The Vent and Rant Thread

[Rumpelteazer]

I just hate fireworks. In the Netherlands it's tradition to set off fireworks on New Year's Eve. The sale of the more serious/dangerous fireworks is restricted to a couple of days before the 31st (but fireworks aren't allowed to be sold on Sunday). Less serious fireworks can officially be sold all year round, though you only see it in regular stores, such as supermarkets, in December. People can set off their fireworks from 6pm on the 31 until 2am on the 1st.

In reality we've been hearing bangs all month and since the sale started on the 28th it's gotten worse. This afternoon someone put some fireworks in the trash bin just 4 meters away from our door and it was an almighty bang, which made me swear when there were customers in the store.

Of course there are people who get illegal fireworks. I recently read that police is worried about the amount and danger of storing such fireworks at stations before it gets picked up by specialists who dispose of it.

I'm not afraid of fireworks. I just hate the loudness and suddenness (if that makes any sense). Last night one of our neighbours set off a bunch of firework in their garden just after midnight, just as I was falling asleep.

Tomorrow I'll have my headphones on most of the day. I'll enjoy the sight of the pretty fireworks at midnight from the safety of our home. I usually go to my room half an hour later, when the pretty fireworks are mostly over and the banging continues and put on my headphones again and watch tv until around 2am when it starts quieting down. If it's still noisy I'll put in my earplugs before going to sleep.

The last couple of years the resistance to fireworks has grown and more and more people would like it to be banned.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I've had conversations with folks about that, where they are looking at phone plans. If you travel to odd places, or live in a remote area, and you absolutely must get a cellphone signal wherever you go, Verizon is your only realistic choice.

Yup.

{snippage}

I'm afraid I'll be rejoining their fold, however. My cable company got acquired by Charter Communications, now does business under the Spectrum brand, and my rates have essentially doubled. FIOS is finally available in my neighborhood (though not yet to my building), and I can get the same TV lineup, Internet, and VIOP from VZ for about half what Spectrum charges. That price will rise down the road, but meanwhile...) And VZ is offering gigabit connectivity that will be almost 10 times faster than the 100mbit connection I have now.

100mbps? ONE HUNDRED mbps? Oh.....man, I'd be happy with 100, never mind 10x faster. I have..10. 10mbps, and realistically, that means 8-9.5, on great days, and the upload...well. We all know the realities of upload.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

I still have a paper road atlas in my car just in case!

I always try to carry at least 2 road maps in the vehicle. I wind up giving them away to someone else.

[Hitch]

Hey, guys:

I realize that this isn't the "anyone know..." thread, but a quick rant--took some Arnica for the first time yesterday, and last night, I was beset with HORRIBLE hot flashes/night sweats and chills, much like those I experienced in the initial stages of Menopause. (I use an estrogen product now, so most certainly should NOT have experienced that.) They were so bad that I couldn't stay in bed--after 30+ minutes of the onset, trying everything I knew to offset them, I arose and just sat up the rest of the night, slouched in front of the TV, until well after dawn. Then managed to get some catnaps, but my inner thermostat is still wonky.

Anyone else here, male or female (arguably, it would more likely be women, but...) taken Arnica and had a similar reaction?

Hitch

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Hey, guys:

I realize that this isn't the "anyone know..." thread, but a quick rant--took some Arnica for the first time yesterday, and last night, I was beset with HORRIBLE hot flashes/night sweats and chills, much like those I experienced in the initial stages of Menopause. (I use an estrogen product now, so most certainly should NOT have experienced that.) They were so bad that I couldn't stay in bed--after 30+ minutes of the onset, trying everything I knew to offset them, I arose and just sat up the rest of the night, slouched in front of the TV, until well after dawn. Then managed to get some catnaps, but my inner thermostat is still wonky.

Anyone else here, male or female (arguably, it would more likely be women, but...) taken Arnica and had a similar reaction?

Hitch

No I haven't, but thanks for letting me know I don't want to take it. Good luck sleeping tonight.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

I just hate fireworks. In the Netherlands it's tradition to set off fireworks on New Year's Eve. The sale of the more serious/dangerous fireworks is restricted to a couple of days before the 31st (but fireworks aren't allowed to be sold on Sunday). Less serious fireworks can officially be sold all year round, though you only see it in regular stores, such as supermarkets, in December. People can set off their fireworks from 6pm on the 31 until 2am on the 1st.

