# Happy New Rant Year! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 1, 2023, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461 "2023-01-01T11:29:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/221 "2023-01-27T01:57:36Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > lived like one Not sure if that’s complementary or deprecating. I can see either. Ciaó. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/222 "2023-01-27T02:14:04Z")
I had a good interview last tuesday. I was hired on the spot. He sent me an e mail saying I was hired, I started filling out the documents in it. He said the mail glitched up, and it would be a few hours before it righted. He gave me a 5 for the bus home. I told him to call when he was ready to continue onboarding. I’ve called a few times since then hes never in. Today I called, and the man said hes not available right now, who’s calling? I said my name, and said hold on. He came back in a minute and said, Hes not available. Why he would hire me and change his mind, I do not know. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/223 "2023-01-27T02:28:58Z")
That’s so weird and frustrating, I’m sorry. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/224 "2023-01-27T02:36:09Z")
Wow! I wouldn’t be organized enough to be able to handle all that. You could use a live-in au pair - too bad they need to be paid! I wasn’t able to work full-time while my kids were young, but had to cobble together whatever I could to make ends meet during school hours without incurring expenses to manage it. It was very hard, and having special-needs kids really compounded the difficulties, as you know. But my brother and his wife (both full-time-and-beyond professionals) were able to swing for a live-in au pair, which made caring for their 3 kids (2 of them with special needs) do-able for them - in fact, the kids thrived with the extra attention. I wonder how the cost of an au pair compares to day care? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/225 "2023-01-27T02:44:08Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Hes not available. Sounds like the beginning of a mystery/suspense movie. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/226 "2023-01-27T02:49:28Z")
Well, when I was working part-time we had a nanny three days a week - that was due to concerns about COVID - $2,000/month. It was tough for us to swing. Now daycare is about $1500/month full-time. I have no idea what his evaluations and interventions might cost. That is a big question mark in our current budget. We have a cousin with three wild children under three who is pregnant with her fourth. She’s been through three au-pairs since November. Good childcare is hard to find. Not to mention I think my son’s daycare is critical to his development right now. He was struggling with a lot of things before he started daycare, and has improved in a lot of areas. He loves it. I would not take that away from him. It’s okay, we will figure it out! We are trying a new morning routine tomorrow! Wish me luck! ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/227 "2023-01-27T04:33:17Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Wish me luck! Best of luck!! ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/228 "2023-01-27T13:41:44Z")
We both got up at 6am this morning to try the more balanced schedule. It went really well. We split kitchen duty. I got my exercise and **Sr. Weasel** got in an extra hour of work while I got the kid ready. I think we both needed a _reason_ to get up early, and by making our schedules interdependent on each other we created that reason. My ultimate goal is to shift wakeup time to 5:30am, but we’ll start with 6am. Now I just need to get started on work in a timely fashion. That is another matter… ---
**Author:** ![slalexan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@slalexan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slalexan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/229 "2023-01-27T14:05:53Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > (he likes this for some reason) Might be a sensory seeking behavior, might help him regulate his body and calm down. If it isn’t onerous for you or harming him, I wouldn’t worry about this too much. My daughter likes being in small spaces and wraps herself in about 10000000 blankets every night and I used to worry that this would mean she would suffocate but she always comes out when she needs air so I guess it’s ok. Meanwhile, my shoulder really hurts. A lot. I injured it about 5 years ago now (soft tissue injury, tendonitis afterward). I was doing overhead shoulder presses in the gym in the mirror keeping what I thought was good form but I must have done something wrong. I hoped it was just delayed onset muscle soreness but it’s been a week and only getting worse. Now it hurts if I breathe too deeply and I’m not for this. On top of all this, it’s performance review season and I am ANXIOUS to the max, which is probably not helping the shoulder. I don’t know what to do. I don’t think I can keep going like this. ---
**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 27, 2023, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/230 "2023-01-27T14:07:03Z")
Have you taken any ibuprofen? ---
**Author:** ![slalexan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@slalexan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slalexan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/231 "2023-01-27T14:07:57Z")
Yes, but it didn’t help much. And my stomach is really upset from all the anxiety that I don’t want to trouble it further. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/232 "2023-01-27T14:39:42Z")
