Get Your Grump on Thursdays - Was (What's chapping my @ss today?)

[davids]

New(ish) Asst Dir is getting to be a burden. Out with injuries; not getting up to speed on our environment; making lazy (ignorant?) diagnostic errors.

Dammit.

[Britishbane]

gained access to all of payroll for our company.

That'll make you grump. I worked at a non-profit. Salaries are made public record. Always nice when you are told no raises for staff, and then you see someone gets a 30% raise. And because you can't help yourself you then do the math and see that their raise is ~200% your salary.

Stupid lies are all the more insulting.

[monadnocky]

Worth a second grump because it's so grump-worthy. Every ad on the TV sounds like this:

"Are you afraid? You should be, because something something. You know, there's terrorists out there, might even be some in your basement, so [insert candidate here] will come to your house to personally kill them. [Insert candidate here] will build a bigger wall at the Mexican border than [that other candidate] and will actually charge Mexico three times what it will cost to build it. And [insert candidate here] will stop terrorists from entering the country and living in your basement, threatening your family. Did I mention terrorists? Well, terrorists. TERRORISTS! Terrorists are terrorizing America, and [insert candidate here] will personally kill every one of them. With his hands. What's [candidate's] plan for ISIS? He will defeat them. Defeat them with death. Guantanamo? Again, terrorists, and only [insert candidate here] can kill the terrorists and keep your family safe."

Really, the reality here is not too far away from this right now.

[mmoore]

just picked up a $10 bike frame for a commuter parts bin bike that I can put some fenders on. grump: aluminum post in the steel frame is pretty corroded when I do more inspection. not going to be fun.

[dashDustin]

That'll make you grump. I worked at a non-profit. Salaries are made public record. Always nice when you are told no raises for staff, and then you see someone gets a 30% raise. And because you can't help yourself you then do the math and see that their raise is ~200% your salary.

Stupid lies are all the more insulting.

the only things that annoy me so far:

guy that i have given clothing to, that has his house paid off, his vehicle paid for by the company, and took over $20,000 of his daughter's student loans...nets 3x what i do. and i'm paying for my own student loans.

same guy just came into my office asking me why i never answer my phone, and that he's given up on me. i ask him why he hasn't turned in paperwork for his sub that is expecting a check yesterday.

[taz]

Worth a second grump because it's so grump-worthy. Every ad on the TV sounds like this:

"Are you afraid? You should be, because something something. You know, there's terrorists out there, might even be some in your basement, so [insert candidate here] will come to your house to personally kill them. [Insert candidate here] will build a bigger wall at the Mexican border than [that other candidate] and will actually charge Mexico three times what it will cost to build it. And [insert candidate here] will stop terrorists from entering the country and living in your basement, threatening your family. Did I mention terrorists? Well, terrorists. TERRORISTS! Terrorists are terrorizing America, and [insert candidate here] will personally kill every one of them. With his hands. What's [candidate's] plan for ISIS? He will defeat them. Defeat them with death. Guantanamo? Again, terrorists, and only [insert candidate here] can kill the terrorists and keep your family safe."

Really, the reality here is not too far away from this right now.

Kill your television.

... not so flippant answer: Unplug your television. Seriously.

So ... Christmas week a year ago, my house was broken into and my tv was stolen. Could have been worse, the bikes were untouched.
I told myself, 'Not going to replace the tv until I finish 'Infinite Jest'. So far it's been an effective TV deterrent. Read three other DFW books in the meantime.

- taz

[j44ke]

The land we were in the process of buying has an undeclared issue which makes it impossible to build unless we build off-grid. Fortunately we have not yet closed, but there will be a fight. My wife is arming the troops presently. Neither of us are looking forward to the next week. Only way is through.

[Honus]

2015 ended in a blaze of glory- literally. On Christmas day our oven caught on fire. It's a very old oven so we replaced it the next day with a beautiful new GE Profile range we got on sale. Slipped on ice getting the new oven in the house and dropped it, chipping the glass top.

