Complaints

Extreme dislike – Morning Routine

Posted on by backuphill

straight razor kit

Photo by Josh Sorenson on Pexels.com

You know how you have that one thing that you really just don’t like doing? Do you wish there was a permanent solution so you didn’t have to do it? Yeah, me too.

In this case I am talking about – SHAVING!

Ugh, I hate doing it. I hate that it takes so much time to do it in the mornings. I hate that I have to buy razors and handles and cream/foam/gel (whatever). I hate that I have to look at my ugly mug each morning and debate, “Is today the day? Should I shave or not? Can I get away with not doing it today?”

OK, ladies, I know. I know! Stop complaining, right? I realize I have way less surface area to shave. But, I also can’t (realistically) hide my noggin in pants, or under a skirt (or even in a mask). You at least have that! I don’t have the option to hide it if I don’t want to shave.

And, yes, I could just go full lumberjack (or worse, hipster…), but this just isn’t really acceptable in the business world quite yet and I also have some health issues that keep from doing it long term. So, yeah, there are limitations that make it necessary to shave.

I just hate it.

 

The only safe place on Earth

Posted on by backuphill

alone bed bedroom blur

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Monday morning and there seems to be only one safe place left on Earth. Ok, to be fair, each of us only has one safe place left…

BED.

I don’t want to get up. I don’t want to go to work. I don’t want to do anything today. I don’t want to see people. I don’t want to talk to people. I don’t want to sit in traffic. I don’t want to…I just don’t want to…

WAIT. Maybe bed isn’t the safest place any more. I think I have just been assaulted by my alarm clock. Damn. So much for this safe space.

Cockroaches, AND weeds

Posted on by backuphill

white dandelion

Photo by zhang kaiyv on Pexels.com

Alright, you all know the joke about the only living thing being able to survive a nuclear holocaust is a cockroach, right? Well, I think we can add one more thing to that list…and they’re living in my yard (and likely yours too). As we work in the flower beds or mow the lawn, we all refer to them as – “F$%*#@ weeds!” We just get tired of them always being there.

Weeds. Weeds! How is it that the grass can turn brown and die, but there are weeds flourishing in my yard? One the side of the road? In fields everywhere? How is it that they can get NO WATER and still live? They can’t be killed! You spray them with killer. You burn them with flamethrowers. And they just keep.coming.back. How can this be?

So, I think we need to change the joke. We can just simply say that there will be two living things on Earth after a nuclear war…cockroaches and weeds. It will be a perfect world where two of the most unwanted, least desired, most indestructible life forms will live in our place. Perfect.

I wonder if it really makes a difference

Posted on by backuphill

smartphone car technology phone

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

On any given work day, I have nearly two hours of commute (round trip) time. Yeah, I can feel your groans. I do it too. To be honest, the commute is the worst part of my job and if I could not do it and make the same income I would change in a heartbeat. But, it is what it is.

So, I have been using the Waze app to see if it can help alleviate the commute time a little. Supposedly it is “real time” traffic routing based on user reports. It is owned by Google, so all it does it take the traffic reports and move it to a different app instead of the regular Google Maps app. Anyway, I am not sure it is helping.

Why is it not helping? Or at least, why do I not think it is helping? Well, it takes me just as long to get home when I use it and when I don’t use it. By time it routes be down some obscure neighborhood road, or through every traffic light in town, it has taken me roughly the same amount of time to get to the exact same choke point at just going the most direct route, via the highway where all the other cars are sitting in traffic. Maybe it is just the nature of the necessary route to get home (there are literally only two ways to get home via two choke points). But, one would think that you could at least get to the choke point a little faster using the app. Not so.

Anyone else have a similar experience?

#trafficiskillingme #smh

That zit, I’ve had it!

Posted on by backuphill

pimple-forehead-13000754

Stock photo from some random Google search.

Of course, I wake up and there is a freaking beacon of red, flashing on my forehead this morning. Of course. Where the hell did that come from?

Zit. Pimple. Blemish. Skin eruption.

Is it me, or do guys/men have a distinct disadvantage when dealing with this kind of stuff? I mean, if something of this sort happens to a woman (ok, I am generalizing here), they have products to deal with it, AND at the very least something to cover it up. Guys, we don’t have those kinds of products…or at least a vast majority of men don’t. So, now what?

To add to this already relatively unattractive mug, I now have something to stare at as I present in front of a group or talk to clients. Great. Just great. As if I didn’t already have a reason to feel self-conscious.

