Random Rants #88: [incoherent screaming]

[MaryKB]

I was reading a story about the spike in people suffering insomnia recently, and it suddenly occurred to me that my sleep has been eroded too. Nothing I would call insomnia. Waking up in the middle of the night for no discernible reason; waking up real early one day and then oversleeping the next; losing track of time and suddenly it's 12:30am; that sort of thing. I don't have a lot of the major issues that others have - employed, no kids, not sick - but the sea of stress and anxiety that we're all swimming in must be slowly eroding everybody's mental defenses in ways we're not even consciously aware of. Someone on the radio yesterday was talking about the drop in property crimes during the pandemic, but a rise in violent crimes. I wasn't able to listen to the whole program, but I wonder if there's been a rise in random fistfights, drunk driving, domestic violence, 'road rage', etc.

Lately I've been noticing more people being a little too relaxed about wearing masks. I see more people with masks on, but pulled down to their chin or neck. I can't tell if people really are lowering their guards, or if I'm just noticing the exceptions more than I used to, like a mouse seeing movement in the trees and wondering whether it's the wind or a hawk. I suppose either possibility is a little bit alarming, in it's way.

I've been reading about this phenomenon, called allostatic load. We're pretty much all suffering from it

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Small rant: GOG Galaxy, please stop adding games to my start menu whenever I install/update them. I already have a fully functional game launcher.

 

[Synobun]

My banana has the consistency of taffy. Why this?

Also, I tried eating some meatballs yesterday. It went very, very poorly. I probably shouldn't even be trying to eat today.

Still, doctor's appointment in a couple hours. Woo.

 

[Takhisis]

I was reading a story about the spike in people suffering insomnia recently, and it suddenly occurred to me that my sleep has been eroded too. Nothing I would call insomnia. Waking up in the middle of the night for no discernible reason; waking up real early one day and then oversleeping the next; losing track of time and suddenly it's 12:30am; that sort of thing. I don't have a lot of the major issues that others have - employed, no kids, not sick - but the sea of stress and anxiety that we're all swimming in must be slowly eroding everybody's mental defenses in ways we're not even consciously aware of. Someone on the radio yesterday was talking about the drop in property crimes during the pandemic, but a rise in violent crimes. I wasn't able to listen to the whole program, but I wonder if there's been a rise in random fistfights, drunk driving, domestic violence, 'road rage', etc.

Lately I've been noticing more people being a little too relaxed about wearing masks. I see more people with masks on, but pulled down to their chin or neck. I can't tell if people really are lowering their guards, or if I'm just noticing the exceptions more than I used to, like a mouse seeing movement in the trees and wondering whether it's the wind or a hawk. I suppose either possibility is a little bit alarming, in it's way.

Totally! On the insomnia front, I've been under quarantine for six months and counting already. Except for one or two days a week in which I have to be online earlyish I sometimes don't even eat before lunch, because what's the point in getting up if I cannot do anything outside, everything's closed, I don't have money anyway and the Internet's jammed because all the people who'd be using the connection from their workplace or school are concentrated in their home camps?

On masks, sure, people just get fed up. It's awful to have to wear one in public all the time.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

rant:

 

[choxorn]

rant:

Is the rant that you forgot to type your rant out?

 

[amadeus]

rant:

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

The packing box fairy has struck again, but I finally found out who it was. When I tried to leave for my appointment this afternoon, there was another pile of cardboard boxes in front of my door. I didn't have time to take them inside, so I shoved them to the side and figured I'd let the manager know so he wouldn't get after me (we're absolutely not allowed to stash stuff in the hallway unless it's just for a short time while we move it in or out).

Then he said he'd dropped them off last night and hadn't knocked because it was late. I told him 10 pm was not late, and I'm always up at that time. He said he'd listened and it was quiet, so he didn't knock (he really should have knocked, since it's not unusual for me to spend entire weeks inside the apartment without leaving, and I wouldn't have had any idea that there was a mountain of boxes in front of my door).

