# Mayday! Mayday! (minirants!) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 1, 2018, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409 "2018-05-01T14:47:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/281 "2018-05-21T01:06:51Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Ask the kids if they’ve seen any money yet. Because actually I think they are vulnerable and sincere, and they’re also usually a long way from home and pretty dependent on the people who brought them there. Still no reason for me to hand over any cash. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/282 "2018-05-21T11:32:06Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I silently put up with these mailings from my school, just ignoring them. Until they had Mike Pence speak at graduation. Now I’m going to demand to be stricken from all their mailing and alumni lists. > > As soon as I figure out what to say – I wanted to just write “Pence? Ewwww…” > I’m thinking of referring to him as Vice-Perp Pence. > Back when I was going to college, I was working on the OG Volkswagen Bugs. I really miss cars that were 100% mechanical. Not sure I could match wits with computerized cars. Loved my 79 Scout, something went wonky so we used a little brown box that clamped on the battery and distributor that would start the lil beastie with a flip of a switch. Worked wonderfully til we could get the repair parts. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2018, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/283 "2018-05-21T13:26:33Z")
Do people still buy paper magazines? One of the things I dealt with when my mother died was that she has subscriptions to FOURTEEN women’s/service/churchy magazines. Which was so many more than she could deal with reading…but were way too good and valuable to throw out unread. Yup, there were stacks of magazines lining the walls completely in the living and dining rooms. Only about knee high, so it could have been worse. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/284 "2018-05-21T13:43:13Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Do people still buy paper magazines? > One of the things I dealt with when my mother died was that she has subscriptions to FOURTEEN women’s/service/churchy magazines. Which was so many more than she could deal with reading…but were way too good and valuable to throw out unread. Yup, there were stacks of magazines lining the walls completely in the living and dining rooms. Only about knee high, so it could have been worse. A move broke my wife of that habit. We had piles of Nat Geo mags, Bon Appetite, Sunset, you name it. When we decided to move from Alaska, all of that went into recycle bins. It all weighed many hundreds of pounds and had to be hauled down all those stairs an armload at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/285 "2018-05-21T15:50:59Z")
Really did not need a cracked windscreen (pebble kicked up by another car, lucky shot). Cheap fix place went nope, needs replacing. Dammit. Hopefully insurance will cover most of it, and won’t go up too much in retaliation, but I could have done without that today. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/286 "2018-05-21T16:05:23Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > I was just driving along and happened to glance at my speedometer. Holy shit I’m doing 70 in a 40mh zone! It doesn’t seem like I’m going that fast, in fact people are passing me…Oh. Wait. My car has suddenly decided it’s French, or something, and is now giving me the speed in kilometers.\ Heh. Whenever we drive to the US, we always have to get used to switching to the other dial (our cars have kms and miles on them), then switching back when we come back to Canada. As Canadians, we’re actually pretty fluent in both measurement systems. 🙂 > [@digs](#): > > \ > As soon as I figure out what to say – I wanted to just write “Pence? Ewwww…” > I’m thinking of referring to him as Vice-Perp Pence.\ Allegedly. > [@Chefguy](#): > > A move broke my wife of that habit. We had piles of Nat Geo mags, Bon Appetite, Sunset, you name it. When we decided to move from Alaska, all of that went into recycle bins. It all weighed many hundreds of pounds and had to be hauled down all those stairs an armload at a time. I wish; we’ve moved my husband’s years of “Mad” magazine and “Maxim” magazine four times now. ☹ > [@Filbert](#): > > Really did not need a cracked windscreen (pebble kicked up by another car, lucky shot). Cheap fix place went nope, needs replacing. Dammit. Hopefully insurance will cover most of it, and won’t go up too much in retaliation, but I could have done without that today. We live in the Cracked Windshield Centre of North America. My husband has to travel on the highway once a week for his job, and he’s on his fourth windshield. His shortest time between replacing a windshield and getting a new chip/crack was two weeks. Drivers here don’t even bother with insurance for windshields, because the insurance is the same as the cost of replacing one. Which is not to minimize your pain in the ass from getting a cracked windshield - I just mean that I feel your pain. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/287 "2018-05-21T16:48:53Z")
I sat on the bed and bent over to put lotion on my legs where I had some itchy places Now my sciatica is singing fuck you. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/288 "2018-05-21T16:59:55Z")
Arghhh! I think my next-door neighbor is fixing to try out for American Idol or something. He sings. In the shower, on his back porch. Usually it’s some kind of Christian non-rock but today it’s “Gloria” (not the song by Them, that '80s one). I’m surprised my dog isn’t howling. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/289 "2018-05-21T17:04:49Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Heh. Whenever we drive to the US, we always have to get used to switching to the other dial (our cars have kms and miles on them), then switching back when we come back to Canada. As Canadians, we’re actually pretty fluent in both measurement systems. 🙂 > > Allegedly. > > I wish; we’ve moved my husband’s years of “Mad” magazine and “Maxim” magazine four times now. ☹ > > We live in the Cracked Windshield Centre of North America. My husband has to travel on the highway once a week for his job, and he’s on his fourth windshield. His shortest time between replacing a windshield and getting a new chip/crack was two weeks. Drivers here don’t even bother with insurance for windshields, because the insurance is the same as the cost of replacing one. > > Which is not to minimize your pain in the ass from getting a cracked windshield - I just mean that I feel your pain. 