First-world Grievances

grievance |ˈgrēvəns|
noun
a real or imagined wrong or other cause for complaint or protest, esp. unfair treatment

first-world grievance
something we could technically live without, but...you know...

My latest first-world grievance: The battery in the motion-activated faucet is dead, so now I need to walk across the building to wash my hands.

My home computer is in the shop, so I am reduced to waiting until lunch or after work to visit fun websites on the work computer. Or *gasp* go to the library to use the computer. When I am at work or in the library, I forget to look things up.

My current budgetary constraints will not allow me to buy all the little bits and pieces I "need" to complete settling in my new home, for example, I have a piece of art I did which I would like to frame, but now is not the time to run off to the craft store and buy a frame, and god-knows what else. Craft store! One of my favorite venues, right up there with the hardware store, and the plant nursery. All are temporarily off limits.

I can sympathize, maggie. My husband's between jobs and I need to get my certification before I can start my line of work, so we can't do as much fun stuff right now. :(

The speed that technology advances. I have an Ipod (not the phone), an Android phone, and a desktop computer. I could now get a combo device. Then what do I do with the "old" stuff? Do I have "technology fatigue"? Or "technology anxiety"? Apple should come up with an app for that!

MC Frontalot has a whole song about First World Problems:

Misplaced the Ambien
Left a participle dangling
You're scheduling your root canal
Your grad schooling had no rationale
You didn't like your appetizer
Your yacht got capsized

*smile*

my work is keeping me too busy to keep uotodate on LT as much as I would like.

I'm running out of shelf space for all my books and movies.

The vending machines don't have any actual food in them, so I have to wait TWO WHOLE HOURS to eat.

#9: Time for another bookshelf! :)

I am finding it a challenge to not eat.

>9 LibrariansOfBabel:: Ditto!

#8 - Same here.

Another one - I don't have time to shop for new clothes.

Does getting a call at 1:30am from work when I have to get up to get ready for work at 4:00am count? That.

Yikes! I would not be very happy with the person calling. I hope it was a real emergency need. Take a little extra time with your coffee, at work, today.

#15: Wow, I wouldn't be too chipper, either! I'd say it counts, though. How often have you heard the "at least you have a job" complaint?

The hand soap in the the coffeeshop's bathroom makes my hands feel really dry, and I forgot my bottle of lotion at home.

I just cannot find the correct shade of yellow for my kitchen walls. And some people think they have tough lives - pah ...!

Have you ever read Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House? The wife's attempts to get the exact right paint color make me laugh.

I don't have enough wall space to hang the etchings I just bought at a rummage sale.

I don't have space for another bookcase or shelf.

Sigh. I couldn't find anything that appealed to me at Starbucks this morning, Lord & Taylor had rearranged their stock, and the New Balance store informed me they would have to special order the insoles for my shoes. *pouting*.

On the other hand, I did find some great yarn for my next knitting project.

My local Ikea has rearranged EVERYTHING, floor plan and all.

We went there just before closing time today, to evade the hordes, because we're looking for a sofa-bed for the cabin and want to do some research beforehand. A kind of touch and go visit.
Nothing were where we expected it. NOTHING!

Felt totally lost. Irritating, because I had planned in minute detail, to make the visit as short as possible :(

Oh, I hate that! Two of my favorite bookstores have changed their layout several times and it takes us twice as long to find our books. The one is a coffee/tea/used-book shop and the other is B&N. The first rearranged to make more room. B&N rearranged the second time to make more room for their Nook display.

There's not an IKEA anywhere in the state of Indiana /first world problem

#20 - Oooh, no, I haven't read that - will put on my BM WL right now. Another first-world problem, you see - too many books and too little time!

>20 MerryMary:: Since when is The State of Indiana located in the First World?

And not having an IKEA around with plenty of Homestore and alike offices around, is not exactly a problem.

>28 Papiervisje: That's why it's a first world grievance, because it's not really a problem.

Was travelling with my laptop, and couldn't connect to the internet with it at the friend's place where I stayed - no wireless connection, and the wired one wouldn't connect me. Am behind on the LibraryThing talk as a result. Life can be so rough sometimes!

#31 That one really bites! Especially when the network "sees" your laptop, but won't connect you. Every once in a while, I get that at my in-laws' place.

Me: I've got the best video to show you!
Them: Let's see it!
Me: ...I can't connect to the network... :(

#20 I love that movie, and the book was very good too.

The forecast has rain for tomorrow, after five days of almost-summer.

I think our phones are playing up. Every number I've dialled today, bar one, has given me a 'you have dialled a number that doesn't exist' message.

Being woken up at 6:xx in the morning by the guy who's mowing my lawn.

ETA: . . . that I don't pay for, but my employer does.

We have a vending machine that dispenses coffee of different sorts at work. I believe it is the only place one can get a black latte.
Hmmm!

black latte? is like a cafe au lait sans lait?

#37 Oui!

The machine runs out of milk but carries on with the process leaving one with what is basically half a cup of a black coffee with some bubbles on top.

aw dang!

Better sans lait than sans cup!

#40

Mais oui!

That would be referred to where I come from as, "A wee drop in the hand!"

You have an employer that pays for somebody mowing your lawn?

What company are you working for?
Do they pay for washing the dishes too, ironing shirts, vacuuming the floor?

And who mows the lawn of the employee who mows lawns?

The Play Station network has been down for a few weeks. That is how I watch my instant netflix, right on my TV, and now my PS3 won't let me sign in...and there is no mention of when it will be fixed.

>44 Joybee:
You can still watch Netflix. Keep canceling the sign-in options a few times in succession and it should eventually quit asking you and let you into Netflix.

#26 - There's an IKEA in Bolingbrook, IL (Not contradicting your first-world grievance, just wanted to make sure you knew there was one not too far from the IL/IN border!)

#44 - The PSN issue is getting on my nerves as well! Netflix still works but is a hassle to get to and Hulu is frakked with no sign of functionality in sight... Guess I'll just have to go read another book! ;)

>46 elbakerone:
I figured there had to be one in Chicagoland somewhere. I just think it's funny that Indianapolis doesn't have one.

eta: Google maps tells me I'm about 90 miles from Bolingbrook.

> 42, 43: My employer owns the housing I occupy, and so pay for this lawn to be mowed along with all their other property's lawnage. I do pay taxes on the value of the housing, as it's supplied as a job perquisite (perk). But I still come out ahead, IMO. And no, they don't supply a maid. Though, if truth be told, if I won the lottery I probably would hire one.

The thought apparently hasn't occurred to my employer to ask me to buy my own lawnmower . . . which is why I never complain openly about how the lawn service does its work. I only ranted about it here in "First World Grievances" because I know very well how good I have it.

Google maps tells me I'm about 90 miles from Bolingbrook. (#47)

At least it didn't say you're 90 miles from Bolingbroke.

I can't believe that my neighbor mows his lawn at 6:00 in the morning! And he doesn't even have to pay for it!

Actually, I think that in California, it's against the law to operate gas powered landscaping tools before 8:00 or so.

In Germany, I think it's illegal to mow your lawn on Sundays. It was in my neighborhood, anyhow. I'd check the local laws and see about nailing his butt for disturbing the peace! This might be more a stabbity than a FWG, though. I think the third-world would complain about your neighbor, too. Also, I don't wanna take material away from the stabbity thread. :)

A FWG for your neighbor if he gets a citation: "I gotta wait until 8am to mow my lawn, and by then it's too hot!" BWA-HA-HA!!!

I figure that just about gripe having to do with lawn mowing is a FWG, since elsewhere people are using the land they have mostly to graze livestock or grow crops to eat/sell. They do not have the luxury to plant a large monoculture expanse of a non-native species, that takes water and chemicals just to keep green.

Personally, I like lying in bed listening to someone else working hard, as I drift back to sleep (not a morning person).

#53: You have a point.

#54: Sometimes, I'm the exact same. The one consistent exception to this is garbage day. At least it was when I lived in Germany. I don't recall it being as loud, here, but it woke me up EVERY SINGLE garbage day when I lived in Germany. *sheesh* Noise.

From my good friend epochwolf: I can't find my sunglasses, and my back-up pair ain't polarized!

The asparaguses was a bit too thick to go well on the asparagus/smoked salmon pastry pie.

(Tasted good anyway!)

