Rant for the Day (keep it clean)

[Weedygarden]

It's okay Weedygarden.
Just got stuff going on with my Dad's well being.
And a sister that hasn't been here since Mom died four years ago.
Not once has she came to see him.
She hasn't seen him go through this illness day in and day out.
She hasn't been here at all since 2007.
Her son hasn't spent Mother's Day with his Mother since 2007.
But she has all this wonderful advice to give now.
Sometimes it overwhelms me.
That's why I said IDIOTS.

This is sad. These are the same people who will be wanting their inheritance, and maybe more than their share.
I cannot imagine dealing with your dad's health and life. It must be stressful in many ways. Hugs, Mo!

 

[user 55]

It's okay Weedygarden.
Just got stuff going on with my Dad's well being.
And a sister that hasn't been here since Mom died four years ago.
Not once has she came to see him.
She hasn't seen him go through this illness day in and day out.
She hasn't been here at all since 2007.
Her son hasn't spent Mother's Day with his Mother since 2007.
But she has all this wonderful advice to give now.
Sometimes it overwhelms me.
That's why I said IDIOTS.

Mo, its sad to be sure. We have been helping an elderly neighbor for years. His daughter lives out of town and does the best she can I suppose but during all the years of keeping things going, keeping the driveway clear of snow, making sure he is well the daughter pays another neighbor to check in on him. Go figure. We do what we feel is right so its all good but it does seem a bit wrong to me.

Hope your situation improves / works out.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Mo, its sad to be sure. We have been helping an elderly neighbor for years. His daughter lives out of town and does the best she can I suppose but during all the years of keeping things going, keeping the driveway clear of snow, making sure he is well the daughter pays another neighbor to check in on him. Go figure. We do what we feel is right so its all good but it does seem a bit wrong to me.

Hope your situation improves / works out.

Thank you Guardian.
Me too.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

This is sad. These are the same people who will be wanting their inheritance, and maybe more than their share.
I cannot imagine dealing with your dad's health and life. It must be stressful in many ways. Hugs, Mo!

Thank you Weedygarden.
It will be okay.
Hopefully.

 

[zannej]

I admit I often drive in the left lane but only because the idiots in the right lane are going under speed limit so I'm technically passing them. There are also times when due to heavy rains the right lane has so much water on it that it grabs the wheels & causes some drag on one side (but then everyone moves to the left lane).

There are a lot of 2 lane roads here (one lane for each way) and the other day I was driving down one in a no-passing zone and some jerk was tailgating me. No place to pull over on that road as there was no shoulder. He ended up zooming around me in a no passing lane and then nearly clipped the front of my vehicle (I had to brake) when he came back over. As he passed I saw it was a police vehicle. No lights or sirens. Just a jerk in a hurry breaking traffic rules. When we got to the bigger road with more lanes I watched him weaving in and out and people having to brake. He nearly caused multiple wrecks. And just the other day I was in the left lane because I was going to get in the turn lane soon & a vehicle almost clipped me while passing on the right-- again, it was a cop. No turn signal, just zipped in front of me and I had to hit my brakes. If they use a turn signal I slow to let them in. I wish the cops in this area would actually follow traffic rules themselves if they want to be ticketing people. Sets a bad precedent. And they apparently wreck a LOT of vehicles.

I have two other rants. First is that my friend already caved and let his exgf (now gf again) back. He was lying to me about having taken her back and not wanting me to come over bc he knew I would see her there. He was barely talking to me out of feeling guilty so I told him "Look, I saw her over there when I went to drop something off and I know you're back together but I'm not going to give you any crap about it" so he started talking to me again. But, she's already back to making messes, bossing him around, and hitting him. She actually hit him in front of me & some other friends and we told her to knock it off. He made a joke she was too stupid to get and she thought it meant something else so she hit him. I'm seriously worried she will end up killing him one of these days bc if she's hitting him when people are around, she's doing it when people aren't around and she's hitting him harder-- like when she gave him the blood clot. It's so incredibly frustrating to watch him going through this dv situation and not learn from all of the prior incidents and history of what happens with dv and how people end up dead. But, there is also a high chance he may have cancer, his kidneys are failing due to infection, and he's in constant pain from his kidney stones that haven't passed yet. If he takes the narcotic medicines it causes urinary retention & constipation which causes even more pain so he's not taking them. Plus he has a family history of substance abuse. His gf can't even properly feed the baby (who is almost 21 months and still can't even say mama or dada-- he babbles sounds similar but does not seem to attach them to anyone- he'll go "muh muh muh muh muh" but it has nothing to do with any interactions with her). I really want to get him some help but I don't think he'll listen. She let her food stamps lapse so now he has no $ between his Mom coming and bumming $ off him and now he is supporting her wasteful behind. She gets food/drinks and doesn't finish them but now he's paying for her food bc I don't know what she does with her paychecks but she's not contributing to any bills or buying food for the house. She's trying to find out if she can get on disability just because she doesn't want to work.

