Crankypants crabcakes thread!

I am annoyed most of the time these days :-( I am trying to find ways to lift my mood... LT has been very therapeutic lately!

Bummer! Ours did the same thing 3 years ago today. The first one was in the house 22 years. The second oven didn't last 5 years -- American-made, too.

Have you considered deep-frying the turkey? I've never done it, but it's ~THE~ way to do it here in Texas, I'm told (over and over and over again). When I've finally had enough, I simply remind them that there were 2 sides that fought in the Civil War -- the Yankees, and the LOSERS!!!!

Oh, you poor BLEEEEP.
:o/
Didn't you already replace that once?

So sorry...

#2 - I've never had a deep fried turkey, but I may be one of the remaining few in Georgia who has not. We'll fry just about anything in Georgia! :)

JPB - I'm sorry about the oven.

Sorry about your oven JPB

Here is my crankypants rant... I work at a call center (a mental health crisis line) and one of my co-workers does not answer the phone leaving the rest of us to do her work. When she does finally answer her obligitory call of the night she finds a way to pass it off onto someone else. I am a behavior health tech and she is a clinician (therapist... above me) and when I need help and I need to pass a call along, she refuses to take it. Our supervisor drops hints for her to take on more work, but she pays lip service and still does nothing. She sucks!!!
Wow, I knid of feel better! I may just stop answering my phone now. Passive resistance!

people who don't do their share of the work suck!

My crankiness is all about my elderly dog needing more vet services and the vet's charge so much money! He desperately needs teeth cleaning and in prep I have to pay for expensive blood work, and now that's turned up some abnormal readings so we need to do an x-ray and urine analysis before we do the teeth. The whole shebang is costing about $1000 which I actually don't have! WAAAAAAAA! f..'in WAAAAAA.

JPB--Go out for Chinese!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvQ7mTEq8-0

Darn copyright, the video doesn't exist anymore.

Oh well. Now I'm cranky about that.

What I meant to say was,

"Deck the halls with boughs of horry, ra ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra.

maggie, I'm sorry about your doggie. :(

#8 I'd rather poke out my eye!

I hate it when people in apartment buildings (or anything similar) play their music really, really loud with no consideration for their neighbors. Hello, we all live in the same building! I don't want to hear your music!!

>7 maggie1944:: I just had to bring one of my kitties to the animal clinic because she has a torn diaphragm. The whole surgery and 4-day-stay in the clinic costs me 2500 Swiss Francs (roughly $2000). The cat is only 7 years old and will be okay again afterwards so I decided to pay the money. But it's an outrageous amount of money.
But my crankiness isn't even about the money. It's about my roommate. The cat is actually his and he didn't want to pay for it. He'd rather have him euthanized than pay for the surgery. So I said I'll pay because I just can't kill a sweet cat like him just because of the money. I love that cat and the cat is actually also more attached to me than to him. So money isn't really an issue for me.
But now that cat is mine. I will not let my roommate take that cat with him ever. Or any of the others. He just doesn't care for them enough. It was also me who noticed that something was wrong with the cat and called the vet.
So, yeah, cranky and pissed is what I am today as well.

I'll vent because my wife is working full-time for Rite-Aid Pharmacy while I'm finishing seminary. Anywho they are open thanksgiving day and so she has to work and we can't go see family.
Also the SOB's are subtly trying to cut her hours so they can get rid of full-timers and get rid of her benefits. Luckily she has a good boss who's doing all he can to keep her full-time.
I hate the corporate mentality of doing anything to make more money, including screwing your workers over. I gues wal-mart is the new business model. God bless america.
Anyways, at least we have good friends who are coming over, and she is doing well there and may get put on salary soon as a manger. Hmm.. this does feel good. thanks JPB

OK, I'm mad about Thalia's roommate being such a shitty cat-owner. The idea that someone would rather just kill an innocent animal than do what can be done to treat it and give it several more years of happy, healthy life just pisses me off. Grrrr.

(I'd be happy to come over and beat him up, Thalia.)

A couple of years ago a simple abscessed tooth on one of my cats turned into a $2500 vet bill. I never considered not paying it even though I wiped out what savings I had at the time. Kudos to you Thalia for stepping in and taking care of the poor kitty. Thank goodness he had you!

I actually don't have a rant today, the day's good. Of course it's early....

>14 philosojerk: & 15: Thank you! Thank god I won't be living with my roommate for that much longer. But the cats will definitely stay here. A person like him just shouldn't have pets, period.
I could beat him up myself, philosojerk. He's a very skinny guy...

Anyway, I just got a call from the clinic and the surgery went well. We'll know within the next 48 hours how well he'll recover. So that actually makes me happy.

This here is my baby that "someone" wanted to kill:

# 16

He looks like a wonderful creature. One thing I simply cannot tolerate is cruelty/neglect towards animals. I hope he makes a full recovery from surgery.

On a lighter note,

What makes me cranky is when certain books in a series are first published in different formats than their counterparts. Being an obsessive person, I have to have all the same publisher's editions of a particular series. This sometimes means waiting a year or more for the "correct" edition to be published.

Booboo kitties!

I am also cranky because my professors made me go to class today... the day before Thanksgiving... the day that I take a flight out of town... JERKS

#16 - He is worth every penny! What a beautiful animal he is. :) I'm glad the surgery went well - hope he recovers fast!

My vent is my team of movers. My office just moved yesterday (I've been offline since they pulled the plug on the server, probably will be that way till next week) and I could not believe how careless they were.

They failed to wrap a 6-ft wooden bookcase, so it slid right off their trolley and crashed into the pavement. They picked up my floor lamp and tossed it into a large box, and I stood there in disbelief as I watched it bend in half. There are nicks and chips off various pieces throughout the office. They arrived late, got lost twice, and we were at the new office till 9 PM last night.

Two trucks, 6 men, and 1 and a half brains in the lot of 'em. grrrr....!

BUT - I do love my new office. ;)

>19 januaryw: cut us some slack. I would have loved to cancel my classes today, but the administration gave me such a hard time about canceling a class earlier this semester when I was moving, I felt I had no choice but to hold lectures today. At least I let everyone take off (really) early... Then again, I'm already a self-proclaimed jerk, so...

Glad to hear the surgery went well, Thalia.

I also thought, in college, the professors don't keep "attendance" - when I wanted to cut class - I did. I was responsible for learning the material, the homework, if I missed a pop quiz, my fault, etc. But I wasn't policed to make sure I sat in the chair!

Is it different now?

>22 JPB: Sometimes I'm shocked there aren't parent/professor conferences like in grade school.

Work-related rant that's probably related: when the hell did it become necessary to not only train someone how to do a job, but to actually train them how to work, too? I'm getting ready to tell one trainee that if I see other people around her doing work and she's still sitting on her ass, she's going to have to consider her employment options. We may not work at a break-neck pace every day, but there is always something to do.

Hmm... that was a bit cathartic! ;)

No particular rant here. Just bad wishes for all companies who are opening their stores and making employees come in on Thanksgiving just to get a one day jump on Black Friday. Some of have to be on duty tomorrow because it's what we do, but everyone else should be home to dinner.

A pox on the corporate skells.

JPB-attendance is taken in all of my classes, and in most classes if you miss more than a certain amount (which varies from teacher to teacher) they will begin to dock you points or even whole letter grades. I think if you miss 10% of the total number of classes in the semester before the last day to withdraw from classes (less than half way through the semester) the teacher has the right to drop you from the class.

No particular rant from me tonight. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, so I'm in a good mood. :D

My dad doesn't take attendance in his classes. It's your responsibility. However, in his intro classes, he gives a short quiz at the very beginning of each class (2 questions, I think). The points from those quizzes total to 10% of your grade, I think. So...once again. It's your responsibility :)

>26 bluesalamanders: That is exactly (almost) what I do. I don't take attendance. You can skip as much as you want, and I will never say a word to you about it.

BUT I take a quiz every day - a very easy question, nothing more than to ensure that you've done the reading. If you're absent, you receive a 0 for the quiz. I drop the lowest 3 quiz grades of the semester - meaning you can miss three days of class scott-free. After that, it starts to affect your grade, however minutely. It has very little effect on most students. The laziest and those who fail to show up on a regular basis, however, find out at end of term what missing class on a regular basis does to you. ;)

The moral to this story should be... If you've been a respectable, responsible student until now, there's no reason you couldn't have skipped classes not only today, but all week, and had it not affect your grade even the smallest bit :D (But now stop to ask yourself how many 19 year olds are as responsible as I'm expecting them to be...)

I never took attendance, nor did I take quizzes. If you're smart enough to do the class without coming, then fine, but you can't complain when you miss vital information about exams, assignments, etc. Nor will I chase you. If you fail because you didn't turn up and learn, then t.s. to you.
I'd rather people didn't turn up if they're really not interested. But then, I'd rather they did something they *are* interested in. By the time you get to college, you should be able to choose what you're interested in, or deal with it, if you need it for your favourite qualification.
This is why I don't think I'd make a good high school teacher - I won't teach people who don't want to learn. If you want to learn, I'll teach you everything I can.

Here's a rant:

I am sick and tired of being around college students who whine and hate our profs because they "don't have time" to do the work, or they just don't see the value of it. Leave then! College is time and money consuming, if you don't want to be here, go away! No one forced you to come, no one is forcing you to stay, and I for one don't want to listen to you anymore! And these aren't just "typical" college students I'm complaining about (though I don't give them a break either), my college attracts a fair amount of non-traditional/returning students.

I'm hoping next semester will be different. All but one of my classes are 300/400 level, so that *should* mean I'll be around students more serious about their classes.

New Year 12 students who don't listen to my teachers! They're AWFUL!

I hate the fact that at work, I do all I'm supposed to do - turn in lesson plans on time, attend all meetings, volunteer for others that I don't have to attend, come to work on time, do all the required duties that teachers hate (like hall duty and bus duty), yet the people who are chosen each year as Teacher of the Year, at least at my school, are the ones who can't be bothered to do all the above. I really have no desire to be TOTY, but it's frustrating to see incompetent people glorified!!

I also wish my mother and grandmother would grow up and speak to each other, but I don't know if I believe in miracles to that extent.

I have wonderfully fond memories of being at the university and bumping into my best friend on our way to a poli sci class. We would just look at each other and skip class and go have coffee. Our friendship has lasted four forty years and the political science I missed, well, I don't miss it.

I agree students at college level should be serious about learning because they want to learn but there are always the college's requirements which may/may not coincide with the students' desires to learn. In my "old age" I have become less tolerant of people telling each other what they SHOULD do or learn or say, etc. End of Rant.

Mine is only a small rant. I'm slightly cranky as I prepare to go to work today, Thanksgiving Day. My husband is planning to bring a plate to the hospital later if I have time to sit down for a minute and eat. I do realize that someone has to be there all day, every day. So I'm taking it pretty well that it's me. It does suck though...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I hope you all have wonderful days with your family and friends.

drsol - I'm sorry you have to go to work today, but I am so thankful you are available if anyone needs you this day! Bless you.

It's thanksgiving, and I have so much to be thankful for.

However, this morning, it SNOWED.

And that makes me a crankypants.

If I never see another flake again, that would be great.

And to think there's a "yay, snow!" thread, lol.

