The Vent and Rant Thread

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Better still, a real man isn't afraid to sit down on a normal toilet. Actually, it is quite necessary if you have a toilet with a plateau (how's that called in English? The one where your stuff actually stays put until you flush), because you'll not only splatter the bathroom, but probably yourself as well.

I have heard them referred to as a viewing shelf or inspection shelf. They are NOT something I have ever seen in the US and I didn't think they were that common in most of Europe either. Germany being the most common exception.

For others, the shelf is so that things can be inspected prior to flushing. It is supposed to help you keep track of your intestinal health better. I'm not going into more detail.

If anyone really wants to see what the shelf is search for "german toilet" but remember, you are looking for toilet pictures on the internet... be careful.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I have heard them referred to as a viewing shelf or inspection shelf. They are NOT something I have ever seen in the US and I didn't think they were that common in most of Europe either. Germany being the most common exception.

For others, the shelf is so that things can be inspected prior to flushing. It is supposed to help you keep track of your intestinal health better. I'm not going into more detail.

If anyone really wants to see what the shelf is search for "german toilet" but remember, you are looking for toilet pictures on the internet... be careful.

I shall pass thank you very much.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by issybird

So in the name of equality and health, I implore you: Put that lid down. It's there for a reason.

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

So much this. Or, as I've put it...

Men: leave the seat up

Women: leave the seat down

me: put the seat AND lid down, you filthy animals

I am 100% with you (and I'm a dude, for those keeping score).

I grew up with the attached framed in our downstairs bathroom.

[Rumpelteazer]

Next week I'm doing my laundry at home. Yesterday I did my laundry at my friends' place and when done it smells incredibly musty. Last night I ended up spraying my sleep shirt with pillow mist to get rid of the worst of the mustiness. On inspection it looks like the washing machine is the culprit and needs a very thorough cleaning. However, I don't consider that to be my job as house sitter. So next week I'll take my laundry home, so I can wash it and dry it whilst working.

[Blossom]

I'm blessed with a husband who almost never leaves the seat up and wipes the ring and back of seat after going #1

In the 18 years we've been together he only left it up a few times and he was either really sick or half asleep.

Sent from my XT1528

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I'm blessed with a husband who almost never leaves the seat up and wipes the ring and back of seat after going #1

In the 18 years we've been together he only left it up a few times and he was either really sick or half asleep.

Sent from my XT1528

Mine does sometimes if half asleep too.

Oh here are some hugs.

[Katsunami]

The router in my dad's (huge-ass) home has poor WLAN connection. I advised a professional Ubiquiti access point, but my dad didn't want to spend the €100 for the AP and the 15m UTP cable, didn't want to run the cable, and decided to not spend more than €50.

I got the best power plug I could for €50, and installed it. (This was months ago.) Seemed to work fine... but not after it has been up for some time. Then it either disconnects, or stalls the connection. If you disconnect and reconnect the device, it works again.

Also, maximum speed was 45 Mbps (at best), even though the internet connection is 150 Mbps. Yeah. Just cut 67% off your speed.

I got tired of him calling and complaining about the bad connection, so yesterday I ordered a Ubiquiti and a 15m cable for €100 (on his bank account), and installed it today. I've disabled the router's wifi.

It runs at 149.75 Mbps on my laptop; it possibly can go faster, but I can't test it because the internet connection is maxed out. Assuming it lives up to its reputation of stability and enterprise-level reliability, I hope I never have to touch the network again.

I wonder what to do with the Sitecom power plug. Consumer-grade crap. When dealing with IT-hardware, if it's not business or even enterprise-grade stuff, I don't buy it, because it always has problems, even if the reviews are good. They probably only test the device for half an hour, and it works fine, but as said, it gets really wonky after it has been up some time.

(Same for laptops and mainboards: I never buy the newest of the newest. Everything I buy is at least on the market for 6-12 months, so BIOS-es, firmwares, and drivers get debugged... and sometimes, even hardware gets revised. Because I don't buy the bleeding edge, I normally don't have problems. Most of the problems I have are manufacturers 'simplifying' software, and 'making it more user friendly' and more 'modern' by scrapping half of its features. Such as Windows, with regard to ripping out about 95% of its GUI customization options.)

[Katsunami]

And he's still putting up the AP's wall mount... it's only four screws, for god's sake.

First problem: the house has plastered walls, in 80's style, with swirls, and bumps, and knobs and stuff.... like this, but in white. When he finally mounted the wall bracket, about 2 hours after I installed the AP, I couldn't get it to click in place on the bracket because the wall is in the way. The swirls are too thick.

So, first, a 4x4 inch board as to be drilled against the wall, and the wall bracket goes against that. That is taking another three hours. Search for a drill... then the drill bit... then a different size... search for plugs. Screws. A board... then the saw to actually saw it. And so on.

And I can't do it any faster, because I don't know where all of his stuff is. (How should I know, if he doesn't?) If I'd had a car, I'd have brought everything myself. In toolboxes. Sorted. And complete. I'd have been done in half an hour or so.

