# March Minirant Madness **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 1, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063 "2011-03-01T15:03:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/261 "2011-03-14T21:29:48Z")
Ohhhhhh KVB, why do you have to have such dodgy customer service that I won’t order from you? Or given that you have such dodgy service and tiny sickly plantlings you send out, WHY do you have to be the sole domestic carrier of so many exciting new varieties of things I want? Am I seriously supposed to wait another year for reputable sellers to carry echinacea “Irresistible” and coreopsis “Tahitian Sunset”? Cuz goddamn. Those daylilies are getting pitched _this_ year, and those would totally fill the gap. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/262 "2011-03-14T21:33:11Z")
This is pretty damned mini, but it’s been a thorn in my side for over 40 years now. There’s an ‘e’ in my name - I can understand people who have only heard it not knowing that, but when you’re responding to an email from me, and there it is, my name spelled correctly one inch away from you spelling it incorrectly, now you’re getting on my nerves. I don’t want to be the person who is so petty that they correct people on such a silly little thing, but for the love of God, people, open your eyes! Look at how people spell their names! Yes, Tracy without an ‘e’ is a common spelling, but Tracy without an ‘e’ is not my name! I have government documents to prove it! ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/263 "2011-03-14T21:37:47Z")
My bp was sky high this morning at the OB’s. I’m 34 weeks pregnant. Just please let me get through the next three or four weeks without an episode of severe throwing up or a hint of pre-eclampsia. Please let me avoid the ER and the neo-natal unit. Please let this baby be full term and healthy. Please. Please. Please. Please. Oh please, please, please! ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/264 "2011-03-14T21:43:09Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > My bp was sky high this morning at the OB’s. I’m 34 weeks pregnant. Just please let me get through the next three or four weeks without an episode of severe throwing up or a hint of pre-eclampsia. Please let me avoid the ER and the neo-natal unit. Please let this baby be full term and healthy. > > Please. Please. Please. Please. Oh please, please, please! I have my fingers crossed for you. Are you spilling protein in your urine? Any retained fluid? Check the circumference of your upper arm. Most standard blood pressure cuffs only go to 34 cm, and some nurses are very cavalier about not bothering to grab the large cuff when needed. (The size range is not standardized - if your arm is bigger than about 13 inches, it’s a good idea to know its circumference in both inches and centimeters so you can check the cuff used on you. It should have a range printed right on it.) Using a too-small cuff can give you an artificially high reading. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/265 "2011-03-14T21:49:42Z")
> [@ENugent](#): > > I have my fingers crossed for you. Are you spilling protein in your urine? Any retained fluid? > > Check the circumference of your upper arm. Most standard blood pressure cuffs only go to 34 cm, and some nurses are very cavalier about not bothering to grab the large cuff when needed. (The size range is not standardized - if your arm is bigger than about 13 inches, it’s a good idea to know its circumference in both inches and centimeters so you can check the cuff used on you. It should have a range printed right on it.) Using a too-small cuff can give you an artificially high reading. Thank you. No protein thank god and no swelling that I see so far I assume that’s why they haven’t admitted me to an ER yet. I have a home monitor and my bp is coming up okay so far today but I’m worried. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/266 "2011-03-14T21:50:55Z")
Yes, check the cuff. It was the difference between 130/80 and 100/60, at my last appointment. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/267 "2011-03-14T21:51:28Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Tracy without an ‘e’ is a common spelling, but Tracy without an ‘e’ is not my name! I have government documents to prove it! Traecy? Tracye? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/268 "2011-03-14T22:22:39Z")
Minirant of minirants: The moment I finished sweeping the walkway up to my door, the gentlest of gentle breezes floated by and sent a shower of dried micro-leaves down around me from the tree that isn’t ON my property but hangs OVER it. Growl. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/269 "2011-03-15T02:44:49Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Crime-free? Hardly :). It’s an odd neighborhood - unusually high degree of income mixing, from college professors at UC Berkeley and similar young professionals to the chronically un/underemployed, expensive old Victorians to officially designated low-income subsidized apartment complexes. I’ve never suffered a theft _personally_, but it’s not like it doesn’t happen. We used to have a crackhouse down the block, thankfully now cleaned up. > > I strongly suspect it was just a crime of opportunity - a couple of hoodlums hanging out, noticed the big package, a knock with no response, UPS leaves and they take a chance. > > No front lawn, few immediate neighbors. The front of my house is a heavily vegetated brick and cement path behind a six