Rant for the Day (keep it clean)

[Peanut]

Sort of funny, I had a noisy neighbor once but not the way one would think. I was living in WV. I lived in a building with only 4 apartments. The family that owned it had a small gravel yard next door, only a few piles of different size gravels and a little office building.

This was right off an interstate exit, maybe a half mile but around a curve, usually couldn’t hear traffic noise because of trees and a small mtn.

As a young man I was usually out and about every Friday and Saturday night. When I came home I’d usually see a big semi stopped in front of the little office/gravel yard. I’d always see the same little car next to a stopped truck. Sometimes I'd see a woman getting into or out of the car occasionally or into a big truck. I assumed it was a wife meeting her husband who had a regular truck run at night.

The little car had a CB radio antenna. I had a CB in my truck. One night while coming home I could hear a woman on my radio. That’s when I figured it out!

The woman was a prostitute who only worked Friday and Saturday nights… The location was perfect for a semi to pull off the interstate or get back on…

I was working one weekend and the running truck engines were keeping me awake one night so I went out knocked on a truck door and complained…

That’s when I found out the property owner was getting pay offs from the woman. A few days later the owner saw me come home. He walked over and made some snarky comment about minding my own business about who was parked in front of his gravel yard… Too funny!

 

[Newbri]

I work at a language center. It isn't full time, more like 75% of the time. My schedule isn't very fixed. We operate by programs (annual or monthly) and I often need to have extra time available in case of cancellations and make-up classes or even if a student requests extra hours.
Outside of the center, I'd like to concentrate more on other activities.

Since last year I've had a student for every Tuesday. Another teacher takes him every Friday. Currently he's doing an MBA and he needs extra help with that. So I'll be taking him three times a week.
The dilemma for me is my availability for other projects. I want to make extra income and focus on the 3D renders I do from time to time. There isn't a guarantee that I'll have many fall into my lap- unlike the classes - but I want to dedicate more time to working on my own conceptions and advertising and trying to find partnerships with designers, etc. The more time I spend at the language center, the less time I'd be able to do that. When I do have the time for a design project, what I get from one is good money.

My boss knows about my side gig, she knows this is something I'm trying to develop. She encourages it. But she also has a business to run and needs her teachers to be available to her clients. I try to keep that in mind. Using the example of the MBA student, the more hours he adds, the more money the center gets, obviously. The more classes I take, the more money I get.

The school has been a lot more consistent and stable. The design projects, not so much, but they are more profitable.

I'm confused. Not sure if I can cut down time at the center to focus on other things, if I can manage my hours there and take on more projects on the side. Have less time open for design jobs but at least there's the stability of english classes.

Maybe it's deceptively simple but not to me. I'm not fan of choices. If there are too many options I panic a little. Which one to choose? Which one is better? Which has long term benefits? Which will do what I want it to do?

Recently I watched a video of a woman who said she and her husband took on a lot of odd jobs, to save up for them homestead, they made sacrifices wherever needed. I'm not a big spender, so that's okay. But it's the time and energy put into making more money. Is it worth it? Yes. I worry I won't have the stamina for it, though. So it feels like having to make a choice between the two or more of one than the other.

 

[Peanut]

I really, really detest sneaky little computer programs that do hidden things no sane person would want done to their computer.

Case in point… 8 years ago I found a freeware image viewing program. It did a few things the package win10 image programs couldn’t do. Mainly, it allowed me to open multiple folders of images in one window and compare images between these folders.

The first step in reorganizing of all my plant photos was removing all folder attributes from the 2500+ folders in question. This allowed me to see any hidden or secret files that might be tucked away in those folders. I was actually looking for sneaky thing’s windows might have done.

What I didn’t know until I started this effort… Every time I opened a folder with this free imaging program it was writing a hidden file in that folder. And! It rewrote the folder contents to that hidden file every single time I opened any of these folders, over 8 years.

This means that these hidden files grew, and grew and grew even more. So that I ended up with about 2500 hidden files with an average size of 12.9MB.

That’s over 32GB of useless files on my pc. I know they are useless because when I deleted all of them the free program functioned just like it did before.

I really detest sneaky software… Unless I knew how to make these hidden files viewable I would have never known about this…

This is just one more reason to switch to linux...

