# 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:** 59
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1161 "2010-12-10T21:30:43Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > It occurs to me that nobody _has_ actually asked you what company you work for. So, what company do you work for, **Chimera**? Sorry, not going to answer that here. Hell, one of my co-workers told someone else in our chatroom not to do something because it might get him fired or written up. Later that day he was pulled into the Director’s office and written up for saying something negative about company management - what he’d said in the chatroom - even though it was absolutely 100% true. “Hey, don’t do that or you might get written up” = “We’re writing you up for speaking negatively about our management here”. Great “Management” Logic, eh? ---
**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:** [December 10, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1162 "2010-12-10T21:50:42Z")
**Chimera** , my blood is boiling on your behalf. I don’t know how you can stand working for people like that. Or how people like that end up in positions of authority pretty much everywhere. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1163 "2010-12-10T22:02:28Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > What’s the matter with having people know who you work for, **Chimera**? > > I was in an RMA call center for D-Link Systems before I started handling RMA issues for Westinghouse Digital, which I left to become an electronics technician for the USPS. If I never volunteered that specific information on the Dope, it was more a matter of not wanting to appear to be plugging the brand. Had anyone asked, I’d have had no problem divulging the information. Speaking the name of the president of D-Link to a customer was _verboten_, but the name of the company wasn’t a problem. > > It occurs to me that nobody _has_ actually asked you what company you work for. So, what company do you work for, **Chimera**? Some employers specifically ban public mention of the company name. I work for a well known company, but we have a clear policy on blogging and general Internet usage that severely limits the circumstances under which they consider it appropriate for us to mention the company. Clearly, we are free to do so at any time, but our employer does have the right to end our happy relationship at any time as well. Not that it is a closely guarded secret either: I post enough on topics related to my industry that many could easily guess my employer. It’s just that some degree of discretion is desirable. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1164 "2010-12-10T22:24:18Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Hell, one of my co-workers told someone else in our chatroom not to do something because it might get him fired or written up. Later that day he was pulled into the Director’s office and written up for saying something negative about company management - what he’d said in the chatroom - even though it was absolutely 100% true. > > “Hey, don’t do that or you might get written up” = “We’re writing you up for speaking negatively about our management here”. > > Great “Management” Logic, eh? Send that to Scott Adams. Either he’s covered that in **Dilbert** and might send you a signed copy of the relevant strip, or he hasn’t, and he might use it and send you a signed copy of the relevant strip. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1165 "2010-12-10T22:56:59Z")
> [@MissTake](#): > > Apple store? You suck. > > In early June 2009, TheKid bought, with her own money, a monster iPod classic, 160GB. Fast forward to mid-June 2010, the hard drive died. Off to the Apple store, they were kind enough to replace it with a refurbished model, despite it being 10 days past warranty. > > Fast forward 92 days. Ninety two. Hard drive on the refurb went wonky again. Off to the Apple store. Guess what? Warranty on refurbs are good for 90 days. But hey, we’ll give you 10% off on a new one. This is a little late, but have you heard of [Ipod Juice](http://www.ipodjuice.com/apple-ipod-classic-repair.htm#ipod-classic-repair)? Or [PDASmart](http://www.pdasmart.com/ipod-harddrive-upgrades.htm). Should be a $50 fix or less. [This place](http://www.irepair.com/) even has it for $20. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1166 "2010-12-11T00:56:38Z")
