# What are you scared of? Halloween/October Mini-rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 1, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099 "2019-10-01T14:38:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**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:** [October 14, 2019, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/101 "2019-10-14T04:19:46Z")
I’d like to call bullshit on the fact that I’m working full time, don’t have children, have no major (or minor) medical expenses, no student loan debt … and am utterly fucked out of affording any housing for myself. I want to move away from the current boyfriend, because it’s really not a good situation. But even cheap shitholes in ghetto neighborhoods are 115% of my monthly earnings. Which are not minimum wage. Fuck everyone who wants to Make America Great Again; let’s start with Make America Not Eyeball-Peeling Astronomically Unaffordable Again. Now that’s a hat I’d wear. (Not really. I look stupid in hats, caps, or headgear of any kind.) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/102 "2019-10-14T07:08:21Z")
**purplehorseshoe** , I’d off to let you stay here, but the commute from Kentucky would be too far for you, and **Girl Wonder** would probably have issues with another woman moving in. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/103 "2019-10-14T10:26:46Z")
Does anyone know the root cause of this economic situation? I mean, if someone in that position can’t afford the rent, who can? It seems like a failure of the laws of supply and demand. ---
**Author:** ![slalexan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@slalexan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slalexan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/104 "2019-10-14T12:03:48Z")
**purplehorseshoe** I would also let you stay with me. I don’t actually have space but I would try to make it work. It’s one of the things I hope I’ll be able to do when I pay off my student loans. Actually having enough money to make an impact, to actually help people. One day… So the work program got its stuff together and I have an appointment with a counselor in about an hour. I’m anxious. I have to stupid thing where if I ever seek professional help, I’m sure that they’ll just tell me I’m faking it or that’s it’s all in my head. I know these thoughts are ridiculous but I can’t make them stop. Maybe she can help me with that. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/105 "2019-10-14T14:30:21Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > “Uh.” She says. “Who was it supposed to go to?” > > ??? How the hell should I know? You’re some boutiquey little meat service. I have told you that four of your bags were delivered to [my address] some time between 8 a.m. and noon today. Check your order records! Check with whatever delivery van was in this area at that time! Sheesh. > > Anyway, eventually she accepted I knew nothing useful (and, NO! I was not going to haul the bags in, open them up, try to determine how many pounds of whatever was enclosed.) But if you opened them, at their request, they [del]can’t[/del] shouldn’t be delivered to someone else; you’d either have to toss them or keep them for yourself. > [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Then I get a phone call about 3:30 p.m. “Hello, this is Mrs. XXXX. [Meat Company] tells me you have my meat.” They gave your contact info out to another customer??? :eek: > [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > B) I know a family who are just getting by, and one of the ways they make it is they make a huge buy of meat at some great discount once or twice a year. For them losing one of their shipments might mean the family eats nothing but beans and rice for six months. ☹ Does any company _ **not** _ replace lost/stolen shipments for free? I went to Mickey D’s; I tried to order a 6pc spicy tender. I get my order, sit down, & open the box. Count 'em. Count 'em again. Only five. Take the box back up to the counter & tell her I was shorted one. She takes the box from me asks the cook to make a six piece (& this time put six in the box). She then proceeds to throw the box in the trash. Instead of allowing me to eat what you gave me & just bringing one more out, you tossed perfectly [del]good[/del] edible food & make me wait extra long to be able to eat. :smack: once it’s up she put it in another bag with more napkins. What a waste! ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/106 "2019-10-14T15:58:02Z")
Rant 1: My son is 13 and is going through this weird period where his friend circle is dwindling substantially. It’s heartbreaking, though he doesn’t seem to mind as much as I do (but it could be he’s just not saying). His buddies in our neighborhood haven’t shut him out, but they don’t seek him out like they used to with the exception of one other kid he’s remained close to. There’s little I can do but be supportive, but I forgot how painful this age was. Hopefully high school will be better. Rant 2: I’m burnt out and need to establish some boundaries with my employees. One of them can’t think for themselves and needs someone to outline for them what they should do every damn step of the way. This person has a fucking MBA but still asks me if meeting notes should be sent after a consequential discussion. Another employee is constantly texting me when I try to take some time off “just to make sure you know” about things, not because there’s an actual emergency. Which would be ok if this person didn’t keep asking when I would be joining optional calls when they know I’m on fucking PTO. This is the same person who works 24/7 without actually accomplishing anything. It’s maddening. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/107 "2019-10-14T16:16:51Z")
This getting old thing sucks. I slept funny and now I can’t turn my head to the left. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/108 "2019-10-14T18:46:05Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > This getting old thing sucks. I slept funny and now I can’t turn my head to the left. I know, what’s with this crap? No one told me that hitting my late 60s meant I could retire, but I’d start injuring myself in my sleep. I played soccer yesterday with an ankle taped up, and got questions like “Oh, you sprain that last game?” “Yeah, something like that; I think I just twisted it.” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/109 "2019-10-14T19:03:30Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Does the test _have_ to be done at the hospital? Could you go to a blood-draw place? Could you schedule it for a day when you don’t work the night before? Or is that already a moot point because you mini-ranted about it nine days ago? ---
**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:** [October 15, 2019, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/110 "2019-10-15T10:37:08Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > This getting old thing sucks. I slept funny and now I can’t turn my head to the left. Wait till you wake up one morning and CAN’T WALK, with excruciating hip pain. That’s when the real fun starts. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/111 "2019-10-15T14:10:19Z")
I’m in the motel breakfast room, about to hit the road, trying not to hear the a.m. morning “news” show idiots on TV in the background. Then Tim Tebow (who for some inexplicable reason is a guest) starts talking about diet. “Sugar and carbs are the enemy” he says. Yeah Timmy, your sugar and carb-less diet must be a huge success, seeing that you hit a whopping .163 in Triple A this year. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2019, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/112 "2019-10-16T12:45:28Z")
Wine and politics don’t mix, kids. My husband and I started out to watch the Democratic debate, but after a while, we were missing bits of it to make our own comments, and before very long we had to shut off the TV so we could fight in good earnest. Stayed up past our bedtime even. We made it up this morning, but now we’re in that awkward, walking-on-eggshells post-argument phase. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/113 "2019-10-16T16:56:06Z")
Today is not a good day. Minor annoyances include a waffle iron that decided to fuse itself shut, making retrieval of the waffle impossible, then problems converting the batter to edible pancakes. Major bad point: woke up to find that my bird was deceased. ---
**Author:** ![Kelevra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/97f17d/32.png) [@Kelevra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelevra)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/114 "2019-10-16T19:33:42Z")
Dear Mr. Man-Bun, No, fish do not grow to the size of buses in the Ohio River. Thanks for sharing your “knowledge”! ---
**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:** [October 16, 2019, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/115 "2019-10-16T20:10:42Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Today is not a good day. Minor annoyances include a waffle iron that decided to fuse itself shut, making retrieval of the waffle impossible, then problems converting the batter to edible pancakes. > > Major bad point: woke up to find that my bird was deceased. I’m sorry, **Seanette**. What kind of bird was it? ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/116 "2019-10-16T20:43:43Z")
Ringneck dove, named Ava. We’d had her since the end of 2002, when she showed up injured on our doorstep one cold night. Our best guess was that she was an escaped pet who found out the hard way she wasn’t ready for the wild life. She settled right in and never even tried to leave. We could have her unconfined, with the door or a window wide open, and she wouldn’t go near the potential route outside. Apparently, she did figure out “indoor bird = safe bird”. ---
