Life | Piss and Moan

Unnecessary apology #1

Posted on March 13, 2023 by backuphill

I’m sorry. I did it inadvertently. It was just a knee-jerk reaction.

During this month of honoring women, I want to apologize to all women.

I have been or am guilty of gender appropriation.

You see, when I have climbed under the house to access a dark, dank, and mildy creepy crawl space I have at times “screamed like a woman.”

I know, I know. I am not proud of it.

I shouldn’t do it because I am a man and things like this shouldn’t faze me.

To be honest, spiders don’t really freak me out. BUT, in the context of being in a dark, confined space and feeling the creepy crawlies on the back of your neck or by your ear, well, that is just going to get a reaction most guys aren’t proud of.

Please, accept by sincerest apologies for oppressing you by appropriating your screams.

I’ll do better.

**There will be more posts in a new series I am going to call, Unnecessary Apology. Keep an eye out for them and let me know if you agree or not.**

CD situation

Posted on March 10, 2023 by backuphill

CD. Compact Disc.

Do you remember those things called CDs? Remember when that was the next best technology and you were buying hundreds of those things? Remember when storage of those things became an issue?

Recently I was reminded of all those things…because I was cleaning out the entertainment cabinet and I had to remove FIVE folders that are capable of holding 100 discs at a time. All but one is full and the last one is 3/4s full.

Those folders hold all the discs I ever bought, plus the CD case art (from and back). Once upon a time it was difficult to store all those cases and moving them to the folders seemed like a great idea. Plus, those CD jewel cases were brittle as heck too, as soon as you dropped one it was inevitably broken and didn’t work correctly.

Well, now what the heck am I supposed too do with all those CDs?

Disc drives on computers are getting harder and hard to come by. Shoot, even cars don’t even really come with CD players any more. Converting them to digital takes time and storage (though I had already gone through every disc I had at one point and pulled all the songs off the discs I really wanted). So, now I am stuck…do I just trash them or do I donate them? Do I try to sell them?

UGH

There is a ton of money locked up in those and throwing them away seems like a waste since I purchased all the music, even if I don’t listen to it (well, all of it). Do you know what I mean? If I were to get rid of them, it feels like something would be lost but at the same time nothing would be.

What would you do?

Random application

Posted on March 8, 2023 by backuphill

Not really looking, but I am at the same time. Something happened the other day that kind of surprised me, about myself, and I have thought about it ever since.

As a little background, just over two years ago I was thinking I might lose my job. The organization I work for was being mandated by the state to require it’s employees get a poke in the arm for “immunization,” of…well, you know…. I was thinking I might lose my job because I was going to have to go through the process of basically applying for an exemption and there was some question about whether it would be granted since the process was set up to work against employees who claimed it. In the process of getting ready to lose my job, I started accounts at several online job search sites – LinkedIn and Indeed. After getting all that set up and getting alerts for job notifications set up I was granted my exemption and I have continues to work at my current place of employment.

But, in the meantime, I am still getting alerts about potential job opportunities because loyalty to employees really no longer exists in most cases so if the right opportunity came along, why not jump ship for something better? It’s a tad scary, the thought of starting over so I haven’t really payed much attention to the alerts I was getting. Well, until the other day…

I got a job notification that kinda stuck out. Basically, it would be doing the same thing I am doing but for a REALLY large company. I would be product support for customers, providing troubleshooting and documentation and creating self-help information at Netflix.

Now, I probably wouldn’t have even considered applying except that LinkedIn made it so easy. “Click this button to apply” was basically the instructions. So I did. After literally 10 clicks to verify my info, provide just a tiny bit more, and upload my resume I had applied for the job. It was so easy!

I have no illusion that I’ll get hired, or even an interview. But what surprised me was the easy for submitting an application.

Additionally, I was surprised that I even submitted one in the first place.

I am not really looking, as I said previously, but the thought of a job that would allow me to work fully remotely, for at least as much pay as I am currently receiving, was definitely attractive. And it only takes a few (or more) clickes? What is there to lose at that point?

Anyone else surprise themselves applying for a job they weren’t really looking for?

Hide forever

Posted on March 7, 2023 by backuphill

Anyone else having a hard time getting that ad for fiverr and logo creation on their My Home page to go away?

I have clicked the drop down to “Hide Forever” like 100 times and all that happens is that the spinny thing comes up and just spins and spins. The next time I go to the page, it’s still there and I try again.

