The "Rant" Thread

[bert425]

been getting some really bad health news (my Spouse, not me). . and we moved my Dad into assisted living (against his will), and spent weekend in Houston trying to sort / clean his house so we can sell it (hoarder crossed with collector, but he hasn't touched anything in over 4 1/2 years since my Mom died. . so yeah, it was / still is pretty bad).

so even tho my Brother is doing most all of the Heavy lifting with Dad (he lives in Houston, and moved Dad to a place a few blocks from him)

I'm so stressed. . can't stop eating, and prolly put on 10 lbs in the past 2 weeks.

[Nrthwnd]

^ Sending some BIG HUGS over to ya, Bert. And to Nick, too.

[bert425]

Not going into detail here (tho those that are fb friends with me have seen me post on my wall).  But yeah.

 Spouse is  in hospital since “emergency call” on Friday to go there NOW

 

we don’t know when he’s going to be released and of course I head to Atlanta for dragoncon wed morning and it’s gonna suck if I have to go while he’s in the hospital. )least of which problem is their he was going to take me to airport on wed )

 

the whole situation is scary and confusing and stressful 

 

so this far this weekend has sucked )but at least been able to stay with him despite Covid restrictions) 

[CaptainUnknown]

Alzheimer's can go fuck itself over, sideways, and under.

My father, who's barely 60, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. It's gotten to the point where he can no longer drive. We took away his keys about a month ago to give you an idea of how far along he is.

So last night, my parents went out to a movie with a couple of their friends. About 2/3 of the way, dad went out to use the toilet and didn't come back. Mom sent one of their friends out to look for Dad--make sure he didn't get lost on the way back from the bathroom. They were still looking by the time their movie ended. Theater staff got involved with the search. Turns out, Dad went into a different screen, which was showing a different movie, sat down, and watched that until the end.

[Dan the Coaster Man]

A rant somewhat coaster related... I broke my wrist and doctor said no coasters at my diagnosis. My first follow up I got him to allow me to ride coasters. Went to SFGAm and turns out you can't ride Maxx, Goliath, Raging Bull, Batman, Superman, X-Flight with a cast. Those are just notable ones, there are more. So dumb! I don't see how I cant ride X-Flight if I rode Joker. Both restraints and riding positions are extremely similar, yet out of the two, Joker is the one I would think would be more of the issue due to the fact its trying to eject me into oblivion while X-Flight gracefully goes about.

[bert425]

On 9/14/2021 at 4:11 AM, CaptainUnknown said:

Alzheimer's can go fuck itself over, sideways, and under.

My father, who's barely 60, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. It's gotten to the point where he can no longer drive. We took away his keys about a month ago to give you an idea of how far along he is.

So last night, my parents went out to a movie with a couple of their friends. About 2/3 of the way, dad went out to use the toilet and didn't come back. Mom sent one of their friends out to look for Dad--make sure he didn't get lost on the way back from the bathroom. They were still looking by the time their movie ended. Theater staff got involved with the search. Turns out, Dad went into a different screen, which was showing a different movie, sat down, and watched that until the end.

yeah. . . my Brother and I are dealing with Dementia.

we had to put Dad into a closed gate community. . but I dont' think he'll be there very long - he needs full time watching/nurse.
despite giant signs all over things, he can' remember, and he keeps taking way too much of his meds despite all our efforts to put them in easy to understand pill dispensers (he keeps saying they are vitamins, and so if he takes too many, no big deal).   So after the 2nd emergency call to the doctor as he's taken a full weekend supply of blood-thinners with breakfast?   yeah. . he's gonna have to be moved somewhere with daily assistance (which he insists he doesnt' need).

 

so I feel for ya.

[prozach626]

I've always been a decent tipper. 25%, more if the service is really good. However, why is everywhere asking for tips, now? Coffee shops, smoothie shops, and quick service food restaurants (IE - Q'Doba, Chipotle), and take-out.

For the first time ever, I didn't tip my local coffee shop today. The lady acted like a total B when I hit no tip on the tablet. The drinks took an actual two minutes to make, and working at a laid back coffee shop is cake. It's not even like they're curbside and bring the food out, or at the very least, have an obligation to wipe off a table when I'm finished consuming a product.

