Random Rants 79: [Impassionating Intensifies]

[Broken_Erika]

They probably also own the maintenance companies and the landscaping companies that work on the buildings.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

And the security guards that patrol for immigrants to detain and hand over to ICE. Or is that just Irvine Company?

 

[Cutlass]

I have less than a month to return my lease vehicle and overnight a (nearly) top to bottom crack appeared with a nice little pit accompanying it. I don't know what to do. The repair company wants a full grand, I'm sure the dealer will want more. If I return it as-is, they'll ding me for it as well but I have no idea how much more or less they will charge. Also, I'm going to be out of town so I don't have a lot of time to deal with this.

Call your auto insurance company. Most policies cover broken glass replacement. It can usually be replaced in an hour or 2 with no cost to you. And they can do it at your home or office if you can't go to them.

 

[Lexicus]

I just got an email saying that the daughter of the business manager of one of the locals that I did a lot of work with last year has passed away. He has triplets, two girls and one boy, all three of whom I became friendly and familiar with during my many work trips to Los Angeles. I'm not sure which one of his daughters it is but it is very sad

 

[cardgame]

I have less than a month to return my lease vehicle and overnight a (nearly) top to bottom crack appeared with a nice little pit accompanying it. I don't know what to do. The repair company wants a full grand, I'm sure the dealer will want more. If I return it as-is, they'll ding me for it as well but I have no idea how much more or less they will charge. Also, I'm going to be out of town so I don't have a lot of time to deal with this.

what the heck? I'm replacing my windshield entirely soon™ and it's estimated to cost $150-250 depending on where it's done

RANT: I overate last night and now my stomach is freaking killing me, bloated af

 

[MaryKB]

Also got told the project I've worked on for 2 years is garbage last night by an executive.

I'm so sorry, you sound like you're going through so much trouble and uncertainty right now. I can only imagine how heartbreaking that had to be for you to hear, I hope that executive's opinion isn't widely shared by the rest of your board. I hope things work out okay for your wife's job.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I'm so sorry, you sound like you're going through so much trouble and uncertainty right now. I can only imagine how heartbreaking that had to be for you to hear, I hope that executive's opinion isn't widely shared by the rest of your board. I hope things work out okay for your wife's job.

Thanks, I'll be fine. I just got to keep striving. I wish I could make this easier for my wife, she's devastated.

 

[Takhisis]

Well… you have a weekend ahead and then it'll be fireworks next week. That's got to count for something, right?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Rant: I had a dizzy spell on the apartment stairs and nearly fell down them.

 

[The_J]

So hot, some students are having a party outside, with bad music and a drunk screaming contest. Like 20m away from my apartement >.< .

 

[Takhisis]

^I misread that as ‘some hot students’ and wondered why the hell you would be complaining.

I took yesterday off. When I got off work Thursday, I completely put aside the grief of having my work called garbage repeatedly to comfort my wife. Like I forgot the tongue-lashing even happened until I woke up and checked my work messages. The team was despondent over the tongue lashing and I found I didn't have the energy to go into work and deal with it. I felt guilty because there's been so much turnover in my team's management that I've been the chief cheerleader and moving force for the team and everyone looks to me to see if things will be alright but I just couldn't play that role on Friday. I had to disconnect completely to recover if that makes sense. By Friday afternoon I felt like I had been a big baby and let the team down by calling off when they probably needed me to be there for emotional support if nothing else.

But I'm going on my train vacation next week and I'm excited about that. I'll be on the train overnight on the 4th so I wonder if we'll see any fireworks? Should be an interesting night anyways.

If the team was going to be doing basically nothing I wouldn't punish myself over it, but I don't know enough about the group mechanics to issue a very valid opinion. Have a happy trip.

 

[Hygro]

You'll have to school them in their screaming drinking contest.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Vancouver must have weird renting laws. Minneapolis (could be a Minnesota thing) allows the renter to put the rent into escrow until the landlord makes formally requested repairs. In my place if want to do anything bigger than replacing a lightbulb the rental company insists it be carried out by the handyman - including things as simple as snaking the drain.

There's a difference between houses and apartments. People who rent houses (or parts of houses) are more at the mercy of landlords, especially in a city like Vancouver where a cheap house that's literally falling down is priced at over $1 million.