foot redwood fence, with a ~7 foot gate ( usually locked, but not when expecting a big package ), across the street is the backside of an elementary school which takes up half the block on that side and the neighbors on either side aren’t typically around on a workday afternoon. One neighbor is separated by a driveway with really no good un-occluded view of the front, the other is a single-story down below said fence. You could probably butcher a goat in the front and nobody would ever see it. A couple years back, before we started locking the gate regularly, someone was coming in very occasionally to drink a cheap beer ( placed in the appropriate recycling container 😉 ) and smoke a cigarette in privacy. > > I’m angry about it, but not particularly freaked out. Doesn’t do much good to get freaked. I’ll just make sure that any future delivery of significance requires a signature. Very cool & descriptive and very different from my perspective. I’m sorry I got it so wrong. If turnabout is fair play, I’d have imagined your neighborhood was a lot like mine: 20-30 4-br colonials of slightly different design and color, all lined up on each side of any given street, with 1-2 elms or maples between the sidewalks and the curb in front of each house. Each would have a 35 foot driveway (either asphalt or two cement strips with lawn between them) and a garage, with fences existing only in the backyards and once a week garbage cans would be in the street by the driveway aprons. Two of the houses on every block on average seem to have portable basketball hoops at the end of the driveways. The streets all have curbs, which no one but kids between basketball games sit on. And while it looks completely and totally deserted during the day, you can’t drive down the street without 10 people watching you from behind venetian blinds, window shades and curtains. Some of it is just plain old nosey-ness…and some of it is the shame of unemployment (there’s a lot fewer cars pulling out of driveways in the morning). Once in a while someone will say a car was ‘stolen’, but car thieves don’t flat-bed cars at 2AM. You know if I was a bright person, I’d probably start a thread about ‘Hey, What Do the Front Yards in Your Neighborhood Look Like?’ but somehow I doubt it would catch on. PS- I’m glad you don’t get freaked out; no reason to let them in your head w/o rent. Its not like they got past your front door or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/270 "2011-03-15T03:10:47Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > This is pretty damned mini, but it’s been a thorn in my side for over 40 years now. There’s an ‘e’ in my name - I can understand people who have only heard it not knowing that, but when you’re responding to an email from me, and there it is, my name spelled correctly one inch away from you spelling it incorrectly, now you’re getting on my nerves. I don’t want to be the person who is so petty that they correct people on such a silly little thing, but for the love of God, people, open your eyes! Look at how people spell their names! Yes, Tracy without an ‘e’ is a common spelling, but Tracy without an ‘e’ is not my name! I have government documents to prove it! People keep spelling my name Lynne ever since I started going by Lynn. From now on, I’m forwarding all those es to YOU. Also, I am going to forward all excessive heat to you. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/271 "2011-03-15T08:22:11Z")
What fucking good is technology sometimes? When do i get a self-cleaning bathroom? Fuck losing stuff. I’m still missing a candle, a necklace and spool of thread!! ---
**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:** [March 15, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/272 "2011-03-15T15:09:40Z")
\*\* quietly slips back out of thread, with three suspicious bulges in her pockets \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/273 "2011-03-15T15:11:21Z")
How mini are these rants supposed to be? Because this article really pisses me off - if the revolution comes this could be our “let them eat cake” moment… > **[For Millionaires, $7 Million Still Not Enough to Be Rich](https://www.cnbc.com/id/42068648/)** > > More than four out of ten American millionaires say they do not feel rich, according to a recent survey. ---
**Author:** ![AlienVessels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@AlienVessels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienVessels)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/274 "2011-03-15T15:16:20Z")
> [@anya\_marie](#): > > Fuck losing stuff. I’m still missing a candle, a necklace and spool of thread!! I would check with Colonel Mustard in the library. I never did trust that SOB. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/275 "2011-03-15T16:37:33Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > How mini are these rants supposed to be? Because this article really pisses me off - if the revolution comes this could be our “let them eat cake” moment… > > [http://www.cnbc.com/id/42068648/](http://www.cnbc.com/id/42068648/) Really? To me it reads more as a warning that if you feel insecure now, more money isn’t going to make you feel more secure. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/276 "2011-03-15T16:42:12Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Are they uncomfortable? If so, why put them on in the first place? My hands seem to change size throughout the day: sometimes I’ll put a ring on and not notice it’s still there until I place my hand between my head and my pillow as I lay me down to sleep; other times they start falling off or get too tight. Sadly the changes are not important enough to qualify for the X-Men. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/277 "2011-03-15T20:40:10Z")