🙂 You must be my neighbor;). I thought I lived in the broken windshield hotbed. I have very rarely went without at least a chip in my glass. Too many log trucks without mud flaps. My latest was a State highway dept. mower. It threw up something that hit the glass on the passenger side. The crack is now all the way across. I have an appt.to have it replaced this week. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/290 "2018-05-21T17:30:01Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Really did not need a cracked windscreen (pebble kicked up by another car, lucky shot). Cheap fix place went nope, needs replacing. Dammit. Hopefully insurance will cover most of it, and won’t go up too much in retaliation, but I could have done without that today. See if your agent will recommend a glass shop to assess fixing the crack. IME, most insurers would rather pay to repair a chip/crack at no cost to you rather than paying to replace the windshield and you eating the deductible. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/291 "2018-05-21T19:26:47Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > His shortest time between replacing a windshield and getting a new chip/crack was two weeks. Not that it’s a contest but I can beat that. I was on the way home from the shop after getting my windshield replaced and got a rock thrown up on me. The guy at the shop took pity on me and charged a reduced price to repair that one. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/292 "2018-05-21T19:40:53Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > See if your agent will recommend a glass shop to assess fixing the crack. IME, most insurers would rather pay to repair a chip/crack at no cost to you rather than paying to replace the windshield and you eating the deductible. I will, but it’ll have to wait til next week, I’m off camping on Wednesday (going by public transport, luckily) and there’s no way I have time to get it sorted tomorrow. First time I’ve had a cracked windscreen, in over 10 years of owning a car. I’ve only had teeny chips before, and only a few of them. Maybe our roads do have some good points… ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/293 "2018-05-21T20:04:54Z")
Here’s hoping you’re nowhere near Denver, CO. [Man ticketed for broken windshield while trying to fix it](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/09/08/man-ticketed-for-broken-windshield-while-trying-to-fix-it/71884244/) ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/294 "2018-05-22T01:23:18Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > I was just driving along and happened to glance at my speedometer. Holy shit I’m doing 70 in a 40mh zone! It doesn’t seem like I’m going that fast, in fact people are passing me…Oh. Wait. My car has suddenly decided it’s French, or something, and is now giving me the speed in kilometers. > > And I almost had a wreck trying to figure out how to change it back. > > Some days I wish I had just kept my first car in good repair. It would be a classic today, and none of this computer nonsense. LOL, this happened to me last week and it took a while to figure how to make the car 'Murican again. I was driving 110km at 13:10 hours, temp 14 Celsius! ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/295 "2018-05-22T01:32:13Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > You must be my neighbor;). > I thought I lived in the broken windshield hotbed. I have very rarely went without at least a chip in my glass. Too many log trucks without mud flaps. > My latest was a State highway dept. mower. It threw up something that hit the glass on the passenger side. The crack is now all the way across. I have an appt.to have it replaced this week. A week after getting my car last year a truck kicked up a rock on the Geo Washington bridge and chipped the windshield. It wasn’t bad, you really have to squint to even see it. But it was a new car and it bugged me there was now a flaw. The Safeguard guys weren’t able to make it invisible, so I took it to the dealer for a replacement estimate . . . $2300 (BMW heads-up projection). Hellz no! Y’know, the chip just gives the car character. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/296 "2018-05-22T01:54:48Z")
Woke up at about 12:15 last night to the sound of someone pounding nails. I figured it would stop, but it just went on and on. Finally got up and closed the window, but could still hear it. I think it was the morons who own the pot store on the corner. Guess they smoked too much of their own product and thought that midnight would be a good time to fix their fence. If it happens again tonight, I’m getting dressed and going over there to talk to the assholes. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/297 "2018-05-22T02:04:35Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > Y’know, the chip just gives the car character. Great scene from an autobiographical book (“A Severe Mercy”) where the young couple buys their first car and ceremonially dents the hood with a hammer. So they’ll never have to worry about keeping it pristine or who’ll get the first dent. ---
**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:** [May 22, 2018, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/298 "2018-05-22T05:20:36Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > You must be my neighbor;). > I thought I lived in the broken windshield hotbed. I have very rarely went without at least a chip in my glass. Too many log trucks without mud flaps. > My latest was a State highway dept. mower. It threw up something that hit the glass on the passenger side. The crack is now all the way across. I have an appt.to have it replaced this week. It’s the friggin’ gravel they use on the roads here in winter - it just flings around everywhere! > [@Kimballkid](#): > > Not that it’s a contest but I can beat that. I was on the way home from the shop after getting my windshield replaced and got a rock thrown up on me. The guy at the shop took pity on me and charged a reduced price to repair that one. You win! 😁 ---
**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:** [May 22, 2018, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/299 "2018-05-22T05:47:16Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Great scene from an autobiographical book (“A Severe Mercy”) where the young couple buys their first car and ceremonially dents the hood with a hammer. So they’ll never have to worry about keeping it pristine or who’ll get the first dent. Speaking of dents - [Father Ted scene.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1IL22sLF25s) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409/300 "2018-05-22T06:25:28Z")
… I think I’m going to hug my windshield… In 20+ years of driving I’ve only needed to replace it once, after it was attacked by a malevolent Dutch highway. I hope it stays like that for the rest of my driving life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mayday-mayday-minirants/813409.md?page=16)