# It's a new year - time for fresh new mini-rants! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 4, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629 "2010-01-04T16:26:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/281 "2010-01-25T14:42:59Z")
Argh! If you insist I complete 25(!) stupid online learning modules “at my convenience” that each take 20 minutes to complete before I return to work a) Don’t send me this information 10 days before I go back to work b) Pay me for the 8hours of mandatory tedium c) ENSURE THE BLOODY WEBSITE DOESN’T KEEP CRASHING HALF-WAY THROUGH A MODULE! Seriously, I have better things to do with my life than complete an online learning module about the correct way to fill in a death certificate or what colour fire extinguisher to use on a paper fire, never mind waiting all day for the page to re-load. This is not medicine- it is post Shipman CYA by my employer so that they can say "but all our staff completed the mandatory training"if something horrible happens. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/282 "2010-01-25T16:44:22Z")
> [@irishgirl](#): > > b) Pay me for the 8hours of mandatory tedium Not a lawyer, etc. etc., but aren’t they required to pay you for required training? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/283 "2010-01-25T16:57:45Z")
> [@Headrush042](#): > > Personally, I blame Pearl Jam. Their first album was monstrously good, but after that it was way too whiny for me. And everyone loved them even more. And then all I heard on the radio was whiny guys. And then the emo movement was born. Justified or not (I admit my perception on this may be skewed), I blame all of emo and its unholy offspring on Eddie Vedder. It’s not justified. Eddie Vedder is partly responsible for fake whining, which I also hate because you can tell that they’re just not into it, and also are holding themselves back from an honest whine because it would seem unmanly. There were artists back then that had a more honest whine on college radio, and that’s who you should go about blaming, although I’m right there with you when you blame Eddie for Nickelback 🙂 ---
**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 25, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/284 "2010-01-25T18:00:34Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Not a lawyer, etc. etc., but aren’t they required to pay you for required training? This would be the case for us Merkins, but I’ll direct your attention to **irishgirl** ’s user name. As it happens, it’s also a clue to her location. I’m not prepared to say whether Ireland would place the same requirements on an employer. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/285 "2010-01-25T19:42:20Z")
I just figured it would be the same in other first-world countries. Huh. ---
**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 25, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/286 "2010-01-25T19:46:43Z")
Auto-tune is bad enough when used liberally in so many songs now, but the whole friggin’ song? Really? Man, is that annoying. Like nails on a chalkboard annoying. Scraping your knife across the porcelain plate annoying. I wonder if there is an application to un-auto-tune songs. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/287 "2010-01-25T19:52:32Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Auto-tune is bad enough when used liberally in so many songs now, but the whole friggin’ song? Really? If you haven’t heard it yet, [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc) may actually make you appreciate the existence of auto-tune. (Hope it’s the right link–I can’t actually reach YouTube from work, so I have to Google and cross my fingers.) ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/288 "2010-01-25T21:22:55Z")
**kaylasdad99** They are indeed supposed to pay us…that doesn’t however mean that they will. These are the people who screwed up my maternity pay so that: 1. I received no money at all on the day it was due- 3 months into my leave 2. The payment was delayed by almost 2 weeks after I identitfied the issue to HR 3. When I was paid the next month it was £1000 short (wrong tax band, no annual bonus, no special circumstance banding) 4. That took another 2 weeks to sort out- HR told me “we don’t actually know how they calculate the doctors’ salaries- are you sure there is a problem?” I’m incredibly lucky that we have enough in savings and from my husband’s salary that we didn’t miss any payments or billls- if they did this to a single mother or someone in a less fortunate financial position they could have been out on the street or struggling to heat their home or to buy food. Yep- I somehow don’t see that money appearing in my wage packet any time soon, but I will indeed be raising the issue on the induction day. ---
**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 26, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/289 "2010-01-26T02:29:33Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > If you haven’t heard it yet, [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc) may actually make you appreciate the existence of auto-tune. (Hope it’s the right link–I can’t actually reach YouTube from work, so I have to Google and cross my fingers.) That’s fine, but where’s the hos and the bling? ---
**Author:** ![Scruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Scruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruff)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/290 "2010-01-26T02:38:20Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I just figured it would be the same in other first-world countries. Huh. Since when was Ireland a first-world country? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/291 "2010-01-26T02:43:38Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > HAH HAH THAT MARMADUKE JUMPED ON THE FURNITURE AGAIN > > stupid capslock prevention script A few days ago I excused myself from my grandmother’s awful lingering deathbed to get some fresh air and go to the Carnegie Library to do some research on the department store delivery driver strike my grandfather was in in the early 50’s. (17 months, millions lost, net result - five cents an hour.) Anyway, I copied a bunch of articles for my mom, and one of them had a Marmaduke next to it. He was on the sofa again. 