[Guest]

Brothers and sisters, it is time to stand united and strike a blow for making the world a better place! Let's identify all the little things that are wrong with the world and have a good rant about them, then maybe the Powers That Be will sit up and take notice (or perhaps not).

Like central locking systems on cars, for instance. Why is it that when you press the button to unlock it you hear the clunk telling you it's unlocked but if you don't wait another second before pulling on the door handle the door stays locked! Whats that all about? Is it some kind of punishment for being hasty? And washing machines, too. You've started a wash and then you decide to stop it and open the door (cos you left some tissues in the pocket of the trousers you're washing, say). That's what you want to do, so why do you have to wait 2 minutes before it will let you do it? Either it's full of water or it aint, and if it aint then what's the problem? Does the machine release little demons to help remove stains, and they need to be exorcised before opening the door so they don't get out and cause trouble?

And milk cartons that just glup milk all over themselves and you and the table instead of pouring it. How's that still possible in the 21st century?

Oh and don't get me started on bowls. What is it with bowls? I'm speaking of the crockery variety you use for soup or breakfast cereal or whatever. The point of a bowl is it's a receptacle for holding liquids, hence it needs to go up at the sides a bit more than, say, a plate would. How do the designers of bowls keep forgetting this fact? Either they make them with a tiny piddling little indentation in the middle so it holds nothing, or they have edges at the shallowest angle imaginable so you can't possibly move your bowl of soup from A to B without slopping it everywhere. Is this some great design principle? That we must suffer for our crockery in the name of elegance? How elegant can a person be with soup all over them?

...and breathe. Someone else's turn.

[Guest]

Down in Victoria, it is the worst. I am sure some of you have heard this piece of news.

Victoria experencied, and still is, almost the worst bushfires in the history of Australia. 173 people have died and that toll is still rising, its expected to reach 300. Many more people are homeless, burnt, injured and have lost people and animals dear to them.

Bushfires are still raging and most are not expected to be under control for 3 weeks...

The worst bit is that they say the fire may of been lit on purpose.

Ya, I heard about Australia's fires and high temperatures. Looks like Global Warming is coming in big...humans have definitely overpopulated the world ad we are nw slowly destroying it (oh joy!). Maybe something like the event depicted in "The day when the Earth Stood Still" will happen...except without the whole human race being wiped out Some scientists still believe that the heat stroke is normal and we will soon go into an Ice Age, but it doesn't convince me <_<

Kat and Kay (hehe, I never realized the similarity between you two's names), I really do feel sorry for you. My school's cool, and although there are quite a few dim-wits, a good handful of people are pretty s:D I'm doing stuff beyond my grade as well, but I just got myself into it through my math teacher and advisor.

[akaslickster]

With all of the past few posts. I will add that if the weather sucks too much, move away. That is why I am having the best winter ever in my life.

[Guest]

With all of the past few posts. I will add that if the weather sucks too much, move away. That is why I am having the best winter ever in my life.

I would if I could *sulky glare*

<(^-^)>

[Guest]

I'll help...

HATE cellphones. Well, not really. I find mine quite useful. I like being able to text quick questions to my wife during work, so we don't have to interrupt each other. I dislike that I've become dependant upon them, but such is modern life. I do HATE the culture that has developed around them. Allow me to count the ways...

1) Standing in line/queue, talking loudly on the cellphone, ignoring the rest of us peacful citizens around them. Also, not hanging up when it's your turn (or, answering while you're at the clerk )

2) NOT turning the cellphone off while at the library/theater/cinema/restauraunt, etc!! You've had one for years. It's not a new idea that they should be turned off at these times. WHY DO YOU STILL EVEN NEED A REMINDER?? You NEVER forget to check it immediately after the movie/meal/show, etc.

3) NOT using any of the multitude of hands-free options available when driving, even after it's been proven (ok, it was Mythbusters, but it was a convincing episode) that driving and using the cellphone is as dangerous as drinking and driving!

4) NOT taking the stupid looking bluetooth headseat out of your ear when you aren't driving. Not only do you look like a looney chatting away with your hands waving to no one, but when you do try to have a conversation with an acutal person, face to face, they have to repeat themselves because you have something blocking up your ear!!