I am continually amazed by how many people’s last names are numbers. “What is your last name,” I ask them when they want me to do look them up in the computer. “410,” they might say. My inner smartass response: “Really? Gave up on the whole word thing, did you?” My slightly annoyed actual response. “Your **last name**?” I sincerely doubt these people a) are named after their room number or b) even remember their room number correctly half the time. People have told me they’re in room numbers we don’t even have in the building, so I know 90% of the American Travelling Public is both full of shit and has no working short-term memory. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1167 "2010-12-11T01:05:33Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > On behalf of my cats and dog, can you kill these people (quietly) before they graduate? Yeah, try out a couple of euthanasia methods. Or at least let us know the names of these…challenged…individuals, so we can avoid them in the future. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1168 "2010-12-11T05:15:47Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > This is a little late, but have you heard of [Ipod Juice](http://www.ipodjuice.com/apple-ipod-classic-repair.htm#ipod-classic-repair)? Or [PDASmart](http://www.pdasmart.com/ipod-harddrive-upgrades.htm). Should be a $50 fix or less. [This place](http://www.irepair.com/) even has it for $20. Luckily, we resolved the matter. My quick bitch tonight: “Mom, if you’re going to be out my way, may I have my snowblower back? Since, yanno, we’re supposed to get a foot of snow by this time tomorrow?” “…welll… it works really great…” “Yes, which is why I would like it back?” “…well… how about I come clear your driveway tomorrow night?” “In other words, you prefer my snow blower to yours and are going to keep it, right?” “…wellll…” I appreciate that a few weeks ago you took it to have your friend fix it, after the ex ‘fixed’ it into oblivion (like he did to TWO lawnmowers). I appreciate that it’s light enough for you to get in and out of your truck easily. I appreciate that it maneuvers very easily, and is perfect for a relatively small driveway. Which you don’t have. I can’t go get it, as I have no way to bring it home. And were I to try to, I’d have to deal with the passive aggressive thing you do so well. So I guess I will be stuck in until you show up. And I _know_ there will be at least one comment about if I just lived in a townhome, outdoor maintenance would be done for me. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1169 "2010-12-11T09:43:18Z")
I am so sick of the Oprah Circus in Australia. The bloody media is raving as though it is the second coming or such, and those half witted fans who hang on every word she utters. I might have a beer. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1170 "2010-12-11T12:12:14Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > I am continually amazed by how many people’s last names are numbers. “What is your last name,” I ask them when they want me to do look them up in the computer. “410,” they might say. > > My inner smartass response: “Really? Gave up on the whole word thing, did you?” > My slightly annoyed actual response. “Your **last name**?” > > I sincerely doubt these people a) are named after their room number or b) even remember their room number correctly half the time. People have told me they’re in room numbers we don’t even have in the building, so I know 90% of the American Travelling Public is both full of shit and has no working short-term memory. On behalf of all night auditors everywhere, may I add a “seconded,” and an “amen, sister! (or brother, if I’ve mis-remembered.)” If hotel work has taught me nothing else, I’ve learned that no one ever went broke by overestimating the stupidity of the American public… ---
**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:** [December 11, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1171 "2010-12-11T14:38:19Z")
Many thanks to the total thwack who has been revving his engine since 4:45 this morning. It’s now 8:30. Still at it. vrom. vrom. VRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!! This is the second time (well, since I’ve lived here) that he’s done this. Last time he started at 3:00AM. This is a residential neighborhood. I can’t believe his neighbors haven’t throttled him. Heh. Throttled. VRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1172 "2010-12-11T23:22:53Z")
“Don’t sit me by the window because the light hurts my eyes.” “Don’t sit us near the front because we get hit by a cold draft whenever someone opens the door.” “Not too far back now, I can’t walk that far.” “Oh, those people have CHILDREN. Please not there!”\* “Oh no! Not by the kitchen!” “Not by the restrooms!” JESUS GODDAMNED FUCKING CHRIST! STAY THE FUCK HOME THEN!! SHIT!!! Stupid fucking old people. Kiss my ass. …okay, I feel better now. Look, if you’re not using a walker or a cane, and unless you say something to the contrary, I’m going to assume you’re okay with wherever I decide to put you, which is usually the section belonging to the server whose turn it is to be sat. Don’t wait until we’re at the table to start bitching. Yeah, I know we passed up a perfectly good table but I just sat that server and you can bet your ass she’ll bitch if I “double-seat” her. And the other server will bitch because she didn’t get sat when it was her turn. If I seat you at the closer table and let the server whose turn it is take you, then the server whose section it is will bitch that I’m giving her tables away. See what I have to deal with? You’re old, you should have some idea of how the world works. Jesus Christ! Oh, and by the way, your server is my ex-wife. She fucked me over on the taxes earlier this year (when we were still married) so feel free to stiff her. 😃 - This is a family restaurant. If you don’t want to be around kids, go someplace else. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1173 "2010-12-12T00:30:05Z")