I feel like this was never a thing prior to COVID, and controversy aside, everything is back to normal in my area. Wages in Illinois have significantly increased. Meanwhile, inflation has driven down my savings, essentially devaluing several thousands of dollars.

Service workers, such as waitresses and bar tenders depend on gratuities to earn their living, due to lower starting wages. They typically strive to offer better services in order to earn higher wages, and it pays off from people like me. They aren't making easy step predetermined servings of coffee flavoring or sandwich recipes, being pretty much mindless unskilled labor, not paid for at a premium, while the price of their product has increased 20 or so percent. I paid $12 for two lattes, in an area with a low cost of living. (aka - I know this isn't shit in NYC, where the cost of living is high.)

The guy who details my car a couple times a year, the person who manicures my yard when (I refuse to participate in fall yard work/leaf removal), and the lady who cut my hair provide meticulous (mostly) skilled services. The outcome of their product depends on their effort, skill, and craftmanship. Even bar tenders stand on their feet, sometimes have to work high speed, constantly and often have to be skillful at their jobs. I reward these people handsomely for their efforts, as long as the service isn't utter garbage. 

It pisses me off even more when places force you into percentage tips, vs. just being able to opt for an extra $1. Maybe I'm old school (I am...), but I'm done tipping for effortlessly made quick-service products. My wage is static, essentially leading me to take at least a 5% reduction of pay this year, with some of our healthy food products seeing as much as a 20% increase in price.

Even yet, my job is exponentially more difficult, from a physical, mental, and emotional standpoint. I worked during the day, starting out in a factory, and went to school at night to earn a bachelors. I beat the odds (at that time...), sometimes quite literally 100 to 1, to enter a competitive work force. I'm not paying more for less service.

#heroesdon'tworkhere (Another rant, for another time, related to the complete and utter bullshit phrase applying to 99.9% of anyone who earns a wage for their work.)

PS - I finished my mediocre coffee in the time it took to make this post.

[Dan the Coaster Man]

^ Agree with this. Everybody is asking for tips. I'm sorry, but if I was not tipping you before covid, I am not tipping now. I might round up to the nearest dollar but that is it.

My rant... went to SFGAm Saturday and I had to leave at 6:30 to pick up my sister and take her home. I knew this beforehand, I wasn't mad about that. The problem is that once I drove an hour and was fifteen minutes from her, she said she got a ride from someone else. So I left SFGAm for nothing and going back was no use already being an hour away, plus they probably hit capacity and I did not get a handstamp. Then she had the audacity to ask me to pick her up food because "we had nothing at home". I was stuffed from my Six Flags meals so I wasn't getting anything out of getting food for her. It takes a lot to get me going but in the car I was speechless and fuming.

[terrysmivv]

I do not consider myself a stupid person, but it just annoys me that some people cannot properly formulate their request. This leads to great misunderstandings.

[CaptainUnknown]

The time: February 2020. My family was planning a vacation to Orlando for December 2020. And then shit hit the fan in a nuclear way. And as it turns out, I had Covid during the time we had planned to go. Anyways, the trip was rescheduled for December 2021. I had scheduled off 9 work days. The flight out is Friday morning. Today was supposed to be my last day of work for 2 weeks. I'm telling my coworkers on the other shift that I'll see them the week of Christmas. Hell, I even posted in the TPR Facebook group a question about the trip today.

Two hours after posting that, shit gets fucked 19 ways from Sunday when my brother announced that he has been diagnosed with Covid. Less than 48 hours before the trip, everything gets cancelled. The trip, my PTO, my hopes and dreams.

I'm gonna scare a couple coworkers when I show up tomorrow for work. It's not often that I can relate to characters from Kevin Smith films, but for the next two weeks, I am going to understand Dante from Clerks more than any other character from any other film.

[bert425]

hopefully he's vaxxed and it will be a mild case.

