Still More First-World Grievances

...to move on

Considering the topic which I grazed from the previous thread, about cash vs. cc. Please, if you are planning a trip to a hotel with cash, call ahead and find out their policies. Some do not accept it at checkin, period. Some (ours), require a lot of money to be held on deposit in addition to the room and tax charge. This seems to surprise and dismay people, but if they worked in a hotel for one week they would understand the need for it.

OK, I'm done.

MrsLee, are you saying paying cash at a hotel results in the person being charged more for the same room? "a lot of money held on deposit" at the time of checking out? Deposit for what? For what is this extra charge?

I understand the hotel's policies should be known before checking-in. That makes total sense as there is usually a large amount of money involved. But charging extra, this I do not understand.

My understanding is that it's in case you damage things or drink heaps from the minibar and then disappear. You'd get any leftovers from the deposit back.

My current FWG is that I miss my OH, because he lives a long way away. At least I get to see him next weekend (the hotel talk reminded me).

Yeah that wouldn't surprise me at all for the US, I'd expect it. It's just how things work there (I'd also not plan on paying cash for one there; I'm actually kind of surprised they even allow it at all. Or at least, room has to be reserved by card w/ a hold on it but upon check-out the total can be taken care of w/ cash). But all the hotels we've stayed at traveling around Europe we've paid cash for, sometimes on check-in, sometimes on check-out, always the price quoted on booking.

Many hotels only grudgingly accepts cash, and the main reason is the risk for robbery. So my guess is the extra charge is a risk fee. So to speak.

But especially when travelling in Italy paying cash is sound behaviour, especially in southern Italy and on the islands. You never know what will happen with your card details else... Staying in Sweden I don't think I or anyone I know have paid cash for a hotel since I don't know when, but I would expect many of them to accept cash. However, should you pay over 1.500 SEK (approx US$223) in cash, for anything, people would start to wonder what's wrong, even if no one would ever let it show. The way the anti money laundry law is constructed has led to banks not being allowed to accept cash deposits above 10.000 SEK (US$1.500), and I think if you ask people (and this is relatively new) they expect money paid in cash will be handled off the register, so to speak. So shops not taking cards are perceived a bit suspect (also new behaviour).

I wish that our public transportation system didn't rely on cash. If you get on the bus, you have to have exact change. If you are at the metro stations you can use a card to buy your ticket, but I very rarely start at a metro station, so that doesn't do me much good.

Which leads to a FWG, I hate having to carry around so much cash, ones in particular. I used to buy a monthly pass and that was great, but now I'm close enough to walk to work (which is great) so I don't use public transportation every day so it is cheaper to pay cash, but my giant wad of ones is a PAIN!

>7 by @KarenElissa, I could see it being a pain in that case. Our transit here doesn't need exact, though I'm not sure whether drivers accept paper bills or just coins (I've never tried it, as it costs a lot more to buy from the driver rather than beforehand). Are they timestamped when you purchase them? It seems weird they would be. If not, why not just buy several ahead of time so that when you need one, you'll have it on you? Over here they sell singles, but then we also have the ones that are good for 10 uses. So if you don't use transit enough to have a subscription, you can just pick up one of those, and use it whenever you need it, and when there's just a couple left, pick up a new one. It's what we did the first few mos here, and I also normally have one on me for when family/friends come to visit. :)

>8 .Monkey.: On the bus, you can only pay for your ride. At the metro station you can buy some passes in advance, but not all of them. The other problem is the rather complicated pay scale. Sometimes I need the $3 2 hour pass which you can buy in a booklet of 10 (but it isn't cheaper to do so), but other times I need just a $2 one ride which you can't pay for in advance. So for now it is simpler to just carry my wad of cash.

They have just started installing new pay systems on the buses that I think will eventually allow them to have prepaid cards which will be great, but who knows when that will actually happen. :)

In New Haven. Connecticut there are classes of tickets that you can buy at either the downtown booth or at Stop&Shop Supermarkets; there is a slight discount from the cash price. You can also buy an all day pass from the busdriver.

maggie- It is a deposit so if you don't damage the room, you receive it back at checkout. Most hotels also put some sort of deposit on your cc at checkin, although not all of them tell you so. I got to confiscate the $150 deposit of a man today, because they had smoked in a non-smoking room. Although I hate confrontation, I have begun to like this one. It is very clear at checkin what will happen if you do that. You even sign your name to it. Guess I'm tired of people who think that rules don't apply to them. We have smoking rooms at our hotel. It takes a lot of extra cleaning to get a room back to its non-smoking or non-pet status, that's why we charge the fee. Everyone is welcome to pay cash at checkout, but we have to have some sort of payment at checkin.

If the dishonest people in this world would spend their creativity on positive things, we would be much farther advanced. It'a amazing how creative people are to try to cheat others.

oh, MrsLee, that makes a good deal more sense! You (the hotel) get the "deposit" at the beginning and then they can be charged for extra stuff like being an A$$. Got it. Well, won't ever happen to me.

I do love it that some motels and hotels now accept dogs. I was able to visit my friend in Portland and took the doggies with me. We had a great time, and the dogs spent most of their time in the back of my car. Hotel room was not harmed, and Schnauzers do not shed so no extra work for staff! My place on Orcas Island even waives the extra change cuz the Schnauzers are so clean.

Life can be good sometimes, can't it.

>9 by @KarenElissa, Oh man, how annoying is all that?! Here (and many other places I've been, though not all) it's all one hour. You get on, you stick your ticket in the validation thing, and it timestamps it for one hour later. And it's the same exact ticket if you get one w/ more money, except rather than just being good for an hour, each time it counts down the amount of money you have left on it and that's also printed. You can only buy them in values using the increment of €.90 and for min of €9. You can do a larger amt on it, but only if you actually travel through multiple "zones" so use more money at a time, or else it's just wasted because it'll get to the bottom of the card before it runs out. heh.

#6 Many hotels only grudgingly accepts cash, and the main reason is the risk for robbery. So my guess is the extra charge is a risk fee.

Of course! Because if you're afraid that having cash on the premises will attract burglars, the best way to handle that is to increase the amount of cash held! Make no mistake, the extra charged is a) a way of making more money and b) a way of forcing people to play by your own arbitrary rules. ;-)

Incidentally, I can't speak for what happens anywhere else, but here in the UK you generally end up being charged extra for trying to use any method of payment the hotelier/store owner etc finds inconvenient. And there's always a 'good' excuse - 'We can't keep much cash on the premises'; 'the bank charges a fortune to process credit/debit cards', etc Sometimes I wonder if they'd be happier not having to take our money at all.

#14 - Of course! Because if you're afraid that having cash on the premises will attract burglars, the best way to handle that is to increase the amount of cash held! Make no mistake, the extra charged is a) a way of making more money and b) a way of forcing people to play by your own arbitrary rules. ;-)
Exactly! Sometimes things just doesn't make sense on the surface - ie the explanation offered is illogical. Because they don't want to admit that the real reason is greed... or a bad business case.

14 - I didn't think it was about keeping cash on the premises. My understanding (in addition to what I said above) is the traceability of a card. It's very easy to skip out of a hotel without paying, but if they have your credit card (or debit card) details, they can charge it anyway. That does leave you open to being charged too much, but it'd be a very shady place that does that. Now as for the bank charges, well, yes... Australian law allows up to 2% surcharge for 'banking fees' when paying with card. Some companies charge more and get away with it by calling it a service fee (on an online purchase...).

Hmm, is my post in #11 invisible? Or is it illegible? The deposit has nothing to do with the fact that we worry about having money on the premises or that we want to charge more fees. It is completely recoverable at checkout assuming you do no damage to the room.

Sadly, you would not believe the amount of damage some folks do to a room. We eat a lot of that (well, really, everyone pays for it because we have to charge enough for all the rooms to pay for those who do damages), some hotels do not charge for damages, they are usually part of a large corporation which writes them off. But smaller hotels have to charge for the larger amounts of damages, or raise our rates beyond what is competitive.

This really doesn't seem that difficult to understand to me, but maybe that's because I work there. I would say that 20% of the clientele take items from the room, damage them beyond use or ruin the room in some way that it must be repaired before we can rent it again.

That is just... I'm astonished!

Sorry, I am still trying to digest the fact that so many guests are so disrespectful of the hotel property.

...

It is not too hard to understand. Another example is security deposits for renters.

That does not mitigate or condone irresponsible and/or disrespectful behavior.

20%?! That's scary! Then again, judging from this, it possibly shouldn't be a surprise.

How does everyone feel about Bitcoin?

>19 chg1: Ah, yes: I've been the easygoing landlady here and recently had a renter with a dog leave the room reeking because she (the dog's owner) didn't take the dog out nearly enough. Shampooing the carpet did no good and the next tenant simply (with my blessing) ripped the carpet out. So I wish I had a big deposit I could have kept to cover that, but didn't.

Back to the earlier discussion: I write maybe two or three checks a year, carry almost no cash, have no credit cards: I have two debit cards, one tied to my checking account and one to my PayPal account, and I use them for 99 percent of my purchases. Both accounts are accessible online, so I can track balances easily--especially the PayPal account, which is updated virtually instantaneously.

21 - Only just heard of it. I'm a little skeptical off the bat with the Open Source part. While I'm a fan of open source, I'm not sure that I like it for financial transactions. I'm also not sure why I think that's worse than it being in the hands of a corporation.

A different FWG, or a pair of them.

1. DVDs that have unskippable intro previews (as many as five). I thought one of the big things about DVD over VHS was not having to fast forward through all of these things.

2. The same DVD, when I try to skip to the next episode, and I get sent back to the beginning and have to go back through all the previews.