Atomicmutant, I'm so sorry. That's why I moved south ten years ago. You won't ever see me living someplace where it snows again (although to be fair, in the eight years I lived in NOLA, it snowed I think 3 times there, and unless I'm way off, I think it flurried here in Houston once last winter).

I baked fresh bread, chocolate chip cookies and bought some fresh crab this morning to make a casserole for tomorrow when my daughter was supposed to come up for a visit for the day. Now it's snowing and the roads will be very slippery and she doesn't have snow tires and I don't want her driving on the highway in these conditions, so she won't be able to come. Humph! I'm not a happy person at the moment. The snow may look pretty, but it could have waited a couple of days, kinda inconsiderate if you ask me. :-(

oh, but you get all those choc chip cookies to yourself.....maybe a little consolation prize, eh? I hate, hate, hate driving in typical n.w. snow...wet, slushy, icy, slippery, unpredictable. It is good your daughter will be safe.

Yes, at least I can curl up with cocoa and cookies and my Pillars of the Earth and watch the sun melt all the snow tomorrow! ;-) Thank goodness n.w. snow usually doesn't last tooooo long anyways.

Started babysitting at 7.00 this morning and they don't stock coffee... I'll get home somewhere around 23.00 tonight and start work tomorrow morning at 7.30. I can hardly keep my eyes open as it is, so I just hope I'll be able to get some sleep tonight.

Got the "sorry we went with another candidate" call late yesterday and then this morning I discovered I had overdrawn my checking account because of a really stupid mistake. I just want to got bed, pull the blankets over my head and ignore the rest of the day.

After my shitty last week, this one couldn't have started better. We picked the cat up at the clinic yesterday and he's doing really well. It's sunny out and there's this certain man... ;-)

#42 YAY! Kitty will now take great pleasure in moulding both pet humans to his liking! Lots of happies to all of you. :-)

#42 I second that YAY! That news certainly brightened my day.

That's great news about the kitty, Thalia. And *hugs* Kimberly, I've had those days. Sometimes it really is ok to stay in bed for a day with the covers to keep you warm. Tomorrow will be better.

Yay, Kitty!

I'm crankypants about myself! I (totally unintentionally) insulted philosojerk on the Happy Heathens page and I hate when I do that. I think of it as my Sagittarius rising getting the better of me.

I really don't mean to be a be-otch, it just comes out that way sometimes.

Thanks all! He's sleeping right next to me with his huge scar on the shaved belly. He's really doing well, but still sleeping a lot from the antibiotics I have to give him.

Thanks for the hug philosojerk, one always makes me feel better.

Thalia, you should be amazed how fast he recovers once he's done with antibiotics. 2 weeks after my Lola had her surgery she was almost her old self again.

They do seem to recover a lot faster than us humans... He's sleeping a lot, but already anxious to go outside again. The hardest thing in the coming days will be to keep him inside at least until Saturday when we have to take him to the vet again to do another set of x-rays to see if everything's healing okay.

My grump at the mo: Its hot & stuffy in the office & i slept badly last night so I'm having lots of trouble being nice to customers & co-workers :(

My husband has been at work for 16 hours now, since 6 am this morning. This makes me a crankypants crabcake.

I want to be fit & healthy, but I also want to eat what I want & be as lazy as I want... Why do the 2 have to be mutually exclusive??? That makes me cranky, lol...

Message 47: Thalia
Philosojerk is sleeping right next to you with his huge scar on the shaved belly?? I know you mean your cat, but it is funny the way the posts read :-)

I am in the last few weeks of Fall semester in the last year of my grad program. I am also working full time. I am crankypants crabcakes most of the time these days :-( I am trying to find ways to lift my mood... LT has been very therapeutic lately!

>52 Seanie: januaryw I'm also a she - a huge scar on HER belly!

Anyway, I'm cranky because I ordered Chinese food an hour and a half ago, and it's still not here. After living in a part of Houston where there was no good Chinese food, AT ALL, for more than two years, I was so excited to move into the delivery area of my favorite place. This is the first time I've ordered from them, though, and let's just say the driver's not going to be getting much of a tip.

(For the record, I called them to find out what the deal was. They said the driver came out but "didn't know my apartment number." Not only did I give them the apartment number when I placed the order, but they also asked for my PHONE number. If he didn't know which apartment, why didn't they call me and ask, instead of letting him go back with the food and now I have to wait another half hour for them to make it again!?!?!?)

*breathes*

I'm hungry AND a crankypants crabcakes.

My first rant is more of a whine and it goes something like this: UGH! Semesters?!? FIVE extra weeks? I should have been done with this term ages ago! I want my quarter system back.

Second rant: Roommates. When I moved in 3 months ago, I was only supposed to have one. Her boyfriend was "over a lot." He has not left since I got here. They wake up and turn on the TV/radio (loud enough to wake me up) at the most random times, like 3:30 am. And they play WoW CONSTANTLY. I mean like a good 15 hours a day every day. How can it possibly be THAT entertaining? AND they are dirty people. They wash dishes like once a month, don't even bother to wipe up anything they spill, and somehow managed to get what I suspect are chinchilla droppings ALL over the apartment without making any move to clean them up!! And I really don't think I can move again for another 6 months. ergh.

Pphleh. Okay I feel better now.

Message 55: philosojerk
Sorry about that, actually, I should apologize to Thalia
because I have a chronic problem where I think that all cats are female... not sure where that comes from. So, sorrys all around!

Message 56: StarGazer72
Roomates suck, there is no way around it. Good luck!

>57 januaryw: Heh, you too? When I was little, I thought that cats and dogs were the same species. Cats were females and dogs were male.

>57 januaryw:, 58 I do the same thing, which I suspect comes from watching cartoons as a kid.

Me too! How strange, I wonder if it does come from cartoons... *ponders*

I do the opposite. :)
I think of cats as male and dogs as female because we always had female dogs when I was growing up. Then we had a male cat.

I just asked a couple of people at work if they did this too as kids. Their answers were no & now they think I'm even stranger than they allready thought!

Even when I was younger, I knew that cats and dogs were different, but they still had an inherent femininity (cats) or masculinity (dogs) that I couldn't get rid of, and it always threw me off (and still does) when counter-examples appeared.

I think that it comes from dogs/cats you are familiar with... if your dog is a male, you tend to think of all dogs as males or if you had a female cat when you were little you tend to think of all cats as female.

As for cartoons... Sylvester is a famous cat and he was a male. Felix the Cat was a male too. If you buy into that theory, all animals are males unless they are the mate or partner of a main character, then they are female!

>53 januaryw: januaryw: I was away from this thread (and LT in general actually) for a few days, so I'm a little late... But ;-) Me and philosojerk with the huge scar on her shaved belly... I didn't even realize how it sounded when I wrote it.

I usually refer to cats as "she" and to dogs as "he" as well. But that's because in German it's "die Katze" (female article) and "der Hund" (male article). It always takes a lot of concentration to do it right in English and actually use their real gender.

I am a little less cranky this morning. Yesterday I rained so hard that two "creeks" at the bottom on the hill I live on overflowed their banks. This is a pretty developed area and so much much diverted traffic and crabby drivers. I had to drive over 3 hours to get my grandson to his high school, which then was closed 10 minutes after he got there. Then I had to drive around all the floods to pick him up from a bus stop. Yeowzer! This morning it looks like most of the water has receeded a bit so driving should be more straight forward.

I am glad I am towards the top of the hill and not along side the creeks.

ok here's my cranky rant--I've raked leaves 3X in last couple of weeks and really hate doing it and thought finally on Sun--all leaves are down and I am done til next year--well 40 mph winds and today my yard looks like its never been touched. No I have to rake once again. I know its stupid--but its one of those things I'm sort of anal about--no leaves on my lawn. Why are leaves still on the trees in Dec.--last year we were done in mid Nov.

I'm going to crank about technology - specifically as it relates to the banking industry.

I want - No, I DEMAND the return of the old days, where you could write a check and there was a vague, soft, muli-hued period of time (as I recall, or am I just having a senior moment?) during which you had time to put money in the bank to cover that check you knew would bounce otherwise.

Seriously. I'm cranky about that, and so are my pants!

I ate the crab cakes. *urp* Sorry, but they were delicious. Can't be cranky about delicious free food.

I'm cranky because Consumer Reports sent me an email notice that they were going to automatically resubscribe me because I said they could.

Uh. NO F'IN WAY. I would NEVER do an auto resubscribe.

They just lost my business - forever.

GRRRRRRR...

I'm cranky because I started reading Northern Lights last night and then when I got up this morning and looked at the paper, there was an article about how evil it is, and they PUT IN SPOILERS! Grrr. I don't care if it's evil, just don't tell me important plot points while you're griping about it.

I was crankypants this morning because after two miserable morning commutes/late arrivals to work, I busted my butt to get her by 8:30 a.m. this morning only to hear as I pulled into the parking lot that our campus wasn't opening until 10 a.m. due to the snow. I'm over it now though -- luckily, the lady who runs our coffee shop hadn't heard the news either and so I was able to get the coffee I sorely needed.

I was crankypants this morning because a) my windshield wiper fluid isn't spraying AGAIN and I'm getting pissy at our garage who was supposed to have fixed it and b) people don't know how to freaking merge. Merge does NOT mean pace me until I have to slam on my brakes so you don't side-swipe me. Merge means YOU merge with the lane, not us with you!

*stomps around, flailing arms and grumbling*

#72 Merge does NOT mean pace me until I have to slam on my brakes so you don't side-swipe me.

One of the reasons I drive a truck is so that the obnoxious mergers around here are less tempted to play chicken. Plus, I figure every truck out to have a ding or two and if they really want to hit me, they'll get the worst of it...;^}

I'm a crankypants because it's getting all dark and so my brain is starting to malfunction. However, I have just ordered a bright lighty thing which I'm seriously hoping is going to help...

It's raining. It's xmas. Chris got auf'd.

hmph!

Can anyone please tell me why my bleepin' wireless internet goes to crap EVERY time the phone rings?? So annoying.

# 76 I know why! Because you're probably using a phone that is using the same frequency as your wireless network! Do you have cordless phones in your home? We had to dump a lovely practically brand new 2.4GHz cordless phone/answering machine that my daughter had been using because every time she used it all our laptops would get booted offline.

Is that why we keep getting cut off Clam? ;))

I'm EXTREMELY Crankypants because my boss asked me in June to "help him out on weekends" so I started working 1 weekend day every week in exchange for 1 weekday off, out of loyalty mind you, certainly not SHMARTZ, and certainly not because I ENJOY having weekends off!!!

NOW I asked him for the first weekend of March off for a VERY IMPORTANT REASON, with 3 MONTHS NOTICE, and he won't give it to me!

The best he'll do is let me work half a day Saturday.

So...

I fully intend to have a new job by then!!!

Don't worry guys, it'll all work out!

However, GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!

#77 - It is cordless, but it's my roommates phone, so I can't even do anything about it. But at least I know now! Thanks!

Right now, I'm really cranky about people telling me how to use LT. Because, obviously, my way is wrong and theirs is far superior. Nevermind that Tim was asking for opinions and I offered one.

*grumble*

*eta - apparently the suggestions were in reply to questions taken out of context. So now I adjust my grumpiness to those who take things out of context and/or being unable to read my mind. I'm too cranky to try and figure out if the problem was on my end or theirs right now.

