Random Rants LXXXVI: OH, FUDDLE-DUDDLE!

[Valka D'Ur]

Is it? I have thought about that, and came to the conclusion that people that make headsets for cold callers must come across it (eg. the airhorn mentioned downthread). I assume that they would make the speakers unable to produce damaging soundwaves.

My solution is to express a naive interest in their product or service, then say "hang on, there is someone at the door", then leave the phone for a few minutes.

The idea that any legitimate business would be called that is hilarious. It sounds like the name of a country lines gang.

London Drugs.

London Drugs has stores in more than 35 major markets throughout British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. According to their website, as of September 2019, they operate 82 stores. The pharmacy is still the heart of the business, but today, London Drugs also offers a full service computer department, cosmetics ranging from lip gloss to high-end face creams, furniture, cameras, high quality photo finishing, smart phones and 4K ultra high definition televisions. More people buy their small appliances in London Drugs than any other place in Western Canada. All told, London Drugs serves more than 45 million customers each year.

This is where I've purchased most of the laptops I've owned, and the head of the tech department there has been my go-to person for repairs for over a dozen years. It's also where my current TV was purchased.

The only thing about that place that drives me up the wall is when items purchased in the computer department are scanned, the security alarm is still tripped when you leave the store. This necessitates wasting time at the customer service counter to get it scanned again.

The local store used to have a small internet cafe where you could rent by the hour and they had a minuscule kiosk where you could get sandwiches, muffins, coffee, and juice. This was handy during the time when I was saving for my first PC and internet hookup.

There actually is a decent amount of groceries there as long as you're not looking for anything that isn't canned, bagged, boxed, or milk. My regular grocery store doesn't have Tim Hortons chili, but London Drugs does (I've been wanting to try this, but had trouble finding it).

Every single time I play a Spotify radio station, it inevitably plays Raspberry Beret by Prince. Every single time, I remove Raspberry Beret by Prince from the station. And yet, every single time, it plays again.

pls stop

Also, I've run into a problem where playing my playlists distracts me from work now. I have to play music that I'm somewhat unfamiliar with... but that I can still tolerate and enjoy. 70s and 80s music seems to be the most reliable for this aim.

Hm. How do you feel about pan flutes? I ran across a YouTube channel recently where a couple of guys from Ecuador have been doing their own arrangements of various popular songs using pan flutes and other instruments native to that region. It's a bit weird to hear Simon & Garfunkel and ABBA songs played on a pan flute, but it's also quite relaxing.

Side rant: I’m the only one making flags for my thread! I thought it would be fun to see everyone’s creations. I’m still going to make some when I get some ideas, but I value quality over quantity.

So how fictitious do you want them? Is there some sort of generator available for those who are lazy/unskilled in image editing?

 

[Cutlass]

I don’t know what happens, but my time isn’t so valuable that I can’t spare 2-3 hours per year staying in compliance with federal tax law.

I just wish they would make the process simpler for filers like me with modest incomes earned overseas.

Your lobbyists at work. A simple tax plan would put tax preparers out of business, and be harder for rich people to cheat.

 

[amadeus]

So how fictitious do you want them? Is there some sort of generator available for those who are lazy/unskilled in image editing?

Last part first, I use a nearly twenty-year old version of Paint Shop Pro. Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken!

I suppose any country would work. I’m happy just people enjoy them anyway.

 

[Cutlass]

I have nothing to do today...

 

[H4run]

My wife come to me just a while ago and tell me in a very serious and concern face,

"there's something I need to tell you"
"ok, what is it?"
"in our room, near the lamp I notice something is flying"
I think this must be mosquito or flies. Or maybe bee.
"and you know what is it?" she asked me
"no, what is that?"
"a cockroach"

The imagery of a cockroach fly around the lamp in my room, not any ordinary bug, the septic lord itself really send chill to my spine (our cockroach colored brown, tall, smelly and able to fly, other cockroach look pretty harmless than this sinister dirty one), it's like an opening of a terrible scene in horror movie. I really speechless for a moment.

I told her
"alright, I'll kill it"

I don't afraid when cockroach is on the ground, but when it fly and usually to your direction-I don't know why, I just panic with disgust. I open our door, my body half in the inside half at the outside, and gladly I see the cockroach hoping on the wall, my wife give me a part of a cleaning mop (without its mob) So I hit it, the cockroach fall to the ground, and hit it again. And done, that easy, I'm glad there aren't many drama. But now this is the first time they enter our room, already for quite long they even never seen in the kitchen, I really should check and do something about this.