 

sucks y'all had to cancel

[tinaalsgirl]

We went to my sister's place for Thanksgiving. Came home that Monday. Few days later, my uncle is admitted to the hospital for a grand mal seizure (still don't know what caused it yet). He tests positive for Covid. My aunt blacks out in the waiting room from all the stress. She tests positive for Covid. She gets sent home with prescriptions. Next morning, she has to call an ambulance because every time she tries to get up, she blacks out. Turns out she was severely low on potassium and not hydrated enough. She's back home now.

In the midst of all this, another aunt, who lives in California half a country away from all of us, ends up admitting herself into the hospital. She'd been told she had bronchitis and treated for that. It didn't work. Gets into the hospital and gets a diagnosis of Covid plus pneumonia. They're having to put her on her side, where her oxygen levels go up to 95, instead of laying/sitting on her back, when it dips into at least the 80s (could be lower, but we haven't been getting a whole lot of updates).

So, the Tuesday after getting home from Thanksgiving, my mom gets sicky. She had breakfast with the first-mentioned aunt on Sunday. Then on this last Saturday lost her sense of smell & taste.

Then *I* start getting sicky. So far I'm doing okay, and for a while I thought maybe I just had one of my reaction-to-cold-temps colds or perhaps whatever bug hit my sister, her hubby, and three of the four kids (they all thankfully tested neg for Covid), but today I woke up to find I'd lost my sense of smell and taste (well, not completely, but I am autistic and have SUPER sensitive senses, so the fact that I was able to sniff and even take a spoonful of apple cider vinegar without puking just from the smell... well, that was the ultimate test. I can get some tang/spices from my SlimJims and a bit of "spice" from my Dr. Pepper, but that's it, and for me, that's a HUGE difference in my senses).

I am fully two-dose Moderna vaccinated, and I was actually going to be setting up an appt to get the booster when all this shit started. I am the only person in the entire family who is vaccinated at all, and I think that's why I'm at home dealing with something the level of which I've dealt with before, but I have two relatives in the hospital plus the one who was but is home now.

[Nrthwnd]

^ Geez, that's tough for you and all concerned.

I hope it all (eventually) works out for you and all of your family.

[tinaalsgirl]

Thanks. It's been... extremely stressful. Physically, it hasn't been any worse than any other time I'd get sick before my tonsillectomy (except the addition of the loss of smell & taste), but I'm also autistic and suffer from clinical depression and severe anxiety, which doesn't always get fully taken care of with my meds, so it's mostly just taken a mental toll on me. I'm just really anxious about my mom because she's anxious about my aunts and... well, kind of a cascading thing. If something happens to one of my aunts, I'm worried it could affect my mom, especially since she's sick, too. Stroke is pretty common in our family and her BP has been a bit high while dealing with this.

*****

Oh, the aunt in California now has her son in the hospital for it, too.

We got our results today. Mom's positive, I'm negative. But with the loss of taste & smell, I'm betting I'm actually positive. I didn't get symptoms until later in the day on the day we got tested; based on the quick research I've done, it's possible my viral load was just not quite high enough yet at the time of my test. So we're having an at-home antigen test delivered from another pharmacy; that arrives tonight and only takes about 15min for results. Since I'm symptomatic, I'm betting my antigen test will be positive.

[tinaalsgirl]

My antigen test was very positive. But thankfully I got over the sickness in about the same amount of time as my chronic tonsillitis flare-ups in the past. My smell and taste came back in less than a week (I credit that to my autism; I have extremely sensitive senses). My mom has recovered as well, though still is coughing gunk out every once in a while.

On Thursday night, December 23, my Aunt Debbie, the one in California who was hospitalized, passed away. And then on Christmas morning, her son Jason, my oldest cousin, had a heart attack and died, likely from all the stress to do with his mom (he thankfully got to fly out and see her and got back here to MO on Thursday).

Mom and I came home today because she had to take care of some bills and stuff, but we're headed back to my sister's tomorrow. Jason's youngest just had his 13th birthday yesterday, so, well, he's had a SHITTY Christmas and SHITTY milestone birthday. So we've planned a party for him that will happen... well, it's scheduled for Saturday, but KC is getting snow/ice/cold then so I'm not sure if we'll actually do it then.

