# My roomie is about to NOT get to Pennsic **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 25, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384 "2012-07-25T21:59:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/61 "2012-07-27T01:32:56Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > It’s almost as if someone who likes to play dressup and pretend to be a blacksmith lacks basic life skills like having a job and their own access to transportation. That’s nothing; my mate Gary is such a hardcore historical re-enactor that he stays in our living room and fashions his own weapons out of flint. He knaps on the sofa. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/62 "2012-07-27T02:00:44Z")
> [@Beastly\_Rotter](#): > > That’s nothing; my mate Gary is such a hardcore historical re-enactor that he stays in our living room and fashions his own weapons out of flint. He knaps on the sofa. Tweet! All right you, out of the pool for 20 minutes! Or maybe I’m just jealous. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![keturah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e95f7d/32.png) [@keturah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keturah)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/63 "2012-07-27T02:06:21Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Well, I drive a diesel jetta and get 43 mpg, so I can do the round trip for barely more than a tank of fuel, one can not rent a vehicle to go out of state for 2 weeks for under around $500. That is more than her entire stay at Pennsic budget including entrance fee. > > And a hotel room for a 16 hour drive? Meh. Ill probably catch a small nap midway on the way home after I grab a bite of dinner more from the boringness of driving than anything else. I’m puzzled about your posts in the “I’m fat, but can’t do anything about it” thread when you clearly have a vehicle and time to burn. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/64 "2012-07-27T02:34:38Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Isn’t it a rule of writing that the writer is to do all that is possible to communicate clearly with the intended audience? Absolutely. So what about the rules for readers? ---
**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:** [July 27, 2012, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/65 "2012-07-27T05:28:55Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Fair enough. Appropriate snark then is to say, “Didja really have to make me go look up Pennsic?” That way you get to be a jerk to the writer while showing that you’re not a slacker. Very important to back up self-righteousness with cold hard facts :). Ahh… the perfect balance. Seriously, I’m taking this advice. That way I can google the confusing term, but I still get to be snarky and say “Hey, DoucheForBrains, Whaddaya doin’ throwing woids 'round wit no deffy-nition?” (yeah, my limbic brain has an accent…) And, yes, I was pitting the OP for writing as if we’d all know what a"Pennsic" is, just because it’s important to them. It’s a raw nerve with me-- I’ve got a friend who’s such a genius snowflake that he just assumes everyone should get his obscure acronyms and cultural references. (Seriously, the guy made a pun on a passage from Joyce in a bar, and then acted like _we_ were the idiots because we hadn’t waded through _Ulysses._) Just glad he doesn’t have access to a broadsword. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/66 "2012-07-27T06:16:08Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Isn’t it a rule of writing that the writer is to do all that is possible to communicate clearly with the intended audience? From the OP it’s clear **aruvqan** ’s intended audience is “people who would see Pennsic **in the fucking title** and know what that means before they open the thread” ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/67 "2012-07-27T08:19:31Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Absolutely. So what about the rules for readers? If you don’t write well, don’t expect any. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/68 "2012-07-27T08:29:14Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Only reactionary assholery on my part, none of that first strike shit. Wouldn’t reactionary assholery disclaim google? ---
**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:** [July 27, 2012, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/69 "2012-07-27T10:48:59Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Isn’t it a rule of writing that the writer is to do all that is possible to communicate clearly with the intended audience? See comment from MrDibble. And this is the pit - fuck you, I was venting. > [@Beastly\_Rotter](#): > > That’s nothing; my mate Gary is such a hardcore historical re-enactor that he stays in our living room and fashions his own weapons out of flint. He knaps on the sofa. So? I never claimed she was so hard core that she couldn’t live in the modern world. If you notice upstream, she did have a job with the USPS until the