an appointment to get a flu shot tomorrow, but it’s probably too late to be effective at this rate. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/112 "2014-01-03T20:33:53Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > ETA: I realized that it’s a private sidewalk, not a post office sidewalk. Yeah, I’d try to call the by-law people (note I say “try” - see my post earlier this thread on how useful they are around here). There’s an online reporting form. Which I’ve filled out and sent. 😃 ---
**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 3, 2014, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/113 "2014-01-03T21:31:39Z")
> [@Tracyfish](#): > > … My husband asked his doctor about getting a flu shot when he was there for an appointment last September or October, and his doctor told him he didn’t need one because he doesn’t ever get sick. . . Uhhhmmm … might be time for a new doctor. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/114 "2014-01-03T21:42:04Z")
Took my pickup in to get it serviced and asked them to see if they could find an engine block heater and it’s cord as I couldn’t. Turns out there is one (yay!) and the cord was still wrapped up and tied to the frame under the battery. It apparently had never been used since 1994! I then asked them if it worked and they said they didn’t test it. :smack: Hopefully I’ll be able to test it before it gets really cold this weekend, but finding the time may be problematic. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/115 "2014-01-03T23:12:55Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > Why do some people have to yawn so loudly? > > Some things are annoying but necessary. Yawning loudly is both annoying and unneccessary. Ever stopped to think that you’re too damned sensitive to noise and maybe it isn’t all these other people who need to change their behavior? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/116 "2014-01-03T23:29:45Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > And now for my rant - oh my fucking God, why is it so hard to report abandoned vehicles in Calgary? I called in another two vehicles which have sat outside my house for the last month without moving, and instead of being able to report them (the law here is that vehicles must be moved every 72 hours\*\*\*), I talked to a dispatcher who apparently was in a very, very bad mood. He told me that the vehicles weren’t derelict, they weren’t abandoned, people can leave their vehicles on the street as long as they like as long as they live in the neighbourhood, and the car with the expired tags on the license plate is showing as a legally-registered car, so the tags mean nothing. > > He gave me such attitude that I asked to talk to his supervisor, and he said that his supervisor was at lunch and he’d pass my phone number on to her. I said, “Yeah, sure you will,” thanked him for all his “help,” and hung up. I called back minutes later to get his name for my complaint about his lack of help and lack of professionalism. I sent an email to my city councillor (again) and to the supervisor of the Parking Authority’s customer service department (again). I hope they recorded the conversation so they can listen to him give me attitude and lie to me - when I got off the phone with him, I was shaking mad. > > \*\*\* From [this site.](http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/ABS/Pages/Bylaws-by-topic/Streets.aspx) I’m not sure I understand the outrage here. So there are cars parked on the street in front of your house and they aren’t used or re-parked often enough for you? Not everyone uses their car every day, and not everyone has room in their driveway or garage for a car that isn’t currently operational, what would you have them do with it until they can get it fixed? And why is it up to you to decide who gets to park where and for how long? Your link says under certain conditions a car _may_ be considered abandoned, so it sounds like the police have some discretion here and they’re using it. I think it might be time to let this one go. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/117 "2014-01-04T00:06:31Z")
> [@Tracyfish](#): > > I’m one of those people. My company gives free flu shots in the office each fall, but since I was working from home, I missed it and forgot about it. My husband asked his doctor about getting a flu shot when he was there for an appointment last September or October, and his doctor told him he didn’t need one because he doesn’t ever get sick. Now my husband is coughing and had aches/chills yesterday. I have an appointment to get a flu shot tomorrow, but it’s probably too late to be effective at this rate. Sorry to hear that. The news has been reporting we have something like a 10% vaccination rate here for flu this fall - there are plenty of people who legitimately forgot or missed the shot, but there are a whole lot more who either don’t want it at all or have some kind of messed-up idea of how vaccinations work. The last two are the problem, I figure. > [@moejoe](#): > > I’m not sure I understand the outrage here. So there are cars parked on the street in front of your house and they aren’t used or re-parked often enough for you? Not everyone uses their car every day, and not everyone has room in their driveway or garage for a car that isn’t currently operational, what would you have them do with it until they can get it fixed? And why is it up to you to decide who gets to park where and for how long? Your link says under certain conditions a car _may_ be considered abandoned, so it sounds like the police have some discretion here and they’re using it. I think it might be time to let this one go. If your car isn’t operational, it shouldn’t be on the street. If you don’t have enough room for your non-operational vehicles, you need to sell them or buy a house with more vehicle storage room. The street is not the storage area for non-operational vehicles - the law backs me up on this one. As for me getting to decide who gets to park where for how long, the vehicles have been tagged today and one has already been moved. If you want to park your car in front of your own house indefinitely, I probably won’t make a fuss (even though you are breaking the law if you don’t move it every 72 hours in Calgary). If you want to park your car in front of _my_ house indefinitely, I will call your car in eventually and have it towed. The law backs me up on this one, too - the dispatcher I talked to yesterday was wrong in just about everything he said to me (and he had a terrible attitude, as well). ---
**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 4, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/118 "2014-01-04T00:20:17Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Ever stopped to think that you’re too damned sensitive to noise and maybe it isn’t all these other people who need to change their behavior? :dubious: I think I am actually probably sensitive to noise. To the point of actually wearing earplugs on public transit. Though I’m a musician, so I make a lot of noise myself with my musical instruments. So maybe I’m being a hypocrite here. I dunno, aside from the noise issue, maybe I just find loud yawning rude to begin with. Or I’m sensitive, or weird. Though at least one other Doper [hates loud yawning too](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=658654), so I guess I’m not alone. ---
**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 4, 2014, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/119 "2014-01-04T00:30:37Z")
Oh, and if my wifi cuts out one more time, I will scream and throw something. (Okay, I won’t actually do either. I’m crazy, but not that crazy. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/120 "2014-01-04T00:52:05Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Sorry to hear that. The news has been reporting we have something like a 10% vaccination rate here for flu this fall - there are plenty of people who legitimately forgot or missed the shot, but there are a whole lot more who either don’t want it at all or have some kind of messed-up idea of how vaccinations work. The last two are the problem, I figure. > > If your car isn’t operational, it shouldn’t be on the street. If you don’t have enough room for your non-operational vehicles, you need to sell them or buy a house with more vehicle storage room. The street is not the storage area for non-operational vehicles - the law backs me up on this one. > > As for me getting to decide who gets to park where for how long, the vehicles have been tagged today and one has already been moved. If you want to park your car in front of your own house indefinitely, I probably won’t make a fuss (even though you are breaking the law if you don’t move it every 72 hours in Calgary). If you want to park your car in front of _my_ house indefinitely, I will call your car in eventually and have it towed. The law backs me up on this one, too - the dispatcher I talked to yesterday was wrong in just about everything he said to me (and he had a terrible attitude, as well). Ok, sure sure, I just don’t get why you care. Why does it bother you so much? Is it that you need the space for your car(s)? Is it ruining a really nice view? Or is it just that someone is breaking “the rules”? I can’t even imagine giving a shit about which car is parked where on the street for how long. I’m not trying to be a jerk here, I just don’t get it at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605.md?page=7)