# September's shot already (mini-rants) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 2, 2019, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/septembers-shot-already-mini-rants/839577 "2019-09-02T02:18:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/septembers-shot-already-mini-rants/839577/161 "2019-10-01T01:53:24Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I should hope your kitty got a few more lives out of that 7K! Mine got 11 happy months for my 6K. I’d do it again for _that_ cat. It’s been almost two years, and I still miss him every day. ---
**Author:** ![slalexan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@slalexan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slalexan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/septembers-shot-already-mini-rants/839577/162 "2019-10-01T13:34:00Z")
> [@mischievous](#): > > **slalexan** , if you have any updates you would care to share, I would be happy to listen. The first results came back but it wasn’t high enough to suggest they’d see anything on ultrasound. So we had to wait the whole freaking weekend to have a second blood draw to test again. I did that first thing in their office Monday and now it is Tuesday and I am waiting. Still waiting. The waiting fucking sucks. Their office has been open for an hour and a half already. I know that the lab is gonna take as long as they do and then the doctor has to actually see the results and interpret them. But the fucking waiting. I feel like Schrodinger’s cat, in a state of both pregnant and not, happy and sad, both and neither until the damn box is opened. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/septembers-shot-already-mini-rants/839577/163 "2019-10-01T17:02:14Z")
> [@slalexan](#): > > The first results came back but it wasn’t high enough to suggest they’d see anything on ultrasound. So we had to wait the whole freaking weekend to have a second blood draw to test again. I did that first thing in their office Monday and now it is Tuesday and I am waiting. Still waiting. The waiting fucking sucks. Their office has been open for an hour and a half already. I know that the lab is gonna take as long as they do and then the doctor has to actually see the results and interpret them. But the fucking waiting. > > I feel like Schrodinger’s cat, in a state of both pregnant and not, happy and sad, both and neither until the damn box is opened. So sorry. Sounds extremely unpleasant. Hang in there. ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/septembers-shot-already-mini-rants/839577/164 "2019-10-01T17:06:28Z")
> [@slalexan](#): > > The waiting fucking sucks. Their office has been open for an hour and a half already. I know that the lab is gonna take as long as they do… > I feel like Schrodinger’s cat, in a state of both pregnant and not, happy and sad, both and neither until the damn box is opened. Damn. I’m not even remotely Christian, but if there’s any book that has helped me, it’s C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters. There’s a really good chapter in there about how humans deal really poorly with uncertainty, and try to prepare themselves for all possible outcomes even though that’s clearly impossible. If you step back from the challenge of preparing for the outcomes and tackle the \*uncertainty itself \*as today’s challenge, I find that really helps. I know we’re moving into a new month’s minirant thread, but keep us posted if you can. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/septembers-shot-already-mini-rants/839577/165 "2019-10-01T17:14:54Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Damn Taiwanese and their complete inability to comprehend that somehow the sound blaring from their smart phone doesn’t magically only fill their ears without bothering the fuck out of everyone else around. > > People watch videos in restaurants without using earphones. What annoyes me the most is when they insist on screaming into their phone on speaker mode with poor connections so the other person’s voice crackles in and out. > > There are tables in the convience stores where people can sit. It’s not a library, so you don’t expect complete silence, but good god, why can’t people just stop being the center of the fucking universe for one minute? It would be OK if a gentle request would work just they just ignore you. > > When I was working freelance teaching, I would carry around a speaker for my music. Eurotechno beat is a fun reminder to people to shut the fuck up. It’s not just Taiwanese. Awhile back I took my granddaughter to Popeye’s for dinner. There was a family sitting at the table behind us, watching some stupid Nickelodeon or Disney kids sitcom on their phone at full blast. We wound up moving to a different table so I didn’t have sitcom blasting into my ears. I would have said something but I’m sure it wouldn’t have made any difference. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/septembers-shot-already-mini-rants/839577/166 "2019-10-02T01:38:28Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Mine got 11 happy months for my 6K. I’d do it again for _that_ cat. It’s been almost two years, and I still miss him every day. Crazy, ain’t We? I kept bemoaning the expense, my sister kept saying "oh just shut up & pay it or you will hate YOURSELF forever. ---
