# Rants Giving (November mini-rants) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 1, 2019, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811 "2019-11-01T00:30:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [November 2, 2019, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/41 "2019-11-02T19:32:46Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > I have been unable to find out how Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” has become so strongly associated with horror movies. Does anyone know? > [@galen\_ubal](#): > > It’s on Disney’s _Fantasia_ soundtrack, if available. It’s certainly the version I’m most familiar with. That’s an orchestral version. For drama, you can’t beat it on organ, especially as performed by James Mason’s Captain Nemo in _60K Miles At Periscope Depth_. Which, while not a horror movie _per se_, does have some horrifying squid tentacles. Personally, I don’t associate the Bach with horror movies as much as I do _Carmina Burana_. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2019, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/42 "2019-11-03T21:18:48Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > No snow here yet but there were cars on the road today covered in it. They must have come from up north somewhere. It’s coming! According to some almanac thingy, it’s supposed to be a long cold winter with lots of snow and it’s supposed to drag on into a late spring. My usual snowplowing service has hiked their rates and I’m trying to decide between getting gouged by them or going for a less reliable cheaper service. With my luck I’ll still be thinking about it when the first major blizzard hits. That will probably be when the furnace quits, which has been making odd noises going on three years now. Our plow service, which has been very reliable for the three years since I decided I was too old to be shovelling snow from the driveway, decided that they would no longer plow down-sloping drives like mine without a waiver absolving them of responsibility if they damaged a retaining wall or slid into the garage door. I can see their point, but it’s very annoying. (They will do the flat section at the road end and the plowdrift for half price.) I checked with other plow services and they flatly refuse to do any part of a sloping drive. At least the garage end of the drive generally has less snow for me to shovel. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/43 "2019-11-03T21:44:41Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > Our plow service, which has been very reliable for the three years since I decided I was too old to be shovelling snow from the driveway, decided that they would no longer plow down-sloping drives like mine without a waiver absolving them of responsibility if they damaged a retaining wall or slid into the garage door. I can see their point, but it’s very annoying. (They will do the flat section at the road end and the plowdrift for half price.) I checked with other plow services and they flatly refuse to do any part of a sloping drive. At least the garage end of the drive generally has less snow for me to shovel. You might check with a street-sweeping company. Their equipment can handle most snowfalls. And they might be less concerned that i heir sweeper would damage retaining walls or garage doors. (Or look at buying a snow blower for the sloping part of the driveway.) ---
**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:** [November 4, 2019, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/44 "2019-11-04T01:49:26Z")
I don’t think I’ve seen a non-sloping driveway in our city. Maybe out in the 'burbs, where they bulldozed everything flat before building ticky-tacky housing developments… ETA: I’d sign the waiver and assume the drivers have been plowing sloped driveways for years without any problems. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/45 "2019-11-04T02:23:45Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I don’t think I’ve seen a non-sloping driveway in our city. “Down-sloping” - presumably they’ve gotten requests for repairs when their trucks slid into structures. > [@](#): > > ETA: I’d sign the waiver and assume the drivers have been plowing sloped driveways for years without any problems. I’m guessing there is a lot of turnover in that job, and the odds of getting a driver with an particular experience are significantly less than 100%. On the other hand, most snowfalls probably don’t represent much risk. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/46 "2019-11-04T08:20:51Z")
after shopping today I swear if it wasn’t for black Friday and possibly thanksgiving the retail world would erase November from the existence of the world… Hell, most of em here started in October … ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/47 "2019-11-04T13:42:30Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > Also, it’s currently 43°F outside, and the A/C is blasting. According to the thermometer I installed in here earlier this week, the office temperature is currently 69.5° and falling. We went to Red Robin on Sat for supper and I swear, they had the a/c on plus the ceiling fans were spinning away! And, similarly, it was in the 40s outside. Fortunately, I was wearing a sweatshirt. \*BRRRRR!! \* ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/48 "2019-11-04T16:29:27Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Personally, I don’t associate the Bach with horror movies as much as I do _Carmina Burana_. One theme I’ve experienced to good effect in multiple horror-theme movies is from the “Witches Sabbath” movement of Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique”. From [the opening credits of “The Shining”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a-MS-lB8gM&t=0m17s). ---