Harumph!

I'm exceptionally grumpy because I got knocked off my bike this morning. I'm ok, gained 1 bruise. Bike suffered a buckled wheel but luckily the frame seems ok.

idot driver thought as he was being waved on by another driver he didn't need to look and see if there was anyone in the other lane. Like me. No I didn't jump the lights, they were on green. I know you didn't see me. That's because you didn't look. If you had done you'd have seen me. My bright yellow vest is really very visible.

But at least he stopped. And was about as polite* as I was. And offered £30 which won't cover but might get near to the cost of a new wheel.

It's nothing serious. But it is annoying. And it's put me in a seriously grumpy mood.

*However I don't think he noticed the really rather large dent I left in his wing.

Scary! Glad you weren't seriously injured, reading_fox.

I'm cranky about skinny people, who have always been skinny and have no problem losing weight if they want to be even skinnier, who do research on us fat people and then write articles about how we could all lose weight if we'd just try a little harder. Obviously, overweight people are lazy slobs. Grr.

Also, I'm tired because my dog decided that I didn't really need that last hour of sleep before my alarm went off.

#75, littlegeek - Chris got auf'd

LOL ... I saw the judges point, but I'd rather Ricky had been the one to be auf'd.

This morning, I'm crankin' about people who come to work LOADED with FULLY ACTIVATED germs - all hoarse voice, sniffly nose, coughing - and they make a point to invade your space to tell you how sick they are.

Get away from me with those germs!!! Quit breathing in my office!!! Don't touch anything!!!

*fumbles for hand sanitizer dispenser*

#82, Readingfox, hope you are feeling all good again. Your story reminds me of one of my continuing rants about drivers today. Too much effort to out polite each other. Do not wave people "on" - right into disaster! Do not go if someone waves you "on" - its a great way to get into an insurance fraud accident. Do not stop at a green light to let someone in from a cross street. Be predictable, people, follow the accepted and commonly known rules. Do not try to be sweet and polite if it breaks the rules. OK, now I am done. Be careful out there, people.

>83 foggidawn:: Hmmm, I'm sorry. I apologize for us skinny folks. It's no walk in the park either I can tell you. I've been trying to gain weight ever since I can remember and it doesn't work. I've actually given up trying.

Sorry, you stepped on a sore toe with this. I get extremely cranky about people (overweight, normal weight, underweight...) who are intolerant about skinny people. I didn't hunger myself this way, I have a crappy digestive system. In at the top, out the bottom ten minutes later...
What p***es me off the most is that nobody has a problem telling me I'm too skinny or asking if I've lost weight and giving me tips on how to gain weight. Or the, "man, are you skinny!" I'd never in my life dare telling an overweight person, "man, are you fat!" It's just rude.

In my opinion and experience it's just as hard to gain weight for people like me than it is to lose weight for others. Four years ago I lost 10kg (yes, that's really a lot if you only weigh 60 on a good day) when I had pneumonia. It took me two weeks to lose that much weight. What followed was a year-long struggle to gain it back. I eventually did, but I could have slapped everybody who made any remarks about it. My doctor's advice for gaining weight was, "eat, eat, eat!" Like I don't do that already. And I eat tons and unhealthy food...

I don't do research on overweight people though and I don't think they're lazy slobs at all. Personally I prefer overweight people. Most of my best friends and also almost all my ex-boyfriends are overweight. I just love to have something to hold on to. And I always say that I'm enough of a stick, I don't need another one. We'd only break each other's bones when hugging... I guess it comes from having an overweight mother. It gives me a sense of home and belonging.

Sorry, for the rant, but this is a topic that gets me riled up. And you probably didn't even mean skinny folks like me, but those bulimic girls...

#84 I was hoping they'd give Victorya the boot for being a poor team player and trying to put Ricky on the hotseat even tho she fully intended to run things.

Or Ricky, who makes crap every damn challenge.

But no, auf the nice, funny guy that everyone loves whose previous efforts have been stylish and well sewn.

Whatever!

#86 -- No, I completely understand, and have known several people like you (can't *gain* weight, no matter how they try). I was ranting about people who are genetically blessed with a good figure (neither under nor overweight) and a good metabolism -- the people in the middle of the over/underweight spectrum, who assume that those of us on either end are just not trying hard enough to get to that mythical "perfect" weight, because it's so darn easy for them.

(Edited to add, before I step on any *more* toes -- not all of the people in the middle of the spectrum are like that -- I'm just ranting about the ones that are!)

>88 foggidawn:: Phew, thank you! I tend to get very defensive when people rant about skinny people... We may be a minority, but we're not all bulimic and on a constant diet.
There is no "perfect" weight. To me the only thing that matters is how you present yourself and how you feel in your own body. That's what shines through. Some of the most miserable, cranky and depressed people I know are skinny, and one of my best friends who's overweight is always bouncing around like a pingpong ball and emanates so much energy. I always feel like a rock next to her. I guess it's why I feel more comfortable around non-skinny people. In general they're just more fun.

Thalia, if you really are experiencing "In at the top, out the bottom ten minutes later..." you might be suffering from a food allergy, or something more serious. Have you been checked carefully for a digestive disorder? It sounds like you're not processing what you do eat properly. :o/ You have my sympathy!

Thanks Clam! I may have exaggerated a little with ten minutes. Sometimes I can wait for half an hour ;-) I've always been that way. It was actually my doctor who told me I have a bad digestive system. My body just takes what it absolutely needs and not an ounce more. I'm not allergic to any food.
When I was a kid I ate even more than I do today and it was common that I went to the bathroom during a meal and then came back and continued eating... My mother did not like that behavior at all, especially when we were at a restaurant.

I read an interesting article in Newsweek about "gut bugs" and how some people's bugs are more efficient at turning food into energy and therefore they weigh more. They are just learning about "gut bugs" now and everyone's bugs are different. Sort of like a fingerprint. Interesting stuff.

Yeah, it's definitely interesting. Was it in a recent Newsweek?
I realized during my post-pneumonia phase that I'd be the first to starve if we ever have a food scarcity... Where can I get some of them "gut bugs"? ;-)

Yes, it was in the one I just got.

I'll give you some of my "gut bugs." They are Olympic caliber efficient!

Yes, I'd take some! Wouldn't it be great if that was possible?
I wonder if that article was also in the international edition of Newsweek. I'll have a look on Monday.

They are just starting research in this area but they are hoping to see if it's possible to help people who are not only obese but those that are malnourished by giving them the appropriate "gut bugs."

I call those 'gut bugs' my little livestock & when I've had an intestinal illness (the 24 hour crud) I always eat yogurt to replenish them (the little livestock)! 8^)

I also read a little blurb somewhere about how there are different kinds of fat cells and people are genetically predispositioned towards various kinds, which affects your weight.

Blame the victim is the doctors first line of defense when they can't figure something out.
Remember when people with ulcers were told it was "stress" and that if they experienced flareups it had to be their psychology or their inability to stop eating anything but gruel? Or that women with PMS were "hysterics" who should basically be put away in asylums? Pretty much all ulcers are now known to be caused by a "gut bug." And hormonal fluctuations can do very scary things to humans of all sexes.

I'm sure one of these days we'll find out that weight problems are mostly caused by microbes and genetic factors and has little to do with the "eat less, exercise more" equation that we have now.

I also think possible hidden causes of human beings not being a reasonable weight, either way, may be found in the processing of our foods. So much is added into everything - sugar and sugar substitutes in virtually everything except fresh vegetables and fresh meats and fish. You know - I could go on, but you don't want me to....

I'm not a large human being (vertically speaking). Recently, though, my father looked me over and remarked, "You should get in shape."
"I am in shape," I said. "Round is a shape."

Seriously, though, a BMI in the mid to upper 20's is actually normal.

Some folks
Built like this
Some folks
Built like that
But the
Way I'm built
Don'tcha
Call me fat
I'm built for comfort
I ain't built for speed...

-Howlin' Wolf

#86 - So glad to hear you defend naturally underweight people, because I am also one of them! When I was in fifth grade I had to have a second snack because I was so underweight the doctors were worried that was why I wasn't growing enough - I was told to drink as many milkshakes as possible. I'm not growing now so no one is worrying about that, but I just don't seem to gain that much weight, ever, and it doesn't matter what I eat. The questions get tiring after a while, especially from new doctors. Grrr.

In short, I'll take some gut bugs, too! =)

#100 The late great Sir Harry Secombe is reported once to have looked a tall skinny gent up and down and said "I used to look like you once. Then I got hit by a lift!"

He is also reported to have asked on getting his knighthood that he should not be known as Sir Cumference.

... so maybe there's still hope for us "fuller figures".

I am cranky today because the mail just arrived with two parcels, Christmas presents from each sister. This after I thought we had agreed that we would NOT be exchanging presents anymore.

>:-(

How do I get it across that I don't want to exchange presents anymore without sounding like Scrooge? If they want to spend money on me, send it to my favourite charity, but I don't want anymore stuff!!

*rant, rant, rant*

start by not getting them anything in return... 8)

You've told them you're not doing it. Don't. No guilt!

My crab pants are cranky this morning because of ICE.

I know it's pointless to live in the northeast U.S. and complain because you have snow and ICE in December, but really ... harumph, grump, grump

We had to walk up our long driveway last night, which was not unexpected as it was completely iced over, but what was unexpected was the fact that I could not get the car to stay in the driveway! I backed in about a car and a half's length and the darn thing kept slipping back into the road, no matter the brakeage applied. Maddening. I finally got it just barely sidled back in off the road and have been waiting for some enraged someone to walk up to inform me that it slid back out and caused them to have an accident trying to avoid it.

And if walking UP the hill on the ice was fun, I can't WAIT to go down later this morning. Maybe this is one time stilettos would be a sensible shoe - treat them lik ice picks. :->

#106 - Let us know when/if you made it, Smitheeee!

You have my sympathies! :o/

#106

Good luck, Smithee! Break a leg! :D

Thanks, clam and JPB.

Well, I made it down safely, and so did my youngest, but my oldest went boom-boom on her back and behind. Dropped the breakfast she was carrying, so we had to make do with a breakfast from Burger King.

Yee hah.

I'm beginning to get the whole "snowbird" thing. :-)

On the upside, the car stayed where it was and caused no one to crash. :-)

*sending warm weather in a sealed box*

Ice picks on everyday shoes, maybe you could patent those...

My daughter at ND slipped on the ice yesterday too. She's seriously craving the southern temps about now.

katylit - Send THEIR gift to a charity, as in, "I've donated the money I would have spent on a gift for you to such and such cause, because I know we had agreed that we both had enough stuff." :) I've done it, never got another gift from them. >:{ (Is that the evil face clamairy?)

Actually that's what I've already done, donated the money to charity part, but I haven't told them, so I will. They're very good people, and I know they've given me gifts because they get joy in the giving. It's a conundrum, it's good to give, so it shouldn't be so hard to receive. But I will try to be more firm in getting my message across for next year. Thanks for listening and the advice my friends :)

This is more of a sook than a grump, but i feel like crap & its very annoying :( I nearly passed out this morning, got very dizzy all of a sudden & broke out in a sweat & had to lie down for five mins before it passed, but it did pass so I figured it was just one of those things & got up & headed to work... After being here for an hour or so, I got dizzy again & had to lay down for half an hour... I've been ok'ish since then, no more dizzy spells but my temperature is all over the place & I really dont feel good... I probably should go home but I'm a bit worried bout overdoing my sick leave & I've only got bout 2hrs left now so figure I'll try & push through...

