The Vent and Rant Thread

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

I just got back from and extended lunch trip to the vet for the follow-up. Cinder is progressing well and I shouldn't have to bring her in again for a month. Even though I am having to syringe-feed her still (she will only lick a little at food on her own), she has maintained her weight, which is excellent news. Unfortunately, I am still have to syringe her and I am still having to give her the insulin injections.

This may be an attention getting maneuver (What? Cats try to manipulate us? Surely not!) - that you might want to try to break off gradually as she improves. If she has a super-favorite treat, try putting some on her regular food and leaving her alone with it.

[I once stepped on my cat's foot - the dang critter limped for months - but only when I could see her]

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

This may be an attention getting maneuver (What? Cats try to manipulate us? Surely not!) - that you might want to try to break off gradually as she improves. If she has a super-favorite treat, try putting some on her regular food and leaving her alone with it.

[I once stepped on my cat's foot - the dang critter limped for months - but only when I could see her]

Pooh, I love ya,

But having had a cat that had to be syringe-fed, I never knew one to WANT that. They all hate it; it's an ultimate loss of control. I can see a lot of feline manipulation, heavens knows, but not on that front, anyway. Cats are always sending signals when they don't want to eat.

Hitch

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Pooh, I love ya,

But having had a cat that had to be syringe-fed, I never knew one to WANT that. They all hate it; it's an ultimate loss of control. I can see a lot of feline manipulation, heavens knows, but not on that front, anyway. Cats are always sending signals when they don't want to eat.

Hitch

True! But I never underestimate the wiles of a cat - esp. when food is concerned - every cat is different! That's why they can control us so well we love them.

[theinfamousj]

I have a phone with swappable batteries. I have three: two really old ones that due to age and use can only hold enough charge for five hours of phone time, and a new one that I bought less than a year ago that holds 1+ days worth of charge.

I charge all three batteries on an external battery charger and swap them in to the phone when needed.

Last night, I go to put in the new battery which had always worked perfectly. The phone won't power on.

I swap in one of the older batteries. The phone powers on.

I swap back to what should be the best battery I have. The phone won't power on.

I put The Good battery on the charger, assuming that I had forgotten to charge it and that it is drained. The charger reports that The Good battery is fully charged.

I put it back in the phone. The phone won't power on.

I cleaned the battery contacts (not that they needed it; they were pristine and shiny). The phone won't power on.

I am perplexed. I know my next step is to return the battery to the manufacturer. I just, for curiosity and educational purposes, want to know what was going on. I have never had a battery that has died so suddenly. Usually they fade out, leak, or explode. This one went from perfectly functional on the 8th of July to nonfunctional on the 9th of July.

Any ideas on how that happened?

[ProfCrash]

ugggghhhh

There is some massive downsizing at my job site. This has been on going for a year now. It sucks donkey balls and has been a morale killer. One of the leads sits in my office and discusses what is coming and happening in veiled terms but acts like you are crazy if you ask something like "How many people were notified that they were let go today?"

Not "who was let go?" but a general number.

After ignoring you, he then goes on to discuss how to notify people in difficult locations and then that they had to move the day up for reason X and then how hard it is to print these letters and the like.

Just UUGGGHHH

I am fine but it is hard on everybody and the mixed signals from leadership are frustrating

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

One of the leads sits in my office and discusses what is coming and happening in veiled terms but acts like you are crazy if you ask something like "How many people were notified that they were let go today?"

I hate it when "the managers" do that. Everybody knows what's happening, but everybody is trying to keep it a secret as well. I'd much prefer, for once, if the management of a company would be HONEST and frackin' straightforward.

"Sorry people, the market is very slow, we don't have enough profit/are taking a loss, and we have looked at which functions are superfluous now. We don't have the money to maintain them. Tomorrow, the people who we are going to let go will be notified."

It would suck to hear that, everybody would be tense the next day, but it would be honest, and everybody would know what they're up against. If shit has to happen, let it happen as quickly and honestly as possible.

IMHO.

[meeera]

Today, I'm cranky at delivery windows. Even though I know they probably can't really do it any other way. Also, inaccessible shops. Which there is no excuse for.

[Rumpelteazer]

I hate it when manufacturers decide to change the packaging of products. This morning I spend several minutes looking for my favourite tea, getting upset they decided to discontinue it before finding it by reading the labels on the shelves.

