Minor rant thread. Post your rants o' the day here!

For berkeley's sake, my family can ruin any gathering we attempt to have. My middle sister can't control her kids and is yelling at them, my nephew is a destructive malicious little E36 M3 who I genuinely hate, my mother undermines any attempt by my middle sister to get her kids under control and then is screaming at the rest of us minding our own business. Finally my older sister, who I actually likeb said "I don't like this and I'm not putting up with this" and took her kids and husband and left. Happy berkeleying birthday to me.

In reply to NickD :

We had... other difficulties with one of my sisters and her family. She's the middle one out of my 3 sisters, who are all older. We try pretty hard to avoid seeing her and her family but it is unavoidable sometimes. We do nearly all of our family socializing with my youngest sister and her family. 

This year for health reasons my middle sister and her family couldn't attend Thanksgiving or Christmas, and it was, frankly, incredibly liberating. 

We only see them a couple times a year and that is more than enough.  You don't have to associate with them just because you're related - you didn't have any choice about being born into the family.  But you get to choose your friends and so I recommend that you choose to be friends with the sister you like and avoid the one you don't. 

It took me a long time to learn that I had to do what was best for my sanity and that, in fact, blood is NOT any damn thicker than water when toxic people are involved. 
 

My 64 year old dad who's on the lung transplant list now has custody of my stepsisters 3rd kid. He's already adopted her 2 older ones before she got pregnant with this one. Once again she's berkeleying up and refusing to even try. It stressful as hell on my dad and stepmom but they won't let any kid is this family end up with a stranger. 
 

it also means my older sister who lives with this sister is likely berkeleying up again and will never get her kids back. Luckily her ex husband allows the family to see those kids.

NickD said:

For berkeley's sake, my family can ruin any gathering we attempt to have. My middle sister can't control her kids and is yelling at them, my nephew is a destructive malicious little E36 M3 who I genuinely hate, my mother undermines any attempt by my middle sister to get her kids under control and then is screaming at the rest of us minding our own business. Finally my older sister, who I actually likeb said "I don't like this and I'm not putting up with this" and took her kids and husband and left. Happy berkeleying birthday to me.

Never be afraid to cut toxic people out of your life, whether they are family or not.

Your time on Earth is short, using up that precious time on toxic/garbage/bad people is insane if you really think about it

In reply to NickD :

Happy birthday, from your weird ass family that you chose.

In reply to slowbird :

Illinois, at least away from the metropolitan areas. But there are plenty of other reasons you don't want to live here

In reply to slowbird :

South Dakota, but as I type this it 4 above 0.

slowbird said:

Which states don't have berkin vehicle inspection? I need to move to one of those. Two tickets in one week. Jeez louise.

TN

BlindPirate said:

In reply to slowbird :

Illinois, at least away from the metropolitan areas. But there are plenty of other reasons you don't want to live here

Even where we do have emissions testing, it’s just emissions testing - no safety checks. And the emissions is only 1996 gas vehicles and newer, and only an OBDii test, not sniffer. I’ve reset engine lights a day or two before going in and been able to pass. 

Cotton said:

slowbird said:

Which states don't have berkin vehicle inspection? I need to move to one of those. Two tickets in one week. Jeez louise.

TN

Kentucky

In reply to NickD :

Thank you!

Our lives are quite similar, with the exception being my parents have catered to my sister and her piece of E36 M3 son (my nephew), I have recently said enough was enough and have retreated from the E36 M3 show.

My parents have tried guilting me, bullying me, etc into seeing and spending time with them.

My kids are heartbroken that theyre grandparents are so focused on the nephew and seem to not want to know my kids.

I was starting to second guess myself, 

But dude, reading this truly helps ,, maybe not for you, but you have helped me!

BTW, Happy Birthday!

In reply to warpedredneck :

Probably the one thing I've learned in life is that families do weird E36 M3 for no visible reason. 
 

