Month: September 2019

Not the fairest in the land

Posted on by backuphill

battle black blur board game

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There was a clear loser yesterday in the fast food wars. The food from a fast food restaurant was anything but royal.

Headed out of town yesterday and so busy getting ready that I forgot to grab something to eat while at the house. It was an hour drive to the destination, so I wasn’t going to make it without a little food. I remembered there was a Dairy Queen along the route that was easy to get in out of, so it seemed like a decent place to hit the drive thru.

From time of order to food through the window, it was 18 minutes. Not fast food by any means. I happened to notice the time I placed the order because I was on a little bit of a time crunch by then. The line ahead of me in the drive thru was moving very slowly, so I started tracking how long it was taking.

Once back on the road, the food came out of the bag. It wasn’t pretty. Not at all.

Now, I realize it is fast food and the expectations aren’t for gourmet food. However, there is some expectation that the food is decently hot and, after that long of a delay, that the food is relatively fresh. Expectations shattered.

The fries were limp. Crispiness wasn’t even close to the vocabulary. Soggy is more like it. Slightly warm, maybe just above room temp.

The burger was warmer than the fries, but the bun had the consistency of being in the warmer and wrapper for 20 minutes. It had been microwaved to be warmed back up, while still in the wrapper. That much was obvious.

Crappy food after an 18 minute wait. Interesting. Disappointing. Since I was already down the road and running behind, I certainly wasn’t going to turn around and ask for new food.

Mental note made: Don’t stop at the Dairy Queen. Ever.

Planning

Posted on by backuphill

photo of group of people in a meeting

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So, I am doing a training today. Teaching teachers to use the software the should be using for grading students.

I am usually the type of guy who doesn’t mind someone pointing at something and say, “Do it.” I show up, and do it.

BUT, this morning is a bit different. I wasn’t a part of the planning of this and I found out yesterday there are all kinds of factors that could make this morning go very poorly.

First, this training was supposed to be to one district who requested the training. Somehow members of another district managed to get into the training. I think I nicely took care of that issue by letting them know that the training was indeed intended for a specific district and that they weren’t really invited.

Second, the registration website being used to sign participants up for the training says the training starts at 8:30am. My calendar says it starts at 9:00am. So which is it? OK, I am flexible and can go with the flow….except for the last thing…

Finally, there is a meeting scheduled in the room where the training is supposed to take place. The meeting is scheduled from 7:30-9:00am. Uh, that is a problem! Not only can I not set up and prepare for my training, but if the training is truly supposed to be at 8:30am what am I supposed to do with the people who show up on time for the training?

Yeah. This could turn into a CF real quick.

I know my stuff. I don’t have an issue working on the fly. Hell, I taught high school for 15 years. I can go with the flow with the best of them…but at least I had some control of my environment to some degree. In this case, I have little to none.

And on top of it all? I am wearing slacks on a Friday, which is supposed to be casual day at the office. Damn.

 

Two Thursdays

Posted on by backuphill

grayscale photography of person s feet

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My regular telecommute days are Wednesday and Thursday. However, that last two Thursdays have had meetings in the office that I have had to attend, so I telecommuted on Tuesday instead.

As such, this is the second Thursday in a row that I have made the hour (+/-) trek to the office. And this is the second Thursday in a row that the traffic has been less that tolerable. More than an hour to work, again.

Seriously, what is with Thursdays?? Why can’t people drive on this day of the week?

I am seriously starting to contemplate calling in sick on Thursdays if I have to go to the office and can’t telecommute. Think they would notice?

 

Annoyed

Posted on by backuphill

man sitting on black leather padded chair

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There are few things more irritating than playing whack-a-mole on news websites! I mean seriously, why does this have to be such an annoying thing?

OK, to be clear, I am talking about all of the pop-ups, over-sized headers, loud videos, video ads, etc. you get when you visit just about any sort of news site. Whether it is a tech website, an entertainment website, or something else, there are just about always two or three pop-ups that have to be closed to get a clear view of the page.

Annoying! I say. Annoying!

I use an ad blocker, but even that doesn’t get everything. Sometimes it isn’t a third party ad. Sometimes it is even the website sharing it’s own information about something else they would like you to look at. More annoyance.

Why is this necessary? Yes, of course, I know…they make money by clicks and crap like that. Some websites I have just stopped going to (they used to be good ones and I liked them) because I get tired of the same “dance of the pop-ups.” I like whack-a-mole, but not really that much.

All I can say to anyone who might be reading this – STOP IT! You are seriously damaging your name, brand, reputation, whatever by continuing this practice.

*This applies to blogs as well. If you have ads on your blog, make sure you aren’t turning off your readers by having stupid crap like described above.*

Wise counsel

Posted on by backuphill

Grinding gears

Yeah, this today.

You know how you give someone advice you know is good advice because it comes from experience and yet they decide to do their own thing because they know better without having any experience (except failure)?

Yeah, grinds my gears.

I have not other words.

 

Ever find yourself giving wise counsel only to have it completely ignored?

Getting real

Posted on by backuphill

brown envelopes in mail box

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Let’s get real for a sec. Can we do that?

I am about to step on some toes, I am sure, but that’s OK. I do what I do.

OK, real. How’s this for real? I am going to go out on a limb here and make a bold statement:

If you are an adult and you are still having your mail delivered to mommy & daddy’s house as the main location of your mail delivery, you’re a loser.

There I said it.

I don’t feel bad about it.

As an adult, you should take responsibility for certain things. I believe being responsible for changing your mailing address after you move is one of those responsibilities. It’s not a hard thing to do. They have forms for that. Better yet, you can do it online and be done with it in a matter of minutes. Stop being so damn lazy that you can’t be responsible for your own mail.