#17 Hmm, is my post in #11 invisible? Or is it illegible?

I don't think there was ever any question about hotels taking a damage deposit, the discussion was about the amount differing depending on whether you pay by cash or card. I'm all for charging people for the mess they make.

I hate that Choreocrat. Try skipping tracks instead of FF. It's worked for me in the past.

>23 by @Choreocrat, I'm not sure you entirely understand what open source is? It in no way makes anything risky.

>24 by @Choreocrat/26 by @Bookmarque, I suuuuper hate those also, and no, many of them these days are non-skippable. And they wonder why people turn to pirating?? ugh.

27 - I understand the idea of open source, but I'm also assuming open development, too, Linux style. Or am I wrong here?

Well, I too feel a bit vary about Bitcoin. How can I know no one of the voluntary contributor coders working on the software slips some bad stuff in, sneaking money off? Or adding some backdoor?
The exchange of money is basically dependent on trust (as shown earlier in this discussion)...

This reminds me of a sign in a diner that read:

In God we trust;
All others pay cash.

#30 - I love it!

Latest FWG:  Presidential elections. :p

>28 by @Choreocrat, Open source means something is both free to use, and the design structure is available for others to use themselves, either as-is or to play with themselves and edit for their own needs. Being open source does not mean the actual implemented software/program/etc is able to be edited by anyone (other than those actually working on it officially). It means the source is open, not the product.

@Busifer also seems confused about this. Right on the Bitcoin main page it lists the 7 developers who work on it. If one of them did something malicious, obviously they'd be in a massive shitstorm for it.

Now, I don't know nearly enough about this to have any real thoughts on it, but apparently it's been going on for almost 4 years now and is a massive thing that has a monetary base of over 110 million USD. It's always best to look into something and get information before making snap judgments.

32 - That does reassure me. I had thought that open source implied the possibility of open editing. My next thought was that because the code is available, it would show up any back doors, but I guess that probably applies to corporate software as well.

Yeah, it can be hacked by skilled people just the same as any website or product can. In looking over the info on wiki, it seems a few Bitcoin "banks" have been hacked, but that's not Bitcoin's fault but those services, who didn't do enough with their own security. In looking over a little of the info on wiki, it does not look like something I'd feel comfortable doing, but due to lots of other concerns, nothing related to being open source. The biggest issue being the fear that it's some sort of Ponzi scheme where the early adopters make tons of money off later adopters and there not being much actual source of revenue for anyone else.

My FWG - out of the last 12 posts there are only 4 I understand. (Please don't bother to explain, I think I'm happier this way.)

:P

#32 - My wrong for not checking the details of Bitcoin; although often open source often mean that the code is worked on by various developers and then resubmitted to the code base. I know a number of developers who work on such projects so that is what I think when I hear "open source".

No worries, @Busifer.  I know a few people who are huge fans of Bitcoin, and while they're chatting about the deepest details of the system, I'm still learning the basics.

First World Complaint: smoke detectors which have difficult to replace batteries in them; and chirp like a wounded animal when they need fixing. Greta Garbo, the dog, was very distressed and did not want to come into the house. Can't say's I blame her.

Are you my neighbor?  Someone in the vicinity of my neighborhood has a chirpy something-detector.

Here's a question of slight morality:  If you had a neighbor whose child screamed bloody murder all the time, would you call child services?  I know that the child is simply spoiled, but the parents have been approached many times by several different neighbors, and nothing has gotten through to them, thus far.

41 - It would depend on the parents, as far as I'm concerned. If the parents are seeming to try, and the child is simply difficult, then I would grit my teeth and whinge about it online instead. If the child appears to be at risk, then you might think of calling someone. Unfortunately some children are just difficult to deal with, even for a dedicated (and talented) parent.

>41 by @Rozax, I agree with @Choreocrat. If you're pretty certain they're not actually doing anything untoward, calling CPS would only pull them away from investigations of children who may actually be in danger. Do not call them just because you are annoyed at Annoying Neighbor. That phony call could be putting a child's life/well-being at risk while they take time to investigate it. Though it might be worth calling non-emergency police, explaining the situation, and telling them that the noise is continuously disturbing all the neighbors. There's always noise ordinances that are illegal to break, and if they had a visit from the cops telling them so, it might be the push they need to take a more active role in teaching the child not to be a monster. Because at this rate, god help them, and all you neighbors, when they turn into a teen!

#41 & 43

As a parent of a very active, emotional and sometimes very difficult three year old, my initial reaction to your suggestion of calling CPS or cops involves a lot of curse words, but it's nothing personal I swear :). My real question is do you have kids or have you ever spent more than a couple days caring for a toddler? Sometimes they just lose their minds and some are very loud.

Assuming that the parents don't have an "active role in teaching the child not to be a monster," is an incredibly ignorant and judgmental stance to take considering we all know exactly jack crap about the kid, the home life and the parents. They could be incredibly diligent parents with a child who will be just fine once they get a little older. I have three kids and 7 nieces and nephews, I promise you screamers toddlers can be angelic kindergartners. So, how bout this. How about being a good neighbor, a mature adult and walking up the parents and asking how things are going? How about mentioning to them in a friendly way that there child is very loud and the sound carries far.

I lived in apartment buildings for four straight years in grad school with a rotating string of families, couples, etc. We had barking dogs, crying kids, screaming couples and all sorts of issues. But instead of calling the police or child services, which would be the last option, we talked to each other privately, like adults and helped each other out as we could. I bet good donuts and beer if you speak to the people, it would make a world of difference for you and them. They may not realize how sound carries, how loud their kid is and in the end you may end of making good friends instead of destroying a family.

I'm sorry if this offends, but the fact that the reaction would be "I'll call the police" before "I'll go have an actual conversation with them and treat them like fellow adult human beings" pisses me off royally. This is not directed at either of you personally, I am sure you are fine people, and your opinions are not atypical. But these reactions can be very, very harmful instead of even a little bit helpful.

P.S. to this rant: If you really think there is actual abuse, ignore everything above and call someone, please. Abuse, even minor is dangerous because of where it can lead, which is to more harmful and even deadly abuse.

What @Madcow299 said!

I'm on both sides of the fence here because I have to confess that I find a screaming child one of the most annoying noises I can think of - way beyond errant alarms, barking dogs, loud music etc but it's all part of living in society and I do think those of us who are irritated by the sound just have to learn to close our ears or move somewhere well away from other people. I don't think my children were particularly noisy but I don't have the guts to ask my former neighbours whether they would agree wih that and I'm sure that at one time or another, the screaming child was my own or even (just a few years ago!) me. The expression 'hell is other people' springs to mind but it's more humane to try and understand and put up with it than to involve the police or child protection services - and let's face it, if the police were called out to every screaming toddler they'd be occupied 24 hours a day just doing that.

Madcow, did you see this: "the parents have been approached many times by several different neighbors, and nothing has gotten through to them, thus far."

My experience with toddlers is that yes, sometimes they do scream their best loud voices, but usually it is a stage they need to go through and is resolved by parents taking appropriate steps - ignoring is sometimes the best choice. However, if it continues over many weeks, then there are some other issues at work. Perhaps these parents need some support in effective parenting.

As a former school teacher I know we were required to call Child Protective Services if we even suspected the possibility of abuse, or neglect. I think that if these parents have been approached several times, without much success, then calling the police, and/or CPS, is a good choice.

The worst thing that can happen is that there is a real problem and people are effectively ignoring it.

I will hold your neighborhood in my heart, and hope for a loving, simple and effective end to this problem.

>44 by @Madcow299, Um first of all I said do not call CPS. I said unless actual abuse were suspected that it would be detrimental to call CPS. Pay closer attention, thanks. Second of all, I worked extensively with kids from 3wks-12yrs old for years, and I refuse to believe that a child constantly screaming so as to have all of the neighbors worked up, has parents acting responsibly. I have personally worked diligently to adjust multiple children out of being screaming spoiled monsters and know it is very possible if the adults in charge actually do what they need to do. Third, she said multiple neighbors have approached them, to no avail.

#46/47 Rozax also said I know that the child is simply spoiled. That would appear to rule out the likelihood of actual abuse. It would be a wonderful world if we could force other parents to bring up their children properly but it simply can't be done.

I did miss that key sentence, dang it, my bad.

>48 by @Booksloth, Of course. But if they're being that lackadaisical that they're actually disrupting all their neighbors continuously, it does seem something further needs to be done.

Please don't think I disagree with either of you about how distressing this can be for everyone who has to listen to it; what I'd really like to do sometimes is go round there and bang the child and the parent's heads together, I just think it's a losing battle.

For what it's worth, I do think it is sometimes possible to train oneself to be less upset by this kind of thing, hard though it is to do. Several years ago a young couple moved into the house opposite ours and he was a member of a rock band who rehearsed frequently in his garage in the evenings: the music could be heard for a very long distance. All the same, they were a nice couple and I didn't want to start out by falling out with them so I decided that I just would not let myself be bothered about this. If the music got too loud I would set the TV to record whatever I was watching for viewing at a quieter time, then turn it off and listen to them instead. Fortunately for me, they were actually rather good and I came to enjoy what they were doing (admittedly, that's not so easy with screaming). Nowadays, when they have two small (beautifully behaved) children and the music has stopped, I really miss it.

I'm not suggesting you can ever get to like the sound of screaming but it does seem much less annoying if it is coming from someone you've got to know, perhaps like and if you can sympathise with the reasons.

