So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[Harp]

Last nite I decided to forgo ordering ribs and instead polished off the last of the tuna fish.
A can of Bumble Bee albacore, and a pickup earlier this week of Chicken of the Sea ($1.79 at Amazon Fresh)
with mayo, saltines, water. Cleaned out both cans like a Viet Cong discard. I was taught that Charlie,
("Mister Charles Cong to you, boy...") liked canned tuna, and would use the oil to grease his rifle.
If he cleaned out the can completely, he was away from his base camp; but a few tell tale fish slivers
and oil residue indicated he was close to home. Charles' weight could be discerned by depth of sandal
print...I digress, pologizze. A rare Sunday frivolity, cruisin the Net and pretending I do not have a briefcase
to read through before tomorrow.

 

[Zombie_61]

Keys, good god, I sometimes feel like a janitor...

Last nite I decided to forgo ordering ribs and instead polished off the last of the tuna fish...

Wow. Reading these two posts back-to-back triggered a memory I haven't thought of for years. While I was growing up my Dad worked for Pan Pacific Fisheries on Terminal Island here in southern California. At the time Pan Pacific was considered to be the most modern, state-of-the-art cannery in the U.S., processing freshly-caught tuna for human and pet consumption. I'm not sure Dad ever actually had a title, but he was what would probably be called a "Production Manager" today--he oversaw every step of the operation from the boats going out to catch the fish to the trucks delivering the cooked, canned, labeled, and boxed final product. As such, he carried four sizable key rings with him every day at work; he literally had a key to every lock on the property except for those on the doors of the bosses' offices.

 

[tonyb]

Speaking of pants pockets …

Way back in my misspent youth, not too many years after taking up
cigarettes, I acquired a Zippo lighter. When fully fueled, the thing left a mild(ish) rash on my upper thigh, where the pocket made contact.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A wonderful way to start a Sunday -- waking up to a phone call warning that your debit card has been hacked by some guy in India to the tune of $600. Fortunately, when you only have $82 in your account, the bank tends to notice such a withdrawal.

Injury meet insult: the bank says they'll send my new card in "3 to 5 days" unless I'm willing to pay $25 for "expedited delivery." That's OK, I won't have any money until Wednesday anyway, so the card won't do me much good until then...

As for tuna fish, I have made many a satisfying meal out of tuna eaten out of the can with a fork. I only have to remember to do this at work, and not at home, or I'll come out on the wrong side of a very persistent cat.

 

[Harp]

^^^ditto tuna eaten straight from the can; beans; corn beef hash; sardines,
all easily sate my plebeian palate. Being Irish, I also shave potato, peeled dry, knife to mouth.

Today turned out a lazy Sunday. Considered grocery visit, instead ordered pork chops from a local
Irish pub...because of Covid upending normal routine I stopped attending Mass when the Archdiocese
closed churches. Chicago is beginning to reopen, and I need to cease my heathen ways.

 

[Zombie_61]

Speaking of pants pockets …

Way back in my misspent youth, not too many years after taking up
cigarettes, I acquired a Zippo lighter. When fully fueled, the thing left a mild(ish) rash on my upper thigh, where the pocket made contact.

I had the same thing happen a time or five--overfill a Zippo that you carry in your pocket, and you too can experience a mild chemical burn on your thigh. I finally surrendered and bought a specially made Zippo carrying pouch, made out of leather and had a belt loop on the back.

 

[Hercule]

I may be crazy but I think Zippo lighters have a very distinctive smell about them. Probably a combination of the lighter fluid and (reacting with?) the metal of the lighter itself (if metal can have a smell). Regardless, I somehow have a fond memory of it from my childhood. I had a fun aunt who was a heavy smoker and remember her using a Zippo. She was the aunt who spoiled us. One Christmas eve she babysat the 4 of us kids so my folks could go to church. We were all just about under 10, the oldest maybe a bit older, and beer and pizza sure did the trick. That was the 60s.

 

[WonkyBloke]

Rotations.

This is completely petty, utterly irrational, and on every logical level, I should be able to just accept that some folks use this word differently than I do. Yet, I can't. I can do it with plenty of other words, but not this. It's one of those things that really grates on me, WAY more than is even close to reasonable. It's a very common word on the internet, and seems to be used by almost anybody who has more than one thing, that only needs using one at a time. Hats, pens, watches, bicycles, colognes, they all seem to be in a rotation..... aaarghhhh!!!

