# The \*REAL\* start of the year! September mini-rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 1, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847 "2011-09-01T15:24:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/201 "2011-09-08T03:15:53Z")
Reese Witherspoon hit by car, not seriously injured. [“Police say the driver was an 84-year-old woman…”](http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/09/07/reese.witherspoon.accident/index.html?hpt=hp_c2) ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/202 "2011-09-08T04:44:15Z")
I have baby kittens. Just to be clear, I don’t feel that spaying pregnant cats is abortion. Today, I picked up a cat that was just supposed to be “a little pregnant, but kind of fat”. Our plan was to have the cat spayed and return her. We are doing the best we can for the “herd”, so sometimes its better to return a fixed cat to an idiot than keep it and know that the idiot will just grab a kitten at a parking lot. When I got there, the poor thing looked so far term that I didn’t think I should move her, but the idiot insisted. She had 3 kittens in the carrier and 2 more at the vets. She is such a sweet little thing, its breaking my heart that she will go back to the idiot to save the herd. Kittens are cute, btw. I’m going to ask one of the teenagers across the street to make my cell phone and computer share stuff. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/203 "2011-09-08T04:46:57Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > I have baby kittens. Just to be clear, I don’t feel that spaying pregnant cats is abortion. Today, I picked up a cat that was just supposed to be “a little pregnant, but kind of fat”. Our plan was to have the cat spayed and return her. We are doing the best we can for the “herd”, so sometimes its better to return a fixed cat to an idiot than keep it and know that the idiot will just grab a kitten at a parking lot. > > When I got there, the poor thing looked so far term that I didn’t think I should move her, but the idiot insisted. She had 3 kittens in the carrier and 2 more at the vets. > > She is such a sweet little thing, its breaking my heart that she will go back to the idiot to save the herd. > > Kittens are cute, btw. I’m going to ask one of the teenagers across the street to make my cell phone and computer share stuff. Jumping up and down and squee-ing!!! Cannot wait until pictures show up!!! Hmmm, maybe I’ll come over and wave at Crazy Lady after all… ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/204 "2011-09-08T10:47:04Z")
You know when you get that glimpse out of the corner of your eye, thinking you see something moving there? This morning, it wasn’t nothing. It was the first “omg it’s getting cold outside” mouse of the season to sneak into our turn-of-last-century farmhouse and check the place out. I tried to ambush it but they’re so fast; it jetted through the house and into the kitchen, where I suspected it had come in. Typically it seems like the “basement window accidentally left ajar or gap in the cellar door exit/up the pipes and beams/in through the area behind and under the kitchen cabinets” is their route into our house proper. Now I have to get some traps. The worst part was thinking I could just sic my two pets to flush out the mouse when it had gone into hiding - and looking over and realizing that rabbits are much less qualified for that task than ferrets are. :smack: Maybe if I figured out how to explain to them that a mouse might be competition for their food? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/205 "2011-09-08T13:15:02Z")
Ordered two books from Borders many months ago, before the liquidation was announced. One was a novel on preorder, one was a history book on backorder. The novel was published last week, so I figure I should have gotten it by now. So I call and talk to SpazCat’s [Punjab](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14230229&postcount=194), who tells me my order was cancelled. I could have bought an autographed copy of this novel on Saturday and I didn’t because I got an email from Borders saying “We haven’t forgotten you!” Fuckers. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/206 "2011-09-08T13:28:17Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > Yes, this is exactly it (and it’s the same in Canada). My mom is a home care attendant and works with the elderly. The main concerns are lack of alternative transportation and the fact that they feel like they are losing their independence. My grandmother and her husband still drive and are 90 and 75 (respectively - grandma’s a cradle robber!) and I’ve been in vehicles with them. They are horrible, inattentive drivers, but of course, if anyone says anything, they get upset. Neither should be driving, but we aren’t sure how to go about this. If there were some legislation requiring that they re-take a simple driver’s test every few years, that would take the problem out of our hands. It may be worth a call to their doctor. Sometimes the doc can initiate a call to the state to require that they be tested. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/207 "2011-09-08T14:34:04Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Ohferchrissakes, that isn’t racism, that’s reality. Uh, no, assuming that someone is in this country illegally because of the color of their skin \*is \*racist. That’s why it’s, you know, illegal for the police to do it. You vapid twat. > [@Dr.Girlfriend](#): > > Stupid store brand feminine hygiene products. Damn, woman, that’s some hardcore fucking adhesive! > [@apollonia](#): > > She says she doesn’t know how the mix-up happened. Actually, it sounds like the student probably just mixed up the dates and made the schedule wrong. That actually makes me feel like it was a random flakeout and you just happened to be the one affected by it, so it probably won’t happen again. (Yesterday, for example, we had a client show up at our office unexpectedly because a consultant from another office of our company had a meeting scheduled with her here… and then he showed up at the client’s offices. Even though the meeting invitation explicitly said it was here.) > [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > People rightly fear that they will be severely constrained if they can’t drive, so they don’t want to acknowledge the very real danger that they put themselves and other in. We’re all breathing a sigh of relief that we’re probably not going to have to have that fight with my mom’s dad. He’s already restricting his driving by his own choice: not at night or when it’s raining. And since those grandfolks moved into an assisted living apartment last year, they’ll have access to the shuttle the facility provides for its residence. They’ve already commented on how convenient it would be, so they’re clearly planning for when Grandpa has to stop driving. Hopefully he’ll be able to figure out for himself when that is, or not need more than a little push. > [@flatlined](#): > > Just to be clear, I don’t feel that spaying pregnant cats is abortion. Does it kill the cat fetuses? If it does, I’m not sure how that isn’t abortion, given that it’s terminating the pregnancy. Or did you just mean that you don’t think it’s ethically wrong, or the equivalent of aborting a human pregnancy? ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/208 "2011-09-08T18:10:20Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Uh, no, assuming that someone is in this country illegally because of the color of their skin \*is \*racist. That’s why it’s, you know, illegal for the police to do it. You vapid twat. Since I didn’t do that, I am reminded why I rarely bother to look at your posts, you twit. Oh sorry, vapid twit. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/209 "2011-09-08T18:50:31Z")
> [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](#): > > It may be worth a call to their doctor. Sometimes the doc can initiate a call to the state to require that they be tested. I live in Ontario and doctors frequently pull licenses from their elderly patients. It was such a relief when they took my grandpa’s. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/210 "2011-09-08T20:28:40Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > I didn’t do that [assume that someone is in this country illegally because of the color of their skin] > [@Crazy neighbor opinions, advice or other stories, please slight\_smile](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-neighbor-opinions-advice-or-other-stories-please/595322/5): > > In my case, the crazy neighbor was, er, of a minority that includes illegals at times. When she finally crossed the line for me, I went over and threatened her with the CPS and INS. ♪♫One of these things is not like the others…♫♪ ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/211 "2011-09-08T20:37:18Z")
I get where **curlcoat** is coming from, though. My handyman is of an ethnicity known for being financially adept, so last time he came around I asked him to do my taxes. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/212 "2011-09-08T20:42:24Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > ♪♫One of these things is not like the others…♫♪ This is probably the last time, at least for a while, that I am going to bother with your stupidity. I will use small words in hoping that you will finally get it. The second quote says that my neighbor is of a minority _that includes illegals at times_. This does not mean that I think my neighbor is an illegal, merely that here in S Cal, the Mexican population tends to include a lot of folks here illegally. Now, if you are hung up on the INS and CPS thing, neither of those are places I actually think she needs to be reported to for any sort of illegal activities. However, merely being reported - innocent or not - creates a lot of hassle for the individual reported, which I’m sure she would love to avoid. They were also shots in the dark - if she hadn’t been a first generation Mexican immigrant with children shes screams at, I’d have picked something else. Actually, if this is your problem, I’m surprised you haven’t focused on the CPS thing at all. There, do you get it now? If I wasn’t confined to long term rest, I wouldn’t have bothered since you seem incapable of seeing anything past your own nose. > [@Bosstone](#): > > ``` > I get where curlcoat is coming from, though. My handyman is of an ethnicity known for being financially adept, so last time he came around I asked him to do my taxes. > > ``` Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/213 "2011-09-08T20:51:59Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > I didn’t do that [assume that someone is in this country illegally because of the color of their skin] > [@curlcoat](#): > > Now, if you are hung up on the INS and CPS thing, neither of those are places I actually think she needs to be reported to for any sort of illegal activities. However, merely being reported - innocent or not - creates a lot of hassle for the individual reported, which I’m sure she would love to avoid. They were also shots in the dark - \*\*\*if she hadn’t been a first generation Mexican immigrant \*\*\*with children shes screams at, I’d have picked something else. Emphasis mine. Blatant obliviousness yours. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/214 "2011-09-08T21:02:32Z")
