Everything posted by Sandman
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City maintenance tearing up my yard
I mean, I took all of my resume photos next to this tree. It's like family! I called the project manager and explained how the tree has been cut up and how I'm concerned about the stability and would like it to be removed. I think he was caught off guard and was expecting me to bitch about how much I loved the tree. He said he would talk to his superintendent and one of them would be in contact.
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City maintenance tearing up my yard
I had a letter put on my front door last week, stating that my city (not in Texas FWIW) had contracted them to replace a sanitary sewer pipe in my area. The letter stated that they would excavate a hole in my yard and take down some fence panels but when they were done, they would put everything back as it was. I called the project manager, who listed his contact info on the letter, and asked for further details. He said the same thing, that they would determine where the pipe is and dig a hole and blah blah. I was satisfied with what he said. I came home Monday and found that my yard looked like a WW1 battlefield. I get it, dirt comes out of a hole and it has to go somewhere, no biggie. But the area in which they're working is right along my back fence, where there happens to be a large tree. There was a large backhoe in there and to get the backhoe where it needed to be, they have cut off a decent sized portion of my tree. Now, I don't like this tree and it is starting to lean towards my neighbor's yard and I'd love to have it cut down. The area of the tree they have cut off is near the bottom, so I'm concerned it might be a little top heavy. Combine that with the dirt being dug up and now I wonder if that make is even more unstable. I was thinking about calling the project manager again and telling him my concerns and see if they would just cut the tree down. I'd even be willing to kick in a little cash but I'm not gonna say that unless he brought it up. I don't want to just be some complaining Karen but if they hadn't come in and dug shit up, I'm not having these concerns about the tree right now. Would asking for them to cut the tree down be an asshole move?
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Depression, OCD, and whatever else ails you between the ears
My wife and I were chatting when she got home from work yesterday, talking about our days. She mentioned that her assistant was going to be off on Thursday and Friday. I asked why and she said "That's the anniversary of her mom's death and she always takes off that day". I stopped for a second and realized that the anniversary of my mom's death....is today. 16 years ago. It seems like much longer. My sister and I used to call and talk on this date every year, but I don't remember doing that for quite a few years. I was going to call my dad for unrelated reasons but now I think I'll wait till tomorrow. I don't know if he'll bring it up and I just can't handle listening to him talk about it.
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Random thoughts that don't warrant a thread
90% of the time after I hang up the phone after a call from a customer (or anyone outside the office), I'm muttering "Stupid motherfucker" under my breath. And I know they'll never stop calling. I have at least 10 more years of this.
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Wives and the Stupid Shit They Say/Do
I don't think my mother ever filled up her own car. My dad would go out whenever it got low and gas it up. When I was younger, he'd ask me if I wanted to go, and it was some nice father/son bonding.
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Trivial Things That Make You Surly
I used to watch my wife iron. Now I watch her use the steamer. Fuck ironing.
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Most Stressful, Emotional Life Event
My buddy was a medic in Afghanistan. When his unit would go door to door, he was the breacher that went in with a 12 gauge. He got to go home on leave when his son was born. Fast forward to today, his son is 13 and playing the new Call of Duty game. My buddy is watching him play and his son had built a breacher class, complete with a 12 gauge and whatnot. He tells his son "Hey, that's me. I did that in the war.". He said his son looked at him and scoffed "Pfft, you were just a medic".
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Most Stressful, Emotional Life Event
My mom's father was like that. Her folks lived in Colorado, we were in California and then Oklahoma. He couldn't be bothered to visit. My grandmother came out once. We went up there 2 or 3 times. I only met him 5 times in my life. He was never rude or shitty towards us, just didn't really care. I had my first grandchild 5 months ago and I worry about how that relationship works. I've never had a grandfather give me a hug and tell me he loves me. My dad's dad died before I was born, this is foreign territory for me. My other kid is having a baby next year, so I need to un-fuck myself and figure it out, I suppose.
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Random thoughts that don't warrant a thread
Both of my folks were born in the 40s and raised in the midwest (Indiana & Iowa). I spent most of my childhood in the Philippines or western Europe. My first introduction to tacos was from Taco Mayo in the OKC suburbs. But I had already been eating stuff like fried rice and lumpia from our time in the PI, so I was somewhat cultured.
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Random thoughts that don't warrant a thread
I turn 50 next month but I hadn't seen or eaten a taco until I was 13 or 14 years old.
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Most Stressful, Emotional Life Event
Septmber 26, 2007. I'm at work and my wife calls to tell my that my sister called her to say my mom had been taken to the hospital. My sister couldn't reach me for whatever reason. I rush to the hospital, which is 30 mins away. I get there and my dad tells me my mother is dead. He is crushed beyond belief. My wife comes out to see me, the kids are in kindergarten so I have to tell them that night that their grandma is in heaven. They are understandably upset, as am I. 3 weeks later, my wife tells me I need to leave the house and she wants a divorce. A couple-three weeks after I had moved in with my grieving dad, I found evidence that she had been having an affair for months. She denied the affair with some bullshit technicality, like it was a TV crime show. My poor dad had already given her some of my mom's jewelry, telling her how much my mom liked her and she would've wanted her to have this. I got it all back. He asked me "How could she take that stuff, knowing what she had done?". My dad never acted angry towards her in person but she was dead to him after that. But time has it's way of working on things. I've been remarried for 14 amazing years. My dad is still alive. My ex-wife lives like a pig and has 2 more failed marriages under her belt. My kids keep their contact with her to a minimum, as they know she's pretty much an unreliable loser.