Seanie - GO HOME!!

The A's dealt Danny Haren. I hate Billy Beane!!!!!

We're expecting a horrible Nor'easter.

Winter. Humbuggeronabun!

#114 - I did!

Now I'm cranky coz I've been dealing with cranky customers all day!!!

Ain't Xmas shopping fun? All the squealing tantrumy toddlers and uptight parents, panicky last-minute shoppers, clueless present buyers, ...

I am of a dillemma, my Christmas shopping is complete, but there is nothing else I could possibly want... this lack of goals for purchasing unsettles my consumer part of my brain...

I have avoided this thread, mainly because I hate being cranky. I am, from time to time, but I don't think it solves anything except if you need some venting done... and now I do }:

Busifer, my dear. Now is probably NOT the time to tell you that you will miss that sweet little unbalanced turbine when he is a hulking 6 footer with an attitude! :-D

Hang in there. You know as well as I do that he's worth it! (Take a nap when you get home!)

Oh, Busifer ... you need to be as rich as Kathie Lee Gifford.

(She used to be a co-host of a morning show and was married to a former NFL player turned commentator ... but perhaps you already know that. :-))

Anyway, I remember one morning she was complaining because ... get this ... she ran out of guestrooms to put her sick son in. He'd vomit and she'd move him to another room, over and over and over, room to room to room.

Meanwhile, us mortals have to do what you did. We get up, even though we're dead tired. We clean the kid. We clean the mess. We put clean sheets on the bed and hope to hell that we have enough to last if this keeps up. If it does, there we are doing emergency sheet laundry in the middle of the night.

I'm sorry that that was your recent experience. Busifer. Now I'm cranky on your behalf.

Poor Busifer, I feel for you, I had a bad night two nights ago, I was profoundly grateful I didn't have to go to work, I hope you have a good sleep tonight.

It's nice to know I'm not alone in the gift receiving department :-)

Thanks everyone for the sentiments. I will live through it!

Kathie Lee Gifford - I guess she never had do clean all those rooms by herself ;-)

Gifts - My mum insists that kids gets christmas gifts. That this particular one is soon to turn 42 (what was the question, again?) is of no relevance to her...
*rolling my eyes, eyeing the ceiling*

I'm cranky because the stupid plow guy is supposed to honk his horn before he plows our parking lot, so we can come out and move our cars so he can plow the whole lot and not block us in (I spent an hour - I am not exaggerating - digging my car out the other day after being plowed in). And I was paying specific attention today, because I usually ignore car horns but I wanted to not be plowed in again. And the bleeping bleeper did NOT honk his horn! He just started plowing, and too bad for us.

I called the landlord, who spoke to him, but I don't expect anything to change - he left before we had a chance to move our cars. When he came back, only half the cars were moved, so he plowed half the lot, then briefly honked his horn, waited for half a second, and left before the rest of the tenants even had a chance to look out the window and see who was honking.

I hate the new plow guy. I will call and complain every time this happens, I have no problem whatsoever with that.

I would be mad as *beep* if that happened to me. Not the first time, but if it happened the next and the next...
Keep on calling your landlord! Eventually he (she?) will tire of your calls and do something about it.

'The first time' involved being plowed under because I didn't know the plow was there, and having to spend an hour digging it out - and missing an appointment because of it. Also, I probably didn't actually miss his blowing his horn, because I imagine he didn't do it then either. So technically this is the second time, so I'm allowed to be mad :)

We'll see what happens next time. I will be surprised if he changes, I think he doesn't give a shit, even though it's what he's being paid for.

I will definitely keep calling the landlord. I'm paying enough for this crappy little apartment.

Time to revive this thread....
The heating in our house isn't working today. AGAIN! It's already the third time this winter. Sure we don't pay a lot of rent, but the heaters just have to work when it's -2°C (28°F) and snowing outside... I am freezing and I'm already wearing four layers of clothes plus a scarf and a hat. Soon I'll have to put on gloves. And of course I can't reach our landlord because they're making "the bridge" (as Dec. 25/26 are holidays, they're not working Thursday and Friday either) and won't be in before next week. I'm afraid I'll freeze to death in the next two days. Or the next week as Jan. 1-2 are also national holidays.
At least this time the water is still hot which it wasn't the last two times. I'm off to the shower now and I think I'll spend the rest of the day in there...

Thalia -

That's disgraceful. My first apartment had no heat all winter (luckily it wasn't that hard of a winter, and I had an electric heater for when it got really bad - and I moved out after one year) and it was just awful.

I'd suggest going somewhere else if you can. Is there a coffeeshop or restaurant somewhere with comfortable chairs (and wi-fi)? Maybe it's time to go window-shopping at a mall or something, or visit some friends? Grocery shopping? Those are things I did when it got too cold.

Thalia, that's awful!
One of my first flats was cold like that - I discovered a bath was a good way to stay warm on the inside.

(The thermostat that regulated the heat was placed in the flat next to mine. The old lady who lived there was heating her flat by turning the gas stove on full blast - the thermostat said 'OK, warm enough in this house, let's turn off the heat'. Luckily we discovered the problem before anyone froze to death. The thermostat was moved to my flat after that.)

Thalia, I feel for you. My furnace is literally limping along, I PRAY it makes it to the end of winter so that I don't have to scrape thousands of dollars from the bottom of the barrel to replace it before it warms up again.

If you have it, wear wool, it really cuts the chill.
Get a space heat or two and close off unused rooms.
Sleep on blankets as well as under them, the regular sheets just don't warm up enough.

Good luck!

Thanks girls! It actually started working again about an hour ago. It'll take forever until it's warm and cozy again in the whole house, but at least we don't have to freeze to death in the next five days. I called about ten people and only got answering machines. Apparently one of my neighbors was successful and someone from the heating company appeared here at around noon (it's now 3.30pm) and they got it running again. It wasn't working in the whole neighborhood which is about ten houses, all with the same landlord. And the same pipes or whatever heating system we have...

I did go to town and spent some time at a cafe and afterwards I took a hot bath when I got home. Me, Jonny Lang on the stereo and a good book (Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians)... It helped a lot. And right now I'm basically sitting on top of the radiator with my notebook on my legs. I feel the warmth creeping back into my bones.

Hey folks, these suggestions will help Thalia for sure ... but there's another Very Important GD personage in her home. What are we doing about Kitty?!

For now, wherever Kitty is, is probably the warmest place in the flat. At night, can you persuade Kitty to sleep under the blankets on your bed, and so keep both of you warm?

One year long ago we managed to be in the Kruger Park for the only cold snap of the year (the tourist accommodation there is built to keep out the heat, not the cold ... we put the oven in the cottage on with its door open, and sat around it, feet up on one of the wire racks.

>133 hfglen:: ;-))) Actually the cats escaped outside this morning. Like it would be warmer out there.... Two of them came back in the afternoon though and I snuggled up with them on my bed. One of them runs away scared every time I get under the blankets though. Like I become a monster or something. So far she hasn't realized that it's still me, but under instead of on the cover.
Right now all three of them are close together on my bed next to me and the radiator. It's nice :-)

Thalia, that sounds awful. Glad it came on!

We used to think we had a bad furnace, but it was only the thermostat that was wonky. I figured out that if I put frozen peas right on the thermostat for a second, the furnace would come on. It still happens sporatically. Give it a try next time.

It is slowly getting warmer. The landlord will still get an earful whenever I get ahold of him though! No matter how little we pay, the heating should be running. It was the third time this winter, and winter will last for another about three months...

We wanted to cook at home tonight, but just decided we'll go out for dinner in about an hour, and then we'll go on to have a few drinks. It better be cozy and warm when we get back.

>135 littlegeek:: Unfortunately, we don't have a thermostat in here. It's central heating that is controlled who knows where... Probably in one of the other houses' basements. They're all connected. And old...

#135 - The pea trick; it's fantastic, I will keep that in memory! That I didn't figure this out myself, me who put the thermometer on the radiator when I wanted to stay home in bed reading when I was a kid; it's a shame ;-)
(That I didn't figure it out, that is; that I tricked my parents I think was OK - it was for a good cause, no?)

#137 Ze leetle grey cells, zey were on holiday, non? *in my best Poirot accent* ;-)

Yes, obviously ;-)
For some mad reason I keep hearing your post as kind of british comedy style german, hehe.

#139 :-))) Ve can do ze Cherman, ja! But actually the real thing is closer to Sarf Effrican ;-)

*shaking my head in disbelief, chuckling*
Sorry, I can't match you in this!

I came home day before yesterday from a 6 day holiday trip to find my house was a cozy 39 degrees F inside! I use propane, and the truck driver had just forgotten to fill my tank. I don't know how many days the furnace was out, but I'm glad I boarded KittyMonster instead of leaving her to fend for herself in an icy house.

It was 10:00 at night, and the truck couldn't come out until morning, so I piled on the comforters and managed to sleep. My water heater, stove, oven, and clothes dryer all run on propane, so I was up a frozen creek without an ice pick.

Ouch! Looks like chilled out homes is a current GD epidemic?

(I'm wishing hard my landlord won't forget to order oil... We've district heating running to the house but not into it; she won't install it - 'modernities; bah!'.)

MerryMary - Glad there were no broken pipes involved in that! At least I'm assuming you would have mentioned if there were?

I am getting awfully crankypants about being sick so much. Think my cold has transmogrified into a sinus infection. Ahhh, the gifts we receive at Christmas. I received a flu bug and a cold virus. :(

Here is my Christmas crankypants rant, then.

When hubby was asking for Christmas suggestions, I mentioned that I wouldn't mind having the double-CD soundtrack to Across the Universe. On the day, I received... the single-CD soundtrack. It's got some great songs, but some of the ones I wanted the most are available (of course) only on the double-CD version.

What do I do? I could download the "missing" songs via Amazon or iTunes, but that would cost as much as buying the whole album, and it offends me to have to buy them with DRM attached for the same price as the double CD set. Of course, I could just buy the double CD set ... but then my hubby is likelier to figure out what happened. (I don't want to hurt my hubby's feelings by pointing out the mistake; it was an easy error to make, and isn't worth making him feel badly about it.)

In the meantime, having only half the songs I'd hoped for is really giving me the niggles. Erk.

(This is hardly a tragedy in the greater scheme of things, but then this thread is called "crankypants crabcakes"!)

Nice C&H mention, Mrs. Lee -- hope you feel better!

Thalia,
I wouldn't pay rent until it's fixed or if you already have demand a brake on the next month. Heat is a mandatory ammenity for landlords to maintain, at least in the northern united states, and you can report them for not keeping it running. What if you were elderly and couldn't get out of the home? You really could die.

Anywho the sound and fury alone might set the landlord straight. good luck either way.

This is probably insignificant in the sphere of lack-of-heating and lousy landlord suffering, but having no guaranteed special gift for my birthday is pretty significant.

