The Mid-Summer/Winter, Northern/Southern Hemisphere complaints, AKA Stabbity Thread

OK, I think this covers all the continents, and so all are invited to do their complaints here at your friendly Complaint Thread.

I hurt all over! I know I have arthiritis but I'm beginning to wonder if its also Fibromalgia. I've talked to my doctor and she wants me to get some tests done

The morning I absolutely must get up early, of course, is the one where it's -5C (~26F) outside. Brr!

HOT and HUMID here. Rain helped yesterday but it isn't supposed to rain again for a while...

#4 SRedRose - Hot and humid, no rain? Sounds like where I live. It's been cloudy and we've had thunder all day. Still no rain. We did have a cooling trend today; it only hit 97F. :)

#3 Choreocrat - It would be nice if we could find a happy medium between your weather and the weather SRedRose and I seem to be having.

#2 Polly, I hope everything is okay with you. I'm sorry you're hurting.

I'm a little stabbity at myself. My emotions have been up and down quite a bit lately, and I'm trying so hard to get it under control. I finally decided that my reading material was not helping much. I'm reading Voyager by Diana Gabaldon and A Game of Thrones by George. R. R. Martin. Both books are filled with emotional roller coasters. That is obviously NOT helping my mood! I think I'll put both aside tonight and read either Storm Front or Two for the Dough. I'll get back to those when my own emotions are in check.

My complaint: I have work again, starting tomorrow. Summertime with the kids! All three of them, all day, every day... but, on the other hand. I have a job. Just like life, just when you think you've got a really good gripe, something comes along and reminds you that every storm cloud has its silver lining.

You are so right, Maggs! I need to look for that silver lining more often.

32 degree in the office at 7:45 in the morning...together with about 95% humidity.... I should go buy some sauna oil

That is warm! whew!

Glad to read, elsewhere in the Dragon, I think, that your baby is better. Good news!

Another day of 100+ weather, no rain in sight. Pretty much every city around has canceled plans for fireworks displays for the 4th. :(

We are still very warm, but we've had some rain every afternoon so things are greening up.

On a related note it seems the rains are on hold for a couple of days so today we got ALMOST summer temperatures (about 25°C-ish in the shade) and some sun.

Normally that would be great but it was quite cold on the morrow so I felt like a swollen heap of sweat came afternoon and the time to commute home.

Seems it's not just average nice anywhere ;-)

Major rains south of here on Friday and Saturday destroyed the main highway going through the Pine Pass - our main link to southern BC, and the road between Chetwynd and Hudson's Hope. Washouts and damage in at least 20 places. Some friends heading up here for our upcoming Nahanni paddling trip will have to take a huge detour (at least 500 km farther). We were out of the heavy rainfall zone, and had pretty good weather here.

#1 Black bar of Death across all Google screens

#2 Little sweeping yellow bird advertisement on some websites

yes what is that about? (#14)

people who phone from credit card companies to try to sell me services or products that I neither need or want. Especially the 30 days free and if you don't like it just call to cancel ones. Grrr.

my back has reached a new plateau of awful. I'm starting to be worried about long-term immobility now. So many everyday things make me miserable.

Feeling Sooky & Sore :( Some kind of virus got me & its making me all heavy & achey & soo easily exhausted :(

I'm so sorry, Bookmarque. I just got back from the physical therapist, so I can relate. My sore back (and legs of slightly different lengths sometimes) are the result of nasty-bad arthritic knees. I favor my worst knee, which throws off my spine, my pelvis, my muscles, my attitude.

After talking vaguely about knee replacement for several years, we are getting more specific now. Looks like next spring.

I hope you find some answers.

Finding out that the powers that be have decided that the Oxford Writing and Style Guide no longer advocates the use of the Oxford comma. Sigh. Civilization as we know it is just going to hell in a hand basket.

You know what really, really sucks?

Knowing the right thing to do and really, really, REALLY not wanting to do it because it hurts too much to even think about doing it, let alone following through on it.

Why does doing what's best for us have to hurt us so much? Why does doing the right thing have to cause so many problems and so much pain?

I have no answers, my dear, but I am so sorry for your pain. I hope you find your way through all these traps and snares and find the peace you deserve.