To me, if there are ten hats in a rotation, you wear hat number one first. Irrespective if it matches the rest of the garb worn that day, or even the weather outside. The next day, you wear hat two. Again, clothing and weather is irrelevant. This hat is second in the rotation, and so it absolutely must be worn next. On the tenth day, hat number ten is worn, and on the eleventh, it's back to hat number one.

Anything else, is NOT a rotation.

My house has a front door, and a back door. I do not have a rotation of doors. Nor do the four mirrors in my house constitute a "rotation". I just use each one as and when it is appropriate to do so. I have four chairs at my dining table, and only put my arse on one at any time. I have multiple knives and forks that I eat with, off multiple pieces of crockery. I have more than one book on the shelf, and several comfortable options of where to sit and read them. Multiple hairbrushes, numerous clothing combinations, and a fair few pots and pans. None of these are in rotation. Neither are my hats. If I need a hat, I go get a hat. If I need a pen, I reach for a pen. I pick whichever suits my needs at the time.

Some people even go as far as to have a "rotation" which isn't even everything they own. They may have thirty of something, lets say neck ties, but only ten are "in rotation". Then periodically, they declare three of those items out of the "rotation" and another three in. What? You have thirty ties, go pick one and wear it, for crying out loud. Why in the name of sanity have you got thirty, if you're only going to limit yourself to ten of them? If you are actually happy with having thirty of them, why on earth have you suddenly declared that twenty of them cannot be worn this week? Yes, some "rotations" even come with defined time frames too, just to intensify the pointlessness. And then after all that, they still don't use them in rotation!!! They still pick whatever the heck they want, but from a needlessly rationed subset of everything they've paid good money for, and are inanely proud of accumulating. Absolutely no hint of a rotational system being used anywhere, just a self-imposed limitation of choice for no discernible reason, other than having something to point at, when someone else who has a "rotation" that isn't a rotation either, asks what their rotation is.

Why on earth that word boils my blood so much, is a complete mystery to me. Yet every time I see it being used (thankfully, I don't hear in in person, or I don't think I'd ever leave the house), I want to punch my computer.

 

[Touchofevil]

A common complaint from me, the unmowed lawn. Don’t live in a house if you don’t want the upkeep. Too many people in the neighborhood mowing every month instead of weekly or every other week.

 

[Harp]

Rotations.

This is completely petty, utterly irrational, and on every logical level, I should be able to just accept that some folks use this word differently than I do. Yet, I can't. I can do it with plenty of other words, but not this. It's one of those things that really grates on me, WAY more than is even close to reasonable. It's a very common word on the internet, and seems to be used by almost anybody who has more than one thing, that only needs using one at a time. Hats, pens, watches, bicycles, colognes, they all seem to be in a rotation..... aaarghhhh!!!

To me, if there are ten hats in a rotation, you wear hat number one first. Irrespective if it matches the rest of the garb worn that day, or even the weather outside. The next day, you wear hat two. Again, clothing and weather is irrelevant. This hat is second in the rotation, and so it absolutely must be worn next. On the tenth day, hat number ten is worn, and on the eleventh, it's back to hat number one.

Anything else, is NOT a rotation.

My house has a front door, and a back door. I do not have a rotation of doors. Nor do the four mirrors in my house constitute a "rotation". I just use each one as and when it is appropriate to do so. I have four chairs at my dining table, and only put my arse on one at any time. I have multiple knives and forks that I eat with, off multiple pieces of crockery. I have more than one book on the shelf, and several comfortable options of where to sit and read them. Multiple hairbrushes, numerous clothing combinations, and a fair few pots and pans. None of these are in rotation. Neither are my hats. If I need a hat, I go get a hat. If I need a pen, I reach for a pen. I pick whichever suits my needs at the time.

