Rant thread

[MRG]

Send the fruitcake to me. I must be the only person that like them

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Me too. I generally like them dunked in rum.

 

[Meadbh]

This rant thread is really tame. I guess that shows we are a happy bunch overall.

 

[ERD50]

This rant thread is really tame. I guess that shows we are a happy bunch overall.

Don't worry, they will come. Gotta save up the real rants for the big stuff. Can't be the boy who cried wolf.

-ERD50

 

[Nemo2]

Don't worry, they will come. Gotta save up the real rants for the big stuff. Can't be the boy who cried wolf.

-ERD50

I imagine that many 'high emotion' rants have political implications that, as we know, are verboten hereabouts.

 

[audreyh1]

The flying thread is more rantacious.

Didn't know about the Starbucks race campaign. That was interesting.

 

[ArkTinkerer]

OK a rant, a little pissy but a rant...

They closed down my favourite metal recycler. Was close to home and let me walk the lot looking for neat parts and materials to feed into my old machine tools. Even picked up a couple old machine tools there that had been dumped for recycling.

New place is a few miles outside of town and no walking or "picking" allowed. Tinkerers are doomed in this country!

 

[Gumby]

Let me take this opportunity to heap scorn and derision upon what I regard as the bane of modern society. A practice that results in literally millions of wasted man-hours every year, brings outs the absolute worst behavior in people and is quite dangerous to those doing it and those around them. I refer, of course, to the left turn across traffic on the four lane road with no median strip. (in my own particular case, the Boston Post Road).

 

[SteveNU]

Was doing the grocery shopping the other day and picked up some chicken stock. Did you know they sell it by weight and not by volume? When have you ever seen a recipe that asked for 1 pound of chicken stock? It's like going to the store to grab 8 pounds of milk.

 

[HFWR]

I imagine that many 'high emotion' rants have political implications that, as we know, are verboten hereabouts.

Just wait. One hat in the ring, with fortylevin more on the way. Should be a loooooong election season, filled with careful analysis, and reasoned debate...


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[Walt34]

Should be a loooooong election season, filled with careful analysis, and reasoned debate...

This happens in which universe?

 

[braumeister]

left turn across traffic on the four lane road with no median strip. (in my own particular case, the Boston Post Road).

People in this country are too uptight (in general) about traffic rules.

On my way home from downtown, I come to a traffic light that stops me every time. I am on a four lane divided highway, and I want to turn left off it onto a two lane country road. Late in the evening, there is not a single other vehicle in any direction for at least a mile or two. Do I sit there for the 90 seconds it takes for the light to change, or do I make my illegal turn and save the planet a bit of air pollution? What do you think?

Similarly, when I lived in Rio de Janeiro, a road with two lanes would typically have five cars abreast during the rush hour. Why? Because there was room for them (barely) and it made things more efficient.

 

[ls99]

Let me take this opportunity to heap scorn and derision upon what I regard as the bane of modern society. A practice that results in literally millions of wasted man-hours every year, brings outs the absolute worst behavior in people and is quite dangerous to those doing it and those around them. I refer, of course, to the left turn across traffic on the four lane road with no median strip. (in my own particular case, the Boston Post Road).

Eh, you got it easy. Try rush hour in Lagos, Nigeria.

World’s Worst Traffic Jam — The Atlantic

Joshua Hammer Jun 13 2012, 10:13 AM ET

 

[Walt34]

And then some people question why we don't like travel....

 

[Gumby]

People in this country are too uptight (in general) about traffic rules.

On my way home from downtown, I come to a traffic light that stops me every time. I am on a four lane divided highway, and I want to turn left off it onto a two lane country road. Late in the evening, there is not a single other vehicle in any direction for at least a mile or two. Do I sit there for the 90 seconds it takes for the light to change, or do I make my illegal turn and save the planet a bit of air pollution? What do you think?

Oh, I'm not talking about illegal turns. In the situation you describe, go right ahead. No, my complaint is the perfectly legal left turn into a shopping plaza, restaurant, a side street or the like where there is no signal. On a busy Saturday, the person turning has to wait for the horrendous traffic going in the opposite direction to stop -- both lanes of it. Sometimes one lane stops and the other keeps going, then the first guy gets tired of being polite and moves ahead too. Or the traffic going the other way is at a standstill, but the people move right up to the bumper ahead and no one can be bothered to allow space to turn in. The people behind the turner then have to wait or risk a quick dart into the right lane ahead of speeding traffic coming up from behind. I hate it with a passion.

 

[MRG]

Gumby I hate those too, very dangerous.

 

[travelover]

OK a rant, a little pissy but a rant...

They closed down my favourite metal recycler. Was close to home and let me walk the lot looking for neat parts and materials to feed into my old machine tools. Even picked up a couple old machine tools there that had been dumped for recycling.

New place is a few miles outside of town and no walking or "picking" allowed. Tinkerers are doomed in this country!

Seems to be common - maybe insurance reasons. I'm stocking up on aluminum and stainless steel, as I can see the day coming. A piece of aluminum angle that I can buy for $3 at the recycler is $25 at Home Depot.