For some sounds, sure. But a screaming child, even one you love dearly, is pretty impossible to tune out and not be incredibly irritated by. Same with dogs barking, for me at least. Even my own, I wanted to throttle when they wouldn't shut up about some little rodent they saw somewhere, or some mystical who-knows-what they'd gotten in their heads. Certain sounds are just intolerable. As for children, if they're crying for real, they're hurt or scared or some such, I will grin & bear it, it's a legitimate cause for complaint and they simply don't have the maturity to handle it any other way. But the screams of a spoiled child (and maybe it's just me after working with them so many years, but, they're pretty simple for me to distinguish between real & ticked off-not getting my way screams) who is throwing a fit because mommy won't let them play with her €400 phone or take home that toy from the store, or pick them up out of the stroller while on the short ride in the tram, etc, is just infuriating to listen to. Especially as it increases in pitch when the parent attempts to not give in for those extra 30 seconds. Obviously not every public instance is a spoiled rotten child, of course. All kids will act out on occasion, especially if they happen to be cranky for some reason, etc. But it's not okay for it to be such a frequent occurrence.

Also, just to note - varying opinions/stances on things are perfectly acceptable - good, even! Who wants to hang around with everybody who only thinks and says the same exact things as them?? ;P One of me is more than enough, I'm sure anyone could tell you! hahaha. Please never worry about expressing views contrary to my own (and I'd hope that goes for all here!), there's nothing at all wrong with differences, so long as everyone respects them (and I think this group is pretty great for being accepting & friendly!). :)

#52 I couldn't agree more! I was very lucky that my 'noise problem' was a melodic one!

LOL, indeed. As long as they played good music, and didn't keep me up all hours, I'd be totally cool with a "live-in" live show! hahaha.

Any one who has had children, or who is around children for a good part of their lives, knows the distinctive difference between the cry of a child who is simply not getting his/her way and the cry of a child who is genuinely badly hurt, or badly scared, or badly mishandled. CPS come in when the child repeatedly indicates something more than just not getting the cookie he/she wants, right now.

Again, do call if you fear for the child or children. There have been too many cases of dead kids when CPS was not called. And the tendency of neighbors to "pay attention to their own business" is sometimes a contributing factor.

I told my kids when they were horsing around in our pool to yell "Mayday!" instead of "Help!" Sometimes even when I was looking right at them their cries for help sounded real. They thought it was funny and I figured the neighbors would get a kick out of it.

My 3 year old great-niece was hollering "ayuda!" in the pool. Nobody knew it was the Spanish word for "help!" Happily, she was not in danger, she had simply learned a new word from Dora the Explorer.

Not being in your apartment complex, Rozax, I cannot possibly tell you what to do, however, I do agree with the advice not to call CPS because you are annoyed, but only if you believe there may be endangerment. Raising spoiled children, while annoying, is not endangerment.

How about this? Get to know the parents, ask if they need help, maybe see if the mom would like to take the children to the park with you or for a walk. This may be a very tired and worn out mother/father who could use some support. There are also types of mental/physical disabilities and disorders which the child/children may have that makes them have a shorter tolerance or ability to control their frustrations. See if you can't get a better idea of the family and their dynamics before calling in authorities.

I've often wondered what my neighbors thought about my relationship with my husband and family as I tend to be loud and vocal when upset, but of course we make up and apologize very quietly.

Thanks for the input, everyone!  I was chatting casually with a customer about spoiled children when she suggested this, so I was curious about what everyone else thought on it.

I did a lot of babysitting in high school, and I never dealt with a child like this one.  You can hear the intake of breath before it starts screaming its fool head off.  I don't know how aloof the parents are with their child-rearing, but I know that one of the constant caretakers is happy to let the children do whatever they want, and push the responsibility on someone else.  There are also several other factors that I know about, which I shouldn't discuss here, as it's hardly any of my business, outside of the noise complaint.

#57 - My neighbors have offered their assistance and such (even before I moved in), and the parents have told them where to shove it. :(

Let's face it: all the well-meaning attempts in the world won't work with some people, and there are thoughtless, irresponsible parents out there raising kids that the rest of us have to deal with.

I made an eight-year-old boy cry the other day when I wouldn't lend him my DVD of Spiderman. I've lent both him and his sister things that they have broken, and I don't feel the need to continue that particular dynamic.

#60 I made an eight-year-old boy cry the other day when I wouldn't lend him my DVD of Spiderman.

Well done! Just because their parents give in doesn't mean everyone else has to. Maybe you'll even be the one who teaches him that yelling doesn't always work.

One of son's friends started to become obnoxious, we found him searching our closets and drawers and the pantry and such, and he also broke things, consciously. It was a direct result of how he was raised so we decided to just break the connection.
Some people are just beyond help. Sadly.

Honey Boo Boo Comic Announced

63-

WHAT!!!! NO KIRK?????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

;-D

I couldn't find one that I liked. ^^;

Keep the reactions going if you can find a good facepalm!  That "comicbook" is worthy of MANY.

My FWG? Trying to decide which tablet to buy. :S

I have it down to the Kindle Fire HD or the Google Nexus, because they both sound like pretty good for the buck, at less than $300.

BUT, and a huge but it is, I know both the Amazon app store and Google Play store have geographical restrictions. That is, you can't download apps (even free ones!) if you live outside the US. Oh I know I can buy the device (well, the Nexus through Amazon, it is listed, I checked, because the Google Nexus store doesn't even let me), but what about content? I have a small collection of e-books and comics already stored in my laptop, so I know I could figure out how to read them on the tablet, but what if I want to buy more?

Then again, I have an Android phone, and I've been able to download free apps from Google Play.

I just don't want to buy a device that will serve me for no other purpose than as a very expensive coaster. :(

I don't care what Like Water for Chocolate says, hot cocoa requires MILK!  Most chocolates require milk.  Yet so many restaurants serve it with water.  :( If they're worried about lactose intolerance, there are many good alternatives to milk.  Water just makes the beverage bland.

Milk -- it does a cocoa good.

(Sorry, couldn't resist a retro reference.)

It's still the truth!

#67 If they're worried about lactose intolerance, there are many good alternatives to milk

Or, if they're worried about lactose intolerance they could just make it clear the drink includes milk and leave it up to the punter to choose something else. God, I hate being nannied!

It's probably just cheaper to use water. *sigh* It is so much tastier with milk, I agree.

#71 I'm sure you're right about that. In fact, it was only when I first read this book that it dawned on me that anyone would even think of using water. Thankfully, if a restaurant in the UK tried serving the stuff made with water they'd get it instantly returned with a puzzled look and 'I think you forgot something'. I actually spent a good part of the book trying to make a connection with the title because the very notion of making the stuff with water was so alien to me that I couldn't believe it actually referred to the making of the drink.

My chocolate loving grandad ALWAYS used MILK for his daily Nestle Quik lunch drink.

(perhaps one reason Nestle came out with Nesqik is to PREVENT THE making of it with water by the IGNORANT???)

#72 - I thought it was irony!  Then I thought it might be a cooking trick.  But then I got a feel for the book and realized I was mistaken.

#71 - I'd gladly pay a little more for milk.  I wonder if I could request it...

#74 Something we in the UK hear constantly about American restaurants/cafes etc is that you can ask for whatever you want in any kind of combination and it's never too much trouble. Have we been lied to?

#75 - LOL!

FWG: I am right now because the mailman tried to deliver something earlier, which is presumably my books from BD, and for some unknown reason the post office here has this infuriating thing where if you miss a pkg on Friday, you cannot go pick it up until Monday!! Whyyyyyyy do they do this?! Does the mailman keep my pkg over the weekend or what?! I want my books!

#75 - Cocoa seems to be a special case, unless I've just been too shy to ask.  Here's an idea!  Next time I order cocoa, I'll ask them, "What kind of milk do you use?"  I'll let you know how it goes, @Booksloth, since I might not have thought about it had you not said something. :)

Briefly returning to the matter of Bitcoin, WordPress announced yesterday that they're accepting the currency for certain features.  They explain why they can't accept BTC for everything, but I respect their reason for using it in the first place:

"PayPal alone blocks access from over 60 countries, and many credit card companies have similar restrictions. Some are blocked for political reasons, some because of higher fraud rates, and some for other financial reasons. Whatever the reason, we don’t think an individual blogger from Haiti, Ethiopia, or Kenya should have diminished access to the blogosphere because of payment issues they can’t control. Our goal is to enable people, not block them."

Be sure to read the rest of the article when you have the time!

I believe that in many areas of Mexico they really do make their cocoa with water, but it uses rich, thick, dark chocolate and sugar. My hot cocoa is very much like that, although I add a tablespoon or two of cream sometimes. It's like drinking a dark chocolate candy bar. :P Lovely.

However, I think that in many restaurants here, they serve hot chocolate made from pre-mixed packets which have dried milk in them. Supposedly it is fine to make with water. It is not. It is yuk.

As to whether you get anything you ask for in an American restaurant, watch this clip from Five Easy Pieces and tell me what you think. I have nearly had this same conversation with waitstaff here, although, I didn't quite finish it the way he did. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wtfNE4z6a8

Why are 132 people reading a no title book on houseplants??!!!
Guess it's a bug - no pun intended.

What the piss??? (to borrow an annoying phrase from my brother)

March 2nd is Dr Seuss's birthday!


And what's so great about March 1st?

Each 1st of the month is a "larger" date, and March is actually just a mid-size #1. But you do realize there is no actual significance to this, as Randall wrote right in it (not even the alt text) "each date's size represents how often it is referred to by name in English language books since 2000." Writers apparently seem to favor earlier days in months.