**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 2, 2019, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/septembers-shot-already-mini-rants/839577/167 "2019-10-02T14:16:20Z")
Daughter got engaged a year ago, at a big surprise picnic that the fiancé threw her. College friends came from all over the country, brought games and booze. Went without a hitch. So of course they thought “Hey, this throw-it-together-at-the-last-minute party went great! A DIY wedding will be a breeze!” DIY weddings are not a breeze. The wedding was in a forest, an hour from anything. I was kidding that I’d be spending the week before the wedding making duct tape runs to the nearest store…44 miles away. Well, guess where I was an hour before the wedding, while everyone else was taking pictures? Navigating a big truck down steep winding mountain roads, coming back from an “OMG, it dropped into the 40’s, we need a giant tent heater fan” run to the nearest big city, 2 hours away. On the upside, all those college friends showed up two days early and pitched in, the parents worked late into the night, and we got all the DIY stuff done! (Stupidly DIY, like “What? Let strangers cook our food? Naah, we can put together a BBQ Friday… and tell ALL the guests to come a day early!” and “Gee, wouldn’t it be great to throw a big brunch for everyone the next morning? So we’ll need people to party til 2, then get up at 6 to start cutting up melons and vegetables and making omelettes.”) ---
**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 2, 2019, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/septembers-shot-already-mini-rants/839577/168 "2019-10-02T22:15:24Z")
And ps, don’t let your daughter know you have letterpress skills. Man, if she were a client I’d’ve cleaned up on design/revision charges! Oh, yes, and the mother of the bride realized I was an easy touch for last-minute late night work: “Wouldn’t it be nice to have menus printed by tomorrow (for the dinner that isn’t decided on yet) on little stands (that aren’t figured out yet) around the tables (that aren’t set up yet)?” pps, we got home late last night, but I just spent a whole day all by myself, so I’m doing better. (Seriously, SO many times during the last sleep-deprived peopled-out week I paused, and pictured myself at our local greasy spoon with a book and a cup of coffee, with earbuds in… and it happened, YAY!) ---
**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 2, 2019, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/septembers-shot-already-mini-rants/839577/169 "2019-10-02T22:29:13Z")
My roommates did a DIY wedding. They, however, had enough sense to know it would take a lot of planning and spent every weekend for two months before the wedding at the groom’s dad’s house getting everything ready. They also had it closer to civilization. I will say, that was the best wedding reception I’ve ever been to. Potluck dinner and lots and lots and \*lots \*of wine. We were dancing and drinking and carrying on till four in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/septembers-shot-already-mini-rants/839577/170 "2019-10-03T00:26:20Z")
> [@digs](#): > > (Stupidly DIY, like “What? Let strangers cook our food? Naah, we can put together a BBQ Friday… and tell ALL the guests to come a day early!” and “Gee, wouldn’t it be great to throw a big brunch for everyone the next morning? So we’ll need people to party til 2, then get up at 6 to start cutting up melons and vegetables and making omelettes.”) Right there is your main problem … food prep IN ADVANCE - chop the fruits and veggies and meats as needed, zippy bag/ tupperbox as required, store in coolers with dry ice [you can source dry ice online for your location] think of it as an exercise in meal prep, just not for one person for a week of meals, but one meal for a bunch of people. When prepping for omelette breakfasts out camping at Pennsic for 20 people, one preps by dicing ham, onions, peppers, canned baby potatoes [they come already cooked] tomatoes and anything else you want in an omelette, cracking a few dozen eggs into a mixing bowl, adding a dash of milk, fines herbes and fresh cracked black pepper. With 3 omelette pans heated and swiped with a paper towel with a dab of butter, you use a ladle to put egg in the pan, then you can add diced stuff to order. With practice, you can do 3 pretty much at he same time, and turn out a batch of them every 5 minutes or so. [I personally prefer doing crepes benedict - pre scramble the eggs, pre fry the bacon and make some into crumbles, premake the hollandaise sauce, and as one completes the crepes, you roll the egg and a strip or two of bacon, lay on a plate, every 3 on a plate, dress with hollandaise and bacon crumbles and serve.] > [@Catamount](#): > > Potluck dinner and lots and lots and \*lots \*of wine. We were dancing and drinking and carrying on till four in the morning. I have always found potlucks when in a comfy location and with amicable people a wonderful way to pass an evening. ---
**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 3, 2019, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/septembers-shot-already-mini-rants/839577/171 "2019-10-03T00:44:18Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Right there is your main problem … food prep IN ADVANCE… Where were you this weekend?!? Wish I’d be needing your services in the future. My other kid says they’re not doing a “real” wedding; getting married with a couple of friends (in a bar/cafe/art gallery?). Hmmm, hope we’re invited… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/septembers-shot-already-mini-rants/839577.md?page=8)