The Vent and Rant Thread

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Hemmi

I hate cancer.

You're not alone. I'm sorry.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by issybird

You're not alone. I'm sorry.

Yes it's hideous and we hate it. The good news is they've come a long way on treating successfully certain types but still a long way on others. We can never give up hope and remember to celebrate the survivors who beat it and remember those who are at peace no longer hurting.

Sent from my Nexus 7

[Gardenman]

Originally Posted by issybird

The water's easy. No power, no pump, no water from well. (Says one who speaks from bitter experience.)

Not only water - you do not dare get anything from the refrigerator either.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Gardenman

Not only water - you do not dare get anything from the refrigerator either.

Or your freezer.
I have an aunt that would put blankets on the freezer and maybe the refrigerator when the power went out.
Nothing thawed and the only thing they lost when their power was out for an extended time was one grapefruit. We are talking days not hours.

[Blossom]

Quick tip: take a bunch of water bottles fill with tap water and freeze them. Put them around your food in the freezer. This will keep your food longer. Cheap and easy. You can also use ziplock bags filled with water then freeze them.

I keep my freezer this way always after losing food in the past.

Sent from my XT1528

[ApK]

i

Originally Posted by Blossom

Quick tip: take a bunch of water bottles fill with tap water and freeze them. Put them around your food in the freezer. This will keep your food longer. Cheap and easy. You can also use ziplock bags filled with water then freeze them.

I keep my freezer this way always after losing food in the past.

Sent from my XT1528

And then you also have an emergency water supply.
But I tend to keep my freezer filled with food. (it's small). Thankfully, we've never had power out for more than a few hours. Even in Hurricane Sandy. Knock on wood.

Panda, geesh, taking the ENTIRE grid down at the same time for maintenance?! Does that happen a lot in your part of the world? 'Cuz over here, that sounds less like maintenance and more like "OH MY GOD OH MY GOD SHUT IT ALL DOWN NOW!"

If it's likely to happen more than once in a lifetime, consider getting a generator and a radio for communications. And an imprinter and some spare credit card slips.....

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Quick tip: take a bunch of water bottles fill with tap water and freeze them. Put them around your food in the freezer. This will keep your food longer. Cheap and easy. You can also use ziplock bags filled with water then freeze them.

I keep my freezer this way always after losing food in the past.

Sent from my XT1528

We do this all the time, anyway, because of course, we carry them in the car/truck, whenever we're going anyplace--only a moron drives in AZ, in the summer, without a ton of spare water just in case.

I also freeze these and put them inside our cooler bags--the ones I take to the grocery/Costco, when I'm getting groceries. Especially where we live, where nothing is less than 40-60 minutes away from the house--you have to keep the fridge/freezer stuff cool/cold/frozen until you get home. LOL, the trunk of my car looks like I'm a survivalist--chiller bag, frozen bottles of water, other survival gear in case the car croaks in midsummer when it's 120F...frozen bottles of water are a girl's best friend, out here. (Of course, we carried them, as water, in WY as well. Same reason, multiplied--vast distances where there won't be a house for 50 miles. You gotta be prepared.)

Hitch

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Hitch

We do this all the time, anyway, because of course, we carry them in the car/truck, whenever we're going anyplace--only a moron drives in AZ, in the summer, without a ton of spare water just in case.

I also freeze these and put them inside our cooler bags--the ones I take to the grocery/Costco, when I'm getting groceries. Especially where we live, where nothing is less than 40-60 minutes away from the house--you have to keep the fridge/freezer stuff cool/cold/frozen until you get home. LOL, the trunk of my car looks like I'm a survivalist--chiller bag, frozen bottles of water, other survival gear in case the car croaks in midsummer when it's 120F...frozen bottles of water are a girl's best friend, out here. (Of course, we carried them, as water, in WY as well. Same reason, multiplied--vast distances where there won't be a house for 50 miles. You gotta be prepared.)

Hitch

We live way closer to the store but also have cooler bags for the super hot days.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

We live way closer to the store but also have cooler bags for the super hot days.

I've lived in AZ, I've lived in Alaska, and pretty much all the bits and pieces in-between, climate/weather wise; I've been lucky to live around the world. I would NEVER leave home without scads of water, no matter where I was, and I carry all sorts of bits and orts and dohickeys, just because. I've been stranded in godawful places, and even if you get hungry, you can go a long way with water. Not having water will kill you faster than not having food. Not having protection in the car, if you break down, well, that can kill ya, too.

Not to mention, I once nearly ruined a huge grocery order, with a car that went kaputsky (flat tire). NOT a fun experience.

So, yeah. I carry water, and a variety of tools and things, and something else, just to be on the safe side. Especially now that I'm not as spry as I used to be, and can't realistically think I could jog two miles in under 20 minutes. (And certainly, NOT in this heat. I'd be lucky if I could jog 20 steps in under 20 minutes, when it's 120F!)

Hitch

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I've lived in AZ, I've lived in Alaska, and pretty much all the bits and pieces in-between, climate/weather wise; I've been lucky to live around the world. I would NEVER leave home without scads of water, no matter where I was, and I carry all sorts of bits and orts and dohickeys, just because. I've been stranded in godawful places, and even if you get hungry, you can go a long way with water. Not having water will kill you faster than not having food. Not having protection in the car, if you break down, well, that can kill ya, too.

Not to mention, I once nearly ruined a huge grocery order, with a car that went kaputsky (flat tire). NOT a fun experience.