SRedRose {{YOU}} deserve all the hugs and support I can send you through the ether. And ditto what MerryMary said.

#21 - What the other ladies said. As you say - sometimes the right thing is so hard to do.

#20 - I'll just continue using it. I'm not a teacher, though, so need only care for the general style in which I write ;-)

Edited to add - #17, I can relate to that pain. My left hip is killing me, I had no sleep the night before last because of it. I hold my thumbs for yours getting better, fast!

#19 - Hmm. Maybe that's why I'm starting to have some back issues. I never thought about my knees affecting that.

To go along with that - my mother had knee replacement 2 1/2 weeks ago, and I am having to deal with that. It is not fun because she can be, and usually is, a very difficult person and not a particularly loving mother. #21 - I'm having these same thoughts.

The surgery, however, went fine, and she is recovering nicely. So MerryMary, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it if your doctor thinks it will help.

#25 - There's definitely a connection. My lower back and hip issues are affecting my neck and upper spine, my knees and my feet. The body is interconnected so whatever ails in one part affects another... :(

For the past 12 hours, nearly every encounter I have had with another person has left me feeling murderously stabbity. This includes indirect encounters mediated by computers, by traffic, by windows, by walls...I think you get the picture.

#27 - The Deeper Meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd defines a "Cranleigh" as a mood of irrational irritation with everyone and everything - I think that's what you're suffering from today!

Oh back pain, knee pain hip pain, I'm glad I'm not alone!

For all you people with arthritis/back/neck pain - I know how you are feeling as I too have trouble with joints and muscles. If you can do it, get a massage. It's amazing how much your muscles get screwed up because of favouring one piece of you or another and having a massage can give you relief at least for a while.

And try to find a comfortable chair. I don't have one of those but I'd sure like to have one. And when you're in bed, put a thin pillow between your knees when you sleep on your side or a thick one under your knees if you sleep on your back.

None of that will fix joint problems but it can help alleviate the muscle aches.

#28 - Yes! Finally there is a word for how I get when I drive in Edmonton

I need to whine a bit. Husband is very security conscious, it's a side-effect of him having worked different aspects of security since the mid-80's. Now he have decided burglars WILL chose our flat when we are away, despite there being a lot of other more accessible treasure more easily at hand (we're on the second floor and already have some home security installed). His main concern is our fake landlord - they have now been denied legal ownership of the house but continue to carry on as it is theirs, while we try to find a way to finally have them out - will take revenge on us by paying someone to break into our flat.

We do have some pretty valuable stuff but he's worrying himself sick over this and it's affecting the rest of us. I say we could just decide to not display the expensive instruments we have hanging on one wall; I want to hang pictures, or perhaps a new set of bookshelves, on that wall anyway ;-) But for some reason he want those things there, in plain view where he can worry about them.

Who said men were logical?

not me

Me neither ;-)

My husband is phobic that someone will hit us up too or that someone will break in and hurt me when he's gone.

i was cutting some cornbread and the knife slipped. I sliced open my hand and couldn't eat the cornbread. The doctors say i will probably have a scar on that hand for the rest of my life. moral of the story: if you are right-handed, never try to cut things with your left. True story.

Stabbity. It shouldn't take over two days to get from Spain to Australia. Delays on every leg eats into your holiday very quickly. No wonder our tourist numbers are down if it keeps happening. (Not my journey - OH's friend).

#36 - Hope it heals quickly and well!

OUCH!

my neighbor's lawn care power tools. so loud. so whiny. so in continuous use. ugh.

$1000 for a brake job.

Ow ow ow.

#41 - Ow, that hurts! :(

Working on a Saturday. I had specifically ordered rain, or at least overcast, but here I sit by the laptop, sweltering in the heat, listening to the sound of the table fan and trying to get things done with.

Stab. Stab. STAB.

}:(

#36 thank you!

We, too, live in fear (okay, not fear, not always) of brake jobs, and sweltering heat, and noisy fans, and noisy neighbours, and awkward cuts.

We are none of us strangers, are we?

Dang! I thought there was a Read-A-Thon happening this weekend and I can not find the thread in which such a thing was promised. Any one know of a Read-A-Thon in either the Green Dragon or in the 75 Book Challenge? Help me out here, friends! Please.....

