# Siriusly Hot: August Mini-Rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 1, 2019, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990 "2019-08-01T12:15:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/61 "2019-08-10T06:31:43Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > I came here to complain about needing to get a new door, but got distracted by the password discussion. Password security is the bane of my existence. > > At work, we have a password for each and every program I use (6). Not a single one of them has the same security features, so the password for 1 program cannot be used for the others. Some of the programs require new passwords every 6 weeks, some every month and 1 every 3 months, so I can’t even use the same base for them all because of the time lag. The security code to get my messages off my phone is taped to the bottom of my phone, same as everyone else’s security codes. I am not the only one who has their computer passwords taped to the bottom of their keyboard. > > If some tree-hugger was smart, they would break into the main office building and steal all of the notes taped to keyboards and phones and backs of monitors. They wouldn’t even need to use them to bring a rather large company of evil land-raping oil guys to the knees for at least half a day. > > Oh, yeah, the door. Ralph, the big hairy puppy has outgrown the kitty door going into the catio. He used to be able to get on his belly, push with his back legs and squeeze himself through when he needed to use the litter box. Due to having a cat litter box train him, he never really got the hang of going out the dog door into the yard. > > Today, we came home and found him stuck. He had been alone for about an hour, so I don’t know how long he had been stuck, but he did pee on the floor and himself. > > Ralph was well and truly stuck. We really tried everything to get the poop pup out, including me using my BB’s beard trimmers to clip fur so we could put butter on him and slide him out. Beard trimmers don’t hold up very well against hairy dogs, so that also didn’t work. > > Finally, my BB used a hacksaw and was able to cut diagonal slashes into the corners of the kitty door to allow some flex. Seeing as how the kitty door was installed into an exterior security door, no flex happened. Poor Ralph couldn’t see anything that was going on and was crying in fear by then, so my BB cut through the door and finally managed to get the poor pup loose. Ralph promptly rant to the litter box and pooped in it. > > We need to get a new door, a smaller kitty door, new beard trimmers and a dog trainer who will come to the house and convince Ralph that big dogs pee outside. > > Ralph has been washed, disaster area has been cleaned and I’m on my second glass of wine. oh, wait until you get one of the new password requirements that have to have a “symbol” and the only ones allowed are the 10 on the number row along with capital letters 8 letters in general and numbers … As for the cat …I’ve heard once mommy cat teaches her adopted puppy to use a box like a good kitten its almost impossible to retrain them an Alaskan friend of dad’s worked at a rescue and the rescue cat lost a litter and the shelter acquired an orphaned newborn husky/wolf pup so the rescue slid in the pup and cat mom raised it like she knew how when they were adopted the family slowly moved the box outside (like mentioned above) and mom and pup followed along last i heard they took an old grade school sandbox for them and they cleaned it out with a scoop shovel … but it was funny in later years to see an almost 200 pound half wild dog being bossed around by a 6 pound cat…and if he was doing something she considered bad … she had no problem smacking him with her claws until he listened …and if she called him he better come running … ---
**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:** [August 10, 2019, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/62 "2019-08-10T12:32:48Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Four digits could be the last four of your SSN or the last four of your childhood home phone, yanno, something one could remember, but what the 'ell is six digits? I wouldn’t use it for a nine-digit number, but my five-digit codes tend to be the first five of my SS, and the six-digit one is the last six. So I guess at some level, my SS number is in the wild, but it undoubtedly is anyway given the number of known and unknown hacks. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/63 "2019-08-10T12:57:05Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > We went to a small gem and mineral show yesterday. I went because I like wasting money on such trinkets as trilobites, fossils and pretty rocks. My BB went because I wanted to go. I go to his hobby shows because he wants to go, it all works out. I found a very nice 4 inch agate bowl and 12 agate marbles to put in the bowl. (I also got a well detailed 2 inch black trilobite on black slate, and a couple of crystals.) > > BB and I didn’t really think about what I was bringing into our home because we were talking rocks and cutting them and geology and shit instead of thinking about cats. Specifically, 1 very opinionated grey stripy cat who is in charge of decorating. Missy the cat and Karen our housekeeper have a constant battle going on over the knick knacks. Karen picks things up and dusts, then puts them down in the same place. Missy insists that things are all faced in the RIGHT direction/s so when nobody is in the room, she will get up on the forbidden furniture and set things to right. For the longest time, Karen thought I was doing it and worried that she was in some sort of trouble. Damn, that’s funny. It reminds me of this elephant statue I have on my dresser. Which apparently is something more than just a statue. Apparently there is great deep and wonderous meaning and wisdom conferred by the exact placement of a small elephant statue. Everyone that has access to my home apparently knows this. They just can’t agree on what it is. My kid ( when he lived with me), my best friend, my housekeeper, my building super (gah) , everyone of these people would move my little statue according to their understanding of the wisdom of elephant statues. Its butt has to face the door, something about prosperity. No, it’s supposed to face you when you sleep, something about demons. No, it CAN’T face you, something about curses and luck. You know what, it’s my freaking statue. And I like it facing my TV set. Not because of luck or prosperity or curses. It looks cute when it looks like it’s watching TV. Fuck your statue feng shui. