What really "grinds your gears"?

[Jade Sinapu]

Was gearing up for removing engine in my vehicle.  Lift I have won't reach deep enough into engine bay to lift engine block directly up.  Will have to remove front bumper and extend the boom on the lift.  Which is never advised.
Lift height and throw is ideal however.  So is stability.  And I know these things have safety factors of like 2 built in... so I think I can extend boom 8-12 inches and still lift block.  Besides it's 350 lbs v6.  Not an old vehicle with 600lb v8 block.  Furthest extending was rated 500lb. If I move another sectionit would logically be 250 lb. But again safety factor is 2, so 500 lb is good.  I live dangerous.
I just do not want to extend boom or remove front bumper/ crash absorber.  Ugh.   
I need to be able to lift perfectly vertical or else this gets hairy. 
When dealing with $3600 of parts you do not want to drop it.
I'm crazy.

[Kobuk]

I"m grinding my gears for my mom and brother. She owns her condo in a large complex. Got a letter sent to everyone. Stating for insurance reasons they all have to get rid of their B-B-Q pits and can no longer use them on the provided decks. My brother has a real nice Weber charcoal grill he uses all summer long. There are people there who own high dollar gas grills. They all have to go. Told my brother he could always come out here to use mine. Doubt if he wants to drive 45 minutes one way just to BBQ.

Yep, I live at an apartment complex where nobody can have any type of grill on their patio. Not even an electric grill. Too much of a fire hazard/liability. People who have a grill and want to cook out need to use a special concrete grilling pad area that is set up in the center courtyard of the complex.

[Rocket T. Coyote]

The annual public affairs competition this year is limited to four categories. Each entry must be cleared at the state level and meet certain branding criteria. Much of these requirements were revealed mere days ago. One of my entries was just disqualified. Another entry for "External Media" category involves a published newspaper article. I cannot access the story online as a subscription is required. A superior has the physical copy of the article but resides in the next county. Three weeks to the deadline.

[cause the rat]

Again wit my local walmarts. No shaving supplies. Zero. Zip. Nada. Nothing. I walked up and down each aisle twice. Not a single piece of shaving gear. Along the back wall. In the farthest corner. There were a hand full of electric shavers. Next to curling irons and hair dryers. No blades. No shaving cream. Nothing. I really do hate my local walmarts.

[Rocket T. Coyote]

There's just one shot at possibly getting a nomination for an award in the afore-mentioned competition. Most of the hurdles have been cleared but one: a live link to the newspaper story submitted must be provided. Unless one is a subscriber to the online edition, then one cannot access the article and obtain the link. It's a small town weekly for goodness sake! A request has been made to said paper to provide the required information.

[Jade Sinapu]

Bad drivers.  Nuff said

[Firelight]

For my mom
Tourists

[cause the rat]

The same persistent fear mongering in the art world. Trying a different approach to use misinformation. Leaving out information to make it say what they want. Not the truth. Yes. There really are right wing artists.

[Jade Sinapu]

Mating a transmission and engine in the vehicle is WAY WAY harder than pulling either one.  What gives!
Maybe I should stop trying to mate mechanical parts, and try something softer?  IDK.
But yeah, I finally got new engine in, and it is attached to ... things.  Still a lot to go.
 

[cause the rat]

I unplug everything. Then plug it into the new thing the very same way. I fallow all instructions to the letter. Not working. Still not working. Finally get on line help. They can't get it to work either. A tech is coming out tomorrow to fix it. Think I'll go buy some lottery tickets to extend my loosing streak. 

[Rocket T. Coyote]

So wonderful to be accepted into a workplace or non-profit organization as "one of the family". Eventually, one gets invited to attend social events beyond the job or volunteer work, like graduation parties, weddings, and birthday parties. The trouble is, much of the events occur on weekends in the next county. I get some compensation for driving to work and the non-profit at tax time, but not for the unofficial events. Plus the time and cost of fuel/upkeep--it may take a half-hour to get there--assuming that I can find the place. I've had to learn to say No, and that seems to upset a few people, but look at my situation: Can you blame one for not spending 30 minutes travel (one way) to partake of hot dogs, rubber chicken, or a cold cut sandwich?

[cause the rat]

I'm old enough to remember when all you had to do to use something you bought was to pay for it, bring it home and use it. Who ever thought using a cell phone to set thing up should be shot

[Jade Sinapu]

I'm old enough to remember when all you had to do to use something you bought was to pay for it, bring it home and use it. Who ever thought using a cell phone to set thing up should be shot

And be careful that cell phone don't die... else you can't verify it's you using that Xbox, or configure it etc...

[cause the rat]

Jade, gives me something else to think about. Fortunately I don't use my cell that often.