> [@villa](#): > > WARN notice today. Conflicted out of the lifeboat I was hoping I could scramble aboard. Calls out to headhunters, couple of possibilities, but we will see. Big layoff if it fell under WARN? ☹ And I assume “conflicted out” means that you’re seen as having a conflict of interests that would prevent you from taking the position, or maybe some old noncompete you’re still under? Good luck. If competence and intelligence were any metrics for how fast you’ll find a new job, you’d be there already–unfortunately, I’ll just take this opportunity to hope that your network can turn something up. > [@curlcoat](#): > > Huh, if I’d posted that, the whole board would stomp on me - what’s the difference? The difference is that \*\*Cat Whisperer \*\*is funny and well-adjusted and made the comment tongue-in-cheek, while you’re a self-entitled bitch who thinks she’s the exception to every rule who would have said it with an absolutely straight face. Or, you know, because everyone here hates you for no reason at all. You poor little martyr, you. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I have a cousin who’s terrible about this. She seems oblivious to her responsibility to set rules for her children. And it’s not just social or hygiene issues - she won’t even enforce basic safety like don’t run out onto the road. With any luck, it will prove to be a self-correcting problem. > [@Sattua](#): > > Sattua, at 39 weeks 4 days Think you could make a case for temporary insanity if you killed all of your nasty coworkers? > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Some of the worst offenders for this are a family of four - yeah, plus or minus four on the reservation makes a difference, assholes! “Oh, I’m so sorry, Asshole Family! I checked repeatedly to see if you were coming but you never replied. Unfortunately there won’t be room for you at our table. If you check with the host, they may be able to find you somewhere to sit soon.” > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > There’s an ‘e’ in my name - I can understand people who have only heard it not knowing that, but when you’re responding to an email from me, and there it is, my name spelled correctly one inch away from you spelling it incorrectly, now you’re getting on my nerves. I firmly approve of this rant. My first name is the most-common spelling of a common name for my cohort–so people usually get that right–but my last name is a rare variation on a much more common version. It makes a nice “telemarketer check,” though. My aunt Joan once received a letter address to Juan. > [@LavenderBlue](#): > > I’m 34 weeks pregnant. Just please let me get through the next three or four weeks without an episode of severe throwing up or a hint of pre-eclampsia. Please let me avoid the ER and the neo-natal unit. Please let this baby be full term and healthy. Maybe you and Sattua can organize a week-swap? She seems to be hanging onto a few extras I’m sure she’d be happy to send your way. :\ > [@anya\_marie](#): > > When do i get a self-cleaning bathroom? Get a cleaning person. You’d be surprised how inexpensive it can be. I’d recommend checking your local BBB for reputable local companies. That’s how I found the woman who cleans my place–she owns her own company and does a great job for only $25/hour. (She comes every other week for ~2 hours at a time.) ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/278 "2011-03-15T21:18:34Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Big layoff if it fell under WARN? ☹ And I assume “conflicted out” means that you’re seen as having a conflict of interests that would prevent you from taking the position, or maybe some old noncompete you’re still under? Firm voted to dissolve itself. 100% layoffs. And I worked a month on a case about 6 months ago that is still active, and that case conflicts me out of a possible move. Such is life. Fortunately, lawyers aren’t allowed to sign non-competes, so I don’t have that facing me. > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Good luck. If competence and intelligence were any metrics for how fast you’ll find a new job, you’d be there already–unfortunately, I’ll just take this opportunity to hope that your network can turn something up. That’s one of the nicest things someone has said to me - I appreciate it. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/279 "2011-03-15T23:42:16Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > My hands seem to change size throughout the day: sometimes I’ll put a ring on and not notice it’s still there until I place my hand between my head and my pillow as I lay me down to sleep; other times they start falling off or get too tight. Mine swell half a ring size when I’m hot. I have a lovely ring that I purchased on vacation last summer; it was a perfect fit when I was out every day walking around, but I have to keep a bit of tape or yarn on in now to keep it secure enough for daily wear. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063/280 "2011-03-15T23:46:09Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > I keep thinking that every career decision I’ve made has been wrong. yeah, me too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/march-minirant-madness/573063.md?page=15)