The Vent and Rant Thread

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Artificial Intelligence

Shopping-wise things are sort of returning to normal here, I had a podiatry appointment this morning, on my way there I passed a pharmacist that had a 'We have masks and hand sanitiser' sign in the window, so a grabbed some of those - prices weren't too bad. After seeing the podiatrist I caught the bus to a supermarket to get some milk - they had toilet paper, tissues, and paper towels so I grabbed some of them, and the milk but I forgot the stock.

To the 'only 5 at wedding and 10 at funeral' public health order, they've added 'and only 2 on a walk' clause.

In one of our states you were allowed to take your dog for a walk but not your child, and you weren't allowed to sleep with your ----friend if you didn't live together. I think they've 'fixed' both.

BR

I still haven't seen any hand sanitizer in my stores. Other things like toilet paper and bread come and go; if you were desperate for either you might have to go to the store every day trying to hit it at the right time.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

I still haven't seen any hand sanitizer in my stores. Other things like toilet paper and bread come and go; if you were desperate for either you might have to go to the store every day trying to hit it at the right time.

Kind of the same thing here. Most stuff is in stock. My Mom was annoyed that I could only get bleached flour instead of unbleached. I read that bleached works better in pastries, so I'll just use it for pie crust instead and save the unbleached for bread and hamburger buns. She is still anxiety baking, but not quite so much.

I've been bugging my Mom since December to select some new shoes and slippers on Amazon since she won't go to the damn store. Now one shoe has broken and a slipper has a hole in it. So NOW she has to get them and they aren't shipping. She complains every other hour about the sneakers she has to wear (she has not worn them since she retired at 80 from working at the hospital-she is now 86). She hates sneakers.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

I still haven't seen any hand sanitizer in my stores. Other things like toilet paper and bread come and go; if you were desperate for either you might have to go to the store every day trying to hit it at the right time.

If you're enthusiastic, you can make your own with alcohol, tea tree oil (always keep some on hand!) and Aloe Vera gel. There are more complex recipes for "better" hand sanitizer, but the no-frills version works, which is the important part. (n.b. hilariously, a friend of mine had zero Isopropyl, so...he used Vodka.)

Of course, just plain ol' hand-washing works, too, but you can't always do that when you're out and about.

Offered FWIW.

Hitch

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

I still haven't seen any hand sanitizer in my stores. Other things like toilet paper and bread come and go; if you were desperate for either you might have to go to the store every day trying to hit it at the right time.

Pretty much no cleaning products at all except soap. Don't need any paper products, so haven't looked. Otherwise, I think most things are in supply locally. The 5 things we normally buy at Sams Club are still out (eggs, cheese, 10 lb. hamburger, cleaning products), so until the app shows that they are back in, no point in making a risky trip.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Hitch

If you're enthusiastic, you can make your own with alcohol, tea tree oil (always keep some on hand!) and Aloe Vera gel. There are more complex recipes for "better" hand sanitizer, but the no-frills version works, which is the important part. (n.b. hilariously, a friend of mine had zero Isopropyl, so...he used Vodka.)

Of course, just plain ol' hand-washing works, too, but you can't always do that when you're out and about.

Offered FWIW.

Hitch

Vodka isn't strong enough to do the job. This requires at LEAST 60% alcohol (120 proof) to be effective. So save the vodka for a better use.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by Hitch

If you're enthusiastic, you can make your own with alcohol, tea tree oil (always keep some on hand!) and Aloe Vera gel. There are more complex recipes for "better" hand sanitizer, but the no-frills version works, which is the important part. (n.b. hilariously, a friend of mine had zero Isopropyl, so...he used Vodka.)

Of course, just plain ol' hand-washing works, too, but you can't always do that when you're out and about.

Offered FWIW.

Hitch

Alcohol and aloe disappeared from the stores too

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Vodka isn't strong enough to do the job. This requires at LEAST 60% alcohol (120 proof) to be effective. So save the vodka for a better use.

I told him that. I think he decided that with the Tea Tree it would be "better than nothing." He does know someone locally that makes Shine, though, so he might have that by now.

Originally Posted by 4691mls

Alcohol and aloe disappeared from the stores too

Yup. My local grocery is still limiting everything and many items are simply n/a.

Hitch

[Rumpelteazer]

I was at a local supermarket yesterday. They were well stocked, only the pasta shelves were a bit bare, two or three baking products weren't available and there wasn't a lot of choice in toilet paper and paper towels. But all the other things, even the cleaning products, were stocked as normal.

We got our weekly supermarket delivery and the only thing they didn't have was frozen spinach.

The online supermarket has still limits on certain products, the local one didn't.

[BetterRed]

One of the things we're advised to avoid, is touching our faces, particularly when out and about. I 'discovered' that for me at least, wearing defoliating gloves helps achieve that.