The Third World keeps asking for more.

I did say it was a First World Grievance ;-)

My wife's car had to go through the National Car Test today. In preparation one is supposed to bring the car along with the hub caps removed.

The car is a 2005 Renault and has a little security bolt on the hub caps. To remove this bolt requires a particular tool provided with the car. We bought the car and the tool was not in the toolkit, so I went along to the Renault parts shop to buy one.

"Well, sir, that is an updated part. You'll have to buy four new bolts that will fit the new tool."

30 euros later I had four bolts and a tool that would not remove the security bolts on the car.

Luckily I was able to borrow the correct tool from a neighbour with a 2003 Renault.

By the way, if one of the front bulbs blows the car has to be taken to a Renault mechanic who has the specialist tools required to replace the bulb.

Grrrrrrr!

I can stream Netflix just fine but the new HBOGo site wants more bandwidth than our router puts out. I want to watch 2 epsiodes of Game of Thrones tonight! Waaah!

I spent the whole weekend trying to buy a phone. It's a nice phone, but oh, the pain of proving who I am! Six stores in two different town centres later...

The problems stems from the notion that if you want to prove who you are, you have to use your driver's licence or your passport, *AND* some other form of ID. Why I can leave and enter the country on my passport, but can't buy a phone without the suspicion of false identity, I don't know. I ended up having to use my passport, my health care card, my bank card and a bank statement (but not a letter from my bank, which apparently "isn't official enough"). Once I'd managed to prove who I was, I had to find a store that was a) open on a sunday, and b) had the phone I wanted in stock.

I'd make a complaint against the phone company, but this is also the procedure for a lot of identity things. If there was a better case for a national ID, I don't know what it is. (No, I'd rather not discuss *that* issue right now, but Outside's a good place for it).

Thanks for the warning, Will. I'll tell Daughter (and remember myself) that we need passport, ID book, medical aid card, drivers licence and in her case student card when we come to the conference in Melbourne in July

And it's such a pain when one opens the seal on one's disposable contact lens and it's packaged inside out. What is the world coming to? Hmmmm?!

63. You may not need them, but it's handy to have more than one form of ID in this country. It makes it a right problem when you don't drive...

#54...."Not a morning person" is a phrase I want printed on a T-shirt which I will proceed to wear every morning.

#51....Get a loud fan. I swear my room fan is so loud and powerful that it drowns out all outside noises, and i've gotten used to it so I find its sound soothing.

> 62 "I ended up having to use my passport, my health care card, my bank card and a bank statement (but not a letter from my bank, which apparently "isn't official enough")"

What, no request for a note from your mother?

67 - Actually, if you're under 18...

>68 Choreocrat:
But then they'd want to see one from your father as well, just for good measure, right? :)

My cellphone doesn't work at the grocery store.

#70 - snerk! I read that as "my cellophane"

Nope! I'm happy to report that the cellophane is in working order! :)

Oh, the ID thing is a nightmare for me at the moment. I got married 18 months ago and changed my name at the bank immediately afterwards. My only photographic ID is my passport and my provisional driver's license (which doesn't count as photographic ID half the time for some reason).

The bank has me under my married name, apart from business stuff, where I'm still under my maiden name because that's never been changed. Passport and driver's license are under my maiden name (because I have to pay to get those changed and that would require having money spare to do it).

I changed my name with the Open University, which is fine. Until I realised that I needed photographic ID for my exam coming up in June. Cue mad panic as I try to find out whether my marriage certificate + photographic ID in my maiden name will be accepted.

And then I had to phone the tax office last week, was on hold for twenty minutes, finally got to speak to an actual person, only to give them my married name, which didn't match the details they had on record, so they made me hang up and call back - resulting in another twenty minutes on hold. Argh!

Oh, the ID thing is a nightmare for me at the moment. I got married 18 months ago and changed my name at the bank immediately afterwards. My only photographic ID is my passport and my provisional driver's license (which doesn't count as photographic ID half the time for some reason).

The bank has me under my married name, apart from business stuff, where I'm still under my maiden name because that's never been changed. Passport and driver's license are under my maiden name (because I have to pay to get those changed and that would require having money spare to do it).

I changed my name with the Open University, which is fine. Until I realised that I needed photographic ID for my exam coming up in June. Cue mad panic as I try to find out whether my marriage certificate + photographic ID in my maiden name will be accepted.

And then I had to phone the tax office last week, was on hold for twenty minutes, finally got to speak to an actual person, only to give them my married name, which didn't match the details they had on record, so they made me hang up and call back - resulting in another twenty minutes on hold. Argh!

I moved from Belfast to Dublin in the early 1980s to marry my wife. When we registered for a telephone she, as she worked in the phone company, registered our telephone line. As she worked in town near the electricity company offices she took it on herself to arrange our electricity connection. All well and good.

I went along to the library to join.

"Yes sir, we need a utility bill with your name on it to prove you live in the area."

"Ah!" says I. "All the utility bills are in my wife's name."

"Well", said the librarian with an evil smirk on her face, "the rules are the rules."

As it happened she was so highly amused to find a man who couldn't prove his place of residence with a utility bill that she gave me a library ticket.

It's nice when one finds an official with a sense of humour and a realistic view of the world.

Last week, I was wearing shorts. This week, I'm bundled up in a sweater. I have to turn the heat on at night and then turn it off during the day. If I forget, the heater may kick on during the day if the temperature falls one degree below the thermostat.

My first-world grievance lately is that I need to cook in order to eat, but even with a fridge and pantry full of food, I don't feel like cooking. Restaurant/fast-food is not a viable option for me, as I live rurally. Or maybe I'm just whining about doing the dishes . . .

oh, I so totally know that state of mind.

#77: I know that feeling so well...

Completely off-the-dinner-table, why can't my windshield wipers & fluid get the bug guts off my window?

I want a water-proof, wireless keyboard so I can IM my friends while I'm soaking in the bathtub. Baths relax my muscles, but the rest of me finds them incredibly boring. I'd rather sit in a hot tub with friends, but I don't have one of those, and I don't have a membership to anywhere that has one. And the memberships are expensive.

Bought myself what my son says is a "netbook" today. Now I'm trying to set it up to use. Got the wifi going, loaded Google Chrome and Kindle and Calibre. I figured out how to get into my websites on it. What am I complaining about? It has taken me 4 hours to do these simple things. Why? Tomorrow I see if it will hook up to my TV bringing me Netflix as promised and play with downloading an audio book to see if it will work in my car.

I spoke about this with a friend: you know when you're reading in bed, and you have a glass of water/wine/beverage-of-choice? Well then you have to do this strange snaking motion with your arm to reach the glass on the nightstand, which makes you look like a complete spastic. And you have to be careful not to spill anything.

>80 justjukka:: http://www.wetkeys.com/Washable-and-Waterproof-Wireless-Keyboards-s/21.htm

Remarkable!

Television! When I was a child we had a little wooden box in the corner that showed everything (on both channels) in black and white. Okay, it took a little while to warm up but once it was on it stayed on. The picture wasn't that clear and the sound was just . . .well . . .sound and occasionally, usually in bad weather, everything went fuzzy and started jumping up and down but a quick thump on the side almost always put that right.

Now we have a tombstone-like slab half the size of the house whose picture is clearer than real-life and whose sound comes in quadro/octo-phonic precision - you can see the pimples on the arse of the bus driver in the next street and hear an ant fart in the background.

And yet . . . just as the murderer is about to be revealed, the bloody thing decides to reboot itself; in bad weather the picture fragments and dances around the screen and no amount of banging will make the slightest bit of difference; just as the winner is being announced the picture freezes and stays that way until every implement in the house has been unplugged and plugged back in again.

And people wonder why I prefer books.

Thanks, Papiervisje! I'll definitely have to save up, but it could be worth it. :D

New grievance: Gravatar stretches and distorts my avatar. :(

*sigh* Netbook won't work. It tries and tries to start up, but can't. Don't know whether I loaded too much on it or something incompatible, but back to the store it must go.

My tv provider will only let me record 2 shows running at the same time. Sometimes there are 3 shows that I want to record, and I have to decide which one to drop. :(

I'm trying to book my flights, but I keep getting a system error from the site. Grr! I really need these flights (and these flights in particular)!