1953. ETA - my dad’s the one who reads Snuffy Smith. I’m sorry. He also thinks that Beetle Baily’s funny. He’s 78. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/292 "2010-01-26T13:09:49Z")
_Peyton Manning is God…New Orleans recovers from tragedy…Peyton Manning is God…New Orleans recovers from tragedy…Peyton Manning is God…New Orleans recovers from tragedy…Peyton Manning is God…New Orleans recovers from tragedy…Peyton Manning is God…New Orleans recovers from tragedy…Peyton Manning is God…New Orleans recovers from tragedy…Peyton Manning is God…New Orleans recovers from tragedy…Peyton Manning is God…New Orleans recovers from tragedy…Peyton Manning is God…_ Just a reminder to myself that I won’t be able to watch or listen to any sports news for the next two weeks. The ESPN Interchangeable Morning Morons Show managed to hit both of these themes in the first five seconds after I mistakenly turned it on today. I’ll be glad when the Superbowl is over. ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/293 "2010-01-26T15:01:58Z")
To the HR person at my wife’s employer, thank you for disregarding my wife’s emails and calls for months trying to get her insurance coverage started. Without your dogged determination to make sure that her coverage was not in force when promised, my wife would have missed out on trying to explain the situation to various people. To my insurance company employee, when my wife called to inform you that you would be secondary insurer retroactive to two months prior, thank you for instead clawing back all claims paid since the beginning of the year. You couldn’t have been more helpful. To my wife’s insurer, if we had known that prior approval for that MRI was needed we would have asked, but we didn’t have the policy with you at that point. You were assigned as primary retroactively. What the fuck were we supposed to do? Now my insurance which had paid the whole thing the first go-around is not paying anything as secondary because you have denied the claim. Again many thanks to the HR rep mentioned above for giving my wife the gift of many hours on the phone during her time off trying to figure this shit out. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Goliath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rex\_Goliath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Goliath)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/294 "2010-01-26T16:42:35Z")
No, customer, fuck you, that is a highball glass. What you want is a lowball, or rocks glass. I don’t care if you’ve been drinking whiskey for 45 years, you’re still fucking wrong, and fuck you for your condescending “kids these days” bullshit lecture. You eat your sirloin well done, what the fuck do you know about anything anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/295 "2010-01-26T16:47:53Z")
> [@Rex\_Goliath](#): > > No, customer, fuck you, that is a highball glass. What you want is a lowball, or rocks glass. How the fuck is anyone even confused about that? It’s right there in the name: **high** ball. ---
**Author:** ![Cherrie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e495f1/32.png) [@Cherrie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cherrie)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/296 "2010-01-26T18:39:57Z")
How am I the first one to mention this. Can we get an explanation for why Cat Whisperer and Shot from Guns both posted the exact same thing within minutes of each? No mention of a quote gone wrong, no mention of “Ha it totally looks like I am Cat Whisperers’ sock because I totally messed up the quote thing.” [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=546402&page=4](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=546402&page=4) ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/297 "2010-01-26T18:42:50Z")
> [@Cherrie](#): > > How am I the first one to mention this. Can we get an explanation for why Cat Whisperer and Shot from Guns both posted the exact same thing within minutes of each? No mention of a quote gone wrong, no mention of “Ha it totally looks like I am Cat Whisperers’ sock because I totally messed up the quote thing.” > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=546402&page=4](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=546402&page=4) It was a joke. She was ranting that no one bothered to read earlier posts in a thread, so I posted her exact text back again, suggesting that I was angry about the same thing, yet hadn’t read the previous text of \*this \*thread. ---
**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 26, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/298 "2010-01-26T18:47:02Z")
Have any of you ever seen me and **Shot From Guns** in the same room together? MUWAHAHAHAHA! Ahem. I have no idea what you’re talking about, **Cherrie**. ETA: Oh oh. I told you I was on this morning, **Shot From Guns**! Can’t you read a schedule? ---
**Author:** ![Cherrie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e495f1/32.png) [@Cherrie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cherrie)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/299 "2010-01-26T19:07:03Z")
Reading comprehension, FTW! My apologies ladies, you may now return to being completely unique individuals. I am sure you are relieved. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629/300 "2010-01-26T21:13:56Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Oh oh. I told you I was on this morning, **Shot From Guns**! Can’t you read a schedule? Well, technically, we were here five minutes apart. Do you think we’ve argued with [del]ourself[/del] each other enough that they’re convinced yet? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-new-year-time-for-fresh-new-mini-rants/523629.md?page=16)