It’s almost as if they don’t want you to be able to make it go away…

Bathroom hider

Posted on March 1, 2023 by backuphill

I have a co-worker who I have now determined to be a bathroom hider.

He isn’t a directly associated co-worker. He is in the same organization but on another team and I don’t work with him directly.

Anyway, I have noticed a trend with this guy. He goes to the bathroom on a pretty regular basis, like at least twice an hour (know this because he walks righ past my cube). When I have had occasion to enter the bathroom I have noticed he is parked in the farthest stall in the room (I know it’s him because of his rather distinctive shoes). The unusual thing about his bathroom visits is that he is quite obviously going in there to watch videos (no, not that kind…). I have heard them echoing throughout the space from outside the door but as soon as you open the door he silences what he is watching. After you have left the room, he unmutes again.

His bathroom visits last somewhere 10-15 minutes (think of that as between 20 and 30 minutes of lost productivity per hour).

I hope you aren’t thinking I am a creeper…I am not. I just notice things. I notice things that most people probably don’t. Details. I just happen to notice this stuff because he literally makes a trek past my cube at least four times per hour. But I am probably not the only one. I’ll bet his co-workers (people actually on his team) have noticed his afrequent absences too; however they may not know what he is doing during that time or where he is going.

So, just curious, do you have a person or people like this at your place of employment? Do you have a bathroom hider? A beverage hanger (someone who hangs out at the watercool or coffee pot to shoot the breeze)? A visiting ducker (a social butterfly who visits every cube/office to chat to avoid actual work)?

Yes, I made those all up. Got a better name for them?

Silly regulations

Posted on February 27, 2023 by backuphill

Not the dog, but the same breed.
Photo by Ricardo Pu00e9rez-Saravia on Pexels.com

I was doing a little research this morning and seeing about scheduling an appointment to put the dog down (quality of life is diminishing fast for the ol’ gal). So, I was looking at a couple of vet clinics in the area. It appears they are still sticking with the silly regulations imposed during “that time that shall remain unnamed”. As nearly all other businesses and areas of life have returned to somewhat normal functioning, apparently vet offices are sticking with the stupid regulation of having customers wear a face mask while in the office.

I don’t get it. It didn’t make sense when it was started and it still doesn’t make sense now. Why would you keep an owner of a pet from entering a clinic with their pet? Why wouldn’t they want to minimize the anxiety pets feel just by being there, let alone (in most cases) the car ride there?

Let’s be honest, a vet clinic isn’t a “healthcare facility”. Sure, it is for pets but they don’t wear face masks so making pet owners wear face masks while it is literally them and possibly another person or two in the room is ridiculous.

Anyone else found this regulation highly unusual?

Just figures

Posted on February 22, 2023 by backuphill

I only work from the office two days a week, in most cases. The other three days a week are at home and I really like those days. Because of the holiday this week, I telecommuted yesterday and only have to be in the office today.

It also happens to be a terrible weather day. The temp is not going to get above 35 degrees or so, and it is snowing outside.

The commute this morning started off OK, but the farther I drove south from home towards the office, the worse the roads got. At one point along the commute, it felt like a full on blizzard (it wasn’t, but felt that way). The area around the office wasn’t as bad, but it keeps snowing here off and on which means it likely is still doing it up north.

Just figures, the one day I am in the office this week is the worst commute weather. Because the temp isn’t going to go up much, whatever falls outta the sky will likely be stuck and compacted to the roadway, making the trek home more than an adventure. I am not worried about my driving skills, just the others on the roadway.

Just figures. This “go to the office” stuff…I’m over it.

Repeated conversations

Posted on February 17, 2023 by backuphill

Don’t you just hate repeating yourself? I seriously dislike having conversations that have been repeated over and over, like they are on “Repeat” or “Play Again” or “Restart” or “Remind” or whatever. Whether they are at work or at home, with a relative or a co-worker or even a client. I hate having to repeat something over and over.

Like, were you listening the first time? Did you hear what was said? Did you not get it or are you purposely just disregarding what we have talked about in the past.

Do you have a limit for how many times you will repeat yourself or do you just keep doing it? Do you have consequences for the person if you keep having to have the same conversation over and over again?

What do you think? Are you the repeater or the person who keeps need to be repeated to? How do you like these conversations?