#45 thanks for the tip, Play station network is finally back up so no more problems

#88 - Since we bought a flatscreen with inbuilt decoder we can't record at all, not as long as it's digital at least. Only solution is to restore the old separate decoder, which we don't want to - we have enough boxes as is...
And to think we bought a new TV mainly because the recordable DVD we had (and still have) wasn't compatible with our old TV!

@88, When I have that problem there is usually at least one that has +1 channel, or most things are repeated within 24 hours, usually in the Midnight to 6:00 am range, and many channels have internet catch up services. one way or another I usually manage to watch everything

Just came across this bit of dialog in one of my favorite Louisa May Alcott books, An Old-Fashioned Girl that pertains to first world grievances as experienced back in 1870.

"Talk to me, and tell me all about yourself. You don't seem to have as many worries as other people. What's the secret, Polly?" and Fan looked up with wet eyes, and a wistful face at Polly, who was putting little dabs of cologne all over her head.

"Well," said Polly, slowly, " I just try to look on the bright side pf things; that helps one amazingly. Why, you've no idea how much goodness and sunshine you can get out of the most unpromising things, if you make the best of them."

"I don't know how," said Fan, despondently.

"You can learn; I did. I used to croak and fret dreadfully, and get so unhappy, I was n't fit for anything. I do it still, more than I ought, but I try not to, and it gets easier, I find. Get a-top of your troubles, and then they are half cured, Miss Mills says."

"Everything is so contrary and provoking," said Fanny, petulantly.

"Now what in the world have you to fret about?" asked Polly, rather anxiously.

"Quantities of things," began Fan, and then stopped, for somehow she felt ashamed to own that she was afflicted because she could n't have a new set of furs, go to Paris in the spring, and make Mr. Sydney love her.

Poor Fan can't go abroad or get a new set of furs. Even back then in 1870, Americans had first world grievances. I know people find Alcott preachy but uncomfortable truths are in fact still truths!

That was a wonderful passage. Thank you for sharing it! :)

I love how her most petulant first-world grievance was that "she couldn't . . . make Mr. Sydney love her." Back in Alcott's days, this was even more of a FWG than it seems today, because what it's really all about is making a financially and socially advantageous match. Love-love, as we understand it today, rarely came into it, really, at least from the women's side of it. At least, so I understand.

As it happens, Fan and Mr Sydney do eventually marry for love rather than money. The woman in the story who was marrying strictly for financial gain as well as other poor reasons (Trix) gets left out in the cold.

I wouldn't mind some cold right now. It's supposed to be in the 90Fs for the next two days and my air conditioner can only cool two rooms. I put up a curtain to keep the cool in those two rooms, so I'm good as long as I don't need to eat or use the bathroom. Studying and sleeping are doable within the cooled realms, though.

>93 jillmwo:: Now I have to go and reread An old fashioned girl!

I hate when my hair elastics lose their elasticity after only 2 or 3 uses, so that my hair is constantly falling out of its pony tail. Grrrr...

Son don't want to go to school tomorrow because he has some small rashes in his face, kind of small pimples. He's 7 yo and wallows in misery.

*rolls eyes*

98: A grievance of mine as well. Why can't they design these better? The best I've found is Goody's Stay-Put hair ties. And the site is built in flash...*grumble*

*hee* I sneezed and startled my cat.

Forecast said sun and very warm (for season and Swedish standards) and I hate being too hot when working so I dressed accordingly. Then it started to rain. I'll be wet and freezing cold when I get to the client meeting.

#99/101 Very annoying but I suspect these have always happened long before the techno age. ;-)

Oh yes. Still, an first world grievance - there's certainly more important issues out there ;-)

when I try to launch Lightroom and it fails without launching at all. bah.

My digital audio surround sound system only has one digital optical input! I had to buy extra cables and a digital optical audio switch box so I could have surround sound for Netflix AND cable. :oP

We switched tv provider, and now I have to relearn where my favorite channels are. And I have to reprogram all the shows I want to record.

It's not my problem, but it is such a first world grievence that I thought it belonged on this thread - from here: managing to find the time to dispose of unsolicited books sent to you to review.

I saw that too! It is *so* hard to put books in a bag and take them to the charity shop. (Okay, it might be hard if you don't live in a city, so I'll stop being snarky.)

Oh woe is me, for I must get up early and earn money!

I don't have a locally-owned coffee shop within a few miles of my apartment! I have to go to Starbucks which has a sterile, corporate atmosphere!

I might have to go another 90 minutes without coffee this morning...

Our water cooler is broken and we have to go to the shop to buy bottled drinks until it is fixed.

I was obliged to socialise with colleagues, drink wine and make small talk. Oh, the pain!

I bought a latte on the way to work, only to have it slip may hand, untouched #%&=("/#() !!!

>110 LibrariansOfBabel:
I don't have either of those thing nearby. I have to make my own coffee! And add the Hershey's Chocolate and Caramel creamer to it all by myself!

I share your pain, Dayna, made mine this morning with Sweet Leaf and had to leave the chocolate out as I've not yet driven my car the one mile* to the grocery store.

*estimated

But I'll confess it was good.

I have to catch a train to Paris in a few hours to spend the whole day waiting for my daughter's fiancé to arrive from CERN. Imagine, a whole day in Paris. :-)

Of course, the real problem is that Umberto Eco's latest novel, The Prague Cemetery, is available in French, but will not be published in English until November. Grrrr!

Sat down all ready to finish a quilt, only to discover that the sewing machine cord has 3 prongs, and the outlet is 2-prongs. And *somebody* has taken the adapter to use for something else.

I don't live in the First World, I live in the Third World (China).

Oh, how I wish I had your First World grievances!

>118 theretiredlibrarian: I had the same problem when I lived in South Korea, with my laptop. I took the cord to a hardware store to explain the problem. Their solution: to cut off the third prong! That's a very Third World solution. But... it works!

madpoet: The purpose of this thread is to poke fun at ourselves a little bit - we should count our blessings more often.

I have seen your "Third World solution" many times here at home. It probably isn't really safe, but it works. ;-)

Sorry! Didn't mean to be a wet blanket. Just... jealous.

With all due deference's to madpoet's jealousy:

Having "had" to spend the "whole day" in Paris on Friday, I had to drive to Paris and back yesterday. Because it's a holiday weekend in France there was a reduced train schedule on Sunday and my daughter's fiancé had to be on a train from Paris to Geneva at 7pm.

While it meant 5 hours in the car, we had a pleasant day although our planned visit to the Crypts of Notre Dame was not to be, as the crypts were closed for the holiday. I suppose even dead people have to have day off sometime. It must be tiring working all those graveyard shifts.

Have you any idea how exhausting all those tourists are for the ghosts? I mean what with the groaning and rattling of chains and locating missing heads. Poor dears.

Local FWG: public transportation stinks, so virtually everyone needs to own their own car to get anywhere. You bike at your own risk, seeing as most streets (and many drivers) are not bike-friendly. It has to be one of the ultimate grievances - we need to have some sort of access to a personal vehicle even if we don't want one.

124 - That's my home town, too, though we're a little better with bicycles. The laws are a little ambiguous when it come to riding on the side-walk or the road though, so you have pedestrians telling them to ride on the road and stop running them over, and drivers telling them to get off the road and ride on the footpath.

It is very dificult to tear oneself away from the veranda. We have just had breakfast watching the terns dive for fish in the lake. After dinner last night it was the sighting of our first woodpecker that held us strapped to the veranda for three hours.

:-) Yes, we have a nice view.

Now, must get up and force myself to visit a tourist spot nearby: "Maison de la magie".

Possibly scare a few ghosts in the process. Oh, yes, there is a fantastic bookshop very close to the maison de la magie. :-)

The first world is such an invasion on personal time.

#126 our first woodpecker that held us strapped to the veranda for three hours.

Oh those bondage-loving woodpeckers!

The straps are tight, but they are lined with fur. ;)

and feathers.

that tickles...

I cut out the pieces to a quilt, carefully following the directions from the pattern (for which I paid $8.50). After sewing some pieces together, it became apparent that the dimensions in the directions for some of the blocks were 1/2 inch too large. I had to re-cut them to the correct size. Very annoying, and a waste of time and fabric. The only good thing was that I was making a baby quilt. If I had been making the full-sized quilt on the pattern, I would have cut 71 blocks the incorrect size.

#131 I sympathize with you.