So I tried to remember what I was doing then... oh, right. Big Brother was over, so time to feed the cat and close the blinds for the night (there are so many cardboard boxes piled up in front of the window now that I have lots of privacy).

Anyway, I told him I'm well-stocked with boxes for the time being. What I need now is packing tape.

It's weird, finding stuff I'd forgotten I had. I opened a cardboard box, thinking it was my marble egg collection. It turned out to be the remote-controlled, battery-operated candles. I like candles, but not the risk of fire.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I found a few scouting ants in my apartment. They were coming through the patio door so I put down diatomaceous earth around the corners they were getting through and that stopped them.

A few weeks later and another nest found a way in by walking through the tiny gaps around my front door. Some diatomaceous earth at the bottom of the door stopped them for a couple of days, and then they went vertical and started streaming through the sides of the door. So now I've got a line of duct tape around the entire door frame, and diatomaceous earth piled up at the very bottom where the tape doesn't quite reach the floor.

This seems to have stopped them, but it's very frustrating that they followed me from my last apartment. I'm a bit of a neat freak and they make me feel like I'm living in a pig stye.


----------------------

Trump cost me $200 with his messing with the post office. My license plate tag expired in July and I never got any notice for it through the mail (which would have gone out in May or June). I did get the expiration/super-late notice a couple of days ago and it was dated early July.

I ended up paying the massive late fee rather than contesting because I don't know how to prove I didn't get any mailer before the tags expired. I also suspect at the end of the day they'd just say it was my responsibility to stay on top of it even if I didn't get a mail notice. Plus I needed the tag re-instated ASAP because each day I drive without it, I risk getting a ticket over it.

 

[Birdjaguar]

They might be after water or food. If you know what food they like (ant types have different tastes), you could put some out on the patio to keep them busy there.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Rant: thgeres aa rant.

 

[The_J]

They might be after water or food. If you know what food they like (ant types have different tastes), you could put some out on the patio to keep them busy there.

The dog food or their water bowl would be my guess.
(my dad had them coming in for the cat food)

 

[Cutlass]

I have to go back to worm tomorrow, after having 11 days off. I've had a (mostly!) restful week at least.

I only have 2 and a half weeks of vacation (plus 3 and a half sick days, and 4 holudays) left this year.

UGH I wish I had more time off. 42 days a year just isn't enough.

That's still awful generous compared to most employers. I've only got a lot of leave time available because I haven't taken much of any time off because of nothing to use it on.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

The dog food or their water bowl would be my guess.
(my dad had them coming in for the cat food)

When they came in through the porch door, they did find the dog food container and set up a marching column straight to it. When I put diatomaceous earth in front of that door, it stopped them from coming in.

The ones coming in through front door are definitely looking for food or water but luckily I found them before they found anything and set up a line.​

 

[AdamCrock]

I've had drunk so much of fermented grain my head feels like it's gonna explode. I guess I myself is the culprit, receiving a just punishment ! I wish it wouldn't explode ! Ehhh.... another day wasted in bed.

 

[AdamCrock]

I sure could use a pizza right now ! Unfortunately it's 1:22 on my clock ... I'll have to wait ! Damn You pizza ! Why are You so good ?! ....and making me fat
Unrellevant video :

Oh hi Mark!

 

[thecrazyscot]

I found a few scouting ants in my apartment. They were coming through the patio door so I put down diatomaceous earth around the corners they were getting through and that stopped them.

A few weeks later and another nest found a way in by walking through the tiny gaps around my front door. Some diatomaceous earth at the bottom of the door stopped them for a couple of days, and then they went vertical and started streaming through the sides of the door. So now I've got a line of duct tape around the entire door frame, and diatomaceous earth piled up at the very bottom where the tape doesn't quite reach the floor.

