Life | Piss and Moan

Cruise control

Posted on August 16, 2022 by backuphill

Do you use cruise control in your vehicle when you are on a long drive? Do you like to set it and forget it…until some jackwagon decides that pacing you in your blind spot is a good idea and then you have to cancel your cruise by stepping on your brake?

You know it is inevitable, right? Is that Murphy’s Law or is that bad karma or is it just a coincidence?

I took a road trip this last weekend (12 hours total driving time) and I noticed that just about every time I set the cruise control (about 7-8 mph over the speed limit, mind you) that within about 10 minutes I would have to step on the brake and cancel it.

I was driving across the state, on the east side, where there are long stretches of nothing. It’s just highway – long, flat, some rolly hills, but mostly uninteresting. You would think it would be a great place to just set the cruise control and just drive.

Nope.

Seemingly without fail, about the time I would need to pass someone on the left there would be a car pacing me, in my blind spot, and not allowing me to change lanes.

It’s almost as if they were doing it on purpose. Miles and miles and miles of unobstructed driving until that moment.

And instead of recognizing what is about to happen in front of or next to them and speeding up just a little so as to not have to slow down themselves, they just keep their own pace and make me break mine. Jackwagon.

Do people realize you can step on the gas while cruise control is on and speed up and it DOES NOT cancel your cruis control or change your speed? No need to reset it. No need to click Resume. The vehicle just returns to the speed you set it for. Kinda like magic.

But instead, it would appear people like to annoy the hell outta me (and probably others too).

That just figures.

What choice?

Posted on August 11, 2022 by backuphill

Photo by u0412u0430u0440u0432u0430u0440u0430 u041au0443u0440u043eu0447u043au0438u043du0430 on Pexels.com

Choice #1 = crap; Choice #2 = bigger crap

There are a lot of situations in life where you just don’t feel like you have a choice. Of course, it is presented to you as though you have a choice in the matter but you know dang well after hearing “the choices” that there isn’t really a choice.

Don’t you just hate it when someone thinks they have a great idea and you just hate it but they tell you about it expecting you to think its a great idea too and then you have no choice but to go along with it because if you don’t then you know dang well you’ll catch hell for however long they decide you get to catch hell?

Why do I keep having this happen? Well, because someone in my life thinks they are helping someone else when all they are really doing is making things worse. Surprise!

Can’t win if you do (because the idea makes things more complicated and is potentially can make things worse) and I can’t win if I don’t (because someone thinks their idea is the best and telling them “No” will only make things worse in the relationship).

Rock || between || hard place

Don’t you just hate it…?

Dream life?

Posted on August 8, 2022 by backuphill

I was scrolling through the news this morning and I found an article that pretty much summed up what I think would be a dreamy life. I would love to abandon nearly everything and become a digital nomad like the dude highlighted in this story.

I would like to travel. I would like to live different stints in various parts of the world. I would like to have places to call “home” but have the means to explore. I would love to not worry about finances for the day to day things (granted, his monthly income is more than most). I would love to be that digital nomad so that I could work from anywhere in the world, whenever I need to or wanted to. I would like have the luxurious, simple life. Plain and simple, this guy’s situation seems perfect.

Let’s talk about the income though. He lives on about $8k a month. Would it be possible to live a luxurious life on say $6k a month? Probably. Obviously it’s about choices. But the extra $2k ups the game on not having to worry about making the wrong choices…LOL

I mean, really? Does anyone else want a dream life like this?

Locked out

Posted on August 2, 2022 by backuphill

Buying a car from an auto dealership and using the service department is one of the biggest jokes that can be played on a consumer. They tell you when you buy the car that you have a warranty, you have lifetime oil changes, you have access to loaner cars if needed…they tell you a lot of things.

What they don’t tell you is that they are severely understaffed (which has only gotten worse). What they don’t tell you is that their service department hours are limited to the hours you are working (no weekends), so it makes it virtually impossible to schedule even routine maintenance without having to take time off. What they don’t tell you is that they don’t really have loaner cars, just that they will get a rental for you IF they deem it necessary.

So, the long story…

I bought a 2018 Kia Niro almost four years ago. I like the car. I really haven’t had any issues with it up to this point. But, the routine maintenance has been a challenge for the reasons listed above. It’s just hard to schedule an appointment.

About three or so months ago, the car started to give me issues when unlocking the car. Initially, the car wouldn’t recognize when I walked up to it (mirrors open and lights come on). The keyfob is the trigger for this function so I started keeping my eye on how often it would happen. It slowly began to progress to the point that pushing the button on the keyfob wouldn’t unlock the car. Pushing the button on the door handle wouldn’t unlock the car. Eventually, after pushing the buttons for several minutes, it would eventually unlock.

It did what most people would do and I assumed the battery in the keyfob was going dead. Afterall, it’s been four years with lots of use. I was actually surprised it took so long for it to be needed. So, I replaced the battery.

Did is solve the issues? Nope. It seemed to have made them worse.