My FWG - I've got an email offer from Vistaprint, including a $30 voucher & photo calendars for $5.99 instead of $29.99, this offer has been shared with 10 different email addresses so some of our Cat Corner volunteers can order calendars. 5 calendars were ordered yesterday, but when we went in to order the other 5 today, the calendar discount has expired! Because the $30 voucher is valid til December 5th we just assumed that the calendar discount would be too, but calendars are back up to $29.99, plus upload fees of $8.99, plus postage of $12 & $50 per calendar is a lot more than we can afford *sigh*

Seanie - Call the Vistaprint customer service line. I have found them to be very helpful in finding deals for me, even those which had "expired" online. It's worth a try!

Haha - no need MrsLee, got another email offer this morning for the $5.99 calendars again :) I'll make sure we snap them up asap so we dont miss out on the bargain again, lol :)

82 - You do realize there was a bit of sarcasm in my post?  And yes, I do read the alt-texts.  Sometimes the alt-text is what makes (or breaks) it.

I don't know if I've read an xkcd alt-text that's broken a joke, though.

So my FWG today is that some, not all, of the computers in the library have no internet access. (Mine is one.) They blame it on the rain. It is becoming very boring instructing students which computers work and which don't. And my printer is still being bratty. A student will print a document and when nothing happens, print again. Maybe after the third try he will tell me the printer is broken and I have to explain that it is just being a brat and will print when it feels like it. So many students have not come back for their printing and much paper is being wasted.

>87 by @mamzel, Have you tried sticking a sign on it advising that it's being testy and PLEASE don't print more than once even if it doesn't come out? I know tons of people get totally braindead and don't read notices, but maybe some will, at least?

I had a first-world grievance this weekend; I got sent a 20% off everything voucher for my favourite bookshop, whose stock never goes on sale. But I had the day off on Friday, and I don't have a printer at home, so I couldn't print the coupon to take it to the store. And I don't have a smartphone to display it on either, which was the only other option to get the discount.

Did you go to the store and ask them to print it for you?

No, I didn't really have time to go there anyway, it would have meant a detour on an already busy day. But I would have done it if I'd had the coupon in hand.

I have noticed that kids don't read signs these days. I have posted "Library Closed" on the brightest colored paper available to man, at eye level so that it is right in front of their faces, and kids still try to open the door. I think they have just become inured to signs.

Adults don't read signs, either.  I made one telling everyone that we can only accept cash or check, but while standing in front of it (after walking right up to it), they still try to hand me plastic.  I'm waiting for someone to accuse us of not having a sign. >:D

Had my husband bring my tree and ornaments to school this morning...just went to put the tree up, and there's no trunk. He's checking the shed to see if it's there. Much as I'd like a new tree, I really don't want to buy one. And I really wanted to have it up this afternoon for the kids to see in the morning!!!

#94 A tree with no trunk? Isn't that just . . . er . . . branches?

Bought a pair of ski pants for son, online, from a Danish maker. All was dandy until I returned home from work today, only to realise they had used UPS for delivery!!!
WTF!!!
At least in Sweden UPS only deliver during office hours, 9 AM - 5 PM. If you happen not to be at home, bad luck. And they don't call ahead to tell you they will deliver this day or that.

The way I discovered it was UPS was because I had an "infonotice" in my mailbox, telling me they had tried to make the delivery but - surprise! - no one was home.

Why didn't the vendor just use the postal service?!

Now, two phone-calls later, they will deliver to husband's workplace tomorrow.

When I spoke to the girl at UPS she was used to this thing happening. So why don't they just change their routines?

Yeah, that's how UPS operates, it's really shitty. They also, in the US at least, often don't actually ring the bell when they claim to have tried to deliver something, and just slap the notice on the door.

I'm not a fan of UPS. If they are bringing anything across the border from the US into Canada, they put it through their in-house customs broker and charge big bucks for it EVEN IF THE ITEM IN QUESTION IS DUTY FREE. Grrr. You can tell by the shouting that it really bothers me. Once they tried to charge us $50 brokerage fee on a package of FREE reports. Now when we order items from the US we put it on every purchase order to NOT use UPS.

huh I wonder if that has anything to do with why their overseas shipping charges are the price of a damn plane ticket. Might as well just fly it on over! ugh.

UPS is the only one (UPS vs. FedEx vs. postal service). They all deliver packages to the office of my apartment complex which is great, but only UPS (most of the time) will leave a message on my mail box saying I have a package. So if I don't know when something is coming, like LT ER books, I have no idea when it gets here. I just have to go randomly check occasionally or rely on people posting that they have received their book and hoping mine comes at about the same time. How in the world are we supposed to know?!?!

Um what? They others should be leaving things... Especially since they require those slips in order to pick them up...

Where I live UPS is the only one NOT announcing anything, except leaving a rather aggressive note telling me what a dishonourable person I am for not sitting in wait for them to deliver.
Not that they write the "dishonourable" part of it, but it gets communicated well enough in other ways :(

For others I get an SMS telling me I have a packet to fetch at the delivery point, which is a short walk.

(In Sweden apartment complexes normally doesn't have an office, or even an on-site janitor.)

In NL, none of the package delivery firms send a message a package will be delivered.
On delivery and nobody is home, a message is left that the package will be offered again next working day (somewhere during that day) or you may pick it up at some point (usually the other side of the city, sometimes 40km away).

Some packages are left at the neighbors and a message is left in your mailbox.

Delivery companies are paid for successful delivery and are not paid when you have to pick up the parcel

I think we got 60 centimetres of snow today. That's about 23 inches, or almost 2 feet.
Because I didn't feel like wading through a snowstorm for 45 minutes to get to the boat, and because the bus traffic in the district where the office get disrupted as soon as there's a sudden snowfall, I decided to work from home today.
Had an appointment with the physiotherapist at 2 PM though so I had to go downtown for that. As bus traffic seemed erratic I left home with a margin but everything was on schedule. Can't remember when I last was that early yo an appointment ;-)

Anyway, on my way back home husband calls me to tell all bus traffic is cancelled in our district, and what's more, the local train has jumped the rails. Not that I can use the train to get home but at least it could take me across the sound (I live on an island).

Finally, my FWG - I had to walk all the 4 kilometres home (about 2.5 miles) from where the subway system ends, the first quarter of which is the bridge across the sound. In a head wind. Wading in snow. Then the second quarter is the steeply uphill. Third quarter I had got the steam going so I went to the grocers to get some supplies. Halfway home (did I mention head wind and wading in snow?!) one of the carrying bags breaks.

You know, at least I am able to walk, and I was dressed in preparation for a walk in the snow possibly being necessary.
But it still wasn't that fun.

Actually 60cm is exactly 2ft (24in). :) Wow, that's a lot all at once! I'm used to having 2ft of snow around (or more), but usually it's from 2 separate drops! That does not at all sound like a pleasant walk. At least you're home now!

This is the sort of thing I think about when people wax poetical about the beautiful snow. Or about driving and sliding across several lanes of traffic toward a concrete wall with a tractor-trailer truck heading toward me. (Still don't believe I survived that one.) So, yeah, I'm ready to move south, though I probably won't.

I don't know if it's a FWG that I totally messed up some doctors' appointments--didn't realize I had two in two days because I'd only put one on my google calendar (which I rely on absolutely). So, my own fault, really. But maybe it's a FWG because I have doctors that I see regularly?

#106 - In Sweden all (OK, most, because some people seems to have a death wish...) cars have winter tires (or as we, studded tires), and the snow brigade is usually very efficient. But this amount of snow in this short time, the system just breaks. The snow just comes down faster than the plough can get around.

At one point all this felt a bit like the pass of Caradhras (sp?) thing in LoTR. Minus wizards, of course. Wished I had elven feet so I could had walked on the snow, just like Legolas...

Is getting two feet of snow in one day usual? That seems like a significant amount of snow to get! (And I feel for your experience getting home. I would have sat down in the snow and wept at that point.)

Locals here are afraid of a little rain.  It drizzles, and there's no end to the complaining about "horrid weather".

reminds me of the '78 " blizzard" (the wind wasnt strong enough to make it official) that shut down Connecticut (USA) for 3 days!

The fact that the airline won't let me print both boarding passes for a turn-around flight. Bah. Guess I'll have to see the gate agent when I land. {grumble}

My relatively privileged life has me swimming in projects for the month of December.  Holiday letter for family and friends, newsletter for an association, several choral concerts to sing in, must reply to a doctor for a job opportunity, work up the nerve to talk to a corporation about doing contract work for them, work in some volunteer hours, delegate tasks for my meetup group when I can't attend our events, not to mention regular work hours.  Just another day in paradise?

All of that will keep you out of trouble, no doubt!

#108 - It's unusual but happens once every other year. Infrastructure is getting downsized and the result is a lack if resources when these things happen...

Here in the southeastern UK we had 1 - 2 inches of snow yesterday which shut down a couple of airports and several major rail routes. I can't imagine what would happen if we got a foot in one day!

Was there snow on Stonehedge? That would be cool!

Like this - http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=N&... - you mean?

That's cool!

I am currently on hold with "customer service" at a big box book store which shall remain nameless; currently been on hold for 12 minutes. The music they are playing is dreadful--like an old time lp all scratchy and skipping...all b/c the books i bought for school 2 months ago, the credit card bill and the receipt don't match. There's a $5.93 difference and finance office wont pay it till it's resolved.

I absolutely loath being put on hold. Usually I hang up after 5 minutes, but this must be taken care of.

Went to a Barnes & Noble for the first time in a long time. I can see why bookstores are dying. No one was helpful, they sent to a section that was not organized in any way shape or form. When I went back and specifically asked for a person to help I was told they didn't have anyone to spare, as the woman stood behind a desk doing nothing. I bought nothing, left and never intend to return. I hope it closes or gets new management that hires enough people to actually be useful. Don't get me wrong, I like bookstores. But I can get zero customer service and shop on-line, I can search through an unorganized mess online, computers make that easy. But when I walk into a store I expect some sense of order, a nice experience and helpful staff. Otherwise, what's the point?