5) Texting. <_< It is there to make communication possible when an actual phone call is impractical/impolite. (see #1) It is NOT intended to be used while driving! It is NOT intended to pass notes in class! It is NOT intended to be used between two people sitting in the same room!! It is NOT intended to replace actual conversation!!!!! Oh, and #2 applies to texting as well. <_<

6) Ringtones... I don't want to stand next to you in line/queue (see #1 again) and be forced to listen to some obnoxious song that I wouldn't listen to given a choice. This one is a violation of my personal freedom and I find it especially irksome... This leads me to....

7) We've established that you shouldn't answer the phone when it is inapropriate (#1,#2,#5). On the other side of that, every cellphone I've ever owned had a way to "ignore" or quiet the ringtone, so that it only shatters the tranquility for a second or two. Learn the button, USE the button, LOVE the button.

8) NOT knowing where your phone is. It's your tether. You can't stand in line/queue without using it,(#1) so why, when you're at the library/restauraunt/cinema (remember #2) and you forgot to turn it off again, can't you remember which pocket/purse/hand you left it in? This baffles me.

I hope I didn't steal LIS's thunder on this topic. (assuming that is where that spoiler was headed.)

Good topic Octopuppy. This one should see a lot of mileage.

edit: corrected some spelling, then gave up.

you know what annoys me the most...and more than annoying its GROSS "Talking on mobile while you are in toilet doing your stuff" ...it just makes me so mad - tell me how exactly the other person will feel if he knows that in one hand you are talking to him while with the other you are wiping you *ARSE*

[andromeda]

you know what annoys me the most...and more than annoying its GROSS "Talking on mobile while you are in toilet doing your stuff" ...it just makes me so mad - tell me how exactly the other person will feel if he knows that in one hand you are talking to him while with the other you are wiping you *ARSE*

Hahaha... happened to me once, but not on a cell phone, but on a regular phone. We were talking, she needed to go. She went and we were talking the whole time. But then, it's just women I guess, we don't want to shorten a conversation, or continue it after "the brake" cause we might leave some information out accidentally...

So... that's not a problem for me. Besides I didn't even know till after she was done

[Guest]

So... that's not a problem for me. Besides I didn't even know till after she was done

well actually i should have mentioned public toilets...the types of conversation u hear in office...

[Guest]

Hahaha... happened to me once, but not on a cell phone, but on a regular phone. We were talking, she needed to go. She went and we were talking the whole time. But then, it's just women I guess, we don't want to shorten a conversation, or continue it after "the brake" cause we might leave some information out accidentally...

So... that's not a problem for me. Besides I didn't even know till after she was done

So how did you know ??

and I'm guessing no flush, the sound of silence.... Actually don't enlighten me.

Doing you 'business' when on the phone, why not wait?? Call back after the paper work and ablutions are done - unhealthy and mentally well, it's no fun having that conversation and then hearing the flush of one or two cubilcles.

I one could not find the flush in a tiolet - it was automatic when you opened the door I spent ages waving my hands all over the place for a sensor

Once, I pulled the emergencey chord at a friends appartment in a home for the disabled

no comments please

[Guest]

I one could not find the flush in a tiolet - it was automatic when you opened the door I spent ages waving my hands all over the place for a sensor

That's fiendish, making it work only at the point where you've completely given up hope. I saw one that automatically lowered a paper cover over the seat every time you use it once. Hi tech toilets are scary, you never know what they're going to do. If machines ever decide to take over the world robot toilets will probably strike the first blow, catch you while you're most vulnerable. Plus they have more reason to resent humans than the average machine. Don't trust them, especially the polite ones.

Once, I pulled the emergencey chord at a friends appartment in a home for the disabled

Oh I do that all the time. I'm used to electric showers where you pull a cord to switch it on, so I automatically pull any cord going in the shower. But in Italy they all have emergency cords. Must be some daft Italian regulation, or maybe they have a lot more showering emergencies over here. Yet there's no emergency cord on the loo, which seems more likely to need one. Like if you run out of paper...