This seems to have stopped them, but it's very frustrating that they followed me from my last apartment. I'm a bit of a neat freak and they make me feel like I'm living in a pig stye.

We've had several ant incursions into our kitchen (our backyard is very woodsy). Terro Liquid Ant Bait worked great for us. You have to be ok with letting the ants be for a day or two, but after that they disappear because the whole nest is dead.

I keep one trap up most of the time now, because they like to explore up through our kitchen exterior wall. We rarely have an issue any more.

 

[AdamCrock]

Leave a cut-in-half watermelon for them outside , they will not invade the kitchen and focus their attention on the watermelon.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

We've had several ant incursions into our kitchen (our backyard is very woodsy). Terro Liquid Ant Bait worked great for us. You have to be ok with letting the ants be for a day or two, but after that they disappear because the whole nest is dead.

I keep one trap up most of the time now, because they like to explore up through our kitchen exterior wall. We rarely have an issue any more.

I've had similar success with a mixture of sugar, water and borax.

 

[Synobun]

Bought a whole bunch of sandwiches for delivery tomorrow. Another of the one I've already eaten, and then four different kinds. It'll be a week of testing.

It would have been much cheaper and cost efficient to buy the ingredients, but the grocery store has a delivery minimum and buying enough of everything to reach it would mean I'd be forced to throw out an ungodly amount of food if it didn't go well. There's only so many bananas I can buy before I'm forced to freeze them, and thawed bananas are outright disgusting. They're already not so great after being in the fridge for days. So this works. Two cucumbers, eight bananas, a couple bottles of Powerade to keep my supply up, and then the sandwiches makes for 6 to 7 days of food, and it's a dollar over the delivery minimum. And also, if one of the sandwiches doesn't go well, it's not a huge loss to throw it out, comparatively.

Some of the sandwiches have meat, so those will be the riskiest. I ate a bite of canned turkey yesterday and it was gross. But my stomach also didn't appreciate it very much. So that was a loss on two fronts. My grocery store doesn't seem to sell small portions of turkey unless it's deli meat, and I'm trying to avoid that for now (all the possible diets seem to agree on one thing: avoiding processed meats, although I'm unsure if they mean the packaged stuff or the deli stuff). So the only real option was the canned stuff. Not impressed, and couldn't imagine what it could possibly be used for in genuine cuisine. I might try some tuna today instead of more of the turkey. I have something like 15 cans of the stuff feeling lonely in the pantry.

The joke is on me! I haven't been able to touch any of them after a major regression. I'm now back to not eating anything at all, not even the banana and cucumber. (The silver lining is that I was right to not buy the ingredients instead?)

Also, the wind has brought the smoke from the wildfires up here. Yesterday, Vancouver had the worst air quality in the world out of all major cities for a couple hours. It's not pleasant, but what's especially annoying is that my roommate still has his window open to "get fresh air in" when it's very specifically not fresh air. It even reeks of smoke, my dude. But that's not all. He's had a sinus problem since he moved in, enough that he has to rinse it with a nasal rinse bottle multiple times a day. So naturally, he's decided to pick up a smoking habit and has immediately jumped up to smoking a pack a day. His logic escapes me. He doesn't wear a mask either, and I heard him whining that the nightclubs are closing again a couple days ago. Thank god he doesn't try to spend time with me anymore. He is a walking threat to everyone's well-being.

More pertinent to me, though, is that the doctor actually made an exception for me and faxed bloodwork forms to the clinic for me. But now I can't go because of the smoke. Everything is a cosmic joke. Twiddling my thumbs for weeks waiting for this and then the very same day I finally get what I want/need, I'm forced to remain indoors for the foreseeable future.

It should rain tomorrow. I'm hoping that will cut through it a bit. Maybe the wind will shift too. But right now the forecast has the same air quality for Monday. When the wildfires happened a couple years ago I could still go outdoors, but this year I can't even have my window open at night (which has made sleep impossible). Needing to wear a mask too... Not happening.