It's time for June mini rants. Be the second...

The BBQ Pit
161

Self, you are an idiot. First, you lose your pants. Then, after several days, of intense searching, head scratching, and whining over inexplicably losing one of only 3 pairs of pants that currently fit*, Mr. Brown finds them in the backpack you figured they must be in and actually looked in several times, missing them each time. How does this happen? You looked right at them and didn’t register it…at least a dozen times!

  • You are even more of an idiot for gaining back a lot of the weight you lost last fall because you have been too lazy to get off your ass and go run AND you are eating crap again. You know better, dammit!
162

Update: Better this morning. Whew. If this root canal fails, the next step is pulling that tooth, and I’m attached to it.

EmAnJ, the newest thing in Calgary crap driving is for people to go around you in a single lane when you’re waiting for a stop sign or stop light and do their thing. Like, you’re waiting for traffic to clear to make a right turn on red, and some shit-weasel from behind you just whips around you. You’re left sputtering, “You…can’t…DO THAT!”

163

Dear self: Stop rolling over onto your side and mashing your face into the pillow when you sleep. It’s annoying to wake up with one eye watering, blurring and feeling funny. I’ve been awake for almost 4 hours now and the eye is still irritated.

Dear city: I know roadwork is part of summer and detours are inevitable. But the problem comes not when you detour one busy street to another, but detour THREE busy streets to one.

I’m blocked off from three directions right now by construction, doubling my (admittedly short) commute home.

164

Can someone explain to me why we peons are subject to “operational needs” restrictions on how many of us can take a vacation day at any particular time, but all three freakin’ managers can be out on the same day? Also, supervisors AND their alternates being allowed to both be out on the same day. My job is awkward enough when I have to try to explain why the client’s caseworker isn’t picking up their phone (because SHE’S out), her alternate isn’t (because HE’S out), their supervisor isn’t (because HE’S out), that sup’s alternate isn’t (because SHE’S out), and NONE of the three managers (the next (and basically, ultimate) step up the ladder) is here, and not for something legit like a training day, but just on individual vacation or personal days.

Is it so hard to make sure that at least ONE PERSON in each caseload is here, that at least ONE SUPERVISOR in each alternateship is here, and that at least ONE MANAGER is here every day? Really?

165

This crap drives me crazy. They do that to us here – “I’m sorry, rockle, you can’t take a vacation day on 6/17 because three other people are out already” – but as it turns out, the three people who are scheduled off are the director, the manager, and one of the supervisors in our department. And they? Are all going shopping together. Grr.

166

Man, I would have thought your office would pretty much have to have an Officer of the Day. :confused:

167

More developments in my homeless guy sleeping in back yard situation. I got lectured in the bar by a friend for not being more understanding and not giving him money and food when I removed him.

Sure, because that isn’t going to encourage him to keep coming back for more, is it? Tell you what, why don’t I give him your apartment key so he has somewhere indoors to crash?

168

We have a rotating supervisor-on-duty, but their main purpose is to handle calls from people who aren’t current clients and therefore don’t have a caseworker. I’ve actually gotten complaints from the sup-on-duty before when I transferred calls from clients whose reporting-chain wasn’t there at all that day. “We’re not babysitters for clients who have caseworkers! We are for non-clients only! (Except for actual clients in their reporting-chain)”

We’re having a small phone-answering problem as it is, unfortunately, in that everyone in the office seems to think they’re too busy doing important stuff to answer their phone when it rings (okay, not everybody…but a significant number). At some point this month, I’m planning on doing a survey day where I actually track who answers transferred calls and who doesn’t, and bringing that to admin.

169

Dang. Maybe you should join the Boy Scouts; at least they have adult supervision…

170

Same shit at our call center. When certain things happen, you have to involve a supervisor. An actual supervisor, not an “acting supervisor”. When the shit came down today, not a single one of them was on the floor. Other times if you have a systems issue, they have to observe it happening and sign a little form. Of course, far too often it happens when…not a fucking one of them is on the floor.

171

Botheration. It seems that the Virgin Mobile website doesn’t like Firefox. I cannot log in using Firefox. I CAN log in using Internet Explorer.

So I pit idiot companies that can’t be bothered to make sure their web sites are compatible with all the major browsers in use, and/or who use Microsoft proprietary web coding. I had to deal with a lot of annoyance this afternoon because your developers can’t be bothered to take into account that NOT EVERYONE USES INTERNET EXPLODER YOU STUPID LAZY-ASS NO-ACCOUNTS! And while we’re at it, where the FUCK was you QA department? They should be TESTING for this sort of thing.

No love, no cookies,

Me

172

I can log into the Virgin Mobile website with no problem on Firefox, including top-up and other client functions (I just topped up last night, as a matter of fact). Are you using the most recent version of Firefox?

173

One summer in Calgary, they were doing work on the overpasses that cross over the main highway, so they shut down (I think it was) four bridges in a row that people used to get east/west. Uh, you have virtually cut the north part of our city in half with these construction projects, city planners - you think maybe you can rotate the bridges that you shut down?

I wonder about that, too - I know that I don’t see things that I’m missing in Safari because occasionally I run into a screen that I know should have a radio button or something, but nothing. Then I fire up Opera, and VIOLA! there it is. I can see not designing for every single browser, but at least do the major ones, and since Safari is the default browser for Macs, I consider that a major one.

174

I’m using 3.6.1.7, because there are a couple of plugins I love that aren’t compatible with 4. I do have both NoScript and AdBlock Plus installed, but neither registered as blocking anything. I even cleared my cache. No dice.

I used to consider myself fairly tech savvy, but lately I think I’m losing my creds …

175

On the topic of browser incompatibility, fuck CBS News for having one of the websites that goes “omgz you’re on a smartphone!! Here’s our mobile site!” and then completely fails to actually redirect you to the article promised in the link you were following. I know there’s an xkcd comic on the topic but I’m too lazy to look it up.

176

Here ya go!

177

Middle-aged male employee at Borders Express in Fair Oaks Mall yesterday, just go straight to hell and do not collect $200.

Since 1985, I have been shopping at that store and its previous incarnations (Waldenbooks, Brentano’s, Waldenbooks again). I have bought dozens of books there and spent countless Saturday afternoons just hanging out. Never bothered anybody.

Suddenly yesterday, this guy, in a tone not far removed from a cop giving an order, snapped at me that I had to check my bag at the counter if I wanted to shop there.

(Aside: When exactly did “sir” become a term of contempt from an authority figure to an ordinary schlub? I always wince in anticipation when I hear it.)

First, I carry my tote bag everywhere I go, including into that store on many previous occasions. Nobody, anywhere, has had a problem with it.

Second, there was no sign, nothing to indicate that policies had changed.

Third, there were other people in the store with bags and purses and none of them were being asked to check their items.

Maybe he didn’t like the color of my eyes; maybe I reminded him of some guy who leered at his teenage daughter.

I do not like being treated as a thief. I have never stolen so much as a stick of gum. I won’t be returning to that store. Thank you very much for fucking up 26 years of happy memories, dickbag.

I hope Borders does go under now, just so that asshole loses his job. And I hope I see him panhandling later, so I can spit in his face.

178

I pit my friend’s recently-acquired habit of carrying on a (completely unrelated) text conversation while I’m talking to her on the phone. Having to deal with distracted drivers is bad enough, now I have to deal with distracted talkers, too…sheesh!

179

I don’t socialize with people who text while I’m sitting with them. You have my undivided attention; I expect the same in return.

180

My husband is updating his Garmin, and my intarwebz r slo.