# Ranters Play in the Pit -- I think it's for the Month of July **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 1, 2014, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072 "2014-07-01T05:16:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/181 "2014-07-16T22:29:27Z")
Condom stats are something like only 85% effective when accounting for the users not using them perfectly every time. And teenagers think crazy stuff. The girl could possibly even be jealous of her sister having a baby, and didn’t help to make sure the condoms were being used perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/182 "2014-07-16T22:46:41Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > No that’s not just you. That’s weird. Unless he’s paying rent in some form, I’m sure you’re perfectly capable of taking care of the cats. Unless there’s some precedent or you’ve stated you don’t want to take care of the kitties, there’s no reason for BF to cross the threshold at all while roomie’s gone. I mean, it seems a little strange that pet care wouldn’t just be done by you in the first place, unless you have stated or demonstrated you want nothing to do with them. I’ve taken care of the cats in the past. I think it’s more because the boyfriend’s place isn’t nearly as nice as ours. (I’ve only been there once, but it’s fairly run-down) Don’t get me wrong, I like the boyfriend and he’s heads and shoulders better with my roommate than the last one my roommate dated. (I made a rather lengthy post about that last year) My biggest complaint about the guy is that he’s often drunk, loud, and somewhat egocentric. But, I’d much rather deal with that than a couple who are always crying, fighting, or fucking, and causing damage to the apartment and other property. But, to his credit, he’s never been anything but nice to me, and when they cook, they always ask if I want some of whatever meal they are preparing. That being said, when I hear “Is it okay if bf comes by to check in on the cats?” I imagine a visit that might be a few hours, maximum. Instead, I received a (drunken) text from the guy yesterday afternoon telling me that he’s my roommate until the real roommate comes back. I haven’t confronted my real roommate about it, because I’m afraid he’ll say something to the bf that will make things awkward or uncomfortable. So, I’ll have to find some time while he’s in town to have that conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/183 "2014-07-17T08:51:53Z")
Somehow, in light of yesterday’s posts, it seems a bit mundane that I came here to bitch that my stupid water heater isn’t heating water. (You had one job!) I’ve done all of the troubleshooting I can, so it’s time to suck it up and call someone. Hooray. **Dung Beetle** , you have my sympathy. I’d have had the same conversation with my own son, if he came to me with the situation you describe, and a very similar one with my daughter, but it sounds like the girlfriend’s family has a wholly different mindset about this situation. If it helps you look at the future more optimistically, my brother-in-law was 18 when my niece was born. He finished high school, and has made a career of the Navy since - which is what he always wanted. It wasn’t always easy, but he and my niece are doing great, 23 years later. Best of luck to all of you. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2014, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/184 "2014-07-17T11:38:07Z")
Damn solictitors/mortgage lenders/mortgage advisers/the whole system. As of noon today, they still can’t give me a definite answer as to whether we get the keys to the new house TOMORROW. Which means we can’t book removal vans, plumbers/electricians[1], friends&family to help haul stuff, etc. It doesn’t really matter, I live with my sister, and my fiance has paid up a month in advance on his flat, so if they come back and say “sorry, next week” that’s fine. I just need a \*\*definite \*\*answer so I can make plans. Not a “hopefully tomorrow!” which is what I keep getting. Oh, and umm, congrats on becoming a grandparent **Dung Beetle**? The circumstances may suck, but I’m sure all will squee at the new baby when it gets here. [1] Repossession, so all services have been thoroughly disconnected to prevent squatters, and need officially reconnected. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/185 "2014-07-17T12:21:44Z")
Re: computer being half-fucked … good news/bad news - Good news: I believe I have definitively identified the problem. Bad news: it appears to be hardware related, not software related. I hardly ever power this thing down, I just let it go to sleep. Last night I shut it down and left it down. This morning I powered it up and the freezing/locking problem had disappeared … until it warmed up and the whole rigamarole started up again. Perfect. I just bought this thing brand new last spring. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/186 "2014-07-17T13:13:07Z")
Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK! AAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/187 "2014-07-17T13:15:54Z")
Thanks everyone who responded to my posts above. I could probably do whole threads on the kids’ problems right now, but this isn’t always the easiest place to bare your secrets! For some reason, I feel compelled to tell you guys about my major life events anyway. 🙂 I upset some posters last year with comments I made in a thread about child support, saying that I didn’t really expect men to help raise children because I haven’t known any that did. I suppose this will be my comeuppance, being on the side with less control over the child’s life. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/188 "2014-07-17T13:19:05Z")
Well, I dislocated my shoulder on Tuesday so I guess I have a bitch to post here! Also, why do people care how you did it? What is the difference? It isn’t like I was doing something exciting and threw my shoulder out. I fell, can’t myself falling, and throughout my shoulder. No big story to tell. I think I’ll invent a few just to have something more interesting to say. On the upside, thank God for Apple dictation on my MacBook. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/189 "2014-07-17T14:33:15Z")
You might want to recalibrate that Apple dictation thing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/190 "2014-07-17T14:34:38Z")
> [@Calatin](#): > > I assume one of the two will move in with the other’s family? Why would that be an automatic assumption? ---
