The Vent and Rant Thread

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

The lights in the grocery store change to 70ies disco style.
Background music changes to Baccara.
The whole line behind Hitch starts singing:

<snippage to spare all of us "of a certain age..."

OMG, thanks. Now, not only am I officially <mumble, mumble OLD mumble mumble> Forfrackssake, I have an awful earworm. This calls for retaliation, with a WMD (A worm of musical destruction):

Midnight at the Oasis!!!! Take THAT!

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I recognized the song these lyrics where based on within the first three lines. It confirms to me that I've heard too much bad music in the past

Therefore, I hate you for pointing that out to me

Surely, you heard it third-hand. You're not old enough to have heard it the first time around. (Right?) That's a Euro-Disco tune, too; I think not one person out of 50 would know it here, if they hadn't lived over the pond around that time. That's the only reason I recognized it instantly.

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

That is hilarious, Hitch. "Let the Wookie win."

I was with myt OLDER cousin's second baby once and a cashier asked me if she was my grandbaby. I. Was. 29.

OMG, the pain!!! I woulda ripped off those arms, for sure. (Shooting at her, not you. Grandbaby? Sheesh!!!)

Originally Posted by wodin

You know when your getting a little long in the tooth when they just go ahead and deduct the senior discount without asking.

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

A friend in Boston is a major Star Wars fan, and does a splendid Wookie voice.

Wish I did. I suspect that my version--which, I swear, wasn't intentional at ALL--was wounded Wookie. Or, Chewbacca learns that [insert traumatic event here--don't want to spoil stuff for anyone]. But, even though I'm no impressionist, it sounded like a damn Wookie. I would have been embarrassed about that...if I wasn't already mortified over the whole SENIOR DAY thing to begin with.

I just say "Oh, right. You're from that island off the south continent on Kashyyyk. They talk funny there."
______
Dennis

<snort> Sorry for all the emoties, gang, but I'm runnin'-and-gunnin' today, work-wise. Just crazy busy.

(Thanks to you all. It helps to laugh..I think...)


Hitch

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Well, folks, this story isn't really a rant. Or a vent. It's more, well, something else altogether. Not only that, but I learned something important about my own antecedents and genetics. A Twofer!

There I was, standing in the checkout line of the local greengrocers, after a rather long day, heading into a longer night. I'd come from my doc's office, and I'd had a wee medical procedure. Not much, mind you, but..y'know. A little numbing there, a little here, and maybe, just maybe, you're not on top of your game.

It's rush hour, on top of everything else. The lines are extremely--extremely--long. I finally get to the cashier, I've risked life and limb loading and unloading the cursed cart, and I'm ready to swipe my chipped card, right?

The cashier, a mature lady, looks up at me, BEAMS like a lighthouse, and says "Oh, GREAT news!"

I look up at her, thinking..."uh....price of eggs go down?"

And she announces--loudly enough to be heard from one end of the store to the other...smiling like a drunken Cheshire cat.."It's SENIOR DAY!!!"

I think I blinked once, and then my mouth opened, and this ungodly sound came out. Loudly, incoherently, and worse, In Public. They probably heard me back in the damn dairy section.

I swear, until that moment, I had no idea that I was part Wookie.

Before you ask...yes, she still has her arms.

(Worse? Behind me, two carts back, some guy is now ROLLING with laughter. Meanwhile, the woman immediately behind me, who looks almost EXACTLY like a 48ish Annette Funicello, perks up and announces "I'm 69!" I considered shooting both of them, but...I figured that the local constabulary might frown on my concept of "imminent harm" and "self-defense.")



Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........ ...


Hitch

You were visiting me in Texas. Nowhere near that market. It was just somebody that looked like you. Remember to wipe the prints. . .

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Hitch

OMG, thanks. Now, not only am I officially <mumble, mumble OLD mumble mumble> Forfrackssake, I have an awful earworm. This calls for retaliation, with a WMD (A worm of musical destruction):

Midnight at the Oasis!!!! Take THAT!

Ah. Maria Muldaur.