The point is being able to see & handle the books, and make sure you're getting exactly what you want, not to mention take them home immediately.

>121 .Monkey.: Yes, but isn't Madcow's point that you can't do any of those things if you can't find the books you want? It is actually a lot easier to type the book's title into a search engine and be taken right to it than to find it in a bookstore . . . and I'm not saying that I don't enjoy browsing around a real bookstore, because I love that (just don't live really near any). But yes--one point of shopping in bricks-and-mortar places has got to be some customer service, and it's infuriating to be standing there with a question and money in your pocket and be ignored.

On another topic . . . why don't people on dating sites read the damn profile? Seriously, I went to the trouble of writing it and posting it. Look at it, guys, it's not War and Peace, it's two convenient bulleted lists and a couple of paragraphs.

121- basically what 122 said :). Can't handle or look something if its not there, it was particularly infuriating because I had called an hour before and asked the book to be held and when I got there the person told me plainly they had "not had the time" Again while standing behind a desk doing nothing....

On a different note, while looking for my book I came across a book dedicated to making crafts and art from cat hair.....ewwwwwwwww. :P

My experience with B & N is just the opposite. The staff has always been helpful, in a good humor, and will walk to the shelf with me, and stays long enough to find the book. Or apologizes for their computer saying the book is there, when we can not find it. They always offer to order it, of course. Perhaps it is a community thing. I know some communities are famous for being friendlier and others, well, not so much. Perhaps it is a management thing. I am sure there are staff meetings where customer relations can be talked about, sometimes to the benefit of the customer, and sometimes not so much. Kind of like a good deal of life.

Let's hear it for the Plymouth (UK) branch of Waterstones. Always helpful and charming and will go to all kinds of trouble to find what you want. I'm on my way in there today so let's hope they don't make me a liar.

125- perhaps it is just be that branch of B&N. I have had good experiences in independent bookstores and always had good experiences in Borders when they were around.

126 -- On the rare occasions I get to visit Kew (most recently 5 years ago, eek!), the Richmond Waterstones is always a fatal attraction!

My grocery store has stopped carrying Twinings Darjeeling tea, my favorite, although there seems to be room on the shelves for about fifty different flavors of green tea. Humph.

On the other hand, I ordered some from Amazon last night and woke to an email saying it had been shipped. I love that about Amazon.

Well, actually, as we're talking of Amazon, I had my little bit of "happiness" today as well. The cover for my new tablet arrived in time for me to be able to bring it with me on my business trip this week. Very snazzy red patent leather, so it won't get mixed up with the drab black cases that so many others have.

But I have a parallel grievance with you as well, ejj1955. Our grocery store will carry Earl Grey teabags from the brand my son likes, but won't carry the British Breakfast that is his favorite. It's most irritating when I'm trying to ensure that he has everything he wants when he comes home to see me.

When we're talking about tea - only one shop in the entirety of Stockholm carries Twinings Yunnan tea, and often enough they're out of stock, all the while offering 200 kinds of infusions and English Breakfast and... seriously, how many kinds of Earl Grey do humankind need?!?!?!

This is a lovely Twinings website. Sadly, it is us based, but perhaps there are others? They have tins, bags and all sorts of delightful varieties and blends.

http://www.twiningsusa.com/

One irony about ordering it from Amazon is that it is also significantly cheaper--about a dollar a box per box of 20 teabags (that used to be 25, another FWG).

We checked in for our flights online, and said we'd pick up our boarding passes at the airport. We had to line up in the check-in line to pick them up. *facepalm*

Other facepalm: Online check-in is available 24 hours before the flight leaves. At 22.5 hours before the flight left, it still said it wasn't available.

I have complaints to make about VirginAustralia.

I'd advice against checking in too early. Here both airlines and the rail companies wants you to do that but when you do so you start your journey, legally speaking. And if you have begun the trip you are normally not eligible for payback or compensation etc if the trip gets cancelled or delayed, and you can't cancel yourself either, if you get sick.
I always delay check-in until I am at the station or airport.
I'm sure they all hate me for that ;-)

Regardless, VirginAustralia seems clueless about customer service.

135 - It's a necessity for me much of the time, especially when I'm leaving early in the morning. That said, the one time I had a flight cancelled, I had already checked in and they moved me to another flight and paid for lunch (Virgin again).

The other reason we wanted to check in online was because I was travelling with OH for half of the journey. Because we were going to different destinations and there were multiple legs, we couldn't book the tickets together (or rather we could, but we'd have to check in multiple times and pick up and drop off luggage multiple times). We still wanted to sit together, so checking in early was the only way we could choose seats next to each other. Even then they can't guarantee that we won't be moved, because they can do that at any point before departure (and have done so in the past - JetStar are terrible for that), and we look like individual travellers on paper. Basically - it's inconvenient to travel with a loved one when you're going to or coming from different places. I've spoken to a number of agents and staff members of different airlines, and they all say that there's no way around it other than checking in early.

A huge dislike, then :(

I just visited a kitty shelter today and couldn't take them all home with me. :(

My husband's FWG for today: he doesn't have a computer old enough and slow enough to program the ham radios he bought of e-bay.

139: My computers are too new to play Diablo. :(

Diablo!! Awesome. I just had a flashback to high school.

I've been trying to convince my husband that it's worth playing.  I've been forbidden to purchase Diablo III (it pissed my brother off XD) but Diablo is part of our history.  How can you appreciate finding "Wurt's other leg" in Starcraft if you haven't met the little brat?

Forgot laptop power cable on my desk at the office.
OK, the d***ed thing has a battery but it only lasts 2 hours...

Do plain, dumb USB printers no longer exist?  Printers that can think for themselves are too much work.  How else do you explain PRINTER IS NOT CONNECTED when the printer is reacting to my print command?

Urgh printers are the worst. Did you know at least a few of the -big name- ones region encode their printers, so if you ever move to another region, the ink you buy there won't freaking register in them?! Wtf are these people thinking?!

Because this is a family friendly pub I'll clean my language and simply say that I have a strong dislike towards all printer makers.

Computer printers have been problematic ever since I can remember. I haven't used one in AT LEAST 15 years.

I have owned two canon photo printers, the current one is wireless and they have worked beautifully. Print papers quickly, good quality photos and were fairly inexpensive.

I also have a Canon printer that mostly works fine, but recently I cannot print from Chrome, which I think is a Chrome problem, not a Canon problem. I'm ignoring the problem until I get a new laptop, which I expect to do relatively soon and also expect will make my life so much better I can hardly stand the wait!

At work the system prompts users to change their password every three months. It usually gives a few days warning. I am expecting the system to prompt me to change my password on Christmas Eve. I will be on leave until Jan 2nd, so I have a decision to make. Do I change my password on Christmas Eve and run the risk of forgetting my new password by the time I come back on Jan 2nd, or do I leave it until I get back, at which stage the warning period may have expired and I will be locked out of the system anyway?

Decisions, decision!

:-(

WARNING: Do not suggest my writing down the password. Apart from that being a major system security offence I would only forget where I wrote it down.

Can you write down a clue that only you would understand? Something like, "middle name and b-day" and then use not your own, but someone such as a spouse or sibling? Or leave a bookmark in a book and use the first and last word and page number?

Yeah, I'm sneaky like that . . .

Your last suggestion sounds interesting. The earlier ones would be deemed to be weak as names and dates are the first things the bots try.

What I normally do is think up an unusual sentence, i.e. unusual enough to be memorable, and use the first letter of each word, albeit with some substitution of numbers and special characters.

#150/151 Some research was done recently in the UK on the matter of writing down passwords (I'd love to give chapter and verse but I can't remember it offhand and don't have the time to look it up so you'll just have to trust me on this one). The conclusion was that all this advice that you should never do so is largely twaddle. The chances of your computer/bank details being hacked into by a stranger with no access to your password are far greater than the possibility that someone will break into your house and spend hours looking for your writtten-down password. Unless there is somebody in your household that you really don't trust it is actually safer to write down your passwords (especially if you do so discreetly with hints and clues as ejj suggests) than to take the risk of forgetting them completely. Of course, if you are planning to conquer the world or use your computer for the plans of your forthcoming bank heist and don't want the police digging up those details once you are in jail then it's a different matter.

#153

Booksloth, that is all very true, but it is different in an open-plan office where one's colleagues lurk in the shadows of the next cubicle just waiting for an opportunity to send out an e-mail in your name to all 9,000 members of staff with details concerning the parentage of the Chief Executive.

#154 And you're absolutely right, of course. As I've been 'retired' for several years I was thinking purely of home computers and completely forgetting that the majority of people who use a computer are still doing so at work. Shameful how quickly you forget these things once you're 'out of the loop'. :(

ETA - I'm probably not paying full attention due to my worrying about the end of the world. At least nobody need bother to log off tonight.

#155 I do not think it is shameful that one forgets work things quickly when one retires. I think that would be the right thing to do. I am certainly looking forward to forgetting work in about ten years.

With regards to the end of the world I think we have a few hours yet as it is only early morning in Central America.

I'm still in work and will be for another couple of hours. Bored now.

#156 I understand we have another 10 hours or so before blast-off. How the hell am I going to get all my TBRs read in that time?

Stay calm! Nothing can go wrong!

Eeek! Panicking is the most exciting thing that ever happens to me these days!

Everyone have their towels?

#162 MrsLee, that's a Vogon conclusion.

*snort*

Well, we're still here. I suppose that means I'd better buy Xmas presents after all.

Good morning, all who survived the end of the world as we knew it.

