# July is the longest month for mini-rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 1, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957 "2015-07-01T15:05:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/441 "2015-07-27T22:48:44Z")
I’m a bit WTF about the eraser brand requirement…as an engineer, I understand the need for certain types of erasers, but I’m having a hard time imagining how an eraser of that type would be any good against the types of pencils typically used by kindergarteners. (I prefer Staedtler over Pentel for erasers…Pentel is my favorite pencil brand though. 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/442 "2015-07-27T22:48:53Z")
Phew. Curiosity appeased. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/443 "2015-07-28T00:51:21Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > DO NOT PASS MY FOUR YEAR OLD’S DAUGHTER’S SCHOOL BUS! > > When that yellow pole is out front, don’t fucking pass. i don’t give a shit if you’re on the slightly other side of my residential side street. > > DO NOT PASS MY FOUR YEAR OLD’S DAUGHTER’S SCHOOL BUS. > > She was nearly run over. I was too busy having a near heart attack to get the asshole’s license plate. > > Ugh. Third time in two weeks I’ve seen some selfish, thoughtless, jackass prick speed past her bus. If you’re seeing this in the same area, let the cops know. It’s at least a ticketable offense here, same as running a stop sign since that’s what they’re doing. But it may be worse since it’s a school bus and children’s safety is inherently involved. Anyway, I’d alert the police, they may very well be happy to station a car in the area to keep an eye on things for a week or two. ---
**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:** [July 28, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/444 "2015-07-28T01:00:20Z")
Goddamn it, my laptop won’t connect to the internet, and I need for it to do so because I need to do some work involving the internet. My dad tried to get it to connect, and he couldn’t, either. And someone in my area got struck by lightning today and he’s in critical condition. See, morons who like thunderstorms - they’re friggin’ dangerous and scary, not fun. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/445 "2015-07-28T03:13:38Z")
Fuck Mosquitos , they may serve some purpose in the whole ecosystem thing but they all need to die , particularly the plump little bastards that feasted on my ankles. Yeah should have put Off on when walking the hound , but god damn those little buzzing, parasitic, long proboscis faced, distended abdomened blood sucking flying pieces of shit. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/446 "2015-07-28T05:04:28Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > Phew. Curiosity appeased. Yep. When I first got the list, I was a bit 😕 myself, but then I realized how ingenious the assignment really is. Generally a 50/50 split of genders in the classroom. Teachers and students will use more of the quart bags, but they come in larger quantities for the same price package, and voila! Hopefully, the classrooms will get what they need! I did grab a great big box of the gallon bags, plus extra pencils, crayons, cleaning wipes, scissors, erasers, tissue, notebook paper, and copy paper to throw into the supply closet - it’s nice, in a small way, to be able to pay a kindness forward to the next person who might need it (especially a little kid who needs school supplies!) Regarding folks passing school buses: some systems around here are adding cameras to their buses to catch folks who pass them illegally, and I say hooray! Drivers who pull that kind of shit ought to lose their licenses. I’m glad the little one is okay, but that’s no thanks to the morons who are too important to watch out for children! New subject: My knee hurts, and it’s all my dog’s fault. She likes to dig holes, and I stepped in one of her excavations while cutting the grass. I’m hot and sweaty and icky, but I don’t feel like standing up long enough to get a shower and de-ickify myself. ---
**Author:** ![eulalia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eulalia/32/457_2.png) [@eulalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eulalia)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/447 "2015-07-28T06:43:13Z")
> [@kiz](#): > > We have a few intellectually-disabled employees at my work. I wouldn’t say they’re treated like ghosts, but we’re discouraged from engaging with them because they’re easily derailed from their duties. For instance, one of them goes around the store and returns different items to different aisles. Everyone is told not to talk with him unless you ask him to do something because, if you do, he’ll stop and chat with you and everyone else for the rest of his shift. We have a few people at my workplace who do that, and they _aren’t_ intellectually disabled. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/448 "2015-07-28T13:09:22Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > Pentel is my favorite pencil brand though. 🙂 ) That sentence sent me back about 40 years. Loved my mechanical pencils back in the day. Now, I can barely remember when I last used a physical writing implement for anything more extensive than signing restaurant checks.or marking cut lines on 2x4’s. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/449 "2015-07-28T16:50:44Z")
I don’t know what the current laws are, but back when I was teaching, in the late '60s, we were told that it was forbidden to require students to supply anything at all. The rationale was that a free education must be supplied to all, regardless of ability to pay. ---
