The Vent and Rant Thread

[isarl]

I'm really tired. I'm tired of chronic health issues and not feeling like myself. I'm tired of working really really hard at resolving those issues and seeing only a middling improvement and no clear diagnosis. I'm tired of being without my usual income and feeling like I cannot treat myself or reward myself for all my hard work lately.

But I'm grateful that the blueberries at my grocery store are particularly plump and sweet, this week.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by CRussel

To a certain extent, ApK, I agree with you. But I'd add in that the _really_ cheap and obviously poorly made/designed will not ever give you an accurate indication of how well you might actually like the type of item just because it's lack of quality inhibits evaluation. Take, for example, a tennis racquet. If you buy one that is $25, it will not let you play well enough to actually let you decide if you want to play. OTOH, there's absolutely no point at all in buying a $250 carbon fibre one until you actually know what you are going to enjoy playing tennis and that you're good enough to actually handle a really expensive racquet. So something in the $50-75 range is probably closer to where you should start.

Funny, I actually disagree with you on tennis racquets specifically. I got my teenage kids involved a few years ago and found the $20 Walmart Wilson racquets to be more than adequate, and I can't see them outplaying them anytime soon. I don't perceive any significant difference in play, at my recreational level of play. No loss of control or excessive vibration or shock when I try them, compared to my ceramic Prince racquet. They're not even significantly heavier. I think cheap racquets have improved in recent decades, just like cheap guitars.

But I agree with you in general. There are cheap tools that are just too flawed and not suitable for the task. They maker a job HARDER, not easier, which sure isn't a good indicator of how a better tool might serve you. If you don't know, you don't know. It's a quandary unless you have a knowledgeable source to advise you.

Oh, and complicating the matter is the fact that you can easily find EXPENSIVE garbage foisted on us by once-respected brands who now just license their name to anyone, so just price and brand isn't a sure way to buy quality either.

Geesh, life is hard.

ApK

[ApK]

Originally Posted by isarl

I'm really tired. I'm tired of chronic health issues and not feeling like myself. I'm tired of working really really hard at resolving those issues and seeing only a middling improvement and no clear diagnosis.
[...]
But I'm grateful that the blueberries at my grocery store are particularly plump and sweet, this week.

I'm there too. Looked into vitamin D, B12, testosterone levels.... Turns out I'm just old, fat and lazy.

In my case the solace is raspberries, and unusually large and tasty grapes.

ApK

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by ApK

I'm there too. Looked into vitamin D, B12, testosterone levels.... Turns out I'm just old, fat and lazy.

In my case the solace is raspberries, and unusually large and tasty grapes.

ApK

"Turns out I'm just old, fat and lazy." -- Ah, yup, that would be me. My solace is fresh raspberries from my garden, or fresh blueberries from "The Blueberry Guy" down the road from here. Or, in a pinch, the frozen blueberries from last summer. But I'm hoping to add some strawberries to that this summer, with a parcel of 25 plants going in the ground this week.

[DNSB]

Watch out for the strawberry thieves. My daughter has a camera watching her garden this summer after two years of having her fruits and vegetables going walkabout as soon as they were worth picking.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by CRussel

"Turns out I'm just old, fat and lazy." -- Ah, yup, that would be me. My solace is fresh raspberries from my garden, or fresh blueberries from "The Blueberry Guy" down the road from here. Or, in a pinch, the frozen blueberries from last summer. But I'm hoping to add some strawberries to that this summer, with a parcel of 25 plants going in the ground this week.

I'm old, skinny and lazy. Dang.

Hitch

[Thasaidon]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I'm old, skinny and lazy. Dang.

Hitch

After reading many of your posts I find your claim to be lazy difficult to believe.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Thasaidon

After reading many of your posts I find your claim to be lazy difficult to believe.

Awwwwwwwww, shucks, thanks. (Wait, what about my claims to be old and skinny? LOL...)

My natural inclination is definitely toward laziness. No doubt 'bout it.