Maria and husband Geoff Muldaur started out in Boston's Jim Kweskin Jug Band, then recorded a couple of albums as Geoff and Maria Muldaur, and Maria then had solo success. Pretty sure I have the vinyl.

If you like "roots" music, it's good stuff.

Wish I did. I suspect that my version--which, I swear, wasn't intentional at ALL--was wounded Wookie. Or, Chewbacca learns that [insert traumatic event here--don't want to spoil stuff for anyone]. But, even though I'm no impressionist, it sounded like a damn Wookie. I would have been embarrassed about that...if I wasn't already mortified over the whole SENIOR DAY thing to begin with.

I'm of the age where senior discounts get applied automatically. I could likely prevent it by dying my hair, but I'm beyond caring.

(I've had two different people tell me I looked like Mark Twain. I just thanked them politely and said it would be nice if I could write like him...)
______
Dennis

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Surely, you heard it third-hand. You're not old enough to have heard it the first time around. (Right?) That's a Euro-Disco tune, too; I think not one person out of 50 would know it here, if they hadn't lived over the pond around that time. That's the only reason I recognized it instantly.

No, I'm not old enough However, my mom was in her twenties in the 70's, and she was into 70's disco songs, pop songs, and, to what we now call evergreens or oldies. Music from... 1955-1980 or so. Therefore I know all those old songs.

[Rumpelteazer]

On Sunday my sister and I are going to Bruges for a couple of days. Up until a couple of days ago the various weather services predicted temperatures between 20C and 25C. Which are okay temperatures for what we want to do (shopping and sightseeing). However, at the moment they predict it will be 29C to 30C. Not good, especially since I had planned on doing some clothes shopping, including a winter coat.

I don't do heat well when I have to be active. So I've already told my sister we're going to take it very easy and eat lots of ice creams. A lot of the buildings, bridges and other places my sister would like to see are outside, so I'm going to propose to get up extra early and do those things first and do the shopping, cultural things and Choco World during the day and hope those buildings have airconditioning.

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

On Sunday my sister and I are going to Bruges for a couple of days. Up until a couple of days ago the various weather services predicted temperatures between 20C and 25C. Which are okay temperatures for what we want to do (shopping and sightseeing). However, at the moment they predict it will be 29C to 30C. Not good, especially since I had planned on doing some clothes shopping, including a winter coat.

I don't do heat well when I have to be active. So I've already told my sister we're going to take it very easy and eat lots of ice creams. A lot of the buildings, bridges and other places my sister would like to see are outside, so I'm going to propose to get up extra early and do those things first and do the shopping, cultural things and Choco World during the day and hope those buildings have airconditioning.

I really enjoyed Bruges the one time I was able to visit it for a day. This was in late summer of either 1985 or 1986. It's mention does bring one memory of an event that still sits bad with me. One of the things for tourists to do was to take a boat trip though the city while a guide provides a running commentary. People were lined up waiting so that boats would quickly fill and depart. So I arrived at the head of the line just as I would be the last person that would fit onboard. In perfect English the boat operator invited me to board. Then we were off and for the entire trip he gave his spiel in French and German, but not a word in English. I guess it was the the time of hate Americans?

Hope that you enjoy your trip. 25 C? That's only 77 F. That's a very pleasant summer day in most of the USA.

[Katsunami]

For people interested in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update 100% HDD load problem:

I have installed the Intel Rapid Storage Technology drivers, and since then, I haven't had a hard disk hang. Later I've also reinstalled the laptop from scratch, also installing IRST, and everything is looking good at the moment.

While IRST offers some special features, such as setting up RAID-solutions on a single disk (I don't know what the point of that is, but still...), you don't have to use those. Just installing IRST replaces the default Microsoft driver.

Obviously, you'll need to have an Intel chipset that supports IRST. On AMD, you may be able to use an AMD chipset / hard disk driver to replace the Microsoft one.

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

I really enjoyed Bruges the one time I was able to visit it for a day. This was in late summer of either 1985 or 1986. It's mention does bring one memory of an event that still sits bad with me. One of the things for tourists to do was to take a boat trip though the city while a guide provides a running commentary. People were lined up waiting so that boats would quickly fill and depart. So I arrived at the head of the line just as I would be the last person that would fit onboard. In perfect English the boat operator invited me to board. Then we were off and for the entire trip he gave his spiel in French and German, but not a word in English. I guess it was the the time of hate Americans?

