A Rant for Christmas

[tris]

Morning All - picture the scene in 4 days time

It's 2:55pm and you're waiting for the Queen to come on the BBC @ 3pm to see whether she tell us that she's had another "annus horribilis" or not and Aunty Mable asks you to hold her teeth while she gives Cousin John a kiss "for Christmas" and the kids are all moaning because the batteries in their new toys are flat and you forgot to increase the Duracell share price by buying a hundred AAs or so and your wife is in a mood as she put the sprouts on at 11:00 and after 4 hours they still aren't ready so Christmas Dinner will be late

Christmas can be a stressful time and I think it would be useful for us to de-stress ahead of the day by having a good RANT

Anything goes within the forum rules, we wouldn't want to stress Laup or our long suffering Mods!

I'll start:-

Indicators:- Why can't people use the indicators that their cars/trucks/busses are fitted with? Makes life a lot easier if you have fighting chance of knowing where they're going

Middle lane drivers:- I could save this country billions of pounds not building 3 lane motorways given that SO many people sit in the middle lane 1MPH under the speed limit and not on the inside lane where the law says they should be

Grrrr -  MERRY CHRISTMAS

[Huzo]

Now now Tris old bean.
Just get yourself a nice set of wire wheels and you'll feel much better in the mornin' then...
Okay ????

[Mr Pootle]

What’s the most pointless job in the car industry? Putting indicators on Audis.

[KiwiKev]

Bloody traffic - all these idiots out doing their last minute Christmas shopping - my missus included. Grrrrrrr


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[e.cleven]

Not much to rant about here either in SW Florida. If I were back in Minnesota I would be crabbing about the snow and cold and why no one slows down on slippery roads. The only drawback of being here is that there is no Grain Belt beer to be found. Guess I will have to survive on Yuengling instead.
Merry Christmas to all and a Happy and safe New Year.

Earl

[Sheepdog]

I’m ranted out...

[tazio]

No pissing and moaning from me.
I follow the KISS plan this time of year.
Keeps the incoming gray hair to a minimum.
Merry CHRISTmas

[Pop]

Happy Yule, Dec. 21. Shortest day of the year. My rant, it's too cold today to stand out to the Festivous Pole and air my grievances. It will be a quick dash, not unlike a polar bear splash.
Otherwise, quite remarkably, other than A H drivers, no rants.
Again, HAPPY YULE.
Pop

[travelingbyguzzi]

A Rave: Nothin but SUNSHINE in the Seattle area for the next several days. I have a cold (mid-30s) but sunny 200 mile ride planned for Saturday.

[Orange Guzzi]

Battery's, I hate battery's.  I pay $.11 per kwh after taxes for electricity at my home.  Does any one know the cost for the small amount of electricity stored in the various sizes of battery's.  It has to be several dollars per kwh. 

[Pop]

I never thought of batteries that way. I have always thought of them as necessary 'evils'. Especially at the Solstice (Christmas). "Here, take these 3 AAA and don't bother me for 2 hours." Oh yeah, there's a rant. Why is it 2 AA's but 3AAA's with toys. Same voltage?
Popk

[Lannis]

Christmas-time stress hit a peak with us back around 1995 - 2000.

1) I was still working and there were Christmas parties to go to almost every night.

2) End-of-year commitments at work made "overtime" and "vacation" conflict with each other.

3) The kids were young enough to be excited about Santa leaving them presents.

4) The whole family still bought each other Christmas presents, which meant that we were buying and wrapping 40 - 60 gifts a year.

5) Three different Family Christmas things to go to between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.   Running all over the state regardless of weather.   Cooking hams and casseroles by the dozen.

It was getting miserable.    Supposed to be a wonderful peaceful time of year and here we were, right in the middle of a post-scarcity society, stressing ourselves out over more food and more "things" that we knew what to do with.   

Why?   Well, because ... because ... it's ALWAYS been like that!

Not no more it ain't.

1) Two Christmas parties to go to (one Virginia British Motorcycle Club do, and one neighborhood one).

2) Kids aren't at home and all grown up, presents are simple (gift certificate at a gun shop).

3) Me and my siblings, cousins, nephews etc don't exchange gifts any more.   We buy little toys and books for the grandchildren, one trip to town, one order on line, and done.

4) ONE Family Christmas gathering to go to, Christmas Day.   Minimal cooking.   Fay and I will cook up some treats for ourselves and make some eggnog, and done.

It's back to be nice and relaxing ....