 

[robnplunder]

So, DW and I started on golf after sending our only child to college. Why not? We now have time on weekends and I can't play physical sports due to having too many injuries. Golf seems to be innocently a simple game. Hit a ball that is sitting still on a raised tee with a high tech stick. Use them sticks to put a small ball into relatively large hole. It's a child's game compare to boxing, basketball, soccer and all other sports I played and excelled at.

Well, the "game" turned out to be all but simple which I can't still figure out after 5+ years. It's a child's game cursed by golf God to be unplayable.

The high tech equipment comes with a price tag of the latest iPhone x 5 on average, and you need the latest rev every year or so to stay ahead of others. The stick, one they called a driver is a misnomer - it should be called heartbreaker. $5 per golf ball, gone in seconds for some other golfers to find a few days later.

One would think that spending so much on equipment deserves an inexpensive entry to playing the darn thing.
Heck, no. To be seen in a decent golf course will cost you a few Benjamins, x 2 if DW wants to join in the torture. Then there are golf trips. Airlines charge arm and a leg for shipping extra bags, you know. That's not all. While at it, why not join a private club, pay the initiation fee (they should be paying me!), pay monthly, pay to play tournaments (more humiliation), eat at their restaurants, pay, pay, pay ...? There seems to be thousand ways for golf to empty your pocket.

All the above would be still reasonable to take if I can play golf half way decent. In a course of a 5 hour round, I am unhappy in 4 of those hours, angry for another 45 minutes, and happy for the remaining 15. God knows how many times I uttered expletives in front of total strangers, quit and come back to golf again and again, whined and whined about other golfers, ....

It is a bit strange that DW is still playing golf with me. Other sane wives may have filed for divorce. Perhaps, her refusal to leave me is due to the golf channel playing golf 24 x 7. She seems to be following PGA during the day, European tour in the morning, and watches their replay at all hours. That could explain why her house chores are not done in timely manner. Grrrr.

Who invented Golf anyway? It's a dumb game. Death to the inventor.

 

[Tadpole]

New rant - Medicare has a new program for people with two or more "chronic" illnesses. It is called "chronic care management" and pays the doctor for all that "behind the scenes" work he must do for older patients. This is also called "non-face-to-face". Many of the training contractors are almost telling doctors they can get free money. So some Medicare patients are being asked by their doctors to sign up for the new "voluntary" program or face consequences of non-availability of the doctor for any services outside of the "face-to-face" time. (Services they may currently get and services other people may get that are not on Medicare.) So we are perfect candidates because of all the time we take. Neither of us remembers taking up this doctor's time out side of the actual visits. The doctors are also being taught to tell patients that, at most, they will be charged a $8/mo coinsurance. While that is true for people without a supplemental, it is not clear what happens with Medicare Advantage plans. I have a Medigap plan and when I called to inquire as to what they would cover, I found out that if it is "non-face-to-face" they cover nothing. They looked at the information and pointed out that an additional charge would come to me since the new program is subject to deductibles. Since the program is a monthly charge, we would probably encounter much of the deductibles before any "face-to-face" doctor visits paid them. So, by my figures this adds up to an additional $430/yr to our medical bills. So we are left with a decision to pay up or to risk poor doctor services. It is kind of useless around here to switch doctors since they seem in lock step when it comes to services. If the doctor followed the rules, he would spend at least 20 minutes during the month on "managed care" for each of us. We really don't want to be managed. We are totally independent, enjoying our first years of retirement and don't need our doctor hovering. Also, I don't want to be managed out of my personal right to choose my own specialists or other care providers. (The doctors around here form little partnerships between practices.) OK, rant over. If you got to here, thanks for listening. OH, and thanks for this thread; it got going just when I needed to scream in silence.

 

[MRG]

So, DW and I started on golf after sending our only child to college. Why not? We now have time on weekends and I can't play physical sports due to having too many injuries. Golf seems to be innocently a simple game. Hit a ball that is sitting still on a raised tee with a high tech stick. Use them sticks to put a small ball into relatively large hole. It's a child's game compare to boxing, basketball, soccer and all other sports I played and excelled at.

Well, the "game" turned out to be all but simple which I can't still figure out after 5+ years. It's a child's game cursed by golf God to be unplayable.

The high tech equipment comes with a price tag of the latest iPhone x 5 on average, and you need the latest rev every year or so to stay ahead of others. The stick, one they called a driver is a misnomer - it should be called heartbreaker. $5 per golf ball, gone in seconds for some other golfers to find a few days later.

One would think that spending so much on equipment deserves an inexpensive entry to playing the darn thing.
Heck, no. To be seen in a decent golf course will cost you a few Benjamins, x 2 if DW wants to join in the torture. Then there are golf trips. Airlines charge arm and a leg for shipping extra bags, you know. That's not all. While at it, why not join a private club, pay the initiation fee (they should be paying me!), pay monthly, pay to play tournaments (more humiliation), eat at their restaurants, pay, pay, pay ...? There seems to be thousand ways for golf to empty your pocket.

