# Winter's a-coming! Season of Death Mini-Rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 18, 2010, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833 "2010-09-18T09:03:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 50
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/981 "2010-11-16T01:08:26Z")
I cut my fingers badly at work last Saturday and had to get stitches. My right hand has been mostly useless for a week. I have school and I’m a cook. I can get by in life okay, but school and work are awful. I was supposed to get the stitches taken out today, but my cut isn’t healing. It’s still open. I get to do this another week. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/982 "2010-11-16T03:02:30Z")
I had the mother of all nosebleeds today—have had them before from the left side but never one this bad, so much and for so long, had to throw two hand towels and two shirts into the cold water wash because of the mess, clean up the sink, bleeahh! Off to the ENT doc tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/983 "2010-11-16T07:03:53Z")
Zippers! ZIPPERS!!! **ZIIIIPPPPEERRRS!!!** :mad: Sometimes, I hate having to clean up after people in retail. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/984 "2010-11-16T09:38:17Z")
> [@MegaBee](#): > > 26.2 means that the driver runs marathons, as that’s the distance of a marathon. 42 is probably a fan of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Or someone whose marathons are in kilometers. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/985 "2010-11-16T14:24:04Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > otherwise I clearly will spend the evening curled up in a corner sobbing into a bottle of cheap liquor (which in fact would count as “doing something for Thanksgiving,” so let’s just skip the whole goddamn thing, 'kay?) If you go with Wild Turkey, it’s even seasonally appropriate. > [@vivalostwages](#): > > I had the mother of all nosebleeds today—have had them before from the left side but never one this bad, so much and for so long, had to throw two hand towels and two shirts into the cold water wash because of the mess, clean up the sink, bleeahh! My uncle once had one so bad that he had to be hospitalized because it just wouldn’t stop. Let’s hope it doesn’t turn into that. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/986 "2010-11-17T05:04:07Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Or someone whose marathons are in kilometers. Marathons are in kilometers aren’t they?? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/987 "2010-11-17T05:21:10Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Marathons are in kilometers aren’t they?? 😕 Nope. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/988 "2010-11-17T05:28:23Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Nope. What is the K for then? Or, am I thinking of something else and marathons don’t say they are going to be 12K or 26K? ---
**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:** [November 17, 2010, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/989 "2010-11-17T06:42:39Z")
K’s tend to be 5’s and 10’s, AIUI. I think I’ve seen a 15K advertised here and there. Multiples of 5, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/990 "2010-11-17T08:03:45Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > K’s tend to be 5’s and 10’s, AIUI. I think I’ve seen a 15K advertised here and there. Multiples of 5, anyway. Ah. Marathon running isn’t exactly something I know much about 😃 ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/991 "2010-11-17T08:44:43Z")
The word bipartisanship is making me stabby. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/992 "2010-11-18T14:07:09Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Marathons are in kilometers aren’t they?? 😕 When they’re measured in kilometers, the number is 42, in miles it’s 26.2, and if you measure them in light years, the number is real tiny. ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/993 "2010-11-21T04:31:58Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > It’s time for an annual Thanksgiving rant! TLDR version: “I appreciate the invitation to your Thanksgiving celebration, but I have to decline” is not an invitation for you to suddenly decide I’m a fucking lab specimen and play 20 questions trying to convince me that I “must” do something for Thanksgiving otherwise I clearly will spend the evening curled up in a corner sobbing into a bottle of cheap liquor (which in fact would count as “doing something for Thanksgiving,” so let’s just skip the whole goddamn thing, 'kay?) > > Nah, I don’t have any plans for Thanksgiving. Just going to enjoy a nice, quiet, restful day on my own. Get some writing done. Play with the cats. Maybe watch some movies at home. > > Thanks, I appreciate the invite, but I really don’t do the whole Thanksgiving dinner thing, so I’m going to decline. > > No, seriously, I’ll be fine. Stop fucking asking. A nice, peaceful evening on my own. I enjoy that type of thing. I’m actually flying out of town on Friday to go visit my sister in Vegas, so it’s going to be kind of a whirlwind weekend and a moment of quiet in advance seems kind of nice, you know? > > Well, it’s worked out pretty well for a couple years now. Four years ago I went out to IHOP with some friends who were also hanging around on campus for Thanksgiving, but that was the last time I did anything. > > Because I don’t fucking like big parties, because I loathe the smell of turkey, because I can count on one hand the number of typical Thanksgiving foods that I will even eat, because I hate eating things people I don’t know extremely well have cooked, because I hate eating in front of other people, because I don’t fucking want to, because it’s a stupid fucking holiday, because it pisses off nosy people like you, because _I don’t fucking want to_ now leave me the fuck alone! > > ETA: This happens _every fucking year_. Most of my friends have learned. My family still has not. and why would I want to go to someone’s house to eat with people I don’t know intruding on their family time. The one time I did this I was miserable. bored out of my mind in a house too hot and everybody expressing how sorry they were that I couldn;t be wiyh my family. :rolleyes: ---
**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:** [November 22, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/994 "2010-11-22T17:17:25Z")
To be fair, it’s not \*always \*like that. My cousin and her husband have a friend who’s joined us for Thanksgiving several years in a row now–nobody asks stupid questions about why he’s hanging out with us, and he always has a great time (since we’re awesome, fun, hilarious, and good cooks, and he fits in great). But insisting that someone must come join you, or anybody, for a holiday is rude and retarded. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/995 "2010-11-22T18:41:27Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > When they’re measured in kilometers, the number is 42, in miles it’s 26.2, and if you measure them in light years, the number is real tiny. And if you’re Hans Solo you can run the Boston Marathon in less than 12 parsecs. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/996 "2010-11-22T19:24:24Z")
Psh. \*Anybody \*can run the Boston Marathon in less than 12 parsecs. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/997 "2010-11-22T19:29:49Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > But insisting that someone must come join you, or anybody, for a holiday is rude and retarded. I like _rudetarded_ for short. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/998 "2010-11-22T19:30:24Z")
There are people, usually extroverts, who simply cannot imagine NOT being around others, especially on holidays. They call you a loser if you’re not going out to the bars every friday and saturday night, because they think there’s something wrong with you (or in reality, fear there may be something wrong with themselves) if you (they) are not constantly surrounded by others. Their entire self-image is wrapped up in popularity and the support and presence of others. Being alone is scary, and a sign of weakness and flaw. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/999 "2010-11-22T19:38:10Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > There are people, usually extroverts, who simply cannot imagine NOT being around others, especially on holidays. They call you a loser if you’re not going out to the bars every friday and saturday night, because they think there’s something wrong with you (or in reality, fear there may be something wrong with themselves) if you (they) are not constantly surrounded by others. Their entire self-image is wrapped up in popularity and the support and presence of others. Being alone is scary, and a sign of weakness and flaw. This is kind of extreme. Isn’t it also possible that there are people who are simply worried that someone will be depressed and/or lonely if they don’t have anyone to spend the holiday with? And who might need a little encouraging to spend the holidays with people who are not family? I agree that there comes a time when repeated invitations become rude and intrusive, but I don’t think every single person who issues such invitations has a gaping character flaw that makes spending time NOT surrounded by sychophants impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1000 "2010-11-22T20:40:59Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > This is kind of extreme. > > but I don’t think every single person who issues such invitations has a gaping character flaw that makes spending time NOT surrounded by sychophants impossible. And there is the Extreme. I did NOT say anything like the second line there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833.md?page=49) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833.md?page=51)