In situations like that I just take my foot off the gas and slow down until they get annoyed and go around me. Let them act stupid around someone else, like the nice state trooper at the upcoming speed trap. 
I’m starting to get a little cheesed off at the people who are supposed to be building our new deck. My wife and I talked with a landscaper to redo our back yard, and a deck company to rebuild our deck. It was quite a bit of effort to coordinate between the two - the old deck had to come down first, then the landscaper was going to come in and regrade and build a couple of small retaining walls, then the deck guys come back to build the new deck, then the landscaper comes back for final grading and laying sod.
Schedules were worked out, papers signed, down payments made all in mid-October. My wife and I were on vacation the last week of October, during which time the old deck was supposed to be taken down. We got home, the deck was still up. Not a good sign. after calling them, they were out two days later to take the deck down. The landscapers were out the next week to do their thing. So now it’s time for the new deck.
When we signed the paperwork with the deck guy, he told us that their supplier would be delivering the materials the day before they start, so don’t be surprised to come home and find a pile of decking materials in the driveway. Well, every day I’ve been coming home to an empty driveway. Thanksgiving came and went, still no deck. Emails and texts generally go unanswered unless you are very persistent. Now, nearly four weeks after they were supposed to be here, they’re saying they might be out next week, but their crews are very busy.
Seriously, is there that much deck building going on in the winter? Are they that far behind schedule? Why is our job the one that keeps getting pushed back?
Meanwhile, we have a back yard with no grass and a landscaper who is wondering when he can come out to finish the rest of his work. I’m starting to wonder if I will have my new deck before the end of the year.
“Canada’s Rosa Parks”, eh.
Well considering that Viola Desmond did her thing in 1946 and Rosa Parks did hers in 1955 shouldn’t Rosa Parks be referred to as “The USA’s Viola Desmond”?
Sure they do, but they’ll most likely kill them in the morning.
(This really belongs in the workplace rants thread, but I’m in a hurry.)
Dearest coworker, would it really be that much trouble to FLUSH THE FUCKING TOILET WHEN YOU’RE FINISHED??? This is an office building, not an I-95 rest area. And that particular toilet flushes so hard that it often splatters the surrounding floor. Are you forgetting to flush, or are you just giving the handle a little tap and fleeing in terror?
Thank you. It’s been a long day and a half and the other dog is still adjusting too.
I was actually quite impressed with everyone during the first snow this year, but it was on Sunday afternoon vs. rush hour on a weekday, so I had plenty of time to be patient.
Almost all the drivers went slowly but not snail-slow, allowed lots of following space, and, best of all, used the right and left lanes and nobody raced up between us in the third, center lane. Thanks people!
My clothes dryer.
Would it be too much to ask that it doesn’t wad the bed sheets into a solid ball? Inevitably the fitted sheet somehow grabs all the other items in the dryer, carefully tucks them into it’s pouches and winds the whole thing into a massive, hard wadge of damp stuff which then thumps around until I (for the umpteenth time) disentangle the whole mess and start over.
brb. sun’s out. gonna hang the sheets on the clothes line until they’re frozen.
Next month’s title.
Now is the Winter of our Discount Taunts
Last month, Hurricane Matthew’s visit increased rainfall in my area so much, the ground got too sodden to support my oak trees. One in my front yard came down and blocked my driveway. A week later, it rained again and one in my back yard came down as I stood and watched. Miraculously, it hit nothing on the way down. The top part of it broke off and fell short of my fence. If it had stayed on, it would have destroyed my fence and my neighbor’s car. Because nothing was damaged, insurance wouldn’t remove the trees. Piss.
I have a POS Poleon chainsaw that can barely cut saplings. My neighbor brought over his Stihl and cut away enough to allow me to use my driveway. I was going to save up to buy a new chainsaw, but my Pathfinder needed $1700 worth of repairs, so no go. I was considering renting one, but wound up borrowing my brother’s Husque-Vaarna. I have to bring it back Xmas.
I couldn’t get the damn thing started. The cord wouldn’t pull out. I asked my neighbor to take a look at it, and he started it right up. While I’m glad it was nothing serious, I felt like less of a man that I couldn’t pull the goddamned cord out. I can do it now, but I have to brace my knee on top of it and pull out the choke and make the sure the start button is shifted to ON and pull a couple times then push the choke back in and … I hate chainsaws.