Lannis

[Chuck in Indiana]

Tire gauges. I bought a new one the last time I was in SoCal, and it's either reading 4 lbs low, or my new tires are 4 lbs low. I guess I'll go for a ride. If they are really low, it'll be pretty obvious. 

[steven c]

 I'm hopping to get new air for my tires!

[Arizona Wayne]

Christmas-time stress hit a peak with us back around 1995 - 2000.

1) I was still working and there were Christmas parties to go to almost every night.

2) End-of-year commitments at work made "overtime" and "vacation" conflict with each other.

3) The kids were young enough to be excited about Santa leaving them presents.

4) The whole family still bought each other Christmas presents, which meant that we were buying and wrapping 40 - 60 gifts a year.

5) Three different Family Christmas things to go to between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.   Running all over the state regardless of weather.   Cooking hams and casseroles by the dozen.

It was getting miserable.    Supposed to be a wonderful peaceful time of year and here we were, right in the middle of a post-scarcity society, stressing ourselves out over more food and more "things" that we knew what to do with.   

Why?   Well, because ... because ... it's ALWAYS been like that!

Not no more it ain't.

1) Two Christmas parties to go to (one Virginia British Motorcycle Club do, and one neighborhood one).

2) Kids aren't at home and all grown up, presents are simple (gift certificate at a gun shop).

3) Me and my siblings, cousins, nephews etc don't exchange gifts any more.   We buy little toys and books for the grandchildren, one trip to town, one order on line, and done.

4) ONE Family Christmas gathering to go to, Christmas Day.   Minimal cooking.   Fay and I will cook up some treats for ourselves and make some eggnog, and done.

It's back to be nice and relaxing ....

Lannis

Oh God, I used to hate to see Xmas come when I was Toy dept. manager @ Sears Roebuck in Portland, Or.  Our job started the day after Thanksgiving @ 6am until Xmas Eve.  6 days a week work 12 hours a day, 1 day a week off.

Before that there was working @ the Post Office swing shift part time only @ Xmas it was full time 12 hr. days 2 weeks straight.

Now retired with no relatives nearby Judy sends some presents to my son's Jake 3 young children, my brother Wes and his 2 sons are all adults and take care of themselves, and we stay @ home, get the fire going and enjoy Xmas eve with our 3 dogs & cat.   Xmas day we will join other retirees like us for dinner and BS.  Judy & I don't buy gifts for each other any more 'cause we already have everything we need.  So Xmas for us is stress free. 

[Rich A]

I got a small Christmas present today. I was bringing the dogs back from their chauffeured walk, and I'm rolling along just below the point where I'd get speeding ticket when an out-of-state Hyundai SUV passes me, probably going 10 to 15 mph faster than I am.

About the same time, the radar detector buzzes and flashes. "Get him/her!" I am thinking because speeding in that area can be dangerous and also I can be a dick sometimes (I'm trying to figure out where the cop is).

I keep watching the SUV as it continues to pull away from me, and the radar detector continues to flash on and off. About 2 to 3 miles up the road, I see flashing lights on the other side of the the highway--the cop car turns and pulls the SUV over.

Nailed him! Hah!

Rich A

[Tom]

The mechanical to-do's around the homestead. 

[Chesterfield]

Christmas can be a stressful time and I think it would be useful for us to de-stress ahead of the day by having a good RANT

Anything goes within the forum rules, we wouldn't want to stress Laup or our long suffering Mods!

I'll start:-

Indicators:- Why can't people use the indicators that their cars/trucks/busses are fitted with? Makes life a lot easier if you have fighting chance of knowing where they're going


Grrrr -  MERRY CHRISTMAS

Around here turning on your indicator, is the signal for drivers to cut you off and not let you in.

[Pop]

I got a small Christmas present today. I was bringing the dogs back from their chauffeured walk, and I'm rolling along just below the point where I'd get speeding ticket when an out-of-state Hyundai SUV passes me, probably going 10 to 15 mph faster than I am.

About the same time, the radar detector buzzes and flashes. "Get him/her!" I am thinking because speeding in that area can be dangerous and also I can be a dick sometimes (I'm trying to figure out where the cop is).

I keep watching the SUV as it continues to pull away from me, and the radar detector continues to flash on and off. About 2 to 3 miles up the road, I see flashing lights on the other side of the the highway--the cop car turns and pulls the SUV over.

Nailed him! Hah!

