There May be rants (monthly mini-rants)

The BBQ Pit
1

This is truly a mini rant. I ran out of the body wash I use, and for some reason I didn’t have my usual next bottle ready. (I’m typically good at stocking up, I even order stuff like that on a subscription through Amazon, but apparently my next batch isn’t due until the end of May.)

So I go to buy one bottle, and what luck! It’s available for same day shipping! So I’ll be able to have the right stuff for next morning for my shower.

The only catch is, it’s less than $5 for a bottle and I need to spend at least $25 of qualifying stuff to get free same day delivery. Okay, is there anything else I need or want that I can get…?

There is a sugar free soda being sold by the case at a good price, it’s a brand I like and there are flavors I’ve never had. And I was going to grab some at the grocery store anyway, so if I buy two cases that’ll be just enough. Perfect!

I buy it all, everything will show up by the end of the day. Awesome. Hours later there’s a delivery. I check, oh there are the cases of soda. But no body wash?

Checking order status… Okay, still on its way, arriving by 10. No problem.

Another hour later, there’s another email. Your item has been delayed and is now expected tomorrow. Fuck! That defeats the whole purpose of doing all this! Dammit!

I wake up this morning, check order status, maybe it was delivered first thing in the morning? Nope! Shit, okay, I’m just going to shower using the soap I don’t like that leaves me itchy. First world problems I guess.

Get dressed, head out the door, and look there’s a package. It’s the body wash. I check the status again, it was delivered 5 minutes after I got out of the shower. Amazon really is fucking with me.

2

I pit my cable and broadband internet provider, who I know for a fact is selling my personal information, which is probably illegal. I know this because when I signed up with them many decades ago, they got my first initial wrong. They are the only organization I’ve ever dealt with that has that version of my name. And all the addressed junk mail I get is – guess what? – addressed to that erroneous name. AFAIK, all of it! In the current house, they are also my landline provider, and I get more scam and telemarketing calls on that line than I ever did in the previous house, or that I ever get on my cell phone. I ignore them, of course, but it’s just annoying to hear the phone ring. I keep thinking I should report the bastards, using a bunch of collected junk mail as evidence, but that won’t stop the damage that’s already been done.

3

Yeah, they got you all right. :slight_smile:
I hate being able to track packages. Once I know something’s on the way, I just obsess over it.

4

In the spirit of trying to manage my stress more effectively, I tried to exercise today but my asthma is not completely resolved so I was shortly out of breath and coughing by about five minutes in. Had to abort that plan. Everything’s just a little much right now.

5

Violating the social contract of a rant thread but: Maybe Zone 2 (low-impact, “conversational” intensity) cardio plus low-resistance, high rep strength training would be an option? You can get great benefits without emptying the tank, which took me fucking forever to realize about running. Takes more time though, which is tough.

6

Yeah I’m not trying to sound like a bucket of excuses but I’ve been having trouble getting back into strength training because of an injury to my elbow. I was having great success with kettlebells until I hurt myself. It’s one of those things that really needs a doctor. So I was just doing light cardio today. I know I can train around the elbow injury if I sit down and think it through. Right now I’m just coming off of 14 days being sick, including seven days of uncontrollable coughing and difficulty breathing due to asthma and I think today was just a case of needing more recovery time. What I CAN do is wander around my house like really low-key because I don’t think walking is a problem.

7

???

I’ve never heard that offering suggestions to solve or mitigate the gripes in mini-rants threads is any kind of Pit faux pas.

Or were you referring to the bit about going to the gym and working out? Especially when she already posted about her perfect excuse not to? Yeah, that’s a paddlin’.

ETA: hope you get your wind back soon, Spice_Weasel.

8

Dammit, I think the raccoons have gotten into my attic again I did spot one on my deck just before dark yesterday, which I tried to convince myself was the source of the noises I had kept hearing. But the more I hear the more they sound like they’re coming from overhead, and my hope that it’s something on the roof is just wishful thinking.

So tomorrow morning I’ll be calling Critter Control. With any luck, it won’t cost too much to repair wherever they’re getting in.

9

The weather is stupid. So is pollen.

It’s the first of May! The city is doing its annual green waste collection for two weeks, and for once I have enough free time to get all my spring yard cleanup done in time for it. Except that it’s in the 80’s by noon, so I can’t get much done in a day, and the tree pollen is so bad this year that I spend the rest of the afternoon and evening with a sinus headache.

I’m really not looking forward to summer.

10

Braggart. It was in the 40s, blustery and drizzly, in the PNW.

11

We have two hav-a-hart traps, and they’ve been a great investment. I’ve relocated dozens of raccoons from our barn (with Pennsylvania’s permission).

12

So, you’ve got a sort of raccoon travel agency? “We haven’t seen my cousin Rocky in quite a while. Let’s go over to Kayaker’s and arrange a visit.”

13

I drive them ~8 miles away for release, to property owned by a guy who trains coonhounds. Win/win.

14

Ah, so it’s the critters that are looking for a cardio workout that you cater to.

15

Too bad you don’t know the addresses of some of the guys who work there.

16

I have a psychiatrist appointment the 25th. I just e-mailed requesting a half day off so I can do my appointment. Not only did management say no, their reply was snarky.

17

We’ll talk again in six weeks or so.

And you get rain? Lucky!

18

I do feel for you.We can always put on layers when we get cold, but you’ll be miserable even with NO layers on.

19

Critter Control is coming over on Friday. This will be their third visit in three years. The first time I had to have all my attic insulation replaced since it was soaked in urine and feces. The second time I had to have the ridge vent repaired. I’m hoping that this time I’ve caught them before they’ve done too much damage.

Relocating them myself is not an option, since I don’t drive.

20

So that’s your house in the raccoon Allstate ad? Nice digs!