I wanted a Nintendo DS Lite for my birthday, but what annoys me is that EB Games puts out cardboard boxes of Wiis and DSs even though they have none in stock. Turns out everybody bought these items for Christmas, and I'm going to have to wait a while to not only get my hands on my birthday present which I hoped against hope would be in my hands on the day (Jan 4th), but I will have to pay a higher price for it because the Christmas sale prices got jacked up today from the cheap affordable prices they were in December, even though you couldn't get what you wanted in December, because Nintendo didn't make enough DSs and Wiis for global demand, making millions of children's Christmases empty and hollow, as with my birthday. Seriously, Japan is out of these hot items, if Japan doesn't have them, nobody does, because Nintendo is a Japanese company.

There is hope though. Even though the EB Games serviceperson was a bitch who wouldn't help my family order one, there was a much better serviceperson who was a Muslim woman with glasses in Dick Smith Electronics who was only too happy to help us, and placed an order for us since she's getting two DS Lites in later this week or next week. And they say we should be afraid of Muslims in this country, I say anyone of any faith who can get me a DS not only deserves respect in general life, but should be given a raise/medal/award!

#145 - Exchange it for the Double CD, hubby will understand!

145 - If necessary, claim that you only just saw the double CD and exclaim over it. Mention the possibility of exchanging it because it's better value and there are some really cool tracks on there. Might work, might not.

I'm cranky because I've had a UTI for the past week and it's not getting better on its own. I'm going to have to get antibiotics. The first time cranberry has failed me.

I'm cranky because a good friend of mine took advantage of me (umm, not like that - better phrasing might be 'took me for granted'), made assumptions and acted very thoughtlessly.

Still no present for my birthday tomorrow. I haven't had a call back from the store yet, and JB Hi-Fi is sold out of DS Lite's until the end of the month.

And did I mention my birthday is tomorrow?

It's also looking like it's gonna RAIN tomorrow...

so, does that mean....it is your brother's birthday, too? Happy Birthday to both of you...if I am right. I was thinking you said you were twins? If I'm misremembering, chalk it up to old age! Believe me 18 is a great age. Live it up.

I am one of a pair of twins. I believe my brother is the evil one...

Well, happy day to you both. (He's not evil, he's just misunderstood!)

my rant:

here is my rant for the day:

Until now I had been without the net for nearly a month and half. And when they finally managed to fix things we lost the phone. The phone company has since tried to bill me for 54 pounds!!!

part of that is a reconnection fee which I was told I wouldn't have and a then service charges for reactivation. One pound and two pence of the total bill were calling charges.

Its so fustrating!!!! And on top of it all they have no one who speaks english it seems and can't spell or pronounce my name!!!

Welcome to outsourcing! I got rid of a credit card in protest of having to talk to an Asian person every time I called for service.

Not that I dislike individuals of other nations. I just cannot stand to talk to someone whom I cannot understand, especially when dealing with false charges and other financially related item. I know that the person is being given a job that used to belong to someone here closer to home and it urks me.

So I try and punish the card company such as I can, for hurting their workers to make a bigger profit. Hmm, that was an unintentional rant.

Sorry for all of your woes!

As for me... we were robbed on Dec. 23rd. They didn't take much and they didn't really destroy anything, so it could have been much worse. The theives did, however, make a mess of our house! They threw everything that we own on the floor and went through all of our drawers and closets. At first I was creeped out and then I was so angry I could not see straight. Now I am down to cranky because I am still sorting through the mess. The police said that it looks like a couple of kids did it (teenagers)... when I was a teen, I would NEVER even dream of something like this! They cooked and ate food from our freezer and they drank beer from the fridge!

What a world!

oh, january w, that is so hard! I won't have dreamt of doing such a thing either. I would have so afraid of getting in trouble.

Ate your food! no shame, whatsoever.

I am so sorry. I hope you will be able to find some silver lining in this. Like.... now the house is organized?

Oh gosh, januaryw, that's awful! My rant pales in comparison, but here goes nonetheless:

Someone grabbed a really cheap copy of a book I wanted right out of my Amazon shopping cart! I was going through my wishlist to see if any of the books were on sale used for cheap and found a like-new copy of a cookbook I wanted for less than $2 with free shipping! I should have bought it right then and there, but kept going down my wishlist to look for other bargains after I added it to my cart. By the time I tried to checkout, my cheap copy was gone. The nerve! I ended up buying a new copy. When I originally put the book in my cart I really liked a couple of the recommendations that followed, so I grabbed those too. After buying them, I had to have the book, new or used. Gah!

Januaryw, sorry to hear about the robbery. I'm glad no one was hurt and they didn't take too much. Hopefully they catch the people.

Thanks for the support! The silver lining that I see is that it could have been much worse! The robbers did not destroy anything and they didn't take very much. They just made a mess. We are slowly but surely getting everything back together again.

How horrible, januaryw!!!
*hugs*
There's a definite feeling of being violated when things like this happens. I know people who had to change houses just to stop feeling dirty...
Sounds like you're taking it rather well, though. Keep it up.

*Hugs* to januaryw. So sorry!

missylc - I would never even have thought that was possible! So you can't even get away from pushy shoppers by avoiding the huge after holiday sales at the stores?

It gets worse! After completing the purchase of yet another really cheap book, I get an email from Amazon to the effect of, "Oops, we had the wrong price listed for that book so we're canceling your order. Our bad."

Now I'm *really* crabbypants crankcakes!

missylc, I'd write a nice complaint letter to Amazon. I wrote one the other day because I was ticked. I'm a member of Amazon Prime with free 2 day delivery. When Amazon ships my books UPS Ground, some times they don't arrive for 3 days. I really wanted this particular book (in a shipment with 2 others) and it should have been delivered on 1/2, but UPS wasn't going to deliver it until 1/3. I wrote a complaint email to them, and they gave me a $10 credit. Very nice. (Although, was your book from an Amazon seller? I don't know if they can help you with that, but if you let them know, they may take action with the seller for you...)

Amazon has really been working on customer service lately - at least that is my impression from reading The Consumerist.

That's a good idea, cheri. If either incident had happened by itself, I'd shrug it off, but this probably should be brought to their attention. Thanks!

Well, it's certainly not on the scale that januaryw dealt with. So sorry januaryw, how unnerving!

I went to rent demo skis for my first Nordic skate skiing lesson only to find out they had them all packed up to send to a special event, so my lesson for tomorrow is canceled. So I'm sitting here pouting because I have to wait a whole week now.

Januaryw, so sorry for what happened to you especially at the holidays. Where is the human decency to not violate someone else's home. May they catch the crooks, lock them up, and then lose the key.

Speaking of Amazon stuff. I ordered a season of a show my Father in law likes for Christmas. I ordered it well before the last day to order before the 24th.

I did not receive it on the 23rd, but figured it would be there on the 24th as guranteed. No, I get an email at 2pm on Christmas eve, saying "woops, we don't have enough and you lose, here's your money back. Merry Christmas." Luckily we were able to go to Wal-mart to get another DVD, but not the he needed next. Grr, but they apologized and refunded all the money so, whatever.

I've been up since 2 am with a pukey 10 year old. I'm tired and cranky and I'm heading off for a bubble bath and game of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.

Aw, Fleela, that's bad :-(

The day before last our car broke down. Again. So. It's not like we live in the sticks, it's a walking distance (6 minutes) to the local centre, and there's a bus stop practically outside our door.

We have now spent enormous sums on car repair, mostly because Audi has some expensive spare parts and because my husband know zilch about cars (I know quite a lot, but I won't touch a modern, computerized, one).

Another $780 down the drain, money that we could use on other funnier stuff, like going somewhere sunny.
We had an incident like this only 2 months ago, and another one 6 weeks before that, and...

I'm arguing for having no car at all; husband wants a new one. He thinks public transport stinks, even when the buses here are at 10 minute intervals.
I think we can use $470 a month* on vacations and home repair and some new furniture.

* That's what having a car cost us. Excluding all those repairs, of course, but including taxes and insurance and mortgage, and some fuel.

And as I said, we don't really need one. But I know he will win, and he will continue to complain over lack of money.

Argh!!!

Oh, and I forgot - the workshop can't process our car until the start of February.
Insurance only covered towing to the closest Audi repair shop, and their schedule is full.

}:(

I had to get a new monitor at work because the old one was fading and now the LibraryThing banner is this FUGLY vomity-colored brown.

YUCK!

It may not be your monitor, Morphidae. It's fug-uggo brown on mine as well.

And the highlight to chose a thread is a bad-tan-lotion-job orange/brown.

Yep.

What colors would you prefer, if you were consulted?

On my old monitor and my monitor at home they have a pink tint rather than an orange tint which is very nice. I want it back!

*sobs*

You gots no knobbies or dials to fiddle with to change up your colors? Did they give you a child-proof monitor?

/never wants to see vomity brown colors again

Yes, it isn't helping. However, I called and told them to come replace this piece of #$)(&%. It's even worse than the one they replaced and I have a headache from it.

Do Gateway monitors always suck this bad?

YES. I have had several Gateway monitors and none of them have been worth a lick! The last one I had blew up and fried my motherboard.

Glad I told them I wanted a Compaq or HP replacement then and not a Gateway.

173 Busifer

That stinks! If I could get away with not having a car, I would, they are SUCH a pain in the butt. But sadly public transportation in the States just isn't up to it in most places.

The fun continues!

Well I had a call from the phone company stating that they had not had a payment from me and my account was now 145 pounds in debt and did I want to pay this.

I told them that No I did not want to pay because I only got FOUR days of working phone service during the month of Dec.
Also I wasn't paying For reconnection fees when it wasn't a reconnection just a transfer.
And I also am most certainly not paying for service charges that are for, and this is the kicker, trying to fix a non-existant fault.

There was a fault and I reported it several times. It took them a week to sort it all out.

The person from collections was like well you have to pay something today or you might be
in danger of losing service.

I told them I wasn't intrested and asked to speak to the manager.

I told the manager and he told me there was nothing he could do. So I asked to speak to his manager. Again I told my story, and was told that I would have to make a complaint.

I told them that I had already done so and that I still recivied this massive bill.

at this point I get put on hold for 10 mins while they try and find out whats gone wrong. After which they come back and tell me that the complaint referance number I've given them isn't on their systems!!!

After that I said well that's your problem and hung up. I'd had more than enough.

That was yesterday. I haven't heard anything from them today.

However I did get a call from the housing people. It seems without the paperwork that was missing the benifits office has decided that yes we are intitled to help with rent. (we were told a week ago that our claim couldn't be processed with out the forms that we got sent, and are in the process of getting them filled out) But for some reason those forms don't matter now and we are getting 12 pounds worth of help with the rent each week. We were told everything would get back dated, and it hasn't so now we have to come up with 400 pounds!

Its soo annoying when you get left in the dark.

#185 - Oh, rune, that sucks! In Sweden we have a kind of consumer authority board to which you can address your trouble if a certain company don't come through as expected. It keeps the companies on their toes as the books of that board is open to the public, including the media - and we have two very popular shows on public service TV going after those companies that err.