Jason's Viewing is on Wednesday; his memorial is on Thursday. Hoping his brother (which was the son who ended up in the hospital for a couple days 'cause of the Covid) and sister and her daughter will be able to come out here for it; they won't be able to do anything for Aunt Debbie until later in January.

So between breaking my ankle; half my family getting Covid, me included in that; and two of my family members dying, one on Christmas Day, I've had a shitty last two months of 2021.

EDIT: Oh, and my grandparents also got the Covid from my aunt here, and they've been in the hospital for a while. Grandma is in a rehab facility now (because she can't be home alone), and Grandpa finally made it there, too (he'd been on a high level of oxygen). So yesterday is when we had to tell them that their oldest daughter and oldest grandchild had died. It was rough. Grandma has never fully recovered from her stroke a few years ago, so my aunt had to use a dry-erase board to write names and things down so my grandma would understand what she was telling her. I'm never going to get over the look of devastation from my grandpa. I've never seen him cry like that before, and the poor guy had to go through two shocks. My grandma's brain thankfully steered her toward happy memories and church and heaven, so she was able to handle it pretty well after the initial shock was over. I'm still worried about Grandpa. He was ok when we left, but.... god, even my poor sister is still dealing with the grief off and on (my BP goes up every time my brain decides to replay us getting the news about Jason), so I can't even imagine how it's been for Grandpa.

Edited December 31, 2021 by tinaalsgirl
Additions

[bert425]

sorry to hear. . my condolences.

[CaptainUnknown]

Jesus, you really hit every branch of the shit tree on the way down, didn't you?

[Nrthwnd]

And now - THIS IS A RANT. Please remember this.

I am totally convinced that supporting Dubai in any fashion = you are obviously, intentionally, ignoring their practices and politics.

The thread is constantly referring to `toning down` everything you normally would do, outside of this country. I.E Affection, holding hands, blah blah.

IMhO, it is not worth getting the credit(s). Obviously I will never go to to Dubai, but the rest of you who do ..... well, have fun and don`t trip yourself up.

THIS RANT IS OVER

I do admit, I went on the 2012 TPR Tour to Mainland China and we had to not do overt stuff we would do in our own countries.

[Garet]

Just screw Corona. I know everyone's tired of it and it breaks my heart to see horrible stories like the one above and mine pales in comparison, but it's just this last month has totally beaten me.

I appreciate that Korea's biggest outbreak total so far has been 7,600 a day and all the strictness keeps us that way compared to other countries but Korea was the first hit country after China so I live in a country that's had it the longest now vs all my family and friend's being in one of the worst hit (The U.K.).

We were finally going to take my son back to the UK this winter and do the 10 day home quarantine but as Omicron got worse we made the choice only I would head back, finally see everyone, see a certain musical as a Christmas present (see profile picture). and do the mandatory 1 day stay in the government facilities for Europeans on return and risk it being upgraded to 10 days like Korea did to the African countries. However, Korea does not accept anything but negative PCR tests to come back in. Some friends got Corona and just can't get back because it can take weeks or worse over a month for PCR to not show traces anymore. Most countries you can show you recovered from Corona but not Korea and I can't risk being separated that long.

I think it just finally got to me today because the city I work in has become the hotspot of the country. It is home to most of the U.S. soldiers and way back in early 2020, at the start of the outbreak, the cases were separated into soldiers vs the city in the daily totals but that got dropped a long time ago and it became a combined total. A few weeks ago our city's cases began to rise but people weren't sure where. Then the social media of the base said they were in the worst outbreak and highest numbers since the pandemic started but there would be no restrictions. Then this Saturday they did announce restrictions. 

So today the city decided to restore the divided totals. 425 total for the city. Today Korea's total is tracking to be around 3,500-4,000 tomorrow so over 10% of the whole country in just this one city. 171 citizens of the city and 254 from the U.S. bases. So a very small population of the city make up almost 60% of the city's cases. Looks worse, when you put that against the country total. I'm not American or a soldier and I do love living here but people have been steering clear of us lately and even my son has started to notice. Even the 171 makes the Korean side also one of the worst in the country but with all the secrecy before of combined numbers there's a lot of resentment of where people think it has spread from.