For myself, I am really discouraged. My garden seeds didn't grow very well this year (again!), and many of the things that did grow are being eaten by miniscule slugs, and now my perennials are being eaten by these blasted forest caterpillars which are so numerous that they are crawling on everything: all over the grass, the garden plants, the walls of the house, even on the soffits from where they fall onto us. We have swept them many times from the walls around the doors with corn brooms (which smashes them) but 10 minutes later there are even more on the walls. Even the cats take a good long look before they come in or go out. Sitting out on the deck is an unpleasant undertaking, and hubby almost vomits whenever he sees them.

The only good thing about those caterpillars is that they've eaten so many leaves from the big trees that it's easier to watch the birds, and the massive quantities of poop must be fertilizing the ground.

WHEN WILL THEY PUPATE???

ETA and I guess I've put this post in the wrong group, haven't I?

#132 I think we can appreciate your grievance, nevertheless. It kinda feels like we're under attack!

I want to ride my bike to the grocery store, but the weather has been so sporadic today, I'm thinking of driving. I don't want to be rained upon.

We have a thundering rain storm right now so the satellite TV isn't working and I expect the Internet and our Electrics will go down pretty soon.

Rozax, I thank you for your understanding, and I am happy to report that the caterpillar numbers have reduced noticeably and they are pupating now. We are getting back to normal.

The music in this coffeehouse is kinda loud. Actually, I think the problem is the bass. It's too...resonant? Quite piercing. I'm not going to say anything this time. I say something every other time I come in.

It isn't because of my age. I'm only 24. :p

Okay, I win. I have the most first-world grievance ever. I have just finished my last bottle of a perfume called Calyx, by Prescriptives. Went to Glasgow to treat myself to some more. The company has gone out of business and I will never again be able to have my favourite fragrance of all time! Waaaaah!

That happened to me with Crabtree and Evelyn's Hungary Water. My wife LOVED it on me, and they discontinued it. Nothing else has come close.

The air conditioner in my car broke. In the summer, for pete's sake!

That's the closest to a first-world grievance I can get, considering I'm a third worlder. ;-)

PS: Yup, worlder is a word. I checked.

#138 - It's a rule, air conditioners only breakdown during the hot season.

Which would be a puzzling phenomena if it were not for the fact that air conditioners are only used during the hot season.

#140 - Do you suppose there is some kind of connection there?

Oh, come now, folks are always imagining some cause-and-effect relationship in these situations. And really, it's just a coincidence.

#136 & 137 That also happened to me with Crabtree and Evelyn's Almond bath soap. Oh I loved that stuff and they don't make it any more. It smelled like marzipan.

//Actually, I now need to shout hurrah - a fellow BookMoocher saw my truly tragic plight and put me on to a US site called fragrancex, which still sells Calyx! My order is now being shipped and I'm a happy bunny! Back to our regular whining ...//

I have to spend my day at work during Wimbledon so can only listen to the radio coverage, and the same goes for the Tour De France! Life is so unfair.

>145 kymethra:: Tell me about it! During the Soccer World Cup, the TV set in the office was always on, showing whatever game it was that day. (I don't like soccer.)

But during Wimbledon, the TV is off because it "distracts your fellow employees who aren't into tennis." Nice.

Panera Bread Company has changed their French onion soup recipe. Hardly any cheese in it, and what there was was toasted onto the crouton instead of melted on top of the soup. What's up with that??

#147 Ce n'est pas soupe à l'oignon

Sacrebleu!

I totally agree! Stupid. Comme an omlette sans oeufs.

147> Try getting it to go instead. They put the croutons and cheese into a little sack so it doesn't get too soggy on the way home. I only ever get it to go anymore, since I discovered that it's so much better that way, a few months ago (it helps to ask for extra cheese, too).

#149 maggie1944
omlette sans oeufs.

LOL

That's a great concept.

That could be the new euphemism for "not too bright".

or "not all there".

"Half a bubble off plumb"

One stick short of a bundle.

"lights are on but nobody's home"

elevator doesn't go all the way to the top.

A few teeth short of a nibble.

Not the sharpest tool in the shed.

One french fry short of a Happy Meal

A sandwich short of a picnic.

My right contact lens keeps turning upside down and I can't see. Bah.

There are so many short phrases for a not too smart person: "a dim bulb"

We sometimes call our dog Daar - for Dumb As A Rock.

Pronounced "Daaaaaaaaaaaaar"

Daar is likely thinking "these people will NEVER learn!" My cat tells me that all the time.

Our dog, actual name of Maia, often says, "Whaaaat?" with a dopey look on her face.

It's completely a first-world grievance: I hate when I finish a book I personally adore and have no one around with whom to discuss it with. Work has left me no time to garnish friends since I've settled in Portland; though, to be honest, ever since I left my professors at college, I've never felt I've had much an opportunity to discuss books with others.

It's more disheartening than the five weeks I spent prior sleeping on the floor because of the time IKEA required to deliver my bed.

But, at least I have food and a roof.

I have been here 16 years and my best friends are the people who work at my favourite restaurant. I don't know anybody here who likes the books I like and they think I'm weird or too brainy for them because I like SciFi/Fantasy and nonfiction.

If I didn't have my C, I'd go crazy. But you know, I think this is not only a first-world grievance, nor is it just a modern one. How many of us would have been called witches or been put away in an institution in the old days?

We have our book loving friends right here on LT, and in the Green Dragon. Truly a First World gift. I can remember summers as a kid when I would read books and no one I knew had read anything like what I was reading. It was lonely. But then adolescence frequently is lonely, isn't it.

maggie-I surely would not go back & do high school over again for a million dollars! But I would pay anything to do college over again knowing what I know now. I made wrong choices about my majors-would still teach or work in the schools but would probably have gone w/Library Science, Sped or Reading Spec. I know some kids in Jr High/High School now who are having some horrific problems dealing w/all the nonsense that goes w/that age. Also glad not to be the parent of a teen nowadays-have a granddaughter going into her freshman year of High school this Fall-she has a slight inkling of what it will be like having experienced in Middle school some of the catty, mean spirited stuff that kids deal out to their schoolmates. Ack! Hope that she gets a thick skin to help her get through it. Off Topic I guess but needed to vent. 8^)

One time our toilet was plugged. I spent an hour with the snake trying to unplug it. Finally I had to take off the tank and then the throne. After turning said throne upside down I discovered a starling had flown down the stink pipe and drowned causing the blockage inside the throne portion. *sigh* We never had these problems while a kid growing up on the farm with the old outhouse.

My current FWG: the air-conditioning isn't programmable, so if you want the house to be cooler at night than during the daytime (which I do) you have to alter the setting manually twice a day.

172 - Oh, the pain! :P

#172 - I think you win!

I only have a portable A/C. If I want my room to be cool at night, I need to move it. Tis a FWG, but not as great as #172! XD

Recent first world grievance: I have found the coat I really REALLY want for fall/winter but am unable to obtain it from any retailer in Stockholm OR on-line, worldwide.

There are decent (but very different and not as quality) alternatives from other designers but why on EARTH does the local retailers have to stock the pink and light blue shabby chic part of that designer's line and not the black and brown (native american, kind of) tribal stuff?!?!?

*grumble grumble*

Mulching, self-propelled lawn mower broke yesterday. This morning we bought an old-timey, non-motorized push mower. We love it already.

methinks you must have a tiny lawn.

We're in town, so yeah. The front is just a narrow strip, divided by a sidewalk. The back is big enough for a pool and patio furniture, but that would be about it.

I'd complain about being under a tornado warning in the middle of a hurricane, but really since I have internet access in the middle of all this, I think that might be considered unwarranted whining.

Yeah, they just broke into the BBC World Service on WNYC to announce a tornado warning somewhere near Trenton, NJ. I'm keeping my first-world grievances in check for the time being: I live in the 4th floor on top of a hill.

My biggest concern right now is getting ready for a vacation. I really am not "in step".

My "complaint" is that we have not had enough lovely summer weather this year. And I can smell the autumnal tendencies in the wind.

I want/need/must have an ipod dock because my stereo has gone wonky. It's very old and has a bad habit of turning itself on after being turned off. It's possessed I swear it.

I can't afford an ipod dock.