#184 - I just agreed to buying a new car. Husband saves 120 minutes each day in travel times, plus we gain in independence and agility.
I'm still a bit grumpy, though, but he has convinced me this new car will not set us back more than this present one does, even without the repair expenses...
It's kind of funny, though, 'case he HATES driving; I have to remind him that yes, we have a 4 yo in the car so could he please hold the profanities? Certainly not ALL of the other drivers out there ought to die or be sent to hell?!
;-)

ok, now I'm also extremely cranky; nearly every electric appliance in our new flat was already in repair and they are only 2 weeks old!!! We extra bought imported brands, the best you can get here and the bl**dy things still not work.
The worst was, today, when I came home and wanted to take a shower, the water heater stopped working directly after I foamed myself... I had to finish with 8 degree cold water.... GROARRRR

I just tried to chew my favorite gum with my new dentures. It sticks. :(

I just moved to a new town, and have no job yet - sooooo

1 - I'm broke, and having to ask my fiance for money for EVERYTHING (which he's an angel about, but I HATE soooo very much...)
2 - I can't FIND anything! ^&%$#*(($&&^@#$@ *hmph* I spent a week and a half trying to find a set of work-out shorts for him that didn't cost too much (referencing cranky crab #1) but didn't make him look like a homeless person. I've driven EVERYWHERE, to loads of stores I've never HEARD of before... I finally found them today, BUT at a discount store, so I have to go find a decent alterations shop that won't rip me off to fix them. So - I get to drive around lost MORE.
3 - I'm planning a wedding BUT my mother's using me as organization central for a non-profit dance club she's starting (building and legally setting up = the whole nine yards) AND I don't want to tell her NO - because I think it's cool, and I like helping - just AHHHH I want to settle my own stuff too!
4 - my aunt and brother are coming to see "my new place" which is still HIS place with my stuff randomly stuffed into the corners. *sigh*

... wow... I actually feel better. this was a great idea!

edit - still hungry, still can't spell

ARGIKEHGKRHGKJRKLGJE!!!!!!!!!!

I'm cranky because there's someone playing REALLY loud music down the street, and it's HORRIBLE music! And I have a headache! >:/ (it's bachata/cumbia or some Colombian/Latin awfully fugly music).

Argh!!! I think I will go rest on my bed (thankfully, my bedroom is on the other side of the apartment, towards the other street, so maybe there'll be less music coming through the windows... *sigh*)

But I wanted to keep on sitting here, catching up on my 'Net time... and this window is too close to the damn music :(

*grumble grumble*

*has beautiful mental vision of "fugly music" possibly derived from watching Disney's Fantasia waaaay too often as a small person.*

I'm getting cranky because I can't tell when I've read posts, or what threads I've posted on. The dark blue thingies don't seem to be working last night and this morning. It's the little things that sometimes set you off.

I woke up this morning with pink eye.

This is the third day of my cold.

I can't wear my contacts because of the pink eye.

My glasses hurt my nose and I'll need to stop after work to get them adjusted.

I'm #$)(&)($#Q CRANKY!

oh, Morph, I am so sorry. You have every right to be cranky to the max. Why are you going to work? Stay home, don't spread the pink eye! that's an excellent reason to not go to work. (-:

I have deliverables and no one who can cover me who can get them out on time.

:(

P.S. My boss said he was going to put up crime scene tape to prevent people coming into my cube. Hee hee.

OK, I understand being irreplaceable. I often was in that predicament while teaching...but can you put in a part-day then? Just do the absolutely necessary and then split?

ps - I love the crime scene tape idea. I hope he does it.

Yes, I will leave as soon as I can. Believe me!

poor Morphy. I understand exactly where you're coming from, too.

I have no back-up on several of the things I do. (This means when I'm home sick or on vacation, I still get phone calls and emails, and I'm expected to resolve everything.)

I also hate it when I can't wear my contacts. I mean, seriously, I have contacts for a reason.

Hope you can finish it up quickly so you can go home.

Feel better!!!

So sorry Morphy, but that crime scene tape would be great to have. :) Hope your eye clears up quickly!

I hope you're home by now Morphy and snuggled in, sipping a warm drink and feeling better. Pink eye is awful :-( Take good care of yourself *hug*

I left a couple of hours early. Stopped and got my glasses fixed. Hopefully they won't hurt anymore. I arranged things so I can take tomorrow off. I'm on the couch, wrapped up and am not moving until Wednesday. I also doubt I'll work much on the 1001 FBTRBYATIAN but keep those nominations coming. I'll catch up by the weekend, if not before. Just not while I'm drain-bamaged with this cold.

Ouch, I hope you feel better, Morph!

I'm also home with the flu, but mine sounds nothing near as bad as yours, and with the pink eye on top of that! How awful! *hugs*

Feel better, Morphy, dear. I had a cold last week, but I stayed home for a day and a half, and it was gone in 3 days.

Rest, rest, vitamin C and rest. It really works.

Aww u guys make me feel bad, coz I dont really have anything to whinge about, but I'm still feeling very whingey :(

I'm whingy becaus ei'v egot wet feet. Really dripping wet feet.

It's been raining fairly hard, but not unexpectedly so. I was somewhat peeved to find the road I bike into work along had flooded. Right across. Not very deep. Just deeper than my otherwise waterproof shoe. Said waterproof shoe is now doing a fine job of keeping the floodwater in. Thanks.

And my buildings cold. I'm going to have two blocks of ice at the end of my legs before the day is out.

Ouch. Wet feet really gets at you; well, to me it does, anyway.
Personally, my bike crankiness is that one day everything is covered with a thin film of ice = no bike for me, back can't take drastic falls any more, and the next it's a fine dry surface, and the next we're wading in sludge. The sludge and snow part has made me put my bike in winter storage, which is hard to get to, so when it's there it's THERE.
And I'm not REAL cranky about that. I only wish the weather could decide to be one or the other.

So I'm cranky because my car which I have cared for or owned since my dad bought it more ten years ago is toast. I knew it was coming, it had 135,000 miles on it, so it's alright, we are getting another car to replace it. But now we cannot find the *fishlegen* title so we can sign the hunk of &^*# over to a junk yard.

Now this means probably waiting two weeks of turn around to send for a new one and get it back to sign it over to the yard. Nothing can ever be simple! Grrr

on the sunny side the individual at the junkyard is patient and not worried about waiting. It's not like the car is going anywhere :)

I'm cranky because I can't stay up 24 hours a day to watch tennis. Damn spherical earth, time zones, down under...grumble...

Arghgjklslkkdwk@34!#%#^@(*U(*!*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm cranky because I FINALLY went to pick up my packages of books from Amazon and Thriftbooks, that I ordered more than 3 weeks ago, and one of the books is missing!!!!! >:(

Not only is one book missing, is Good Omens that is missing!!!!!!!!

And not only that, to add insult to injury, it was replaced with another book, this ONE:





By Mack Maloney, who the heck is that?????? he's apparently very popular :/

ARGHKJGajijjfjlj@^&*^#*&^*(#&(*&~@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Delirium9: how frustrating. Don't you hate that when some one thinks they, they! of all people, can pick a book for you! How rude.

By the way, where'd ya get the emoticon. awesome, as some would say (-;

Yeah, I'm very sad right now :( I was soooo looking forward to reading Good Omens. And now I checked ThriftBooks.com, and they don't have a copy anymore!!!

I just sent them an e-mail to let them know of the screw-up. If they cannot send me a copy of Good Omens, the least they could do is send me any book I'd like that has the same price, I guess.

This is the second time I bought anything from them, and I didn't have any problems the first time.

BTW, I was extremely irritated already with my courier company. Instead of buying through the Web and asking for my packages to be sent here by snail mail, which would take forever and be more expensive, I have a mailbox in the U.S. to which they sent the packages, and then a courier company here does all the arrangements and I pay them (common practice in Panama). But there was a screwup with them too, today :/

I'm wondering if it wouldn't be easier to just let the packages be sent here directly. Even with the expensive mail fees... *sigh* :(

Oh, and Maggie, you can steal the icon if you'd like! :D I stole it from somewhere else, I can't remember where :P

Argh, why, why, why do people ask if you've been to the doctor when you have a cold? Hello, people! A cold is a VIRUS. Doctor's can't do diddly for a virus.

#212 Morph, you can do a lot for viruses if you use therapeutic grade essential oils. Try lemon oil straight on your tongue, or a beaut blend of cloves,cinnamon, rosemary, eucalyptus and lemon called 'Thieves' rubbed under your feet. For the flu try Oregano and thyme rubbed under your feet. Peppermint oil on your tongue or inhaled will clear the head.
Therapeutic grade oils are known to be antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral. The ones I use are from USA You can send me a comment on my page if you want to know how to get them. Don't just go the the drug store to get them. They most likely won't be pure and may cause more harm than good. Wishing you good health!
PS Idon't have a gripe today. I am feeling very happy!!!

#209 - AWWW!!! In your situation I would probably send a very insulting email to the dealer...
I've only used Thriftbooks once, but the packet took ages to reach me - it made a detour to New Zealand, and as far as I know that's NOT en route from Washington State to Sweden :-(
Now, after reading about your troubles, I guess I was lucky as I at least got the book I ordered.

#209 - That's one nasty looking replacement, too.
}:o(

Some times messages on this thread irritate me. I will not say which ones but I think it is because on occasion others sound as if they know it all, which is my worst fault. I really wish I did not sound that way ever, but I do. Oh, well, I guess the alternative is to learn it all. (-;

#212 - I'm with you, Morphy. In fact I'm pretty sure I was ranting about something similar w/ drsol over on the 'Supreme Ruler of the Universe' thread.

#216 - maggie, I have to admit there are posts in almost EVERY thread that irritate me. ;o)

Maybe I could convince my evil twin to just lighten up and be much harder to irritate? Do you think?

Not a chance!
LOL
I like my evil twin, anyway. :o)
I just wish I could convince her to clean the bathrooms while I am asleep.

OK, clam, you got me to actually Laugh Out Loud. Thanks.

>217 clamairy: Can I get a link for that, Clam? I'm afraid to use Talk Search.

Morphy, #60 and #61 in this thread:

http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=27920

#221 - maggie, I'm glad!
:o)
See, admitting you were irritated paid off, didn't it?

I'm PO'd that every single product (ok, I exaggerate) is now made with "anti-bacterial" properties.

#225 - It's just a fad, hopefully.

#225 I start worrying when I see antibacterial soap. How are kids supposed to develop natural immunities these days?

#227 - Easy. Most of them are like my son, and just don't wash their hands.
;o)
(Unless I'm standing over him, threatening him, that is.)

I read an article in either Time or National Geographic that kids who play in "Good" dirt, like on a farm or in a yard. Develop more immunity and have fewer allergies. so there let the boy play in the dirt. It's good for him :).

I think my son may be made of dirt, It just appears on him, out of nowhere.

"Help Desks"

First, they want your user ID number, last name, first name, company, building, phone number, last four of your SSN, the street you lived on when you were six, the dog's name of the doctor who delivered you, longitude and latitude, how to spell that word from Mary Poppins that starts with Supercali-, your spouse's blood type, how many fingers they are holding up, a urine sample faxed to them, the current phone number of the person they dumped in high school, oh, and can you recommend a local chiropractor?

Then, and only then, will they try to take down what your issue is. This is made even more difficult because #1 they barely speak English or do so with such a heavy accent they might as well not speak English at all, #2 they barely understand English and #3 they are computer illiterate so have no idea what you are talking about even if they could understand you.

/rant

/applauds Morphidae

Morph - I take this to mean you are all better. Good ranting, girl.

I would like to rant about Mac people, the people who, if you ever mention Windows, shut off their ears and say "you should switch to Mac!" It also goes for the Linux people who do the same thing.