**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:** [November 4, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/49 "2019-11-04T19:08:38Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > One theme I’ve experienced to good effect in multiple horror-theme movies is from the “Witches Sabbath” movement of Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique”. > > From [the opening credits of “The Shining”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a-MS-lB8gM&t=0m17s). I’ve always liked the way the opening credits were done in _The Shining_, but I never gave any thought to what the music was. I assumed it was composed specifically for the movie. Thanks for the info. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/50 "2019-11-04T19:10:49Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Got a text from the lady who adopted ‘Trooper’, the solid black cat I fostered for several weeks last year. I named him Trooper because he got me a ticket from a state trooper. > Well, he’s missing. He had a screened porch to access through a cat flap. I’m very worried because it’s Hallowe’en. She came home and he’s no where to be found inside the house. She’s now searching the neighborhood. > God, I hope no ignoramus got ahold of him. People do awful things to black cats on Hallowe’en. > He’s such a sweet tiny thing. Full of purrs and bright green blinkie eyes. Gosh, Beck, you nailed the description of my little black cat “Punkin.” She’s the nicest cat I ever had. We don’t let her out; much safer indoors with her “big brother” the large gray tomcat who looks like Tom (of & Jerry). We call her Punkin because she came to live with us close to Halloween 7 years ago. Wasn’t deliberate, we had adopted her for my MIL but it didn’t work out so we took her into our house for a trial that soon turned permanent. (She had to get along with the other critters, which she did in great style.) Glad to hear Trooper made it home safe. Here’s a Punkin story: She likes to curl up in a flat circular shape next to our black roomba. It has a flashing green light; she opens and closes her eyes and LOOKS JUST LIKE THE ROOMBA. I think she does it on purpose… ---
**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:** [November 4, 2019, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/51 "2019-11-04T19:28:09Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > Our plow service, which has been very reliable for the three years since I decided I was too old to be shovelling snow from the driveway, decided that they would no longer plow down-sloping drives like mine without a waiver absolving them of responsibility if they damaged a retaining wall or slid into the garage door. I can see their point, but it’s very annoying. (They will do the flat section at the road end and the plowdrift for half price.) I checked with other plow services and they flatly refuse to do any part of a sloping drive. At least the garage end of the drive generally has less snow for me to shovel. The only thing I could imagine would have a plow service get their shorts in a knot would be a basement garage where the driveway slopes down from street level. I presume this is what you mean by “down-sloping”. In my former urban neighborhood where land was very valuable lots of new infill houses were built that way because it was a way to get maximum house on minimum land, especially if it was a narrow lot. I never figured out how they deal with snow removal, since the grade is pretty steep and would be problematic both for plows and even self-propelled snowblowers. Maybe they were heated – short and steep driveways would be perfect for that. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/52 "2019-11-04T19:40:56Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > It was used as the opening music to the 1931 Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and was used a lot during the silent era. That probably started the association, then Fantasia, then it was also used in some versions of Phantom of the Opera. > > It’s just a generally creepy sounding piece. I can remember as a child hearing it in the haunted house at our local amusement park. I was going to mention this. The version of the original Phantom of the Opera that I’ve seen used it for the Phantom’s organ playing. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/53 "2019-11-05T06:10:22Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The only thing I could imagine would have a plow service get their shorts in a knot would be a basement garage where the driveway slopes down from street level. I presume this is what you mean by “down-sloping”. In my former urban neighborhood where land was very valuable lots of new infill houses were built that way because it was a way to get maximum house on minimum land, especially if it was a narrow lot. I never figured out how they deal with snow removal, since the grade is pretty steep and would be problematic both for plows and even self-propelled snowblowers. Maybe they were heated – short and steep driveways would be perfect for that. Yeah - it’s a high ranch with the garage half below ground. I had a snowblower for a while, but there’s no room to keep it in the garage and keeping it elsewhere meant I had to reef it up and down several steps to get to the driveway. It was almost as much work as shovelling by hand and my wife was getting worried I’d keel over from a heart attack. Maybe I’ll spring for a lightweight model. At least the plowing service (actually a tractor-mounted snowblower) will deal with the 3 to 4 foot high drift of wet, heavy snow and ice that the city snowplow typically leaves. That alone is more than half of the work, and would be hard to clear with a lightweight blower. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/54 "2019-11-05T15:08:00Z")
This is stupid, but I don’t care. I avoided Dish’s offers of a ‘free’ voice remote for months. Emails, each time I was on the site to pay, phone system offers–I avoided them all. Obviously, my wishes are not to be respected, so finally Dish sent me an email telling me my free voice remote was on the way as a gift for being a valued customer. Grrr. I called Dish and told them I did not want the remote. This was very confusing for them. The first rep had to talk to someone in the “back office” to even figure out how to respond. My experience is that I become responsible for the equipment that Dish provides, and I don’t want to have to keep track of an additional remote. Dish says the remote is coming and there is no mechanism for return. But, I am assured, I do not have to keep the remote, use the remote, or return the remote in the future should I choose to end my Dish service. So I planned to dispose of the remote when it arrived. Remote arrives and I throw the box on a counter pending possibly finding someone who wants it. Yesterday, I get an email from Dish asking me to set up my voice remote. Oh, you fucking fucks! I didn’t want the fucking thing, and I surely don’t want continuing emails asking me to use it. I called Dish and asked if they are going to continue to harass me about this. Because I really don’t want this stupid remote. One rep said they could stop the emails, but the person they sent me to make it stop seemed quite confused about that idea. I anticipate continued emails about setting up the remote, followed by this being the final push to end my service, because I am already thisclose. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/55 "2019-11-05T15:20:19Z")
Yuck, if they’re being that pushy it means that remote makes money for them somehow, probably by spying on you. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/56 "2019-11-05T16:10:36Z")
Not picking on anyone here in particular, but guys, can we stop with the [“kids don’t know X”](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21954183&postcount=33) theme when it comes to movies, tv shows, and music? Trust me, they _know_. They may not know the books or _Rolling Stone Magazine_, but the electronica, the stuff on YouTube, Pandora, Netflix, Tor, Hulu, etc? They know. And they know a metric fuckton more of Americana culture than you knew at that age, so chill. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/57 "2019-11-05T16:37:27Z")
Oh Joy, two scam call already this AM–sorry guys, I don’t speak Chinese, let alone know anyone in NYC. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/58 "2019-11-05T19:29:36Z")
> [@The\_Vorlon](#): > > Oh Joy, two scam call already this AM–sorry guys, I don’t speak Chinese, let alone know anyone in NYC. I’d love to get rid of the landline (six calls in the last 24 hours, all robocalls)… but the kids won’t let me. All because a drunk called us up at 2 am and told us he wanted to buy our number… we had no idea that our number spelled (262)BEE-RKEG. ETA: I’m trusting you guys not to call and act like a Chinese telecom company. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/59 "2019-11-06T14:36:25Z")
Paralyzed by Crushing Disappointment, I sit here in the dark, unable to sleep. Not even holding a puppy can ease my angst. It will be light soon, and the people will be up and around, a constant source of annoyance, like a splinter under a fingernail. Can’t remove it, can’t ignore it. It’s somebody’s Birthday, somewhere I’m not. There is no joy on the Alkali Flat. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811/60 "2019-11-06T15:06:55Z")
I’ll take the puppy, I could use some therapy. A somewhat new guy from customer service inexplicably dropped in for a chat. I now have the following seared into my mind: [ul] [li]He currently has 8 stitches in his butt. [/li][li]He has half a toenail on his right foot. [/li][li]He will be getting cataract surgery soon, and since he won’t be able to bend over afterward, he’s going to get a pedicure. [/li][li]He showed me the nail polish he’s going to have applied during the pedicure… red for the intact toenail, and blue for the half-nail, as an indicator of the amount of intellect he believes to be possessed by the respective political parties. [/li][li]He claims to be independent. [/li][li]He’s going to send a picture of his painted toenails to his brother. [/li][li]His wife thinks he’s an idiot. [/li][/ul] Naturally, there was no mention of the minor kerfuffle he caused last week by falsely telling me we had received customer approval for an important document. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-giving-november-mini-rants/842811.md?page=4)