Mini-Month Mini-Rants (Feb 2026)

The BBQ Pit
61

Our flue was closed so Mamma Trash Panda made her way down the chimney by shimmying because she was a mamma (to be)…smell where this is going?

Mamma had her brood on the top of the flue; they couldn’t get out because they were not big enough to get paws on one side & their back on the other & wouldn’t be until they grew up. Called an exterminator & he wanted no parts of opening the flue with mamma (potentially) around. He set up a trap at the top of the chimney & once he got her he put on a very thick leather glove, opened the flue, reached up & grabbed the babies one at a time. Then the chimney had to be cleaned out & finally capped so it wouldn’t happen again. Only then was our den 1) quiet & 2) not smelly anymore.

While you may have unlimited, you will probably get throttled if you go over x GB in a month, but yeah, that’s probably more for their benefit if you up$$grade than it is for your benefit, though you might get one new ‘feature’.


I cooked dinner last night; lotsa leftovers, even remembered to container them & put them in the fridge, which is where I left *all* of them this moaning. Now I gotta go out & buy lunch & will probably need to throw some of them out at the end. Grrrr.
62

Normally, I’d walk to the nearby large chain convenience store but because of all the snow & lack of shoulders on the road I drove there. As I was pulling out, there was a guy at the gas pump washing his windows! (It’s all the way up to close to freezing° today, unlike the 10-20° below freezing that it’s been for the past week+). It’s been waaay to cold for them to have water in the squeege bucket & the other day when I accidentally hit the stalk to turn the windshield washer on the liquid that sprayed instafroze to the windshield. So my brain fart this morning means I can finally see out of my windows again & there’s a lot less salt on the headlights so I can see a lot further at night, too! A positivity to my morning stupidity!

63

I started writing again. Working on very final points of my novel, mostly creating a timeline and a map, ensuring continuity. Really tempted to edit some stuff while I’m at it. I’ve been thinking about it all day. I can feel the hyperfixation coming on.

I’m at my son’s social skills group and it’s such a slog there and back I asked if I might stay - and they gave me a whole conference room!

But no Wi-Fi.

And I don’t have my writing laptop.

So I am just going to sit here for two hours and I don’t know what.

64

How may security updates does my phone think it needs? I’ve restarted it five times today already, and it downloaded another one.

65

It occurred to me as I was driving home tonight from grocery shopping and it was after sunset that in all the time I’ve owned the Camry, I’ve never yet driven it at night. So a bit of a celebratory anti-rant, if I may!

Inevitably one of those assholes with those intense LED headlights showed up behind me, and I must say the auto-dimming rear view mirror is quite effective. AFAICT the dimming was practically instantaneous, or at least fast enough to not matter, and it also returned to normal as soon as the asshole vanished. It’s quite a nice piece of technology. And it prevents the cursing that usually emanates from me when I have to flip the mirror manually to prevent being blinded.

And I no longer need to wonder how at night you’re supposed to see the embedded compass direction indicator that’s in a corner of the mirror – it’s subtly illuminated. It’s all very refined, like a Japanese restaurant.

And I really like the Camry’s headlights – they seem brighter and more focused than the ones on the Sebring. Driving at night is actually pleasant despite the fact that I have Old Fart Eyesight, which mainly manifests as crappy night vision and glare sensitivity.

66

I bet they’re LED.

Now you know why every modern car has them, despite how challenging they can be to some other drivers.

67

The thing that really irks me is the combination of intense LED headlights and a high mounting position, as you would find on pickup trucks and obscenely oversized SUVs. Those things are a nuisance both when behind me (or used to be, until technology automatically solved the problem) or when coming toward me in the opposite lane. I swear, the latter is a goddam safety hazard. My headlights may be bright, but they sure as hell aren’t mounted at around the eye level of innocent victims driving smaller cars.

68

Of course I left my work laptop at my son’s therapy place, clear on the other side of town. Sigh.