Edit: He's quitting, after jackassing around for at least 5 hours now. Results: 1 4x4 inch board sawed, and 8 holes drilled (in the wall, and in the board), without being able to actually find enough screws that fit.

It's the entire reason why I'm convinced that too many older people are sitting in houses too big for them. If even small stuff such as this is taking three hours, larger maintenance tasks will take months. I'll be going home. I wonder if that AP is in place somewhere next week... without destroying the entire wall.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

And he's still putting up the AP's wall mount... it's only four screws, for god's sake.

First problem: the house has plastered walls, in 80's style, with swirls, and bumps, and knobs and stuff.... like this, but in white. When he finally mounted the wall bracket, about 2 hours after I installed the AP, I couldn't get it to click in place on the bracket because the wall is in the way. The swirls are too thick.

So, first, a 4x4 inch board as to be drilled against the wall, and the wall bracket goes against that. That is taking another three hours. Search for a drill... then the drill bit... then a different size... search for plugs. Screws. A board... then the saw to actually saw it. And so on.

And I can't do it any faster, because I don't know where all of his stuff is. (How should I know, if he doesn't?) If I'd had a car, I'd have brought everything myself. In toolboxes. Sorted. And complete. I'd have been done in half an hour or so.

Edit: He's quitting, after jackassing around for at least 5 hours now. Results: 1 4x4 inch board sawed, and 8 holes drilled (in the wall, and in the board), without being able to actually find enough screws that fit.

It's the entire reason why I'm convinced that too many older people are sitting in houses too big for them. If even small stuff such as this is taking three hours, larger maintenance tasks will take months. I'll be going home. I wonder if that AP is in place somewhere next week... without destroying the entire wall.

Hey child,
Just because your dad can't do anything is no reason to think all older people are like that.
My husband is about your father's age. He knows where his tools are. He knows how to put up a bracket. Heck, he has redone many buildings.
Just because you only associate with stupid people where you livedoes not make everyone else over the age of 50 stupid.
Let me put it this way. Half the people in this forum are old enough to have changed your diapers. There are several very brilliant people here at Mobileread that could have changed your mama's diaper.
I do sympathize with you on the parent thing. My mom could put up a bracket, but I doubt she could do the technical stuff.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Hey child,
Just because your dad can't do anything is no reason to think all older people are like that.
My husband is about your father's age. He knows where his tools are. He knows how to put up a bracket. Heck, he has redone many buildings.
Just because you only associate with stupid people where you livedoes not make everyone else over the age of 50 stupid.
Let me put it this way. Half the people in this forum are old enough to have changed your diapers. There are several very brilliant people here at Mobileread that could have changed your mama's diaper.
I do sympathize with you on the parent thing. My mom could put up a bracket, but I doubt she could do the technical stuff.

I didn't say "all older people."

My dad was perfectly able to put up a bracket, 5 years ago. At that time he'd probably be able to do almost anything he wanted if he cared to. He's just becoming less and less interested in whatever needs doing. There wasn't a lot of difference between him at 60 and at 75, but now at 78, he seems as if he's 95 sometimes.

He isn't stupid either; it's his interest in doing stuff that needs doing which is at about -20 degrees, and he doesn't care. If something needs to be done, for whatever reason, he's forgotten where all of his stuff is (and how it works) because he hasn't used it for years.

After he finally finds all the parts (screws, plugs, drills of the right sizes, a drill actually powerful enough, calipers, and so on), he'll be able to mount the bracket. That's not the point It's the finding the parts stuff (and then finding out how they work) that's taking ages and ages.

I don't even want to think what could happen in case of an emergency.

Therefore, IMHO, he and other older people like him shouldn't be living alone in such a large houses anymore. I think, however, convincing him to move will be harder than trying to get hell to freeze over.

It's neither the fact that he's old that bothers me, nor that he has problems doing things. What bothers me is the fact that he doesn't care and sees no need to change anything and denies he needs help with certain things.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I didn't say "all older people."

My dad was perfectly able to put up a bracket, 5 years ago. At that time he'd probably be able to do almost anything he wanted if he cared to. He's just becoming less and less interested in whatever needs doing. There wasn't a lot of difference between him at 60 and at 75, but now at 78, he seems like 95.

He isn't stupid either; it's his interest in doing stuff that needs doing which is at about -20 degrees, and he doesn't care. If something needs to be done, for whatever reason, he's forgotten where all of his stuff is (and how it works) because he hasn't used it for years.

After he finally finds all the parts (screws, plugs, drills of the right sizes, a drill actually powerful enough, calipers, and so on), he'll be able to mount the bracket. It's the finding the parts stuff (and then finding out how they work) that's taking ages and ages.

I don't even want to think what could happen in case of an emergency.

Therefore, IMHO, he and other older people like him shouldn't be living alone in such a large houses anymore. I think, however, convincing him to move will be harder than trying to get hell to freeze over.