**Author:** ![Wednesday\_Evening](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Wednesday\_Evening](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wednesday_Evening)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/450 "2015-07-28T17:00:39Z")
So the husband emptied out 75% of the kitchen cabinets onto the kitchen floor so he could “see what we’re taking with us”. Then he picked out about 10% of the stuff on the floor to take with us. Then he put the 10% back in the cabinets and left all of the other stuff on the floor! Shouldn’t it be the other way around??? Must…control…Fist…Of…Death… ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/451 "2015-07-28T17:29:49Z")
It is STILL July??? I feel like this month has been three months long. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/452 "2015-07-28T19:22:16Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I don’t know who to complain to - the governor’s office? A congress-person or senator? Maybe start [here](http://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dcbcs/bds/index.htm). > [@Catamount](#): > > You know education is in a sad state when the schools can’t even provide fucking \*pencils \*to their students. I have never seen it where the school did provide pencils, notebooks, crayons, etc. We always had to bring that stuff with us to school. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/453 "2015-07-28T19:22:35Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > It is STILL July??? > > I feel like this month has been three months long. I told ya so… ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2015, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/454 "2015-07-28T22:48:27Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > That sentence sent me back about 40 years. Loved my mechanical pencils back in the day. Now, I can barely remember when I last used a physical writing implement for anything more extensive than signing restaurant checks.or marking cut lines on 2x4’s. We’re ‘strongly discouraged’ from using pencils where I work…I’ve never been comfortable sketching with a pen though, so I keep a stash of good mechanical pencils in my desk. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/455 "2015-07-29T00:05:19Z")
> [@Wednesday\_Evening](#): > > So the husband emptied out 75% of the kitchen cabinets onto the kitchen floor so he could “see what we’re taking with us”. Then he picked out about 10% of the stuff on the floor to take with us. Then he put the 10% back in the cabinets and left all of the other stuff on the floor! Shouldn’t it be the other way around??? > > Must…control…Fist…Of…Death… Wow. Sounds like he REALLY NEEDS that sabbatical. Are you sure six months is going to be long enough? ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/456 "2015-07-29T01:42:33Z")
Why is democracy so fucking hard? As I have mentioned, the school board and our superintendent fired our school principal. I gave brief thought to running for school board and decided I’d rather shoot myself first. Instead, I decided to participate in an effort to replace three members of our five member school board. Two can be outright opposed. However, the third needs to be recalled. This means we need TWELVE HUNDRED sigs from registered voters to even get the recall effort on the ballot. So I’ve been going out every night for the last week getting them in 90 degree heat. I am exhausted. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2015, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/457 "2015-07-29T02:16:56Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > We’re ‘strongly discouraged’ from using pencils where I work… 😕 What the hell kind of Nazi office you work at? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/458 "2015-07-29T04:30:55Z")
The damned internet connection here uses the cellphone network. I’m in what seems to be one of the few ruggedish areas of a country whose general orography is that of a pancake; there’s places that don’t get radio reception at all due to the presence of OMG a hill! (uh… about 100ft above the surrounding area?). It can take between half an hour and two hours before it finds a signal it’s happy with. It finds a signal. Changes signals. Changes signals again. No connection. Changes signals. Sometimes I need to do the gizmo dance, unplugging the gizmo and plugging it into another USB port and then unplugging it again and plugging it back into the port which for some reason and despite the computer being about the size of two shoeboxes put together is the one with the least-bad reception. Ten days to go. I want an internet that works damnit! ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/459 "2015-07-29T04:34:31Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > I don’t know what the current laws are, but back when I was teaching, in the late '60s, we were told that it was forbidden to require students to supply anything at all. The rationale was that a free education must be supplied to all, regardless of ability to pay. This is the law in Washington state, as I understand it. Those supply lists are required to be “suggested,” and they’re not allowed to complain if you don’t send everything in. But the social pressure to do so is very high. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957/460 "2015-07-29T12:47:32Z")
My darling cat is missing. I looked for him last night and I couldn’t find him. I put food out this morning and I still can’t find him. My cat. My sweet, funny, charming, silly, orange and white fuzzy that I brought home as a tiny kitten from a shelter when my big girl was only nine months old. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-is-the-longest-month-for-mini-rants/723957.md?page=24)