 

[backlash]

Well, good news. Microsoft is releasing a new version of Windows on June 24th so I'm sure ALL of the problems with the prior versions will be fixed with the new and improved Windows 11.

 

[Neb]

I really, really detest sneaky little computer programs that do hidden things no sane person would want done to their computer.

Case in point… 8 years ago I found a freeware image viewing program. It did a few things the package win10 image programs couldn’t do. Mainly, it allowed me to open multiple folders of images in one window and compare images between these folders.

The first step in reorganizing of all my plant photos was removing all folder attributes from the 2500+ folders in question. This allowed me to see any hidden or secret files that might be tucked away in those folders. I was actually looking for sneaky thing’s windows might have done.

What I didn’t know until I started this effort… Every time I opened a folder with this free imaging program it was writing a hidden file in that folder. And! It rewrote the folder contents to that hidden file every single time I opened any of these folders, over 8 years.

This means that these hidden files grew, and grew and grew even more. So that I ended up with about 2500 hidden files with an average size of 12.9MB.

That’s over 32GB of useless files on my pc. I know they are useless because when I deleted all of them the free program functioned just like it did before.

I really detest sneaky software… Unless I knew how to make these hidden files viewable I would have never known about this…

This is just one more reason to switch to linux...

Windows does that or similar when you view as thumbnails. Instead of opening every fike in a folder every time you look in a new folder, the OS saves a small image it can access fast.

The images update when files update.

They are hidden system files because they are used by the OS to optimize performance.

Ben

 

[Peanut]

Windows does that or similar when you view as thumbnails. Instead of opening every fike in a folder every time you look in a new folder, the OS saves a small image it can access fast.
The images update when files update.
They are hidden system files because they are used by the OS to optimize performance.
Ben

Yes, correct, windows does that. But I was describing freeware from a 3rd party source, not windows. The sneaky little program in question wasn't just logging thumbnail info. I rarely made changes to an image in a folder that would affect a thumbnail.

Edit to delete an overly long boring explanation of what that little program is doing.... Suffice to say... Since I did it for a living for a while... I ran an experiment on that program. I think the data logging function was to be used in a future version or upgrade of the software. Specifically the uploading of photos and videos to social media with simple editing capabilities. They included the "logging to hidden files" in the version I downloaded to test that aspect, after all, it was freeware.

 

[zannej]

DoubleR, I hope you can get things sorted with the noisy guy at the neighbor's. You'd think they could arrest the guy for disturbing the peace with all that racket. I saw a news article about a woman being fined over $700 for "talking too loudly" on her phone in public. As others have mentioned, you can go to the tax assessor's office and ask for information on who owns that property. You tell them your address and ask them for the name of the owners of the adjacent properties. They should have a map that lays out the houses and who owns what. I had to do this to find out who owned the dead tree that fell on our barn. Unfortunately, after that we were not able to find a working phone number or mailing address for them.

I'm getting really annoyed with the guy who we hired to do yardwork and who owes us a bunch of $ bc he borrowed it. He borrowed the $ under the claim he was going to use it to go get a better job that would pay extremely well. Signed a promissory note saying he'd pay back something like $250 a month. Never happened. Job didn't pan out and he only paid back $250. Then he stopped responding to messages for a long time. On top of that, the last day he did work for us, he asked for some $ in advance for the next day of work and he'd come back the next day. He never came back. So he owed for a full day of work plus the money he borrowed. Mom decided not to press for the day of work he owed since the guy has had terrible luck-- house burned (2nd person I know who has had a house fire), gf in and out of the hospital all the time, etc. However, he promised he'd pay back at least some when he got his tax returns but he went out and bought 2 brand new iPhones, a gaming computer, a big screen TV, and a truck. Next time he got a lot of $ he bought yet another truck. I also suspect he may be the one who stole my air compressor from my friend's house (he was living with my friend for awhile and some stuff went missing after he moved out-- friend wasn't home when the guy & his gf packed up). But, my friend's gf had loser junkies in and out of the house all day while he was at work and one of them could have taken it. My friend's Mom is also a contender for the theft.