New Year's Eve we got rear ended coming home from dinner. Around $14K in damage to my wife's new car, which only has 2500 miles on it. Going to be a while before we get her car back from the shop. Insurance was borderline incompetent helping us resolve several issues regarding the accident.

Two days later the dog chomped my son's cell phone, rendering it useless. Of course this happened right before he was to leave the country.

During this entire time period I had a terrible cold and we were short staffed at work which only added to the stress level.

It's taken me until today to downgrade from "I'm slightly pissed off" to being merely "grumpy".

[Brandon White]

I have ridden 1 day in the last 18. I'm up late every night working on a side project and can't drag myself out of bed at 5:30 AM to get on the bike in the dark (cold) weather.

[Saab2000]

I have ridden 1 day in the last 18. I'm up late every night working on a side project and can't drag myself out of bed at 5:30 AM to get on the bike in the dark (cold) weather.

Huh, how 'bout that!

[EightySixer]

My mother has been borderline diabetic for a few years. I try to encourage her to eat a more rounded health oriented diet, not strict paleo, but using my diet as a very loose guide for her. Meat, fruit, veggies. No empty calories and or boatloads of shitty carbs. She's my mom and I love her but she is killing herself with food.

She has been parading around for a week talking about "Oh I don't do bread anymore and I'm on a diet, my rings are getting looser on my fingers now" yadda yadda.

Lady. Mom. The fucking pint of seven layer dip and bag of tortillas for a "snack" is not exactly considered a healthy option.

Eating broccoli once for lunch doesn't qualify you as vegan any more than having a Trek FX hybrid in the garage makes you a cyclist.

It saddens, frustrates and fucking infuriates me all at once.

[Matthew Strongin]

Huh, how 'bout that!

My grump is that I've had to wear knee warmers 3 days in a row. THREE DAYS! Grumble, grumble.

[NYCfixie]

the esplanade along the river (boston side) between BU bridge and River St is closed until March, meaning I take either a super crappy bumpy path on the Cambridge side, or the roads on which I was almost hit twice within 2 blocks this morning. le sigh, bumpy path it is. bike commuting, man.
they repaved a huge part of the path in the fall and that only took a week...what the heck is going to take 3 months?

It's cold outside.
It's a government project.
People need overtime pay so they can drink their coffee and warm up.

That's why.

[j44ke]

My mother has been borderline diabetic for a few years. I try to encourage her to eat a more rounded health oriented diet, not strict paleo, but using my diet as a very loose guide for her. Meat, fruit, veggies. No empty calories and or boatloads of shitty carbs. She's my mom and I love her but she is killing herself with food.

She has been parading around for a week talking about "Oh I don't do bread anymore and I'm on a diet, my rings are getting looser on my fingers now" yadda yadda.

Lady. Mom. The fucking pint of seven layer dip and bag of tortillas for a "snack" is not exactly considered a healthy option.

Eating broccoli once for lunch doesn't qualify you as vegan any more than having a Trek FX hybrid in the garage makes you a cyclist.

It saddens, frustrates and fucking infuriates me all at once.

We've been going through this since forever with my father-in-law. High blood pressure, diabetes, clogged arteries. Last time we ate with him, he sat down at the table and while beginning the story (which we've already heard AND were eyewitness to) about his recent traumatic experience in the hospital involving stents, valve replacement, artery work, and multiple circulatory crises, he emptied half of the salt shaker onto his food without even tasting it first. Even on the rice.

[NYCfixie]

Just joined. Had no choice. Needed for grad school.

facebook = rabbit hole = wasted time = too many cat pictures/videos


Where is the actual value?

[davids]

My mother has been borderline diabetic for a few years. I try to encourage her to eat a more rounded health oriented diet, not strict paleo, but using my diet as a very loose guide for her. Meat, fruit, veggies. No empty calories and or boatloads of shitty carbs. She's my mom and I love her but she is killing herself with food.

She has been parading around for a week talking about "Oh I don't do bread anymore and I'm on a diet, my rings are getting looser on my fingers now" yadda yadda.