[Guest]

I know this is a stretch as a rant, but what's the point of rediculously large portions of food at small local restaurants? Especially those that aren't appetizing as left-overs? Salads for instance? Once you add dressing of any kind to the mountain of chopped ingredients, the lettuce begins to wilt, leaving you with a sloppy, inedible mess. Heck, even if you could finish the thing, the last bits would likely be too disgusting to force in at the end of your marathon eating session!

Or nachos? Slop a ton of rather wet toppings on crispy fried tortilla chips, enough to cover a platter big enough for 3 people. Either you stuff yourself and throw half away, or you have the remainder wrapped up and attempt to warm it up when you get home. Moist tortilla chips and a microwave oven are not a recommended combination.

My personal favorite is the BLT sandwich with a pound of bacon. You can't eat the whole thing without a team of cardiac surgeons on stand-by. Bacon, even after just a couple hours in the refrigerator, becomes a limp shadow of it's former self.

Granted, these places don't often charge a lot more for these outrageous portions, but what's the point if you just end up throwing out the food anyway? They have to cut into their profit, you either have to over eat or waste good food. This makes no sense to me! Most of the time, I am happy to pay the same price for a reasonable sized portion of the same product as long as the quality is good. Either sell me a decent portion size and make yourself some money, or make the large items things that make late-night refrigerator raids worth while.

[Guest]

Or nachos? Slop a ton of rather wet toppings on crispy fried tortilla chips, enough to cover a platter big enough for 3 people. Either you stuff yourself and throw half away, or you have the remainder wrapped up and attempt to warm it up when you get home. Moist tortilla chips and a microwave oven are not a recommended combination.

Mmm, sounds like a kind of spicy cheesy porridge. Maybe your enjoyment just depends on how you look at it...

Granted, these places don't often charge a lot more for these outrageous portions, but what's the point if you just end up throwing out the food anyway? They have to cut into their profit, you either have to over eat or waste good food.

Fair enough. But here's something that's equally winding-up (granted this is a bit of a localised rant, but what the hell). Near where I used to live in Derbyshire (an old mill at Rowsley, ohhh yes you know who you are!) there was a little cafe which did lovely salads (lots of fruit in them and everything, wonderful, not to mention fantastically moist cakes). Oh yes and a gorgeous homity pie. Anyway, I digress. What really wound me up about this place (apart from the drinks being too small and crazy seating arrangements) were the insanely small plates! The salads were of a normal size, perfectly adequate. But they crammed them onto tiny plates. My personal theory about this is that they thought perhaps people would look at the salads and think "Ooh! What generous portions! Why, it's practically falling off the plate!" whereas in fact I'm sure most people were thinking the same as me, "Why the hell have they served this on a saucer? How are you supposed to eat this without it falling all over the table?". This theory is further reinforced by the fact that the drinks (which as previously mentioned were always very small) were served with ridiculously small glasses (presumably to make the tiny bottle of drink look big, or at least not so small). Only in England.

[Guest]

Oh I do that all the time. I'm used to electric showers where you pull a cord to switch it on, so I automatically pull any cord going in the shower. But in Italy they all have emergency cords. Must be some daft Italian regulation, or maybe they have a lot more showering emergencies over here. Yet there's no emergency cord on the loo, which seems more likely to need one. Like if you run out of paper...

The Italians wash - naahh!

[peace*out]

Ok - why is V-day (valentine's day) so overrated?!?! God! everyone's like oh - here's some candy! Oh - will you be my valentine? I love how everyone is all kind, but really - dont be crying if you dont have a date for the day. And dont brag if you do!!

And char - why wont you tell me wahts wrong!? Im ur friend. And i see you right now talking to janelle! Its ok - just dont say that there's no way i can help - i can listen right? And dont say nothing's wrong - i mean, you gmail stat was sad.

U have the PERFECT life! What's wrong?