Lunch at the park

Posted on by backuphill

pexels-photo-1149058.jpeg

Photo by Scosche on Pexels.com

I see you, dude.

I see you in your jacked up, shiny, big tired, over-sized pickup, that you’ll never take off road. Your windows down and engrossed in some kind of reading. But…

But, before I noticed you in that truck I SMELLED you. Yes, I smelled you!

Yeah, your stench is undeniable and totally recognizable. Because while you are sitting there with your windows rolled down, the breeze is wafting the smoke of that joint in your hand all over the other people sitting in their cars trying enjoy their lunches. Thanks, jerk.

Then after we have all suffered through your bad habit, which is illegal to smoke in public, you start your vehicle and drive off, also illegal. Nice.

I guess there are very few places you can go these days without having to deal with this sort of entitled, “it’s my right,” behavior. No courtesy for others, just “all about me.”

#smh

Moss knows no bounds

Posted on by backuphill

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Photo by Daniel B on Pexels.com

Well, except for a rolling stone, supposedly. If you are familiar with the quote, then that will make sense. Otherwise, it won’t. Anyway, I think here in the Pacific Northwest moss would give that rolling stone a challenge, for sure.

Moss is everywhere. In the trees. In the grass. In the shade. In the sun. On the roof. On the sidewalks. In the driveway. On the windows. Dare I say, even some have it on their cars. Hanging low. Hanging high. It is freaking EVERYWHERE!

A couple years ago I tried to kill the stuff in my lawn. Guess what? Yes, it died briefly. Along with the grass that was barely hanging on because of it. Then it came back in the fall, thicker and more robust, like it was just taking a breath before it decided to take over the rest of the yard. So, I gave up. I am just letting it take over the lawn…I mean it’s green, it’s soft, and it needs to be mowed less often than real grass…

The war on moss is not over, but the battles have certainly no gone in my favor. I will continue to battle, right after I take a nap on that soft stuff in the shade.

 

My love/hate relationship with toilet paper

Posted on by backuphill

img_4961

What to do…what to do…well, this blog is going in the toilet…

The picture above was from a recent trip to the men’s room at work. Yes, I needed to “cop a squat” and empty the main tank. There were so many choices for toilet paper that it was a little overwhelming. However, there wasn’t really a choice because they all were of the same relative quality, which got me to thinking about my love/hate relationship with TP.

It’s too thin. It’s too thick. There is not enough on the roll (or worse, there are no rolls at all). The roll is too big to fit in the dispenser. Use too much and you plug the toilet. Use too little and you’re sporting a brown racing stripe in the undies. Sometimes protects the fingers and other times you’re using TP to wipe the fingers before your next wipe on the rear end.

At least one of these problems occurs during each visit to “the can” and you *literally* sit there fuming. So why is that we can’t figure out an alternative to this stuff? Yes, there are “adult wipes” but they plug the toilets or sewer systems. There are bidets, but that hasn’t caught on in the US and I am still not sure what you are supposed to do about a wet ass…(as you can tell, I have never been presented with this option).

Anyone else feel me on this love/hate relationship? What do you think is the solution?

Transaction fees are not my friend

Posted on by backuphill

TpT commission

The “Transaction Fee” column is killing my vibe.

The transaction fees at TpT (Teachers Pay Teachers) are killing the positive vibe of teacher authors and it is really annoying.

I realize they are providing a service for me and I am OK with them taking a cut of the sales since they are providing the service, but that flat fee of $.30 has got to be making TpT money as well, which I don’t find OK.

In most cases credit card transaction fees are between 1-3% of the purchase price and based on volume they typically offer the retailer a discount on the fees to encourage them to use their service. Plus, there is usually a monthly “subscription/membership” (for lack of a better term) fee for the retailer to use the service as a whole. Either way, what I am being charged and what they are being charged don’t line up in my mind.

For all these small transactions, there has to be a better deal than what I am getting. The credit card company (or someone) is making as much on my material as I am.

The annoying host

Posted on by backuphill

Anyone else think Tyra Banks is annoying as hell?

You would think after the extremely rough start she had last year, being severely awkward and overly obnoxious, that she would have figured it out for this year. But no, year two of her hosting duties on America’s Got Talent is just as awkward and just as annoying.

Maybe it just that I was a big fan of Nick Cannon. I don’t know. But maybe it’s just that she is trying too hard. I don’t know. But, they could actually cut her out of the show (which I noticed the last episode was very limited) and most people wouldn’t even notice.

She isn’t entertaining and never has been. Shouldn’t the host have at least as much talent as the contestants?

#tyrabanksisnonickcannon