Lady. Mom. The fucking pint of seven layer dip and bag of tortillas for a "snack" is not exactly considered a healthy option.

Eating broccoli once for lunch doesn't qualify you as vegan any more than having a Trek FX hybrid in the garage makes you a cyclist.

It saddens, frustrates and fucking infuriates me all at once.

I feel you.

I spent three days observing Mom last weekend. She's 85, her partner's 86. They live at the edge of a town in a spacious condo full of two lifetimes' worth of accumulated goods and depend on his driving for their independence.

Her problem is not her physical health, it's her (and his) denial that at some point, in the not-too-distant future, there will be a problem with her (or more likely his) physical health. And they are taking no steps to prepare for that catastrophic moment.

The only mitigating factor is there's a passel of competent adult children and a decent amount of money available to deal with the (avoidable) mess.

[zetroc]

Rents here are out of control and buying isn't any better. There's a new development of shoeboxes about 3 ft apart from each other now listed as "Starting in the $1,100,000s." Great.

[EricKeller]

My mother has been borderline diabetic for a few years. I try to encourage her to eat a more rounded health oriented diet, not strict paleo, but using my diet as a very loose guide for her. Meat, fruit, veggies. No empty calories and or boatloads of shitty carbs. She's my mom and I love her but she is killing herself with food.

you could never tell my mother anything. Even after multiple bypass surgeries, she still ate a barely modified Iowa farmer's diet. Sad thing was she wasn't ready to die. Not that anyone is, but she worked a full day on her last day.

My mother in law is fading pretty fast. She broke her hip a month ago, so she's exceeded the life expectancy for someone that does that at her age. But it's sad to see the effects of dementia take another family member. It's not recoverable, the brain just starts to deteriorate. Likelihood is that's how I will go out, but from dementia as a symptom of Parkinson's. I told my wife if I'm ever as bad as my mother in law is now, that she should help me put on a gas mask hooked up to a bottle of inert gas.

[TMB]

So, sitting at the Hockey game last night I casually asked the fellow behind me where the two folks in front of me are. Haven't seen them in a while. Not FRIENDS but we have all been in the same seats for 20 years - so more than acquaintances.

He says did you not know? While I was away over Christmas, their house was broken into one night. 2AM.

People that broke in, beat them both. Husband and wife. She is home. He is in hospital, still in a coma, on life support. His business has been shut down. All of the staff laid off. They don't don't know if he lives.

The break in? The guys were looking for the house next door. Broke into the wrong f'ing house. Changed the lives of close to 30 families because they broke into the wrong house. Until the next night when they went back and broke into the right house, and beat up the folks there.

The police claim to be "baffled".

[j44ke]

So, sitting at the Hockey game last night I casually asked the fellow behind me where the two folks in front of me are. Haven't seen them in a while. Not FRIENDS but we have all been in the same seats for 20 years - so more than acquaintances.

He says did you not know? While I was away over Christmas, their house was broken into one night. 2AM.

People that broke in, beat them both. Husband and wife. She is home. He is in hospital, still in a coma, on life support. His business has been shut down. All of the staff laid off. They don't don't know if he lives.

The break in? The guys were looking for the house next door. Broke into the wrong f'ing house. Changed the lives of close to 30 families because they broke into the wrong house. Until the next night when they went back and broke into the right house, and beat up the folks there.

The police claim to be "baffled".

Horrific.

Drug seekers? When my pal started getting heavy doses of oxycodone a few years ago, his wife was told by their pharmacist not to put any containers or paperwork associated with the prescription or any other indicator into their household trash. He also said he would not refer to it by name when he called her or when she came to drop off the prescription or pick it up. He said opiate junkies go through trash and case out pharmacies looking for people who have been prescribed the medication by their doctors, and then they burglarize the house or worse. After he died, the hospice nurse took all the opiates and mixed them with another chemical, then poured it into an super-absorbent bed sheet, rolled that up and put it in a special bag for disposal at the hospital.

Watching all that made it pretty clear how addicting that stuff is.