69

It’s Consumer Cellular and I’m pretty sure they are just trying to trick old people who aren’t paying attention and will panic upgrade.

70

In my city it’s common for people to park facing the wrong direction on the side of the street. I’ve never heard of anyone getting a ticket for it in 40+ years. But if you’re driving down the street and they’re sitting in their idling car facing you on the right side of the street, it’s blinding.

71

I sympathize with the difficulty of operating a supermarket as a business, because so many things can quickly exceed their shelf life. But come on, guys, a whole shelf of packaged deli meats that expires tomorrow? This is what I came across today. And will anyone even notice, or just let innocent shoppers buy them?

This has nothing to do with the quality of the foods, but with the quality of the staffing and quality control. At one of the most upscale groceries I’ve ever shopped at, that has some of the best and freshest produce anywhere in the area, I have once or twice had to point out to the staff that, hey, this stuff expired a month ago!

I always pay attention to best-by dates, even if I don’t necessarily abide by them religiously – there’s a certain amount of common sense involved. But it’s all too easy these days to inadvertently end up with stuff that’s past its BB date without realizing it.

I honestly don’t know why anyone would choose to run a supermarket as a business, because of all these issues.

I once did a career evaluation survey for fun, and it correctly evaluated me for “worst possible occupation” as “fun activity director on a cruise ship”. Certainly. I would just stand around asking, “are we having fun yet?” But I think supermarket manager would be second in line. The former, because I’m such a total introvert that I would have about the same capacity to inspire a fun party as a corpse. The second, because I’m so completely disorganized that I couldn’t track expiring products to save my life. I have enough trouble in my own fridge.

72

In the office trying to get shit done.

Great day for the Internet to go down agency-wide!

73

I drive a small vehicle, which can be steered so easily (the main reason I got it; it had a turn radius better than any car out at the time but a Smart Fortwo and I barely consider that a car). It’s also amazing to park because it’s so narrow. I love my car. But it’s pretty low to the ground on the road, and SUVs and big trucks with LED lights are often shining them right in my face. It’s fucking insane at night. They should not be legal. There have been times when I really have been temporarily blinded which is terrifying.

Really, it’s the same brightness as driving with high beams, or it seems like it, and there are usually laws against that (for example, this is in my state) so I don’t know why using these lights are legal. Maybe it’s a technicality because you can’t dim them.

There should be safety standards that define a maximum amount of luminosity for non-high beam lights. Otherwise. safety laws that govern their use are meaningless.

I know how the world works, though. Nothing will happen until these lights cause a horrible tragedy that gets enough attention that people act. We are a very reactive society.

74

The activities director here came up with the notion of a “men’s club”, probably after being prodded by one of the antiques who live here. I went to a few meetings, but yesterday’s was the end for me.

I have almost nothing in common with those guys other than gender. One guy is 96 and is only interested in talking about how miserable life is when you’re old, and then falling asleep when the discussion starts. Also, his teeth fall out (shudder). Another guy’s only topic is about when he used to work in radio back in the 50s/60s. It was interesting the first time I heard it, but he’s like a tape recording that never wears out and is on eternal repeat mode. Two of the others are mumblers. Can’t understand most of what they’re saying. Another one is nearly deaf and has to be shouted at. I left while radio guy was still yakking, then got ambushed by him after exercise and he started all over again. Jesus. I sympathize with getting old, but just have a low patience level for the endless blather of people who have never been anywhere.

My life of travel was a gift beyond measure, but it’s also been a bit of a curse in retirement, as I have nothing in common with people who have never lived anywhere else and whose idea of adventure is to drive up to Duluth. They can’t relate to me, nor I to them. Also, the endless sports talk makes me homicidal.

75

When he retired, my father joined Rotary. There are plenty of folks from all walks of life. That sounds more up your alley. I’ve enjoyed the lectures (and the food) whenever he invited me to join him.