Just now I decided not to leave a comment on a blog asking for information because I decided that the risk of getting a slew of obnoxious "just switch to linux" and "just get a mac" replies instead of, you know, ANSWERS TO MY QUESTION was too high.

I've used Windows for over 10 years. I am not a hacker or a power-user or whatever and it works just fine for me. I am not going to waste time learning to navigate a new OS that then won't even run half the programs I use, or even if it does, I'd have to re-learn how to use them too. What an incredible waste of my time.

And lastly, I've been getting these exact same annoying comments for 10 years. Why oh why oh why do they all seem to think they're the first person ever to say that and they're oh so witty and cute?

#234 And if i recall rightly, in the far-off days when we used such things, Macs couldn't read PC discs. And so a certain woman of my acquaintance was most surprised when she tried to sell me a Mac as my first home computer, oh, ages ago, in the days when DOS was the latest and greatest, and I pointed out to her that not only would it not run any of the software i wanted, but it would not even communicate with anything that would (this was before the internet, of course). And all this for only three times the price of the machine I had my eye on. ... Why was I not surprised to discover that her husband had what at the time was the only Mac agency in Kwazulu-Natal, and one of only three in the country?

Incidentally, I've often been told by Mac people that only Mac software can mark up text in such a way that you can print (as in books) directly from digital. Not so. I know of at least one case where the author took his MS-Word disc to a printer, and they produced his book directly from his disc with no intervening Mac stage. (It's a very expensive book on cycads, so i don't have a copy, or I'd include a touchstone).

#214
Thanks, Busifer! Sorry to read you had troubles with ThriftBooks too.

I'm still waiting for them to reply to my e-mail... :/ *sigh*

I think I'm going to open a thread re online used bookstores, if nobody minds.

#209
Tell me about it! >:/ grrrr! If it had been a book I liked, at least, something I didn't expect, but at least was interested in, I wouldn't mind so much (SO MUCH, mind you, because I'd still mind!), but... STARHAWK!!!??!?!?!? ARGH!

I'm sorry, this isn't a rant, but I got a kick out of listening to my husband trying to talk to an automated phone thing the other day. I think the reason I got the kick was because it wasn't me. Every couple of minutes, after a round of Q&A with no results he would shout "Just let me talk to a person!", then it would begin again. Finally he said something like "Stick it #@@%##@#" (not cursing, just a graphic location)" and my son, walking by, said in a mechanical voice, "We're sorry, we don't understand what you are trying to say, would you repeat that?"

MrsLee

That is pretty funny.

My general reaction to those obnoxious automated phone things is to punch zero until I get a person. It usually works.

>#238: me too.

uh, if you replace "zero" with "company director", that is. And replace "person" with "police officer".

239 mrandrew

I'd be curious to see how you punch a company director through the phone.

Regarding annoying posts, sadly, I find this very post annoying!

I am cranky that I got drawn into an argument yesterday with some coworkers about the 'value' of my college degree.

"It's just a piece of paper."
"Why bother if you're not going to get a degree in something useful?"
"It's such a waste of money."
"Nobody ever makes a living doing art."

Thanks, guys, that's really nice. Also, not listening to me - when I know more about it when I point out things like, having a degree is useful, no matter what it's in and people do make money doing art, thank you very much. The "starving artist" mentality is a big part of why more people don't, so thank you so much for perpetuating that. Also, were you there? Did you go to my college with me? Then you don't know if it was a waste of money or not, now, do you?

I do believe I pity your kids (one of the coworkers has two) who will undoubtedly be discouraged from going to college or encouraged to only get degrees in "useful" fields, not in whatever they want to study.

241 groo

Then you don't have to read it, now do you?

#242 That's okay few people with useful degrees actually use them in any meaningful way at all.

Out of my class of 30 chemists those that I've kept track of include an electrician, a patent advisor, a few teachers, some service technicians etc etc. I'm one of the very few still in the chemistry field, and I can't recall the last time I needed any of the "facts" taught to me as part of my degree. However learning how to learn, for whatever subject is vital.

I did something to tweak my right artificial hip yesterday and it is sore today, like a pulled muscle, kinda. Bummer. And I am getting those shiny floaters in my vision today, an eye doc. told me they were "visual migraines" - not much pain, thank goodness, but still makes it hard to read. And I have my new KINDLE and the floaters make it hard to read the manual, etc. Oh, me, oh, my, think I might go back to bed.

>242 bluesalamanders: I frequently get the same crap from people because of my degree in Philosophy.

Is it just a piece of paper? Yes; it's a piece of paper that demonstrates how I finished a degree program(while working full-time, mind you).

What do Wittgenstein or Aristotle have to do with my job? Not too much. However, the fact that I studied them and cut the teeth of my critical faculties on them has been a major influence on my work. I can read a large document, dissect it, draw out the salient points, evaluate how they apply to our facility and what problems they present, simplify and reconstruct them, and educate the staff.

Also, just because my degree is in Philosophy does not mean I only studied that. I took enough Chemistry, Biology, Math, and Physics that I almost qualified for a second degree. In fact, I'm considering going back to wrap that one up.

OK, I got distracted from the reason I came on this thread. ;)

I missed the garbage collection! Every week of the year in which there is a Monday holiday, our collection day gets pushed back to Saturday. With this Monday being MLK day, I assumed it was the same, especially since my neighbors didn't put out their trash last night. Well, I woke up to find they already passed my side of the street and were half way down the other side. Argh! Why can't city departments ever be consistent?!

#45 Hope you are feeling better Maggie!

I remember all the pressure I was under to switch to a better major that would get me a real job. (My major being theater). I ended up quitting at the end of my sophomore year, partially out of response to that pressure, though it was certainly much more complicated than that.

I find the "useful" argument so funny since my experience with people in the arts are that they are some of the most well read, well rounded and informed people I know.

And yes I do know a lot of people who make a living at art in one way or another.

Yes, I feel much better thank you. I have been up and moving furniture around, as well as reading my Kindle. I love it!

Well, I went tonight for my overnight sleep study to confirm the doctor's diagnosis that my Sleep Apnea came back. I had throat surgery to correct it 10 years ago, but it seems to be back with a vengeance.

My sister dropped me off, I went in, they said I am scheduled for NEXT week!

*blink*

I looked at my appointment card, it says 2/2/08

*blink*

At no time did we discuss next week. When I set up the appointment, I specifically asked if there were any appointments for this week since I am on vacation, they said yes, THIS Saturday night, 1/26, is open! She said "let me just make sure we can get approval of this QUICKLY enough from your insurance, hmmm, yes, that will be fine."

However, she wrote the wrong date on my paper, and I just didn't notice it!

I felt like a @#$%ing idiot, and at first was kicking myself for not noticing the date was wrong, but DAMN, we agreed verbally on this Saturday, rant, rant! I had to wait an hour and a half for my sister to be able to pick me up again.

Also, my cataract surgery has to be postponed for a few months, probably until April or May. From the various doctors' appointments this week, I seem to have won the Obesity Trifecta! High Blood Pressure, Enlarged Heart Muscle (ventricle) and Type II Diabetes. Sleep Apnea is the icing on the cake,

Silver lining time, i am now HYPER-motivated to lose weight. When my doctor tells me he won't allow a routine laser cataract surgery because my risk for a heart attack, stroke and infection are through the roof, well, what more motivation to lose weight do I need?

Well, Mr Groo, you could wait until, like my next door neighbor, they won't do any surgery because you're just too old. Bummer.

Good luck with the eating healthfully! You know we are pullin' for you.

LOL, true! All the more reason to take care of my biggest (literally) problem, so I can them take care of my eyes properly!

When the doctor was telling me that my blood was "too sweet", I surprised him by saying that I must be at high risk for vampires, LOL!

#251 or maggie, have the doctor tell you your too young yet like me (at 51). I need to get my knees replaced but "I'm too young" yet and they won't do it.

And I hear you Groo, I have to lose weight too. My dr said, so smugly with his trim, fit, little body, "Well, if you weren't so fat, your knees wouldn't bother you so much."

And I get lectures about diabetes and all the other dangers too.

I am trying. I've started walking every day and I'm going swimming too. So we'll join with Morphidae and everybody else in the dieting thread and try to be better to ourselves. I'm with you!

I love the "sweet blood" and vampires - that's great *chuckle* :)

I always got PO'ed about everybody telling me I have to lose weight, but BOY did this doctor slam the message home. I went from having an appointment for a noninvasive, routine pain-free cataract surgery, to being told my risk for heart attack is too high for me to endure it! YIKES!!!

That would scare me too. I think that's what my dr is trying to get across to me too. That's why I've started the exercise thing. I've found Morph's struggle and success so inspiring it keeps me going when I feel lazy or get discouraged.

Losing weight sucks. I wish it was as easy to lose it as it is to gain it!

I'm being a crankypants crabcakes because I'm depressed and it sucks. I hate being miserable and grumpy and I'm soooo tired it's not true (surely one shouldn't need 10-12 hours sleep in every 24??). And my brain is so screwy that sometimes I can't even focus on *reading*. And I tried the stupid anti-SAD lightbox thing and it didn't make ANY difference. Stupid brain. Grump. Strop.

p.s. good luck to the people trying to lose weight, it sounds so hard but worth it.

#242 - your degree shows that you can study something to degree standard and demonstrates that you have commitment, intellegence, a work ethic and an understanding of presentation, before you even get into the subject you chose to study.

My Aunt has a degree in Art History but her job is as a social worker trying to ensure that vulnerable children and families get the help they need.

She worked very hard for it and although the Art History knowledge isn't part of her day to day work, the skills she learned at university help her every day.

Don't take it to heart, you know what you got out of it and they are probably just jealous that you have a degree in something you love.

I'm being a crankypants today because it's a very important and very sad day for me and my husband but my in-laws have forgotten about it, when they ought to have remembered.

I'm a cranky-pants today because it's the first time I've been to a buffet since I started working on my eating disorder last summer and I totally blew all I learned and have tried to do and ate like a disgusting pig.

Lesson learned. Morphy is not allowed near a buffet trough.

I'm cranky because the costume I bought looks fantastic but its for a person that is size 12!

I don't know an adult who is healthy and a size 12! I am not made to be a stick figure!

Whats worse is that its going to take loads of money and materials to take the costume out and make it so it fits and still looks good.

grr!

#260 - Rune, are Brit sizes different from US sizes?

Okay, I found this...

http://www.fashion-411.com/Size_Conversions.htm

#261 - Clam, I think our size 12 is your size 8 but different shops here don't always fit the same.

I am a 12 in most shops, a 14 in a couple of others and a 10 in my favourite shop.

In one shop I have had to buy jeans in a 14 and trousers in a 10, from the same shop on the same day, so it's really hard to buy clothes that fit without trying everything on first.

I do get quite cranky about this size thing myself.

Argh graaah! I am cranky because I have no control over my heat and it is so hot in my apartment that I'm getting a headache. I am opening windows and doors but it's not helping much even though it's 25 degrees F outside.

Also, I need to do laundry but I can't because someone else is doing theirs and I'm waiting for them to finish but they've been at it all afternoon and evening. I hate that the landlord only put in one washer and dryer, no matter how big they are.

eta: Finally I could get a load into the washing machine, and opening the door to my porch - i.e. outside, before I'd just opened the door to the hallway - is helping with the heat. Gah.

