Piss and Moan

Moss knows no bounds

Posted on August 8, 2018 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 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.

Transaction fees are not my friend

Posted on August 3, 2018 by backuphill

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 August 2, 2018 by backuphill

https://www.lifeandstylemag.com/posts/tyra-banks-agt-137111

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

Traffic sucks because you’re stupid

Posted on August 1, 2018 by backuphill

red and yellow hatchback axa crash tests

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

You know, if you are stuck in a traffic jam because of an earlier accident, maybe you should not tailgate people and pay attention to what is going on around you so you don’t smash the bumper in front of you and cause other people to slow down to see what is going on…just a hint. STOP IT!

I’ll be damned if you people can’t keep from bashing into each other! Holy crap, people, stop screwing up traffic! You morons drive the same route every day and you know what traffic is gonna be like so stop doing stuff that is going to mess it up for everyone.

Stop reading the newspaper. Stop looking at your phone. Stop sending texts. Stop making phone calls. Stop eating. Stop drinking. Stop doing your nails. Stop putting on your makeup. Stop picking your nose. Stop doing your hair. Stop playing with the radio. Stop yelling at your kids. Stop smoking. Stop stop stop.

We spend enough time sitting in our cars, we don’t need you making it worse on a daily basis.

34 days of Piss & Moan

Posted on July 31, 2018 by backuphill

I started this blog 34 days ago.

In that time I have pissed and moaned about something for 33 of those days (I missed one day because I ran out of time to write one before I went on vacation). Is it weird that I can find at least one thing a day to complain about?

Anyway, during the course of the last month (+/-), I have had 41 “followers” follow. Most of them are spam since they are just trying to sell me a product or push their “get rich quick” scheme on the internet.

Thanks for nothing people. Thanks for all the love you can’t muster. I appreciate it. Just for that, I am going to Piss & Moan about YOU today…or is it the lack of you?? Are there really not more people out there that can identify or relate to my pissing and moaning? Does no one else have something to complain about?

Well, I am just gonna keep on keeping on. Eventually you’ll all see this is going to be a great place to lodge a complaint about something. You just wait and see.

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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.

Lunchroom litter

Posted on July 28, 2018 by backuphill

Why does there need to be 90 (ok, exaggeration) old magazines in the lunchroom? Why do they need to be spread out on the table like a bad potluck of 12 different kinds of spaghetti? This isn’t a dumping ground for your magazines and flyers.

Why doesn’t someone get rid of these things and just move on? Better yet, if I just tossed them would anyone mind?

#smh