My other complaint is my Mom having unrealistic expectations and no basis in reality. We had the usual argument about food and what was for dinner again. Freezer had some issues and stuff defrosted but I got it working again by moving stuff my brother shoved in front of some vents. So, some of the stuff she wanted had been thrown out. She no longer likes the TV dinners I got and doesn't want them. The store was out of half of the stuff she wanted me to get, she didn't want to wait for me to cook the stuff we had the ingredients for, and then she started yelling at me about how I "refuse" to get her what she asks me to get from the store. So I called her out on it and said "Ok, name one thing that you asked me to get that I didn't get!" and she said "Mexican TV dinners". I then had to remind her that we have been over this umpteen times that they don't have any she likes. Every single one I've ever bought she doesn't like and complains. She said "Well, I don't like the Amy's brand" and I said "That is all the store carries! with he exception of one other brand and they didn't have anything you liked-- I bought it before". I told her I didn't know how she expected me to magically make the store have what she wants so I can bring it home when it doesn't exist. She then said I should have gone to the Walmart in alexandria. I told her she didn't ask me to go there but it has the same stuff that she always rejects. At least this time she actually seemed to understand that I couldn't magically produce stuff but she said she was frustrated. I said I was frustrated too. Bc several of the things I bought that she wanted me to buy she no longer likes.

I remember her feeling sorry for a late elderly friend when the husband's tastes started to change and he no longer liked things he liked before and it was a struggle for his wife to find him something to cook. She doesn't see that we are in that situation now. She said "I'm not that picky". I laughed really hard at that one. She is super picky. It doesn't help that sometimes she likes something and the store stops carrying it. The worst though is when she decides she no longer likes something and tells me not to buy it and then later wants it again and yells at me for not buying it. I tell her she told me not to and she's like "You should have bought it anyway". Is there an emoji for tearing your own hair out? LOL. ARG.

Ok, I should be glad I still have her but it gets so damn frustrating.

Editing to respond to posts that came up while I was typing: Guardian, that is so frustrating about the boss & moron workers. You hit the nail on the head with scraping the barrel bc of the pay & lack of benefits. Jobs used to be more competitive for workers and offer incentive for people to work and now they are all worried about being "high on labor". It's one of my pet peeves. Most people will be loyal if treated well but they treat people like garbage. Have garbage treatment, get garbage workers. Getting non-morons costs a little extra. Lazy supervisors make it even worse.

Mo, I'm so sorry you're dealing with the family drama. I know how it feels to have a sister who is not around & doesn't see what is going on but passes judgment and tries to give "advice" that is completely impractical. She lives in a completely different environment where they have access to things we don't down here. It's easy for her to look from the outside on her high perch and look down on me when she's not in my situation with my health issues and having to pick up after a 42yr old boy who thinks that things are supposed to be cleaned/picked up by magic or something. And that the car fairy magically gets oil changes & maintenance on vehicles.

 

[Weedygarden]

Thank you Weedygarden.
It will be okay.
Hopefully.

It will be whatever God wants it to be, in his grand plans.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

This is sad. These are the same people who will be wanting their inheritance, and maybe more than their share.
I cannot imagine dealing with your dad's health and life. It must be stressful in many ways. Hugs, Mo!

There won't be an inheritance for any of us.
He is having fun spending his money.
He sold his Stingray Corvette.
Now he has bought a Jaguar.
He is living every young persons dream involving cars.
And he has earned that right after all it's HIS money.
He has worked hard all his life, done without while raising a family.
Let him enjoy his life however much time he has left.

 

[Neb]

There won't be an inheritance for any of us.
He is having fun spending his money.
He sold his Stingray Corvette.
Now he has bought a Jaguar.
He is living every young persons dream involving cars.
And he has earned that right after all it's HIS money.
He has worked hard all his life, done without while raising a family.
Let him enjoy his life however much time he has left.

I like him!

Ben

 

[Bacpacker]

I like him!

Ben

Me too

 

[MoBookworm1957]

I like him!

Ben

My family says I'm a lot like him.
Living my life on my terms.
My sons have input, but final decision is mine.

