The Vent and Rant Thread

[phenomshel]

Frickin' frackin ^*#*&%*... We went and looked at a house for rent today. The one we're currently in has structural problems, and we'd like to get into something that isn't likely to fall apart. The house we went and looked at is in approximately the same neighborhood we live in now, only a few blocks away. Good location, and everything we wanted: garage, basement, rooms big enough to swing a cat in (not literally, of course). Well, 1: the people were nearly impossible to get hold of to make an appt. to see the place. 2: Once I finally did get hold of someone, she was about half rude on the phone. 3: Made the appointment, she sent her son to show the house, and he was late. 4: Even though the previous tenants had pets, now they're disallowing them.
The inside of the house was nice too. Original woodwork, nice almost finished basement, good sized bathroom, and closets!! Coat closet, linen closet, pantry. But the no pets and their really bad attitudes was a deal breaker for us.

[pholy]

Pshel - so sorry about the apt. But better you find out the landlord's attitude problems now than after you move in... BTW, in Ontario the Landlord&Tenant's Act doesn't allow the exclusion of pets (or children) (except in condos)...

[kennyc]

Sorry Shel.....

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by pholy

Pshel - so sorry about the apt. But better you find out the landlord's attitude problems now than after you move in... BTW, in Ontario the Landlord&Tenant's Act doesn't allow the exclusion of pets (or children) (except in condos)...

Find us jobs, and we'll be right on up.

Originally Posted by kennyc

Sorry Shel.....

Thanks Kenny. Really, we shouldn't even be looking, because we have no idea where we might end up with a job in IT for Chris, and we don't want to be tied into a lease or anything if something good comes up for him. But this place was in just the right location, right size, etc. and so forth that I couldn't resist.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

Find us jobs, and we'll be right on up.



Thanks Kenny. Really, we shouldn't even be looking, because we have no idea where we might end up with a job in IT for Chris, and we don't want to be tied into a lease or anything if something good comes up for him. But this place was in just the right location, right size, etc. and so forth that I couldn't resist.

Ya gotta try.....

[SneakySnake]

Originally Posted by TGS

Sometimes newspapers make me angry. In the UK a young woman was murdered just before Christmas and a man has just been charged with her killing. The Daily Telegraph, reporting the story, said this, (my emphasis):



What I want to know is WTF the value of the young woman's parent's house has got to do with anything - why is it necessary to included that in the report?

That sort of non-journalism drives me crazy. Why is it necessary to know the value of a family home, whether someone who did something completely unrelated is a 'single mother of three' etc etc!

They seem to gather all the information they can on a particular subject(as in person) and then try to build an essay including all that information. Did they learn their journalism technique in grade three?

Originally Posted by phenomshel

Frickin' frackin ^*#*&%*... We went and looked at a house for rent today. The one we're currently in has structural problems, and we'd like to get into something that isn't likely to fall apart. The house we went and looked at is in approximately the same neighborhood we live in now, only a few blocks away. Good location, and everything we wanted: garage, basement, rooms big enough to swing a cat in (not literally, of course). Well, 1: the people were nearly impossible to get hold of to make an appt. to see the place. 2: Once I finally did get hold of someone, she was about half rude on the phone. 3: Made the appointment, she sent her son to show the house, and he was late. 4: Even though the previous tenants had pets, now they're disallowing them.
The inside of the house was nice too. Original woodwork, nice almost finished basement, good sized bathroom, and closets!! Coat closet, linen closet, pantry. But the no pets and their really bad attitudes was a deal breaker for us.

As said before, at least you find out about them before you committed to anything!

[Sweetpea]

I got several grievances today...

1. My car wouldn't start this morning. I turned the ignition and it started... and turned off again. I finally got it started again while turning the ignition and flooding it with gas (aka starting with your foot on the gaspedal...) We decided to take the other car, as we did already have an appointment with the garage for tomorrow for its yearly checkup. I really want that auris hybrid on days like these!