In reality we've been hearing bangs all month and since the sale started on the 28th it's gotten worse. This afternoon someone put some fireworks in the trash bin just 4 meters away from our door and it was an almighty bang, which made me swear when there were customers in the store.

Of course there are people who get illegal fireworks. I recently read that police is worried about the amount and danger of storing such fireworks at stations before it gets picked up by specialists who dispose of it.

I'm not afraid of fireworks. I just hate the loudness and suddenness (if that makes any sense). Last night one of our neighbours set off a bunch of firework in their garden just after midnight, just as I was falling asleep.

Tomorrow I'll have my headphones on most of the day. I'll enjoy the sight of the pretty fireworks at midnight from the safety of our home. I usually go to my room half an hour later, when the pretty fireworks are mostly over and the banging continues and put on my headphones again and watch tv until around 2am when it starts quieting down. If it's still noisy I'll put in my earplugs before going to sleep.

The last couple of years the resistance to fireworks has grown and more and more people would like it to be banned.

We have fireworks too. I wish they wouldn't sell them to people that live in the city. They are illegal to shoot off in town. Maybe it will be cold enough to keep the idiots inside.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

No I haven't, but thanks for letting me know I don't want to take it. Good luck sleeping tonight.

Y'know, lots of people--hundreds of thousands, if not more--have taken it successfully for this/that. I'm not happy at the idea of putting you off it, should you ever have need. My mother and I both had/ve "broken thermostats," in terms of hot flashes/night sweats/chills, menopause-wise. I was bound and determined, as a horsewoman to NEVER take premarin, etc., but...after 5 months of endless, horrible misery, I finally capitulated to taking estrogen, so that I wouldn't end up in Bedlam or Bellevue, either due to hormonal imbalance or sleep deprivation psychosis. It's highly likely that I'm an unusual victim, in this. I didn't see anything on the Net--a few posts, here/there, so it's obviously NOT a typical reaction. While I might have kvetched here, I wouldn't have asked if there were a lot of (or hell, nearly ANY) posts about similar reactions.

Sh*t, for that matter, I'd not have taken it, had there been, due to my previous misadventures with Broken Thermostats. So...I wouldn't assume, Cin, that you'd have a similar reaction--seriously.

Hitch

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

We have fireworks too. I wish they wouldn't sell them to people that live in the city. They are illegal to shoot off in town. Maybe it will be cold enough to keep the idiots inside.

I think a lot of them are banned here but some smaller ones are allowed. There's always somebody in the neighborhood shooting them off well after midnight when I want to sleep. Happens at 4th of July too. Sometimes they start a couple days ahead of time.

It's supposed to be in the teens (Fahrenheit) here so yes, let's hope the cold will help keep some of the idiots inside!

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Y'know, lots of people--hundreds of thousands, if not more--have taken it successfully for this/that. I'm not happy at the idea of putting you off it, should you ever have need. My mother and I both had/ve "broken thermostats," in terms of hot flashes/night sweats/chills, menopause-wise. I was bound and determined, as a horsewoman to NEVER take premarin, etc., but...after 5 months of endless, horrible misery, I finally capitulated to taking estrogen, so that I wouldn't end up in Bedlam or Bellevue, either due to hormonal imbalance or sleep deprivation psychosis. It's highly likely that I'm an unusual victim, in this. I didn't see anything on the Net--a few posts, here/there, so it's obviously NOT a typical reaction. While I might have kvetched here, I wouldn't have asked if there were a lot of (or hell, nearly ANY) posts about similar reactions.

Sh*t, for that matter, I'd not have taken it, had there been, due to my previous misadventures with Broken Thermostats. So...I wouldn't assume, Cin, that you'd have a similar reaction--seriously.

Hitch

My thermostat has never worked right either which is why I appreciated the warning.
It used to always be set on cold, then 11 years ago it decided hot, cold, warm, hot etc. Outside temp didn't matter.
So far the only side effects of menopause are wonky that time of the month and excessive crankiness at mostly stupids on the internet.
On occasion crankiness with the not stupids.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Hmmm. Your post makes me want to ask "do you think there is something wrong with people that watch TV?"

