# UTIs and other crap - August Minirants! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 1, 2011, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020 "2011-08-01T09:10:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/41 "2011-08-02T12:09:45Z")
> [@Avarie537](#): > > To my aunt: I have been married to this man for a DECADE. Our last name is spelled with an F, not an H. I know it makes no sense to anyone but the Germans, but ferchrissakes … you’ve had ten years to get it right! Your last name is 11 letters long … mine is FOUR. It’s not that hard! Your last name is Four? That’s not even pronounced the same as Hour. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/42 "2011-08-02T13:04:49Z")
Better than Hore. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/43 "2011-08-02T14:09:26Z")
God damn team members give me half assed attempts at ideas and then disappear. Professor doesn’t answer my question in time so I had to make an executive decision. I did. My team is still mostly unresponsive and now my professor tells me I made the wrong decision. Four days til project is due and I’m the only person who has done any fucking work and now I’m told it’s wrong. I hate everyone. I’m going to get a bad grade in this class (bad for me) and it’ll all be because of 2 goddamn group projects. There’s only so much I can do to make my team work with me. I have two other fucking classes that are being neglected for this shit. I have had a throbbing tension headache for 3 days. I’m miserable and just want to go to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/44 "2011-08-02T14:16:17Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I’ve had something with entirely too many legs get into my ear canal. Don’t worry, if something similar happens to you, you will KNOW about it. I don’t know which was worse, the thing frantically scrambling to get out, or the sounds it was making RIGHT INSIDE MY HEAD. I, of course, was screeching and hopping up and down and hollering to my husband to get a pair of tweezers and a flashlight and pull the damned thing out. > > It was not a fun night. I felt a little of my sanity get shredded just _reading_ that. I think, if it actually happened to me, I might go completely and thoroughly 'round-the-bend insane. You seem OK, though - you must be a stronger woman than I. **108 F** yesterday. Same today. Same tomorrow. **whimper** (That’s **42 C** , if’n you need the translation.) Not heat index, mind you. That number is … terrifying. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/45 "2011-08-02T14:16:23Z")
I do not fucking BELIEVE this. The air conditioner worked for a couple of days, and then quit AGAIN. And it always quits around the time we come home from work. Not earlier in the day, when it would be easier to call the repair guys. Goddammit! We’re not sleeping very well without the air conditioning. This is NOT helping either of our moods. Graaaaah! > [@slalexan](#): > > Dear puddle of water in the middle of my kitchen floor, > > Where on earth are you coming from? The ceiling isn’t wet and there isn’t a trail of water to anywhere. I keep slipping in you and it is irritating when you get my socks wet. Please stop forming. This isn’t happening after heavy rains, is it? We had that, and it turned out that we had water coming in from outside, through the insulation behind the fridge. My dad dug around in the yard to try to find the source of the leak, failed, screwed up his knee so he needed a knee replacement, and caused water to leak into our basement in previously dry areas. I should write a country song about this. I need to call a waterproofing company to do something about the basement. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/46 "2011-08-02T14:37:54Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I do not fucking BELIEVE this. The air conditioner worked for a couple of days, and then quit AGAIN. This is happening right now in our building. One elevator broken, and all the AC units are on the fritz. The management company wrote a nice sign saying that we would be experiencing “hotter than normal temperatures” and that they “appreciated our patience”. This is day 5. Somebody scrawled “FUCKKK YOOOUUUU” on the sign. Yeah, pretty much. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/47 "2011-08-02T14:45:27Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > My cat is almost 13 years old, and she has chosen now to start peeing in places that are not her litter box. I’ve started with the obvious - keeping the litter boxes clean, moving one box upstairs so they have them on both levels, took her to the vet last week - he found out that she has bad teeth, so the next move is to get her teeth fixed up, and see if that’s what’s bugging her - there really hasn’t been any other changes around here that I can think of. > > Every time she’s peed, it’s been in something that could have been taken for a litter box if you turned your head sideways and squinted - maybe she’s senile. I am commiserating, but that’s because I think my Shiva is sick. Last night he started crying at me for no reason I could discern. Eyes are good, no tenderness to the touch, nothing visible wrong. This morning I come downstairs to find that not only is he still crying at me, he isn’t interested in moving around much and he is IGNORING HIS FOOD. This from a cat who has never been anywhere but underfoot when I was getting him his food, and encouraging me loudly to hurry it up. When I picked him up, for the first time in his life he did not immediately start suckling on my shirt. Vet appointment is at 2:45. He’s never been sick before. