The Trivial Complaints Thread ... #3

[Beth3346]

@Beldarna, with the way you talk about your cats and take care of them i didn't think you were making fun of the cat

Yeah back in the 90s and earlier attitudes about pets were different. all of our cats were declawed. my parents still think it's crazy to not declaw. i told them it was illegal now in a lot of places and they said if their cats weren't declawed they would have shredded the furniture. i don't agree

yeah i don't think animals are vengeful in the same way people can be. when my cat peed in my room he was trying to tell me what would happen if he was unable to access the litterbox all night. i quickly got the message

[Heart Of Midnight]

My complaint is my cat, actually. It's very cold here and I have a heated cat bed, but Aster is afraid of blankets and cat beds. I can't figure out how to show her the bed is safe and warm. It's making me sad, because she keeps curling in a ball and fluffing up to keep warm on the floor. I wish I could just tell her

Would it help if you put something in the cat's bed that has Aster's own scent, for example toys she plays with? And/or your scent, for example a shirt?    Does Aster like catnip? Would that help.. Or the Feliway spray?

[BlackCurtains]

Someone on Facebook suggested the catnip too, and I put some in the bed after crushing it to release the oils. Aster smelled it but was more interested in rubbing my fingers than the catnip in the bed. I ended up putting the heat on in the house for a bit. The windows are closed and it's a little warmer inside than outside and she seems to be doing better. Also the sun was shining today and she was lying in the sunny spots getting warm.

[Ponybookworm]

I'm broke. Like I got a message from my bank today saying there's no money in the account. I got money in the account YESTERDAY. I only got what I needed mostly, though I treated myself slightly too, but kept within what I thought was my budget. I went to town so I could get cheap food. I also put credit in the electricity (it's prepay & goes on a key thing you charge at a shop & put in the meter). But for next week the only thing I have to spend is something like £8 in my wallet cash. Good thing I don't have to get much with it... (milk, cheese, veggie burgers).
I think I must have overspent on decor for the bathroom...
Presents for folks will have to be made with what's in the house (fortunately I can knit & crochet)
BC I hope you can convince Aster to get in the warm moggie bed xxx

[lovesbabysquirmy]

one of the downstairs tenants... his social assistance agency decided they were NOT paying his rent anymore. 

Guess when the social worker contacted us to tell us we would not be getting our expected Cheque for the 1st?
she DID NOT call to wish us "happy holidays, won't it be great with $700 LESS"  , she made her client do it!!!!  awful!

  I almost want to pick  up the phone and get snarky with her.  Now we don't have money for utilities... if the dude wanted to move out on his own, he gets to give us 30 days notice, but this agency decided TWO days before rent was to be paid that they wouldn't be issuing that cheque.  so angry!

I hope that the agency also realizes that they have lost us as advocates and allies. We have helped clients for over a year , with various "moments of compassion" for client's various issues, and then they pull this crap.  "you want us to help Roger?  Or Neil?  Huh?  What about helping Joe?  We WERE doing that but you decided he needed to be homeless at Christmas. Call us when you find Joe so he can move back in." *click*"

*names have been invented

[Taffeta]

I feel like sometimes the holiday season makes a % of people turn into Scrooge.

So my bus rant of the week (it's becoming a regular thing again, folks). This one was annoying though.

Our bus is confusing. I won't lie. It is. It's a wonderful experiment by the Council in how many routes can we put on one bus to save money without imploding the vehicle. The answer is 2 and a half, with a couple of sprinkles.

That would be fine, except that this wonder route runs in both directions. Clockwise and anti-clockwise. Hence the A and the C. They have a number as well but that's not really important. Most people call them the A and the C.

...So I was at the bus station to catch the C. The C is the Clockwise bus. It comes in to town via one route and goes out the other way. And then it gets to where I live and starts round its circle again. I live in the middle of both the A and C routes so I can use either. However. Not everyone can, because of how long the route is (90 minutes). Most people don't want to travel an hour + to get to their home 15 minutes away. Understandable.

So the C came in, the drivers changed. Driver had a mentor, as he was learning the route. Mentor was the problem.

This bus was the C, but the mentor decided it was the A. That means it was going to go back the route it came, not the route it was meant to do. I tried to query this, and he dismissed it. I showed him the timetable. He said he didn't care what the timetable said, because they were going to run the A. He was pretty rude, honestly. So I emailed the garage manager. Because I was worried about people being stranded. It's cold here today.

...Anyhow. We did the whole long laborious stretch of the A to the next town (this takes 20 minutes as it isn't direct). I decided to press the issue again. This time I think I scared the mentor, because I not only mentioned the garage manager by name, but also told them the vehicle number that had been on route that morning on the A was not the same as the bus we were travelling on. And anyway, I begged him to check, and this time he checked...and I was right.

...So, in the time it would have taken to complete 2/3 of the correct route, they had been swanning around the incorrect route, potentially abandoning passengers, and also now late.

So they bombed down the main road to the next town, and restarted the route there.

As annoying as all this was, I am so glad I spoke up a second time. We got to the second town and there was an old guy waiting there, in the cold. He looked relieved to see the bus (late, but present!). A woman got on at the supermarket, also older, and she commented how cold it was out, and how much warmer on the bus. And another lady at the other store also got on.