>183 Severn:

I'm putting my money to better use until there's an affordable one that also plays CD's, can handle AM & FM radio, and has a reliable alarm clock. Until then, I'm doing reasonably well splitting all that between a 10-year-old stereo, an alarm clock, and iTunes.

#183 - You might not need a dock. My audiophile husband thinks the speakers he connects to the iPod headphone jack are good enough, and so do I.
Just an idea?

It's been two weeks since our dishwasher gave up the ghost and our replacement dishwasher has not arrived yet. Looks like a few more days of doing 6 people's worth of dishes every day. Ick.

I'll help ....... soon....

#183 An iPod will be worse: I have found few things more difficult than getting an iPod to turn off and stay off when docked.

Re the ipod...

Well. I rarely listen to the radio because I like obscure, weird music that most stations don't play alas. So I don't mind about that. I dump all my music on my ipod and listen to it when I'm out and about and would love a 'listening to the music that's on my computer' option at home, as the majority of it isn't on cds. In fact, I hardly have any cds anymore. I buy most music from itunes now. Annnnd...the speakers from the stereo are connected to said stereo with four wires each. Several have been shortened by kittens who thought that wire was a great snack...

I can't wait to throw those hideous things away, to tell the truth. Heh.

187 - oooh. You and Katy would make 8, LOL.

WHY can I not get my jewelry fastened anymore?

#191 - Arthritic fingers?

My 1st world grievance today is that my local Starbucks didn't get a delivery in during the hurricane so they didn't have my normal Bistro Box today. I think I may be getting a case of the vapours.

Not so much a grievance as a double-take. A day or 2 back I heard a throwaway item on BBC news that (UK? EU?) was about to ban the manufacture of 60-watt incandescent light bulbs, 75- and 100-watt bulbs already being banned. But come to think of it, the last 75-watt bulbs I saw were made in Egypt. So I went to the electrical aisle in the local supermarket while I was looking for something else. Incandescent bulbs weren't easy to find, and the package said they were made in Indonesia. So the ban helps how?

#193 - It's all of EU, and it is not a manufacturing ban but a sales ban, effective since last Wednesday, I believe.

Thanks, Busifer, that does make more sense.

I have airconditioning in my car, but it gets really cold, but it's too humid to just use the fan, so I have to continually switch it on and off. *bleh*

When we need to use the aircon to demist the windscreen in winter, I switch it on and then turn up the heating to get comfortable. Better Half once queried this, and I pointed out that this sent warm dry air to the windscreen, resulting in even more efficient demisting.

our "million-dollar-coffee-grinder" is acting flaky again. nearly had to break out the old one for my morning cuppa.

The local newspaper just had an article today on three boys from Sudan who were going to a Chicago-area high school. When they first came over, one reportedly was going with a bucket to a nearby pond to get water before he learned it came through the pipes, and then washed dishes by hand at first because he didn't know what the dishwasher was. All of them had trouble getting used to vacuum cleaners. One was quoted as saying, "They make everything easy here."

Well, we have a some people who come from other cultures working with the company that employs me. They are highly educated people, most of them from China and India, most of them officially employed by our offices in those places but stationed in Sweden. It took some time before their Swedish colleagues learned to inform them that no, they were not expected to stay at the office until they fell to sleep at night. We work 8 hour days, 40 hours a week, and no one is going to fire you or lower your pay just because you're not at your desk 24/7.

When I first heard this I thought people from the US might have this problem too, at least some that I've heard of or talked to.

"First world" can be a matter of perspective, eh? ;-)

Perhaps they were saving on accommodation; or your midnight sun had confused their body-clocks. :-)

No midnight sun at our latitudes; plus the company pays for their flats ;-)

I just can't get anything right! :-(

;-)

Well, we DO have midnight sun farther north, but ours is a small long place ;-)

Ooh! Here's one I forgot! It was such a big to-do that it slipped my mind, I guess. A nasty storm ripped through Wisconsin this past Friday, leaving many of us without power and a big mess to clean up. By hand.

My husband posted pictures of the carnage on his website.
http://groxx.muzy.com/post/12467805

That's me with the saw by the house across the street. :)

I had to drive an hour north (usually not an hour, but with damage and road construction...) to stay with some friends who had power and internet so that I could do my homework.

>205 justjukka:
When that storm rolled into NW Indiana, the sky was so black and the clouds were moving so fast I said screw waiting for tornado siren and went straight for the basement.

I probably would have done the same thing! I was asleep when this rolled in (I keep late nights). I probably would have slept through the whole thing if a tree branch hadn't hit the roof. ^^; I couldn't hear the sirens over all that wind! There weren't any signs of a cyclonic activity our neighborhood, though - just strong winds. I think our sirens were mainly telling everyone to get inside and stay away from windows, primarily to avoid being impaled or bludgeoned by something for which glass is no obstacle. I quickly rounded up the critters and sat in the basement until the winds died down.

I was more scared coming back from my friends' place on Saturday. I was listening to Half-Blood Prince to keep me distracted from the weather and more focused on driving, but there appeared to be a greenish tint to the south that I had trouble ignoring. Again, no tornadoes, but I didn't breathe easily until I had a roof over my head.

My roomba keeps locking itself in the master bathroom. It wouldn't be such a big deal, but I can never remember to close the door. Most evenings, I come home to find the poor thing motionless behind a closed door with no battery left at all. Bathroom floor is pretty clean, though.

Poor roomba. My in-laws have a scooba. :)

I have this image of the poor thing rocking back and forth endlessly knocking its head on the door until, at last, the lights grow dim and the rocking slows to a stop. A last small pinpoint of light slowly fades in the darkness. Somewhere the fabric of the universe sighs gently.

It's...just...so sad.

I think it really sucks!

My refrigerator is too full and it's a pain to fit the groceries in.

Tardis, I had that same problem this morning! Too much artisan bread.

Me, too. Definitely Saturday should be the day to clean out the frig, find a way to use the left overs, and discard the outdated stuff. I am particularly bad about the latter. But one multi-day bout with food poisoning from old food has cured me of hoping something is good enough, and then eating it. I am much more careful now.

210 - *sniffles*

Frig is cleaned! Woo hoo! Rainy days do make staying inside and doing chores a wee bit easier, don't they.

Note to self: Please remember to never leave bottles of Coke in the car on a hot Texas summer day. Ever.

Been there.

OH is working and I have to figure out how to fit youngest son's first athletic support properly. Are they not adjustable? o.O

>217 theretiredlibrarian:
I wonder if that's why my uncle acquired a taste for flat soda. As in, he'll deliberately open a 2-liter bottle of soda long enough to decarbonate.

The refrigerator is all the way down the hall, so I have to walk the length of the building to get carrots for a snack.

My husband found a well-paying job that requires us to move across the country. I'm going to miss my friends.

Better than that, I didn't have internet for nearly an hour!

I don't realize how dependent I am on my MacBook until I've misplaced it. Talk about a heart attack. I'm going to back it up next week when I join my husband in our new home.

The new printer at work is slow. Oh, the pain of it all!

First World Problems Rap:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2p5svFJ9cQ

Hee hee

My soy latte wasn't. Soy, that is.

cue hideous digestive and histamine response

I haven't been able to find my Abuelita cocoa tablets anywhere around here. Ibarra just doesn't cut it.

When my husband has hidden the key to the wireless router in a 'safe spot' and I can't find it to use with my new laptop. Waiting for him to answer my desperate email. Refresh 10x a minute. Ugh. That was yesterday.

I've had an e reader since tuesday and have managed to make it not work properly anymore. Every single time I close a book on the thing It gives me an error message and doesn't save the page like it's supposed to.

#230 which one did you choose in the end? Have you tried turning it off and on again? Or the reset button (which doesn't delete any books you've added).

The iOS 5 update borked the camera in my husband's iPod touch.

#231 I got a sony PRS-T1 - I hung on for this model for the wireless capability. I have actually managed to fix it, it turns out I put a PDF file in the wrong folder.

My Green Dragon friends seem to be more quiet than usual and I am missing the "usual" fun and games.... What's up, folks?

Okay, here's a first-world grievance if ever there was one. Yesterday I woke up super early -- 4:45 AM, and I am not a morning person -- to catch a bus to Rhinebeck with my knitting circle to New York Sheep and Wool Festival. I spent several hundred dollars on yarn and fiber (not to mention some food and a shiny new Golding spindle) before getting home after 9PM.