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/48 "2011-08-02T14:57:38Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Every time she’s peed, it’s been in something that could have been taken for a litter box if you turned your head sideways and squinted - maybe she’s senile. I do believe it happens. We’ve had senile cats before. ☹ In fact, I think my present elderly cat has developed some sort of brain deficit. When we feed her she dives right into the dish and gobbles the food down…but only the food on the left half of the dish. Then she’ll look at us with this “I want more food!” look. And we would say to her “There’s still a ton of food in your dish, stupid.” But one day, I don’t know why, when this happened I _rotated_ the dish so the side with the remaining food was now on the left. I swear the cat did a double take, and was all “Food! YUMMY” and promptly vacuumed up all the rest. Huh? I don’t think it could be due to just an eye problem. I mean, close one eye and look at things and you still see stuff to the left and right. It’s like her brain will no longer process input from the righthand side of both eye images. Weird, huh? Well, she’s 18, so we’re not going to put her through testing or anything. We just automatically rotate her food dish once she wipes out the first half. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/49 "2011-08-02T15:17:57Z")
You’ve got to be kidding me. One person in my group is actually making an effort. She posted her introduction for our critiquing. She did it completely wrong. She doesn’t even understand the assignment. She wrote the introduction to our professor, with an explanation of what we’re doing and why. We’re supposed to be writing a report to a customer. The introduction is supposed to be to the customer and is supposed to have specific elements. Someone please just put me out of my misery. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/50 "2011-08-02T15:43:48Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > In fact, I think my present elderly cat has developed some sort of brain deficit. When we feed her she dives right into the dish and gobbles the food down…but only the food on the left half of the dish. Then she’ll look at us with this “I want more food!” look. And we would say to her “There’s still a ton of food in your dish, stupid.” > > But one day, I don’t know why, when this happened I _rotated_ the dish so the side with the remaining food was now on the left. I swear the cat did a double take, and was all “Food! YUMMY” and promptly vacuumed up all the rest. > > Huh? I don’t think it could be due to just an eye problem. I mean, close one eye and look at things and you still see stuff to the left and right. It’s like her brain will no longer process input from the righthand side of both eye images. In _The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat_, Oliver Sacks mentions a (human) patient with a neurological disorder like this. I suppose if it’s possible in humans, it might be possible in cats. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/51 "2011-08-02T15:51:33Z")
My dad has been ripping up and laying down tile in the kitchen for two weekends. My bedroom is right next to the kitchen (not that the house is big enough to escape the noise). The entire front of the house is rearranged, everything is covered in dust, and he’s not done yet. Ick. Re: UTIs. I used to get them often. _If_ you’re the kind of person who notices them really really early, taking about 1000mg of Vitamin C can kill it within a few hours. (It’ll still hurt to pee for a little while - although not as bad - but the other symptoms will go away). I got that advice from a medical friend of mine. (I usually did that, ate a can of pineapple - because it has something that helps kill bugs - and a thing of blueberries - which work almost as well as cranberries, but taste better). And avoid sugar until you know it’s dead. I think after I learned that I’ve only had to get a prescription once. Obviously, if you’re not better within a day, go to a doctor. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/52 "2011-08-02T15:56:09Z")
minirant? August? First day of my vacation? Who caught a cold/cough sometime last night? That’s right, me. Merry fucking vacation! ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/53 "2011-08-02T16:31:30Z")
Please do write that song about the water and your basement and your dad’s bad knee, **Anne N.** I’d listen to it! Sorry about Shiva, **Morgyn**. That doesn’t sound good - all the classic “sick kitteh” signs are there. Here’s hoping it’s something easily & cheaply treatable. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/54 "2011-08-02T16:53:54Z")