...Those three people would've been stranded in the cold if I hadn't kept pushing this issue. But the reason it's a complaint more than anything is that there was another lady in town, and she was told to get off the bus because the mentor insisted it was the A and not the C. Another lady benefitted from this mistake and got home early, fine - but that older lady would now have to wait another 90 minutes for the next C to arrive.

The driver was fine about it. I know him. He used to drive our old route, but he is learning the new one. The mentor did not apologise, and was very stiff with me after I was proven right.

BUT I had an email back from the garage manager, who had checked the bus tracking and was unamused with what he saw. So I think the mentor probably will check in future, and hopefully this adventure will not happen again.

Or at least till next week, when I return with the next installment of Taffeta's Terrible Transport Tales!

[Ponyfan]

There's so much I want to say, I'm not sure I can say it all in one post...

While I was at work yesterday, the drs office called to remind me of an appointment. My mom knew I had already made an appointment for today at another office because I had to reschedule it since I had been sick and on antibiotics.  She called the drs office back for me since I was working and rescheduled the drs appointment for the afternoon.  Then she called again since I got had a follow up appointment in Sept with the dr and just saw him 2 weeks ago when I got sick. We always get appointment cards for our next visit at the drs office.  I have a vague memory of them saying something about a November appointment, but  we couldn't find the card and if I was supposed to see him this month, why did I have a follow up in September?

I usually take a water bottle with me to work. Yesterday someone grabbed it and acted like they were going to drink out of it. Then they said "I was just playing."  They didn't drink out of my bottle, but it made me feel like my bottle was covered in germs and I was afraid to drink out of it until I had wiped off the top pf the bottle with a Clorox wipe (I let it dry before I took a drink.)

My elderly dog keeps peeing and pooping on the floor.   My dad suggested talking to the vet at her last checkup, but since she's so old, the vet didn't think medication would work.  Realistically, I know that she can't live too much longer as she's already 15 1/2 and outlived at least one dog I know of that was the same age as her.  I know part of owing a pet is cleaning up after them, but I end up cleaning up 99% of the dog's messes because my parents sometimes don't notice that she's made a mess.

I feel a little rundown.


Ponyfan

[BlackCurtains]

I managed to shave my head and take a shower. I feel SO much better. But I didn't mean to shave my whole head. I wanted to do the sides and back and trim with scissors the top and then dye it bright red. I already bought the hair dye and some gel, so I could spike it up. But as I was shaving the side I accidentally went to far over and took too much off the top, so I tried making it even. Much like Jerry Seinfeld when he accidentally shaved his chest, before I knew it the top of my hair was shaved too. So I just gave the whole thing a buzz. Now I have to wait for it to grow out to dye it.

There's a big park across the street and they have a lot of events and games there. They must be having a child football game, because I hear people yelling and cheering, but there's also someone who keeps blowing a whistle and it's very annoying.

[Honeycomb]

I’m the leader of a small weekly toddler play group. Last year, we had a wonderfully cozy Christmas “party” before the holidays, with a Secret Santa for the little ones. Everyone brought treats and I did the decorations and it was lovely. This year, I suggested doing the same. These people are new, nobody was there last year. Out of the 8 participants, I got one reply, and she said the kids get too much stuff in December anyway, so she’d rather not do it. Her son is exactly 1 year old. And the others didn’t even reply. I was sick all week so I asked in our group, not in person. I’m kind of angry and disappointed and feel like just calling off the whole thing altogether.

[Beldarna]

My moms dentist noticed something weird in the x-ray of her mouth a couple of days ago so he sent them to her doctor. Now she's been called to an x-ray of her sinuses today! In an hour. They think it's either a tumour or a polyp. My relationship with my mom goes up and down but I so hope it's nothing cancerous!


Honeycomb, it's good to see you! Are you still in China?

[Ponybookworm]

Only a couple of things need done in my bathroom. Workies are all chatting about one, while the other (the outlet for the fan) has to wait for approval. Is it too much to ask for everything to be finished so I can get my home to myself again???

[Beth3346]

I hope everything goes well for your mom, Beldarna!

PBW i hope they get finished up quickly!

Ponyfan, i'm sorry about your dog. we went through something similar with our dog in his last years.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

selling stuff on Kijiji is such a pain... but we need the money... but it's such a pain... bleh.

*makes some tea*

[Ponyfan]

Beldarna,  I hope everything is okay with your mom.  That sounds scary.

Thanks, Beth.  I really want her to live her life as happy as possible for as long as she can.  I don't want to put her down until absolutely necessary, but it's frustrating to always have to clean up her messes.



Over Thanksgiving weekend, Barnes and Noble was having a 4x stamps promotion for members.  Usually, it's one stamp for every $10 you spend in one transaction. My mom bought something there and the cashier said it was okay to scan my membership card since I was with her.  The receipt says that I earned a reward and almost filled up another card.  It always takes the emails a little while to catch up to the current stamps and rewards status.  The email I got today shows the reward I earned, but says I have no new stamps when I should have 9 on the current card.  There's a disclaimer that the emails might not be completely accurate on that count.  Maybe they're just really busy processing everything and haven't updated all of the accounts yet on the emails.

Edit:  I found the email that said I earned a reward and I have 9 stamps on my account.  It takes 10 to complete a card.  That confirms my suspicion that the mass email isn't completely caught up yet.

Ponyfan

[Heart Of Midnight]

Beldarna, I hope everything is going well for your mother!