Burned bridges

Posted on January 25, 2023 by backuphill

Well, the time has finally come and home is no longer a dreaded place. The subject of many of the rants on this blog has now burned a bridge and there is no chance of home turning into a place of total turmoil again (well, there is a large caviat to that I guess. More on that later.) It’s tough to go all the way back in time and cover all the ground that could be covered to properly put this whole thing into perspective, but that would be a lot of work and I am not sure you all care that much to have a complete picture. If you have been around the blog for a while, you can probably put things together with just the few posts mentioned here today.

I have tried to help those who couldn’t help themselves. I have been trying for many years and it finally came to a head this last weekend. The trouble with this is again that it is self-inflicted and someone thinks, yet again, they are the vicitim. Really, it is by choice and being unwilling to take any advice. Unfortunately, it’s the five grandchildren that will suffer the most.

When my step-son and his five kids were allowed to move in back in November there was hope that maybe there would be some changes in their lives that would lead to a postive outcome (and it might still but seeing that at this point is hard to imagine). Things that have been discussed here previously (see above as well as the following) was about wasted food, not parenting the grandchildren, and the outright disregard for sanity in parenting.

It finally all came to a head last Saturday.

The night before (Friday) by son had been up a large ortion of the night with the youngest grandchild because she was sick. As requested, he let us know he needed more sleep (he requested an hour) and we agreed to take over childcare duties so he could get some sleep. That request was abused and turned into four hours.

As a result, the five grandchildren were left in our care and we did everything we could to keep them occupied, busy, loved, dressed, fed, and entertained. We kept them from going in to wake their dad, even though he totally went beyond the time requested and agreed upon. At one point in the morning, the second oldest (age 6) got a little too rambunctious with the middle child (age 4) and repeated hit him “accidentally.” The 6-year old had been warned repeatedly and was asked at one point to stay on his bunk bed as a time out until he was released. Again, there was unusual noise and I checked on the commotion…the 6-year old was on the floor wrestling the 4-year old, having him pinned below him and him crying. I took one step into the room, delived a single swat to the backside of the 6-year old with my hand, which sent him crying back to his bunk.

He and I chatted about the incident not five minutes later and he admitted that he disobeyed, that he was playing too rough with his sibling, and that he hadn’t “accidentally” hit his sibling either. He went to far as to admit that he deserved the swat. He was back to playing and didn’t cause any other issues the rest of the day.

UNTIL. Until, he skipped into the room while his dad was making dinner and blurted out, “Grandpa hit me.”

I was there. He’s six, so his recollection of the events and why he got the swat weren’t entirely accurate. My son then proceeded to say, “Stop hitting my kids.”

Long story short, the discussion after that point corrected the events as told by the 6-year old, involved a threat of calling the police if I continued to discipline the children in a way that he didn’t agree with, and an ultimatum that said they’d move out if I (well, we, because my wife has spanked them too) didn’t bend to his parenting style, which includes the lack of discipline.

Mind you, he has virtually no place to go except one friend’s house which is not ideal for any of them.

So, I recommended finding a new place to stay since I was not going to do what he wanted me to do.

My wife and I had already had the discussion that this would likely come up again. There was a blow up about it a week prior where he basically packed up the kids with no coats, no socks, no shoes, and no food, and left the house for about 12 hours. We were clear when he left the first time that nothing on our part would change since we love the grandchildren and we are constanly having to step in to pick up the slack. We had the agonizing discussion that the threat of law enforcement would eventually be used and how we would respond to it…the conclusion was that we would ask that they move out, knowing full well that that wouldn’t be the best thing for the grandkids considering the turmoil they have endured over the last several years. But, we also knew he would refuse to leave them behind with us.

At this point, they haven’t returned. As far as we are concerned, he has burned his bridges with us. We, his mom and I, have been there and picked up the pieces enough. We love our grandkids, but for him we are done. If it really comes down to it, we will take the grandkids back to live in our house but he will not be welcome.

A tough decision, but we see no other way around it. We aren’t going have someone (even our son) threaten us and force us into living and “grandparenting” into a style we believe is wrong.

Home is more peaceful these days. It sucks considering what our grandkids are going through.

But, we couldn’t be held hostage in our own home either.

Totally obvious

Posted on January 20, 2023 by backuphill

I got to thinking (I know, kinda dangerous). The other day I totally went off the other day about bad parenting and what I thought was bad parenting, because I watch it happen every day right before my eyes. I have been reading some posts on another blog that basically takes info from polls and puts them into an article summarizing the thoughts of others. So, why not try that here?

So, let’s start with what I posted the other day as the basis. Respond in the comments and let me (and others) know what you think.

What two things make it totally obvious that a parent has no idea what they are doing or is just simply a bad parent?