[Hitch]

Warning, longish (yeah, yeah, I know, SURPRISE, it's Hitch, and it's gonna be looonng...)

Guy starts emailing me, about...5 weeks ago. Self-published his own paperback and ebooks; did it through Createspace and now, as Createspace is no more, he finds himself as yet another washed-up self-publisher refugee of the Great Createspace Diaspora, aka the CS BoatLift.

So, he has his PDF of his paperback in two-page up mode, which he cannot use at KDP to republish the book. Moreover, he wishes to make some changes to the paperback's print interior and also have those changes made to his eBooks. Okey-dokey. He has a FINISHED cover, that needs a "little tweak" he says.

I quote him for that much work. More emails ensue.

Then, he decides, for expediency, he says he's in too much of a hurry, and can we JUST fix the pdf so that he can publish it as-is, and "fix" his cover? And how much would THAT cost? (grumble).

I tell him. He finds my email confusing (!) and I end up having to repeat the pricing, not once, but twice. Finally, he agrees.Hooray, huzzah, the heavens part and the angels sing. At this point, mind you, it's a $225 contract.

My production assistant puts him into production. We are in the middle of setting that up, wnen I get THIS: (spoilered for a variety of reasons)

Spoiler:

(this is cc:ed to other people, XXX and YYYY, of whom I have never heard and with whom I have never corresponded, spoken, etc.]

I need your help. Please!!
1. They can restore the paperback to the original. She [he's talking about moi] runs a book formatting/publishing business and for a reasonable price will restore the ZZZZZ book.
2. XXXX is the coauthor and YYYYY is XXXX's daughter and computer guru.
3. What I need from you XXXX is the money to do it (less than $400). So, [Hitch], please send the bill to XXX to get it all started.
[snipped stuff for irrelevance to this rant]

WHAT?

What?

So, TWENTY emails into this and he never, never had the money to pay us, in the first bl00dy place? REALLY?

Twenty emails, for a few hundred bucks that he never had? What happens if XXX says NO???

Oh, and OUR fees are $225, not $400, which makes my eyebrows climb up into my hairline, too.

Not to mention, some guy telling me to send an invoice to some OTHER guy and his daughter...

I'm just....boggled. Utterly boggled.

There are days, it's hard not to root for the virus, selectively applied, of course....



Hitch

[HLS]

To get cleaners, paper towels, T-paper best is to go to the store when they first open and it's well-stocked. At my store, they hand it out to you 1 package per person, Another store here well stocks at night and store is full when they open in the morning

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by HLS

To get cleaners, paper towels, T-paper best is to go to the store when they first open and it's well-stocked. At my store, they hand it out to you 1 package per person, Another store here well stocks at night and store is full when they open in the morning

Here, the first hour (7-8 AM) of trade is reserved for oldies, which includes me. I tried that -- once.

I encountered a horde of ill-tempered old couples pushing enormous trolleys they either couldn't manage, or were deliberately using as bulldozers. I ventured into two aisles where I collected a couple of items and bruises, neither of which I really needed, and headed for the checkouts - which were empty

It puzzles me why TPTB assume it's appropriate for old people to get up at 5:30 AM, do their ablutions, have a cuppa , get dressed, take their meds, and walk 20 minutes each way to the supermarket in the early morning cold drizzle, while the X-Y-Z generations are lolling around in warm beds watching Wetflux.

Yeah I know, get home delivery... tried that too, took three days to deliver. Some items were missing, some were inappropriately substituted -- Parmesan dust for shaved Parmesan, Iceberg lettuce for Cos (Romaine). And there were 'complimentary' items I wouldn't buy in month of Sundays - sugar and salt laden snacks - I eat to live not to die.

No OK Boomer responses allowed, I'm older than that - Beat generation

---

There's new version of Firefox, its only claim to fame is some enhancements to search - what's the point of that, when so many people couldn't be arsed to search for a sock in their own sock drawer .

Take care everyone.

BR

[badgoodDeb]

Three days to deliver is pretty good! My BF is seeing 5-6 days, if he can get an "appointment" at all with a delivery person. But yeah, he had to explain to "shopper" that creamed corn is different from canned corn. And whole milk is not the same as 2% milk.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

There's new version of Firefox, its only claim to fame is some enhancements to search - what's the point of that, when so many people couldn't be arsed to search for a sock in their own sock drawer .

Well, a new search bar, whose claim to fame seems to be larger size for better use on small screens, like notebooks.

And lots of annoyed "How do I put this back like it was?" questions in online forums.

No, Mozilla, the whole world is not only using Firefox on mobile devices...
______
Dennis

[badgoodDeb]

And what on earth are "container tabs" and do I care?