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/191 "2014-07-17T14:47:56Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Why would that be an automatic assumption? The few instances I’ve known of teenage, where the father wants to be a part of the child’s life, that’s just been the case. YMMV Also? [Reba](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reba_(TV_series)). 😉 And on a personal front, the roommate’s bf apologized last night for being the drunken mess that he was on Monday, saying that he didn’t remember even coming back to my apartment and asked what happened when I came home. Shortly thereafter, he headed to the bar and was still out by the time I went to bed (around midnight). Yeah, when the roommate gets back in town, I think we’re gonna have to have a talk. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/192 "2014-07-17T14:51:29Z")
Yeah, I guess it does vary because in the teenage pregnancies I’ve know of they still each stayed home. He couldn’t remember coming back to your apartment but that’s where he automatically headed rather than his own? Yeah, something’s messed up there. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/193 "2014-07-17T15:14:55Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > You might want to recalibrate that Apple dictation thing. > > 😃 lol quoted for truth! I usually proofread but I missed those typos above. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/194 "2014-07-17T15:27:37Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > The batteries finally pitched in the towel on my favorite beard trimmer. No biggie, I’m a handy kind of guy with a screwdriver and soldering iron. Appliances fixed or confessions obtained in thirty minutes or less. > > New batteries, 23 dollars. New trimmer, 15 dollars with free shipping. My favorite trimmer wasn’t being made any more and the batteries had died. So I went on line, found some batteries that were guaranteed to fit and ordered them. There were _no_ obvious screws on the trimmer body because they were hidden under labels or pieces of plastic. They were also corroded. Result, partially disassembled razor with broken pieces of plastic. Batteries that turned out to be incorrect and far too large to fit. New trimmer ordered that turns out to be so unaggressive that I might as well be waving a banana over my face. Beard now trimmed haphazardly with scissors, just like in the old days. And I’m stuck with two trimmers (one broken) and some brand new batteries that I have to recycle. Bah. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/195 "2014-07-17T15:43:46Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK! AAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH! The last time I used that as an update, I was pregnant. I assume from your usernames that that’s not the case? 4pm, I cracked and contacted the solicitors - “not tomorrow, I thought you knew that?” No. No, your boss clearly said maybe still tomorrow, and that we’d be phoned either way. Head. Desk. ---
**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 17, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/196 "2014-07-17T15:53:16Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > The last time I used that as an update, I was pregnant. … and saying it is how you got there. 😃 ---
**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:** [July 17, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/197 "2014-07-17T15:57:06Z")
… and its also what the other half said when I sat him down with a beer and explained that the morning after pill doesn’t always work. And hadn’t 😉 Actually no, there were a few more FUCK!!s! ---
**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:** [July 17, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/198 "2014-07-17T17:05:54Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Re: computer being half-fucked … good news/bad news - > > Good news: I believe I have definitively identified the problem. > Bad news: it appears to be hardware related, not software related. > > I hardly ever power this thing down, I just let it go to sleep. Last night I shut it down and left it down. This morning I powered it up and the freezing/locking problem had disappeared … until it warmed up and the whole rigamarole started up again. > > Perfect. I just bought this thing brand new last spring. See if the cooling fan on the CPU is running, and not clogged with dust. (This is not intended to disparage your level of tech-savvy; it’s just related to the fact that I know nothing of your level of tech-savvy) The cooling fan on the CPU is NOT the same as the one on your power supply module. You need to open the case to check it. Generally speaking. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/199 "2014-07-17T18:06:59Z")
Yep. My next steps. I’ve set up a fan next to the tower blowing into the vents, but I doubt that will do the trick. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072/200 "2014-07-17T19:15:28Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Sometimes it doesn’t pay to get a job. > > After several months of unemployment, I manage to land a job; an extremely low-paying job (an almost 50% cut from my last position) with the state government. I was asked to produce two forms of ID for all the official paperwork. Well I only had my driver’s license on me at the time, so they said, “no problem, when you can bring in your passport, your birth certificate or your SS card and you’ll be good to go,” and they put me to work. > > I looked high and low for my birth certificate, but I couldn’t find it. I don’t have a passport and that little cardboard card I got from Social Security 36 years ago hasn’t been seen since the tragic Wallet Washing Incident of 1985. So I go to the local SS office to get a replacement card; they’ll mail it to me, but here’s a little signed piece of paper you can give to your employers. I always thought in case like this you ought to be able to bring in your high school yearbook. One of those would be very difficult to counterfeit. Even harder than a social security card or DL. ETA I am reminded of the time Wells Fargo did not want to cash my payroll check without two picture IDs. So I went home, scanned a picture and the company logo and made a company photo ID on my inkjet printer and laminated it. They never questioned it at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ranters-play-in-the-pit-i-think-its-for-the-month-of-july/692072.md?page=11)