Thank you, Busifer! Statler and Waldorf really sum it up, don't they? Although I'll take worst apocalypse ever over the real thing any day LOL

My favorite especially as MrMorphy does the voice which made me laugh even harder:

Yesterday my son was wishing everyone a "Happy Day After the Apocalypse!"

#171 I like your son!

#172 I'm quite fond of him myself.

The was a Tweet from @TheMayans yesterday. It said:
"Well...this is awkward."

Brilliant!

Every cycle and calendar (the Gregorian on 31 Dec.) has to end sometime; then a new cycle starts. Sooo...Happy New Mayan Calendar, everyone!

I'm trying to buy a couple copies of Noni the Christmas Reindeer for my nephews and goddaughter, but the denizens of amazon keep sending me different editions of the book.  I'm up to four different copies. ~_~

#176 Excellent.

I don't think Google Translate does Mayan.

They need to step up their game, then!

FWG from LT: Tags that need to be translated into English (like this one).

Well, a lot of people doesn't speak English, Italians among them. Isn't tags "bundled", to allow for different languages and spelling?
Personally I always think the Swedish word for "novel" worth a smile in an English language context - it's "roman" ;)

Same for German.  I use this example to burst people's "romantic" bubbles. :D

Afrikaans too, so presumably also Dutch.

ETA: Always used to amuse me when I wur nobbut a nipper, that the bilingual tags on Johannesburg Public Library shelves included one saying 'Fiction / Romans'.

Français aussi.

I have often wondered if the term "Scientific Romance", used in bygone days to refer to the stories of the likes of Jules Verne and H.G.Wells, was actually an English translation of a French term that was simply meant to describe these books as scientific novels.

This is just a passing fancy and I have no definitive facts on which to base my pondering.

Well, maybe I should have been clearer, but it's been brought up enough times in the discussions of tag translation that I thought it might be understood.

My issue isn't so much that the tag page isn't in English, it's that there's no way users can fix this themselves. Nor is there a good place to accumulate such tags for the Staff to translate for us.

#185 - Well, I don't read the discussions on how LT work etc, I have a full time job and a family... Barely have time for the Dragon. Plus got some real snarky replies by the LT people the one time I tried to give some constructive feedback ;)
So no, I had no idea whatsoever.

Spanish is another that uses roman and romance to refer to stories in general (though I think it's more specifically referring to the older stories most of the time). Novela tends to mean an ongoing (i.e. never-ending) story, like in a soapie/telenovela.

I am a Meetup organizer.  Organizing a meetup group costs a little bit of money.  My group is new, and I'm working my tail off to create a sense of community so that people feel comfortable setting up events.  As it stands, I get a lot of, "Oh, I'd attend, but that's a little too far north for me," probably not realizing that I'll have to go just as far south for them.  I've done this a couple of times, and each time, the majority of those in attendance are from my neighborhood.  At the last event, not a single resident of that city showed up; everyone in attendance was from "a little too far north".

#188 It's those damned Southerners everytime.

*hee*

A supposed one-day weather delay in the delivery of my new television has resulted in a delay of five days--I understand that a Sunday and New Year's Day are included in those, but why the heck couldn't it have been delivered Saturday or Monday? As it is, I have to wait until tomorrow!!

Ahh...the trials and tribulations of being TV addicted... I remember them well (refusing to be held hostage to a cable company was the habit breaker!)

As one would assume, the more TV channels available the lower the quality of the programmes presented.

I was brought up in an era when there were only two channels available. It then went to four when the main channels introduced sister channels.

When cable TV was introduced in the 1980s the government rules resulted in 14 channels being made available in the basic package.

Last year the country switched off the analog TV signal and we were forced to move to digital TV and there are now hundreds of channels available.

With every increase in the number of channels available I find myself watching less television. When I click on the channel menu I flick through page after page of channels and rarely do I find anything worth watching.

I too have found that the more channels the less I watch. Nowadays I follow no series, but I do keep an eye to the Italian football league (Seris A). If there is a game I want to watch, I do it. Likewise with Champions League and and Europa League.

What I do is sometimes I find I have no energy for reading, or is simply too restless. Then I check the program schedule and I often find myself watching either QI (Stephen Fry is quite funny, at times) or the British version of Antiques Roadshow or something like that.

Or something on the Swedish PBS Knowledge Channel. There's often some interesting documentary on, about some architect or designer or some ancient civilization, or space... or some show like that Englishman who travels the world visiting weird gardens, or that other gentleman who visits different cities, telling the stories connected to them and their evolution.

This happens about once or twice a week, maximum.

Right now everyone in Sweden follows Downton Abbey religiously. I have absolutely no clue what they are talking about. But I'm used to that.

I love Downton Abbey and am thrilled that the third season is about to start here in the states.

I'm a good deal less hostage to cable than I was, as about six months or so ago I got rid of most the channels I had, as well as the DVR and other cable box--thus cutting my bill by about $100 a month. I now have the "basic 13" channels, which are more like 20, and a Roku so I can stream Netflix and some other things, like Pandora radio. I love the Roku--so inexpensive and so small, and it works perfectly.

I miss some things, including Game of Thrones and some other HBO series, as well as the Food Network, Turner Classic Movies, and the SyFy channel. But I don't miss that huge cable bill even a little bit.

With the channels I have, I tend to "watch" a lot of Law and Order or Criminal Minds marathons while doing other things.

But both my TVs are the old style bulky ones, I haven't had a new one in probably 15 years at least, and I jolly well want the new one that should have been delivered last Friday!

#194 Busifer, like yourself, I do not watch TV series, but my children have often given me a present of box sets they think I would like.

When scanning the available channels I am sometimes lucky enough to find a wild life documentary, or one on space.

Downton Abbey is very popular here too, but I haven't watched it. Like long book series I avoid TV series lest they become a time sink. I recall someone pointing to one of George R.R. Martin's books and saying, "That is not so much a book as a lifestyle choice".

#195 ejj1955 I hope your new TV arrives safe and sound and that you enjoy it.

In terms of cost, one of the TV related costs in Ireland is the TV licence which currently costs 160euros. Anyone with a TV has to get a licence. The licence fee goes to funding the national TV channel, RTE.

The current government, in a pique of frustration at the number of licence defaulters, and to avoid the argument about people receiving or not receiving TV signals because they only watch things on the Internet or whatever, have decided to do away with the TV licence as it stands and introduce a "Broadcasting Charge" for every household, regardless of whether or not they have a TV.

In Sweden too we have to pay a "TV Licence". Until some years ago it was based on number of receivers and divided in three kinds of fees - black/white TV, colour TV, and radio.
Present level is €232.47

I found this in Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licence

Apparently the UK still has its fee divided in colour and b/w respectively!

The last time my husband and I had a cable was in 2009.  We and our roommates were given a free month of television along with our internet.  We enjoyed the channels that carried shows from our childhood, and the Sci-Fi channel hadn't gone to hell, yet, so that was fun.  However, there was so little worth watching.  Even split 4 ways, we couldn't justify spending so much for so little quality.  I look forward to Netflix and Hulu becoming the norm.  Hopefully that'll improve quality, though I can see it going either way.

There's a lot of companies offering streamed films, series etc in Sweden. Almost none is worth paying for. We pay for one of them, because it allows us to watch exactly the football we're interested in. Apart from that there's sometimes the odd film worth seeing, but I think the bulk is made up by Barbie movies for kids, vulgar adult stuff, and reality shows in the Jersey Shore vein. Every time I search for something I think of as a classic the result return a blank.

The past year 4 or 5 more companies started to offer streamed TV/film, on top of the 7-8 already available. Among them are Netflix and HBO. Their problem is the rights. A lot of the material they can offer in the US is "owned" by someone else here, including HBO's own productions.

To get access to the films etc that are really interesting you'd need to pay for several services. And each of them is expensive. I'd say in the region of €10-20 per service per month, plus most people here also pay for Spotify Premium, an additional €10/month.

I personally think it is insane.

I'm happy enough with Netflix.  $8/month for anything on the site.  Some months we don't watch much, while other months we watch something every evening.  I hate the pay-per-view setup, though, unless it's an independent film, or a documentary, or something of that nature.

Well, not the same things on the "shelves" in Sweden as in the US. Not close to, due to rights issues.
And if you're interested in for example movies AND sports you'd need at least two subscriptions, one on a movie provider like Netflix plus one from some provider like (here) Viaplay or C More.

Netflix is $12/month, and Viaplay with sports is $30.60/month.

Not so cheap any more...

...makes you long for the days of "rabbit ears"... and good entertainment....

Not a grievance really, just a story.
This morning as a guest was checking out of one of our suites which has two TVs in it, she hollered at me because the TV remotes didn't operate each TV independently. When you changed the channel on one TV, it changed the channel on the other one as well. This seemed very odd to me, and I told her we would look into it. It never does to argue with a guest, you can't win, even if you are right.

Our maintenance man overheard this, and when they were gone, I asked him if it was true. He was laughing and said her husband was messing with her for sure. And, true enough, when we went up to the rooms to test it, the TVs operated completely independently, but if you pointed your remote at the other TV, it would change the channel.

That little old man with a walker, a contagious laugh and sparkling eyes had indeed been messing with his wife! I just wish he hadn't done it at our expense.

I suspect he felt awful that you got hollered at (or I hope so).

(I think it is a great practical joke though - sort of thing my husband would do (though he would eventually confess).

>203 MrsLee: bahahahaha, that's a riot! I doubt he knew that she'd go off on you guys, heh.

#203
I have never been in a hotel room with two televisions. Well, not two that worked.

I cancelled my cable last summer and I have not missed it one minute. I do not watch movies, either. I have a DVD player and a few movies but I've never found time to sit on the sofa and watch them. I do not do Netflix, or Hulu, or any of it. I looked into Apple TV and it too is just another way to spend more money on entertainment that does not entertain.