Karen - 75 Book Challenge Holiday Weekend Readathon is here http://www.librarything.com/topic/119779

Thank you, calm. I am in it now!

Stabbitty: New-shoe blisters. I have a brand-new one on my left instep, about a third of the way up from my big toe. Older blisters, in various states of peeling, include both little toes, both heels (though less recently), and one on my right foot about parallel to that first one I mentioned.

I know this is not a new complaint, nor really too serious, but I hate the Fourth of July bangs, booms, pssssts, and the like, well into the night, which make my Greta Garbo tremble and search desperately for some hole into which to crawl and hide. She did settle later and crawled into bed, just like normal. (Nicky is so deaf now, it does not bother him)

I understand Maggie, I don't like the noise either, I wonder how Merlin will handle it!

I need a better weather website. Went to check how long this thunderstorm is supposed to last, and weather.com thinks it's "fair" outside. Yeah, fairly WET!

It's going to be one of those days. Girlfriend and I had an argument before bed. Neighbor across the alley thought it was ok to practice her guitar and singing with her window open until 3 AM. I had enough and let her know it. Then, maybe 3 hours of sweaty, uncomfortable sleep. Later, my shoelace broke, prompting a change of wardrobe before a hustle to the bus. I trudged to work like a man to the gallows. The office feels like death. I'm near my breaking point of hot recycled stagnant air, dim artificial lighting, and the endless silent loneliness of this section of the library.

Small problems compared to many people here, I know. But tiring.

oh dude sounds like a bad one. Hopefully you can reap the benefits of making up later. wink wink, nudge, nudge. oh and maybe pull a Bluto on your neighbor.

My job involves keeping my eyes glued to my monitor, but for some reason they have stationed me at the receptionist's desk (stabbity for another time). The door is kept locked from the outside for reasons outside of my control, so I have to let people in, which would be fine if they knocked, but at least 2/3 of the time they don't, so either I happen to notice the nimrod standing there peering through the glass (and not knocking) for who-knows-how-long, or I get yelled at for failing to notice them standing there (and not knocking) for who-knows-how-long. WTF?

#54 ~~ I feel your pain.

Staffing the receptionist's desk is one of my responsibilities. Therefore, when the receptionist staff takes a break, or goes to lunch, I cover the desk for that person.

Our office reception area is entirely glass fronted, our door is NOT locked, and I still get idiots standing in front of the door holding the handle, looking at me as though they are on a space station and their air is running out. I motion them to come in, and they continue to stand holding the door handle and looking at me questioningly.

It's a freaking college campus. If you don't know how to operate a door handle, you shouldn't be here!

WTF, indeed?!

Mosquitoes.
Stab Stab STAB }:(

Mosquitoes are dying off here. Finally. It was a bad season for them. By dying off, I mean you can actually go outside for minutes a time without feeling like a blood donor.

oh I long for that time, AS. I think I'm down a pint.

I haven't noticed all that many mosquitoes this year in Brooklyn -- which is strange, since I'm usually walking bug bait. (Maybe I've just been indoors too much?)

I was with an older, native man once, and he said that mosquitoes don't bother him. I looked, and he had a swarm around him.

"You are covered with mosquitoes," I said.

"Yes, but they don't bother me."

I guess he just learned to ignore them.

maybe he likes being itchy.

>60 Arctic-Stranger:
I can't feel mosquitoes bite me anymore. I still get itchy bumps, but some time in the last decade I lost the ability to actually feel their bites.

It's sad because smacking a mosquito that's just tried to go Dracula on you is oddly satisfying.

The mosquitoes up here do not make me itch. The ones in North Carolina did, but not Alaskan mosquitoes. That is not true with everyone though. They make my daughter miserable.

Last summer we had two, I say TWO!, batches of the bastards - one who died out about now, and then one more. Seems like we're up for that this summer too...

Up north, at the cabin, husband's step-mum have invested in a Skeetervac, because they're staying at the cabin while their kitchen gets renovated and she just couldn't bear it anymore. We're bound for there mid-next week and I sincerely hope that monster machine has had an effect by then.