economy crashed and she was laid off. She in a previous spate of employment as an insurance agent went to farrier school because she loves horses and there was actually business when people could afford to own horses as a hobby. Sucks that the economy fell, but her minimal income helps pay our household expenses. > [@keturah](#): > > I’m puzzled about your posts in the “I’m fat, but can’t do anything about it” thread when you clearly have a vehicle and time to burn. And where did you miss my husband spending $50 to stay in a hotel near work [that has now morphed into his staying at a buddy in New Britains house so he doesn’t have to spend any money, and he gets to hang with a navy buddy and reminisce about the old division.] Me running our roomie to Pennsic is putting us out a fair amount, but mutually we have already spent a couple hundred bucks on Pennsic and if she doesn’t go, it is wasted as we can not recover the money already paid. Maybe it isn’t much money to you, but I am scottishly against wasting money. > [@digs](#): > > Ahh… the perfect balance. Seriously, I’m taking this advice. That way I can google the confusing term, but I still get to be snarky and say “Hey, DoucheForBrains, Whaddaya doin’ throwing woids 'round wit no deffy-nition?” (yeah, my limbic brain has an accent…) > > And, yes, I was pitting the OP for writing as if we’d all know what a"Pennsic" is, just because it’s important to them. It’s a raw nerve with me-- I’ve got a friend who’s such a genius snowflake that he just assumes everyone should get his obscure acronyms and cultural references. (Seriously, the guy made a pun on a passage from Joyce in a bar, and then acted like _we_ were the idiots because we hadn’t waded through _Ulysses._) Just glad he doesn’t have access to a broadsword. Pit away, but can I join you in pitting your friend? I had to read Ulysses and it sucked, what the fuck was Joyce thinking! > [@MrDibble](#): > > From the OP it’s clear **aruvqan** ’s intended audience is “people who would see Pennsic **in the fucking title** and know what that means before they open the thread” This. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/70 "2012-07-27T12:23:36Z")
I had to look up Pennsic, but don’t begrudge the OP the calories lost in clicking through Google, or the brain cell(s?) now devoted to this new useless knowledge. Ther are many, many topics in which our knowledge vastly exceeds our interest (see “Hilton, Paris”). And if my time is so precious, no offense but what the fuck am I doing here? I’d never heard of Pennsic, but I bet some people on this planet haven’t heard of Burning Man. Yet if a thread about Burning Man did include links and, for those who are wary of links, a lengthy explanation; someone would inevitably post “well _duh_!” It’s when the writer uses obscure words and references just for the sake of being an affectatious prick at the expense of clear communication that makes me suspect that their point wasn’t that worthwhile to begin with. (see “Comsky, Noam.”) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/71 "2012-07-27T14:30:38Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > [If only you had a magic dictionary at your fingertips that would let you look up an unfamiliar word in less time than it would take to type a snarky post about your ignorance](https://www.google.com/search?q=pennsic&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a). Even Googling Pennsic might not have helped. I knew what the Pennsic War is and I still had to double check that it wasn’t also a place or a supermarket or a cemetery or a rave or something. > [@MrDibble](#): > > From the OP it’s clear **aruvqan** ’s intended audience is “people who would see Pennsic **in the fucking title** and know what that means before they open the thread” It’s a public fucking forum. Posts intended for a limited audience go in a blog. ETA: None of the below is to suggest that **aru** is at fault, just that the guy who asked what it was doesn’t need to be bitched at. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/72 "2012-07-27T14:31:05Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Me running our roomie to Pennsic is putting us out a fair amount, but mutually we have already spent a couple hundred bucks on Pennsic and if she doesn’t go, it is wasted as we can not recover the money already paid. Maybe it isn’t much money to you, but I am scottishly against wasting money. Just popping in to point out that “[throwing good money after bad](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalation_of_commitment)” is never a good idea. Sometimes when times are tough you have to cut back on the things you like to do, including dressing up and playing make-believe with your friends 8-hours away. Your roomie should grow up\* (though in her late 50’s, that sounds unlikely) and you and your husband should stop enabling her poor decisions. \*grow up in terms of making mature adult financial decisions, not referring to the dressing up and playing make-believe. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/73 "2012-07-27T15:55:58Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > From the OP it’s clear **aruvqan** ’s intended audience is “people who would see Pennsic **in the fucking title** and know what that means before they open the thread” Actually, I saw Pennsic in the fucking title and opened the fucking thread to see what fucking Pennsic is. Then I read the Op and realized that I was fucked. Whew, I need a cigarette. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/74 "2012-07-27T16:02:22Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Just popping in to point out that “[throwing good money after bad](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalation_of_commitment)” is never a good idea. > > Sometimes when times are tough you have to cut back on the things you like to do, including dressing up and playing make-believe with your friends 8-hours away. Your roomie should grow up\* (though in her late 50’s, that sounds unlikely) and you and your husband should stop enabling her poor decisions. > > \*grow up in terms of making mature adult financial decisions, not referring to the dressing up and playing make-believe. Agreed. Pennsic sounds like a lot of fun to me, but my family is in a situation where finances aren’t even dire, they’re just tight, and so we’re skipping out on fun stuff to do all the time. Taking an 8-hour trip to do something awesome is not something we plan lightly, and the 8-hour-trip-to-do-something-awesome that I’d love to do–GenCon (look it up, ya lazy bastards)–([j/k!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gen_Con))–is something I haven’t gotten to do for years, and probably won’t get to do for several years more. I’d suggest telling roommate that with finances so tight, you can’t afford to give her the ride, unless she can pay gas plus wear&tear on the car. The only reason I wouldn’t ask for pay for the trip is because you agreed to give it to her; giving her 16+ hours of your time is a huge gift, thought, and she’d better appreciate it. And if she whines once more about it, offer to show her a couple of carpool websites where she can look for transportation, and wash your hands of the whole thing. Then use that 16 hours doing something you want to do instead. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/75 "2012-07-27T16:09:23Z")
Another consideration for this being a bad idea moneywise. Car get’s a flat or breaks down or you get in an accident close to home? No big deal. Hours and hours away if it happens? That same minor problem could see you shelling out alot more money than if it had happened closer. And if everybodies finances are tight thats not good. Is this something she will actually MAKE money going to? Or generate future business? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/76 "2012-07-27T17:00:32Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > Whew, I need a cigarette. That’s not Period. ---
**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:** [July 27, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/77 "2012-07-27T17:42:03Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Ahh… the perfect balance. Seriously, I’m taking this advice. That way I can google the confusing term, but I still get to be snarky and say “Hey, DoucheForBrains, Whaddaya doin’ throwing woids 'round wit no deffy-nition?” (yeah, my limbic brain has an accent…) Damn! I wish mine did too now! > [@](#): > > And, yes, I was pitting the OP for writing as if we’d all know what a"Pennsic" is, just because it’s important to them. It’s a raw nerve with me-- I’ve got a friend who’s such a genius snowflake that he just assumes everyone should get his obscure acronyms and cultural references. (Seriously, the guy made a pun on a passage from Joyce in a bar, and then acted like _we_ were the idiots because we hadn’t waded through _Ulysses._) Just glad he doesn’t have access to a broadsword. Your friends sounds like a jackhole. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/78 "2012-07-27T17:51:50Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It’s a public fucking forum. Posts intended for a limited audience go in a blog. That about does it for half of MPSIMS and the Pit, then… ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/79 "2012-07-27T18:01:58Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > That about does it for half of MPSIMS and the Pit, then… You say that as if its a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384/80 "2012-07-27T18:49:05Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > From the OP it’s clear **aruvqan** ’s intended audience is “people who would see Pennsic **in the fucking title** and know what that means before they open the thread” Seems like more of an annoying roommate rant to me and the audience is the Pit. The destination doesn’t really matter as much as whether or not the roommate is annoying enough to justify the pitting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roomie-is-about-to-not-get-to-pennsic/629384.md?page=5)