Yes. TV, smartphones and aimless surfing on the Internet and social media sites are destroying society... but I think that's a topic best reserved for the politics forum here (of which I'm not a member, because I'd probably be banned there for voicing too extreme opinions).

As to your brain comment, I could have been easily offended because I use my tablet to keep track of our movie and cookbook collections.

Eh... yeah. I use calibre for my books. I use Foobar for my music. I use my computer for organizing a lot of things. Calculation, organization and retrieval of data is what computers were designed for.

They (and smartphones) are designed to make things you do easier, not to waste half of your life on them, and to rely on them in such a manner that you're incapacitated completely. And yes, I know people for whom that is the case.

Note that I'm not talking about people who use their computers as tools, such as a photographer for whom a computer to edit pictures is just a part of his equipment just like a lens or a flash.

As to your actual life: what exactly does that mean?

Be active in such a way that you can become better than you are now, in whatever way. Watching TV, apart from documentaries maybe, aimlessly surfing the internet and social media don't do that. That just wastes time.

(I'm not saying you should never ever watch a movie, or never read a fiction book or play a computer game. You know exactly what I mean with "That just wastes time.")

Oh and I would imagine some people find you a bit odd. I know people find me a bit odd because I do more than just watch tv.

People finding me odd? Odd?! Hah. To some people, I'm a complete FREAK.

[BetterRed]

I'm considering buying a wearable fitness monitor - heart rate, step counter etc, I installed an app on my new (first) smartphone, I quite like having it but I don't like having to carry the damn phone. I am looking at the Fitbit Charge 2, JB have it at a reduced price.

Any other suggestions

BR

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Yes. TV, smartphones and aimless surfing on the Internet and social media sites are destroying society... but I think that's a topic best reserved for the politics forum here (of which I'm not a member, because I'd probably be banned there for voicing too extreme opinions).



Eh... yeah. I use calibre for my books. I use Foobar for my music. I use my computer for organizing a lot of things. Calculation, organization and retrieval of data is what computers were designed for.

They (and smartphones) are designed to make things you do easier, not to waste half of your life on them, and to rely on them in such a manner that you're incapacitated completely. And yes, I know people for whom that is the case.

Note that I'm not talking about people who use their computers as tools, such as a photographer for whom a computer to edit pictures is just a part of his equipment just like a lens or a flash.



Be active in such a way that you can become better than you are now, in whatever way. Watching TV, apart from documentaries maybe, aimlessly surfing the internet and social media don't do that. That just wastes time.

(I'm not saying you should never ever watch a movie, or never read a fiction book or play a computer game. You know exactly what I mean with "That just wastes time.")



People finding me odd? Odd?! Hah. To some people, I'm a complete FREAK.

Well your TV argument is at least 60 years old.

As per the P forum, I am not a member there either. I tried it once. It got me a week's vacation from here.

As to the FREAK comment, I am assuming it no longer means a pot smoker/partier.
Yes, people find me freaky too.
Oh and I am watching UFC at the moment.

[Katsunami]

I read 1500 page books instead of wasting time on Facebook or watching Reality TV. That makes me a freak in the eyes of many.

I don't smoke, don't do drugs, and drink little and not often.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I read 1500 page books instead of wasting time on Facebook or watching Reality TV. That makes me a freak in the eyes of many.

I don't smoke, don't do drugs, and drink little and not often.

Then the word has changed meaning since 1979.
Might I say on the last part you are a very smart man. I don't do any of those things anymore.
Oh and even if you just read any books or did crafts or like to cook, many will consider you a freak.

You couldn't pay me enough to make me watch Reality-TV.

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

We have fireworks too. I wish they wouldn't sell them to people that live in the city. They are illegal to shoot off in town. Maybe it will be cold enough to keep the idiots inside.

Hopefully it'll be cold where you are.

No such luck here. It's reported that today will be the warmest and windiest New Year's Eve in a long time. Wind and fireworks don't go well together. Luckily, there is a chance of rain, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that.

I just have to make a quick trip to the supermarket later and after that I'll retreat with my headphones on and Kindle in hand. Though I have to admit that during the night it wasn't too bad in comparison to other years. probably because it rained...