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Rant Thread - What really grinds your gears?

My department-head insists that my shop be a 24-hour operation.

Then sends the one guy who has no backup out on week-long jobs.

He won't hire any extra help. Then complains when our numbers are messed up.

Morale is good. :rolleyes:
 
My Rant for This Week is...

What is with all of the recent fascination with this stupid Summer League Basketball!

Seriously, until this summer, I have no memory of anyone being interested in basketball during the summer (except for the Olympic years).

I just don't understand the fascination with it.
 
Idiots!

I am driving earlier, come up to a 4 way stop sign, my turn comes up, I go. As I am halfway through the intersection, Einstein and his brilliant wife come jogging straight into my path. Didn't bother to watch for 2 ton vehicles. Had to come to a stop right in the middle of the road.
 
Basketball is popular since:

You don't need much room to play it, and almost every school yard and park has a hoop somewhere. You need a ball and time.
 
zuben el genub said:
Basketball is popular since:

You don't need much room to play it, and almost every school yard and park has a hoop somewhere. You need a ball and time.
Click to expand...
Very popular in China. Every school, college and uni has a space and plenty of hoops. Far more likely to see students playing basketball in their spare time than any other game. Football/soccer is quite popular, but kids are far more likely to be playing basketball. If anyone is playing golf, it's usually a sign they got too much money.

India they play a lot of cricket, on the streets, everywhere, but never see it at all here, nor baseball either.
 
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zuben el genub said:
Basketball is popular since:

You don't need much room to play it, and almost every school yard and park has a hoop somewhere. You need a ball and time.
Click to expand...
Heck in my country all you need is pavement. They even put hoops beside roads, and use the road as a half court, complete with markings. Especially little used side streets and in private communities.
 
An observation more so than a rant:

Today, a few minutes ago while coming home from a doctor's visit:

Passing an on-ramp I see a car coming up, I move to the left inside lane and leave the merge lane open.
That car just keeps right on coming over into my lane, and is only about 6 feet further ahead than I am.

Hit the horn and hold it down. No reaction to that at all.

Hit the brakes? or floor it and get out of the way?
I chose the brakes.

Later, she passes the vehicle in the right lane, and I move up cautiously to see the driver up close.
In this instance, it was a woman of about 60-70 barely able to see thru, or above the steering wheel.

Her glasses are thick enough to be magnifying glasses... The lenses were really thick as I could easily see the lenses from the side at 90* to her.

She never, ever, looked right or left, or moved her head in any direction except straight ahead thru that steering wheel.



It just reiterates what we all know, you must be aware of your surroundings, and "give the right away" away....
 
AZgl1500 said:
An observation more so than a rant:

Today, a few minutes ago while coming home from a doctor's visit:

Passing an on-ramp I see a car coming up, I move to the left inside lane and leave the merge lane open.
That car just keeps right on coming over into my lane, and is only about 6 feet further ahead than I am.

Hit the horn and hold it down. No reaction to that at all.

Hit the brakes? or floor it and get out of the way?
I chose the brakes.

Later, she passes the vehicle in the right lane, and I move up cautiously to see the driver up close.
In this instance, it was a woman of about 60-70 barely able to see thru, or above the steering wheel.

Her glasses are thick enough to be magnifying glasses... The lenses were really thick as I could easily see the lenses from the side at 90* to her.

She never, ever, looked right or left, or moved her head in any direction except straight ahead thru that steering wheel.



It just reiterates what we all know, you must be aware of your surroundings, and "give the right away" away....
Click to expand...
We called then Q-tips back home... 'Cause all could see through the back window is a tuft of white.

Though usually they were crawling at 40mph down the middle lane of the highway.
 