**Author:** ![Indyellen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/indyellen/32/4176_2.png) [@Indyellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indyellen)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/117 "2019-10-16T21:24:43Z")
I have iron-deficiency anemia. Currently, neither my doctors nor I have any idea why. I have had all the appropriate gastrointestinal scopes (but one, scheduled for next Friday), I’m seeing my gyn next Monday, but given I’m in perimenopause, my uterus is not likely the problem either. My biopsies from the GI scopes all came back negative (positive?), not showing any absorption issues. I don’t get nosebleeds or anything, and while my diet is not the healthiest on the planet, I doubt that the anemia is from poor diet, and the hematologist agrees. I’m taking iron pills, on top of the multivitamin I started, and according to my latest blood work, my hemoglobin has improved somewhat, but not drastically. If the final GI scope (capsule endoscopy!) doesn’t find anything, then we’re moving on to IV iron infusions. The rant part comes with the not knowing. I know enough about medicine and labs to be dangerous, and my mind keeps wandering off to very ugly places. Also, I’m really feeling the anemia now. Headaches every day, fatigue even when I get 7-8 hours sleep, peeling nails, and occasional (ok, almost daily) dizzy spells. I’m semi-relieved that the fatigue, etc. isn’t my blood sugar numbers (I’m diabetic), but it’s annoying at work. Also, my focus sucks. I just want to know what’s wrong, bad or good, so I’m not in this damn limbo anymore, and we can set a plan! ---
**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:** [October 16, 2019, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/118 "2019-10-16T21:35:25Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Ringneck dove, named Ava. We’d had her since the end of 2002, when she showed up injured on our doorstep one cold night. Our best guess was that she was an escaped pet who found out the hard way she wasn’t ready for the wild life. She settled right in and never even tried to leave. We could have her unconfined, with the door or a window wide open, and she wouldn’t go near the potential route outside. Apparently, she did figure out “indoor bird = safe bird”. She’s had a good long life with you. I know that doves normally live for 15 years, so 17 years is very impressive. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/119 "2019-10-17T01:27:50Z")
> [@Indyellen](#): > > I have iron-deficiency anemia. Currently, neither my doctors nor I have any idea why. I have had all the appropriate gastrointestinal scopes (but one, scheduled for next Friday), I’m seeing my gyn next Monday, but given I’m in perimenopause, my uterus is not likely the problem either. My biopsies from the GI scopes all came back negative (positive?), not showing any absorption issues. I don’t get nosebleeds or anything, and while my diet is not the healthiest on the planet, I doubt that the anemia is from poor diet, and the hematologist agrees. > > I’m taking iron pills, on top of the multivitamin I started, and according to my latest blood work, my hemoglobin has improved somewhat, but not drastically. If the final GI scope (capsule endoscopy!) doesn’t find anything, then we’re moving on to IV iron infusions. > > The rant part comes with the not knowing. I know enough about medicine and labs to be dangerous, and my mind keeps wandering off to very ugly places. Also, I’m really feeling the anemia now. Headaches every day, fatigue even when I get 7-8 hours sleep, peeling nails, and occasional (ok, almost daily) dizzy spells. I’m semi-relieved that the fatigue, etc. isn’t my blood sugar numbers (I’m diabetic), but it’s annoying at work. Also, my focus sucks. I just want to know what’s wrong, bad or good, so I’m not in this damn limbo anymore, and we can set a plan! Ummm, think kidneys. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099/120 "2019-10-17T03:45:49Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Ringneck dove, named Ava. We’d had her since the end of 2002, when she showed up injured on our doorstep one cold night. Our best guess was that she was an escaped pet who found out the hard way she wasn’t ready for the wild life. She settled right in and never even tried to leave. We could have her unconfined, with the door or a window wide open, and she wouldn’t go near the potential route outside. Apparently, she did figure out “indoor bird = safe bird”. I’m sorry for your loss. Outliving a creature you’ve cared for and loved is always a heart-wrenching experience. If it’s any consolation, [Ava had an exceptionally long life.](https://howlongdolive.com/pigeons-lifespan/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-scared-of-halloween-october-mini-rants/841099.md?page=7)