Petty Vents

[PrincessFiona60]

All I have to do is put something I no longer want downstairs in the Community Room and it will disappear in a matter of minutes. I put down a bunch of those specialty mugs a few months back and they were gone by the next day. I was sick of using four ounce Christmas mugs.

I don't have a Community Room...now if I can just remember to stop by Goodwill on the way to work.

 

[cave76]

Here's my rant: Whether it's petty or not depends on whether a child gets hurt!

People who don't hold on to their toddler or larger child's hand in parking lots! No matter how careful a person is backing out of their space (esp. with a humungus SUV or pick-up truck next to them) a little kid is not always in their view!

A small child MAY be walking along obediently by it's parents side then WHOA! They will dash over to pick up a penny, look at a butterfly----etc. in a nano-second. Right behind you.

And not just children! Just yesterday while backing out VERY slowly, looking both ways (but there's no way I can look in BOTH directions at the exact same time) and with my back-up lights working I was already about 2 feet out when a young woman ran behind me! I mean RIGHT behind me, with no more than a foot separating us.

She had to have seen my bumper but was in a hurry! A hurry? To the hospital?

More likely I would have been sued, insurance rate would go up and have guilt for her injury lingering with me the rest of my life!!!

 

[taxlady]

Here's my rant: Whether it's petty or not depends on whether a child gets hurt!

People who don't hold on to their toddler or larger child's hand in parking lots! No matter how careful a person is backing out of their space (esp. with a humungus SUV or pick-up truck next to them) a little kid is not always in their view!

A small child MAY be walking along obediently by it's parents side then WHOA! They will dash over to pick up a penny, look at a butterfly----etc. in a nano-second. Right behind you.

And not just children! Just yesterday while backing out VERY slowly, looking both ways (but there's no way I can look in BOTH directions at the exact same time) and with my back-up lights working I was already about 2 feet out when a young woman ran behind me! I mean RIGHT behind me, with no more than a foot separating us.

She had to have seen my bumper but was in a hurry! A hurry? To the hospital?

More likely I would have been sued, insurance rate would go up and have guilt for her injury lingering with me the rest of my life!!!

That's one of the reasons I always make sure that my car is pointed nose out in parking spaces. When pulling out of a parking spot, I want to be going forwards. I had it suggested and explained to me by a truck driver.

 

[cave76]

That's one of the reasons I always make sure that my car is pointed nose out in parking spaces. When pulling out of a parking spot, I want to be going forwards. I had it suggested and explained to me by a truck driver.

I knew a couple of volunteer firemen who would only park their car (in their drive-way) nose out. Saved a few seconds when those seconds might count.

Although I used to be able to back a car into any tight spot (parallel parking) I'd hate to try that now! And I won't.

Another solution, in a parking lot, is to pull into a spot then continue on into the empty spot in the next aisle. IF you can find one like that. That doesn't always happen in Handicapped parking spots though since there's often a barrier of some sort.

 

[taxlady]

I knew a couple of volunteer firemen who would only park their car (in their drive-way) nose out. Saved a few seconds when those seconds might count.

Although I used to be able to back a car into any tight spot (parallel parking) I'd hate to try that now! And I won't.

Another solution, in a parking lot, is to pull into a spot then continue on into the empty spot in the next aisle. IF you can find one like that. That doesn't always happen in Handicapped parking spots though since there's often a barrier of some sort.

I find those pull-through spots when I can. I find backing into a space far less stressful than backing out. At least when I'm backing in, I can see everything I could hit and nothing is moving, well, almost never.

 

[Addie]

My petty vent! Mothers (and fathers) who don't dress their children warm enough for winter weather. So many times I see a child with no mittens on, no scarf, no boots, no hat and quite often not even socks. Yet the parent is dressed to the hilt and snugly warm. And my biggest vent is seeing babies without a hat on starting in early spring. Where were these mothers when it was announced that most of the body heat is lost through the head. Just because Mom thinks it is a beautiful warm spring day, doesn't mean it is suitable for a small baby to be in a sun suit and hatless.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

My petty vent! Mothers (and fathers) who don't dress their children warm enough for winter weather. So many times I see a child with no mittens on, no scarf, no boots, no hat and quite often not even socks. Yet the parent is dressed to the hilt and snugly warm. And my biggest vent is seeing babies without a hat on starting in early spring. Where were these mothers when it was announced that most of the body heat is lost through the head. Just because Mom thinks it is a beautiful warm spring day, doesn't mean it is suitable for a small baby to be in a sun suit and hatless.

By the time my kids were in grade school, looking "cool" was more important to them than being warm. We would put the warm clothes on them, and they would remove them, once they were out of our sight.

On day, a blizzard hit. I was enrolled in a University several miles from where I lived. DW had our car in Canada, and the international bridge was closed down, leaving me without a vehicle. I had to walk to the school where my kids were, as everything closed down due to the weather. They would release the children until a parent showed up. That was me. Of course, the kids left the house without sufficient winter clothing, no hat, no mittens, light jackets. It was about three blocks to my home from the school. I had to snuggle then against me, and walk backwards against the wind to try and protect them from the driving snow. As it was, we had to stop midway, at mom & pop store to let the frozen snow melt from their cheeks. Then we walked the same way to our home.

