Random Rants #88: [incoherent screaming]

[aimeeandbeatles]

Wasn't there some historical private firefighting service then went around setting buildings on fire so the owners would pay them to put it out?

EDIT: I misremembered slightly:

The first ever Roman fire brigade was created by Marcus Licinius Crassus. He took advantage of the fact that Rome had no fire department, by creating his own brigade—500 men strong—which rushed to burning buildings at the first cry of alarm. Upon arriving at the scene, however, the fire fighters did nothing while Crassus offered to buy the burning building from the distressed property owner, at a miserable price. If the owner agreed to sell the property, his men would put out the fire, if the owner refused, then they would simply let the structure burn to the ground.

 

[Farm Boy]

For heaven's sake, put a new lie in that tiny toolbox one of these years, Lex.

Aimee, firefighters are often one of the first groups you have to look at with a rash of arson. Private or public.

 

[W|M]

First, some of the jobs I mentioned don't even really have a private-sector counterpart. I don't think there's any private-sector firefighters out there.

do slaves count?

 

[Commodore]

Sir, are you complaining about the free market here?

Yes. Doesn't mean I want to trash the whole system though, just venting about the inconvenience of the situation. You know, kind of a "sometimes you're the hammer, sometimes you're the nail" thing? Well I'm just complaining about being the nail in this particular instance.

 

[Kyriakos]

It seems likely that Giannis (the "Greek Freak") will risk losing the second round of the NBA playoffs, to the Miami Heat.
It sucks when you have the best player in the NBA, but the rest of your team is average at best. I think Giannis will do well to leave if he wants to get championships...

 

[Ajidica]

The guys in the apartment below me really love their hookah and have been smoking it the last few nights on the balcony. At first I didn't mind because they were using (as far as I could tell) some fairly high quality hookah so it smelled pretty good, and went with the Moroccan food I was having for dinner; but now its getting a bit annoying.

 

[Takhisis]

I assume that they are loving the hookah with their mouths? Sue them for potentially spreading Covid-19.

Yes. Doesn't mean I want to trash the whole system though, just venting about the inconvenience of the situation. You know, kind of a "sometimes you're the hammer, sometimes you're the nail" thing? Well I'm just complaining about being the nail in this particular instance.

You could have a system in which you don't get nailed.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Are those people who go "Don't worry about COVID-19, most people who die had underlying conditions anyways!" supposed to be reassuring? Because a lot of people have "underlying conditions"....

They're not trying to be reassuring. They're mostly selfish, compassionless science-deniers, many of whom are Reformacon/UCP supporters (in Alberta). For instance, it's never occurred to any of the regulars on Adriana LaGrange's FB page that some kids live with their grandparents, so it very much matters if the schools are safe (which they aren't here; this is one of those times when I figure I dodged a major bullet by switching from education to anthropology/geography/history in college. In some alternate universe, I'd still be healthy enough to work and scared of catching this from some kid or colleague).

As it is, I've been avoiding the kids in this building and trying like hell to avoid the people across the hall from me. They have people traipsing in and out all day, every day, and I know they don't all live there.

I misread this sentence and was so confused on who was using cigarettes as ammunition for guns.

Both are lethal. One just kills faster than the other, which is slower and self-inflicted.


Rant: I am just discovering how many hardcover books I bought since moving in here three years ago.

Additional rant: For some reason, every time I leave the room Maddy decides to stand on my computer keyboard, and when I come back I find Microsoft Edge/bing has been toggled on. I'm sure the neighbors are wondering at the several instances today of hearing me yelling, "MADDY, GET THE F*** OFF MY KEYBOARD!!!!"

I have no idea what she wants. She's already knocked my (fortunately empty) egg salad container on the floor and licked it clean. There's nothing else edible up here.

