The Vent and Rant Thread

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Hitch

...In a former life, before we moved out of the city and into what is, for our neck of the woods, a very rural environment (minimum 1.25 acre lots, all uniquely-built homes, etc.), we suffered through a time when we had a guy across the street (kitty-corner to us) who had a dog that barked more than 2700 times per hour....

We have a neighbor a couple of houses down that has a German Shepherd like that. The dog is always barking at anyone and everything. It doesn't bother me because the house is far enough away and my bedroom is on the other side of the house that I can sleep with no problem, but I would be amazed if his immediate neighbors haven't called about it. He has another dog also who usually follows the lead of the Shepherd, but it's the Shepherd who instigates it. A pity, because the Shepherd has a wonderful personality. I've talked to her on those occasions when I've had to retrieve Crystal from outside of her fence when Crystal's climbed ours to get out. A sweet dog with a big mouth is what she is. Usually Crystal and Norton just look at her like she's nuts when she's spouting off. Neither one of them bark very much, although Norton will bark anyone who dares ring the doorbell. In addition, 2 or 3 times a day Norton will jump up suddenly and run through the house barking at invisible intruders. I see why some people believe dogs can see ghosts.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Not suggesting that it's right or wrong, but here in Thailand when that happens, the dogs don't live very long. It's amazing how many people have complained loudly about their dogs being poisoned after not listening to complaints about how their dogs were bothering the neighbors.


Stitchawl

I cannot tell you--just can't--how many times I nearly did that. I just couldn't take it. People think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. Thousands of times per hour, hour in and hour out. It wasn't sporadic, or only for a few minutes at a time. That poor mutt was unhappy as hell, and he let everyone know it. At the time, I worked from my home, and no matter what--air-conditioner running, TV on in the next room, sitting at the computer, doors and windows closed--I could hear that dog. All day. All night.

When someone hasn't lived next to a dog like this, they think you're crazy when you talk about it. For a while, I contemplated a website called something like "S****Y Dog Owners," running on top of something like GoogMaps, so people could mark down the evildoers in their own neighborhood, but of course, nobody would ever do it, as potential house purchasers would go there, look, and say, "the hell with this, I'm not buying THAT house next to that dog!" So I gave the idea up.

Living like this that was literally torture. And it turned someone like me, an animal lover, from adoring dogs to loathing them. A normal, (mostly) sane person, who once seriously considered being a veterinarian. That's what living like that will do to you, if not worse.

Hitch

[mrscoach]

! Someone broke into our house and sole two televisions and my k3. they did it before 4 but I didn't notice until getting ready for bed little after 9. Then called police and waited on them. When I noticed my Kindle was gone I immediately checked my account and found they had deregistered it. I get the last laugh because I called and had it deactivated and they can never register it with Amazon. They only saw my kindle because they walked around to my side of need to get the TV remote. there were two android cell phones they didn't take.
They also left three laptops and an expensive computer tower with two monitors and a brand new box of Microsoft software, windows 7 I believe. what they didn't take boggles my mind.
I feel violated and ticked off. I also want a pistol to protect myself. Hubby says we are going to look Saturday after he gets home from work. Here in Texas we are allowed to shoot you if we are protecting life or property, and on our own property. If they come in my house they'll leave minus some blood at least.

[nohmi2]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I cannot tell you--just can't--how many times I nearly did that. I just couldn't take it. People think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. Thousands of times per hour, hour in and hour out. It wasn't sporadic, or only for a few minutes at a time. That poor mutt was unhappy as hell, and he let everyone know it. At the time, I worked from my home, and no matter what--air-conditioner running, TV on in the next room, sitting at the computer, doors and windows closed--I could hear that dog. All day. All night.

When someone hasn't lived next to a dog like this, they think you're crazy when you talk about it. For a while, I contemplated a website called something like "S****Y Dog Owners," running on top of something like GoogMaps, so people could mark down the evildoers in their own neighborhood, but of course, nobody would ever do it, as potential house purchasers would go there, look, and say, "the hell with this, I'm not buying THAT house next to that dog!" So I gave the idea up.