Not only was it still difficult to get the doors unlocked, but now suddenly the car wouldn’t start! The car is a push button start, so there is no auxillary ignition slot for a key. Now I was getting a message that the keyfob needed to be in the car – while I was holding it while inside the car! Again, after furious button pushing, eventually it would start. But now I am wondering when I would be stranded for good if something didn’t happen soon…

So, I took the car to the dealership (last Wednesday) to see if they knew if there as an issue that was something fairly easy. They initially discussed that the keyfob might need to be reprogrammed to the car.

Cost? Approximately $75…

Mind you, there is NO OTHER WAY to start the car as there is no key. The keyfob is the key!! So, it is kinda required equipment. To charge a customer for this is absurd!

I complained loudly. The car is even still under warranty. There should be no charge for this!

They decided they better investigate further and find out if that really is the issue. So, an appointment is needed. Remember the whole schedule thing? Can’t do it and I am afraid I am going to be stranded. Soonest they could get me in would be five days (a Monday) because their “electronics guy” is out for training. They offer to pay for a rental while I wait for the car to be looked at.

OK, I supposed. Whatever.

Monday comes, no call from the dealership.

I call. I am told they are too busy to look for the paperwork, they’ll call me back. Two hours later, I call back. I am now told that the car wasn’t looked at and that the “appointment” wasn’t really an appointment so much as they were going to see if they could squeeze me in. I am told they will for sure get to it tomorrow…Tuesday…as yet, still no call with a status update.

Are car dealerships set up this way just to be a pain in the ass? Does everyone else have an issue with their car dealership after purchasing a car?

Life distracted

Posted on August 1, 2022 by backuphill

If you have been following along for any time, or have gone back and read some of the old stuff, you know that I have a family member who has a mystery illness that has yet to be figured out. Specialists have looked and they basically have shrugged and said, “Not my system. Check with someone else.” When they are pointing their figers at another bodily system, which leaves us with a bunch of docs point at each other, what does that leave us to do?

We start over, I guess.

Wednesday of last week was spend (at least most of it) in an ER some 50+ miles away. Part of that was to push a referral process along and part of it was the fact that the ER/hospital is not only approved by insurance but is connect to or works closely with the specialist with the insurance parent company/clinic.

Confusing, right?

Anyway, ER time equals overnight observation and a test that hadn’t been done yet but which we has pushed for with the first specialist. Thursday was mostly spend waiting for a test and then waiting for results. As it turns out, that test revealed nothing other than everything appears to be “normal.”

Yet the doctors that have seen the family memeber agree there is definitely something wrong.

I am at work today but needless to say, I am distracted. It’s been that way since this all started. Hard to focus. Hard to get stuff done.

Actually, it’s hard to do anything in life really. I am constantly reminded or thinking of something than whatever I am doing. I am find that I don’t really enjoy anything because I am always thinking about the other person. They don’t enjoy anything because they can’t physically do it or when they try they suffer the whole time they endure it.

Endure it.

Really, that’s what life has become. Everything is about enduring every activity, interaction, location, meal, or socialization.

Normal doesn’t feel possible any longer.

Ghost power

Posted on July 21, 2022 by backuphill

Weird thing occured today. I am working away in my home office (aka the garage) when I notice something out of the corner of my eye that isn’t right…

Sitting on a shelf to my right is a Lighthouse 400 lantern made by Goal Zero. I have had a couple years and have used is less that a handful of times. I bought it from someone who received it as a gift and didn’t want it. It was in the sealed original packaging when I picked it up.

It caught my attention because it was on, while sitting on the shelf.

It wasn’t that way when I started work this morning.

It caught my attention in my periphial vision because it was blinking slightly and then just came on.

Now, mind you, the power switch for the lantern is not on. It hasn’t been powered on. As it sits next to me now, it is in the off position.

I can turn the lantern on to the right to use both LED lights and return it to the off position. The light stays on. I can turn the lantern on to the left and use only one of the LED lights and return it to the off position. The light stays on.

I have no idea what is going on.

I searched the internet to see if someone else has had a similar issue. I only found one instance and it was a different model and it was after the person had physically turned on the lantern themselves.

So bizarre.

I have contacted the company but haven’t heard back yet.

For now, I am going to leave the thing on an open concrete floor in the garage in case it decides to set itself on fire too…

Trust the process

Posted on July 19, 2022 by backuphill

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Such a damn cliche. I get tired of hearing it thrown out there when stuff doesn’t go right and it hits the fan….

For me, I trust that the process is screwed and someone is going to have to fix or clean all this crap up.

Can you really trust the process when you saw and predicted the train wreck that follows?

I don’t hate being right, but damn if my track record isn’t near perfect.

Don’t use this phrase. Ever. Seriously.

No longer

Posted on July 18, 2022 by backuphill

I awoke this morning to an email that made me pause for a moment. I knew the moment was coming. I have for a while, of course, but actually seeing it there in print made me pause and contemplate the past. A stage in my life is truly over and going back isn’t an option (at least not an easy one).

This morning I had the official notification via email from OSPI (Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction) that my teaching certificate is now officially expired.

Again, I knew this day would be coming for seven years (well, nearly 7…in a little over a month it will be 7 years since I left the classroom). It has been in the back of my mind and occasionally I would get reminded when I would glance at my National Board Certification. The expiration date was right there on the bottom – June 30, 2022. My state teaching certificate was tied to that because the National Board Certification linked the two and extended the state expiration date.

