# New Year’s Rant Solutions (January mini-rants) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 1, 2024, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437 "2024-01-01T06:00:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [January 5, 2024, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/121 "2024-01-05T17:55:14Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > What is with men anyway? When I like them, they can treat me poorly. When I don’t, they get all nice. > Before I’d blocked his number, he texted me Trisha Yearwoods Thinking of You! Sorry if this candor is hurtful, but him sending you that link is a red flag, and you characterizing it as “get[ting] all nice” is perhaps a bigger and redder one. The main thoughts of mine that your posts on this topic inspire are along the lines of (here comes more potentially hurtful candor) _”That young lady needs a minder.”_ Have you heard of an association called [Co-Dependents Anonymous?](https://coda.org/) Yes, it’s a 12-step program; yes, many Dopers have spoken (written) disparagingly of 12-step programs in general. No, I’ve never been a member, and I claim no expertise on the subject of whether you can benefit by looking into it. But my sense is that you _could_ benefit by having someone to talk to about these issues, especially face-to-face _when they are arising_. Let me be clear: I don’t suggest that you stop coming here when a rant is demanding to be vented; you’ve clearly benefited from using the BBQ Pit. That much is proven by your recent kicking to the curb of this latest guy. But the red flags referenced above suggest that you could use something in addition to Pit rants. Okay, I’ve said my piece, and personally I feel better for having done so. I wish you well, and I’m rooting for you. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/122 "2024-01-05T18:48:09Z")
I guess every woman I’ve known has needed a minder in that case. I don’t need a man, I’ve gone 10 and 11 years, respectively without one. They start out good. I am much better at kicking to the curb nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Undeposable\_Hand](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_undeposable_hand/32/8502_2.png) [@The\_Undeposable\_Hand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Undeposable_Hand)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/123 "2024-01-05T21:42:41Z")
I may be wrong but I believe the young lady has surpassed retirement age. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/124 "2024-01-05T23:56:32Z")
61, not able to retire yet. It feels so good to be around people who lift you up; in real life, and here also. Did I use the semi colon correctly? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/125 "2024-01-06T01:09:38Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Did I use the semi colon correctly? Since you asked, I think almost but not quite. Strictly speaking a semicolon should be followed by an independent clause, which contains a subject and a verb and could stand alone as a separate sentence. For instance the semicolon would be correct in a construction like this: _It feels so good to be around people who lift you up; I find this true both in real life, and here also._ I could see the case being made that the second part expresses the same thought but with the subject and verb being implied, but a stickler for grammar would have a problem with that. IMHO a comma would be more appropriate here, and personally I’d lose the “also” and throw in the determiner “both” instead, though that’s purely a stylistic choice: _It feels so good to be around people who lift you up, both here and in real life._ ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/126 "2024-01-06T01:11:39Z")
This is part of why I love The Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/127 "2024-01-06T01:20:41Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I could see the case being made that the second part expresses the same thought but with the subject and verb being implied, but a stickler for grammar would have a problem with that. In _informal_ writing, I think it would be perfectly okay to write _It feels so good to be around people who lift you up. In real life, and here also._ Even though the second sentence is technically a sentence fragment, it sounds fine if you’re talking in an everyday, conversational tone. So I would infer that what @SuntanLotion wrote would be similarly cromulent in such a case. But yes, your suggestion would be safer for more formal or strictly grammatical writing. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2024, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/128 "2024-01-06T01:31:08Z")
Ah, spicy things! I bought a new jar of pickles that, according to the label, were “medium heat” and “savory.” Yum! So, I bought another jar, but they’ve either tweaked the recipe or I grabbed the next step up, because these are nearly inedible. No flavor at all, just unpleasant heat. 😕 I don’t get the appeal. > [@kayaker](#): > > then kind of forgot about it. D: This reminded me of an exterminator my parents had many decades ago who insisted that dead mice have no smell, and that they had a sewer problem in their bathroom. (Spoiler alert: there were dead mice in the crawlspace. The plumbing was fine.) I actually suggested to our facility manager that we needed to adopt or foster some office cats. (After all, people are allowed to wear heavy perfumes, use wall plug-ins, and dispense cans of Lysol to ‘sanitize’ the air, so allergies must not be a problem! 🙄 ) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/129 "2024-01-06T01:35:19Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Since you asked, I think almost but not quite. It was semicorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/130 "2024-01-06T01:55:30Z")
