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

Getting ready for vacation week before thanksgiving. Bathroom vent fan dies in the master bath. Gah. One of the guys we're vacationing with has an in, so I call him and get a discount on one, and he can bring it with him.

Two days later the kids bathroom bathroom vent fan dies. I call again and get another from the same guy ordered. Gah. Oh well, they are both 1998 original with probably the same usage. Fine. Annoying and expensive and time consuming, but fine.

Get back from vacation, microwave is dead. Tunawife needs one to disinfect her sinus rinse stuff. I do a dance to disinfect, order a new one from Lowes and pick it up on Monday. Annoying time consuming and expensive, but fine.

Two days later the new microwave is acting up, heating things intermittently. I'm on hold with Lowes right now, because a "major appliace" only has a 48 hour return policy before they invoke the warranty and I have to have a tech come to the house to agree that my microwave is broken in a few weeks.

In reply to tuna55 :

Any chance that you've got an issue with the power coming into the house? Grounding issue or something? This sounds like you've had 3 and maybe 4 electrical devices fail in short order. 

I'd at least break out the multimeter and check the voltage. 

In reply to Peabody :

Wuff, that is far from a minor rant.  I'm so sorry you're going through all this.

DW's father had remarried after her mother's death (somewhat out of the blue).  We can only assume that his second wife - I refuse to call her "stepmother" - had an agenda all along, because as he developed dementia, she took him for everything.  She had a batch of no-account adult children, too.  It was hard and painful but at least she didn't try to sue us.  The laws in their state (PA) definitely favor the aggressor in these cases, so we tried to fight, but it was hopeless.

Best of luck to you, man.  No good deed goes unpunished.

In reply to mtn :

I think you're on to something, I seem to remember a big thread of confusing electrical issues in the not so distant past. 

In reply to Duke :

Yes, it's been a non stop assault going on two years, and I'm sure I've forgotten a few things, and I left out some other details. Whenever you think you're moving forward, or you're going to get some relief, someone hits you with another new lousy situation. Fortunately two of the three lawyers are very good and the paralegal has been exceptionally helpful. I actually felt like a failure engaging her to help with the pension, which may finally be over now, but at some point I realized that I was overwhelmed and couldn't keep up. And now the will situation. There are considerable assets, and I'm anticipating that it's not going to be easy. Of course, I'll be in the middle, and ultimately responsible for dealing with it.

In reply to Peabody :

I'm sorry you are going through this

mtn said:

In reply to tuna55 :

Any chance that you've got an issue with the power coming into the house? Grounding issue or something? This sounds like you've had 3 and maybe 4 electrical devices fail in short order. 

I'd at least break out the multimeter and check the voltage. 

I had issues in part of my house at one point and it turned out I had a few circuit breakers starting to go bad.  I got lucky, though, and was only going through light bulbs more quickly than I should have been.

My rant - I have forgotten what it is like to not feel overwhelmed and incompetent.

RevRico said:

In reply to mtn :

I think you're on to something, I seem to remember a big thread of confusing electrical issues in the not so distant past. 

Yup, but they were fixed. We replaced the main breaker. 

In reply to Peabody :

I'm sorry; that's a deeply wretched situation.

tuna55 said:

Getting ready for vacation week before thanksgiving. Bathroom vent fan dies in the master bath. Gah. One of the guys we're vacationing with has an in, so I call him and get a discount on one, and he can bring it with him.

Two days later the kids bathroom bathroom vent fan dies. I call again and get another from the same guy ordered. Gah. Oh well, they are both 1998 original with probably the same usage. Fine. Annoying and expensive and time consuming, but fine.

 

Get back from vacation, microwave is dead. Tunawife needs one to disinfect her sinus rinse stuff. I do a dance to disinfect, order a new one from Lowes and pick it up on Monday. Annoying time consuming and expensive, but fine.

 

Two days later the new microwave is acting up, heating things intermittently. I'm on hold with Lowes right now, because a "major appliace" only has a 48 hour return policy before they invoke the warranty and I have to have a tech come to the house to agree that my microwave is broken in a few weeks.

Tried to call Tunawife to tell her the news about Lowes.