It was just your wording that got to me.
He is also a bit older than I was thinking.
I guess part of your post that irritated me was the fact that my 98 year old aunt who was still doing pretty much everything she ever did except cooking and the dishes (she made her daughter start doing that about 10 years ago) died earlier today.
Anyway, good luck with dad, it sounds like a bit of depression to me. How long has your mom been gone?

[Cinisajoy]

Oh that last part says it all. I suffer from the same thing on the no I don't need help. Let me just find a work around. Because you know picking up 18 kg of water is no big deal with a hurt arm. (A 20 liter jug of water. Hubby was not amused when he got home.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

It was just your wording that got to me.

Understandable; my wording may even be harsher than I intended because I'm irritated myself, seeing someone running around the house, scrounging up 20 year old tools (sometimes not working) trying to saw a board, drill a few holes, and put in a few screws.

When offering to spend a day organizing all that stuff and replacing tools that don't work properly because the batteries are 20 years old, the reply is akin to: "Why? Everything's just fine." THAT is what irritates me most. He has gobs and gobs of money, and he has the skills because he was a construction worker for 25 years and built entire houses from scratch. After replacing all that old crap and organizing it, something like mounting a bracket wouldn't take him more than 20-30 minutes, but he _just doesn't care_.

Same with hearing loss. He has hearing loss related to old age. Nothing major. Instead of going for a good hearing aid (reimbursed for 75% or so by his insurance; and the rest is peanuts, compared to his savings), he just doesn't care; in his view, everybody just doesn't talk loud enough.

(Note that he actually did manage to mount that bracket, but it didn't work because the swirls on the wall are, at some points, deeper than the bracket is thick, so I can't get the AP to rotate into place.)

I guess part of your post that irritated me was the fact that my 98 year old aunt who was still doing pretty much everything she ever did except cooking and the dishes (she made her daughter start doing that about 10 years ago) died earlier today.

Sorry to hear that. Good luck with that loss.

Anyway, good luck with dad, it sounds like a bit of depression to me. How long has your mom been gone?

She's been gone (as in divorced, not dead) for 20 years almost to the date.

As far as I can see it's not a depression; it's more like an "I don't need to do anything because I'm old now (and thus have deserved not to do anything anymore), and if you don't like it, too bad for you"-attitude.

[Katsunami]

You seemed to ninja-quote before I posted the addition in the edit.

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Oh that last part says it all. I suffer from the same thing on the no I don't need help. Let me just find a work around. Because you know picking up 18 kg of water is no big deal with a hurt arm. (A 20 liter jug of water. Hubby was not amused when he got home.

Stuff like that, indeed.

I visit, dad walks around like a cripple.

"What happened? What's wrong?"
- "Nothing."

After badgering him, he confesses he's moved a 30 kg bag of bird sand/seed into his aviary. Again. (He's been breeding birds for 50 years, one of the things he still cares about, and stuff like sand and seed is delivered at home by a specialized bird store.) The aviary is in the back of the garden, about 50m away from the house.

Just get yourself a trolley, put the sack on it or better, shove the trolley under it, and wheel it into the aviary. Suggesting it just begets anger.

WHY does he think it's a good idea, lifting a 30 kg sack on his shoulders at 78, carrying it 50 meters if he*knows* it'll make you walk like a cripple for five days? Why not use the solution of getting a €25 trolley which will last the rest of his life and ease that task considerably?

I don't understand. Is using a trolley at his age some sort of a loss of manliness to him or something? I can only tell you that if *I* had to move a sack like that every 10-14 days for that distance, *I* would be using a trolley even though I'm just in my mid-thirties and can lift 30 kgs with ease.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

You seemed to ninja-quote before I posted the addition in the edit.



Stuff like that, indeed.

I visit, dad walks around like a cripple.

"What happened? What's wrong?"
- "Nothing."

After badgering him, he confesses he's moved a 30 kg bag of bird sand/seed into his aviary. Again. (He's been breeding birds for 50 years, one of the things he still cares about, and stuff like sand and seed is delivered at home by a specialized bird store.) The aviary is in the back of the garden, about 50m away from the house.

Just get yourself a trolley, put the sack on it or better, shove the trolley under it, and wheel it into the aviary. Suggesting it just begets anger.

WHY does he think it's a good idea, lifting a 30 kg sack on his shoulders at 78, carrying it 50 meters if he*knows* it'll make you walk like a cripple for five days? Why not use the solution of getting a €25 trolley which will last the rest of his life and ease that task considerably?

I don't understand. Is using a trolley at his age some sort of a loss of manliness to him or something? I can only tell you that if *I* had to move a sack like that every 10-14 days for that distance, *I* would be using a trolley even though I'm just in my mid-thirties and can lift 30 kgs with ease.

Did you say a 20 year old battery? That is just stupid to think it would work.

Can you send him somewhere for a few days and just replace the stuff?

Or I may have an idea for you. Can you just borrow something old and return with something similar and new?

I'm 50 and I would use a trolley.
Oh and what I did to my arm was run over a door frame with it. That elbow has been finicky since I was two. It is slightly dislocated at the moment.