Oh, and here’s a bonus bold statement:

If you’re a parent who allows your grown child to have mail delivered to your house when they have moved out just so you know they will have to stop by once in a while to get the mail, well, you’re just as lame.

Cut the damn cord already!

Good grief. If you are one of those parents who don’t mind getting your kids’ mail at your house then you are part of the problem too.  Help them get a freaking life! Oh, and while you’re at it, get one of your own too!

Ugh! Really. Just do it.

You both need to grow the hell up.

 

Consequences

Posted on by backuphill

building ceiling classroom daylight

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Sorry, kids. You’re just gonna have to “deal with it.”

As much as you would like to not have consequences for your choices, even if those choices are based on good intentions, there are still consequences. There needs to be in a civilized society and you can’t change the rules every time they conflict with your beliefs.

I am not sure if you are aware, but right now there are probably hundreds (thousands?) of students in your community skipping school for climate change. Their intentions might be good (albeit questionable). Their intention is to draw attention to an issue you are concerned about. Great.

But, this can be effectively done on any other day at any other time. There isn’t a legitimate reason to skip school and I hope that the school district & school board in Seattle don’t bow to pressure and excuse these absences.

That also goes applies to these kids’ parents. Come on, parents, have a little integrity here! If you are a parent who excuses your child from school for such an activity then you are a part of the problem too. I know that is a bold statement, but you need to stop enabling bad behavior in your child.

Maybe you even agree with what your kid is doing, at least in the sense of the “cause.” Maybe you’re the permissive parent…you want to be “cool”…whatever…, but do you want to make a bigger impact with your parenting? Allow them the freedom to make the choice of staying in school or skipping it AND THEN let them deal with the consequences of that choice. Stop enabling everything your kid does. There are legitimate reasons for an excused absence from school and this isn’t one of them. You aren’t helping your child learn that making choices comes with responsibility.

Kids, stay in school.

 

No thanks

Posted on by backuphill

red and yellow stop sticker

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I briefly considered a title of “Oh Hell No!”

This is just not OK.

There are some things in this life that should just be left alone. This movie happens to be one of them. Don’t even think about touching it!

News came out yesterday that talked of a remake, a reboot, a redo of The Princess Bride. Something about “famous people” or “big names” wanting to be a part of it. Obviously this is a ploy to add their names to the lore of the movie, to ride the coattails of a classic film that was perfect the first (AND ONLY) time.

I am not having it. It better not happen.

Cary Elwes’ response via Twitter was EPIC!! It expresses perfectly what nearly all fans of the movie are feeling.

TPB tweet

Honestly, there can never be a remake of this. If there is, I hope it is boycotted to no end. I hope the studio that produces it takes a bath from cost overruns, production snafus, marketing blunders, etc., etc., etc. Seriously. I could wish nothing but ill-will on such a venture. If any endeavor should fail, it should be this one.

I feel that strongly about this classic movie.

“Hello. My name is ___________________. You messed the wrong movie. Prepare to die.”

 

Over/Under

Posted on by backuphill

img_4961

If you are betting person, you probably think this is about something you do. It isn’t. I am not really a betting person, but I’ll take the Over on the fact that you likely have an opinion on today’s topic. Almost everyone does, they just might not like to admit it.

It goes a little like this…

You walk into the room. You really aren’t paying but you find a seat and go about your business. As you finish, you notice the toilet paper is wrong. Wrong, as in someone has put the roll in backwards. You try to ignore it but you just can’t. You have to try and switch it so it meets your preference. Over or Under.

I had to deal with this in my own house recently. Someone who doesn’t live here put the new roll of toilet paper into the dispenser the wrong way. I immediately had to fix it. I couldn’t even start the process by sitting down first.

Me? Well, I prefer Over. It is, after all, the only right way to do it.

How about you? Does the Over/Under bother you? Do you have a hard time resisting fixing it, even in someone else’s house?

**PSA: Parents, if you are teaching your children the Under, you are doing it wrong. Please don’t subject the rest of the public to your malfeasance. No one, especially your children, deserves that kind of abuse.

Chain letter

Posted on by backuphill

stop signage under orange sky

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Irritating trend continues to the electronic age.

I am sure you are well aware of them. They seem to be everywhere. Honestly, I never thought I would see them in social media and yet there they are. I have done my best to ignore them and just scroll past them.

But then a close family member posts one…and I have a hard time biting my tongue. The one from the family member was worded slightly differently and talked about it being a “social experiment” so “don’t do it if you aren’t going to participate or you’ll break the experiment.” You have likely seen a version of this somewhere in your feed (provided you have Facebook):

The last few years have taught me that when it is our time to leave this world no one can stop it. We have one life to live. The material things we invest in are left behind only to be discarded. Memories are important to me. I’m going to start a “reunion of friends and family”. The idea is to see who reads a post without a picture. If no one reads my post, this will be a very short experiment. But if you are reading this message, make a comment using a single word about how we met. After that, copy this message on your wall and I will also leave you a word. Please, don’t leave a word and then not bother doing it. Grateful beyond measure!

I don’t like chain letters. While this isn’t exactly a chain letter, the idea is the same. Do something for me and I’ll do something for you and it will keep going (thankfully there is no threat of death like some chain letters have, LOL)

I also don’t like desperate attempts to get people to comment on something or “see if people are paying attention” or “cleaning out my friends list” type posts. I guess I am a bit of a rebel and refuse to play the game. I have had people tag me in posts where they have to do something and then “tag 5 more people” so they have to do it. I refuse to do it.

Call me obstinate. Call me difficult. Call me a jerk. Call me whatever.

 

Anyone else severely dislike these things? What other “chain letter like” things do you see on social media that irritates you to no end?