Living like this that was literally torture. And it turned someone like me, an animal lover, from adoring dogs to loathing them. A normal, (mostly) sane person, who once seriously considered being a veterinarian. That's what living like that will do to you, if not worse.

Hitch

I have lived near neighbours whose animal whined, cried, yelped and screamed day in and day out. I simply wouldn't have bought the house if I had known about the dog.

I called on the neighbours, and asked them how they would like to be left completely alone, all day, and suggested that they left a small radio on (not too loudly) to keep the dog company. I was polite (but seething inside). Luckily it worked to a certain extent which made it just bearable.

The selfishness of some people never fails to amaze me.

Cheers

[nohmi2]

Originally Posted by mrscoach

! Someone broke into our house and sole two televisions and my k3. they did it before 4 but I didn't notice until getting ready for bed little after 9. Then called police and waited on them. When I noticed my Kindle was gone I immediately checked my account and found they had deregistered it. I get the last laugh because I called and had it deactivated and they can never register it with Amazon. They only saw my kindle because they walked around to my side of need to get the TV remote. there were two android cell phones they didn't take.
They also left three laptops and an expensive computer tower with two monitors and a brand new box of Microsoft software, windows 7 I believe. what they didn't take boggles my mind.
I feel violated and ticked off. I also want a pistol to protect myself. Hubby says we are going to look Saturday after he gets home from work. Here in Texas we are allowed to shoot you if we are protecting life or property, and on our own property. If they come in my house they'll leave minus some blood at least.

You go girl!

More power to you.

Cheers

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by mrscoach

! Someone broke into our house and sole two televisions and my k3. they did it before 4 but I didn't notice until getting ready for bed little after 9. Then called police and waited on them. When I noticed my Kindle was gone I immediately checked my account and found they had deregistered it. I get the last laugh because I called and had it deactivated and they can never register it with Amazon. They only saw my kindle because they walked around to my side of need to get the TV remote. there were two android cell phones they didn't take.
They also left three laptops and an expensive computer tower with two monitors and a brand new box of Microsoft software, windows 7 I believe. what they didn't take boggles my mind.
I feel violated and ticked off. I also want a pistol to protect myself. Hubby says we are going to look Saturday after he gets home from work. Here in Texas we are allowed to shoot you if we are protecting life or property, and on our own property. If they come in my house they'll leave minus some blood at least.

For women who are not large-handed, I highly recommend the J- or K-frame .357 with Gold dot rounds. Lots of stopping power, easy to load and clean. Take your local Sheriff's or Muni's concealed carry classes, if you do not already know how to shoot, for safety and handling reasons. You won't want to carry this; it's too heavy. Perfect for nightstands and other in-home locales.

I really like the Ladyhawke for concealed carry if you want a wheelgun (revolver) versus an automatic. Nice, small, you can keep it in a purse or on your person, depending on your frame and how you're built. (Women have certain issues with carrying weapons on their waist/ribcage area that men don't, and it's not merely boobs--it's waist-length, distance from hips to first rib, etc.). The Ladyhawke will beat the crap out of your hand when you practice with it, but it's a good CC weapon. (Many automatics that would fit a woman's frame don't have the real stopping power, like a 9-mil.)

FWIW,
Hitch

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by Hitch

For women who are not large-handed, I highly recommend the J- or K-frame .357 with Gold dot rounds. Lots of stopping power, easy to load and clean. Take your local Sheriff's or Muni's concealed carry classes, if you do not already know how to shoot, for safety and handling reasons. You won't want to carry this; it's too heavy. Perfect for nightstands and other in-home locales.

I really like the Ladyhawke for concealed carry if you want a wheelgun (revolver) versus an automatic. Nice, small, you can keep it in a purse or on your person, depending on your frame and how you're built. (Women have certain issues with carrying weapons on their waist/ribcage area that men don't, and it's not merely boobs--it's waist-length, distance from hips to first rib, etc.). The Ladyhawke will beat the crap out of your hand when you practice with it, but it's a good CC weapon. (Many automatics that would fit a woman's frame don't have the real stopping power, like a 9-mil.)

FWIW,
Hitch

X2 on the ladyhawke. My night stand piece is a .38 was my grandfather's and have had it a really long time. There's a bit of a polished sheen on the grip that I like to think would completely match up to my hand if someone wanted to go there.