Anyway, after a long time of no contact, the guy finally messaged me and asked if he could do yard work to start paying off the debt. He asked for double what my mom wanted to pay, but what she was wanting wasn't really reasonable. So, he put in 8hrs one day. Then 3hrs another. He took some stuff from my car port (one thing he asked for but the others he didn't) and left. Hasn't come back. Now, I was hesitant to let him come back to work for us because I suspected he was going to ask for more $. But my friend talked to him and made it clear that he was doing this to pay off the debt (owed about 50hrs of work at the rate of pay). So at first it was ok. Now he's getting greedy again. Asked me if we could "go half" on it so he could make his car payments. I asked for clarification and he wanted us to pay him MORE money from us. Like, in what world would we give this dude more $ when he hasn't even made much of an effort to pay off what he already owes. I told him "No" and explained that my mother is already pissed off that he made zero effort to pay us back for so long and if she knew he was asking for more $ she'd blow a gasket. I haven't told her about his request because she will really get angry. I told him that he'd never be able to pay the debt off if he kept owing more. He hasn't replied. I suspect he will not respond for quite awhile and won't be back out. One of the parts he took from the car port was worth 2 hours worth of work. He's lucky I didn't demand he bring back stuff he took without asking.

Now I'm concerned he might feel bitter and might come over to take more stuff from the car port. So I'm going to have to get my friend to help me organize stuff and put it away where it can't be stolen.

Mind you, I don't think he's a bad person or anything-- I think he doesn't have his priorities straight and has a sense of entitlement. He comes from a real crappy family full of drug use and domestic violence.

 

[Neb]

Sometimes it is tempting but I have to resist...

There is. a Karen down the street from me that is a neighbor to my brother and her backyard borders the rent property were we just put up the new fence. I pity her husband. She seems to think that it is her job to keep everything within view from her window, pristine.

There was some moss growing on the basement door to my brothers place. She complained about but when he didn't take action she took it apon herself to scrub his door.

Complained about the pile of ladders my brother has stored in the car port. Didn't like the tarp covering it. Yup she put a new tarp on it.

There was an old picket fence along the back of our rental property. Without even asking she had a contractor replace the fence with a 6' high privacy fence. I was outraged as soon as heard about it because it is our property! I was tempted to take a chainsaw to the fence but my brother talked me out of it. What would motivate a person to shell out a couple of grand to put up a fence on someone elses property.... Unless it has something to do with the attractive young woman that rents from us....

The list or antics are endless.

But what troubled me recently was learning that our tennant had been reported to the police claiming that she is keeping dog out in the yard all day. There are only 2 houses that can view the dog run. Karen plus one other.

What has my hackles up is our tenant has been an ideal tenant and has invested her own money into improving the place. Harassing my tenant threatened my wallet.

No Ben.

"Answer not a fool as a fool."

Ben

 

[Aerindel]

^^^^^

This is why I would rather live in a bus than live in a neighborhood.

 

[Neb]

^^^^^

This is why I would rather live in a bus than live in a neighborhood.

Neighbors. .

Cant live live with them
Cant live them without.

Ben

 

[Lucky2beAlive]

I got something to tell you that happened to me about a week ago.

It was late and I craved 5 of the cheapest hamburgers how I like them. From McDonald’s. It’s only a 5 minute drive so what tha heck...

I get to the drive through line, it 9pm. Three cars in front turn to two. The car in front of me had what I thought to be an order, then parks in a parking spot.

I pull up to the speaker and hear, “I apologize but we only have fries, deserts & drinks.”

Understanding something must have happened I say, “Ok, I’ll take a large fry and a frozen red drink.” Second window.

“Sorry about that.” He says.

“What happened?” I ask.

“I’m the only one here.”

“What!? You got to be kidding me, what happened?”

“Everybody is getting the covid checks and no one is coming in to work. It’s just me!”


Wow. Welcome to America. Land of the free to do whatever the —— you want and it pays to be bums.

 

[user 55]

Been the same here. People getting "paid" double for sitting on their backsides while we have worked every day since the stupid started. Fire them all. The checks will stop soon enough and my level of compassion is done. Yeah, its free for some while the rest pay the bills. It's not sustainable and is going to hit hard for some. I'll be nice lol but its just crazy.

 

[Peanut]

Don't you hate it when you buy something but are so busy it's forgotten almost as soon as it happened, or if it even happened?