Some people even go as far as to have a "rotation" which isn't even everything they own. They may have thirty of something, lets say neck ties, but only ten are "in rotation". Then periodically, they declare three of those items out of the "rotation" and another three in. What? You have thirty ties, go pick one and wear it, for crying out loud. Why in the name of sanity have you got thirty, if you're only going to limit yourself to ten of them? If you are actually happy with having thirty of them, why on earth have you suddenly declared that twenty of them cannot be worn this week? Yes, some "rotations" even come with defined time frames too, just to intensify the pointlessness. And then after all that, they still don't use them in rotation!!! They still pick whatever the heck they want, but from a needlessly rationed subset of everything they've paid good money for, and are inanely proud of accumulating. Absolutely no hint of a rotational system being used anywhere, just a self-imposed limitation of choice for no discernible reason, other than having something to point at, when someone else who has a "rotation" that isn't a rotation either, asks what their rotation is.

Why on earth that word boils my blood so much, is a complete mystery to me. Yet every time I see it being used (thankfully, I don't hear in in person, or I don't think I'd ever leave the house), I want to punch my computer.

A rotation is DEROS (date estimated return overseas service). Estimated 'cause it ain't guaranteed a round-trip.

 

[tonyb]

A common complaint from me, the unmowed lawn. Don’t live in a house if you don’t want the upkeep. Too many people in the neighborhood mowing every month instead of weekly or every other week.

In this climate a green lawn involves lotsa supplemental water. I find the practice ecologically insensitive at best. Which is not to say I don’t water my own lawn, in no small part because I don’t wish to by *that* neighbor. And I agree that a “lawn” that’s mostly hard-parked dirt and drought-tolerant weeds does indeed look like hell. We have a few of those around here.

We’re looking into xeriscaping, at least for the front, which really serves as little other than a buffer between the house and the street anyway. There’s quite a bit of that around here, too. It can be handsome when done right. Alas, too many skip the consultation with the landscape architect before bringing in the rock and the succulents.

But the fenced-in backyard will stay in grass. We have dogs, and probably always will, and they need a yard to romp around. We have three ash trees back there and the neighbors on two of the three sides have backyard trees as well, so the shade helps the lawn some.

I’d rather put up with the “lawns” of tall weeds and the tacky amateur xeriscaping than an HOA, though. Too many of those “covenant protected” neighborhoods look downright Stepford to me.

Municipal code addresses the condition of grounds on residential properties, but if there’s any enforcement, I’ve yet to see it.

 

[Touchofevil]

In this climate a green lawn involves lotsa supplemental water. I find the practice ecologically insensitive at best. Which is not to say I don’t water my own lawn, in no small part because I don’t wish to by *that* neighbor. And I agree that a “lawn” that’s mostly hard-parked dirt and drought-tolerant weeds does indeed look like hell. We have a few of those around here.

We’re looking into xeriscaping, at least for the front, which really serves as little other than a buffer between the house and the street anyway. There’s quite a bit of that around here, too. It can be handsome when done right. Alas, too many skip the consultation with the landscape architect before bringing in the rock and the succulents.

But the fenced-in backyard will stay in grass. We have dogs, and probably always will, and they need a yard to romp around. We have three ash trees back there and the neighbors on two of the three sides have backyard trees as well, so the shade helps the lawn some.

I’d rather put up with the “lawns” of tall weeds and the tacky amateur xeriscaping than an HOA, though. Too many of those “covenant protected” neighborhoods look downright Stepford to me.

Municipal code addresses the condition of grounds on residential properties, but if there’s any enforcement, I’ve yet to see it.

I am pretty sure that most if not all of those with dry lawns on our street are not mowing because they are lazy or do not care. Their yards look unkempt all year long year in and year out no matter the water situation. If you are not going to water, that is fine, but atvleast take care of the weeds. It is not that difficult to maintain a dead or dying front yard.

I like the cleanliness of HOA neighborhoods, but not really anything else. I have heard way too many negative stories from those living in HOA neighborhoods to ever want to live in such an area.

 

[tonyb]

The guy living kinda kitty corner from us, in a house I can plainly see from our front stoop, has had a piece of siding missing from a gable end for years now. He has a fence surrounding his backyard, but you can’t see it for the overgrown whatever the hell it is completely covering the thing. I give the fence maybe two more years until it collapses.

His front yard got the xeriscape treatment some years ago, but now it’s just weeds and rocks.

Gotta admit that I find some humor in his living directly across from the most well-kept house and yard in the subdivision.

 

[Touchofevil]

I have a buddy whose garage floor is probably clean enough to eat off. The rest of the property is probably as pristine. He lives in a relatively new neighborhood.The guy who lives across the street hasn’t mowed or watered the lawn in a year or so. He has a couple of Christmas trees sitting in his driveway. He recently put the house up for sale. The market being what it is in California, it sold in a few days.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^
Safe bet that your friend is happy to see him go.