Her phone is broken. Again. Expensive Iphone.

Fedex

In reply to Peabody :

Geezus, you were dealt a plate full of steaming E36 M3. Sad to say you find out who people really are when it comes to estates. It sucks.

I'm executor of Dad's estate. I agreed to be executor after my parents asked me, no problem. From what I know now I wouldn't have accepted. No infighting here but main problem is lack of help, I do 90+% of the work here. I retired in 2020 but spend half my time at Dad's house, so pretty much no retirement.

Good luck with your ordeal, you're a good man.

Could go in minor win as HK is dead,

Once you’ve been to Cambodia, you’ll never stop wanting to beat Henry Kissinger to death with your bare hands. You will never again be able to open a newspaper and read about that treacherous, prevaricating, murderous scumbag sitting down for a nice chat with Charlie Rose or attending some black-tie affair for a new glossy magazine without choking. Witness what Henry did in Cambodia – the fruits of his genius for statesmanship – and you will never understand why he’s not sitting in the dock at The Hague next to Milošević.

Anthony Bourdain

Friend of mine revealed to me tonight he has a gambling problem, and is in over his head.  Like way in over his head.  Tomorrow we're going to find a professional that he can talk to, because I am not equipped to do anything more than be a buddy.  I don't know where to begin.  I don't even know what direction to point him in to get qualified help.  

In reply to Puddy46 :

It's a step in the right direction.

In reply to Puddy46 :

Just being in a position where he could open up to you, listening to him, and being moral support is a huge beginning already.

Your state probably has a help line - they definitely do if you have casinos or OTB there. Look into the local health and human services department.

Good luck to you both.

"At a minimum, we'd expect you to work 60 hours a week plus one weekend day but most of your work weeks will be ~70 hours with an occasional 80+ week during busy season." 

Look I get it some people work that much because they have to in order to support their family. I'm a salaried professional who wouldn't typically get overtime. So, you're asking me to 100% sacrifice any time I'd be spending with my family to come work for you. I don't think I'm unreasonable for wanting to work a 40-50 (max) work week to live a happy fulfilling life. 

In the last 12 hours i learned that my father is back in the hospital with a-fib, and the house that my cousin, her husband, and 4 kiddos under 8 live in just burned to the ground from a nat-gas explosion. SIlver lining is everyone is going to be OK, even the cousins pup, so at least theres that.

In reply to 4cylndrfury :

Holy crap.  Yeah, part of that is a major win.

In reply to 4cylndrfury :

Are they local?  Do they have immediate need for clothes/toiletries?

Thanks all. I know this is a really solid community who is ready to help. Thats what I love most about GRM!

Luckily, we have a big family in town, so between mom/dad/bro/sis/cousins upon cousins etc etc, their immediate needs are covered. They have a 6mo old daughter, and my sister kept all the baby goodies from when my niece was young, so much of the baby gear is covered in the short term. Her folks still have the big family home that had been an empty nest for several years now. Theres 3 extra bedrooms ready and waiting. We are all kicking into a group account to get them clothes and toiletries and the like.

Dunno if red cross or other assistance will be needed in the longer term. We're already aware that homeowners insurance for a total loss may take eons to come thru, so the family is stepping into the gap for however long is needed.

In reply to 4cylndrfury :

We are cleaning out the basement and have come across some baby/young kid stuff.  I would be more than happy to cart the stuff down to you if you want it.  PM me and I can send a list/pictures.

In reply to Aaron_King :

I will probably have a better idea of what they will need later this afternoon. Luckily dad is back home and comfy after some external defibrillating, so thats one less thing to worry about (for now). If it turns out they have additional baby stuff needed, I will definitely take you up on that. Her brother had a daughter last winter too, so between my sis and her bro, theres a lot of baby detritus in circulation.

In reply to Scotty Con Queso :

Yeah, that's a big fat NO.  Whenever I've interviewed, I've made it clear that I understand deadlines and occasional sprints, but I will not make overtime a way of life so they can keep their business model understaffed.

It's cost me a job or two... at places I didn't want to work.

In reply to 4cylndrfury :

Please do keep us updated.