It was fun back in the olden days when we would gather in the faculty lunchroom in the morning over coffee and talk about last night's MASH episode.

I ,too, have a BUNCH of movies and a few TV series and seasons and/or episodes of others that I have YET to watch on DVD, some stuff even on VCR!
The current fascination with electronically delivered online stuff just doesn't interest me. My brother showed me that gagnam (sp) video on his cellphone and all I thought of was how expensive and time consuming it must have been to produce (other than thinking that it was plain stupid)

I started reading Margaret Weis' Dragonvarld trilogy, but only had books 1 & 2 on my shelf, so before I started I found a copy of book 3 online & ordered it - the FWG, cant find a copy of book 3 to match books 1 & 2! The copies of books 1 & 2 I have are trade versions published by Penguin Viking & all I could find are versions published by Tor or Doherty Associates (St Martin's Press) :( At least i have book 3 to read now (it arrived today) but its not gonna look like a pretty matched set on my shelves - boo :(

Well, Seanie, I am sympathetic to that one. Because I have been put out for years because I either can't find or can't afford matching volumes of a particular Folio Society edition of Trollope's Barsetshire series. There is something about making sure that the volumes all match on the shelf, isn't there?

(My first world grievance is just that things don't stay the same, but keep changing. I'd kind of like it to slow down a bit. My husband was not very sympathetic and suggested that I might be close to becoming that grey-haired old biddy, shaking my cane and telling all the young whippersnappers to get off my lawn...)

Totally justified, IMHO, Jill! What were they doing on your lawn in the first place, I ask! My solution for things that change too fast: just decide you don't need them, after all. Carry on.

I was 2 1/2 hours late for work today because I was stuck on the freeway, not moving...seriously did not move an inch for over an hour.

FWG? I spent 25 years in a metropolitan city which gave traffic reports every 5 minutes during rush hours...here nothing. I tried to look up the problem on my phone...nothing...the dj's on the radio just reported the problem, but not the reason, and certainly NOT IN TIME TO AVOID THE PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE.

So I just called in, and settled down to read a book on my Kindle app. Which is kinda a good thing.

If something says it's "fuge" flavored, what comes to mind?  I purchased a breakfast drink advertising such, and it really didn't taste much different than their plain "chocolate" flavor.

sort-of caramel-ish and very sweet, maybe?

What comes to my mind is that the copy writers for the label are fudging the English language.

#215 Like

:-)

#215, 216:  I avoid using the word "like" as much as possible, thanks to the cyber-fudging.

LANGUAGE ADVISORY, but I agree with the following cartoon:

Hey maggie, I thought the same thing (yeah, I can be rather cynical!).

Those cards must be very obnoxious to evoke such a response. For myself, I might be a little grateful that someone actually sent me a card!

It's just that, glitter gets everywhere and it takes forever to get rid of! :(

Glitter can be the bane of parents of small girls. Some dresses and shirts come drenched in it and it comes right off onto other clothes.......my black Labrador was very glittery the other day because my daughter hugged him. Did make him easier to find when we let him out at night :) but still annoying.

My saying is "Glitter is the devil's craft supply."

It really is!  At the age of 10, I swore the stuff off forever!  As demonstrated, though, it's difficult to avoid.

I LOVE glitter! Fairy dust. It makes me happy. You can send me all the glitter/confetti cards you want to! :)

When I got a cast on my leg two years ago, I asked for the glitter cast, but the doctor didn't have the materials at the time. (Maybe he was deceiving me, though, intending to save me from myself. I think they're mostly for people about 50 years younger than I am.) So I decorated it with different colors of glitter pen. Yes, it got around a little bit, but I actually didn't care. I'm afraid I have a weakness for sparkly and shiny things.

When I worked at the library, I came in one day after someone had done a storytime craft with glitter, and forgot to put down a drop sheet. Three weeks later, they were still vacuuming it up.

In my last year of high school I was part of a team that entered a national competition where groups come up with a dance routine where they have come up with all of the choreography, costumes, sets and concepts themselves. Backstage at the performance was a glittering asthma attack in waiting.

Saw this on Pinterest:

"Glitter is the herpes of crafting."

On my wedding day one of the guests asked me what the difference was between love and herpes. His answer was, "Herpes lasts for ever".

So much for glitter.

I've yet to see proof that glitter doesn't last forever!

It's possible my glitter experience is limited, but I'm with Mamzel on this: I'd be happy if someone sent me a Valentine's card. And, with all due gratitude to them, I mean someone other than a relative. I might actually pass out if I got flowers!

Husband is away for a couple of days and as son went to sleep I sat up late watching a Sherlock episode, and Facebooked some.

I am a tired person today!!!

#232 -- Early bedtime tonight, then! (I always have that problem the morning after my book group has met the night before. No one else in the group (mostly academic faculty) has to get up and go to work at a sensible hour!)

I got to bed late last night and woke up early this morning for work.  Tonight, I need to figure out what I'm supposed to piece together for a workshop tomorrow, and I have no experience in this area.

Also, I read this, today.  Seems to sum up much of our first-world problems (not to be confused with grievances): America Has Hit "Peak Jobs"

Madcow299 - I love the thought of a glittery black lab not being able to hide outside.

My sister loves the stuff - but after she almost ruined a Christmas dinner by (accidentally) releasing confetti all over it she has been a bit more restrained.

I have just done a very rough calculation of the number of years it will take me to read my "to be read" books based on my 2012 reading rate. The result was 99 years. Given that I am 55 and, to my knowledge, the male life expectancy is approximately 77, I will have to stop buying books and find an extra 77 years life in order to finish all my books.

Welcome to the club! I recently realised that to get all those books read I'd need to quit my job. Which means finding an alternate source of income.
Ideas are welcome!

Winning the lottery is a key element in my career plan.

Sillies, this is where blind math oblivion comes in handy, along with a healthy dose of optimism. I keep blithely buying the books which catch my eye (now on the Kindle, too), and grab whichever one is calling out the loudest for me to read. I can finish them all *head nodding* yes, I can! ;)

#239 I'm with you, MrsLee. In fact, I have just started Wilful Blindness to build up my inability to see any problem with having about a century's worth of reading ahead of me. I actual see it as quite comforting. It means I will never have a dull moment.

Whatsmore, when I have finished reading all those books I will be ready to start writing all the tomes I have thought up over the years.

236: Interesting calculation. That sort of puts things in a different light, doesn't it? I admire your nerve in tackling the question.

#238 - I think sheer luck is part of mine. I stopped partaking in any lottery about a year ago, after a bad streak of never getting any money back.

There's a lottery here were you can win 100.000 SEK/US$15.566 per month for 25 years - I had high hopes but gave up. Perhaps time for a new try? I'd be content with a much lower sum, say 15.000 SEK/US$2.335 per month for 15 years...

There are some bare shelves in the supermarket at the moment, because the deliveries can't come up the coast through the flooding.

It's a first-world grievance because there's still plenty of stuff available and well... I'm not flooded.

pgmcc - that is a sobering calculation

#244
that is a sobering calculation

Spicy Cat, I am unable to corroborate your comment as I had not had a single drop of intoxicating liquor on the night in question and was not, therefore, in a position to experience any sobering effect.

Unfortunately, while I would love to carry out a suitable experiment, it would be to no avail as I have already carried out the calculation and if I were to get absolutely stocious and perform the calculation again my prior knowledge would influence my reaction and I would be unlikely to sense any sobering effect, and that goes without mentioning whether or not I would be capable of carrying out the calculation in the state I would need to be in for the experiment.

#245-LOL-I would not attempt it in any condition as nothing befuddles me like Math which caused the changing of my college major (math that is)! 8^)

236 - Better stock up on the audio books so you can tackle some reading on the go!

#247 Rozax, thank you for the tip. I'm sure someone has developed an app that will enable me to convert all my physical books to audio books.

Of course, if I do convert them to audio books won't that make me liable to pay Value Added Tax?

248 - Can't you just lay your smart phone on the book and transfer the data that way?

249 - Excellent! I'm glad it's a Samsung I have. iPhone owners will be waiting three more upgrades for this functionality.

;-)

FWG--I don't like football. I hate Super Bowl Sunday. Not even for the commercials. My husband doesn't even like the teams that are playing, but he'll be watching it anyway. I plan to go to my room and sew and watch Dr. Who on Netflix.

>251 theretiredlibrarian:

I don't care for either fball or sss either, but it DOES make a lot of people money.

pgmcc - I think I need a drink after that :-)

I know this is the wrong thread, but I think we can build me a built in bookshelf in the spare room - happy, happy! I have our next project lined up

#153

Excellent! More book space to overload.

My latest FWG is that the supermarket is *still* running low on supplies (not much fruit and veg, a bit of meat and almost no flour, sugar and soft-drink) a week after the floods 1000km away cut the supply lines for land transport up here. I think the supermarkets here rely far too much on the central distribution points. It's a good thing I can get fruit and veg from local markets.

#255 The book 20:20 Hindsight - The book of the bug (no touchstone) by Jock Howson was a novel that came out in advance of the year 2000 and was based on the idea that the Y2K bug would totally disrupt the supply of groceries to supermarkets as it would destroy the computer systems that drive the replenishment process.

In this book the author used the premise that three days without supplies would drive a community to violent revolt.

Be careful out there!

I have more than 3 days' worth in the cupboard. No sign of revolt yet. If the internet turns off, I'll barricade the door.

#257 Were you wise letting the internet know about your stock of supplies? Baricade the door now, before it's too late. Hurry.

I live in cyclone country. Everyone has a week's worth of tinned food in the back of the cupboard.