Last spring I was staying with dad 24/7, first at the hospital then at the nursing home, trying to get home for an occasional shower. During the same time period I'd bought a laptop but was having issues. A cousin called me because she was also had computer issues but couldn't get in touch with here IT professional granddaughter who was traveling. Anyway, to help me, she was suddenly in charge of both computer issues but she mostly spoke to me through my mom who has dementia.

Tonight I find a dual Sata drive docking station, still in the box and sealed in plastic. I honestly don't know if I bought it or my cousin, what it was for... Or how it ended up in a tote filled with old computer hardware. Or when any of this did or didn't happen...

Guess this is one puzzle that will never be solved... my cousin's memory is almost as bad as my mom's.

 

[viking]

Well, good news. Microsoft is releasing a new version of Windows on June 24th so I'm sure ALL of the problems with the prior versions will be fixed with the new and improved Windows 11.

I got so burnt out on Microsoft 7 & 10 that I went to a MacBook Pro. I look back at our first computer, it had Windows 95, I honestly believe it ran faster than 7 & 10, I blame it on the software writers, oh so proud of themselves for software programs that run everything according to their timeline, I love the intuitive way that Mac runs, gets on line without help, runs smoother, if I'd have kept Windows run stuff mush longer I would have painted a bullseye on the screen and blown the dang computer to smithereens.

 

[Neb]

I got so burnt out on Microsoft 7 & 10 that I went to a MacBook Pro. I look back at our first computer, it had Windows 95, I honestly believe it ran faster than 7 & 10, I blame it on the software writers, oh so proud of themselves for software programs that run everything according to their timeline, I love the intuitive way that Mac runs, gets on line without help, runs smoother, if I'd have kept Windows run stuff mush longer I would have painted a bullseye on the screen and blown the dang computer to smithereens.

Check your warenty and you will see in the not covered section...

Customer shoots computer

Ben

 

[backlash]

Don't you hate it when you buy something but are so busy it's forgotten almost as soon as it happened, or if it even happened?

Last spring I was staying with dad 24/7, first at the hospital then at the nursing home, trying to get home for an occasional shower. During the same time period I'd bought a laptop but was having issues. A cousin called me because she was also had computer issues but couldn't get in touch with here IT professional granddaughter who was traveling. Anyway, to help me, she was suddenly in charge of both computer issues but she mostly spoke to me through my mom who has dementia.

Tonight I find a dual Sata drive docking station, still in the box and sealed in plastic. I honestly don't know if I bought it or my cousin, what it was for... Or how it ended up in a tote filled with old computer hardware. Or when any of this did or didn't happen...

Guess this is one puzzle that will never be solved... my cousin's memory is almost as bad as my mom's.

View attachment 67787

I have that problem except for its stuff from Harbor Freight. I find bags with new stuff that I don't remember buying. It must have been on sale.
I went to a friend's house to help him with a computer problem. He had bags from computer stores all over that had new never opened parts. Some very expensive.
I guess that's how women wind up with so many shoes and purses and guys with guns.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Just an observation, If being LGBTQI is so great, then why arn't there any 3 and 4 generations of them out there? Now there's a group who relies on converts....

 

[Weedygarden]

Sometimes it is tempting but I have to resist...

There is. a Karen down the street from me that is a neighbor to my brother and her backyard borders the rent property were we just put up the new fence. I pity her husband. She seems to think that it is her job to keep everything within view from her window, pristine.

There was some moss growing on the basement door to my brothers place. She complained about but when he didn't take action she took it apon herself to scrub his door.

Complained about the pile of ladders my brother has stored in the car port. Didn't like the tarp covering it. Yup she put a new tarp on it.

There was an old picket fence along the back of our rental property. Without even asking she had a contractor replace the fence with a 6' high privacy fence. I was outraged as soon as heard about it because it is our property! I was tempted to take a chainsaw to the fence but my brother talked me out of it. What would motivate a person to shell out a couple of grand to put up a fence on someone elses property.... Unless it has something to do with the attractive young woman that rents from us....

The list or antics are endless.

But what troubled me recently was learning that our tennant had been reported to the police claiming that she is keeping dog out in the yard all day. There are only 2 houses that can view the dog run. Karen plus one other.