I have a mosquito-repellent which have worked wonders in the Thai rain forest but do nothing for those attack-helicopter skeeters in the northern Swedish lowlands...

So I''m definitely sympathetic with the two of you. Our local situation down here is more benign. It was just that one trip out in the woods a couple of hours ago, trying to pick some blueberries, that drove me nuts!

I found that a strange 3M anti-bug-goo product works pretty well, but if you sweat it off, look out. the thing is, it doesn't work with horse and deer flies, just mosquitoes. makes being a woodland photographer really, really trying.

I had an experience once that led me to believe that the mosquitoes in this area do not like Vitamin B. If I took Stress Vitamin B complex, they would leave me alone, and bit everyone else. Very nice. Don't know if it works for everyone but as Vitamin Bs are nice to take, make one feel pretty good, I use it for anti-mosquitoes, too.

The mosquitoes here in Edmonton are really bad this year too! Usually by now the first hatch has died off and things aren't too bad after that (the city sprays for them) but we had high winds that blew them in from the countryside and also prevented the spraying, plus lots of rain for a few weeks there so lots of breeding places for them. I take vitamin B - haven't noticed an effect... although maybe it would be EVEN WORSE without it. Hard to imagine!

On the plus side, I've seen some pretty healthy looking dragonflies, so the dragonfly nymphs must be getting a good feed of mosquito larvae.

When I was a kid they used to send a truck around to spray for bugs. It was probably DDT, and we kids would run after the truck and breathe in the smoke.

That may explain a lot!

We just had some airplanes overhead spraying for gypsy moths.

I hate moths more than I hate Viagra spam.

Damn. Sucks to be a moth around YOU!

I get pretty stabbity over apple maggots. Nothing like losing a whole tree full of apples because they've all got nasty little white wormy things in them. UCK!

We used to spray the milch cow, the barn, the chicken house & the horses w/some stuff I am quite sure was DDT! This was in the 40s & 50s when we didn't know any better, of course! 8^)

BTW, just a little dose of Vitamin B was not what I was taking; I took a Stress Vitamin B complex, with lots of B12, for sure.

I might try the heavy duty Vitamin B. Mosquitoes just LOVE my blood. Something with my personal biochemistry...

When I was a kid they sprayed the crops with DDT, from small planes. Can't properly remember when it got prohibited but it must have been sometime in the early 70's. My paternal grandparents had a summer house surrounded by grain fields and I loved it when the small plane came in low!

I'm not sure that it works for mosquitoes, but it works for most bugs, including gnats (which are super awful here this year): soak a handkerchief in *pure* vanilla extract (an old one, because it will stain it) and wear it round your neck. I've been doing that this summer and, seriously, I can see the swarm of gnats not 5 feet from me, but they leave me completely alone (and I've not had any other bug bites either).

bugs evidently have a keen sense of smell - there are things they don't like: horray!

Unless it's gluten-free vanilla extract, it uses alcohol as the solvent, and that's probably what keeps them away, with the vanilla masking the smell for human nasal benefit. (Experiment: try gluten-free vanilla extract, which uses glycerin instead of alcohol. If that works, it's not the alcohol keeping the skeeters away. Or, if you have a strong nose and don't mind smelling like a wino, try a hankie soaked in straight alcohol; if that works, it is the alcohol.)

#77: Excellent point; does imitation vanilla extract use alcohol? I ask because, apparently it has to be pure extract to work. Even so, I think I just like smelling like vanilla! :)

Almost all vanilla extract uses alcohol for preservative. Hard to find some without alcohol, but it does exist.

I use a bug jacket when I work in the garden, and I wear long pants, socks and shoes. It's hot but it works best for me.

#68 and others! - have you read silent spring? You might find it enlightening (or terrifying). I was surprised at how much punch it still had nearly 50 years on.

In one of those airplane catalogues of junk for people who already have everything else, there was a propane-powered mosquito vacuum that lured the skeeters in with CO2 and then sucked them into a mesh death-bag. The blurb said that it would clear out skeeters for about an acre. I don't remember the cost but it was in the $00s.