[Guest]

I one could not find the flush in a tiolet - it was automatic when you opened the door I spent ages waving my hands all over the place for a sensor

Guh. Don't get me started on public washroom "conveniences". I'm sure nobody needs to be reminded of the numerous problems with those supposedly automatically flushing toilets, so I'll skip on to the &@$#ing useless automatic faucets. Through a rigorous scientific process, I have determined the probability of your hands being in a position to both activate the faucet and become wet to be precisely nil. And don't even ask me about those idiotic blow dryers.

[Guest]

I know this is a stretch as a rant, but what's the point of rediculously large portions of food at small local restaurants?

I'm a fairly large man (5'10" ~200lbs.) and have a pretty healthy appetite, so when I can't even get halfway through a meal, you know it's a ludicrous amount of food. Yet when I dine out, all I see are empty plates being taken away from other tables.

It seems to me that most Americans have become obsessed with quantity of food, without giving a fig about quality. I can't begin to tell you how often I've heard people say: "I had dinner at such-and-such restaurant last night, and it was great! My [insert food item here] was so massive I could barely walk out the door! I thought I was going to puke I ate so much!"

I had breakfast at a popular restaurant chain for the first time just last week. When my food arrived, I told the waiter he'd made a mistake, and that I hadn't ordered the four 8-inch pancakes that he put down next to my "main" dish. He informed me that they were included as a "side" dish with my breakfast.

Understand now, the omelet I ordered, on its own, was enough to feed an entire family, and also came with a small mountain of home-fries, a significant pile of toast, and a miniscule slice of orange. Nearly everybody else at the table raved about the size of the portions. Not one of them mentioned whether or not the food actually tasted good. It didn't.

Edited February 13, 2009 by d3k3

[peace*out]

I'm a fairly large man (5'10" ~200lbs.) and have a pretty healthy appetite, so when I can't even get halfway through a meal, you know it's a ludicrous amount of food. Yet when I dine out, all I see are empty plates being taken away from other tables.

It seems to me that most Americans have become obsessed with quantity of food, without giving a fig about quality. I can't begin to tell you how often I've heard people say: "I had dinner at such-and-such restaurant last night, and it was great! My [insert food item here] was so massive I could barely walk out the door! I thought I was going to puke I ate so much!"

I had breakfast at a popular restaurant chain for the first time just last week. When my food arrived, I told the waiter he'd made a mistake, and that I hadn't ordered the four 8-inch pancakes that he put down next to my "main" dish. He informed me that they were included as a "side" dish with my breakfast.

Understand now, the omelet I ordered, on its own, was enough to feed an entire family, and also came with a small mountain of home-fries, a significant pile of toast, and a miniscule slice of orange. Nearly everybody else at the table raved about the size of the portions. Not one of them mentioned whether or not the food actually tasted good. It didn't.

then i guess the reason why they give large amounts of food is because they want people to think their stomach illnesses are from eating too much - not the quality of the food.

[Guest]

Ok - why is V-day (valentine's day) so overrated?!?! God! everyone's like oh - here's some candy! Oh - will you be my valentine? I love how everyone is all kind, but really - dont be crying if you dont have a date for the day. And dont brag if you do!!

Oh...my...STARCLAN I KNOW! >.< I personally hate Valentine's Day with a passion *and not the kind generally found on this pink themed day of overpriced chocolate* I went to Shoppers for a chocolate bar...it was an extra two dollars o.O I hate how half the school is making out in the hallway >.< The only good thing about today is that it's not ACTUAL Valentines day, so I won't have to deal with everyone in this mushy mood...and that our school cancelled the Valentines Day Dance *was secretly happy* Wake me up when it's over *rolls back into bed*

<(^-^)>

[Guest]

Oh...my...STARCLAN I KNOW! >.< I personally hate Valentine's Day with a passion *and not the kind generally found on this pink themed day of overpriced chocolate* I went to Shoppers for a chocolate bar...it was an extra two dollars o.O I hate how half the school is making out in the hallway >.< The only good thing about today is that it's not ACTUAL Valentines day, so I won't have to deal with everyone in this mushy mood...and that our school cancelled the Valentines Day Dance *was secretly happy* Wake me up when it's over *rolls back into bed*