The best kind of correct. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/131 "2024-01-06T02:48:49Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > We have mice at work. We had meeces in the cube farm where I worked. The building set some traps. I come in one Monday morning & crawl under my desk, yup, one of them is upside down & snapped. I call the receptionist to put in a ticket with the building to come give it a proper burial ~~at sea~~ in the trashcan. A while later there’s a knock at the door & the building engineer comes in & asks if someone has a dead mouse. I stand up at my cube (so he can see me) & say, “over here.”. He comes over, crawls under my desk & states that he only sees an unsprung trap. I tell him it’s behind the file cabinet under my desk. He crawls under again & states it’s not there. I tell him to move & I crawl under the desk again, & he’s right. It’s gone! We now think this mouse is Ahhnold ‘Sly’ Norris or something; alive, pissed off, & walking around with a trap on it’s head, & in a truly amazing coinky-dink _everyone_ decided to work with their feet up on their desk. It was only later that afternoon that we happened to get together with the engineer & the maintenance guy only to discover that they somehow _both_ got the ticket & the maint guy came in during the couple of seconds I got up to go pee. Since he placed them, he knew where they were so he came to my desk & disposed of it. The cubes are high enough that no one else looked up & saw him so no one knew he was in there & got rid of it. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/132 "2024-01-06T03:23:19Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > [@wolfpup](#): > > > > I could see the case being made that the second part expresses the same thought but with the subject and verb being implied, but a stickler for grammar would have a problem with that. > > In _informal_ writing, I think it would be perfectly okay to write > > _It feels so good to be around people who lift you up. In real life, and here also._ > > Even though the second sentence is technically a sentence fragment, it sounds fine if you’re talking in an everyday, conversational tone. So I would infer that what @SuntanLotion wrote would be similarly cromulent in such a case. > > But yes, your suggestion would be safer for more formal or strictly grammatical writing. I completely agree. But the actual **rules** of grammar are necessarily formal, pretty much by definition. What you’re saying – and again, I agree – is that in informal discourse, we tend to bend, spindle, and mutilate those rules, though we tend to do it within the constraints of unwritten conventions or rules specifically called out as “informal”. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/133 "2024-01-06T03:55:59Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > We now think this mouse is Ahhnold ‘Sly’ Norris or something; alive, pissed off, & walking around with a trap on it’s head, & in a truly amazing coinky-dink _everyone_ decided to work with their feet up on their desk. Find out if anyone around the office is missing a tiny hockey goalie mask. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/134 "2024-01-06T17:55:38Z")
Thankful I got hired and can start Tuesday but not paying the rent this month. Bus money to and from work and toilet paper are necessities, and only have enough to get them. Being poor sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/135 "2024-01-07T02:04:28Z")
A woman I worked with and was a casual friend with died yesterday. She had a brain aneurysm a week or two ago. She was responding and coming around when they had to put her back on the vent. They think she had a massive stroke after regaining some function. The family had to go before the board to get them to not put a trach tube. She never would have regained any real functionality, no speaking, thinking, etc. The family has been put through hell. I’m so sad for them. She was two years younger than me, and had finally retired in May. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/136 "2024-01-07T03:48:52Z")
> [@Sylvanz](#): > > She was two years younger than me, and had finally retired in May. That’s horrible. Retired and only experienced half a year before passing. I feel awful for the family too. I hope **you’re** doing okay as well. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/137 "2024-01-07T05:28:57Z")
The American Dialect Society, in conjunction with the Linguistic Society of America just chose the 2023 word of the year. The winner is… Enshittification! Cory Doctorow take a bow! Let’s roll the tape: > Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die. I call this **enshittification**. A fine choice I say, very apt for today’s world. Pop the champagne corks and raise a toast to Mr. Doctorow. [https://americandialect.org/2023-word-of-the-year-is-enshittification/](https://americandialect.org/2023-word-of-the-year-is-enshittification/) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/138 "2024-01-07T06:31:58Z")
I see I have a slice of cake for an anniversary, and … holy crap! I have haunted this board for ten years now! Joined on January 7th, 2014. My **tenth anniversary!** Seems like yesterday. So the moral of the story is this: if you’re an old fart, put your money into compound interest certificates or index funds, because it’s absolutely unbelievable how fast time flies when you’re not paying attention. And the older you get, the less attention you pay. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/139 "2024-01-07T08:15:21Z")
Is there anyone who doesn’t wake up during the night? 3 a.m. here. Should I take a sip of coffee? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437/140 "2024-01-07T08:57:04Z")
My dog Loki wakes me at 3 am to go out to pee every single night. I fall right back to sleep so I don’t mind it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-year-s-rant-solutions-january-mini-rants/995437.md?page=8)