Edit: Wednesday's total ended up 4,300 so still around 10% from our city.

 

Edit 2: The city put out Wednesdays numbers. 163 citizens but the number from the US army base and airbase rose to 383.  Since my school is located very nearby I had 1/15 students show up to one of my classes and 3/16 another so starting to worry about my job. 

Edit 3: The media is now pointing the finger at foreigners causing the city outbreak and have already turned it into 'because Americans party during corona' and seem to be setting up a potential narrative of it being responsible for Omicron starting to get into Korea: https://www.hankookilbo.com/News/Read/A2022011316500001390?did=NA&fbclid=IwAR20Iu3HMlYqyhE63LTRxed0-kOOL6NI9o_Sx05VnghQuWWL5CMjNjYYIVU

[CaptainUnknown]

People who leave time on the microwave. How hard is it to clear the time? This breaks down into three categories:

1. Those who leave a single second. Just let it ding, goddammit.

2. Those who leave about 15 seconds left. Odds are it's not gonna burn if you let it go all the way.

3. Those who leave a minute or more. Why'd you even set the microwave for that long if you're gonna take it out that early? Literally I've seen coworkers put 5 minutes on the microwave and take it out after 30 seconds.

[pianojohn]

676 days.

That is how long it has been since I last worked for a company that employed me for 21 years.

They keep saying "oh, we're going to bring you back."

It's been almost 2 full YEARS.

I am OVER it. Literally. 

Most of my friends have returned to work or were able to transition to remote work.

I am a professional musician. There is no "remote work" for me.

I did everything right: masked, social distanced, got both Pfizer shots AND the booster.

I STILL got Covid right after New Years. It sucked for about 3 days. Still have a lingering cough. But I am here.  I survived.

So to all those selfish entitled a$$holes who still insist it's not big thing and refuse to get vaccinated, 
F*CK YOU.

It is due to people like you that we are in our 5th wave.

I am still holding out hope that I may return to a job I loved and did well for over 2 decades.

RANT over.

[Nrthwnd]

I know this is kind of freaky, but I think there should be a Sadness Thread, for things like this...

I just read, where the 2019 Miss America, just committed suicide, by jumping off a New York building.

And through out all the stuff I've read about this, there was no sign that she was in depression, etc.

Sad to read.

[Nrthwnd]

The Canadian truckers' blockades are stupid and useless, for what they've done already.

Which includes hasseling a Food Bank for free food, something they should have never done.

One of them quoted, said this was a Big Deal and not a minority that is unhappy with the vaccine mandates.

Fuck them. It IS a minority of truckers, not to mention people there who aren't truckers, causing additional hassels.

Get your shots for C's sake. Your life is not being totally taken over by The Government.

Idiots.

 

[Dan the Coaster Man]

Wanted to walk outside today because it was above freezing, about 45. There's a pond nearby that has a mile long path around it I like to walk at and usually I walk to the pond. I noticed the sidewalks to the pond were still covered in snow/slush/ice. No problem, I'll drive to the pond. Drive there and the path is covered too. Guess its another treadmill day. Go back to my apartment complex gym and all three treadmills wont work. Tried everything, resetting, on/off, unplug/plug, nothing. So I decide to walk on the streets of a nearby neighborhood. That was going okay until a car drove fairly close to me, spraying my legs with slush. Not that they had a lot of room to spare at that particular spot, but could have at least slowed down to not absolutely drench me. Finished my workout and then went to shower and there was no hot water, which had literally never happened up to that point at this apartment. Then I went to wash my body and one of my roommates must have taken my body wash because the entire bottle was completely gone, nowhere to be seen. Did not know working out was going to be so irritating today!

[bert425]

it's *totally* unfair that I'm in FB jail and cant post (over something really stupid) when THIS is a current headline on CNN.com:

Cross-country skier Remi Lindholm suffers frozen penis in mass start race

www.cnn.com/2022/02/21/sport/beijing-2022-frozen-finn-remi-spt-intl/index.html