 

[shadowplay]

I kind of miss running from tropical insects that look like something from Starship Troopers.

 

[H4run]

I kind of miss running from tropical insects that look like something from Starship Troopers.

I miss living in 4 season region; I really miss the weather especially winter, everything so clean; no bug; clean air; you easily can appreciate simple things like warm place or warm drink, or a blanket.

 

[Broken_Erika]

I kind of miss running from tropical insects that look like something from Starship Troopers.

Gotta watch out for those bugs that look like Jake Busey!

 

[The_J]

Trying to work with WSL, and in the base ubuntu image there's like nothing installed .

EDIT: Jesus, took me nearly 3h to install 3 tools, R, and one specific R package.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I kind of miss running from tropical insects that look like something from Starship Troopers.

My attempted dynastic takeover of Belize hit a bad snag when my son went there on his honeymoon and following the ride from the airport my new DIL made the direct run to the bathroom when they got checked in...and lifted the toilet lid to reveal a bug that measured about four inches and clearly wanted to fight for territorial rights.

 

[H4run]

At 8pm (ish) I told my wife I will not having dinner with her and children, I'm going straight to bed I need to sleep so much, she's ok with it. Then I went to bed, near 9 pm a very important corporate partner call me, I look at it, and press lock then try to sleep again. But I'm telling to myself, maybe this is important. Again I just wanna sleep, I just let it, but I think again maybe this is very important. So I get up, I call him.

"sir you call me? is there anything I can do for you?"
"heheehehe tomorrow you'll come isn't it? because we gotta meet this that this that"
"of course, I already tell you today I'll come"
"you know what you should do right now, I think you should come here we can talk, bring something blabalabla heeheheheheh"
I'm so sad hearing that, if I wake up this time, I will stay wake up till 5 am, I should have silent my phone this is really my fault
"I really feel not good today sir I cannot come"
"of course of course I'm just joking eheheheheh"

I try to sleep after that, until now, 10.30 pm, I cannot sleep, my wife told me she will bring me mint tea, I tell her no need just bring boiling water I need it right now.

Sometime I think, I should take a medicine. Sleeping is a freaking luxury I tell you, if you can sleep you should be grateful.

 

[thecrazyscot]

Even by the standards of blood-sucking parasites, tax prep services are blood-sucking parasites.
I know I'm getting ripped off using them, but I'm willing to pay a fee to make taxes easier and faster. However, when asked how to pay for the tax service, they took it to a whole new level. There is an additional fee if I wanted to pay with my refund, and that fee was larger than my entire tax refund.

Oh, I also got $1 back thanks to the Covid19 tax rejiggering. Thanks Trump!

Turbo tax deluxe is $50 and includes free federal electronic filing. I've been using it for over a decade, probably 2. It is a very well designed program.

Hmm...I've never found the the free federal filing was at all hidden. Maybe because I've used deluxe and not regular.

In any case I like it a lot. How much does H&R block cost?

You guys should use freetaxusa.com. I've used both TurboTax and H&R Block in the past, and have been frustrated by how they nickel and dime you.

freetaxusa only charges you $15 per state e-file. That's it. Nothing for the software, nothing for federal. I compared the results this year in both TurboTax and H&R Block (since you can complete everything except filing in those without paying) and my result was exactly the same. I used a coupon code to file for a total of less than $30, which included 2 states, and their deluxe upgrade which provides unlimited amendments.

Seriously - this may sound like an advert for them, and...well, it is. I hate doing taxes, and always feel ripped off afterwards. This year was the first time I didn't feel ripped off by the service (just the feds, since I owed).

 

[cardgame]

turbotax was still free for me both state and federal this year

 

[thecrazyscot]

turbotax was still free for me both state and federal this year

"Simple Returns" are usually totally free. They nickel and dime you if you have certain situations...i.e. they won't let you do certain credits/deductions/etc without upgrading to a paid version. We bought a house in 2019, so we no longer had a "simple return". Actually we haven't qualified for the free simple return in years.