Today, I took pictures of my purchases, but my computer decided it had a problem with my SD card, not even half way through.

The chunks of strawberries in my strawberry jelly are too big.

They didn't have 100% grape juice at the store, so I had to get grape juice cocktail.

228 - Rozax, are you in California now? I know we have both brands in our local supermarkets, but we also have several Mexican markets which carry it.

You remembered :)

I've only visited Whole Foods and Safeway, to date, plus a local natural store. I'll keep my eyes pealed for it, elsewhere.

I know they have it in my Albertson's! 8^)

Don't know if there is a FoodMaxx or Raley's/Bel Air/Knob Hill store near you, but I think they carry it too.

My First-world Grievance relates to LT.

I have one of those maps that highlights locations from whence other LTers have looked at my profile. My grievance is that I have no look-ups from South America or Hawaii. :-(

>242 pgmcc:: Now you have one. =) It says it updates daily, so your visit from South America should be showing up tomorrow.

Thank you, girlfromshangrila. You have made my day. :-)

My pleasure absolutely! :-)

Thanks to girlfromshangrila I now have a red dot in South America. :-)

I have to wait until 10:30 to eat breakfast because I have to have to fast until after my lab tests.

About 4 months ago I ordered a book. It didn't arrive so I cancelled the order and got a refund. I just bought a copy of that book on my recent trip to the US. I arrived home today to find the copy I had ordered all those months ago waiting for me! I could have bought a couple of different books and fit them into the same space in my suitcase instead.

Our living room TV has started emitting a high-pitched whine when it's turned off, meaning I have to leave it on (or squeeze behind the TV stand to unplug it) during the day if I don't want to be driven insane. If this were the olden days and the TV was a CRT, I'd be able to smack it and the noise would probably cease.

My cats didn't like the different brand of cat food I got them. Will have to choose between the other varieties in the pet food aisle. Decisions, decisions!!!

#250 Quite easy if you think like the cats: the rules are (1) we want only the most expensive, (2) not the same as last week, and (3) if the human bought it in bulk we won't eat it.

@250 - oh no that's not true! At least not in our kitty household. We mix half expensive, and half supermarket kitty food (well, lately it's been 1 quarter expensive due to finances ugh). Charley, the little brat, will eat around all the expensive biscuits, leave them in the bowl, and then whine for more food. He gets the message eventually, and will sulkily eat what's left.

/eyeroll

A first world grievance resolved: I've been using ear buds for my ipod, and the sound quality is just awful. You have to prod and poke them in your ear to get all the base and treble notes, and since I like a lot of electronic music it's a disaster. So, yesterday, I thought 'to hell with it' and got myself some nice, shiny proper headphones. They're blue, which makes me happy.

I know what you mean Severn. The only in ear type I can stand are the ones from Bose and those sit in the bowl of your ear and don't need to be jammed down the canal. Love them. Excellent range and a great sound stage. And I can still hear ambient noises.

I wonder if we have those here...

I'm paying for two-day shipping, but it won't be arriving until Wednesday. I understand that Sunday isn't a business day, but shouldn't it be arriving on Tuesday with two-day shipping?

255 - I paid for two-day shipping on a textbook, and yes, when the shipper got around to sending it, it only took two days to arrive, but he didn't send it for three weeks!

256 - That's scary. I know I'm cutting it short, but I need the dress by next Saturday. I hope the vendor compensated for that. :/

After a mean out OtherHalf commented - the hazelnuts weren't evenly distributed though my pudding!

Such a hard life we live these days.

why oh why do companies change products? I have been using Scholl blister pads to protect a little toe which turns over and gets a corn. They were soft and easy to use. Now they've made the top hard and backing soft so they're NO USE anymore - BAH!

There is a cricket creeping around the study floor as I try to do portfolios for my students! Eeewww...and David is sleeping so eeeewww!

Hotel hair dryers. I don't use them often but when I have to I invariably hate the experience.

I pre-ordered the newest Janny Wurts book on Amazon when that website said it was coming out in October and the timing was perfect for me to do a reread and have time to finish the new book before I go home in December, BUT now I have to wait until January and I have to read it at home where there are tons more distractions.

Oh yeah and I tried to buy a new ebook for my nook but Barnes and noble says that only people physically located in the US can buy ebooks. I bought the silly thing so I could travel and have several books on hand and a store wherever I could get an internet connection ~ I feel my bookstores aren't treating me very well :(

#262 - if it helps Kobo has Janny's latest book available, and they have both the UK and US ebook publication rights, so you should be able to get it wherever you are ... but I agree geograpghic restrictions on ebooks are daft from a readers viewpoint, even if it "makes business sense".

MrsLee! You're the only person I know who works in a hotel - can you please answer a question for me?

All the hotels I've stayed in in the last few years have these little cards that say that they want to be green and save water so if you're staying for more than a day and you are okay with using your towel more than once to hang it up, but if you want it replaced to leave it on the floor or in the tub. So I faithfully hang my towels up, but then after the room is cleaned I appear to have all new towels anyway!

Are they just re-folding the used towels into their "perfect" shape or are they actually replacing all the towels? Is this "green" intitiative for real or just greenwashing?

I realize hotels are managed differently and you can't answer for all of them, but it kind of drives me nuts and I'd love at least one "insider" opinion.

Well, our hotel won't change the sheets or towels if you hang them up like the little sign says, unless you are staying for more than three days. The third day a housekeeper must enter your room and change the linens. They don't want grime to get so ground in it won't come out, and, it gives us a chance to make sure people aren't trashing a room.

Folks, hotels only change the bedspreads if the room is gross or it is obviously dirty. I'm just saying. Same for blankets as far as I know. Our housekeepers change all the sheets and towels in a room when a guest checks out even if they don't look used, but MANY hotels don't do that.

I honestly don't know if they remove the glasses and coffeepots and wash them in the dishwasher if they don't look used. There are things I don't want to know, but it's a good idea to travel with dishsoap!

It is a good idea to have a strong immune system if you can arrange that, too.

and (advertisement follows...)

Norwex Anti-bac cloths will clean up bacteria, viruses and other unsavories from counter tops, sinks, doorknobs, etc. See my little webpage at karenmmorgan.norwex.biz

Really.

Thank you for the information :) I do have a strong immune system and as long as it looks clean I don't get grossed out (or I'd probably never travel LOL).

Heh, guest brought me an ice bucket from their room which supposedly smelled like rotten cheese. I took their word for it and went and got them a clean/new bucket. Smelled that one before I gave it to them. ;)

MrsLee: Priceless! That was very kind of you, indeed!

I've gotten attitude from hotel people for that, and asking for an extra pillow. That just wasn't a good hotel, though. They were obviously a former Best Western, so something must've gone downhill. I don't know why they'd make matters worse for themselves. When three friends and I went traveling, we nabbed a room with two twin beds, and the next morning, only two people per room were allowed into the continental breakfast. They were taking names and room numbers to make sure we didn't breach this, and we weren't allowed to bring food back to the other two. Has anyone ever encountered such nonsense?

#268 - My husband works in the service business too and today he got extra grumpy so I told him some of your stories, to show him he's not alone.

My husband works security and the reception desk at a corporate HQ. One of the most amazing stories is about the press conference room. It's decked out to be representative, naturally, but at some point someone ran out of whiteboard and continued writing not only on the wall but on the curtains!
Another, recurrent, highlight is "earlier today I was on the phone while I used the ATM /there's an ATM in the reception area/ and I just now realised I forgot to take the money - can you get them for me?"

(I have some "fun" hotel stories. In France it's not unusual for hotels not to allow the guest to wash clothes in the basin in the room. I have been billed an extra 7 Francs for being caught doing that. Or the top floor room in Havana where the pressure in the pipes did't manage just all the way so flushing the toilet was so-and-so, as was the shower (on the up side Havana is one of the few 2-million ppl cities that I've been to where you wake up to roosters welcoming the morning). But most of my stories are good ones. As a return guest it's nice when the people running the hotel remembers you, and especially so when it's almost a year between stays. Happened twice in Italy, once in Olbia, on Sardinia, and once in Milan.)

My darling best friends bought me a kindle yesterday - times are a bit rough right now (husband has a bad illness and has had to quit his job). So, my friends knew I wanted a kindle very badly and bought one just because - to make things a little easier. I have the best friends in the world, I think.