I didn't realise cyclones lasted that long.

The outages can be that long (in country areas they recommend you be prepared for a fortnight without electricity, water or roads). Two years ago, so I'm told, it took a full week to get power and water back to the city and groceries were just starting to come in. This is a city, but it's a city that's 400km from the nearest other city and 1000km from the nearest city that's larger than it, and the city can be all but cut off from the south with only one road outage.

#261 Have you read One hundred years of solitude?

I suspect you could relate to it.

262 - Yes. I even read it in Spanish. I had to keep a family tree handy.

#263 I really enjoyed it. While it was on a totally different scale I could relate to the isolation having lived in small rural communities in Donegal (North West Ireland) in the 1970s. The rumours of events far away, rudimentary communications, and the isolation from main routes meant that similar events and relationships as those in One hundred years of solitude also happened there. An excellent book.

Yeah, I can see it.

FWG - I hate the cash register at TCC so much that I refuse to do any sales - its a dinosaur & i have no idea how I'm supposed to remember what button means what! So I had the great idea of finding a second hand register cheap & buying it so that I can start helping in that department - but around $200 is the cheapest I could find & that's about 4 times as much as I was hoping to spend *sigh*

I have come to the conclusion that control freaks must be one of those purely first world grievances. People who want to tightly organize every single frickin' thing in order to ensure that it comes out EXACTLY as they think proper. Man, I hate that.

267> The worst is being stuck between two control freaks with very different ideas...

I am so frustrated by the lack of up to date technology at this school! I want to show a DVD...the DVD player in the TV doesn't work (VHS does!)...ok, I'll try the student computers...the one computer that DVDs work on has no sound. I'm going to bring my laptop tomorrow, and hook it up to a projector. Unfortunately, there is no screen or blank wall here, so I'll drape a sheet over some stacks.

Well after my rant I went back to the DVD player and messed with it some more, and finally got it working!!! Not in time for the class I wanted to play it for, but still..

I've been roped into watching the Oscars.  I'm not much of a movie-goer (unless it's a novelization of a good book).  When movie demographics start to reflect real life, I might be a little more interested.

>271 justjukka:
A novelization of a good book???

Movies- Ruining the book since 1902.

272:  Ha!  Sorry, looks like I was very wistful for a good book at the moment.   Film adaptation of a good book!

Well, for what it's worth, I thought Emma Thompson did a wonderful job adapting Sense and Sensibility. She won the Oscar for it that year.

I liked that one. :)

I've seen three of the nominated films so far and did think Argo was very good (as was Lincoln). I have mixed feelings about Zero Dark Thirty--quite a bit of disturbing stuff in that one.

But no matter what I've seen or not, I always do the Oscar marathon. Maybe it's the pretty clothes.

I suppose this might be a first-world grievance: I do editorial work for an online site for which I both write and copy edit. Copy editors "grade" the writers on two things: grammar/style/sentence structure and research/content. I just looked at an article I wrote and the copy editor introduced errors and then graded me an "average" on the grammar. There's no point in trying to fight this kind of idiocy, but it's soooo infuriating.

>278 ejj1955: Oh good grief!! Is there someone you can speak to about it? They shouldn't be allowed to "edit" in errors!!

>278 ejj1955: that is just crazy!

I am on vacation and discovered that almost all the books on my new kindle fire are in the cloud. Which means i can't read them unless I have a wifi connection. My old kindle everything I bought was on the device. I'm staying at an old b&b (1700s building) and there's no wifi in our room. I may be forced to buy an actual book this week lol. Does anyone know how to mOve the books out of the cloud and onto the device? There's about 14 books on the device and since I moved everything from the old to the new it doesn't make sense that some are in the cloud.

>281 theretiredlibrarian: On the PC Kindle App I've been sometime using the books are "in the cloud" when first obtained, you only have an entry with a cover shot, author name and hint of the file size/length, until you choose to actually download the file.

Unless you've been copying/pasting actual files, what you may have "moved" may have been just those "This account has access to those books" tokens, and the only files you currently have may be those you actually opened while you still had connectivity (prompting their download).

You can also at a later point choose to delete the local file for space saving purposes, and still retain the entry and the ability to re-download the book as long as you don't blast it altogether from your Amazon account.

I have zero problems with unrealistic movies ;) My FWG is that May 17 is entirely too far away (that's the premiere date for the next Trek movie, Into Darkness, for those who doesn't know).

A lot of people are upset about Google Reader, but I'm upset about CalDAV.

I am upset about google reader. WTF people? They make a zillion things and this is one I actually USE. Fargle bargle grumble.

yeah, I'm not impressed with the loss of Google Reader. I use it for work to monitor news feeds on behalf of clients. Sigh. spent part of today experimenting with Netvibes as a possible replacement.

yup, count me in the annoyed with google group. I generally really like google and use tons of their products, but this certainly worries me. I know they have killed plenty of things, but usually they are little out of the way projects, but reader seems like an awfully big thing to kill. I have nearly 200 feeds, there is NO way I'm going to all those websites everyday to check and see if there is anything new, I'll be on the new RSS reader hunt too.

As someone who hates google with a passion, I can't say I'm sorry to see it go. Some folks have mentioned Feedly as a good alternative, though.

We order paper by the pallet and it seems that the last order we received created problems in all of our big copiers. I got a new order of paper and then had the repairmen clean up the machines. I have to say that the teachers were very patient and understanding.

My FWG - They've forgotten my birthday at work :( We send a card around the team & people put in a couple of dollars each so that we can celebrate everyone's birthday in the team, we also have food days (everyone brings something to share) - but I've been forgotten this year :( Its not that I care about the present or want a fuss, but an acknowledgement would be nice & its hard not to feel bitter when everyone else in the team gets remembered. It just highlights to me (again) the fact that my manager has been given too much work to effectively manage her team if she's forgetting birthdays. Management are also always talking about the positive culture they want to encourage in the workplace, well forgetting birthdays is not a good way to encourage people to feel positive about the workplace!

Happy Birthday, Seanie!

I feel positive about you, Seanie. I hope you have (or had) a wonderful day.

Thankyou - twas a nice day, quiet lunch at a native nursery cafe with mum, dad & sister, then chilling out on the couch at home with kitties, TV & a book :)

Just gotta add to my post & say that the chef in the work canteen remembered my bday & made my fave meal for me - so seriously shouldn't be that much to ask for my manager to remember!

Yay for Peter the chef making vegie lasagne for me :)

Yay for awesome chefs! And a happy birthday to you, @Seanie. :)

Many happy returns (and talk to your manager, Seanie)!

Sounds like a Seanie kind of bday. :) Maybe mention it casually to the boss tomorrow? It's tough to realize that you spend more time with coworkers, yet they are often not true friends. I have gone through this at several companies and still forget...but I am sure you have friends at the cat shelter and otherwise. Not to mention the many kindred spirits here at LT!

@Seanie, Should've sent an e-mail to yourself that played a happy birthday ditty and opened it when your manager walked by. I like the (not so) subtle approach to these kind of things.

Or have a balloon bouquet delivered to yourself (nothing tasty to share with your office mates). I'll bet the manager's birthday wasn't forgotten!

Happy Birthday, BTW!

My amazing toaster oven blew a gasket today, I'm miserable!! :(

I am on page 350 of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. It is 608 pages long. I am not likely to finish it before the weekend with my being a slow reader and having a busy week at work.

Next Sunday we head off to France for a break. By that time I will probably have about 50 pages left to read. I will be forced to bring a 600 page book with me for the sake of 50 pages.

Oh cruel, cruel world!

On the bright side, I'll be in France for two weeks. :-)

Belated Happy Birthday, Seanie.

Happy gasket hunting, Poly.

>301 pgmcc: You could do what some hikers do. Buy a cheap version, rip off what you've read and toss it. That way you'd only have to carry the 50 pages you need to read!

#302 I bought the Vintage 21st anniversary edition and thought it was quite robust. However, the perfect binding is proving to be less than perfect and pages are disconnecting from the spine, so your suggestion, albeit against my purest bibliophile feelings, could be a valid option.

On the other hand, I will be bringing the car to France on a ferry so bringing the entire book will not be such an onerous task, as long as it doesn't start falling apart. In that event I will have another first-world grievance.

:-)

Glad you liked the "toiletrees" comment on the other thread. ;-)

>301 pgmcc: hah I hate it when that happens! Usually I'll just leave it to finish when I return and take some others for the trip instead!

#304 It has me hooked, so I will be bringing it if I haven't finished it. Woe with me.

I don't know if it's a first-world grievance, but snow. Well and truly sick of it.

We aren't accumulating a lot of snow, just enough to make the roads slippery. But the wind just blows and blows. Roaring and howling and clattering.

I'll take some rain, please. They've been predicting it for a week now and it hasn't turned up. I'd like the change from hot, humid and not-raining.

 

OK, my FWG - people who send email messages with no subject line.

I no sooner got one person at work trained to use the subject lines (by threatening to not read any messages without them), than a new employee came along with the same nasty habit of ignoring the subject line. Arrgh.

I hate not knowing if I need to read an email message until after I've read it.

I try to teach students that email without something in the subject line ends up in the junk mail file. Hopefully that gets them to get in the habit of adding something useful there.

Another common email grievance: replying to a whole group when the email is intended for just the originator.

I'm also picky with subject lines.  If the subject line reads "FWD: Fwd: fwd: haha this is funny", I'm expecting an eyesore and I will not open it.  Several relatives stopped e-mailing me when I told them this.  Not in so many words, but that was the message.  Some of them seemed pretty miffed.  My response: "You never get such ugly e-mails from me."

World:  Okay, Ms Hear-Me-Roar, that's enough out of you.
    Me: