[Rant] Minor Rant III: For a Few Hollers More

fade

Staff member
After nearly 20 years together, I'm getting a little tired of the "did you hit your wife, you bastard?" look. She has Von Willebrand disease, which means basically nothing for her everyday life except that she bruises if you look at her funny.
 
Father-in-law pulled a fully-functional computer out of the trash. Never been used. Previous owner must've gotten it as a gift and just found it too much trouble. So we set it up for him, ran the Win7 SP1 and other updates (took a while, it's never really been used) and left him to install Adobe Reader and Flash player.

This morning he comes upstairs, "My computer has all this stuff on it giving me pop-ups and crap." It's been two days. TWO DAYS and he's already sporting Conduit, PC RegCleaner, System Optimizer Pro, Super Web Helper ButtMunch, Web Speeder Exorcist edition, VuuDuuDuu Crapware Downloader helper, and who knows what all else.

"I can't get to the Internet anymore."
Huh. Imagine.

Whatever. I didn't have any plans for my day off. Grrr...

--Patrick
 
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GasBandit

Staff member
Father-in-law pulled a fully-functional computer out of the trash. Never been used. Previous owner must've gotten it as a gift and just found it too much trouble. So we set it up for him, ran the Win7 SP1 and other updates (took a while, it's never really been used) and left him to install Adobe Reader and Flash player.

This morning he comes upstairs, "My computer has all this stuff on it giving me pop-ups and crap." It's been two days. TWO DAYS and he's already sporting Conduit, PC RegCleaner, System Optimizer Pro, Super Web Helper ButtMunch, Web Speeder Exorcist edition, VuuDuuDuu Crapware Downloader helper, and who knows what all else.

Whatever. I didn't have any plans for my day off. Grrr...

--Patrick
That is exactly the reason why, before I ever leave a new PC installation, I make sure I install MS Security Essentials, either chrome or firefox, and adblock plus. Otherwise I'm back within days, every time.
 
Father-in-law pulled a fully-functional computer out of the trash. Never been used. Previous owner must've gotten it as a gift and just found it too much trouble. So we set it up for him, ran the Win7 SP1 and other updates (took a while, it's never really been used) and left him to install Adobe Reader and Flash player.

This morning he comes upstairs, "My computer has all this stuff on it giving me pop-ups and crap." It's been two days. TWO DAYS and he's already sporting Conduit, PC RegCleaner, System Optimizer Pro, Super Web Helper ButtMunch, Web Speeder Exorcist edition, VuuDuuDuu Crapware Downloader helper, and who knows what all else.

Whatever. I didn't have any plans for my day off. Grrr...

--Patrick
Aren't parents (and parents-in-law) great?
 
That is exactly the reason why, before I ever leave a new PC installation, I make sure I install MS Security Essentials, either chrome or firefox, and adblock plus. Otherwise I'm back within days, every time.
I don't think you understand.
I did these things already.
Yet...here we are!

--Patrick
 
I don't think you understand.
I did these things already.
Yet...here we are!

--Patrick
This is how I imagine a phone conversation went.

FiL: That computer you set up for me? I went to a website, and it told me I had a virus, but allowed me to download a free virus scan!

Patrick: ...

FiL: And I've got this thing called a Bonzi Buddy? Really neat, and some free emoticons!

Patrick: Please no...

FiL: Hey, someone just sent me an email! 'Vacationphotos.exe' well let's take a look at those!

Patrick: AAAAAHHHHHHHHH
 
I can't wait to get my home server back up and running again, just so I can set it back up like before as the household DNS server and start blacklisting some sites.

--Patrick[DOUBLEPOST=1417542137,1417541637][/DOUBLEPOST]
Looking through the last downloads:
"This file is not commonly downloaded and may harm your computer."
OH COME ON NOW...

MBAM here we come!

--Patrick
 
Some people just never get it, no matter how many times you tell them, or what sort of warnings pop up on the screen. Reminds me of the people who used to send letters to Microsoft Hotmail support with printouts of phishing emails they'd received asking for all of their personal info, with that info filled in, telling us they'd filled out the form online many times and were sick of getting them, so they were mailing them in.
 
Some people just never get it, no matter how many times you tell them, or what sort of warnings pop up on the screen. Reminds me of the people who used to send letters to Microsoft Hotmail support with printouts of phishing emails they'd received asking for all of their personal info, with that info filled in, telling us they'd filled out the form online many times and were sick of getting them, so they were mailing them in.
That's amazing.

--Patrick
 
It's interesting considering my previous history of community work that I'm now in a position where community groups come to me for support, and I have to play this strange mix of arbiter and cheerleader. I have a substantial budget that I have to allocate across a huge geographic area - and then have to coordinate staff to participate as well. One of my main focuses is always that we don't just write cheques, we provide human capital out to organizations that need boots on the ground and expertise across various industries. Do you need an accountant to look over your books? Do you need some graphic design? Do you need someone to handle cash at your event? Do you need posters made? Do you need coaching on some difficult staff? It's my favourite part of my job simply because I'm seeing immediate impact of those decisions.