Thing is, though, that would just create a hole in the local skeeter distribution, which would be filled back up by skeeters from adjacent areas, some of which would likely stop for a snack before being sucked up by the central vacuum. So, really, what would be needed is 9 vacuums laid out 3 x 3 in a 1½- x 1½-acre square. The central vacuum would clear out the central acre, and then the 8 surrounding ones would keep it clear. But that would cost $000s, plus propane, and it would have to be run 24/7.

Hardly seems worth it. Maybe a DEET mister on the porch? Or vanilla extract. If you had a brown-painted house you could use a vanilla-extract mister. As long as you only wore brown clothes. (Or no clothes.)

From the time I was a child, I was eaten alive by mosquitos. They absolutely loved me. (I finally learned that I could stop the itching by putting a small dab of amonia on the bite. Works for chiggers too.)

Then, about 15 years ago, they stopped bothering me. I would be sitting outside, with friends, and they're all complaining of the mosquitos, but I was fine. I couldn't figure it out, until one day a friend of mine said, "As much lemon stuff as you eat, it's no wonder they don't like you."

Her contention was that I was the same as a citronella candle, because I drank lemonade (instead of sodas), used lemon pepper on most stuff, squeezed lemon juice over my salads, and even ate lemon flavored desserts.

I don't know if she was right, but I still do all that stuff, and still don't have trouble with mosquitos.

I like to think it's all the garlic I eat that keeps the skeeters away, but I've always been a garliholic and the little buggers loved me until I moved here.

#82 - That happens to be the kind of machine my in-laws bought and that many other people have gotten, up there in skeeterland, and everyone are very happy with it because there mosquito distribution is very local. So even if they're alone in having one it clears the plot. So whatever the mathematics is it works.
It even works up out in the marshes but there it's more a matter of fewer than none ;-)

Pffft. Evidence. What good is that?

EtA To paraphrase Homer J. Simpson, "Evidence is useless. Evidence can be used to prove anything that's even remotely true."

(Late now that Busifer has responded but I like it enough and am enough of a jerk that I'll add it anyway)

;-)
I was VERY sceptical when I first heard of these machines but one after another gets one and waxes lyrical when asked if it was worth the money.
I'm still a bit sceptical. We'll see if it was all talk once we get up there, late next week!

You would think such a machine would work because they say skeeters don't travel more than a couple hundred feet from where they are hatched. If I could buy one of those, I'd put it in my garden so I could work in peace. The skeeters don't come up on the deck much until almost dark.

The story I heard is that back in the day people thought skeeters couldn't fly more than 100 feet without a blood meal, so when they laid out downtown Columbia, SC, they made the streets wider than that. The downtown streets are really wide, but no idea if that's the reason for it.

#54 & 55 - Your posts had my crying with laughter. I deal with this every day at the hotel. Much of my work must be done in the back office, so I put the bell on the counter with the sign behind it which says "Please ring bell for service." People will stand at the counter very quietly forever, then let out a tiny cough, and act annoyed that I didn't come out sooner. I go up and ring the bell and say, "Don't fear the bell!"

I know. I so hate to ring that bell. I feel it is sooooo patrician! Like I'm calling for a servant! I hate it, hate it, hate it. Maybe we should start a trend with fun, or funny ways to call for help at a desk. Like a megaphone, and a sign that says, speak into this and call for HELP! Or maybe a funny bulb horn like the silent Marx brother used? Or maybe a small collection of antique dinner bells, although that's back to the calling a servant isn't it. Oh! a triangle, like the bunkhouses used to call the ranch hands in for grub.

Rubber duckie?

I have always loved the hotel bell and love to hear it ring. Only, not when a person suffering from OCD is around.

Lots of little things annoying with my body. Nothing big, just plain annoying.

Lots of cold weather, too.

On the plus side, I'm going to Sydney for three days. Should be lovely.