2. I left my keyboard and mouse in my car. You know, that one that is sitting home on my drive way. Now I have to use the keyboard and mousepad on my laptop...

It will turn out one of these days, I'm sure...

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

You'll enjoy them, I think.

Brin loves to play with concepts. Like, he assumes that if it's possible to go FTL at all, there's more than one way to do it, and different species use different methods. For instance, the Tandu have a Client species called Episiarchs, who are bred for psi powers. A Tandu ship gets around because the Episiarch "pilot" denies the ship is in its current location so strongly that space warps around it, and Poof! The ship reappears somewhere else. Sometimes a Tandu ship goes Poof! and doesn't reappear, so other races don't use that method, but the Tandu are willing to accept the trade-off.

In a later book, we get introduced to a curious level of hyperspace, where it's possible to thoughts to exist, independent of minds to think them.

We also encounter life forms that breathe hydrogen instead of oxygen, and machine civilizations, with some really old entities that are the next thing to gods.

As mentioned, fun. The first three in internal chronology are _Sundiver_, _Startide Rising_, and _The Uplift War_, with several more following.
______
Dennis

I never realized that Startide Rising was a mid series book

[dsvick]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

You'll enjoy them, I think.

As mentioned, fun. The first three in internal chronology are _Sundiver_, _Startide Rising_, and _The Uplift War_, with several more following.
______
Dennis

Originally Posted by pholy

Thank you, DMcCunney, for pointing out these books which do not seem to be available a ebooks. THANK YOU VERY MUCH
rumble, rumble, mutter, mutter

6th of 6 on my library's hold list for Pbook
edit: mutter, mutter library book is missing ...
order from UK used books seller

I've got the first two on reserve so they should be available for me to pick up in a few days - you're right though pholy, no ebooks, at least not at my library, and not for the first two in the series.

[Pookeysgirl]

Originally Posted by pholy

Pshel - so sorry about the apt. But better you find out the landlord's attitude problems now than after you move in... BTW, in Ontario the Landlord&Tenant's Act doesn't allow the exclusion of pets (or children) (except in condos)...

I didn't know that! I still see apartment buildings (mine included) and houses for rent that say "no pets allowed". Thanks for that bit of info, I'll keep it in mind when I start looking for a house to rent. Hopefully that will be soon, I'm getting tired of my dining room being my bedroom

[maianhvk]

'Do you think about me now and then?
Do you think about me now and then?
Cause I'm coming home again
Coming home again...'

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by pholy

Thank you, DMcCunney, for pointing out these books which do not seem to be available a ebooks. THANK YOU VERY MUCH
rumble, rumble, mutter, mutter

Sorry about that, but it's not my fault. If I restricted my recommendations to what I knew to be (legitimately) available as ebooks, I'd have far less to recommend.

(The three I mentioned do seem to be widely available in um, "unauthorized" editions.)
______
Dennis

[devilsadvocate]

Originally Posted by pholy

Pshel - so sorry about the apt. But better you find out the landlord's attitude problems now than after you move in

I figured out the landlord's attitude problems by virtue of their ignoring our phone calls, and that was 2 months ago when the place first went up for rent. Shel has a higher BS threshold than I; it's a job requirement.

[bjones6416]

Originally Posted by devilsadvocate

I figured out the landlord's attitude problems by virtue of their ignoring our phone calls, and that was 2 months ago when the place first went up for rent. Shel has a higher BS threshold than I; it's a job requirement.

Yep, she wouldn't last long in customer service without a pretty high BS threshold!

Hope y'all can find something better with a NICE landlord.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

For instance, the Tandu have a Client species called Episiarchs, who are bred for psi powers. A Tandu ship gets around because the Episiarch "pilot" denies the ship is in its current location so strongly that space warps around it, and Poof! The ship reappears somewhere else. Sometimes a Tandu ship goes Poof! and doesn't reappear, so other races don't use that method, but the Tandu are willing to accept the trade-off.
______
Dennis

Hmmm, sounds almost like an infinite improbability drive.

Heart of Gold anyone?