Culture | Piss and Moan

Lunch at the park

Posted on August 9, 2018 by backuphill

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

My love/hate relationship with toilet paper

Posted on August 7, 2018 by backuphill

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?

Clickbait and Google News feed

Posted on August 6, 2018 by backuphill

The clickbait around here is so obvious it hurts. The screen shot of the Google News feed from a few days ago is a prime example. All of the news articles are about the same topic, on the same day, but one of them is using the “clickbait” title tactic.

CNN should know better than this, but I guess that is what we can expect when you’re desperate to compete. Notice all of the other headlines are pretty much the same, but CNN takes it to the next level of sensationalism. Also, when you look at the timing of the article – “one hour ago” – you can clearly see that it wasn’t “just tweeted” or “something new”. Again, it is an under-handed and dishonest attempt to get traffic on their site. Pure clickbait and there is no way of defining it any other way.

The fact that is stands out so obviously is disturbing, though I suppose if you get your news via social media or something similar there is probably no point of reference and you probably would click on it. CNN once used to be a reliable source of news info, but as you can see headlines like this make it a “less than news service.” You can also see why so many people bash on CNN for being a terrible purveyor of news and information.

People need to stop “consuming” this crap. It is time for CNN to go away because it’s desperation is showing.

* Discussion for another time: The Hill is the only balanced reporting on the list above.

Scouring history for offense

Posted on July 30, 2018 by backuphill

Photo by Tracy Le Blanc on Pexels.com

I have got to say, we are some kind of stupid trend as a society.

There are people (trolls) out there scouring the historical Twitter posts (or other social media) of “celebrities and stars” so they can be “outted” as having offensive ideas/beliefs or having said something offensive.

Really? Like no one has times in their past where they said something offensive? Like no one has had an episode in their lives where they had poor judgement? Like no one has said something in jest or made a statement about something while they were showing off to their friends? Or, like no one has ever said something they didn’t believe just to get a reaction out of other people?

If this is going to be the trend and we are going to go back and vilify people for things they did in their past, then we better just fire EVERY comedian alive, even our favorite ones. We should scour every past performance and just ax them on the spot – because I am sure they probably said something insensitive, politically incorrect, racially or sexually offensive, ageist, blah blah blah…

How about we judge people on their present rather than their past? And, how about we leave history as history – then learn from it rather than scrub it clean or hide it.

#smh #thisisridiculous

Motorcycle riders are the worst

Posted on July 29, 2018 by backuphill

Photo by Pete Johnson on Pexels.com

Ever been so irritated at something that you just want to scream? Yeah, me too.

Motorcycle riders are the worst. They are the worst because the constantly break the law. They break the law because they feel they are entitled to. That must be the case or they wouldn’t do it.

I commute 88 miles to and from work five days a week, so I am on the roads a lot. I was also a driver’s ed instructor for 6 years and a state license tester for 5 of those years (those were my side gig). So, I think I have a pretty good idea of the law. And let me tell you, motorcycle riders break the law on a regular basis. I am sure, if you drive a vehicle, you are well aware of this already so maybe I am preaching to the choir here…

Motorcycle riders routinely roll through stop signs, because putting your feet down to actually come to a complete stop is apparently to big an inconvenience. Of course, they exceed the speed limit, but not at the same level you are exceeding the speed limit because they have to go faster. They weave in and out of traffic, cutting people off as they go. They lane split (ride between cars on the white line). They ride on the shoulder in traffic jams. They tailgate you when you are too slow, but actually doing the speed limit. They park their bikes in places that aren’t parking spots. I could do on, but I think you get the picture (and you probably already knew all this).

When you ask (or confront) a motorcycle rider about it they almost always come up with the excuse, “It is safer for me if I do it that way.” Oh, ok, so you are more important than everyone else? I get it.

If you are a motorcycle rider, the rest of the commuting world is tired AF of you. You aren’t special. Obey the damn law!

*Yes, I realize some of the things mentioned are legal in some states – all of the things mentioned are NOT in my state.

Social (and media) double standard

Posted on July 27, 2018 by backuphill

I am sure you’ve seen it. You’re probably wondering how in the hell it can only cut one way…

People losing their jobs. Reputations ruined. Companies destroyed. Stocks punished. TV shows cancelled. Public apologies issued.