Hope that you enjoy your trip. 25 C? That's only 77 F. That's a very pleasant summer day in most of the USA.

Thank for the tip about the boat tour, my sister had put it on the possible-things-to-do list and if we take a boat trip we'll make sure it's going to be in a language we understand.

Normal temperatures for this time a year are around 20C, maybe a bit higher. Tomorrows 23C is a good temperature for travelling, but the 28C to 32C of the next three days (depending on which weather service you want to believe) is too hot for my taste.

The current plan for Monday and Tuesday is to get up early, have an early as breakfast as possible and do the active stuff, such as sightseeing outside and clothes shopping, in the morning and take it easy during the hot hours of the day.

I'm glad I bought sunscreen spray a couple of weeks ago and not the umbrella I thought I was more likely to need.

[Rumpelteazer]

Haven't heard back from 4 cousins if the want to have drinks after scattering our grandmother's ashes. It could be a big group, so next week I want to book a table for us. I don't expect to hear from one cousin, the other cousins I've send a reminder.

Also, the high temperatures make my eczema flare up. Both don't contribute to my mood tonight.

[Katsunami]

Well... it seems my internet connection is cursed. I'm having problems with ordering items from different stores for several months now. There is always at least one item in the order that is:

- The wrong item
- Incomplete
- Damaged
- Utterly broken
- Not as expected (like: getting rave reviews, and then I find a glaring fault within minutes after using it... such as an IPS screen with *so much* IPS glow that its viewing angles effectively got reduced from 178% to a TN-like 165%...)

Today, I received my Kobo Aura ONE (which, thankfully, only contains the Kobo firmware issues I was already aware of)... but they sent me a 7 inch sleeve, instead of the 8 inch version I've ordered. Now I'll have to return it as a wrong item and order again.

This is ridiculous; every (significant) order I've placed in the last several months has had *something* wrong with it.

I don't like having a large, thin device such as an e-reader lying around without protection. Even within the sleeve I won't take it out of the house in public transport; I'll wait until I can either get a third party cover, or the original Kobo one.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by wodin

You know when your getting a little long in the tooth when they just go ahead and deduct the senior discount without asking.

I never say a word. Why should I embarrass the cashier?
Note I am half a century with salt and pepper hair.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Thank for the tip about the boat tour, my sister had put it on the possible-things-to-do list and if we take a boat trip we'll make sure it's going to be in a language we understand.

Normal temperatures for this time a year are around 20C, maybe a bit higher. Tomorrows 23C is a good temperature for travelling, but the 28C to 32C of the next three days (depending on which weather service you want to believe) is too hot for my taste.

I have to confess, those temps sound downright lovely to me. 84-86F? Gosh. Over here, people nearly kill each other to overpopulate a spot with weather like that (L.A. and San Diego), and they're certainly both hotter than that in the summer. It's "cool" here, today, in AZ--only 95F or 35C. We have another 5 weeks of summer, here, to get through, before the third week of October arrives, and saves us all. It's like clockwork--everybody starts talking about how "it's cooling down" in September--but that's horsepucky. It finally really cools down to "tahllable" [tolerable] at the 3rd week of October. THEN? then it's down to..you guessed it. 85 or so; 29-30C. :-)

Jealously,

Hitch

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I have to confess, those temps sound downright lovely to me. 84-86F? Gosh. Over here, people nearly kill each other to overpopulate a spot with weather like that (L.A. and San Diego), and they're certainly both hotter than that in the summer. It's "cool" here, today, in AZ--only 95F or 35C. We have another 5 weeks of summer, here, to get through, before the third week of October arrives, and saves us all. It's like clockwork--everybody starts talking about how "it's cooling down" in September--but that's horsepucky. It finally really cools down to "tahllable" [tolerable] at the 3rd week of October. THEN? then it's down to..you guessed it. 85 or so; 29-30C. :-)

