The Vent and Rant Thread

[covingtoncat73]

Good: your ancestor is featured in a book about a historical incident.

Bad: your ancestor is the villain of the piece.

Good: it is a good book.

Bad: your ancestor is deservedly the villain of the piece.

Still no word on the frogurt...

[kindlekitten]

Desert Grandma is MIA

[wodin]

We don't have tarantulas here in the beautiful Sandwich Isles, but we do have Cane Spiders.

There very cool, and it's considered lucky to have one in your house. They're great at pest control, and think B-52 cock roaches are gourmet grinds. They can, however be a bit of a surprise when they're hiding in the folds of the shower curtain.

And I don't even want to think about the centipedes!

Only two weeks left and 2014 will finally be over. The year started out well enough, summer and into early fall was actually great, but the rest of the year really sucked. It just seemed like one thing after another. The Grim Reaper was especially active amongst friends and family. Amongst the board of my local library Friends of the Library organization I'm now the only surviving member (other than the library director) from the start of the year. One of the things that sucks about getting old is that the circle that you have a history with just gets smaller and smaller.

Also for a while there it looked like the stock market was going to go into another free fall. Watching the money I am counting on to retire in a few years evaporate is unnerving.

So the only thing to be done is to say FI and go all in. Think about those who would love to exchange my “first world problems” for theirs. So a big donation $$$ to Doctors Without Borders. Maybe I'll feel a little pain when my next credit card bill comes, but for now I'm feeling real good about myself. The great big Ebola epidemic in the US was BS ginned up for political purposes and because the media likes to keep us in a perpetual state of panic. It is a real problem in West Africa though.

Alright so this morning something else. My Kindle PW battery has been running down much faster than when it was new. Now yesterday and this morning the USB connection is sometimes working and sometimes not. The not happens much more often, making a connection seems to be shear luck. And I've already given myself my Christmas present too.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

Desert Grandma is MIA

She was seen as recently as October, at least, over in another world. Recovering from some depression, but doing well. Still walking softly but carrying her Big Stick (TM).

[Rumpelteazer]

I'm trying to register myself on the website of my GP. That way I can order repeat prescriptions online instead of having to go by to get one. But it doesn't want to take my registration because I only fill in one initial for my first name and it insists you have to have multiple initials. Because my mother was traumatized by her names my parents only gave us one first name.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

I'm trying to register myself on the website of my GP. That way I can order repeat prescriptions online instead of having to go by to get one. But it doesn't want to take my registration because I only fill in one initial for my first name and it insists you have to have multiple initials. Because my mother was traumatized by her names my parents only gave us one first name.

NMN?

As in, "No Middle Name?" Does the system recognize that? Some do, or...I don't know what the equivalent would be, but there should be one in Dutch. (It's Dutch, right? Sorry, the view once you're posting doesn't let me confirm my increasingly-unreliable memory!)

Hitch

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by Hitch

NMN?

As in, "No Middle Name?" Does the system recognize that? Some do, or...I don't know what the equivalent would be, but there should be one in Dutch. (It's Dutch, right? Sorry, the view once you're posting doesn't let me confirm my increasingly-unreliable memory!)

Hitch

Indeed, no middle name and also Dutch. The GP's new system seems to insist you should have multiple initials.

I've had this problem several times, especially at university in the UK. I had to go to the registrar's office each year to explain it to them (also they always registered all Dutch students as being from the Netherlands Antilles instead of the Netherlands). Coupled with a difficult surname (even for the Dutch, it's impossible for other languages) I have spend a lot of time on phones, sending emails and in offices to get things corrected.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Indeed, no middle name and also Dutch. The GP's new system seems to insist you should have multiple initials.

I've had this problem several times, especially at university in the UK. I had to go to the registrar's office each year to explain it to them (also they always registered all Dutch students as being from the Netherlands Antilles instead of the Netherlands). Coupled with a difficult surname (even for the Dutch, it's impossible for other languages) I have spend a lot of time on phones, sending emails and in offices to get things corrected.

This isn't quite the same, but when I was young(ish), I had a hyphenated last name, due to having two dads, one my birth-dad and one my adoptive/step-dad. I didn't want to "diss" either, once I got to the age of consent. However, the military just really had issues with giving me hyphenated nametags for my fatigues and my greens--which I insisted upon having. You don't get to insist on much in the military, but I wasn't giving ground on that one.

I suspect that it's a LOT more common nowadays, but at the time...I must have gone through the first month or more of basic without nametags on my fatigues. Drove the drills nuts. "Private...what's your name again?" ;-)

Hitch

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by Hitch

This isn't quite the same, but when I was young(ish), I had a hyphenated last name, due to having two dads, one my birth-dad and one my adoptive/step-dad. I didn't want to "diss" either, once I got to the age of consent. However, the military just really had issues with giving me hyphenated nametags for my fatigues and my greens--which I insisted upon having. You don't get to insist on much in the military, but I wasn't giving ground on that one.

I suspect that it's a LOT more common nowadays, but at the time...I must have gone through the first month or more of basic without nametags on my fatigues. Drove the drills nuts. "Private...what's your name again?" ;-)

Hitch

LOL.

My surname consists of two words. My actual surname and in front of it "van" (of). It's normal in the Netherlands to have a word inserted between first and surname, such as van, de (the), van de/der (of the), etc. But in the UK this was problematic.

I can remember when I had to book a flight back to the Netherlands when my grandmother died. I had to wait over two hours at the travel agent. Because the system didn't want to accept "van" in small letters (names have to be written on the airline ticket as on your ID/passport) and because my surname was to long for the system, so they had to call the main office to get them to book the ticket for me.

[Lin2412]

Hello I would just like to let out my frustration over tension headaches. It's been impeding my work and it's difficult to concentrate on things. I've had worst case of migraines, but this had to happen at a significant time where I should be putting my best foot forward at work. Sigh.

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by Hitch

This isn't quite the same, but when I was young(ish), I had a hyphenated last name, due to having two dads, one my birth-dad and one my adoptive/step-dad. I didn't want to "diss" either, once I got to the age of consent. However, the military just really had issues with giving me hyphenated nametags for my fatigues and my greens--which I insisted upon having. You don't get to insist on much in the military, but I wasn't giving ground on that one.

I suspect that it's a LOT more common nowadays, but at the time...I must have gone through the first month or more of basic without nametags on my fatigues. Drove the drills nuts. "Private...what's your name again?" ;-)

Hitch

Lol! I was "alphabet k" in basic as I have a fairly impossible German last name. I made it even more interesting when I got to Germany and realized I could get name tags with the proper spelling using an umlaut o and dropping an e which is the americanized spelling of it. The Germans that worked for our company were delighted and I quickly became their favorite.

[Freeshadow]

Ko(e)nig I guess.

[kindlekitten]

Similar, but not it. There are three syllables that make it up, and I have at times. Especially when dealing with forms run out of space when the entity required the full name. All names..... particularly dealing with security positions

[trichobezoar]

Originally Posted by Lin2412

Hello I would just like to let out my frustration over tension headaches. It's been impeding my work and it's difficult to concentrate on things. I've had worst case of migraines, but this had to happen at a significant time where I should be putting my best foot forward at work. Sigh.

I hope you feel better soon, Lin. I know how horrible a migraine headache could be.