I like strong foods. I like bitter and spicy and zesty flavors. I like vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. I like onions and tomatoes and curries and garlic and hot peppers and hot sauce and peas and those pepper flakes at pizza places and lasagne and chile rellenos and hot and sour soup and curry chicken with onion and hot wings and jalapeno poppers and broccoli soup and beef stew and chili and spinach salads. I like foods that aren’t starchy or bland or made of flour and sugar. And I can’t eat them. I’ve been craving a soup all day I used to make with chicken and cauliflower and broccoli and carrots and onion and chicken stock and cream cheese. It was healthy and zippy and yummy and I can’t eat it. I can eat potatoes. I can eat noodles. I can eat plain chicken. I can usually eat a hamburger. I can eat dessert. This is a menu for weighing ten MILLION POUNDS. Okay, I’m done bitching. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1174 "2010-12-12T00:42:43Z")
> [@](#): > > I like foods that aren’t starchy or bland or made of flour and sugar. > > And I can’t eat them. While I wish that I could tell you of a spicy food that you could eat, I can’t. All I can say is that I’m able to eat oatmeal and cream of wheat cereal and Slimfast without consequences. If fruit doesn’t upset you, you can try some bananas or applesauce in your cereal. I can OCCASIONALLY eat a peppercini or two a day, as long as I’m careful not to eat them daily. However, YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1175 "2010-12-12T17:52:00Z")
Dear neighbor, Look. I _know_ you’re white trash. You’re all tatted up, you wear Ed Hardy. Your unemployed boyfriend probably didn’t finish high school; your B cup tits hang out. You buy malt liquor 40’s and random dudes show up. You probably deal a little on the side. However, our lease agreements expressly prohibits smoking and our landlord is so stupid he doesn’t even care. Hell, what do you expect from a guy who charges 25% less than anyone else in the neighborhood? So help me god, I hope you burn off your genitals with your cigarettes. If this shit doesn’t stop - and by “stop”, I mean “if it doesn’t subside so that my boyfriend’s Burberry trench coat and my ski gear continues to need dry cleaning” - I’m gonna start making the stinkiest Indian food I can, throwing limburger in the pot and smearing it on your door. I’ll even pour it in front of your entrance. Swear to God. WTF are you gonna do, call our landlord and beg me to stop? He doesn’t give a shit… Seriously, who the fuck under 25 smokes anymore? Did you flunk out of high school health class? And how the fuck did our landlord let you in, when the rest of the building consists of: biology phd students, law school students, and some people in a 5 year undergrad/masters program? How the\* fuck \*did you fool him into thinking you’re not white trash? I hope you get pregnant and miscarry in the hallway. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1176 "2010-12-12T18:02:00Z")
About 80% of the people I work with smoke, and 90% of those are under 25. It is disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1177 "2010-12-12T18:32:05Z")
> [@stegon66](#): > > Look, if you’re not using a walker or a cane, and unless you say something to the contrary, I’m going to assume you’re okay with wherever I decide to put you, which is usually the section belonging to the server whose turn it is to be sat. The first rule of seating people is that they always want to sit at the just vacated booth that hasn’t been bussed yet. Every. Fucking. 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:** [December 12, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1178 "2010-12-12T19:27:55Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > Seriously, who the fuck under 25 smokes anymore? As George Carlin said, kids smoke for the same reason adults do: it relieves stress and anxiety. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1179 "2010-12-12T19:41:11Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > As George Carlin said, kids smoke for the same reason adults do: it relieves stress and anxiety. More accurately, they _think_ it relieves stress and anxiety. **lindsay** , by all means, start up with the curry cooking. Throw some fish in with that, too. Now I wish I had asked what my husband’s former neighbours used to cook - it smelled like fried garbage and stunk up the entire four storey building. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1180 "2010-12-12T19:43:23Z")
I wonder what Durian fruit juice, painted on a door frame (so you can’t see an obvious signs of placement) smells like. Oh, and a little on the door knob for good measure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833.md?page=58) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833.md?page=60)