It's over. It's done and over and can never be repaired. He was still cheating and I left him tonight.

https://penzu.com/p/66c612f8

*hugs*
I imagine it hurts a lot but I think you did the right thing. If he can't treat you right and respect you leaving is the only option. It's not like you haven't worked on it, trying to help him get it whole.
You are very strong, many people with kids doesn't leave an abusive partner but locks up an endure.

oh girl, I'm so sorry your heart is breaking. I so know the feeling. But I also know this, if a relationship is work it's the wrong relationship. If you're always fixing, compromising, sacrificing, putting up with, you've got the wrong guy. Many will disagree, and if they want to constantly struggle to make their relationship seem legitimate, so be it. However, I've been with my husband for 17 years and we've had 2 fights. Yep, two. Both were over a decade ago. This relationship is a joy and it was worth waiting for. I hope you will find yours.

SRedRose, I'm sending you all positive thoughts and {{{SRedRose}}} hugs. Stay with us, in touch, and walk one step at a time, one day at a time, and it will get better!

And give your Mum a hug from me, she's a sweetie to welcome you home.

95 - *more hugs* Stay strong.

Hugs and I am so sorry you're going through this. I think you did the right thing. We support you here, it must be so hard! Hang in there.

(Grump: spending the week moving. aeieeieieee.)

I'm not angry anymore. Hurt and heartbroken, to be sure, but the anger's gone. I can tell, because I no longer wish to hog-tie him and throw him into the Amazon so the piranhas can eat him.

My favorite revenge dream was staking someone out over a red ant hill and covering the nether parts with honey.

Morphy - I am a liiiiiiiitle afraid of you at the moment....

#103

Be afraid. Be very afraid!

Me??! What about the piranhas?

Just worry if she's programmed the Roombas to spread the honey....could be a bother.

(((SRedRose))) *Morphy, put that hunney jar down*

I have a small grievance but I'm still somewhat appalled today. I came home from the grocery store and reviewed the costs for what we'd purchased. I knew the 3 lb roast was expensive ($9.90) and I really ought to stop buying the bottled frapps ($6.99 for four) because they are both costly as well as fattening. But then I saw the price for the aluminum foil (the 200 square ft box) and nearly choked. It was the most expensive thing I bought this week at $10.29. That was very, very nearly 10% of the week's total. In fact, if you rounded it up, it WAS 10% of the week's total. I'm shocked.

(Hey, I told you it was a small grievance.) But life is getting EXPENSIVE.

I understand it's no consolation but a 3 lb roast (1,3 kg, if my converter works like it should) would NOT stop at US$9.90 - it's what I would have to pay for about a third of that, or 400 grams, and then it'd not be prime quality either :(

Busifer, I don't mind the meat prices so much; my father and mother (when they retired from his first career in the military) moved to a farm so I have some sense of the costs of raising beef. There's enough room (even in the Northeast United States) for that kind of agricultural endeavor. If I drive less than an hour's distance, there are herds of cows standing under trees in the pasture. However, I know you've not got nearly the same kind of room for raising beef over there. (Unless I've once again muddled my sixth-grade geography/social studies.). I know you (plural for all Europeans) pay more for meat just as you pay far more for gasoline in the car.

But aluminum foil? We're not talking high tech cooking solutions here. We've had aluminum foil since the 1950's, for heaven's sake. It's absurd to expect to pay that amount for something that we line cookie sheets with, slip under slices of pizza for reheating in the oven, and wrap around potatoes for baking. It's downright UN-AMERICAN. (said with a certain amount of tongue in cheek)

I went back to the apartment this morning to pick up the homemade applesauce I’d forgotten in the fridge and to look for my son’s glasses that went missing in the move (this is what happens when you break up, pack and move in less than three hours because you weren’t planning on moving at all) and I left my key.

The girlfriend has already begun moving in. Her dog was in the house. Her knickknacks all over what used to be my kitchen and bedroom. Her photos on the fridge. It just renewed the hurt all over again.

I listed most of the wedding stuff for sale on the two wedding boards I was active on. I'm keeping the dress and veil because I've decided that I'm going to do that Trash The Dress photo shoot anyway, groom or no groom. Not now - but in a few years. I feel it will be... cathartic. And enable me to exact a small revenge - I bought the dress specifically for that shoot, but I was planning to wear it for our wedding reception (had a red sari, as per Indian tradition, for the ceremony) because it was his favorite of the three I had been looking at.

oh jeez, that's callous. I'm sorry you had to see that.