It isn't always the parent's fault that a child isn't properly dressed for the cold. I know this from experience. I once had to walk 5 miles from town to home, through a blizzard, with no more protection than a light jacket. I had suitable clothing available, but just didn't want to wear it. It wasn't cool for a 16 year old. That walk home from my after-school job taught me a lesson in preparedness that my parents couldn't. I was a teen, full of hormones, and an immature brain, invincible, and without enough life experience. It wasn't their fault. It was mine.

But for those who don't give their children adequate protection from the weather, that truly is a terrible thing.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[cave76]

I agree with what the Chief said----- but if Addie is talking about babies then that may be another issue. However, my daughter, as a baby/toddler would whip a hat off her head as quick as a wink! She always hated anything on her head.

If I had lived in blizzard county I guess I could have stapled the hat on her head.

When it did snow and she was still young and played outside all the warm clothes I put on her were soaking wet from sledding, snow ball fights etc that I wondered why I even put clothes on her. (just kidding guys, but you catch my drift.)

 

[Andy M.]

SO tells the story of how her son NEVER wore a coat or jacket when he went off to school or anywhere else. Snow, cold, wind, it just didn't matter. She'd buy him new jackets to entice him into wearing them and the would sit in the closet.

One day her son's teacher, the guidance counselor and school principal showed up at her home with a gift of a winter jacket for her son. They explained they saw him coming to school without one and that it was OK for her to accept a gift for him.

She thanked them very kindly and showed them all the coats and jackets she had in the closet that he would not wear.

When he turned 18, he moved to Florida and whenever he comes to visit now, all he does is complain about the cold (he's 43 YO now).

 

[Cooking Goddess]

That's one of the reasons I always make sure that my car is pointed nose out in parking spaces. When pulling out of a parking spot, I want to be going forwards. I had it suggested and explained to me by a truck driver.

That's a good idea. It's gotten a bit easier to back up into any parking place since I got a car with a backup camera. Still not sure I would want to try this in downtown Akron though. One of their main streets has angle-in parking along the street, but you have to back into the parking spot. Yeah, like all the traffic behind you will wait patiently for THAT to happen. (I think) parallel parking would be easier.

I get annoyed with people who just don't pay attention and wander in the roadway. Maybe they're talking with friends, or maybe they are checking their cellphones, but they don't pay attention to what is happening around them. Their lack of awareness could end up causing me problems. Not fair!

 

[taxlady]

Yeah, angle parking is a nuisance. They angle it so it only makes sense to park nose in. I used to live on a fairly wide, one way street in Montreal. Whenever we got a lot of snow, people would angle park, because parallel parking got really difficult. But, everyone backed in. The angle was the other direction from what is usually painted in places with angle parking.

 

[roadfix]

I miss the wide parking spaces. These days if you're trying to park anything wider than a mid-sized sedan in a crowded parking lot you're in trouble....

 

[taxlady]

I miss the wide parking spaces. These days if you're trying to park anything wider than a mid-sized sedan in a crowded parking lot you're in trouble....

That's one of the nice things about going to "my" Costco. They repainted all of the spaces in their parking lot to make them wider. Unless someone has parked very badly, you can actually get the cart between the cars without risking the mirrors and paint jobs.

 

[purple.alien.giraffe]

Grrr. Slipped on a patch of ice. You know that stretch where you pull your foot towards your butt and how some people can actually touch their heal to their butt? I can't quite get that far but I can get within a couple inches and it's a good thing because that's how I landed. Right knee bent, my butt landed on my foot. Fortunately my calf was directly under my thigh so my knee didn't twist, but it did get over stretched and the initial fall was caused not just by my foot slipping on the ice but also by my ankle twisting when my foot slipped. I took a couple ibuprofen, elevated my leg, and iced my knee and ankle. No swelling or bruising of either but both are kind of achey.

The hubby and I spent the day helping friends move so I'd already been lifting boxes and going up and down stairs all day. I was already fealing a bit stiff. We're supposed to help them finish up tomorrow. We'll see if I'm up to that. Will sleep in the recliner tonight so my leg stays elevated. Here's hoping.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Owie PAG! Don't even try tomorrow if it's hurting.

 

[purple.alien.giraffe]

Yeah, as much as I won't like not being able to help, I'd like further injuring myself less. They are good friends so I know they'll understand. Still really agravating.

 

[taxlady]

Don't have done that PAG. Ow! I hope it feels better soon.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Aw p.ag., you shouldn't have done that - the ice skating competitions are over at the Olympics. Seriously, I hope your aches and pains go away quickly. Since it's good friends that are moving they'll know you didn't do this on purpose, right?

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I'm not sleeping...I have, for the past few nights, been waking up at 4:30 wide awake. 5 hours of sleep is NOT enough. But, the bad part is, the darned cats think this is when I should be up now, they started on me at 3:30.

And I'm so easily distracted going from one...SQUIRREL!!!!!

 

[taxlady]

I'm not sleeping...I have, for the past few nights, been waking up at 4:30 wide awake. 5 hours of sleep is NOT enough. But, the bad part is, the darned cats think this is when I should be up now, they started on me at 3:30.

And I'm so easily distracted going from one...SQUIRREL!!!!!

(((Hugs PF))). Not getting enough sleep is awful.

You aren't feeding those cats when you get up in the middle of the night, are you?