# Rant or Treat (October Mini Rants) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 1, 2015, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109 "2015-10-01T04:51:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/161 "2015-10-19T17:36:47Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > May the **Vorwife** ’s appendex leave the premises quick and painlessly. Latest update: Not the appendix. CAT scan reported to be ‘wonkey’, with various specialties reporting a loose greenfield filter, roaming essure spirals, or floating fallopian clips. And of course, everyone’s favorite, elevated WBC. That filter is not moving, unless she is dead, so that could be ruled out. There is only one essure device, so why report multiples? The clips have been reported traveling before, but the GYN who installed them says they are where he left them. With the start of the work week, and adult supervision at the hospital, maybe we can get to the cause of what is going on. NEVER get sick on the weekend! ---
**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:** [October 19, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/162 "2015-10-19T17:57:00Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > Non-pit: It’s nice that businesses like doctor’s offices are finally getting online. > > Pit: Why do they bother setting up online appointment request forms when they make you call to set the appointment time anyway? If I wanted to call, I would have, you know, called. The problem is, all appointments are not equal. For an annual checkout they might give you a 20-30 min slot, for a quickie med-ck/shot it might be five minutes – the scheduler does her best to guess at what time zone your problem is likely to fall into, and that’s not something patients generally have the experience to answer by themselves. But, yes, it makes setting the appointment on a web pretty useless. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/163 "2015-10-19T18:00:15Z")
Sheesh, I hope so. Didn’t realize I was lucky to have my gallbladder kaput on a Tuesday afternoon! ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/164 "2015-10-19T18:07:39Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > Non-pit: It’s nice that businesses like doctor’s offices are finally getting online. > > Pit: Why do they bother setting up online appointment request forms when they make you call to set the appointment time anyway? If I wanted to call, I would have, you know, called. Truly a question for the ages. I tried to set up an appointment with a local office up to and including entering in my insurance company and plan number. The next day I got an email saying that I needed to call for an appointment because something something insurance. So why even bother with the online option anyway? I still haven’t called. I should probably get around to doing that. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/165 "2015-10-19T20:48:59Z")
My new Staples Advantage inside sales rep is an idiot. The warehouse is stupid, too. They sent me a case of cups instead of the gloves I ordered. Now it’s taken 6 weeks and counting to return said case of cups. Instead of just sending me a shipping return label like every other vendor I use, they want to “send someone to pick it up.” OK. Except the request the rep keeps sending, keeps getting rejected because the item isn’t worth enough. Instead of figuring this out and just crediting me within a day and telling me to keep it, like every other vendor I use, I have had to prompt him every week about the box still sitting in the foyer, in the way I get an email today from the resolution department, saying they will pick up the 20 boxes of gloves shortly. Um. No. It’s a case of Solo cups that were sent in place of the gloves I wanted. This goes back to the inside sales rep clearly not comprehending I wanted to send back the box I specified : Solo cups, item#Y7RH, 7oz, 20/100ct packs. Not sure how to make that more clear. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/166 "2015-10-19T20:52:54Z")
Has anyone noticed now that EVERY SINGLE WEBSITE has a popup to demand personal info from you? They all ask for your email address, or for you to subscribe, or whatever. News flash bitches! I just came to your website for a single article. I will never subscribe. ---
**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 19, 2015, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/167 "2015-10-19T23:22:05Z")
^^^ That is why I use my ad blocker and script blocker guilt-free. (Except at work, where apparently everyone – besides my supervisor – has to use Internet Explorer, without any extensions.) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/168 "2015-10-20T08:03:02Z")
Reset cellphone. Added the handful of contacts I actually want to have. Made the mistake of opening Gmail. This triggered the attempt to add anybody who appears in my emails to my list of contacts; there suddenly are thousands of “contacts” in my list, but I’m calling it an “attempt” because the names get split up in some, ah, interestingly wrong ways (to google’s programmers: lots of people do not have firstname middlename lastname; organizations, even more so). It’s like suddenly being told that anybody I ever had physical contact with in the subway is now in my list of friends, or anybody I ever slightly bumped into in a bar is now a former lover… with the added PITA of taking up a ridiculous amount of phone memory. Argh! ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/169 "2015-10-20T08:07:17Z")
So there’s this thread in Cafe Society. The subject line says it’s about movie “errors” that take you out of the film even though you understand why they do it. The OP goes into detail along those lines. Yet 90% of the subsequent posts are just gripes about movie errors. NOTHING about understanding why it was done that way by the makers of the film. I’d have thought people here would actually, y’know, READ subject lines and OPs before launching on their pet peeves. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/170 "2015-10-20T10:32:46Z")