She knows something's up. First the flood happened from upstairs, and then we had 5 fans blowing for a week, to get the carpets dry and fight any mold that was trying to take hold (it can happen within 12 hours, according to my research). There were numerous maintenance people coming in and out, the carpet guy, the manager, and now I'm putting my cardboard boxes back together, getting plastic bins and Rubbermaid containers out, pulling the books off the shelves (many of which aren't in the right place anyway, since I had to save them from the water that cascaded down through the walls from upstairs) and packing them.

So help me, after I finally get everything moved and into the new place, it will just be a week before the main NaNoWriMo event starts in November, when it's a minimum 1667 words/day for 30 days that will have to be produced for a win. Somehow that sounds very relaxing right now. So I'll probably just set up the necessities - bed, writing materials, computer, TV, meds, and Maddy's stuff. The rest can wait for unpacking until December.

 

[shadowplay]

I really need a pet.

 

[Farm Boy]

What type you thinking?

Gone from livestock to a fish I was really attached to after 18 years, to cats, to dog.

They're interesting. The fish and one of the cats really hurt when they went, so the lifespan/attachment is something to keep in mind. Didn't give a rat's ass about any given sheep. The beagle is stupidly sweet, even if I really don't particularly care for dogs.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I've discovered that pet rocks are very easy to care for. They don't eat much, they don't need to be walked or picked up after, and if you just dust them occasionally they'll be fine. I have quite a few of them, ranging from a beagle, a pug, some cats, and a ladybug. I'm just counting the ones made of actual rocks. This isn't counting the dozens of ceramic and crystal penguins and cats, or marble eggs.

 

[Zardnaar]

I've discovered that pet rocks are very easy to care for. They don't eat much, they don't need to be walked or picked up after, and if you just dust them occasionally they'll be fine. I have quite a few of them, ranging from a beagle, a pug, some cats, and a ladybug. I'm just counting the ones made of actual rocks. This isn't counting the dozens of ceramic and crystal penguins and cats, or marble eggs.

I woke up with my kitteh nuzzling me. She got under the blankets and licked my hand.

Rocks a bit crap at that.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I woke up with my kitteh nuzzling me. She got under the blankets and licked my hand.

Rocks a bit crap at that.

That's why my cat sleeps in my bed and I keep my pet rocks in the china cabinet.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Lack of income should not prevent someone from exercising their rights.

Of course, but most governments around the world manage to prevent it in various ways, anyway. In Canada there are an awful lot of people who assume that the homeless, disabled, students, seniors, and indigenous demographics (the 5 groups targeted by the UnFair Elections Act of Stephen Harper's government) either are too stupid to vote, have no interest in voting, or are not allowed to vote, so making it possible for them to vote is pointless.

For me to exercise my right to vote I either have to pay to go to a polling station or returning office (costs $$ for transit/taxi), or jump through the hoops for an in-home special ballot (I don't trust Canada Post to get the ballot where it's supposed to go, on time, and I will not send copies of sensitive IDs through the mail for the same reason). The in-home ballot is something I qualify for, but the new rules say I have to give up my right to cast a secret ballot. Funny how I'm deemed able to sign the documents and envelope and fill out an Incident Report, but not able to actually write the candidate's name on the ballot and seal it myself, without telling the EC worker who I voted for. You'd almost think the feds don't want us exercising this right.

 

[amadeus]

I started a new thread on the constitutionality of taxing firearms.

"The constitutionality of taxing firearms"

 

[JohannaK]

I think by that measure newspapers and journalists should be exempt of all tax and mass media of all sorts should be government subsidised.

 

[Commodore]

I think by that measure newspapers and journalists should be exempt of all tax and mass media of all sorts should be government subsidised.

Perhaps they should.

 

[W|M]

I swear every time I see americans complaining about high infrastructure construction costs, especially in new york, they will blame absolutely everything under the sun except obvious corruption

 

[Farm Boy]

Chicagoans are more honest.

 

[Synobun]

Every removal company has told me to take a hike. Because of COVID, they are all refusing to enter any properties.

I guess I'm sleeping on a broken mattress until the pandemic's over! Very cool.