In reply to warpedredneck :

Toxic people are toxic whether they are related to you or not. I've willingly cut ties with family members in the past, and whenever I get asked why by someone else in the family, I tell them I have no time for toxic drama in my life, and it adversely affects the people I love. 

Daylan C said:

Cotton said:

slowbird said:

Which states don't have berkin vehicle inspection? I need to move to one of those. Two tickets in one week. Jeez louise.

TN

Kentucky

Oregon & Washington

slowbird said:

Which states don't have berkin vehicle inspection? I need to move to one of those. Two tickets in one week. Jeez louise.

NV doesn't have safety inspections, although they have smog checks in the counties that the two big population centers reside in (Reno and Las Vegas).

Stefan said:

Daylan C said:

Cotton said:

slowbird said:

Which states don't have berkin vehicle inspection? I need to move to one of those. Two tickets in one week. Jeez louise.

TN

Kentucky

Oregon & Washington

I'm beginning to think the answer to this question is "most of them"

Daylan C said:

Stefan said:

Daylan C said:

Cotton said:

slowbird said:

Which states don't have berkin vehicle inspection? I need to move to one of those. Two tickets in one week. Jeez louise.

TN

Kentucky

Oregon & Washington

I'm beginning to think the answer to this question is "most of them"

Idaho

Although the area in and around Boise does require smog...

In reply to Recon1342 :

most nc counties only have safety, which means lights and seatbelts. 

Daylan C said:

Stefan said:

Daylan C said:

Cotton said:

slowbird said:

Which states don't have berkin vehicle inspection? I need to move to one of those. Two tickets in one week. Jeez louise.

TN

Kentucky

Oregon & Washington

I'm beginning to think the answer to this question is "most of them"

Yup, most of those outside of the rustbelt.  Basically if there is a high chance your vehicle will get eaten by the tin worm before the warranty expires, you might live in a state with inspection.

That said, I sometimes wish Oregon had a more thorough inspection system just because of the scary damned cars I see on the road from time to time.  It rains here in the PNW.  A decent amount.  So why in god's name are so many people driving on bald or poorly inflated tires?  Brakes that barely work, etc.  How about the ones with all sorts of bulbs out or are so full of junk that they can't see out of them?  Or that are missing rear view mirrors?  Then there's the "modified" cars with stuff screwed on with drywall screws or the jacked up rigs that were welded together using a HF stick welder and whatever metal rod they could find.

In reply to Stefan :

Michigan and Ohio do not have inspections.  Some counties in Ohio have emissions testing, but that's it.

Recon1342 said:

Daylan C said:

Stefan said:

Daylan C said:

Cotton said:

slowbird said:

Which states don't have berkin vehicle inspection? I need to move to one of those. Two tickets in one week. Jeez louise.

TN

Kentucky

Oregon & Washington

I'm beginning to think the answer to this question is "most of them"

Idaho

 

Although the area in and around Boise does require smog...

UT abolished safety inspections 2 years ago. Some of the more densely populated counties have emissions though. 

In reply to Stefan :

You do have an emissions check every other year in Washington, or at least Spokane county

In reply to Antihero :

Well, yeah.  Oregon does as well in the more populated areas.  That doesn't really count since it's just a sniffer/noise or OBD2 readiness test.

mtn said:

BlindPirate said:

In reply to slowbird :

Illinois, at least away from the metropolitan areas. But there are plenty of other reasons you don't want to live here

Even where we do have emissions testing, it’s just emissions testing - no safety checks. And the emissions is only 1996 gas vehicles and newer, and only an OBDii test, not sniffer. I’ve reset engine lights a day or two before going in and been able to pass. 

same with NJ. Pre-96 cars get a waiver for emissions testing. Personally, to judge by all the cars with missing brake lights and badly misaligned headlights, I wish they would bring back safety testing

Dammit James May, I put on Our man in Japan to fall asleep too, but it's not boring