Another GM email. Looked through it. Didn't have what I wanted. A GM toilet bowel plunger. If they are not going to cater to my needs I'm going to block them. Again and again and ... 

[Rocket T. Coyote]

Being blocked by someone on one of the furry sites. I cannot recall offending anyone directly, yet when attempting to Fave art it was discovered that the artist blocked me. If you're taking commissions and charging fees, then you shouldn't be blocking possible clients.

[cause the rat]

Management on the shift before mine. She's an expert on everything she doesn't do. Leaves it for me. She also damages parts of the machine. Leaves that for me to fix. If there is something wrong with the machine she leaves it for me to fix. But when it comes down to who's the expert? She is. When I try to report a problem I get "It only happens to you. She doesn't have a problem". So I have decided to stop playing the game. I let one problem go on for so long they got a tech in. Cost them $$$ just to have the tech tell them the same thing I did. I let another problem go for so long it was pat the point of workable parameters. Went to maintenance myself and reported it. Then I got and took the opportunity to get into her face. That felt good.

[Jade Sinapu]

Stupid people grind my gears.

Fireworks.

A family did some small fireworks.  Put them in household trash.  Trash was in garage. Car was in garage.( that in its self was amazing to me people just have junk in garages).
Trash caught fire. Car caught fire.  Garage on fire.  House on fire.  Neighbors house on fire. Neighbors garage and car on fire.

2 families lost everything.

Oh but it was fireworks that did it!
And cigarettes,  grills,  electrical items,  matches never do the same thing.   I wonder how much alcohol the adults had.
Oh but it was fireworks. Big bad fireworks. Make then all illegalnow!

Oh and then the next news piece was sparklers,  the spawn of Satan.
They showed a demo.  Two mannequins,  little girls in flowing billowing dresses straight out of 1880's. They had,  get this,  2 to 3 dozen sparklers bundled tightly together and held close to figure.  Poof they be on fire! Well duh Einstein.
You did it all wrong.

That is called a sparkler bomb. No joke.  Don't do it.
But they can just to scare you.

Wear thick cotton,  like jeans.  Hold at arms length.  Light one at a time.  Place in metal can which has water in it.  I do this.  So can you. 
And don't drink. And keep pets away.  I mean don't ruin it for the rest of us. 

I will try to calm down now.
 

[Jade Sinapu]

And no I didn't mean to hold a pair of cotton jeans at and length and light on fire one at a time.  I was talking about fireworks specifically sparklers.

[cause the rat]

if you toss a still burning punk then it will catch your trash on fire. We call them punks. They are the slow burning incense stick looking things most folks light fireworks with. Sparklers will not burn you. The sparks are not lit long or hot enough to burn. Touching the stem will. That dress would have had to been soaked with a chemical with a low flash point. Lower than gasoline.

So the first 'truth' was glorifying stupid people. The second is an out right lie. Or Republican TV at it's best.

YouTube videos with English tittles that are hosted by non English speaking people.

[Rocket T. Coyote]

Seeing BIRD scooters everywhere lately. You need a Smart Phone to access one and some just abandon them when done. One was left on the rail trail here--lying across the path.

[cause the rat]

My local walmarts again. It use to be easy to find vitamins and supplements. Now they've turned it into a game. Most are together in a complete random order. Then you have  multiple isle stands with one side. At one time everything was in alphabetical order. By brand. It's Amazon time.

[Jade Sinapu]

My local walmarts again. It use to be easy to find vitamins and supplements. Now they've turned it into a game. Most are together in a complete random order. Then you have  multiple isle stands with one side. At one time everything was in alphabetical order. By brand. It's Amazon time.

This

I needed a supplement.  I had to ask where they moved to.
Same for...eye drops for allergies.
Just a month ago things were where we could find them.

[Rocket T. Coyote]

I spent 20 minutes in the local Walmart looking for talcum powder without success. Was the product discontinued?

[cause the rat]

Rocket. Walmarts has moved everything. I've seen a lot of costumers looking for stuff they need. I've stopped trying to find things. Go right to Amazon. Not worth my time playing hide and seek.

[Jade Sinapu]

Most stores are not selling talc.  Talc is a cousin to asbestos. They commonly occur in same mineral deposit.  This makes it hard to ensure 0% asbestos in talc.  It is believed that asbestos contaminated talc powder caused ovarian cancer in some women who powdered nether regions daily for decades.  This has never been proven.
But out of fear and such talc is being abandoned.  And corn starch put in its place.  Too bad corn starch feeds microbe growth and hardened when wet and dried again.  Put foot powder in shoe.  Sweat.  Take shoe off.  Sock is sticky and hard.  Gross as fuuuuuuuck.
Talc won't do that.  It's mineral.
If you find real talc let me know asap. And buy a large container.