At the building I live in, I get the maintenance guys to do the lightbulbs for me. I supply the bulb and the ladder and they change the old for the new (if it's one in the ceiling). I change the lamp bulbs myself, since I can reach those.

I pointed out to the manager we had awhile back (previous to the current one) that it's difficult for me to get up on a ladder and I'm too short to reach the ceiling anyway. Not to mention that it's unsafe. So I try to stay on the good side of the maintenance guys so they don't mind the occasional request like this.

As for plumbing issues, all I need to do is pick up the phone and call customer service; they have agents staffing them 24/7/365.

‘Rental company’?

Those are a thing here, too, for apartment buildings. The company that owns my building has around a dozen others in Red Deer and lots more across Canada (including Quebec; I was told that the customer service agents have to be bilingual since you never know where your call will be answered; I've had the experience of calling about a plumbing issue and getting connected to someone in Montreal, who takes the information and then sends an email to my building manager to let him/her know they need to do something for me).

I had to disconnect completely to recover if that makes sense.

It does. Getting told something like that, especially from someone who likely knows far less about it than you do, would be upsetting for anyone.


My rant: The POS who hijacked my Netflix account a couple of years ago is at it again - I found out that I'm getting Italian-language emails from Netflix and the Netflix agent claims to not have any record of that particular email address.

Of course this had to happen on a holiday weekend so it's iffy whether I can get hold of anyone to put a stop to this. I'd told Netflix that I wanted my account deleted and I absolutely would not ever be back.

 

[Synobun]

A rental company is a sign you've made it, at least here in Vancouver. The cost goes by slumlord house suite ($500 to $800/mo), to landlord house ($1400 to $2000/mo), to rental company apartment ($1500 to $2400/mo), to rental company condo ($1900 to $3200/mo). I'm squarely in category 1.

We don't have a built-in escrow service for the first two categories, but rental companies typically do (as they're all about bureaucracy). I am certain there is probably some sort of legislation in the tenancy act that tells you what you can do if you need repairs done and the landlord won't provide them.

While in theory you can strong-arm a landlord here into playing by the rules (since home-owning landlords usually don't know them or don't care about them), that requires that you have the mental and physical bandwidth to constantly deal with the tenancy board and the hearings. And even if you win, you realize that you still have to live within 25ft of your landlord at all times, knowing full well that the two of you are in a legal battle that determines whether or not you get to stay. You poison the well the second you get the government involved. It's not really a viable choice if you live in the same building as your landlord unless you already plan on leaving.

 

[Lohrenswald]

Strategy games for me is the easiest type of game to get into the rythm with and to just pick up and play, but is also by far the least fun

 

[Ajidica]

The weather here in Minnesota - and for the rest of the week - is infuriating me. It isn't going to be that hot - high70s to low 80s - but the humidity killing me. If I open the windows and use the fan I just start sweating and feel all hot and sticky so I turn the A/C on and while that works, I feel slightly guilty turning the AC on and adding to my electric bill when it isn't that hot outside.

 

[Takhisis]

Strategy games for me is the easiest type of game to get into the rythm with and to just pick up and play, but is also by far the least fun

Well, there is a cathartic element to racking up personal kills on individual players.

Which is why MOBAs are so attractive to some people.

 

[Phrossack]

I just realized the other day that I have partial aphantasia. My mind's eye creates extremely blurry pictures where most of the image is either cloudy or outright missing.

And apparently most people can see the whole picture just fine.

I feel like I just found out that most people in the world can fly except me.

 

[Synobun]

Do you imagine what you read? I don't/can't. I can only create an image in my head if I stop and focus. The second I stop, it's gone.

Which means overly descriptive writing is just frustrating to me instead of alluring.

 

[Phrossack]

Do you imagine what you read? I don't/can't. I can only create an image in my head if I stop and focus. The second I stop, it's gone.

Which means overly descriptive writing is just frustrating to me instead of alluring.

I try, but I usually give up pretty quickly, or use imagery I've already seen. If a character's being described, my brain might use the image of someone I've already seen, or might make up some bizarre new appearance that doesn't really match the description, is blurry and with large parts missing, and sometimes just strange.

If the author is describing the layout of an area, I usually get frustrated and just quit imagining after a little bit. Like you say, descriptive writing is just frustrating.