I also hate it when supermarkets decide to change where things are. They do this so people who are looking for the things they need see stuff they normally wouldn't (and maybe buy it) in their search for where the supermarket gods have now hid the waxed paper (with the baking goods, the plastic plates or the toilet paper).

[wodin]

Originally Posted by meeera

Today, I'm cranky at delivery windows. Even though I know they probably can't really do it any other way. Also, inaccessible shops. Which there is no excuse for.

Are you talking about inaccessibility for handicapped people? How often does that happen in Australia? Since Susie was confined to a wheelchair, our aspirations for going abroad have diminished considerably.

In the US, the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) makes things like Handicapped Parking, curb cuts, accessible shops (except those that are grandfathered), etc. pretty much ubiquitous, but I don’t know about other countries. I’d think that developed nations would have similar amenities but I’d really hate to get there and find out that she can't even get her chair into the hotel because of the stairs.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

ugggghhhh

There is some massive downsizing at my job site. This has been on going for a year now. It sucks donkey balls and has been a morale killer. One of the leads sits in my office and discusses what is coming and happening in veiled terms but acts like you are crazy if you ask something like "How many people were notified that they were let go today?"

Not "who was let go?" but a general number.

After ignoring you, he then goes on to discuss how to notify people in difficult locations and then that they had to move the day up for reason X and then how hard it is to print these letters and the like.

Just UUGGGHHH

I am fine but it is hard on everybody and the mixed signals from leadership are frustrating

I know the feeling. It is almost like they are trying to say it hurts them more than the person who is losing their job and at the same time making an inference that anyone could be next so the line for bribes starts here.

Of course it is an ugly job to have, being the constant bearer of bad tidings, and anyone being able to do it compassionately probably would choose not to do it.

Helen

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

I also hate it when supermarkets decide to change where things are. They do this so people who are looking for the things they need see stuff they normally wouldn't (and maybe buy it) in their search for where the supermarket gods have now hid the waxed paper (with the baking goods, the plastic plates or the toilet paper).

You definitely don't want to live up here! I swear, the local IGA moves something every single day. And it's almost like it's a contest - how can we totally screw with their minds while still having a phony semblance of logic.

[HomeInMyShoes]

I hate marketers. There's a special place in my world for them.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by wodin

Are you talking about inaccessibility for handicapped people? How often does that happen in Australia?

A lot. Even kerb ramps to get into major regional shopping centres - it's a toss-up as to whether the ramp will be remotely near code. Crappy ramps I can handle with my mobility scooter, but not with my powerchair. And at least half the shops inside are not navigable by scooter at all. The lift to the movies can fit a wheelchair (just); but not a scooter.

Then there are the "security" barriers at supermarket checkouts, which are also cripple-barriers. The one accessible checkout may or may not have anyone actually staffing it: that's a 50-50. Or may have a bunch of new sale displays piled around it so that it's no longer accessible. The Woolies self-checkout is accessible (well, half of it is); the Coles one is not.

Bunnings has no wheelie access from the foothpath. None. You have to wheel through the carpark and hope no giant Dalkeith Tractors mow you down.

Plenty of restaurants and neighbourhood shops have "just one step" (or two, or three). And if you can get in, the toilet may be up or down a flight of steps, or down a tiny winding corridor. If there is an "accessible" toilet, it is likely to be also being used as a storage room for miscellanous items.

The post office agency that carded parcels are sent to is inaccessible. The nearest post office boxes are at the top of an angled flight of stairs with the top "accessible" step barely wide enough for a wheelchair, and with an ineffective safety barrier only around the second stair from the top. None of this makes any sense.

And so on, and so forth.

I've laid complaints about around two-thirds of the above, including a formal HREOC complaint about post office access. No-one cares. (Beyond the occasional pitying "sucks to be you" look, which is unhelpful.) Yes, it's the law that all of the above should be accessible. The problem is in the way that the law is enforced (or not).

[WT Sharpe]

Woke up today to see a white screen staring at me from my computer monitor. I tried every way I could imagine to get the computer to start in safe mode, but all I could get was a white screen. I'm thinking at this point that there's a problem with my video card, but I could be a virus. Looks like it's time for another trip to the Geek Squad at Best Buy.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Woke up today to see a white screen staring at me from my computer monitor. I tried every way I could imagine to get the computer to start in safe mode, but all I could get was a white screen. I'm thinking at this point that there's a problem with my video card, but I could be a virus. Looks like it's time for another trip to the Geek Squad at Best Buy.

Oh, GOD.

With feeling,
Hitch