I am no longer a teacher.

It’s hard to say that. There was a lot of time, money, and effort tied to that part of my identity. Of course, I haven’t been a classroom teacher for nearly seven years, but to actually have that part of my life come to an official end (there was always that “open door” to go back) is a little surreal. I loved my subject and I really liked teaching students about it. I didn’t like all the time and politics related to the job.

I am happy with where I am now, don’t get me wrong. However, officially letting go of that part of me is surprisingly more emotional than I thought it would be.

I will always be a teacher, just not a classroom teacher. I guess I have to remember that. I still teach people in education about the software they use. I still teach teachers about the software they use to track student progress. It’s just a different kind of teaching.

Bucket of poo

Posted on July 14, 2022 by backuphill

Well, well, well….this probably falls into the TMI category, but you get to take a look through the window of poop testing. Actually not really “probably,” it does fall into the TMI category but I am wondering if others have had a similar frustration while trying to poop in a bucket for health reasons.

A while back I was notified by the insurance company that I needed to have my colon checked because I turned 50 this year. I made the appointment with my doc and we discussed the options. Basically, there are three ways to do this: every year I can smear some poop on a strip of paper and send it in, or every six years I can poop in a bucket for Cologuard, or I can go the route of every 10 years having an up close and personal inspection of my colon via the colonoscopy. Three options that vary in invasiveness but all get the job done. I went with the second option, poop in a bucket.

Honestly, I didnt’ think it was going to be that big a deal. What I have learned is there is a huge marketing campaign (bigger than just the tv commericials) behind the behind investigation. The paperwork was filled out and short thereafter I started receiving snail mail about the test, emails about the test, text messages about the test, and voicemail messages about the test. Eventually the test showed up and about every 4-7 days I would get a text reminder that I needed to complete the test and send it in.

When I finally felt that I could complete it I read the instructions and went through the uncomfortable process of getting the bucket in the toilet and then making sure my aim was good enough to not make a mess. I completed the test, took the box to a UPS drop off place to make sure it was Next Day Air shipped as required.

Not long after I got a voicemail saying that my sample was not accepted and that I would have to do it again. No reasons given, just call them to have it sent again. Perplexing…

When I called to have another one shipped, I asked why it wasn’t accepted. I figured maybe it didn’t make it there on time. Nope, not the reason. The reason was because “the sample was too heavy.” My assumption is that the sample was too big – apparently they weigh it before testing it and if it is too heavy they just toss it. SMH….never mind the fact that the sample done correctly other than there was “too much.” And you’re telling me that it is completely unusable because there is too much???

Um, are you aware that pooping isn’t a start and stop kind of event? Basically, they want you to poop a little, stop, remove the bucket from the toilet, and then continue pooping. Yeah, about that….WHO DOES THEIR POOPING IN STAGES? Or, I guess the alternative would be to find some kind of utensil to dig around in the bucket to remove excess poo to deposit it into the toilet. Nothing like inspecting your poo before shipping off a bucket of it…

Anyway, there is now another box with a bucket sitting next to the toilet waiting for me to have “just the right size” “movement” to fulfill all their requirements.

Anyone else been frustrated with the requirements of the Cologuard sample process?

Bottom flavors

Posted on June 28, 2022 by backuphill

https://www.dairyqueen.com/en-us/menu/treats/

OK, first world problem here….but dang it already, something needs to be done about this!

Raise your hand if you have gone to Dairy Queen and ordered a Blizzard of your favorite flavor. My favorite flavor happens to be Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, but that isn’t really the point here. In this case I am going to Piss and Moan about, I ordered the new Drumstick with Peanuts flavor. Again, that is not really the point here.

The REAL point here is that when you order a Blizzard and you are enjoying it because of all the tasty flavor pieces in the ice cream is just awesome, only to get to the bottom of the Blizzard and find no flavor whatsoever. NONE! Two-thirds of the Blizzard cup is a great blend of vanilla ice cream and whatever flavor you ordered, but the bottom third of the cup is just plain vanilla ice cream.

This is rather irritating. No, not rather, it is very irritating.

I want flavor ALL THE WAY to the bottom.

This can’t be that hard of a thing to do. Seriously, DQ, get it right.

Put a scoop of flavor on the bottom of the cup, put in some ice cream, another layer of flavor, more ice cream, final layer of flavor. Mix.

See how easy that would be to solve this seriously tasteless bottom of the Blizzard issue? Who the heck is over there in the corporate offices letting this happen? I am sure it has been an issue for years and years, so why haven’t they solved it? I’ll tell you why. Because they don’t care. People still buy the things and the outrage hasn’t been enough to make them listen.

It’s time to boycott Blizzards and DQ until they fix this. No more. It’s the 21st century and technology exists to fix it. It has to be possible.

Boycott Blizzards and DQ.

Tweet it on Twitter. Tik Tok it. Post it on social media everywhere. Gram it on Instagram. Make a story on your choice of social media.

Make it go viral.

That’s the only way they will listen.