Anyway, there are a series of books I reaaaally want, but the kindle versions aren't available to Asia/Pacific users! Argh. I did get another series of books from the same author though, so I can always order the others later in physical form.

Rozax - Our hotel provides vouchers for two adults per room for a full buffet breakfast, but each additional adult is a $10 charge on the room. What you may not realize is that there is a lot of cost in providing extra breakfasts, extra linens, pillows and such. It all adds up, and the fact is, the more people in a room, the more likely it will take longer to clean, etc. Even if your room is the neatest and no one took showers, etc., hotels have to average costs out.

Homework for school age kids. Why? It is of no earthly use and all the research says so according to my sources. It is much better for the children to be outside kicking a ball around, riding a bike or jumping on the trampoline, etc. They have spent all day sitting in the classroom. And though my kids buck the trend (in fact I had a doctor the other day suggest I feed my son...I do!!) we have an obesity problem, so let's get the kids out and not sitting down doing more work!! I am a teacher by the way.

YAY NITNAT!!! For the first time ever, here speaks a teacher talking sense about homework! Long may you prosper!

I doubt it's for the first time ever. :p

Just as it's proven that exams are essentially useless, I'm fairly sure it's common knowledge among many teachers that homework is just as useless.

In defense of homework...when kids are beginning to learn to read, they need to practice at home with an adult. Just 15-20 minutes a day, practicing letter skills in kinder/1st; and reading to/with an engaged adult. We can tell immediately who has a caring parent at home who helps them, and which parents expect the school to do all the work. And then are oh so surprised when their student can't keep up. Our teachers do an admirable job, but if parents don't do their share by helping their kids, and making them get off the WII and PlayStation, they just won't make progress.

I don't think requiring 20 minutes of reading and/or doing math drills at home is asking too much.

I once worked p/t at Sylvan Learning Center, and I hated it. These were kids who were already behind, probably lost their recess b/c they were behind, and had to come sit another hour or two doing drills and worksheets. I just wanted to tell the parents to ask their child's teacher for some worksheets to take home, and work with them themselves. Not a teacher out there who probably wouldn't have provided it... for free. I always felt sorry for the kids. And some of them were pretty young too...kindergartners (!) and first graders.

Children are not made out of cookie dough and cut out of the dough with cookie cutters. Some children learn easily at school, do the necessary practice to set the learning firmly in their brains, and enjoy engaging with their classmates in doing class activities. Others don't get it at all until some caring adult does some one-on-one explaining and practicing. Others are shy, and don't want to participate and have a hard time learning some things.

Really. The schools can not do it all for all the kids. Parents really, really, really need to express interest in what the child is learning, in helping the child understand and practice. When a child reads a book he/she will remember it much better if they talk with their Dad or Mom about what they've read. Really. It is about relationships. Homework is an opportunity (golden!) for the parents to engage in the child's job, which tells the kid that it is important and that the parent does care.

Don't get too busy to spend time with your kid as they work their way through those 12 years. They fly by... and you will not be able to recapture the opportunities.

Yes, maggie. Yes.

Certainly it's important that if you're going to have homework, it's useful homework - something that extends the learning they've done in class and makes them put it into practice on their own (under the theory of teaching where you show how it's done, then you do it with them, and they do it on their own). Homework for the sake of homework is definitely pointless.

I'd like to think that most children have time to spend time doing homework (how much time would vary between children and age-groups) and still have plenty of time for play. I'd hope that they'd go out and play and then do some homework as it's getting dark.

Some of the kids channels on TV are starting to "advertise" to the kids that spending 1 hour a day outside is the thing to do! I appreciate support from the media powers that be! And that is my goal for the toddlers.... that they spend at least one hour outside in some way even if it is walking to the library from a remote parking place.

274-280: This is why I'm all for the Montessori schools. They use guided, hands-on learning, sans homework. I agree with the argument, "If they're spending seven days at school every day, why on Earth do they have so much homework?" This reminds me...I'm still waiting for my husband to read through Montessori Madness.

As for my own, current FWG, my health insurance is sending me in circles. :(

Some skills need practising. Some information needs extra explanation to transmogrify into useful knowledge. Reading twenty minutes together at home every day is not a chore. However, when the reading material provided by the school is labelled as "uninteresting" by the kid, a kid who loves to read and read anyway, forcing that kid to do this "homework" is overkill.
I also think forcing someone who you know already has the required skills to do homework "just because" is overkill.

Hello, most people need to WORK FOR MONEY to be able to keep afloat. Time is somewhat limited, whatever you'd want reality to be.

Observation rather than grievance. The mall today was packed. The parking lot was packed. Too much noise and too many people. Utterly overwhelming.

Montessori is fine for younger kids. When one starts doing more abstract learning it is hard to make it all "hands on". Not sure how to do that with algebra, calculus, world history, economics, and civics. At some point, students need to learn how to learn, how to tackle a subject which might not, at first glance, be appealing.

"At some point, students need to learn how to learn"

That's actually the obstacle that is tackled from day one, in Montessori schools, rather than memorizing and regurgitating information from lectures. In a prepared environment, children will do their best to learn. Can you remember being a child and wanting help with adult chores, only to have the adults tell you to "go play"? Instead of telling the children to "go play", they're encouraged to tackle those same chores, which are nothing more than washing dishes, slicing vegetables (yes, 5-year-olds with sharp knives), and sewing. The books in this environment are all educational, and children do want to know this stuff. My grievance with traditional schools is that we have our noses crammed into it, and then they beat us over the head with the same stuff for multiple years. It gets boring.

There is actually a Montessori-styled high school in my ballpark. How they manage it, I'm not 100% sure, but I am absolutely positive that everything they learn will stick with them for life.

Here's a PDF to read through on it. I haven't read through the whole thing, yet, so I can't offer a synopsis.
http://www.montessori.org/sitefiles/montessori_way_HS.pdf

Can you remember being a child and wanting help with adult chores, only to have the adults tell you to "go play"?

Nope. I was encouraged to help. But my parents' housekeeping didn't seem to involve much in the way of, say, long division; and I'm still grateful for learning the multiplication tables by rote (at home, in the bath, or on the seesaw in the garden).

(I'm not taking sides, by the way. I seriously considered Montessori for our kids, and the traditional school approach drove out my natural interest in history.)

I'm not taking sides either but I visited a Montessori preschool when we first chose preschool for our son. I instinctively decided No. That particular school was the ideal place for parents concerned that their kids should end up as CEO or an elite sportsman. Felt like a Soviet Union sports camp.
Note that I'm not saying that this is what all Montessori schools are; but this particular one definitely didn't inspire confidence.

>288 Busifer:: My friend is sending her son to a Montessori daycare. When I commented on the fact, favourably, she said that she thinks the name gets used too broadly in the UK and that she doesn't think the daycare is really Montessori at all. I wonder if this is the case in other countries too.

Yes, it is here. My daughter has trained for Montessori preschool and has interviewed at many different childcare/preschool organizations. She says there are many who use a smattering of Montessori methods and tools, but who really can't honestly be called A Montessori School as they also use so many other methods. My understanding is that Maria Montessori was quite the all or nothing kind of teacher.

Again, I do not have a prejudice against Montessori methods. In fact, in found many 12 year old public school students who had started out in Montessori to be very mature and independent in their learning. Nonetheless, other approaches to learning are necessary as the students become older.

I went to a traditional public school, and turned out well enough, if I may be my own judge. Apart from spelling and maths sheets, that were just designed to practice skills we needed to have (albeit this was right before computers killed the need to learn how to write), I do not recall having too much homework in grade school, not until middle, really.

And the homework I had in middle and high school taught me independent learning, which I needed at university when I had to write research papers and spend more time with the material out of class than in it. And I don't buy into the old argument that schools "kill" natural interests in subjects: if a bad experience ruined your love of maths or reading, you didn't love it like you think you did.

Granted that every child learns differently, there's plenty of time in the day for kids to play and then do homework, especially when they're young. I'm more concerned with the stress we put on high schoolers and college students than whether or not homework makes our kids fat.

"...there's plenty of time in the day for kids to play and then do homework".