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/64 "2019-08-10T13:25:01Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > Can’t you use \? Like joeblow7. Or are all permutations taken? Or am I being stupid? Part of the problem is that you’re limited to 20 chara. While I’m not a “Smith” or a “Jones”, I’m not the only one with my name, either. Also, because we use them for work, lots of cow-orkers have them, which mean thinks like “Amex\” are already used, as well as “Amex\2” & “Amex\3.” Email, by definition is unique but they don’t allow the @ sign & \\\@\.com is more than 20 chara. I guess I could use the first 20 letters of that combo & either use a 2 in place of the @ sign or just put some nuber in the 20[sup]th[/sup] place but will I remember that next time I might need it given I’ve already given you some variants to it right now. The underlying problem is that there’s more than one way to skin a cat & what you think is logical _right now_, when you’re under pressure to think up something isn’t necessarily the same train of thought you’ll have in the future when you need it. Once you set something up, one of the supposed ‘security’ questions that you need to answer is what is the work phone # of the cardholder. Ummm, we have a corporate directory in Outlook, it’s not like any of my cow-orkers can’t just look up my number if they got my card. :smack: > [@Morgyn](#): > > For things like that, I’ll often pick a memorable phrase and use the first letter of each word to pick the number on the keypad. Say your phrase is, “Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids”. The answer to your six-digit security question is now: 778235. > > **NB** : I have never used this number as a passcode for anything. YMMV. It won’t matter to you because you’re moving to Verizon services. You may still want to switch to a password manager that has a phone-based app for situations like this. My cat is screaming at me again, _how is this my life_? I don’t disagree with you; however I don’t have a memorable phrase for every combination out there & 6-numeric isn’t one that I believe I’ve seen anywhere else. There was a perfectly good answer, a factual\* answer that I’ll remember - the last 4 of my SSN. However, I had to change it on the fly, w/o any advanced notice. I’m sure what changed it to that day made some sense but I don’t remember my thought process from then. - I love things that can have variable answers like “First car”. 3 years ago did I put in the year/make/model of the hand-me-down I was given, or the first one I bought? Even if I remember did I enter it with a year, a two or four digit year? Did I put in the make & model or just one of them? Or childhood best friend - did I put in Joey that he went by as a kid or Joseph that he uses now? Did I put in just his first name or his last name also? Or did I enter it as ‘Smitty’ as we frequently call him instead of the formal “Smith”? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/65 "2019-08-10T16:42:05Z")
**flatlined** , I shouldn’t have laughed at poor Ralph, but I did. Glad Ralph is OK. I guess you’re never too old to have a first time for something. 44 years old and I just had my first kidney stone. 5 o’clock this morning woke up with the worst pain of my life. My back had been twinging in that area for a few days before but I just assumed I slept wrong or something. ---
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/66 "2019-08-10T19:20:39Z")
**Spiderman** , free your mind. For the “variable answers,” make up the answers and/or enter nonsense. First car? “Ferrari Testarosa” including the misspelling. Childhood best friend? “Magnavox TV.” Your mother’s home town? “zzzz.” You can keep a list of these standard answers (without the questions, of course) handy and just plug 'em in as needed. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2019, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/67 "2019-08-10T19:53:07Z")
> [@Dr.Girlfriend](#): > > I guess you’re never too old to have a first time for something. I’m 73, and you have no idea how right you are. There’s ALWAYS something new… and the old things don’t go away. Sorry about your kidney stones. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/68 "2019-08-10T20:01:41Z")
> [@Caractacus\_Pott](#): > > **Spiderman** , free your mind. For the “variable answers,” make up the answers and/or enter nonsense. First car? “Ferrari Testarosa” including the misspelling. Childhood best friend? “Magnavox TV.” Your mother’s home town? “zzzz.” You can keep a list of these standard answers (without the questions, of course) handy and just plug 'em in as needed. My standard answer to all variable questions is “BULLSHIT”. Because it is. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/69 "2019-08-10T20:08:57Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > We really tried everything to get the poop pup out… Typo? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/70 "2019-08-10T22:46:39Z")
Thanks so much for the wonderful suggestions of buying Ralph his own letter box, then gradually moving it outside. I feel kinda dumb for not thinking of it myself, because it just makes so much sense. This problem really is my fault, I thought that once Ralph got older, he would notice that he was a dog and start doing what he saw his 2 canine housemates doing. Plus, I’ve never had a puppy before and while i read books and talked to folks about house training him, it was just so much easier to let Steve’s Kitten do it. Ralph is as good as he can be, but he’s still just a 50lb puppy and puppies are goofballs. SK doesn’t allow him to do what she thinks is bad, so while he isn’t allowed to chew on the kitty tree, he is welcome to get on one of the lower perches. SK of course gets the higher perches. Ralph is not allowed anywhere near her dinner mat, but can eat any other food he can find. Ralph does not sniff butts, because SK broke him of that the second time he tried to sniff her butt. The first time, she just boxed his head sans claws. The second time, the claws came out and there was blood. The whole thing is sweet and weird all at the same time. If SK passes before Ralph, Ralph is NOT going to get a kitten of his own. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/71 "2019-08-11T01:38:59Z")