We made it as far as June 15 (tonight) this year before the amateur pyrotechnicians commenced their annual assault on the nerves of the neighborhood dogs. My little Otis is already trembling. If recent history is a guide, this will go in for at least a month.

I’ll call the vet tomorrow to ask for a sedative. It annoys me to have to go to this trouble and expense. And I hate to see my dog so distressed.

 

[Hercule]

^^^^^
Safe bet that your friend is happy to see him go.

We made it as far as June 15 (tonight) this year before the amateur pyrotechnicians commenced their annual assault on the nerves of the neighborhood dogs. My little Otis is already trembling. If recent history is a guide, this will go in for at least a month.

I’ll call the vet tomorrow to ask for a sedative. It annoys me to have to go to this trouble and expense. And I hate to see my dog so distressed.

Have you tried a "thundershirt" for dogs? I understand they do work.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Taking care of my "lawn" is the very least of my priorities. When you live alone and have to work seven days a week to pay off what you owe to the Medical-Industrial Establishment, you are (a) seldom actually at home, and (b) have absolutely no you-know-whats left to give about such things. Besides, not only is it good for the bees, having a scruffy and ragged dooryard does wonders when it comes to keeping the property-tax assessment down (my house was the only one on the street to see a decrease this year). Given that our valuations have been artificially inflated by ruthless housing speculators, I see letting the weeds and the leaves run rampant as a potent weapon against gentrification.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Rotations.

This is completely petty, utterly irrational, and on every logical level, I should be able to just accept that some folks use this word differently than I do. Yet, I can't. I can do it with plenty of other words, but not this. It's one of those things that really grates on me, WAY more than is even close to reasonable. It's a very common word on the internet, and seems to be used by almost anybody who has more than one thing, that only needs using one at a time. Hats, pens, watches, bicycles, colognes, they all seem to be in a rotation..... aaarghhhh!!!

To me, if there are ten hats in a rotation, you wear hat number one first. Irrespective if it matches the rest of the garb worn that day, or even the weather outside. The next day, you wear hat two. Again, clothing and weather is irrelevant. This hat is second in the rotation, and so it absolutely must be worn next. On the tenth day, hat number ten is worn, and on the eleventh, it's back to hat number one.

Anything else, is NOT a rotation.

My house has a front door, and a back door. I do not have a rotation of doors. Nor do the four mirrors in my house constitute a "rotation". I just use each one as and when it is appropriate to do so. I have four chairs at my dining table, and only put my arse on one at any time. I have multiple knives and forks that I eat with, off multiple pieces of crockery. I have more than one book on the shelf, and several comfortable options of where to sit and read them. Multiple hairbrushes, numerous clothing combinations, and a fair few pots and pans. None of these are in rotation. Neither are my hats. If I need a hat, I go get a hat. If I need a pen, I reach for a pen. I pick whichever suits my needs at the time.

Some people even go as far as to have a "rotation" which isn't even everything they own. They may have thirty of something, lets say neck ties, but only ten are "in rotation". Then periodically, they declare three of those items out of the "rotation" and another three in. What? You have thirty ties, go pick one and wear it, for crying out loud. Why in the name of sanity have you got thirty, if you're only going to limit yourself to ten of them? If you are actually happy with having thirty of them, why on earth have you suddenly declared that twenty of them cannot be worn this week? Yes, some "rotations" even come with defined time frames too, just to intensify the pointlessness. And then after all that, they still don't use them in rotation!!! They still pick whatever the heck they want, but from a needlessly rationed subset of everything they've paid good money for, and are inanely proud of accumulating. Absolutely no hint of a rotational system being used anywhere, just a self-imposed limitation of choice for no discernible reason, other than having something to point at, when someone else who has a "rotation" that isn't a rotation either, asks what their rotation is.

Why on earth that word boils my blood so much, is a complete mystery to me. Yet every time I see it being used (thankfully, I don't hear in in person, or I don't think I'd ever leave the house), I want to punch my computer.

This is 100 percent a "guy thing." I've never known or heard of a woman who "rotates" her wardrobe. We wear what we feel like wearing on any given day without feeling the need to impose some kind of artificial order or predictable routine on the situation. Next thing you'll know, they'll tell me there's actually internet "fora" where users meticulously catalogue and analyze the stitches on their coats.