The media chirps about this or that, a perceived injustice or slight. Social media ablaze with trolls who spout hatred and stir fear. Both seeking “justice” but really only picking and choosing certain things to make an issue of.

Some seem to get a free pass and others are vilified. Some communities cry foul over language used by others, but then use the language they just condemned themselves.

Instagram supposedly has “community standards” but they appear to be subjective as some hate is singled out and some hate is not. Some language is banned and some is not. How can it be ok for some but not others?

If you’re gonna eliminate the problem, there can’t be a double standard. Otherwise, the problem will always exist. I have always been a proponent of free speech and I always will be, but it is frustrating to see that the freedom only goes in one direction. There is no scorn over the posts above, instead they continue to gain followers.

What do you think? Should the accounts above be given a free pass for the language they use or held accountable like the rest of society?

Fishing is not relaxing

Posted on July 24, 2018 by backuphill

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

THE activity of vacation was a fishing trip off Vancouver Island, BC, Canada (you have probably heard me talk about this a little this week). It was the whole purpose of the trip, to put fish in the boat and fill up the freezer with as much salmon and bottom fish as possible.

Well, I would like to tell you that fishing is not relaxing and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying…

Early mornings. Why is it the fish only seem to want to take the bait early in the morning? How early, well, for nearly a week it was 4:30 or 5:00am so in my case that is at least 30 minutes before I normally get up for work.

Rough waters. Now, some of you probably fish on the bank of a river or on a nice calm lake. Honestly, that isn’t fishing…if the fish you catch are less that 5 pounds, all you caught was a “water rat.” Anyway, that is beside the point. Ocean fishing involves waves. Rolling waves and choppy seas. You spend much of the time fighting to maintain your balance and the rest of the time trying not to fall overboard. Never mind the rough bouncing and banging of the boat trip just to get to the fishing spot. Yeah, not relaxing.

Stress. There is stress in fishing. Why? Well, because you want to catch fish, that is why you’re there. When you aren’t catching fish, the stress mounts because you aren’t catching fish. Each time you have a fish on and then don’t get it into the boat, the stress builds a little more until finally you’re so high strung that jumping overboard actually becomes an option.

Lost fish. With each fish that doesn’t make it into the boat, you start to wonder what you are doing wrong. “I must be doing something wrong because I’m not getting it into the boat,” you think to yourself. So you try something different, only to not have it work and then you return to what you were originally doing. Let me tell you, those thieving sons of fishies will take your bait in a heartbeat and then spit the hooks like they were tossing garbage to the curb. Frustration mounts.

Cleaning and packing. If you happen to catch fish, then you have to clean them, pack them, then ice/freeze them. The boat has to be cleaned eat night from the saltwater and the fish guts. You have to pack for a trip of uncertain weather and success. You have to unpack from the trip and do laundry, after getting very little sleep all week.

Tell me, where was the relaxing vacation again?

Photo by Nick Santarone on Pexels.com

The Office Coffee Maker

Posted on July 16, 2018 by backuphill

The office coffee maker is kind of an important place in the office. You might even call it a “sacred” place. It is what keeps most of us functional, but it also something that keeps some of us from murdering our co-workers, or other unfortunate nearby folk. So, when etiquette isn’t followed it makes a few of us wanna “go postal” (no offense to postal employees, it was a thing in the 80s and 90s).

Anyway, we are responsible for providing our own coffee pods, since the machine is a single serve Keurig. Not a problem. I can do that. Besides, then I can get different kinds and blends, etc.

HOWEVER, what does appear to be a problem is keeping the machine full of water! Common courtesy says, “If I use the last bit of water in the reservoir, I should fill it back up,” or “The refill pitcher is low (or empty), I should fill that up for the next person.” Yeah, well, I guess I have some discourteous co-workers. Without fail, I seem to be the only person who keeps the machine and refill pitcher full of water.

I think I won’t have coffee one day just to spite them all and then I won’t fill the water anywhere. Wait…I am gonna have to weigh whether or not this is worth going to jail over…

#WTH #SMH

Got pudding?

Posted on July 15, 2018 by backuphill

Old people and their pudding.

If you could read the directions

Posted on July 13, 2018 by backuphill

Meme via Winkgo

The directions are right there! READ them. Follow them. Stop asking questions!

It’s Friday the 13th and apparently basic functions of the human brain have stopped working as we are inundated with people who don’t/won’t read the directions.

Don’t have a great day…