Don't feel too bad, Morphy, no one is perfect. Just keep hoping and trying. Have faith in yourself.

Aww, Morphy. :o/
As distressed as you must be, just remember it was a one-time slip, and stay determined to steer clear of the place.
*hugs*

#266 - Strongly agree. One IMPORTANT thing I learned was not to let today's slip affect tomorrow. Another thing I used to do is say that since I cheated today, I may as well keep at it. Why go from bad to worse?

Morphy - A stumble is not a fall. Trite and true. *hug*

I'm just cranky today.

In us sizes I'm an 18-22

here depending on where I shop its all over the place. I hate it.

Yesterday I took the costume back to the shop where I bought it, to see if I could either get my money back or see if they had it in another size.

Well here's what happend :

me: Hi, I bought this in your shop a week ago, and I can't wear it because its a size 12. Can I exchange it? I have the recipet.

Shop girl: No, I'm sorry we can't exchange it because it was a sale item.

me: I only want to switch it for a bigger size if you have it.

Shop girl: It was on sale because we weren't going to be getting anymore in. We don't exchange sale items because we may not sell them.

me: But its not marked with a sale tag! It doesn't even say anywhere on the packaging that its a sale item.

*girl looks over package* You know your right, but the rest of them were on sale and so this one should have been marked the same way. I'm really sorry but I can't do anything for you.

*Me sigh of fustration and picks up the dress and goes back home*

So it looks like I'm stuck with it.

# 269 - I'm not completely sure but I think if they do not have a facility for trying things on before you buy them then they have to allow you to exchange something that does not fit.

Also, if they have not marked the sale item properly then I think you also can argue your consumer rights. Also if the size lable is misleading you might have a good case to argue.

You could try going back in and asking for the manager and perhaps mention that you intend to call trading standards to ask about your rights. If you are a regular customer you could mention that and ask for a goodwill gesture from the shop.

Failing all that, there's always ebay, you could try to get some of your money back that way.

as a person who worked retail, let me tell you something. Argue louder and longer, and they'll do something. Demand a manager, argue to the above points and they'll respond.

My short rant for the day:

"I can do what I want and should be given whatever I want, without working for it, because of who my daddy is," is not a world view. It is a character flaw.

gggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

269 Rune

Did you at least get the difference back? If it was on sale and you paid regular price, you should at least have gotten some money back, even if you couldn't exchange or return it!

I'm getting crankier and crankier the further this night goes on. Mondays are already my longest day of the week - when I get home, I like to relax with an easy, high-carb (comfort food) dinner - usually mac and cheese - and play on the net for a few, then crash really early.

Today I got home at 6.30, and when I tried to plug my iPod into the puter, iTunes wouldn't recognize it. I have been troubleshooting for the last hour and a half and nothing is working. Considering my iPod is about the only thing that gets me through my long-ass days on campus, as my patience wears thin I'm having a hard time remaining calm. Without iTunes recognizing the iPod, I lose all ability to add & remove music, construct & edit playlists, or even update my calendar that I keep in there.

Ugh.

#274 - Oh bugger!
:o/
Did you find a decent troubleshooting website?

>275 clamairy: I'm still working my way through all the myriad different ways the iTunes website suggests to try and fix the problem. Since I just updated my iTunes to the latest version, I have a sneaking suspicion that's where the problem lies, but after uninstalling/reinstalling so many times I lost count, I tried installing the last version (7.5) instead of the newer (7.6), but 7.5 couldn't open on my puter because the library file was "created with a newer version."

If all else fails, I'll go back and try that again, and it will just mean deleting my library file (and thus having to recreate all of my bajillion-and-one playlists...) *big sigh*

Does anyone know if doing that will also cause all of my tags or my ratings to disappear from the tracks?

#276 Do not do not do NOT delete your library file! There is absolutely no need to do that!

Your computer not finding your iPod is *not* the fault of the library file, almost assured.

What kind of computer do you have? Mac or Windows?

No, I know it's not the fault of the library file. What the library file is doing is preventing me from reverting back to the next-newest version of iTunes, because 7.5 can't read a library file created by 7.6.

In fact, my computer is recognizing my iPod. I can see it in Windows Explorer. Only iTunes won't recognize it. This is an iTunes problem, not an iPod problem. And like I said, I updated to the newest iTunes sometime between my last reboot and today. When I left for work this morning, I shut down the pc. When I got back and booted up, this is what I was dealing with.

And yes, I share the reservations about deleting my library file (note this won't delete my tracks, only the library file that has them all as being "added" to my iTunes library) - it will take an eternity to get all those thousands of files back in there and organized the way I want. I'm just running low on options.

Windows - XP pro.

Okay.

Here is a trick

On XP Pro, if your username is "JPB" on WIndows, then your iPod library files are located in:

C:\\Documents and Settings\\JPB\\My Documents\\My Music\\iTunes

Explore to the "C:\\Documents and Settings\\JPB\\My Documents\\My Music" directory and RENAME your iTunes folder to be "iTunes good"

(Obviously, change "JPB" to your user name)

If you can't see the directories in the path, you might need to see the "hidden files and folders" by selecting that option in the menu-bar up top: tools->folder options ... then VIEW tab, then choose "hidden files and folders SHOW"... have to do that for each directory level, perhaps...

THEN uninstall iTunes, fully, with add/remove programs. Make sure it is fully uninstalled. Reboot. Install iTunes from scratch. If it doesn't work, you've learned something: It's NOT your library.

If it DOES, let the system fully install things, make sure you are NOT auto-synchronizing (cuz you'll have an empty library) and leave iTunes.

Then, go back to that directory, and then rename the NEW itunes folder to "iTunes NEW" and rename back the old 'iTunes good" folder to just plain iTunes.

Then try running again.

There's also one other thing....

You could use one of those "restore a library from the iPod" programs...

This is the one a friend told me she used:

CopyTrans

I think you're completely missing my point. I know it's not my library causing the problems. I think it's the new version of iTunes causing the problem. The (additional, added) frustration is that I can't revert back to the old version of iTunes, because after installing it (the older version), it refuses to open on my machine with a library file that was created or modified by the newer version. The library file is just what's getting in the way of my trying to work with the older version of iTunes, and thereby determine if it is, indeed, the new version that is causing me problems.

I appreciate you trying to help, but you're not actually addressing the issue I'm having.

Finally! I have achieved victory over the infernal fiend known as iTunes. I ended up having to go in and find all the old (leftover) install files from all the old versions of iTunes and get rid of them all, as well as all the old QuickTime install files that were floating around (I managed to locate a few hundred, total). Then reinstalling 7.6 (for about the 9th time tonight) worked and recognized my iPod.

Thanks for trying to help, JPB. As anyone who's ever had the pleasure of using a computer knows, these things can get massively frustrating very quickly. At least it's fixed!

#284

Actually, in post #283, I am.

You can get rid of your old library, and then use CopyTrans to recover its contents from your iPod.
The idea being: it gives a way to run an older iTunes on your machine (start up 7.5 with an empty library), and then 'recover' the iTunes library data from the iPod itself.

This was to make the revert-to-old-version possible.

Also, the XML file format is often identical between similar versions. Setting the .itl file to size '0' bytes, will cause iTunes to reread the XML. But that is a REAL pain to edit if there are extra fields.

Ahh... you got it to work. Still, CopyTrans is a great program to have. I grabbed it while we were typing, and I am happily 'restoring' my iPod library to a spare computer at home, making a nice backup copy :)

I will say this, and I forgot about it: When I upgraded to iTunes 7.6, I did have to reinstall quicktime. I got a nasty failure that wouldn't even let iTunes START.

Hmm. I'm actually in the market for an external hard drive, on which I'm planning to back up all my music. I'm not sure I understand what CopyTrans does... does it simply copy your library configuration? Or does it allow you to move actual music files backwards from iPod to computer?

I think either one wouldn't do me a whole lot of good, since my iPod doesn't contain anywhere near all of my music (that new 150GB iPod is also on my wishlist... right now I only have a 30GB), and the library and playlists on my iPod are also all different from what's on my pc (I always manually update rather than syncing, except for my calendar).

I was never talking about deleting my library, as in the music files themselves. Only the "iTunes Library.itl" file, which could have been (time-consumingly) rebuilt by re-adding all the files into iTunes. I think maybe that's where our miscommunication lie (lay? laid? something like that...)

Cranky. I just burned the roof of my mouth on the chicken I made for (a very late) supper. I assumed that my headache was from not eating, but now I've eaten, my head still aches, and the roof of my mouth hurts. I probably should just go to bed, but I piled the laundry that needs to be folded there. Grrr.

#289 - Oooo, I used to sleep on all the laundry all the time! Soft, cushy, you can burrow under if you get cold. Then I got married and DH wasn't raised that way. :)

Yup. Will be burrowing tonight. AND I have to get up early tomorrow morning. Yuck.

OMG, my laundry is in the dryer getting all wrinkly!

thanks, foggi.

And while we're whinging about laundry, why can't they make nice, quality fabrics that you can throw in the dryer that won't shrink or fade or otherwise get ruined? I hate hanging things to dry or taking them to the dry cleaners.

#292 - Hear! Hear!

Boy am I mad. I have just started Katharine Kerr's Deverry series of 13 books and the library doesn't have the 2nd one. WHy do libraries bother keepng books if they don't keep the whole ***** series!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aaaaarrrgggghhhh

#288 CopyTrans restores both your library file (the .itl file) and the music files themselves back into the iTunes directory structure, taking them all from the iPod.

I was thinking of it as a way for you not to "care" about having to delete your library to back-rev to 7.5 - you could simply recover it.

However, I did not ask if your iPod was only a subset of your online music collection. Given that it is, CopyTrans is a poor solution for you, as at the end of the day, after using it, all you would have is a PC library that looks like your iPod.

I've used utilities like it to move my music collection rather effortlessly from PC to Mac and back, but my iPod holds all my music, so such utilities meet my needs.

#294 Because people steal or lose books? :(

#292 Wasn't that the 1970s, and wasn't that called polyester? (A fabric that I absolutely hate with a passion)

#290 Heh. My wife discovered the comfort of "laundry piles" in our first apartment together.

I thought she was crazy, until I tried it... you're right, it is comfortable.

#292 We finally purchased a new washer/dryer a few years ago, (after having the old ones for about 14 years, the washer finally gave out).

We never realized it had an 'auto-anti-wrinkle' feature to the dryer - where it would spin the stuff around for a minute or so every 20 minutes until you took the stuff out.

My wife threw some towels in the dryer as we headed off for a week's vacation, thinking "if they get wrinkled, who cares?"

You all know where this story is going... we get back from our trip, and are startled a few minutes after getting home by hearing the dryer kick in.

It had auto-spun those clothes, and sounded its "clothes done!" alert every 20 minutes, for an entire week.

ooh scary, that could be a real fire hazard.

...I was thinking more in the way of electricity bills.
Had to laugh, though.
When I was at boarding school the student who had the room next to mine went home visiting, forgetting to set his alarm clock to 'off'. It rang for 60 minutes every morning in four days!!! Not even the super had a set of extra keys...
I changed rooms after that.

I wish Tim's "be nice" rule would be amended to "be nice, but some occasional snark is acceptable".