76

I haven’t done that much travel like you have but my life regularly includes things that are most peoples bucket list to do once.
Most of my travel is driving. Plan A was going to be 800 miles there & back + local driving for the three-day weekend but that went belly up due to uncooperative weather. Plan B was going to be only about 600 miles but both forecast of snow (in rural areas, so not a lot of plowing) & single-digit temps has that on life-support. :sob:

77

I’m getting those benefits from walking down to the corner coffee joint and hanging out with the retired Olde Fartes.

There’s a wide range of “travel personalities”: we have the GIfted But Reclusive Artist for whom the two block walk is the extent of his travels; the Architect, who drives throughout the midwest, photographing vintage farms and factories; and me, who’s about to jump on a train that’ll slither through the desert and then head up the CA coast.

78

I pit this whole winter we’re currently having. There’s been way more snow than usual, and now we’re in a persistent cold snap. And looking at the forecast, it may warm up slightly in a few days, and then La Nina will bring us … you guessed it, more snow!

Tomorrow is recycling pickup day. I have lots of accumulated recycling, currently sitting around the house and in the garage. I am sitting here drinking a nice glass of rum. Outside, it’s colder than a witch’s tit and although it’s not snowing, there’s snow all over and around the garbage and recycling bins. The driveway is clear thanks to Snowplow Guy, but, again, the cold. There’s been so much snow that I’ll once again have to shovel off the lids of the recycling bins, and then clear the ridge of snow left by Snowplow Guy alongside the bin so I can pull it out.

So I’m thinking to myself, do I brave the elements and fill up and haul out the recycling bin in the bitter cold and darkness, or do I just have more rum and go to bed and watch a movie?

A decision is forming in my canine brain, and I leave it to the reader to guess what it is.

79

I wasn’t sure whether to post this here, or in the aviation thread, or in a Pit thread of its own, but here goes.

I’ve just booked my first flight on the “new” and NOT improved Southwest Airlines, and I’m pissed off. I’ve been expecting this since they announced the change 18 months or so ago, but now it’s here.

For decades, SWA has been my top choice for air travel because:

  • It was less expensive than the other major carriers
  • All its flights are single-class, all seats are the same (except emergency exit rows, of course)
  • It used open boarding with no assigned seats, which has been proven to be the fastest way to fill a plane.

SWA was pretty much unique in these practices, and it also had a maverick culture typified by flight attendants that would often slip some humor into their required announcements. (While this was quite common a decade or more ago, it has almost completely faded away in recent years, sadly. I imagine under the new regime it will probably be completely prohibited.)

For me, all these factors made flying SWA much more enjoyable than any other airline. It was an oasis in a desert of miserable flying experiences.

But a while ago they announced they were giving all that up and adding classes, assigned seating, and becoming just like every other airline.

And now it’s happened. FUCK! Just another step in the enshittification of everything. I no longer have any reason to prefer SWA to any other airline. For this latest flight, it happened to be the cheapest, but it’s lost me as a devoted customer.

I have an SWA credit card that offers me a few benefits, but it has a steep annual fee, and if I don’t keep flying SWA regularly, I’ll probably drop it.

The only good news is that now SWA is listed on Kayak (and I presume other consolidators, as well) so that I can directly compare it with the rest, and more easily pick the least worst option. Whoopee!

FUCK!

80

After Plan A’s travel for this weekend was cxl’d (too windy too fly), Plan B was to go (photo) shoot some farmhouses covered in a snowy blanket. Because of the weather, there are too many issues (snow, winds, cold) with doing that this weekend so not doing that drive, either. :sob:

The storm we got two weeks ago dumped a lot of snow which the plows pushed to the side of the road; therefore, I don’t know where I would be able to pull over because of that; then they’re scheduled to get a couple more inches tomorrow; this in a county that probably has more cows than people so I wouldn’t expect stellar plowing just due to how rural it is. High winds mean I’m not using the drone, which is required for a couple of the shots, & frigid temps (highs in the single digits °F & wind chills in the minus double digits °F) & grey skies of snow is just one too many things to overcome so I isn’t going.