Here’s my September mini-rant to the idiot who decided to date my cheating ex-boyfriend. Hey, remember a couple weeks ago when I came over to lend my ex a video game that I didn’t like so that he could play it, and we all had dinner and had a great time? Yeah, that was a lot of fun. Now that you two have broken up because YOU can’t tolerate his cheating ass does not mean that you get to keep the shit I gave him. No, it wasn’t meant for “both of us to share” as you put it. No, I do not think you deserve to get MY game that I lent him just because he cheated on you too. It was your dumb ass, knowing FULL WELL what he did to me, who decided to get into a relationship with the cheating asshole. Now give him back my game and stop saying that I am hurting your feelings by asking you to give it back. I am not condoning what he did at all, so stop playing the victim. You knew what you were getting into. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/215 "2011-09-08T21:03:29Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Emphasis mine. Blatant obliviousness yours. And yet, once again, you ignore the CPS thing, which leads me to believe that, yes, you are dumber than a bag of hair. Or you just want to keep pretending you believe it because you can’t possibly admit you made a mistake. Either way, I give up on you once again. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/216 "2011-09-08T21:10:26Z")
Wait, so if you do one thing that’s racist and one that’s not related to race, it \*cancels out \*the racist thing? I NEVER KNEW. BRB, going to call all of my friends slurs and then punch them. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/217 "2011-09-08T21:12:35Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Wait, so if you do one thing that’s racist and one that’s not related to race, it \*cancels out \*the racist thing? I NEVER KNEW. > > BRB, going to call all of my friends slurs and then punch them. So, you only care about “racists” and not those who ignore child abuse? damn this shoulder… ---
**Author:** ![deb2world](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@deb2world](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deb2world)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/218 "2011-09-08T21:49:14Z")
Now back to our regularly schedule mini-rants that aren’t that big to make it to a thread of their own: Dang, we have a lunch group that rotates who brings lunch on Thursdays. Today was my day. Most everyone else brings pizza from Costco. I bring Togo sandwiches, great stuff and I know everyone gets excited about something difference. But don’t tell me at 10:30 that you are hungry, cause you get the answer you got “it is not my problem if someone doesn’t eat enough breakfast”. Also don’t tell me how you have had a headache since 4am and need food now at 10:45am, I am sympathetic but you need to eat breakfast and maybe a mid-morning snack to help with that. I am working here and the food will get here by 11:45 like it did today. Lame I know, but I am not in the mood for whiney about something when it is a set time. ---
**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:** [September 8, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/219 "2011-09-08T21:52:57Z")
I’m kicking myself about the way I handled the dumbass who wandered in from the bus stop and asked where the restroom was. We do not have a public restroom and I told him so. He starts off with “Well you could have been nicer about it” and then it deteriorates from there with him yelling about what’s my name and do I have a business card and do I deserve one. I should have called the GM up to the desk and let asshole find out how nice I \*was \*being. GM meets yelling with yelling and has the authority and size to throw people out and ban them from property. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847/220 "2011-09-08T21:56:17Z")
> [@deb2world](#): > > Now back to our regularly schedule mini-rants that aren’t that big to make it to a thread of their own: Yeah, the ongoing stupidity made me forget my very mini rant - Awhile ago I ranted about my POS vacuum, one of the issues with it was there is an opening in the hose that can be covered by sliding a piece of plastic over it. Except the slider is right where one naturally would grasp it to use it, so the hole keeps getting uncovered, making the power of the suction go down. Finally the thing died and I got a new one, which is soooo much better except it too has this hole-in-the-hose feature, right where one would naturally grasp it! What the hell is the point? Why would I ever want there to be less suction, and why would I need it to be right there at hand??? I have to believe that the people who design these things never use them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-real-start-of-the-year-september-mini-rants/594847.md?page=12)