Rich A

Now that's a Christmas present. In over 52 years of driving(legally) I have only had that happen once. I smiled all day.
Pop

[Arizona Wayne]

Around here turning on your indicator, is the signal for drivers to cut you off and not let you in.

EXACTLY !!   Learned that decades ago. 

[Arizona Wayne]

The mechanical to-do's around the homestead. 

I have 3 of those so far....replace rear door latch, rebuild bathroom  door gate to keep the dogs from eating cat's poop, fix or replace the garbage disposal. 

[Chuck in Indiana]

^^^Good rant. I've had a couple of chats with the grim reaper, and he reminded me that every day is a gift. Enjoy it.

[oldbike54]

 Yeah , those first world problems are just so tough .

 Dusty

[PJPR01]

^^^Good rant. I've had a couple of chats with the grim reaper, and he reminded me that every day is a gift. Enjoy it.

 :1: :1:  Words worth living by!  Well done Chuck!

[Arizona Wayne]

I'm not complaining about things that need repair around the house.  Beats paying someone else to do them of which I can do my self.  Having done both white collar and blue collar jobs in my life saves us $. 

[tris]

Now now Tris old bean.
Just get yourself a nice set of wire wheels and you'll feel much better in the mornin' then...
Okay ????

Well I wished a lot so maybe I'll be lucky?

Southern Hemisphere Christmas's are cool (in the  sense of the word).

In the 70s we lived in South Africa and can remember having Christmas dinner around the pool and getting the upgrade kit for my Meccano and following tradition building the biggest crane  I could with my Dad

Cheerio

[Mr Pootle]

Let my daughter fend for herself. I’m getting on the Eurostar tomorrow morning and heading for Strasbourg.

[hidn45]

Our hometown is so small nobody uses indicators because everybody already knows where you're going....

Daughter will be home tonite for Christmas for the 1st time in a few years, so there are a few preparations yet on the list (& if I get them done there's a hockey game for us to go to), but overall, a stress-free weekend is on tap.....

BTW - "life's too short to not have that one more cookie if you want it...."

Merry Christmas to all!!

[Guzzistajohn]

^^^Good rant. I've had a couple of chats with the grim reaper, and he reminded me that every day is a gift. Enjoy it.

Winner! You’re the man Chuck!

[Guzzi Gal]

I'll start:-

Indicators:- Why can't people use the indicators that their cars/trucks/busses are fitted with? Makes life a lot easier if you have fighting chance of knowing where they're going

Middle lane drivers:- I could save this country billions of pounds not building 3 lane motorways given that SO many people sit in the middle lane 1MPH under the speed limit and not on the inside lane where the law says they should be.

Grrrr -  MERRY CHRISTMAS

 :1: Around here, the everchanging road condition update signs are displaying "Join the rebellion, use your signal!".
  When my kids hit driving age I'm positive that my near constant ranting whilst driving will be so burned into their soul that they will use blinkers if they're even considering a lane change/turn!  This, along with proper lane choice, 4 way stop/traffic round etiquette, and watching for the ever vulnerable two/three wheelers should make them polite users of our highways and byways. 

That's the hope anyway. 

Oh God, I used to hate to see Xmas come when I was Toy dept. manager @ Sears Roebuck in Portland, Or.  Our job started the day after Thanksgiving @ 6am until Xmas Eve.  6 days a week working 12 hours a day, 1 day a week off.

Before that there was working @ the Post Office swing shift part time only @ Xmas it was full time 12 hr. days 2 weeks straight.

Now retired with no relatives nearby Judy sends some presents to my son's Jake 3 young children, my brother Wes and his 2 sons are all adults and take care of themselves, and we stay @ home, get the fire going and enjoy Xmas eve with our 3 dogs & cat.   Xmas day we will join other retirees like us for dinner and BS.  Judy & I don't buy gifts for each other anymore 'cause we already have everything we need.  So Xmas for us is stress free. 

Working at Circuit City (customer service dpt. super with similar hours as above) for twenty years, pretty much killed the holiday spirit in me.  With the help of Amazon and similar, it's slowly been restored, but you won't catch me out shopping with the mad hoards. 

Last night, on a fast food run for my ailing husband, the lone counter girl was having register issues.  She kept apologizing for her slow performance because she had just started the job a few days ago.  After she took my order, I congratulated her on the new job and wished her a Merry Christmas.  The poor thing nearly started crying!  She explained I was the first person to say either to her, and it meant a lot. 

A little kindness, even the absent-minded sort, goes a long way.