All the above would be still reasonable to take if I can play golf half way decent. In a course of a 5 hour round, I am unhappy in 4 of those hours, angry for another 45 minutes, and happy for the remaining 15. God knows how many times I uttered expletives in front of total strangers, quit and come back to golf again and again, whined and whined about other golfers, ....

It is a bit strange that DW is still playing golf with me. Other sane wives may have filed for divorce. Perhaps, her refusal to leave me is due to the golf channel playing golf 24 x 7. She seems to be following PGA during the day, European tour in the morning, and watches their replay at all hours. That could explain why her house chores are not done in timely manner. Grrrr.

Who invented Golf anyway? It's a dumb game. Death to the inventor.

Thanks Rob,
That's a great rant. I love and hate the game.

I recall playing a round with 3 folks I knew. One mellow guy was having a really bad round, started breaking his entire bag club by club. Stood on the bridge at the turn throws bag and shoes into the pond. Never came back.

 

[braumeister]

my complaint is the perfectly legal left turn into a shopping plaza, restaurant, a side street or the like where there is no signal.

Oops, I misunderstood your issue. I quite agree with your rant. Carry on.

 

[Ronstar]

..... my complaint is the perfectly legal left turn into a shopping plaza, restaurant, a side street or the like where there is no signal.

IMO, roundabouts are terrible alternatives to the non-signalized left turn lanes. I hate roundabouts.


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[FireBug]

So, DW and I started on golf after sending our only child to college. Why not? We now have time on weekends and I can't play physical sports due to having too many injuries. Golf seems to be innocently a simple game. Hit a ball that is sitting still on a raised tee with a high tech stick. Use them sticks to put a small ball into relatively large hole. It's a child's game compare to boxing, basketball, soccer and all other sports I played and excelled at.

Well, the "game" turned out to be all but simple which I can't still figure out after 5+ years. It's a child's game cursed by golf God to be unplayable.

The high tech equipment comes with a price tag of the latest iPhone x 5 on average, and you need the latest rev every year or so to stay ahead of others. The stick, one they called a driver is a misnomer - it should be called heartbreaker. $5 per golf ball, gone in seconds for some other golfers to find a few days later.

One would think that spending so much on equipment deserves an inexpensive entry to playing the darn thing.
Heck, no. To be seen in a decent golf course will cost you a few Benjamins, x 2 if DW wants to join in the torture. Then there are golf trips. Airlines charge arm and a leg for shipping extra bags, you know. That's not all. While at it, why not join a private club, pay the initiation fee (they should be paying me!), pay monthly, pay to play tournaments (more humiliation), eat at their restaurants, pay, pay, pay ...? There seems to be thousand ways for golf to empty your pocket.

All the above would be still reasonable to take if I can play golf half way decent. In a course of a 5 hour round, I am unhappy in 4 of those hours, angry for another 45 minutes, and happy for the remaining 15. God knows how many times I uttered expletives in front of total strangers, quit and come back to golf again and again, whined and whined about other golfers, ....

It is a bit strange that DW is still playing golf with me. Other sane wives may have filed for divorce. Perhaps, her refusal to leave me is due to the golf channel playing golf 24 x 7. She seems to be following PGA during the day, European tour in the morning, and watches their replay at all hours. That could explain why her house chores are not done in timely manner. Grrrr.

Who invented Golf anyway? It's a dumb game. Death to the inventor.

Youtube...search 'robin Williams golf'. Use the 4min version. Won't post here cause language is pretty rough (you've been warned). But man is it funny.

 

[splitwdw]

This rant thread is really tame. I guess that shows we are a happy bunch overall.

I'm not a good ranter so you can use mine.
Got rear ended while sitting at a traffic light. Officer collects our cards then returns and gives me other drivers cards to take a picture with my cell. I call that night when I get home from work and the insurance expired January 2015. Never renewed. Call police, hoping that maybe the officer gave me the wrong/old insurance card. He wasn't in so left message on his voicemail. Called my insurance, they say they have a phone number for other driver. They will call him to get insurance information. No one has called me back. This happened last Friday. Pissed that new truck got hit. Pissed that officer gave me old card. Pissed he didn't return my call. Pissed that my insurance company hasn't called me back. Pissed that other driver may be an uninsured driver. Pissed I may be out my deductible. Maybe I'm a pisser and not a ranter.

 

[ArkTinkerer]

Seems to be common - maybe insurance reasons. I'm stocking up on aluminum and stainless steel, as I can see the day coming. A piece of aluminum angle that I can buy for $3 at the recycler is $25 at Home Depot.

My last purchase there was about 20 lbs of lead for $1/lb. Probably be classified as hazardous and treated like they treat mercury now when they come to clean out my workshop after I'm dead and buried. Anybody remember playing with mercury in their hands? All they told us was "WASH YOUR HANDS!" after sticking our fingers in a jar of the stuff.

 

[ArkTinkerer]

Golf-- a socially acceptable form of public masochism.