So, yeah. I carry water, and a variety of tools and things, and something else, just to be on the safe side. Especially now that I'm not as spry as I used to be, and can't realistically think I could jog two miles in under 20 minutes. (And certainly, NOT in this heat. I'd be lucky if I could jog 20 steps in under 20 minutes, when it's 120F!)

Hitch

I don't understand leaving a house without water. Walking or driving.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I don't understand leaving a house without water.

Don't worry, the house had plenty of water.

Ba dum bum.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I don't understand leaving a house without water. Walking or driving.

Yup.

Originally Posted by ApK

Don't worry, the house had plenty of water.

Ba dum bum.

Nice, very nice. You needed this:

Hitch

[mrscoach]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I did once call law enforcement after my power went out.
The call went something like this.
Me: A guy just ran over a power pole behind my house. At this and that street. My husband has gone to see if anyone is hurt.
Dispatch: Thank you for calling. We have been getting calls from street to street and street to street saying there was an explosion behind their house. The calls covered roughly a one mile area.

No one was hurt. When hubby and subsequently the cops, truck still there. Driver had disappeared.

THIS I would and have gladly responded to. There is a separate number I call to report downed lines (especially if still live)and poles. I would also send an officer or two, depending on the area and the need for traffic control. Neighbors are always helpful on telling you whose vehicle it is, too.

[Hitch]

Now, I know that most of you aren't actually bookmakers. Except for Dennis, who's taking bets in his spare bedroom. (Oops, did I type that outloud?)

So...I realize that on occasion, I post things--like the hard-hyphens--that can be confusing. Or, unimportant to you. Therefore, I'm not sure that what follows--an accurate recitation of a phone call I had today--will really amuse or astound or boggle you. If not, Mea Culpa.

First, I have to preface this by saying that the person who called tried to Chat me, twice, using our website capability, and each time, when I responded, she'd start up a new chat. My original thoughts here weren't charitable, although it seems to be some glitch with Safari (big surprise).

PHONE RINGS.

ME: Howdy, I'm so-and-so, yadda, how can I help you?
VOICE: I'm so-and-so, and I do print book and ebook production. I have a client, who had a bunch of books in print. He also had them put into eBook format (curse you, Bookbaby), but now, he wants to use Createspace, and put them back into paperback format.
ME: Sure, we can do that, depending on the layouts needed.
VOICE: Oh, they're all pretty simple.
ME: Great! So...since you do this yourself, is it overflow, or...?
VOICE: Well, it's like this. Because they were in print before, they want to be sure that anyone who discusses the book, or references it, etc., can always be sure that the part they're looking for, will be on the same page, whether it's the original print book, or the new one.
ME: What?
VOICE: So, to make that happen, they want the new pages to be exactly the same as the old ones. Same text, same lines, everything, the same, but, in a new file.
ME:
VOICE: "...and I thought that maybe, I'm just slow. I was trying to do this, but, you know, with uploading at Createspace, and doing the cover design--so that's all in there, too (n.b. uploading at CS for anyone who's done it before is MAYBE 20 minutes. Not more. For the whole book. It's not like you're doing that one page at a time. Cover design? Who knows.)--it's taking me, like, a half-hour per page. (So, 400 pages? 200 hours. Yupperdoodle, do the math.) I told the clent how long it was taking, and he's all upset, saying that it will cost him $12,000.00 each to do these books."
ME: That's because your client is deluded and suffering from hallucinations. That's completely and totally nuts. In all the years I've been doing this, I'm pretty sure that nobody, ever, has ever requested this. For this very reason--because it's a major-league timesuck, for NO REASON AT ALL. Is this like, the Encyclopedia Britannica, with millions of people referring to it?"
VOICE: Well, no, it's kind of a niche publication.
ME: Well, you're not slow. Your client is nuts. You tell him, if he wants to pay out $12K, for one book, sure, I'm happy to take a shot at it. (Hey, I'm nuts, but for 40 books like that? Each? Hell, yes, I'd take those on for that type of dough. Even though I think it would be more like $9K/book.
A trifle!)

THIS: this very sort of crackpot thing is the kind of shite you deal with all day long, nowadays, in self-publishing. It's not the other bookmaker's fault--this is the type of garbage you have to sort out. All day long. I have a client that's been having "issues" with Bowker, for TWO WEEKS. Today? Today, he told me that "they'd been sorting out a password, and so far, no luck." Hunh? You create a bloody account, which takes ONE MINUTE. You log in, you buy your ISBNs. Even if you're slow, it takes maybe 30 minutes, tops.



Nope, TWO WEEKS. I still have no idea what he's doing. Same guy emailed me today, asking me--for the THIRD TIME--what his page count is, because he has to give that to the cover designer. He has the PDF, mind you, for his interior. It's done.

I gotta wonder what Mr. Same Page Numbers thinks happens with all the hundreds of thousands of non-fiction books that have 2nd editions? Thirds? Fifths? I mean, what next? He's going to ask that the Gutenberg be produced, exactly as it was, so that nobody gets lost discussing it?

Ya gotta wonder. I truly don't know if the field simply attracts oddballs, or whackos, or what. Or if it's simply that the advent of the Internet has exposed all of us to people we never--never--would have encountered, in our normal day-to-day lives. But now? Sure. Now, they don't just exist, they thrust themselves into our reality.

{SIGH}

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Hitch

So...I realize that on occasion, I post things--like the hard-hyphens--that can be confusing.

Did you ever explain what you meant?