> [@Caractacus\_Pott](#): > > **Spiderman** , free your mind. For the “variable answers,” make up the answers and/or enter nonsense. First car? “Ferrari Testarosa” including the misspelling. Childhood best friend? “Magnavox TV.” Your mother’s home town? “zzzz.” You can keep a list of these standard answers (without the questions, of course) handy and just plug 'em in as needed. If I were to start over, as an 18yo, I’d only have two answers for every question. “I can’t tell you that” & “Fuck you” Much fun when the customer no-service agent asks you your security question, kinda like a modern day Who’s on First. 😃 The problem is that I have some accounts that are quite old & some that are not & remembering which ones have real answers vs. the easy to remember ones is a whole 'nuther can-o-worms. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/72 "2019-08-11T14:11:41Z")
Directv ATT are the devil.i moved to a town that doesn’t offer the service, do they charge me an early cancellation fee? Of course. No amount of arguing will tell them otherwise. Finally got through to someone that it wasn’t logical and they are getting an refund. Idiots. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2019, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/73 "2019-08-11T20:21:57Z")
> [@eenerms](#): > > Directv ATT are the devil.i moved to a town that doesn’t offer the service, do they charge me an early cancellation fee? Of course. No amount of arguing will tell them otherwise. Finally got through to someone that it wasn’t logical and they are getting an refund. Idiots. I just switched from cable to DirecTV. BIG BIG BIG mistake! Even the remote sucks. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/74 "2019-08-12T01:53:00Z")
And horrendous customer service. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/75 "2019-08-12T15:10:44Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > And horrendous customer service. True that… ---
**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:** [August 12, 2019, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/76 "2019-08-12T19:35:55Z")
In last month’s minirant thread, I mentioned that I was making my life hell by logging in to my son’s apartment rental account every day to see how late he was in paying the rent. (I think he did finally pay it about two weeks late, plus late fees). **Folacin** recommended that since I wasn’t going to step in and pay it, or indeed do anything about it, I should…not check it. :smack: Well, I just wanted to say that today I logged in to my son’s account and found out he’s pulling the same crap again, but at least I didn’t suffer over it for the last twelve days. I also feel a bit less angst about it after stepping back and allowing it to not be my problem. So thank you for the good advice, **Folacin**. I may need some more when the inevitable consequences come due… ---
**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:** [August 12, 2019, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/77 "2019-08-12T20:17:30Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > In last month’s minirant thread, I mentioned that I was making my life hell by logging in to my son’s apartment rental account every day to see how late he was in paying the rent. (I think he did finally pay it about two weeks late, plus late fees). **Folacin** recommended that since I wasn’t going to step in and pay it, or indeed do anything about it, I should…not check it. :smack: > Well, I just wanted to say that today I logged in to my son’s account and found out he’s pulling the same crap again, but at least I didn’t suffer over it for the last twelve days. I also feel a bit less angst about it after stepping back and allowing it to not be my problem. So thank you for the good advice, **Folacin**. Glad to hear you are only hitting yourself in the face once a fortnight instead of everyday. 😃 ---
**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:** [August 12, 2019, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/78 "2019-08-12T20:26:13Z")
Yeah, it really feels good when I stop! ---
**Author:** ![slalexan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@slalexan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slalexan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/79 "2019-08-12T22:09:21Z")
My husband is driving me insane. I’m a bit of a control freak. It is partly because I know if I don’t do the things, they won’t get done but also because I’m anxious if I don’t have a “plan” and my husband isn’t a big planner. Regardless, I have been working on organizing all the appointments for our daughter’s occupational therapy. She was supposed to have her evaluation today, finally, after her doctor’s office took 6 weeks to send over the script. My husband would have had to take her because I also have a full time job and, today, I have to work late. He called me one hour before her appointment to ask me if I could reschedule her appointment. I asked if it was because he was just leaving work and then he huffed at me and said its because he can barely breathe. See, over the weekend, something irritated his asthma and he’s been basically unable to breathe. I mentioned casually on Sunday, after I had cleaned the entire house by myself, including doing the furnace filter because he said it might be allergies, that maybe he should see a doctor. He refused because he’s a big, dumb, stubborn idiot. I told him that I could reschedule. I didn’t tell him that it would be embarrassing and would probably cost us money due to the short notice because I am genuinely concerned for his health. Then I strongly urged him to go to the doctor, using words like “Go to a doctor. I can’t mother you but please fucking go.” After I took care of cancelling the appointment, telling daycare about the change of plans and then doing my actual paid job, I called my husband back to see what the doctor said. And my husband didn’t fucking go. Imma kill him. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990/80 "2019-08-12T22:19:48Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I just switched from cable to DirecTV. BIG BIG BIG mistake! Even the remote sucks. My biggest complaint is DirecTV doesn’t carry any of the local subchannels like MeTV, Cozi TV and H&I. Our cable company carries all of them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siriusly-hot-august-mini-rants/837990.md?page=5)