The Vent and Rant Thread

[poohbear_nc]

CVS brand Sudafed does NOT work. My sinus problems are increasingly worse every year - and I develop sinus headaches that trigger migraines. My doctor recommended Sudafed - and the pharmacist suggested saving money with the store brand. After having non-stop headaches and sinus pressure for 4 days, I went back and got the name brand Sudafed. Took one this morning => sinuses draining, no pressure, no headache.
Learned my lesson - for some products there is no effective store brand substitute regardless of what's listed on the label.

[Deskisamess]

The OTC phenylephrine just isn't as good as the pseudephedrine, but the good stuff is kept behind the counter now and sales are controlled because of users buying it and making meth.

That said, I've never had an issue with the CVS or Walgreen brands. Sometimes the store brands have lower doses so you have to read the labels.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by ApK

(and if you're using them in an enclosed fixture, make sure you get bulbs rated for such).

That's good advice. I don't have a lot of fully enclosed fixtures, but there are many fixtures where they are almost completely enclosed (just the end open with the bulb up inside).

[Rumpelteazer]

[QUOTE=DiapDealer;4212631]

Originally Posted by ApK

(and if you're using them in an enclosed fixture, make sure you get bulbs rated for such)./QUOTE]

That's good advice. I don't have a lot of fully enclosed fixtures, but there are many fixtures where they are almost completely enclosed (just the end open with the bulb up inside).

Heat rises, so a light fixture needs some openings at the top (unless it's a light that's on for short periods of time).

The two most common causes for (quality) LED light bulbs to stop working is heat (at 40C temperature surrounding the bulb a bulb lasts half as long as when the surrounding temperature is 20C) and the use of dimmer switches (we Dutch love our dimmer switches). Not all LEDs are dimmable and those that are dimmable need exactly the right dimmer switch. I have yet to find one that's truly universal, though many claim their dimmer switch is.

That being said. When LED bulbs started to appear they said they would last 50,000 hours. Now most manufacturers lists the life expectancy at somewhere between 15,000 and 25,000 hours. So really not much longer than a good quality CFL bulb. Though a LED contains less toxic crap than a CFL.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

The OTC phenylephrine just isn't as good as the pseudephedrine, but the good stuff is kept behind the counter now and sales are controlled because of users buying it and making meth.

That said, I've never had an issue with the CVS or Walgreen brands. Sometimes the store brands have lower doses so you have to read the labels.

Same here. While I have often suspected that different inactive ingredients may indeed interact in some holistic way not considered by western medicine, I do tend to find that x-number milligrams of pseudephedrine is x-number milligrams of pseudephedrine, regardless of brand. In the US, at least, the FDA is pretty good about assuring that.

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by Hitch

So, what'd your Aunt do?
Hitch

Where to start.

A couple on weeks ago she called and I picked up the phone. She started off by berating me to get sick just after Christmas; I really inconvenienced my parents by doing that. The she told me she was certain I didn't have appendicitis, because I didn't have the classic symptoms. Because, you know, a retired geriatric nurse living 45 minutes away know more about appendicitis than the doctors, nurses and technicians who have treated me or the lab technician who tested a sample of my appendix after is was removed. Then she told me, regarding the inflammation of joints in my lower back, I should have just "pushed through the pain". I hung up the phone before she could go on and for now I refuse to talk to her. But I'm the one causing the drama, of course.

The she's constantly pestering my father. My father doesn't like to text at the best of times but after the operation he just didn't have the energy to text her or talk to her, so he ignored her texts and phone calls. She was also asking questions she had no right in asking. She thinks she has that right because she's a (retired geriatric) Nurse. Then she started pestering my mother. It all came to a head last week when she announced that she wanted to visit my father yesterday. My mother talked her out of it, because at that time he wasn't ready for it.

Then she started again on Monday and when my mother rebuffed her again my aunt texted my sister demanding that my sister would call her that evening. Which she didn't do. My mother called her, and, as expected, my aunt had the impression she was kept way from my father. My mother talked to her and let her know, again, as soon as my father was up for it we would let her know that she could call him.

Yesterday morning the university hospital told me father he would be moved back to the first hospital he was at either today or tomorrow. But mid afternoon he was told he was going to moved that evening. He's doing well, yesterday morning he sat in a chair for 90 minutes (on Monday he only could do that for a couple of minutes) and he walked up and down the hallway with a walking frame a couple of time with a physiotherapist. When he got back to the first hospital he was also ready to talk to my aunt. So hopefully she stops texting my mother so much (probably now, though).

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Where to start.

A couple on weeks ago she called and (snip Auntie behavior)

DAMN.

Yesterday morning the university hospital told me father he would be moved back to the first hospital he was at either today or tomorrow. But mid afternoon he was told he was going to moved that evening. He's doing well, yesterday morning he sat in a chair for 90 minutes (on Monday he only could do that for a couple of minutes) and he walked up and down the hallway with a walking frame a couple of time with a physiotherapist. When he got back to the first hospital he was also ready to talk to my aunt. So hopefully she stops texting my mother so much (probably now, though).