 

[rah]

Time for the most petty rant of the tread.
I retired over a month ago so I could play more golf. Haven't played one round yet.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Time for the most petty rant of the tread.
I retired over a month ago so I could play more golf. Haven't played one round yet.

You and the golfer in chief. I bet he is pissed. I think march 9 was his last outing.

 

[rah]

I actually thinks he prefers appearing on all the news stations every day pretending to be the leader. I'm sure it's quite the ego stroke for him.
He can take credit for any good news and blame any bad news on individual state governors.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

At 8pm (ish) I told my wife I will not having dinner with her and children, I'm going straight to bed I need to sleep so much, she's ok with it. Then I went to bed, near 9 pm a very important corporate partner call me, I look at it, and press lock then try to sleep again. But I'm telling to myself, maybe this is important. Again I just wanna sleep, I just let it, but I think again maybe this is very important. So I get up, I call him.

"sir you call me? is there anything I can do for you?"
"heheehehe tomorrow you'll come isn't it? because we gotta meet this that this that"
"of course, I already tell you today I'll come"
"you know what you should do right now, I think you should come here we can talk, bring something blabalabla heeheheheheh"
I'm so sad hearing that, if I wake up this time, I will stay wake up till 5 am, I should have silent my phone this is really my fault
"I really feel not good today sir I cannot come"
"of course of course I'm just joking eheheheheh"

I try to sleep after that, until now, 10.30 pm, I cannot sleep, my wife told me she will bring me mint tea, I tell her no need just bring boiling water I need it right now.

Sometime I think, I should take a medicine. Sleeping is a freaking luxury I tell you, if you can sleep you should be grateful.

I've had this story going on for the last year and a half; I have a lot more plotted in my head than I could possibly write down. So when it comes time to sleep, I just keep on with it and essentially tell myself a bedtime story.

If that doesn't work, I do have a prescription for sleeping pills. But I try not to take them unless nothing else works, as it's not good to get dependent on them.

Time for the most petty rant of the tread.
I retired over a month ago so I could play more golf. Haven't played one round yet.

If you have a house and yard, you could try a miniature setup. Or buy a croquet set. The only other alternative I can think of is a computer game (I really miss Zany Golf; I eventually got decently good at the level in the mad scientist's laboratory).

You and the golfer in chief. I bet he is pissed. I think march 9 was his last outing.

What, he doesn't just scamper around the country like our politicians?

Just for the hell of it, Andrew Scheer (interim Opposition Leader) flew to Ottawa for a vote in the House... and brought his wife and five children along on a private plane that only seats nine people. The other two passengers were the interim leader of the Green Party and one of the cabinet ministers.

Nine people, on the same small plane. Only three are MPs, and only one person out of the nine bothered with a mask (the oldest one, Elizabeth May). One spouse, 5 kids. For whatever reason they had for leaving a perfectly adequate home in Saskatchewan to go to Ottawa. Did they run out of toilet paper in Saskatchewan? Did Scheer just want to use up his allotment of plane trips he could use for family members? Will they all go into 14 days' isolation when they get to Stornaway (the official residence of the Opposition Leader)? Some provinces are cracking down on interprovincial travel now - essential travel only, and residents returning home. Scheer's wife and brats do not qualify as either permanent residents of Ontario, nor are they essential to anyone but Scheer.

And Justin Trudeau... okay, Sophie went to London in March, and came back with COVID. She did her time in self-isolation, tested negative, and after everyone was told to stay home... she took the kids to their cottage in Quebec. Where Trudeau went for the weekend after repeatedly telling the rest of the country to stay home.

So is he going to follow the self-isolation rules some provinces are putting in place now - it's not just if you arrive from outside Canada, it's if you arrive from another province... somehow, I doubt it.

 

[Takhisis]

Time for the most petty rant of the tread.
I retired over a month ago so I could play more golf. Haven't played one round yet.

Hey, look at the positives: at least you can officially not work and officially get paid.

 

[H4run]

If that doesn't work, I do have a prescription for sleeping pills. But I try not to take them unless nothing else works, as it's not good to get dependent on them.

Never took it in my life, but I think I need it now, I already make a thread about sleep, but one of the thing that I realize about myself is, once I woke up from sleep by surprise I just cannot sleep back for quite a long time. I just need to have that sometime when I really need to sleep but I can't, because I think this wrong sleeping pattern affect my health, hence sleeping pill is the lesser evil.