nm ---
**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:** [October 20, 2015, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/171 "2015-10-20T13:11:34Z")
Yeah, nm… I hate new mexico too. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/172 "2015-10-20T13:15:21Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > ^^^ That is why I use my ad blocker and script blocker guilt-free. (Except at work, where apparently everyone – besides my supervisor – has to use Internet Explorer, without any extensions.) Yup, it’s work. We also have to use Internet Explorer all the time. And no extensions. And no ad blocker. And no nothing. So here is the childishness that is currently going on in my office. We have an event next week. We have a tiny staff, so we all work the event except for one girl, who has higher rank than any of us, so she just attends. Fine, whatever. Last year we comped tickets to her husband, her brother, his girlfriend, and another couple. This year we told her her and her husband were welcome to come on the house, but we just couldn’t comp four more spots, we need the money badly. (We do). Now she is sulking and mad and refuses to come to the event! ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/173 "2015-10-20T13:16:48Z")
Tell her she has to work it. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/174 "2015-10-20T13:24:53Z")
No, she can sit at home and sulk if she wants to be so childish. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/175 "2015-10-20T15:23:44Z")
My local Treasury has decided to change the way you pay them via internet. Previously, if you did your paperwork online, the last bit right below how much you have to pay or they to pay back was the account number. Some genius has decided to move that out. Fine. You can still pay online. Only, the freshly-implemented payment page uses a Java plugin that even IE considers poison. Bravo guys! I want the head of the motherfucker who decided to do this for an ashtray and I will start smoking just so I can use it! ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/176 "2015-10-20T16:25:10Z")
I try very hard, I really do, to remember that just because I’m familiar with a process doesn’t mean that everyone is and that the clients I support are just as intelligent and capable in their own fields as I am in mine. But when they send me emails asking for documents to be sent in a different format because they don’t know how to open PDFs, or complain that they don’t know how to download (wtf?) the attachment from the email I sent, well, it makes it hard, yanno? ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/177 "2015-10-20T16:45:39Z")
I follow a couple of kittencams, which usually means lots of squeeing. Night before last, one of those cams recorded the intake of a (possibly) feral kitten, that they hoped to socialize and place with a family. Last night the kitten died. Word has it she was vomiting worms. Please, please, please. Spay and neuter your pets, at least, so that fewer tiny lives have to end this horrible way. ---
**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:** [October 20, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/178 "2015-10-20T18:53:21Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Yup, it’s work. We also have to use Internet Explorer all the time. And no extensions. And no ad blocker. And no nothing. There is a possible solution if you are able to edit the hosts file on your computer. It’s located at C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc. If you can browse to that location and open the hosts file for editing, you’re golden. Full description and instructions [here](http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm). Download the hosts.zip or you can view it as text and copy/paste it onto your computer. Not as good as a regular ad blocker, but still knocks out the crap. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/179 "2015-10-20T19:16:49Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > There is a possible solution if you are able to edit the hosts file on your computer. It’s located at C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc. If you can browse to that location and open the hosts file for editing, you’re golden. > > Full description and instructions [here](http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm). Download the hosts.zip or you can view it as text and copy/paste it onto your computer. > > Not as good as a regular ad blocker, but still knocks out the crap. I do not think it will work because we are on a Citrix platform and access a remote server every day and our PCs, while not dummies, are pretty close to it. They’re only really used for thumb drives and for sound/cds etc. I’d have to redo it every day. ---
**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:** [October 20, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109/180 "2015-10-20T20:24:51Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I do not think it will work because we are on a Citrix platform and access a remote server every day and our PCs, while not dummies, are pretty close to it. They’re only really used for thumb drives and for sound/cds etc. I’d have to redo it every day. That sucks. About all you would have left is to save the hosts file on a flash or network drive with a bat file to copy it to the system folder. Not ideal, but better than nothing I suppose. Just make it part of the morning curse the sysadmin ritual. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-or-treat-october-mini-rants/733109.md?page=10)