Used to be a licensed instructor, just kind of let it drop. Stories like these make me go hmmm maybe it's time again

[cromag]

Got a Lenovo laptop from Newegg a few weeks ago.

After trying to get it working myself, and being on the phone with Lenovo customer support, we finally figured out that the wifi was defective. Everything else about the computer seems to work just fine, but it doesn't even recognize wifi as a networking option -- not in Windows 7, nor in Ubuntu (I set it up to "dual boot"). (It will get on the wifi with Windows 7 and Ubuntu using a USB adapter that I have.)

I called Newegg and explained this, rather than simply shipping it back, because I wanted to make sure they understood that everything else about the computer works fine. Also, that they can get into Windows 7 from the boot screen by choosing that option when they turn the computer on (although I expected Newegg technicians to be able to figure that out). The customer service rep on that first call didn't say that the dual boot would be a problem -- in fact, my kids used dual boot computers all throuigh high school -- sometimes they needed Windows for a class assignment, but Linux was much safer for surfing the web, etc.

Got an email from them today, timestamped at 1:00 our time, saying they found no problem and, because Ubuntu was installed they couldn't access Windows 7, so they were returning the computer. Obviously, the first service rep I spoke to didn't take good notes.

I called back at 2:00, less than an hour after they sent the email, explained the problem again, and how they could access Windows 7. The customer service rep I spoke to relayed all the instructions to their technicians ... who informed her the computer was already on its way back to me.

They'll issue another RMA, and when the computer gets back to me I'll pack it up and ship it back to them ... again ... and trust them to do it right. Or, I can go through the exchange with Lenovo since the computer is still under warrantee, of course.

It has already spent about two weeks getting ready to be returned, in transit, and being "checked out." Given travel time back to me, turnaround back to them, and (assuming all goes well this time) travel time for the new laptop to get back to me, and it will have spent about a month in transit.


Newegg is a great place to buy things ... but so far this is the worst experience I've ever had trying to return a defective item for replacement.

[Dylrob]

As much as I love their Cherry Blossom Tea Lattes, I'm really getting frustrated with the service at my local Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Half the time they either mess up my order or forget to give me the 10% discount for bringing in my own mug.

[Stitchawl]

Someone must have dragged an anchor over one of the Pacific cables, 'cuz no one in Thailand could reach many international web server sites all day. This (7pm) is really the first time I've even been able to reach Google or MobileRead with any accuracy!


Stitchawl

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Someone must have dragged an anchor over one of the Pacific cables, 'cuz no one in Thailand could reach many international web server sites all day. This (7pm) is really the first time I've even been able to reach Google or MobileRead with any accuracy!

Stitchawl

The auditing dongle wasn't waterproof enough

[ProfCrash]

Could the monster Cyclone have something to do with it?

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

Could the monster Cyclone have something to do with it?

That's a possibility, I suppose. I'm sure the cables are fairly deep, deeper than most anchorages. Our local Chiang Mai forum was a'buzz all day with paranoia ruling the roost; "the government is banning all the Internet sites!" Point of fact: the Thai government DOES ban quite a few websites. In fact, hundreds of 'em!


Stitchawl

[Rumpelteazer]

I just printed some stuff for my vacation next week and by the sound of it my printer is dying. Also the toner is in need of replacement.

So it's time for a new printer. At the moment I have a simple, black & white laser printer. But I would like an all-in-one colour printer. But should I get a laser or an inkjet? I bought the one I have now when I was at uni and had to printer a lot of essays and colour wasn't important. Nowadays I print a couple of times a month and colour has become more important. This Brother printer is about half the price of a laser all-in-one and it's got 4 separate cartridges which aren't too expensive. Plus it's a lot smaller than a laser all-in-one. What to do....

[dreams]

I hardly even print anything anymore and the most I do is copy tax forms or something a couple of times a year. I keep thinking about replacing the ink in my printer, but the cost of the ink is more than the cost of just paying for printing or copying the few things I need each year. One of these days, I may get a wireless printer; I don't know why, other than it is nice to have the ability to just send something from my phone or computer.

I'm being lazy today and waiting for my hot chocolate to be made.