Jealously,

Hitch

This but from Texas.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I have to confess, those temps sound downright lovely to me. 84-86F? Gosh. Over here, people nearly kill each other to overpopulate a spot with weather like that (L.A. and San Diego), and they're certainly both hotter than that in the summer. It's "cool" here, today, in AZ--only 95F or 35C. We have another 5 weeks of summer, here, to get through, before the third week of October arrives, and saves us all. It's like clockwork--everybody starts talking about how "it's cooling down" in September--but that's horsepucky. It finally really cools down to "tahllable" [tolerable] at the 3rd week of October. THEN? then it's down to..you guessed it. 85 or so; 29-30C. :-)

Years back, my then employer sent me to Alamogordo, NM. They were opening a new facility there, and I was part of the tech team making it live. When I first got informed, my reaction was "You want me to got to NM in July when the temperature can go over 100F?" Indeed, it got that hot, but the relative humidity was 10 or 15%, and while it was hot, I could deal with it. I called back to NYC and spoke to the SO, and it was 90F, 100% humidity, and she was dying. I said "It sounds like I got the better deal..."

I was bemused that the hotel I was booked into had a heated pool. The Front Desk Manager didn't understand it either, but that was what the owner wanted, so... While I was talking to him, a woman came up to the desk with her 12 year old son to complain about it too. He'd just taken a dip and looked like a freshly boiled lobster.

Alamogordo was a small town a hundred miles from anywhere. Getting there involved flying to El Paso and taking a shuttle 90 miles north. I knew how far away from anything I was when my pager stopped working.

I did get to see the famous White Sands, and the local Air and Space Museum with stuff like the rocket sled Air Force Col. Andy Stapp set a record for G forces endured in. (And had long term vision problems due to detached retinas in consequence.)

When I got back to NY, people were making joking noises about transferring me to NM. My response was "Fine. First, you double my salary. Then, you pay my relocation expenses, and my housing costs while living there. Also, you pay for my T1 line to the Internet, my charge account at the local book and record store, and my supplies of really good drugs, because Alamogordo is a small town a hundred miles from anywhere and I'll go up the wall in about two weeks flat otherwise."

I found out later that another site on the short list for the facility had been Shreveport, LA. I'd been in Shreveport a couple of decades previous, and had it gotten the nod I might have flatly refused to go.
______
Dennis

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Years back, my then employer sent me to Alamogordo, NM. They were opening a new facility there, and I was part of the tech team making it live. When I first got informed, my reaction was "You want me to got to NM in July when the temperature can go over 100F?" Indeed, it got that hot, but the relative humidity was 10 or 15%, and while it was hot, I could deal with it. I called back to NYC and spoke to the SO, and it was 90F, 100% humidity, and she was dying. I said "It sounds like I got the better deal..."

I was bemused that the hotel I was booked into had a heated pool. The Front Desk Manager didn't understand it either, but that was what the owner wanted, so... While I was talking to him, a woman came up to the desk with her 12 year old son to complain about it too. He'd just taken a dip and looked like a freshly boiled lobster.

Alamogordo was a small town a hundred miles from anywhere. Getting there involved flying to El Paso and taking a shuttle 90 miles north. I knew how far away from anything I was when my pager stopped working.

I did get to see the famous White Sands, and the local Air and Space Museum with stuff like the rocket sled Air Force Col. Andy Stapp set a record for G forces endured in. (And had long term vision problems due to detached retinas in consequence.)

When I got back to NY, people were making joking noises about transferring me to NM. My response was "Fine. First, you double my salary. Then, you pay my relocation expenses, and my housing costs while living there. Also, you pay for my T1 line to the Internet, my charge account at the local book and record store, and my supplies of really good drugs, because Alamogordo is a small town a hundred miles from anywhere and I'll go up the wall in about two weeks flat otherwise."

I found out later that another site on the short list for the facility had been Shreveport, LA. I'd been in Shreveport a couple of decades previous, and had it gotten the nod I might have flatly refused to go.
______
Dennis

I just looked. Other than El Paso, I think your mileage was way way off.