Yes, it sounds like he is really perking up. That's how the recovery was for my FIL (very similar situation/health) and my husband a bit (heart stuff, but not quite like your Dad). Seems dreadful at first and in just a few days, making wonderful progress. ;-)

H

[4691mls]

Rumpel, I'm glad to hear your father is doing ok and your mom is open to getting some outside help. Sure hope your aunt will calm down and stop pestering everyone.

[4691mls]

I hate when store cashiers have to do other work during slow times but there is no way to signal that they are needed at the checkout. I'm fine with them doing something else between customers if it's a slow day, but there needs to be some way to summon them to the checkout counter.

Just yesterday I left my planned purchase on the checkout counter and walked out because after standing there a couple of minutes nobody appeared to ring up my purchase. There were a few people in the store but all the people I could see appeared to be customers and certainly none of them looked in the direction of the cash register to see if help was needed or to signal that they would be with me shortly.

I'm old enough to remember when stores had a bell on the counter for this purpose. Sure wish they would bring back this old-fashioned but useful technology.

[BetterRed]

@4691mls - I went to three major retailers on Tuesday and left each empty handed.

Had I found someone to talk to, I might have spent $1,000 in 'JB HiFi' (electronics) and $250 in 'Bed, Bath 'n Table'.

And, had someone been able to tell me where Coles Leichhardt supermarket hid its ready made salads I might have bought half a dozen.

BR

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@4691mls - I went to three major retailers on Tuesday and left each empty handed.

Had I found someone to talk to, I might have spent $1,000 in 'JB HiFi' (electronics) and $250 in 'Bed, Bath 'n Table'.

And, had someone been able to tell me where Coles Leichhardt supermarket hid its ready made salads I might have bought half a dozen.

BR

Aughhh!
And this was happening here before the pandemic, so I can't blame it on economic/employment conditions caused Covid.

Of course if you just wanted to browse the salespeople would have been all over you :

[Katsunami]

Buying stuff online is becoming ridiculous since Amazon started the trend of "dynamic pricing."

Yesterday I went to look for a new monitor because:
- I'd like to upgrade from 24 inch 1920x1200 to 27 inch 2560x1440
- Want a built-in docking station and power delivery for my work laptop (and future laptop)
- My current monitor is close to 8 years old and hitting 10.000+ hours of use

I found the monitor I wanted to buy at 7 shops; ranging in price from €695 to €886. Curiously, all shops had exactly 3 monitors in stock. Obviously I bought the monitor for €695. 10 minutes later, all the shops had dropped their "in stock" from 3 to 2, so they have a shared supplier and/or warehouse. Also, the store where I bought the monitor jumped its price from €695 to €885. (€885 is the MSRP, but nobody ever asks that price in the Netherlands.) Some other stores jumped from (for example) €725 to €790.

Suddenly, the price index also lists 13 stores instead of 7.

I think it's ridiculous that stores in an entire country share a single warehouse and thus basically all have the same stock. They can also see one another's prices apparently, because I've often seen stores moving up or down in price in conjunction, and often based on the number of in-stock items. Nobody seems to have their own stock anymore and they ship directly from the warehouse.

WHY shouldn't I open my own "store" and ship products to myself from that warehouse? Why should I make someone else rich who sits in between me and that warehouse?

When I was still in school, one of my classmates had his own "store": the only thing he did when an order came in was buy the product at his local computer store, package it, and send it off. (With a mark-up of about 10% or so.) When people found about this, he was basically out of business from one moment to the next.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I think it's ridiculous that stores in an entire country share a single warehouse and thus basically all have the same stock. They can also see one another's prices apparently, because I've often seen stores moving up or down in price in conjunction, and often based on the number of in-stock items. Nobody seems to have their own stock anymore and they ship directly from the warehouse.

You might enjoy the story of the the $23,698,655.93 fly textbook.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

You might enjoy the story of the the $23,698,655.93 fly textbook.

If it hadn't been so extremely bizarre, it would have been funny... it just means it becomes almost impossible to buy something with confidence, because if the warehouse gets a few more products in, prices may drop be tens or even hundreds of euro's. (And nobody cares if they increase by a few hundred euro's temporarily AFTER they bought the product.)

So buying a product becomes a gamble, because people are going to wait and wait to see if the price drops some more.

[John F]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@4691mls - I went to three major retailers on Tuesday and left each empty handed.

Had I found someone to talk to, I might have spent $1,000 in 'JB HiFi' (electronics) and $250 in 'Bed, Bath 'n Table'.

And, had someone been able to tell me where Coles Leichhardt supermarket hid its ready made salads I might have bought half a dozen.

BR

And when you ask someone a detailed question about a product, and all they do is read the box.