# Ook-tober Mini-rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** monthly-mini-rant\ **Created:** [October 1, 2026, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511 "2026-10-01T14:18:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/41 "2026-10-02T19:18:02Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Man, I am just so stupidly careless! If I’m grinning it’s only because that sounds like something I would do. mmm ---
**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:** [October 2, 2026, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/42 "2026-10-02T19:28:14Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Man, I am just so stupidly careless! If it helps you feel any better… I had a similar issue as you with regard to a small bookcase my bio father made for me. I could not find suitably sized pegs so rather than keep looking, I decided the best thing to do would be to drill a hole of a larger size where the too-small hole was. I succeeded in not only drilling a hole too big for _any_ peg, but I drilled that hole straight through the bookcase. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/43 "2026-10-02T19:54:42Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > It’s not just driving. As a pedestrian during a recent visit to the U.K., I made myself get in the habit of looking both ways when crossing any street. > [@Seanette](#): > > Excellent point here, and one I’ll do my best to keep in mind if I’m ever in that situation (not really likely, both for financial reasons and my distaste for travel). Not a bad idea in the States, either, due to the possibility of wrong-way drivers. I look both ways when pedestrianing across any street. Just like Mom taught me decades ago. Why? Not because I might be in a left-hand traffic country. Although I have been recently. Not because I might encounter a wrong way driver. Though I’ve recently see those too. But because I might be crossing a one way street where traffic comes from the “wrong” way, IOW from my right for countries like the USA. The odds on me being at a one-way street or driveway are hundreds of times more likely than are wrong way drivers or backwards-to-me traffic flow. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/44 "2026-10-02T20:00:17Z")
I too have done that. Although not quite that spectacularly expensively. Measuring the diameter of a pin is not easy. And by the time they’re only 5mm, one mm looms large as an error. Easy to be off by 1, and that’s assuming you’ve got great light and great eyes for up close work. One trick is to use a drill bit as a comparison. an e.g 5mm drill bit isn’t exactly 5.0000 mm. But it’s darn close. If you have a drill bit storage case (an “index” in the trade) with matching sized holes, you can try to fit the pin in the various holes and when you get a match, read off the size. Here’s another handy tool. Just a couple dollars, very small, will last the rest of any Doper’s lifetime, and it’s great for precise measurements of small things. I found a single pak of those someplace for $1.99. Maybe in a bucket at the Ace Hardware checkstand. Seemed a frivolous impulse purchase at the time, but it gets used lots more than I’d expected. > **[Hyamass 3Pcs Mini Plastic Vernier Caliper 80mm, Double Scale Measuring Tool |...](https://www.amazon.com/Hyamass-Measuring-Portable-Measurement-Accuracy/dp/B0CXSZK8TC)** > > Hyamass 3Pcs Mini Plastic Vernier Caliper 80mm, Double Scale Measuring Tool | Durable Plastic, Measures Small Objects Inside Outside Step Depth, Easy-Read, Portable 0-3 Inch, Accuracy 0.05mm(1/128in): Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific ---
**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:** [October 2, 2026, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/45 "2026-10-02T20:21:30Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > That’s why they say, “Measure once, buy twice.” LOL! If that’s not a traditional piece of folkloric wisdom, it should be! 😁 ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/46 "2026-10-02T20:59:09Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > hat’s why they say, “Measure once, buy twice.” Or you know, drive a few blocks to the Home Depot with the part you need in hand before spending $89 in shipping. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/47 "2026-10-02T20:59:20Z")
I love the measure once, buy twice motto. My reality is this: Can’t measure correctly, continue buying until it fits. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/48 "2026-10-02T21:16:45Z")
My habit for a lot of those hard to size local purchases is buy the size I think I want, plus next larger or smaller based on which mistake I think more likely. I’ll be driving past the store again soon enough and can return whichever is wrong then without a special trip. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2026, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/49 "2026-10-02T21:52:06Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Or you know, drive a few blocks to the Home Depot with the part you need in hand before spending $89 in shipping. I have done that so many times (but Lowe’s in my case; that store is less than 10 minutes from my house). Nothing beats being able to actually hold it up to another part and verify that they are identical. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/50 "2026-10-02T22:17:03Z")
I once got halted by a Home Depot worker when I dared enter carrying my needed-to-be-replaced bathroom faucet fixture. The employee examined the very obviously used part and eyeballed me as if I were trying to smuggle in a stink bomb before granting me passage. mmm ---