<(^-^)>

, I agree. Valentine's is perfectly pointless, in my opinion. There's always the lovey part that can be of good use, but most of the time, it's just "for kicks". Just watching those brainless guys march around like they're kings because equally brainless girls said yes to them makes me want to kick them really hard. The holiday is just there to boost up stores like Shoppers <_<

[Guest]

, I agree. Valentine's is perfectly pointless, in my opinion. There's always the lovey part that can be of good use, but most of the time, it's just "for kicks". Just watching those brainless guys march around like they're kings because equally brainless girls said yes to them makes me want to kick them really hard. The holiday is just there to boost up stores like Shoppers <_<

haha you should come to my school... i think i only saw 1 flower all day! and here i was braced for massive roses and red red and a bit of pink! i didnt really even realise it was valentines day till the end of the day when my friends asked if i had gotten any valentines... which of course i didnt (i have never gotten a valentines haha )

[akaslickster]

haha you should come to my school... i think i only saw 1 flower all day! and here i was braced for massive roses and red red and a bit of pink! i didnt really even realise it was valentines day till the end of the day when my friends asked if i had gotten any valentines... which of course i didnt (i have never gotten a valentines haha )

My PG left me for her Hubby. So much for this stupid holiday. Hmm. <_<

[Guest]

Ok - why is V-day (valentine's day) so overrated?!?! God! everyone's like oh - here's some candy! Oh - will you be my valentine? I love how everyone is all kind, but really - dont be crying if you dont have a date for the day. And dont brag if you do!!

Personally, I don't mind the excessive amounts of candy But Valentine's day is just stupid! I mean, we have a massive holiday for all dating/married couples (what I consider a minority), but what about all the single people? They're all left to sit around all day watching couples act all lovey-dovey and give each other presents! <_< I currently celebrate my own holiday today I call "Singles Appreciation Day" for all the single people out there. It involves eating chocolate and having fun without having to waste money on anyone other than yourself! Who wants to join me in my celebration of being single?

[Guest]

Personally, I don't mind the excessive amounts of candy But Valentine's day is just stupid! I mean, we have a massive holiday for all dating/married couples (what I consider a minority), but what about all the single people? They're all left to sit around all day watching couples act all lovey-dovey and give each other presents! <_< I currently celebrate my own holiday today I call "Singles Appreciation Day" for all the single people out there. It involves eating chocolate and having fun without having to waste money on anyone other than yourself! Who wants to join me in my celebration of being single?

*waves hand in air* ill join! i actually thought i might of gotten something this year... but nope i was wrong pass the chocolate please!

[Guest]

On a different vein than the Valentine's day rants:

I hate hate hate having to say the Pledge of Allegience/"A Small Portion of the Declaration of Independence" every freaking day! I could see maybe once a week, like on Mondays or something. But why every day?

[Guest]

On a different vein than the Valentine's day rants:

I hate hate hate having to say the Pledge of Allegience/"A Small Portion of the Declaration of Independence" every freaking day! I could see maybe once a week, like on Mondays or something. But why every day?

I completely agree, saying the pledge is actually a very contriversial issue. Why are we forced to say "under god" if we don't even believe in it? I thought church and state (schools) were supposed to work independantly. I still refuse to this day to say the "under god" part of the pledge, even if I am forced to say the rest. <_<

[Guest]

... Pledge of...Allegiance? That sounds kinda...o.O controlling...glad we don't have one :3 We just have the national anthem *Oh Canada!*

<(^-^)>

[Guest]

... Pledge of...Allegiance? That sounds kinda...o.O controlling...glad we don't have one :3 We just have the national anthem *Oh Canada!*

<(^-^)>

Ugh... you have no idea

I wasn't until around 30-40 years ago that one of our presidents added the "under god" part to the pledge because christianity was the rage back then. I haven't had the time to find out who it was, but I official despise him now. Also, if you look closely at the words to the pledge, "and to the republic for which it stands" means that you are pledging your allegiance to the current president, without your knowledge or consent

I HATE THE PLEDGE. As you said, its really controlling.

Edited February 15, 2009 by RainThinker