 

[MisterCairo]

Canadian (and perhaps other) military has rotations of troops on deployments. Naturally this is army shortened to "ROTO". And in true army style, the first Roto is numbered "0".

My rotational rant for the day...

Rotations.

This is completely petty, utterly irrational, and on every logical level, I should be able to just accept that some folks use this word differently than I do. Yet, I can't. I can do it with plenty of other words, but not this. It's one of those things that really grates on me, WAY more than is even close to reasonable. It's a very common word on the internet, and seems to be used by almost anybody who has more than one thing, that only needs using one at a time. Hats, pens, watches, bicycles, colognes, they all seem to be in a rotation..... aaarghhhh!!!

To me, if there are ten hats in a rotation, you wear hat number one first. Irrespective if it matches the rest of the garb worn that day, or even the weather outside. The next day, you wear hat two. Again, clothing and weather is irrelevant. This hat is second in the rotation, and so it absolutely must be worn next. On the tenth day, hat number ten is worn, and on the eleventh, it's back to hat number one.

Anything else, is NOT a rotation.

My house has a front door, and a back door. I do not have a rotation of doors. Nor do the four mirrors in my house constitute a "rotation". I just use each one as and when it is appropriate to do so. I have four chairs at my dining table, and only put my arse on one at any time. I have multiple knives and forks that I eat with, off multiple pieces of crockery. I have more than one book on the shelf, and several comfortable options of where to sit and read them. Multiple hairbrushes, numerous clothing combinations, and a fair few pots and pans. None of these are in rotation. Neither are my hats. If I need a hat, I go get a hat. If I need a pen, I reach for a pen. I pick whichever suits my needs at the time.

Some people even go as far as to have a "rotation" which isn't even everything they own. They may have thirty of something, lets say neck ties, but only ten are "in rotation". Then periodically, they declare three of those items out of the "rotation" and another three in. What? You have thirty ties, go pick one and wear it, for crying out loud. Why in the name of sanity have you got thirty, if you're only going to limit yourself to ten of them? If you are actually happy with having thirty of them, why on earth have you suddenly declared that twenty of them cannot be worn this week? Yes, some "rotations" even come with defined time frames too, just to intensify the pointlessness. And then after all that, they still don't use them in rotation!!! They still pick whatever the heck they want, but from a needlessly rationed subset of everything they've paid good money for, and are inanely proud of accumulating. Absolutely no hint of a rotational system being used anywhere, just a self-imposed limitation of choice for no discernible reason, other than having something to point at, when someone else who has a "rotation" that isn't a rotation either, asks what their rotation is.

Why on earth that word boils my blood so much, is a complete mystery to me. Yet every time I see it being used (thankfully, I don't hear in in person, or I don't think I'd ever leave the house), I want to punch my computer.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Taking care of my "lawn" is the very least of my priorities. When you live alone and have to work seven days a week to pay off what you owe to the Medical-Industrial Establishment, you are (a) seldom actually at home, and (b) have absolutely no you-know-whats left to give about such things. Besides, not only is it good for the bees, having a scruffy and ragged dooryard does wonders when it comes to keeping the property-tax assessment down (my house was the only one on the street to see a decrease this year). Given that our valuations have been artificially inflated by ruthless housing speculators, I see letting the weeds and the leaves run rampant as a potent weapon against gentrification.

We went from a four bedroom, 2 1/2 bath two floor detached home on half an acre of land to retirement in a 3 level, three bedroom, 3 1/2 bath townhouse. Our new front lawn is a postage stamp of grass with roses, trees, and other fauna inside of an iron gate. (No back yard at all.. but we do have a balcony where we can kick back.) Our HOA handles all landscaping and cleanup, and once a week the crews hit the lawns and the private park across the street. Every residential property in this state seems to involve an HOA in one incarnation or another: you learn to live with the aggravations, but I have no gripes regarding the work done to maintain the property.

When we had our old place, cutting the grass was a half day commitment once a week. I actually enjoyed buzzing around on my riding mower: it afforded an opportunity to cut off the rest of the world and enjoy the work. Don't miss it: I wake up to the sounds of mowers and blowers every Thursday and I'm glad that it isn't me toiling.