We got a bit of snow overnight, not much. An employee told me her car was driving weird, causing her to slide off the road at one point. Curious, I went out and looked at her car. She had four bald tires, but a recent state inspection sticker. I advised her about the tires and asked how it passed inspection. Turns out she took her car to a friend who told her she needed tires. She told him she couldn’t afford it right now, and he passed her car anyway. I told her she needed tires, and that she could get her friend in huge trouble telling people he passed her with bald tires. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/233 "2023-01-27T15:29:07Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > My sister used to live about 7 miles from Mom’s condo. She recently moved- four and a half hours north. Now, denying and refusing to see that I have a life in Philly, sis says that if Mom needs 24 hour care I should move to Florida and provide it. I can see it’s tough for you, but I also feel sympathy for your sister. From experience I know that families tend to settle on the idea that whoever is physically closest SHOULD be the one to take on the majority of caring for family members that develop problems, physical or mental or financial. Also daughters somehow get ‘designated’ to be the carer more often, I guess those genes must be located on the X chromosomes. I can perfectly well see someone stuck with that role and not emotionally suited for it deciding it is just coincidentally necessary to move away, at least further than another potential sacrifice to ‘family duty.’ Due to various almost random factors, my husband and I ended up living in a larger than we ever needed house within easy commuting distance to Boston and all its universities and colleges. It was just so obvious that we should provide free housing for various nieces/nephews/cousins/etc. to help them out during their college years, you know? And both of us coming from largish families with interlocking ages…well, the “family” basically thought we should be happy to spend a few decades as dorm parents to a rotating cast of people suffering through the most aggravating period of the ‘turning into somewhat of an adult’ process. For a stretch we seriously considered selling and moving away. Finally we grew spines shiny enough to simply say “No. Staying a few days or a week for the checking out schools process? Fine. But we’re too old and settled to enjoy the drama of college roomies.” ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/234 "2023-01-27T16:25:48Z")
No matter how many kids someone has, it seems like one kid always gets stuck with the elder care. I thought I dodged that bullet even though I’m an only child because I don’t have a relationship with either of my parents, but my beloved (step)grandmother is roughly my mother’s age and I really doubt her daughter’s gonna step up when the time comes. What I think is I want to do everything possible to ensure I am never a burden on my son. Whether that means stocking more money away for some fancy retirement home, well, we’ll do what we gotta. ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/235 "2023-01-27T17:56:17Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > “Wrinklies” is bog standard UK slang for the elderly. I love it too. I think it’s sort of endearing, but I admit I really don’t know whether the Brits think it so. As a Brit, I think most people regard the term “wrinklies” as fairly harmless and endearing. I prefer calling them “oldiewonks” instead. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/236 "2023-01-27T18:21:45Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’d say it makes life DIFFERENT. These elevators are now commonplace in tall buildings. Still in the minority, but they’re far from rare. Especially in fancier buildings a big percentage of new fits or renovations are this kind. Makes me hate elevators even more. As someone who is mildly claustrophobic, I’ve always hated the idea of being enclosed in a metal box over which I have no control and from which I have no escape if the metal box so chooses. I’ll also add, on that tangential subject, that I hate “express elevators” even more. Because if an express elevator decides to stall, or there is a power failure, instead of being stuck between floors, you’re stuck inside a shaft of solid concrete with potentially no openings hundreds of feet in either direction. Not my idea of fun. I was once going someplace in an old building with a creaky old elevator. I reluctantly got in, and then a bunch of other people crowded in, jostling and pushing until this aforementioned metal box was crammed like a sardine tin. That did it! At that point I didn’t care what anybody thought, I pushed my way out and got the hell out of there and took the stairs. ---
**Author:** ![WalterBishop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@WalterBishop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WalterBishop)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/237 "2023-01-27T19:39:27Z")
People who talk loudly and incessantly on their phones on trains should be put up against a wall and shot. Not fatally. Just badly enough to cause them excruciating pain every day for the rest of their lives. In other news, quitting nicotine gum is nearly as hard as giving up smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/238 "2023-01-27T19:48:26Z")
People who interrupt short calls for car transport on trains because some comfort-craven moron creates an unwritten rule that calls some car a ‘sleeping car’ need to be shot. In the face. And then dragged with a gaff through the neck between cars and tossed out onto the opposing track. If they can get out of the way from being chopped in half by an oncoming train, good on them. (Have a nice walk home.) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/239 "2023-01-27T20:26:12Z")
Wait-list to get my son evaluated for autism ranges from 6 months to 2 years. It’s like driving in the dark. How can I begin to help him if I don’t know what the hell is going on? ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461/240 "2023-01-27T20:35:02Z")
> [@scareyfaerie](#): > > As a Brit, I think most people regard the term “wrinklies” as fairly harmless and endearing. I prefer calling them “oldiewonks” instead. As an oldiewonks myself, I find it endearing too. Thank you. Wrinkles is ok, but not as endearing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-rant-year/977461.md?page=13)