However, I also have this pesky work ethic that my Grandfather drilled into me, when I worked with/for him at his companies, from the time I was in kindergarten, that won't allow me to Eff Off as much as I wish. I would luv to goof off, I really would, but...when I try to goof off, I get the Guilts. LOL.

Hitch

[Martinoptic]

The sins of the grandfather eh? Mind you I think you have a great work ethic there - not too common these days especially with the younger generation IMNSHO.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Martinoptic

The sins of the grandfather eh? Mind you I think you have a great work ethic there - not too common these days especially with the younger generation IMNSHO.

Aw, thanks. I appreciate that, but mostly I'm probably just guilted into it by zee Ghost of Grandpa, lol.

I concur; I realize that there are all sorts of posts, tweets, etc. out there claiming that it's not true that the "younger generation" doesn't want to work, but I gotta confess...what I see in interviews, etc. is not really inspiring.

Hitch

[isarl]

Originally Posted by Martinoptic

The sins of the grandfather eh? Mind you I think you have a great work ethic there - not too common these days especially with the younger generation IMNSHO.

Your complaint might sound familiar to, e.g., a Hellene from 600–300 BCE (among others), were they transported to the modern day.

The counts of the indictment are luxury, bad manners, contempt for authority, disrespect to elders, and a love for chatter in place of exercise. …

Children began to be the tyrants, not the slaves, of their households. They no longer rose from their seats when an elder entered the room; they contradicted their parents, chattered before company, gobbled up the dainties at table, and committed various offences against Hellenic tastes, such as crossing their legs. They tyrannised over the paidagogoi and schoolmasters.

(From a 1907 book by Kenneth John Freeman on the theory and practice of education in Ancient Greece.)

[ApK]

Originally Posted by isarl

Your complaint might sound familiar to, e.g., a Hellene from 600–300 BCE (among others), were they transported to the modern day.

"Why can't they be like we were,
Perfect in every way?
What's the matter with kids today?"

--"Kids" from "Bye Bye Birdie" circa 1960.


...but Martinoptic and Hitch are right, kids today are the worst. Get off my lawn. :-)

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by isarl

Your complaint might sound familiar to, e.g., a Hellene from 600–300 BCE (among others), were they transported to the modern day.



(From a 1907 book by Kenneth John Freeman on the theory and practice of education in Ancient Greece.)

I believe it was...isn't that the quote typically attributed to Socrates? That wrote about the disrepect and bad behavior of young people? (Or is that Plato?)

The children now love luxury; they show disrespect for elders and
love chatter in place of exercise. Children are tyrants, not servants
of the households. They no longer rise when their elders enter the
room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up
dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize over their
teachers.'

And I think that one is Aristophanes.

BUT, crapola, I could be totally wrong. I can only truly speak to what I see in interviews and all that. One more young person asks me what *I* do, to help them with their "work life balance" and my head will do the Exorcist Dance. If they want a good work-life balance, it's not my job to make that happen for them--it's theirs. We have flex time and flexible working hours already, so I've done everything that I can do, to give them that flexibility, no pun intended, to try to have an enjoyable home life.

If they get their work done in two hours, it's two hours. If it's 10, it's ten. I don't care if they do it in two and leave for the day. (n.b.: I DO care if someone does the work in five and bills me for ten, however. After giving one employee a chance, three times, to explain to me how I could do her entire job in two hours, and I would be kind in my assessment, and said to her, that I would assume five (hours) for her to do the same work--how she could be invoicing me for ten. That's inexplicable to me, and it's inexplicable that after asking her multiple times, she thought I would let it go for a long time.

Suffice to say, she no longer works here. I tried, I did. I was good to her, I lent her money when she was in trouble, etc. but...you can only rip me off for so long. Eventually, I become vexed about it.

Hitch

[DiapDealer]

Why must the Like button always be smashed?

[neil_swann80]

"Like literally... oh my god!"

"You know what I mean/I'm saying?"

Can we erase these words from the English language?