 

[zannej]

Mo, I'm glad your dad is enjoying himself while he can. I wish my dad had done so before he passed. Mom never expected him to go so young. He died a year earlier than he'd expected. His grandfather died at 62 and his father died at 62 so he thought he'd make it but didn't.

H&R Block software is incredibly frustrating. I was afraid of screwing something up at first but Mom was having such a hard time I had her move to the couch while I poked around. She didn't notice the Forms section up top. I opened it and did overrides on some of the stuff. Went from saying she owed $1800 to saying she owed $0. For some reason it ignored that the state excludes Federal retirement pay and it was only including her military retirement pay. I added in the federal and corrected the amount for military (it had it wrong) and it fixed it. But now the printer is saying it is low on ink and refusing to print. H&R block won't file electronically with overrides. She has to mail it by the 15th.

 

[Neb]

Why didn't you stop and think?

You being me.

While clearing a garden bed to plant sunflowers I noticed a lot of wild garlic and said myself "I don't have room for anymore wild garlic experiments." and off I went to clear and plant. It did seem odd that it seemed to be growing in rows.

3/4 of the way through I noticed the red bulb.

You idiot!

You planted onions in that box a week ago!

About 150 onions gone because I pushed on without thinking.

I hope Ben learns from this event.

Ben

 

[Weedygarden]

Why didn't you stop and think?

You being me.

While clearing a garden bed to plant sunflowers I noticed a lot of wild garlic and said myself "I don't have room for anymore wild garlic experiments." and off I went to clear and plant. It did seem odd that it seemed to be growing in rows.

3/4 of the way through I noticed the red bulb.

You idiot!

You planted onions in that box a week ago!

About 150 onions gone because I pushed on without thinking.

I hope Ben learns from this event.

Ben

Been there. This is where having garden labels helps. I have some plastic ones that I write on with Sharpie, but within a year's time, the writing is gone. I did see on Etsy that someone makes wooden sticks and laser engraves the names of what you plant on them. I want some of those. $1.99 a piece.

 

[Amish Heart]

I was worried that I'd lose track of where I seeded the kale, big beets, regular beets, spinach, and greens. So I used the orange flag markers some people use for marking electrical and stuff. Flagged off four corners of each item's area and used a black marker on the flag to write what it was. Seedlings and weeds all look the same to me when they come up. Then I planted mammoth head sunflowers to divide each section of things. Now it's really apparent, because they are growing faster than anything

 

[MoBookworm1957]

I phone has locked up so payday I will purchase new phone.
Phone has locked up because someone is being childish.
And it isn't me.
I will also get my apartment key and extra set of car keys back.

 

[Pearl]

I phone has locked up so payday I will purchase new phone.
Phone has locked up because someone is being childish.
And it isn't me.
I will also get my apartment key and extra set of car keys back.

Replied , but actually, that's good!! Moving forward!

 

[zannej]

In the hashtag firstworldproblems category: My freezer needs to be fixed. I cleared away the ice as best I could, uncovered the internal vents, pulled trash out from behind the freezer (from my brother throwing trash on top of it and it falling down behind) & it is still making very loud noises and not cooling properly. I can't even find the temp controls in it. They don't sell models that large anymore for under $5k so I desperately need to find a reliable repair person. I may ask a friend's sister since she took over their dad's furniture/appliance store after he passed from cancer.

Also, no matter what I do, I can't seem to keep the puppies locked outside if I let them out of the front room. They have been tearing stuff up. And one of my cats knocked an oil lamp down and spilled all the oil out (fortunately, it didn't break-- but he broke the top to it last week). Doggies keep chewing stuff-- chewed a DVD set of mine, my old shoes, some boxes, my bedroom door, etc. They have chew toys but they don't use them much.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

I phone has locked up so payday I will purchase new phone.
Phone has locked up because someone is being childish.
And it isn't me.
I will also get my apartment key and extra set of car keys back.

Phone is fixed.
Childish new daughter in law got a taste of her own medicine a few days after my I Phone locked up.
Seems my oldest son(her new husband) has had enough of her crap.
He has blocked her from all his accounts.
Both my sons have blocked her from my accounts information.
Seems she overstepped the boundaries he set forth before they got married.
She has a real problem now.
No kid sitter for 1 of her kids.
My oldest son has to sleep so her can work 3 rd shift.
He basically told her not his problem, her kid- her problem.
He refused to asked me if I would kid sit her brat.
She started this crap it was up to her to fix it with me.
I can tell you right now I'm not kid sitting her kid.
Maybe for $1000 a day, but nothing less.
And she's on thin ice because she has missed work due to sitter problems.
That excuse will only fly so long.