What has my hackles up is our tenant has been an ideal tenant and has invested her own money into improving the place. Harassing my tenant threatened my wallet.

No Ben.

"Answer not a fool as a fool."

Ben

By her doing work that is on your property, she can later claim some ownership to it, known as "adverse possession." I am not sure how you can get around that in such situations, but there needs to be a declaration of some sort that legally states that she has caused trespass on your property.

 

[Neb]

By her doing work that is on your property, she can later claim some ownership to it, known as "adverse possession." I am not sure how you can get around that in such situations, but there needs to be a declaration of some sort that legally states that she has caused trespass on your property.

Thanks for that observation. I will bring it with my real estate guy.

Ben

 

[SheepDog]

Adverse possession requires that the squatter lives there with your knowledge and pays taxes for three years (in my state).
If you are paying the taxes there is no adverse possession only squatter. you can legally have them removed but it can take up to six months.

 

[Neb]

Adverse possession requires that the squatter lives there with your knowledge and pays taxes for three years (in my state).
If you are paying the taxes there is no adverse possession only squatter. you can legally have them removed but it can take up to six months.

That s good to read.

In my case there is a complication.

Between my rental property that had the picket fence and Karen's place there used to be an alley. The township stopped maintaining the alley about 40 years ago.

The way my brother understands that situation the property owners on both sides can claim half of the alley if they maintain it.

The previous owners ot the rental property never maintained anything beyond the picket fence. The alley has become extensions of the backyard of Karen and the othe 3 houses.

I am ok with that because I have no interest in mowing their backyards.

My concern is the couple of feet of property where the fence is located.

I will talk to my guy tomorrow night to see what he can advise.

Ben

 

[MoBookworm1957]

For people who self medicate themselves.
Let me tell you a true story that happened this week.
My cousin had a tumor removed from her foot.
But of course she didn't care of it properly.
The incision got infected.
So her primary care doctor puts her on massive antibiotics.
She and her husband are taking a stroll around the back yard.
Her allergy is acting up while taking this evening stroll.
Instead of taking her prescription allergy medicine.
She takes over the counter allergy medicine.
She has reaction, goes into convulsions, coma.
Oh, by the way her foot goes septic while she's in the hospital.
Her funeral is this Thursday.

 

[SheepDog]

I only medicate myself when my back is cramping up. One beer very quickly consumed and two aspirin tablets. Followed by a hot bath to soak in for a couple hours.
Beer and bath are muscle relaxers and the aspirin is for pain and inflammation.

 

[Amish Heart]

That's a sad story, Mo. I'm queen of self medication, but rarely do take medication. It makes my youngest daughter nuts. She's a pharmacist.

 

[backlash]

Sorry to hear about your cousin.
Drug interactions are dangerous.

 

[Peanut]

Sorry Mo... A good warning to heed. I self medicate every day... medicinal plants surround me. I know where they grow, how to make medicines from them... I've been very careful though or try to be. I know a few people who have spent decades treating others with plant medicine. I make it a point to talk to them in complex situations... Hopefully I'll continue to recognize where my knowledge stops and their knowledge begins.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Sorry to hear about your cousin.
Drug interactions are dangerous.

Thank you.
She was 43 years old.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

I take very little medicine, prescription or otherwise.
In 2009, I went from about 40 seizure pills x 3 times a day to zero seizure pills a day.
Number 1 side effect was seizures.
We couldn't tell if I was having seizures due head injury.
Or if the seizure medicine was triggering the seizures.
Quit taking seizure medicine, my seizures stopped by 3/4.
Thankfully haven't had seizures in 4 years.
So now I can drive.
Have much better life without the seizure medicine.
Weight has dropped considerable.

 

[The Lazy L]

The township stopped maintaining the alley about 40 years ago.

Stop maintaining the alley? Does this meanTownship hasn’t kept the alley drivable? Alley could still be used for utility(s).

 

[Neb]

Stop maintaining the alley? Does this meanTownship hasn’t kept the alley drivable? Alley could still be used for utility(s).

That last vehicle I saw navigate that alley was a corvette body mounted on a jeep frame as a test to make it could do it.

It is a very steep hill at the top and the bottom. My brother put a sign at the top end saying "no through traffic" and there are bushes covering most of the alley access.

Ben