That does sound like a sick kitty, **Morgyn**. My fingers are crossed for your little Shiva, too. Jim was up on the roof painting yesterday, and saw that the caulking around one of the standpipes was bad. I guess it’s good that he saw it, and he can get out the caulking and take care of it before the next rainstorm (hopefully - it might rain today). Better than NOT seeing it and NOT fixing it. We bought the house knowing that it’s an older house, and it will need roofing done before too long - we don’t want to have to re-roof for a couple of years, though. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/55 "2011-08-02T16:56:27Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > Someone please just put me out of my misery. I’ve been pointing my hand like a gun at the screen and making 'spoldy sounds. Don’t thank me, I’m happy to help. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/56 "2011-08-02T17:52:59Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Sorry about Shiva, **Morgyn**. That doesn’t sound good - all the classic “sick kitteh” signs are there. Here’s hoping it’s something easily & cheaply treatable. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > That does sound like a sick kitty, **Morgyn**. My fingers are crossed for your little Shiva, too. Thanks, guys. He did eat a few bites of kibble after I posted, but only a few. And I’m not sure he’s urinating; the last day or so I’ve noticed a decrease in the litter box clumps (I have about 5, but both he and Neko pretty much use only the one on the main level, because, hey, they don’t have to travel downstairs to it). Here’s hoping it’s “just” a UTI. Not nice, but easily curable. This morning he wasn’t complaining if I rubbed his belly. Now he is. Only 45 minutes til the vet sees him. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/57 "2011-08-02T17:56:42Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > I’ve been pointing my hand like a gun at the screen and making 'spoldy sounds. > > Don’t thank me, I’m happy to help. 😃 Thanks!! Actually, I caught my professor before she signed off the system and I got her into a chat room. I talked to her about my problems and she gave me some direction (which basically told me to continue being the queen bitch dictator from hell) and to go on the assumption that 1/3 of my team will never show up. I was also able to get the 2 other active people into a chat room. We reworked the entire scope of the project and I’m very happy with how it’s all looking right now. I still have a massive tension headache though and I’m very hungry but queasy. Oh, and I put a huge picture of Mr. Buggy on my desktop background. He’s fascinating. I keep catching myself staring at him when I should be working. Terminix will be here in about half an hour. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Oukile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@Oukile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oukile)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/58 "2011-08-02T18:09:51Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > I do believe it happens. We’ve had senile cats before. ☹ > In fact, I think my present elderly cat has developed some sort of brain deficit. When we feed her she dives right into the dish and gobbles the food down…but only the food on the left half of the dish. Then she’ll look at us with this “I want more food!” look. And we would say to her “There’s still a ton of food in your dish, stupid.” > > But one day, I don’t know why, when this happened I _rotated_ the dish so the side with the remaining food was now on the left. I swear the cat did a double take, and was all “Food! YUMMY” and promptly vacuumed up all the rest. > > Huh? I don’t think it could be due to just an eye problem. I mean, close one eye and look at things and you still see stuff to the left and right. It’s like her brain will no longer process input from the righthand side of both eye images. > > Weird, huh? Well, she’s 18, so we’re not going to put her through testing or anything. > > We just automatically rotate her food dish once she wipes out the first half. 🙂 [Spatial neglect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemispatial_neglect) ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/59 "2011-08-02T18:14:35Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I do not fucking BELIEVE this. The air conditioner worked for a couple of days, and then quit AGAIN. And it always quits around the time we come home from work. Not earlier in the day, when it would be easier to call the repair guys. Goddammit! > > We’re not sleeping very well without the air conditioning. This is NOT helping either of our moods. Graaaaah! This wouldn’t be the same issue as was posted elsewhere where it turned out the A/C could be turned off remotely by the power company in peak demand periods? Ours keeps offering to give us a free electronic thermostat with all sorts of features which would also allow them to do this. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020/60 "2011-08-02T18:40:34Z")
I pit fashion ‘seasons.’ I don’t know if the retailers have looked outside but it’s summer. It’s hot and it shouldn’t let up for at least another month and half. So, it should be easy enough for me to replace a purple tank top (that goes with my daughter’s favourite purply flowered skirt), right? Wrong. All the summer merchandise has been on clearance for a few weeks so there is nothing left. Four stores later and the best I could do was a purple t-shirt. (Though they have snowsuits in stock. As if I can guess what size my kids will be by the time they need one of those.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/utis-and-other-crap-august-minirants/591020.md?page=4)