AZgl1500 said:
It just reiterates what we all know, you must be aware of your surroundings, and "give the right away" away....
Click to expand...
Very true, at both the individual level, as well as the bigger "life" level......(Gracious, life is complicated!)
She was young, independent, and undoubtedly competent behind the wheel once; Very hard for her to let that go, very hard to tell someone it's time to do so... Imagine I'll be pretty resistant, when it comes time for someone to have "the talk" with me. She is largely (but not entirely) to be forgiven;

By the time he passed away, my grandfather was several years beyond the point where he should have been driving...But that didn't stop the friendly dealers at the local Ford agency from selling him a new car literally every three months, for a year or so. Very kind of them to graciously accept the previous creampuff in trade, and set him up with "exactly" what he needed each time. Again and again, without asking any unnecessary questions. But that's another rant entirely. At least the dealers at the local BMW motorcycle shop were a bit more scrupulous when that same 86 year old, 98 pound gentleman shuffled in and wanted to try on a new K-100 for size.
Like the woman in the story posted above, Grandpa definitely wasn't always old...In the 1950's he had a series of Jaguar XK's. In the mid 1960's, he gave very serious consideration to purchasing a brand new Shelby Cobra. It was very tempting, but with two young daughters and a wife to consider, it seemed (a little) impractical. So he settled instead on a brand new Mustang, in the sexy "fastback" body variant....Just the right compromise, to keep everyone (just) happy enough;) He would (regrettably) "upgrade" to another new Mustang 20+ years later, the old one still in nearly showroom condition, a pattern which repeated. It speaks volumes about his character; Very mild mannered and responsible, meticulously careful, never reckless, but highly enthusiastic about driving. It was a very bitter, but necessary pill to choke down when it was time to give it up.
As (yet another) aside:rolleyes:: When I was nearing driving age, they toyed with the idea of giving me the old fastback.....As clean as it was, it seemed very old to me at the time, and I was much more interested in rusty old Alfa Romeos...missed a real opportunity. Also, Mom didn't want me to have it; I hadn't "earned my wings" yet, who knows what kind of trouble I might have gotten into, who I might have hurt in that car. And speaking of missed opportunities for us all; The idea that a Cobra could potentially have been my first car would have had even less appeal for me at the time....But if it had been as well cared for as the Mustang, and mine today... **insert/HomerSimpsonheaddroopandeyerollanddrool AUGHHHHH**

Deteriorating driving skills are one thing; They place us all in jeopardy, but are not wanton acts; Much like inexperience on the other end. At least my family recognized the problems, took gentle action, and no one was ever hurt. Not all families are as responsible.

My first job was as a "pump jockey". A service station attendant in the last dying days of "bell cords" and "full serve", dispensing high octane leaded gas from analog pumps. (The kind of pumps that were not even capable of computing prices over 99 cents per gallon, because... "Why would you build them to go that high in the first place?")
I still remember one customer in particular, she came in every few weeks for a fill up. As tiny, frail and unsteady as you could imagine, her family was long overdue to have "the talk" with her, but she kept coming back. She drove a late '70's era full size Chevy sedan. Those of you familiar with GM products of the day will remember how the ignition key would be inserted into the lock cylinder, and the entire cylinder would be rotated to start the car, fingers bearing on a pair of "wings" cast into the face of the cylinder body. (I assume) it was some caring member of her family who had permanently installed the key in the lock body, and then hose clamped a ball point pen to the "wings", giving her just enough leverage to muscle the key to the "start" position. With a now full tank, she would slowly and deliberately work the pen like it were the handle of a slot machine, creep slowly out into traffic, and "roll the dice", obviously gambling with all of our lives. What could I do but shake my head and hope for the best?
There are certainly times when the "right of way" is pretty meaningless; Far more important is the reality of the moment. One may have the right of way, and be traveling the posted speed limit, but if a kid on a bike bursts out into the street from between two cars, what will you say when you hit him? "Sorry your 5 year old is dead, but I had the right of way, and he should have known better."?

Fortunately, we are only days away from being relieved of all that responsibility; The cars will drive themselves, and the software will decide who has the right of way. :)and:mad:
 
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