I don't agree. My son gets home from school at about 5 PM, after which we get some light dinner. Then we do homework, and by then the clock is about 7 PM. He gets one hour to play, alone, because at this time of year it's pitch black outside by 4:30 PM and anyway no one lives close enough to each other to just go over and play; and then it's off to bed (and reading practise) to be ready to rise and shine by 7 AM latest.
Every Monday he has judo practise, which makes everything happen one hour later = no playtime at all; until recently this was repeated on Thursdays, when he had swimming lessons. We have managed to push those to Saturday mornings, but either way only weekends are left for play, and needing to use that time for homework feels unfair to a 8 yo who never get to meet and play with his friends outside breaks between lessons.
(You could argue that these activities are voluntary, and they are, but son has some problems with his motor skills, so we do this as motor skill practise sessions.)

Maybe if either of us parents didn't work - then he could play with someone who too had a parent who didn't work, but as every parent DO work, to pay the bills, it would be a lonely existence.

It's not like when I was a kid. Back then a family who stretched it COULD live on one income. Nowadays you need to be very wealthy do be able to do that, over here.
Of course technically one of us could stay at home (we'd then need to downsize - we would not be able to afford a car, and we would need to move from our 1000 sq feet flat to perhaps a 400 sq feet one) but then the stay-at-home parent would have no retirement funds if the other parent decided to leave the relationship, or just plain died before the one who stayed at home.

Judging from how my niece manages her family, her fifth grade boy gets up at about 7:30 am and goes to school at 8:30 to about 3. One day a week, he gets out one hour earlier. She then takes the kids to the YMCA for exercise and socializing with other kids for about an hour and a half, two or three times a week. Then they are home for dinner at about 6 or 6:30 pm. Dinner and a little TV watching and then off to bed by about 8:30. Sometimes (2-3 times a week) he has 30-60 minutes of math to do. He also may read for 30 minutes or so every few days.

He seems to have plenty of time to fit in playing with legos, and some video games, and sometimes a little computer time. We have to watch his "screen time" very carefully as he would do hours of it if he could.

Would this fall under first-world grievances? This and balloons. In college, one of the student organization ice-breakers was to pop a bunch of balloons. I didn't like it, but I managed for that one night.

FWG: The office AC is too cold.

Kicked off quite a discussion on homework didn't I! I have no problem with reading with the children, we do that anyway every night, ,spelling and times tables. I am just over the nightly fight with my boy who has some learning problems and we need to do speech therapy homework too on top of this. Learning is hard for him because of his speech and language problems so he is kind of over words by the time he gets home. And as a 9 year old boy, he would much rather be playing with his lego, which is still learning, problem-solving, and creative thinking.

I have now set a 20 minute limit, as much for my own sanity as his, and what getsdone is handed in and that is all. I have his teacher's blessing in this.

Daylight Savings Time! Seriously, whose daylight are they saving? Let's just stick with the one that give us the most waking sunlight in the winter!

>297 justjukka:
Only if we can get out of work early in the winter. I detest having to leave work at 5PM to find it's already fully dark.

>298 AnnaClaire: Definitely! I can handle dark mornings better than dark evenings.

>299 justjukka:
I can too, but only in small doses since I failed all criteria on the Morning Person test. I can pull off a 6AM Rhinebeck-bound bus, so long as it's reasonably close and I don't have to drive it, but that's a one-off and (so long as I'm a passenger) I can sleep on said bus.

Edited to add: Am I seeing things? The timestamp for #298 is half an hour before the one for #297.

>300 AnnaClaire:
Yes, because 297 was edited half an hour after 298 was posted.

Sorry 'bout the confusion! I was editing a grammatical error. ^^;

>301 sqdancer:
Ah. I missed that, it being close to midnight when I posted it.

I'm hungry and alone tonight. Hubby is not here and he usually does the cooking. The only restaurants in this town are Sonic, Bush's Chicken, and a taqueria. None of those appeal, and I may have to actually go into the kitchen and cook something for myself. Or at least nuke something. And that is just soooooo much trouble. Wah.

One word: Soup.

Actually, soup and crackers, with butter. Yummy. Done.

I would like a sink that is operated by foot pedal. I'm the sort of person who prefers to turn the water off while I'm soaping my hands up, so it would be nice if I didn't need to get the knobs all soapy to achieve this means. If I ever buy a house, I'm implementing this. Knobs can still be used to adjust temperature.

You could try leaving the tap on and putting the plug in?

I have three computers and they're all not quite working in different ways. My father's making me a new one from parts, and I'm going to toss two of them.

Head colds.

309: And no meds on hand?

309--Amen! Hacking, coughing, sniffing, stuffed up, blowing nose, red raw nose...and this is WITH meds! Seriously, could some scientist somewhere find a cure for this???

Stupid storms wrecking my plans and blowing up OH's router, and not being able to use the internet for hours. Grr...

(But on the plus side a spectacular natural light show!)

#311 Stray southern-hemisphere thought: I'd be inclined to go off to probably somewhere that sells aromatherapy oils, and get some Eucalyptus oil. Scatter a few drops on your pillow at night and see how clear you are by morning. Or put it on a handkerchief and breathe through it during the day, but then you'll need a ton of tissues to take up the dislodged ... yes well ahem. Or a handful of gum-tree leaves in the bath. I once had a long and interesting dissertation from a very senior toxicologist on why this works.

#311 Snerkling up a warm solution of sodium bicarb into your nostrils, though gross in the performance, may give some relief for catarrh.

I use those nasal irrigation bottles one can buy from the drug store and it provides the perfect formula of sodium bicarb + salt so that the solution feels absolutely comfortable. No discomfort, at all. Lots of relief. A little messy is all so I do it in the shower.

I used to wake in the middle of the night without being able to breathe through my nose. No longer as much of a problem except when I stop cleaning out the inside of my nose. Now, I think of it as the same as washing my face, and brushing my teeth. It is daily.

Working from home (we can do this once a week, but I only do it if I have an appointment near home). Since I don't have a company laptop, I must use some "fancy" software to connect through Internet, which usually forgets how to connect itself for the first 10 minutes. (I'm waiting...).

And another FWG: being home (sick or working) and hearing the power tool of the day. Although that combo only troubles me if it's a migraine, which I don't get anymore--one bonus of aging!

Christmas cards being sent this year are from leftover cards from a previous year (I think 2008.) They've been stored out on the porch. Between the humidity and temperature changes, the flaps on the envelopes have sealed shut. I'm going to have to tape them closed this year. Oh boy!

Wah wah wah.

I've been working with great minds in my field at a workshop, but I'm also about to graduate and move interstate. Couldn't I have had the chance to work with these people a month or two earlier? :(

318: I hate when that happens! In high school, I joined a club a couple months before moving when I knew that it was available to me for a couple years.

My only grief is that I had a cancellation at work yesterday, and a client who prefers male therapists (first time encountering that), so I spent most of the day addressing and stamping Christmas letters for the company. On the bright side, no papercuts. :)

Waxing: it kind of hurts. A lot.

My car needs a fresh coat of wax, the poor thing.

Our foster cats have been hissing at each other, and the tux-cat is still bullying the kitten out of her food. (And I thought they were doing so well!)

I forgot my phone at school today. Now I have to dig out my alarm clock. And I can't play Words With Friends. Or check for text messages. Until 7:30 tomorrow morning. And what if I have to get up in the middle of the night? What will I use for a flashlight? What if I have a sudden need to take a picture of something between now and 7:30 a.m?

And how are you going to update your facebook status? You're going to have to wait the few seconds that it takes to turn your computer on, and waiting for anything is soooo annoying.

Air-condition; the sound of.
At work, so outside my control.

Finished my Christmas shopping today. I am coupon impaired. Most of the ones I took, which I thought I had examined closely, were invalid for one reason or another. At least the one for the Muppet Movie worked, and Costco let my friend and I use the same coupon for tequila, so that was a $6 savings.

Buskers outside my work place; if only they could sing and/or play their instruments.

The Christian preacher on the street outside my office who has obviously been trained to talk through his amplifier with the most piercing, monotonous voice ever. He would drive anyone away from Christ.

My apartment is out to get me, I swear. The toilet breaks, gets fixed, breaks again. Now the wall sconce in the hallway leading from my bedroom to the rest of my apartment won't stay lit. Had the manager come by and take a look, got it "fixed." The second he walks out the door, I flip the switch, it fizzles, and goes out. Try a new bulb (CFL) loud buzzing, flicker, out. Grr.