So, when I finally got it started, I went to work on the front oak tree. It had a limb sticking up like a middle finger to my neighborhood, and I wanted it gone first. I sawed off about 5-6 pieces, then decided I should go for where it intersected with the trunk. Remember, oak is hard. Oak is solid. Oak is heavy. My brother’s chainsaw got pinched in the cut and I couldn’t pull it out. I tried using the Poleon, but the little POS wouldn’t start, not that it could do anything vs oak anyway.
So, I pulled my Pathfinder over to the tree, got out a tow rope, and tied it to the offending limb. I drove forward, but the chainsaw didn’t come loose. I tried a couple more times, still no result. So, I finally pushed the pedal to the metal. SNAP! No, the limb still held. It was my tow rope that broke. I fail at DIY.
I finally thought of an idea that worked. I got out the hydraulic pump jack that’s used for changing tires and braced it between the limb and trunk. I wound the pump little by little until it pushed the limb up just enough to release the chainsaw. Yay.
I’m going to do more sawing this weekend and hope it’s not as obnoxious as last time.
Chainsaw tip: do not cut in a way that will lead to binding. Also, have a wedge handy for the eventuality of binding.
ETA: Demo
I am so tired of listening to my coworkers fight. Half the time, it’s because one of them decides to say something about an issue that is none of their business. Sometimes it literally devolves into screaming and stomping and door-slamming, and it’s all just taken as normal. Yes, this is a small business, run by a strong personality and employing other strong personalities. But regular yelling fights among the owners/employees that have nothing to do with our work is most assuredly not normal, and I can’t believe people just take it in stride.
I’m so glad my first order of business after the holidays is to find a new fucking job.
When did it become accepted that using emotions to debate with is OK? I’m tired of people making some sweeping claim about a random situation and when called on it, filling their “debate” with emotionally charged words. And their “cites”, provided rarely, are worthless.
I’d assume it is just another symptom of how dumb the masses have become, but this last one claims to have a doctorate. And stomped off in a huff.
That was the next day (Thursday the 8th) it was somewhat sigh-inducing trying to get home that evening from work, but, not white-knuckle fear inducing at least.
I found these plastic clips in Japan, intended to keep pairs of socks together. They have a locking ratchet that doesn’t come loose until you release it. I use 7 of them to pin the sides of the fitted sheet together so that nothing can get inside. Never had a problem since. then. Unfortunately, I can’t find them online, but if you have a Daiso or similar “100 Yen” store in your area, they might carry something like it. Otherwise, ordinary clothes pins might work.
It’s Friday at midnight and I was just about to go to bed, when I received a phone call. I didn’t recognize the number so I didn’t pick up.
I assumed it was some kind of robocall, but the caller left a four-second voice message. Android displayed the transcript:
Answer the damn phone now.
I listened to the message and the caller was clearly drunk, so I’ll assume it was a wrong number. But damn, I was seriously creeped out for a moment there.
Thanks. I’d like to believe you, but I think it’s some sort of crap design. I put a king size feather duvet in there after (no handy pockets) and it immediately wound itself into a wadge as well. It took at least a dozen times of unwinding it before it managed to get dry. Any large thing balls up. :mad: I shoulda bitched and sent it back when I first noticed three years ago.
First world problems. I’m lucky to have a fancy ass new(ish) dryer that pisses me off.
Number One Nephew and my Niece both get super-into whatever thing has their attention now, which usually makes Christmas shopping easy - they’ve got a (long) list of gift ideas. However, Niece has been into American Girl for a while now, and while I don’t mind spending $ to spoil them (no kids of my own) HOLY CRAP. The pop-up camper she wants goes from $185-383+, and the backup seaside diner is $275+. If they’re available.
And that’s finally over my spoilage limit. Sheesh. I thought $100 lightsabers were on that edge. So she’s probably getting a make-your-own-book kit. Because, damn.
(Which leaves Number Two Nephew, who is super easygoing, has no particular obsessions, and is just as satisfied with a cool $10 gift. Paradoxically, he’s the hardest to shop for.)
I got my schoolteacher sister a cool gift, and the tracking says “delivered” but there is no gift in sight. I guess I should fuss at the post office, as they are the ones insisting it was left in the mailbox, but I am very annoyed.
I desperately need to lose weight, and the only diet that has ever worked for me is low-carb. But I can barely stand the depression I suffer from now, and if I stopped eating sugar and white flour I’d have to spend 18 hrs a day in bed.