 

[zannej]

I'm glad you're not taking any bs from her, Mo!

My gripe is that it's hot as hell right now. Need to see if filter change and bleach down condensate line helps AC. Pups refuse to go outside and I can't blame them.

 

[havasu]

Compressed air works great on the condensate line.

 

[Neb]

My rant for today...

I have nothing to complain about.


Ben

 

[zannej]

It sounds like the problem is with the outside unit. It's making noises. I think the capacitor might have blown again. Unfortunately, its gonna be tough to get it fixed bc the only AC guy willing to come out is in prison.

Although, if I get a new capacitor and look at the way the current one is wired in, maybe I can replace it myself. It's outside the unit.

Doesn't help that my ceiling fan stopped working. It's an Evergo model from the 80s. I'm hoping we can at least get it fixed at some point. I don't want to have to replace it but I may have to. The newer ones don't last as long. My brother's didn't even last a full year.

 

[havasu]

You touch the wrong wires on the capacitor, especially with sweaty hands, and you better find your ladder now, to get you off your roof!

 

[Bacpacker]

Short that cap out before you start and leave a jumper across it. I got across one in a microwave years ago and it set me in the floor...really fast. Boss came running back to the shop asking what happened. Said all he heard was OMPH. Electric fence is nothing in comparison

 

[Supervisor42]

Short that cap out before you start and leave a jumper across it. I got across one in a microwave years ago and it set me in the floor...really fast. Boss came running back to the shop asking what happened. Said all he heard was OMPH. Electric fence is nothing in comparison

Naa, children's toys!
We danced with these when I was working, and you are correct, short them before you play with them.
We would hear POW! from our screwdriver when we did.
Sorry I couldn't get a pic where you can clearly read the warning label.
But if you passed the voltage from one arm across your chest to the other arm, it will stop your heart.

Notice the thickness on the insulators at the terminals.

 

[Supervisor42]

Continuing @Bacpacker 's point, getting bit by a cap sux because it is HV-DC.
With AC, you at least have a microsecond to disconnect when it changes direction 60 times a second.
Not so with DC. Discharge it.
Our problem was, that cap was wired to a lot of other stuff on the panel so you could encounter that capacitor's payload just working on other parts.
My suggestion to @zannej is, call in a stuntman.
Edit: Where is @Acdoctor when you need him?

 

[Acdoctor]

Continuing @Bacpacker 's point, getting bit by a cap sux because it is HV-DC.
With AC, you at least have a microsecond to disconnect when it changes direction 60 times a second.
Not so with DC. Discharge it.
Our problem was, that cap was wired to a lot of other stuff on the panel so you could encounter that capacitor's payload just working on other parts.
My suggestion to @zannej is, call in a stuntman.
Edit: Where is @Acdoctor when you need him?

I’m here just for your viewing pleasure, always discharge the capacitor before changing it. It only takes one time to learn that lesson. If you were closer I could be more help but all I can do is offer moral support. Lol

 

[dademoss]

I learned that long ago, working on the ancient tube type tv's, you only forget once.

 

[zannej]

How do I discharge the capacitor?
Also, found out the repair guy is out of jail! Waiting for him to call me back. Also trying to order another capacitor. A walmart employee told me as I was buying ice this morning. I told her the freezer went out this morning and AC went out yesterday. It got up into the 90s inside. I have every working fan in the house going. I hope Lee (the repair guy) will be able to come out. I don't know if he has any of the spare capacitors on him though. I'm sure he'll gripe about the plants around the AC but I've tried cutting them back as much as I can. There's a damn tree growing next to it now. I did as much cutting as I could this morning.

 

[Supervisor42]

How do I discharge the capacitor?
Also, found out the repair guy is out of jail! Waiting for him to call me back. Also trying to order another capacitor. A walmart employee told me as I was buying ice this morning. I told her the freezer went out this morning and AC went out yesterday. It got up into the 90s inside. I have every working fan in the house going. I hope Lee (the repair guy) will be able to come out. I don't know if he has any of the spare capacitors on him though. I'm sure he'll gripe about the plants around the AC but I've tried cutting them back as much as I can. There's a damn tree growing next to it now. I did as much cutting as I could this morning.

We always did it the wrong way, which stresses the internals of the cap but kept us safe.
A. The wrong way: Touch both terminals at the same time with your screwdriver. Verify the voltage is drained with a voltmeter.
B. The right way: Connect the setup with the 200ohm resistor shown below for more than 15 seconds and verify with a meter that it is below 5v.