#107 SEVENTY RAND for a roll of foil ??!! Here anything over twelve would be excessive! Is that a normal price or were you robbed blind? (As you see, I've converted prices to a currency I understand.)

I can't help but think there was a glitch somewhere. Sounds terribly excessive.

Like MM I think it sounds like a glitch.

As to beef - there's farms literally everywhere so it's not like there's any dearth of the raw materials, so to speak, but rather a matter of production costs; by tradition farms are small, relative to for example the US or Argentina, and regulations demand farmers treat the animals well, feeding them correctly, keeping antibiotics down, etc, and the large producers of meat are cooperatives owned by the farmers (this is the case with beef, pork, grain, and diary - different cooperatives for each).
Mind you, I have nothing against this. Meat is relatively expensive but of relatively high quality (if you stay out of the German low-price chains, which I do) and the farmers can earn their living.

Aluminum production uses a great deal of energy (cost of which is rising as we speak) and it might indeed be considerably more expensive now than it was in years of yester yore. I agree: living in a manner to which I am accustomed is getting more and more expensive.

I do my best to conserve on things so I use heavy quality aluminum wrap and wash and re-use it, but I don't use it if I can use a lid or wash the pan instead or store things in containers instead of wrap. I also re-use plastic bags.

I never bake potatoes in foil because I love to eat the crispy skin. I just scrub them, poke them and put them in the oven.

I do use parchment paper for some baking, like roasting chicken wings or making biscuits because you don't have to grease it, nothing sticks to it but things still get crispy. And you can wipe parchment paper off and use it a few more times.

Please excuse the sermon. I just am always trying to think of ways to save money.

I think you're smart, nhlsecord. Like you, we don't use this for purposes of storage unless forced by circumstances like Thanksgiving or something. Honestly this box of aluminum foil will likely last me two or 2-1/2 years; we're not that extravagant in our usage.

I've been checking around for pricing. The same brand, albeit a different size (50 square ft.), runs nearly six dollars. It's entirely possible that this is why my husband will try to pick up the house brand when he is the one doing the shopping. Its offensive to be paying for marketing and branding rather than for necessary quality of the product.

If we're talking about costs, when I was in Sydney yesterday, I saw places advertising men's haircuts for $10. Here in Canberra, I can't get one for less than $20, and usually it's closer to $30. It never ceases to shock me that we pay so much more for things when we're only 3 hours drive away, within the same country.

Drat drat drat! Good old Chase Mortgage double debited (is that a word?) my account when I paid my mortgage online last Friday. They automatically credited it to my August payment. By the time I get it sorted out (statement from bank faxed to Chase, 5 business days to refund money), the August payment will almost be due.

It's too early to call my bank--perhaps they can solve it by not honoring the second payment. My local bank came to my rescue a few years ago when a credit card company turned my $125 online payment into $1250.

Stabbity to online banks and CC companies who take weeks to return money when they make the error.

Choreocrat, If you mean that you live in a smaller (out of the big city) place , to have higher salon prices is unusual, at least for us outback people in Ontario. We get our hair cut for $17 and a lot of good conversation in our little town (just a trim, no shampoo), but if we went to the city it would cost more, I think. If C went to a barbershop maybe it would cost less, but he goes where I go because he loves the attention he gets from the attractive ladies. C gets a brush cut and women love to run their hands over that brush cut.

Wow that is crazy for aluminum foil I guess I haven't bought it in awhile!
As for beef if you buy straight from the farmer and have a real butcher process it for you it is alot cheaper and so much better I hate buying beef at the grocery store for 2 reasons price and taste once you have the fresh beef you'll never buy from a grocer again~!Find a local farmer who may be willing to split with you or a friend or two we get a quarter of beef every 6 months or so, we do always seem to run out of roasts and steaks before hamburger!

My stabbity today is my daughter is home for the summer and I have never in my life seen anyone go through so many towels I swear she gets a new one if she showers, brushes her teeth or washes her hands there is like 5 towels by the end of the day and she never reuses them just grabs a new one out of the cupboard.

STABBITY: I got part one of a two-part tweet out before my browser crashed. Got it up and running again, but Twitter said it was "done" loading at nothing more than a sickly pale background. Still can't get it to load.

120 - Actually it's the other way around. The city (4 million) is much less expensive than the smaller city (350 thou). It's not just hair unfortunately. Everything is expensive here, because the median salary is very high. For those of us *not* on that salary, it's a bit harder.

#123 Groceries and such things are more expensive here, but the trades are generally less because the city is close enough to be a danger to local businesses. At least that's what we've found for the things we need. Some things you just can't get locally and the big box stores are in the city, not here.

Interesting that we haven't had a stabbity in over two months. I have stabbities aplenty, but I think I can sum them all up with:

Men. Can. Be. Scum.

Oh, and:

Women. Can. Be. Evil.

Poor excuses for human beings make it difficult for the good ones in more ways than one.

Hear hear! Aptly put, dear Sred.

*hugs to you*

Followed by

*powerful glares at said scumful men and evil women*

However, once you sort out whom is incumbent upon you to dismiss from your mind, it frees more space to concentrate on those who are the opposite of The Evil Swine.. ER Spam... I mean Man. Concentrate on those in your life (Non-evil Women and Anti-Swine Men) who will help you regain your happiness & strength!

You are much too wonderful a being to carry this hurt alone, dear. We are here for you if needed! :*)

Much Bliss & Concentrated Comfort directed Your Way,
~Pan~

Political Correctness. Its okay in theory, but my countrymen seem to be overly obsessed with it. The only thing it does, in my opinion, is make you look like an utter fool who doesn't have a backbone. You will eventually offend someone, its an inevitable part of life. This doesn't mean you shouldn't make a reasonable effort not to, but there's a point at which is just becomes silly.

Helicopter parents. For the past twenty years we seem to have been doing everything we can to protect our kids from in some cases imagined danger. You know what we've ended up with? A bunch of spineless egomaniacs who are scared of failure so they never attempt anything that might be dangerous. These parents need to turn off the news and get a reality check. Your child will in all likelihood NOT be kidnapped by some nameless cretin if he walks/rides his bike the couple blocks to school alone. He will not die if he falls off the monkey bars and scrapes his knee, or even breaks his leg. FAILURE IS A GOOD THING. Failure teaches important lessons. Failure should push you to do better, to work harder, and by rewarding failure as much as success (see trophies for losing sporting events, for example) we are, in effect, chopping are kids mental/emotional growth off at the knees.

Well said, DEL!

Men in scripted shows by and large make me stabbity. Why does every man have to be an air-headed moron? I mean, there's no competent fathers portrayed in any currently airing show, for example. Maybe we'd see men behaving better if the message they were getting wasn't "You're an incompetent dolt" from every angle. Or the expectation that they're either a meathead or a refined gentleman. If you look at history, the two weren't mutually exclusive. A man was expected to be both a connoisseur of the finer things, and be able to defend himself with his fists. Its called being a complete, multifaceted human being.

In rebuttal, I present the men of NCIS. Multifaceted, indeed.

#130 ~~ NCIS mmmm, cute: both boys and girls.

Garbage pickup makes me want to hurt people. For some reason, the truck doesn't pick up in my neighborhood til early afternoon. This morning, preoccupied, I pulled the bins off the curb at 8. I wonder what the logic behind this is? I know in my parent's neighborhood, WHICH IS WALKING DISTANCE FROM ME has pickup in the early morning. I doubt 1 truck takes care of the whole city, so why isn't pickup done in the morning city wide? I guess I'm partly stabbity at myself, but the pick up schedule is still kind of moronic.

Sometimes my garbagemen come early, sometimes late. Usually they are a day late when there's been a holiday but sometimes they come on schedule anyways. Sanitation workers are a mysterious lot.

>131 millhold:
Agreed. NCIS is one of my favorite shows.

#133 - Sanitation workers are a mysterious lot. But we sure are glad that they're on the job!

135> agreed!

#132 That was something that fascinated me about Melbourne. The peak rush hour tram reached the stop nearest the B&B at 08h29 each morning. Promptly at 08h28:30 the garbo would park his truck across the tram stop.

As in blocking tram traffic?

As in making the next dozen wannabee passengers walk round the truck into the road to get anywhere near the tram. On the other hand, the two of them together blocked the inbound traffic pretty effectively!