Why is this a minor rant?
Because at my core I'm a policy and process kind of guy. I have 300 staff I have to juggle their own interests and personalities and make sure that they all get a fair shake at this kind of participation. Yes, some people just don't want to do it, and that's fine by me. But how do I balance this against the people that want to spend a week working with seniors, as time off with pay? Who gets what? How does it get distributed? What happens when that desire for some kind of order runs into the harsh reality of office politics?



*FAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRT*
 
That's amazing.

--Patrick
That's nothing compared to the woman who sent us a letter complaining that people were hacking her computer and putting random Word documents on it, and un-deleting files that she had deleted previously. She'd been to the police about it, had hired an outside security firm to track the changes, and no one could track down the "hackers". She was using Windows Live Mesh and had it set to ensure that her desktop and all laptops (she had 5) were exact replicas of her SkyDrive account at all times. So every time she deleted files and rebooted, the first thing that happened when Mesh checked her computers was that it copied all of those files back to her computer.

It's interesting considering my previous history of community work that I'm now in a position where community groups come to me for support, and I have to play this strange mix of arbiter and cheerleader. I have a substantial budget that I have to allocate across a huge geographic area - and then have to coordinate staff to participate as well. One of my main focuses is always that we don't just write cheques, we provide human capital out to organizations that need boots on the ground and expertise across various industries. Do you need an accountant to look over your books? Do you need some graphic design? Do you need someone to handle cash at your event? Do you need posters made? Do you need coaching on some difficult staff? It's my favourite part of my job simply because I'm seeing immediate impact of those decisions.

Why is this a minor rant?
Because at my core I'm a policy and process kind of guy. I have 300 staff I have to juggle their own interests and personalities and make sure that they all get a fair shake at this kind of participation. Yes, some people just don't want to do it, and that's fine by me. But how do I balance this against the people that want to spend a week working with seniors, as time off with pay? Who gets what? How does it get distributed? What happens when that desire for some kind of order runs into the harsh reality of office politics?



*FAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRT*
Now that's a difficult one, especially when you throw office politics into the mix. Good luck.
 
Well crap, one of our household TiVos power supply bit the dust tonight. I'm gonna miss TiVo while waiting on the part to arrive.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Hooo wee. No hot water this morning! Briefly considered a cold shower, it's Texas after all, how cold could it beeHEE HEE HEE FUCK THAT NOISE.

Wet washrag where I gotta, then double dose of deodorant, ok, let's do this thing. Hope the repairs get done today.
 
The massive new toolbar at the top of all Wikia pages is annoying as hell.
I adblocked that shit.

I noticed a few other websites I visit now have little animated popup bars asking me not to use adblock on their site, and pops up again every time even after you close it. I adblocked that too.
 
Cell phones are too big. I want to get a new phone because even after getting a completely new iPhone 5, the battery life is still shit. My husband works at Qualcomm, so he is basically vetoing any phone that is a size I like because they aren't up to par. Which I'm fine with, I am more irritated with the increasing size of phones.

DAMN YOU CELL PHONE MAKERS I HAVE TINY HANDS!! CATER TO ME WITHOUT MAKING SMALLER PHONES A DUMBED DOWN VERSION.
 
Cell phones are too big. I want to get a new phone because even after getting a completely new iPhone 5, the battery life is still shit. My husband works at Qualcomm, so he is basically vetoing any phone that is a size I like because they aren't up to par. Which I'm fine with, I am more irritated with the increasing size of phones.

DAMN YOU CELL PHONE MAKERS I HAVE TINY HANDS!! CATER TO ME WITHOUT MAKING SMALLER PHONES A DUMBED DOWN VERSION.
I have the opposite problem: cellphones are too small for my enormous hands. I have to use a stylus on a cellphone because my fingers are too big.
 

Cajungal

Staff member
Reeeeally wanted to tell our school chaplain to go fuck herself today. I was talking to someone at lunch about weddings, and I mentioned that my brother performed our ceremony. He got ordained online and did a great job, wrote a nice speech, etc. The chaplain then went on this rant about her daughter tried to do that, and how those marriages were a sham. I know it must chap her ass that anyone can marry people now, but seriously, fuck you. We filed the same paperwork and put as much thought into it as anyone else. Jeez.

What's most annoying about this is that it follows a pattern of her giving weird mixed messages. One day she says she loves working at a place where the beliefs are so diverse. The next minute she's complaining that the Jewish and Muslim kids aren't saying "amen" during her services.

I felt a little betrayed. She knows I'm agnostic, and I never say anything like that when she's talking about how God is at work in my life. Even though I don't always agree, I understand she's trying to be nice, so I smile and nod. I don't say, "maybe but probably not."
 