**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:** [October 2, 2026, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/51 "2026-10-02T23:01:15Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > The employee examined the very obviously used part and eyeballed me as if I were trying to smuggle in a stink bomb before granting me passage. I hope you said something like, “I wanted to bring the kitchen sink but it was too heavy.” ---
**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:** [October 3, 2026, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/52 "2026-10-03T02:13:46Z")
In the continuing saga of moving, I wonder if there’s anything more distressing than having two women cleaning and tidying your bedroom – your innermost sanctum? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/53 "2026-10-03T03:54:54Z")
I can think of one or two things… ---
**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:** [October 3, 2026, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/54 "2026-10-03T07:58:33Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > A few months ago, my wife and I were traveling to an appointment and for the first time spotted someone going in an roundabout **the wrong direction**. That was fucking scary. The last thing I thought I had to worry about was a head-on collision in one. 😨 Holy crap!! I’m surprised I’ve never encountered that at any of our local roundabouts (there are six between my workplace and the next town; I have to drive through two more before I get to my house). Knowing drivers around here, I always look both ways though. So far whoever maintains these things is doing a decent job of keeping the center vegetation in check, especially at the one located at the junction of an interstate. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2026, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/55 "2026-10-03T13:51:20Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > there’s anything more distressing than having two women cleaning and tidying your bedroom Buddy, if you got a problem with free housecleaners wiping down your baseboards or whatever, send 'em on my way. (Sucks about the bookshelf pegs, though. I’ve had similar expensive “my own damn dumb fault” mistakes over the years, and somehow not being able to blame that dummy over there makes it worse.) ---
**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:** [October 3, 2026, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/56 "2026-10-03T13:53:24Z")
Yes, @Jasmine plenty of help. Kids. A live in nurse.._Who’s mine all mine!_ 😄 He’s now on complete bed rest because his pain was terrible after the first PT and has not calmed. He goes back to the surgeon Monday. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/57 "2026-10-03T14:58:35Z")
Forgive me if you’ve already mentioned this, but is moving to the new place before you put the house up for sale an option? Then the realtor can stage it however she wants and you don’t have to keep everything immaculate and put away 24/7. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2026, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/58 "2026-10-03T15:19:02Z")
> [@liirogue](#): > > Forgive me if you’ve already mentioned this, but is moving to the new place before you put the house up for sale an option? No, hasn’t been mentioned, but there are two big problems with that option. As we head into an increasingly slow sales period, I could end up supporting two properties for an unexpectedly long time. It’s not feasible in any case because the realtor is not in a position to fully furnish the place, only to provide some tables and chairs and a couch and stuff like that. An empty house is not generally an attractive presentation. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2026, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/59 "2026-10-03T17:31:55Z")
OK, I’m officially losing my mind over this house stress. My kind and lovely realtor was helping me organize the family room the other night. She organized stuff into “need now”, “move”, and “throw out” piles. Nowhere among them did I see a brown envelope that contained the original sales contract and deed to the house. I snipped at her due to all my stress but she assured me that she never threw out anything without my OK. I went through the pile of “stuff to keep” just now and there was the goddam envelope from the lawyer with all the property paperwork. Not that it was even necessary since all the stuff is online now, but it just bugged me that it seemed to have vanished. I only hope that my lovely and infinitely patient realtor doesn’t abandon me as I sink into psychosis. I don’t think I’ve ever been this stressed in my life. It’s not just about moving, and not just about downsizing. It’s about a final stage of my life. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2026, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511/60 "2026-10-04T00:00:32Z")
Ref this > [@wolfpup](#): > > It’s about a final stage of my life. Sobering for sure. When I was a little kid I recall my Dad saying something about doing things at their appropriate phase of life “… because it’s a one way trip.” I forget his specific words before that punchline. But that last bit hit little me like a pallet of bricks and I still refer to it. Not that I’ve lived up to his advice. I’ve talked here often of my misuse of my teens & 20s in many ways. At the same time, there’s a lot of life between rounding the final turn & hitting the finish line. Or there can be. Keep up the good work! Good Boy! You can do it. Seriously, not mockingly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ook-tober-mini-rants/1033511.md?page=4)