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Selling antique furniture
The motto of every man at some point in his marriage.
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Buying a New Vehicle in this environment
I don't care how much any of them make, suits or line workers. Just make a car that isn't a piece of shit for a decent price. I'm not paying $50k for whatever the fuck Ford is putting out there.
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Getting old sucks
I got a tennis elbow strap from amazon last week. Had a tough time finding that sweet spot but I finally did it. Woke up Saturday with almost zero pain, I couldn't believe it! Yeah, I've never been able to find that spot again. I've been trying different spots on my arm with no luck, I feel like a junkie looking for a vein. Fuck this shit!
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Depression, OCD, and whatever else ails you between the ears
I'd say that working jobs like that have caused me to be less compassionate because people can be such assholes. I have people that call my office every day and it's basically "I haven't read the forms or the instructions, I can't comprehend anything being said to me, I don't know how to operate a computer and all of that is someone else's fault. I am incapable of fucking up."
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Wives and the Stupid Shit They Say/Do
I started feeling sick Friday night and was sick through the weekend. Sunday morning my wife asked if I wanted to eat something, I said just some buttered toast. She made it for me and I was grateful. Still sick on Monday and I was home alone. I decided to eat more toast, and I noticed the butter was about 2/3 gone. No need to worry about it, plenty left IMO. I felt better by that evening, so we decided to go to the grocery store. As we walked in the dairy aisle, she exclaimed that she needed to get some more butter. I was confused and said "we still have enough, no biggie". She replied "oh no, that butter is expired. I noticed it Sunday morning." Me: So you noticed it was expired, then used it and fed it to me, then put it back in the fridge? Her: Yes but it wasn't *that* expired. Only a couple of days. Me: Why not just throw it away? I already ate it again! What purpose did it serve to keep expired food??? Her: Well, I don't know. Ugh. I understand that a couple of days isn't a big deal with butter but I hate that shit. I can't tell you how many times I see her go "Oh this sour cream is expired" and she just puts it back on the shelf, to be dealt with another day.
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Shart 2023: The Quickening
I'm here to turn in my badge. Or apron, undies, whatever. Got up yesterday and felt off. No desire for breakfast, which is highly unusual. Went to costco and came home, still not hungry. But immediately had the shits. Had another bout within 20 mins. Then I was hit with some horrible gut cramps, I couldn't do anything but writhe in my recliner. Went to bed at 9, no relief in sight. Cramps, bloating shitting, I got 40 mins or so of sleep every hour. Around 5am, I thought maybe I had turned a corner. Then as I was laying in bed, I decided to trust a fart. Why? We all know this is a rookie move. I'm blaming the lack of sleep. It was only a nickel or quarter sized spot in my drawers but I'm a man of integrity. To those of you who are still clean in 2023, God speed.
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Texas Drivers License Renewal
Yeah, getting a new license here is the same. Many of the old DPS sites are closed and you have to get in line at 3-4 AM and wait to get a number...to then go back later to take the exam. So dumb. Glad my kids got their DL before that shit started.
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Texas Drivers License Renewal
Interesting. Never had an eye test, they would just check the box for "corrective lenses" if you wore glasses. I wonder if there's data out there that shows Oklahoma has more accidents caused by bad vision or elderly drivers.
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Texas Drivers License Renewal
Does texas not offer online renewal? Even backwards Oklahoma has that. I got my license renewed from the comfort of my filthy hovel, very convenient.
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America's Loneliness Epidemic
I agree. I don't deserve this at all.
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America's Loneliness Epidemic
Yes, and if I was single and alone, I'd want to be able to do things on the fly, whatever and whenever I wanted. Not have to say, "Well, first I gotta go home and let the dogs out and feed them. Then maybe I can meet you at XYZ later...".
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Wives and the Stupid Shit They Say/Do
I don't drink coffee, so bear with me, but why does your coffee maker produce so much noise? Is it old? Are the bedrooms right next to the kitchen?
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America's Loneliness Epidemic
All this talk about how many dogs to get is crazy to me. I have 2 and wish they would go back to their home planet, Pootchie-style. I don't like having to work around them as far as rushing home straight after work to let them out, or making sure we get home in time to feed them on a saturday. Or just making sure they have plenty of time to be out of their crate every day. I currently do all those things, without fail, but I'd rather just do whatever the fuck I wanted, without limits. And before you call me a bastard for having these dogs, my kids wanted dogs after our beloved boxer passed and we got these two idiots. Then my kids got their driver's licenses and jobs and now they moved out and have families and dogs of their own. I got stuck with the farting machines.
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Do you FIRE? Financial Independence, Retire Early
Do you really want to trust that the local government and law enforcement know EXACTLY what the laws are and they won't just drag your mom out of there and maybe toss her in jail for a while? How many times have we seen cops or government folks just pull rules and regulations out of their asses and deal with the fallout later? Not a gamble I'd be willing to take.