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Reeeeally wanted to tell our school chaplain to go fuck herself today. I was talking to someone at lunch about weddings, and I mentioned that my brother performed our ceremony. He got ordained online and did a great job, wrote a nice speech, etc. The chaplain then went on this rant about her daughter tried to do that, and how those marriages were a sham. I know it must chap her ass that anyone can marry people now, but seriously, fuck you. We filed the same paperwork and put as much thought into it as anyone else. Jeez.

What's most annoying about this is that it follows a pattern of her giving weird mixed messages. One day she says she loves working at a place where the beliefs are so diverse. The next minute she's complaining that the Jewish and Muslim kids aren't saying "amen" during her services.

I felt a little betrayed. She knows I'm agnostic, and I never say anything like that when she's talking about how God is at work in my life. Even though I don't always agree, I understand she's trying to be nice, so I smile and nod. I don't say, "maybe but probably not."
Can I email her and tell her I'm an atheist that is ordained and will be performing a gay wedding next year?
 
talk to my friend about hanging out tonight, said that would be good, asked him at the end of work day if he was still cool to hang out? get a message that his roommate was going to snowboard so he was doing that instead. not feeling wanted around atm. -_-
 
talk to my friend about hanging out tonight, said that would be good, asked him at the end of work day if he was still cool to hang out? get a message that his roommate was going to snowboard so he was doing that instead. not feeling wanted around atm. -_-
Message back "Guess I'll just do all these drugs and hookers myself!"
 
Reeeeally wanted to tell our school chaplain to go fuck herself today. I was talking to someone at lunch about weddings, and I mentioned that my brother performed our ceremony. He got ordained online and did a great job, wrote a nice speech, etc. The chaplain then went on this rant about her daughter tried to do that, and how those marriages were a sham. I know it must chap her ass that anyone can marry people now, but seriously, fuck you. We filed the same paperwork and put as much thought into it as anyone else. Jeez.

What's most annoying about this is that it follows a pattern of her giving weird mixed messages. One day she says she loves working at a place where the beliefs are so diverse. The next minute she's complaining that the Jewish and Muslim kids aren't saying "amen" during her services.

I felt a little betrayed. She knows I'm agnostic, and I never say anything like that when she's talking about how God is at work in my life. Even though I don't always agree, I understand she's trying to be nice, so I smile and nod. I don't say, "maybe but probably not."
If I may?

From my experience, most, if not all clergy who have gone through the 4-10+ years of training that it usually takes to get ordained have serious issues with pretty well anyone who "got ordained online." Think of it for any other profession that requires a graduate degree and internship/residency time - like say, teaching. How qualified do you think most homeschoolers are to teach kids? That ire, that deep-seated annoyance at the thought of an amature doing a professionals job (YOUR profession no less), that's probably what she was experiencing. Add to that a family-related issue, and behold, rant.

That said, it was innapropriate.

And as for her trend of saying 'God's at work in your life' knowing that that's not your thing? Eh, that's not particularly OK either.

And not responding with 'amen' at the end of a prayer is a tad odd, since it just means 'let us praise' in Hebrew IIRC. But I don't know enough about those worship traditions to make any meaningful conclusions. *shrug*
 
'amen' at the end of a prayer is a tad odd, since it just means 'let us praise' in Hebrew IIRC.
I thought it meant, "So be it" (at least, that's how I've used it).
Hang on now...checking.
Hmm...Wikipedia agrees with me, but I want a more reliable source.
Merriam-Webster says it means "So be it" or "Truly/Verily"

So I'm getting the impression that it's the archaic equivalent of "..., and that's a fact."

--Patrick
 
I thought it meant, "So be it" (at least, that's how I've used it).
Hang on now...checking.
Hmm...Wikipedia agrees with me, but I want a more reliable source.
Merriam-Webster says it means "So be it" or "Truly/Verily"

So I'm getting the impression that it's the archaic equivalent of "..., and that's a fact."

--Patrick
So say we all.
 
I thought it meant, "So be it" (at least, that's how I've used it).
Hang on now...checking.
Hmm...Wikipedia agrees with me, but I want a more reliable source.
Merriam-Webster says it means "So be it" or "Truly/Verily"

So I'm getting the impression that it's the archaic equivalent of "..., and that's a fact."

--Patrick
Bugger, conflated Hallelujah and Amen. Sorry. My Hebrew's rusty. As I was typing that, I was thinking there weren't nearly enough syllables, bah.

And ya, it's a kind of 'may it be so'/'so say we all' kind of thing. My bad.
 

Cajungal

Staff member
@Dirona I figured she was bringing a lot of her own personal stuff to that comment. But my brother *can't* do what she can do. No one believes he can bless things or serve a mass or interpret scripture. It seems like a bit of a leap.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Got my phone back from the repair shop! Yaaaay!

Oh no, the SD card now has crapped out.

All those pictures, and videos, and music, and custom ringtones, and so on, and so forth.....

Gone.

Fuck.
 
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