Shoot the Wall (A.K.A. The Rant Thread)

[Van Buren Supernova]

I admire your "hold it" abilities, VBS. The closest I ever came to that was a weekend outing. There was a bathroom in the cabin we rented, plus there was an outhouse behind. But the bathroom was flooded (not deeply, but I wondered flooded with what? And the outhouse was not particularly well maintained either. So I held it for two days. Boy, was I glad to get home!

My abilities is for number two. 

Number one, not as good as you! I think one and half day is my record.

I suppose could be longer but when we stopped for the night I'd try to do it, so that I wouldn't get caught in unpleasant situation in daytime with uncertainty that there would be enough privacy.

But it's not easy for me, I have 'stage fright' XD, I remember squatting on a mountain shoulder in front of a cliff with full privacy during sunset :P, most beautiful scenery and I just couldn't. Then my friend got worried and shouted for me, and that's it, I quitted, it was not my night. :P

 

Or if it was #2, we'd scrape a little hole in the ground first, then cover it up after, just like a cat does.

yup, we had machete for that purpose. That's how it should be done. I tried once, but ended up just carrying machete around for nothing, couldn't even settle for spot, my mates looked at me funny, I suppose they didn't like me and machete wandering around with bewildered eyes. So I decide I wouldn't want to do it, then and ever XD.

 

Had I shared the secret before? Scuba divers pee in their wetsuits, and if they say they don't, they are either lie or haven't dived long enough.

Most time we would be stuck whole day + night time on the boat or in unoccupied island. We need to drink a lot, and yet, we don't perspire much. And peeing properly in the loo (if the boat or island has one) with wetsuit is probably more tedious than peeing in wedding gown.

Ow.. who am I kidding! You see, eventhough the island has sparkling beautiful gigantic toilet with queen standard, we would rather wade in the sea during our surface time, that is easy, or, we do it underwater.

But for me, it's extremely difficult under there, yah, stage fright again, pressure of course, literally, I need special concentration at my own time. All about #1 though.

Wait, what makes us talk about this? Did I just tell gross stories?

More to come!

 

There are actually little funnel-like gadgets that allow women to pee standing up. Learned that from a friend who goes backpacking a lot.

 

I've heard of those funnel things, they freak me out a bit, but really it has to be better than peeing down your leg.

Ugh, no.

A friend of mine used this, but she was very novice and brought every gadget she found in the shop on her first climb, with me (and last, because man, she talked a looooooooooot. I mean, a lot! Nope.)

So she brought the funnel and kept it in the ziplock. She swore by it, but I don't think so. It looked gross, you may not have luxury of fresh water to rinse it, you know what I mean? And gah, handling them could be tricky, and somehow seeing it in ziplock bag, ugh. Oh, she offered me, nopeeeeee. I'd do the classic squatting like what Carol said, anyway we were on quite 'leisure' mountain so there are already rest house below the peak (although it still take hours to full day to climb there and hours to reach the peak from there) so I don't need it as I could have proper toilet in the rest house.

 

 

We have these around Epiphany, but they're children in costume as the Three Kings (the girls too) plus one Star Bearer carrying a paper or foil star/comet on a stick (that's why they're called the Star singers), and one adult accompanying them. They sing a little song and say a poem, and then collect money for a Catholic charity (the whole thing is organized by the Catholic youth organization), but don't say no to a little treat (and/or hot tea if it's a bad weather day) either. The adult then marks your door frame with consecrated chalk, writing a traditional blessing. It's a cute little tradition that warms even heathen hearts like mine, and they are generally well-received.

 

Halloween has only become somewhat popular in the last decade or so, and some people still grumble about the "stupid American tradition" and don't want to hear any explanations to the contrary. I must admit, though, that I'd become a bit annoyed too because, living in the suburbs, we got plenty of what we called trick-or-treat-tourists from the nearby denser populated areas, because our mostly townouse-area made for a better evening stroll. I finally solved this by letting the dog out first whenever the bell rang - if the kids screamed and scattered when the Big Bad Black Dog approached the garden door, they were tourists anyway, if however they happily greeted her (since they knew her to be a big softie) they were locals and got the good treats. This must've given our house a bit of a reputation though because the last few years we only got a handful of callers. :D

Those sound nice actually.

And don't blame me if I actually run to you instead of away when the Big Bad Black Dog appears.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I do squat! But I usually still manage to get my leg.

 

I've been giving your difficulty some serious consideration, and suspect that it's due to one (or both) of two things:

 

1. You're not squatting deeply and/or widely enough.  Your butt needs to hang down well below your thighs, and your feet need to be well apart.

 

2. You didn't remember to carry some tissues in your pocket, so you could blot and/or wipe afterwards.

 

I'd become a bit annoyed too because, living in the suburbs, we got plenty of what we called trick-or-treat-tourists from the nearby denser populated areas, because our mostly townhouse-area made for a better evening stroll. I finally solved this by letting the dog out first whenever the bell rang - if the kids screamed and scattered when the Big Bad Black Dog approached the garden door, they were tourists anyway, if however they happily greeted her (since they knew her to be a big softie) they were locals and got the good treats.

 

Yeah, it's those "tourists" that bug me too.  Like I mentioned before, our little neighborhood used to be invaded by entire vanloads of them.  Admittedly, some of them were probably from the nearby rural areas, where you could spend all evening walking to just a dozen houses -- but hey folks, instead of driving your kids to invade a neighborhood just because it's handy, couldn't you spend the time driving them to the homes of people you actually know?  I mean, what kid needs more than a few candy bars anyhow?

 

Do kids actually eat all that candy right away?  Or is it their supply for the entire year, so their parents don't have to shell out for it?  (Candy costs a whole lot more than it used to, so I wouldn't be surprised.)

 

Added:  Or do they throw away most of it and eat only their favorites?  (Again, I wouldn't be surprised.)

[Pseudonym]

Lol, thanks for the advice! I'll keep it in mind next time I have to make a bladder-related foray into the woods.  XD

[Pseudonym]

Have to be up in four hours but I'm awake and online because I'm really freaked out. Damn sabotaging brain has decided I should be thinking about evil ghosts. WTF? I think to feel as thoroughly creeped out as I do I must have had a nightmare that I don't remember. I'm pottering about online to snap out of it in the hope of actually getting back asleep at some point.

[Van Buren Supernova]

Lol, thanks for the advice! I'll keep it in mind next time I have to make a bladder-related foray into the woods.  XD

I bet you didn't expect to get advice on proper squatting in wilderness when you signed up. XD

 

 

[T.o.b.y]

Have to be up in four hours but I'm awake and online because I'm really freaked out. Damn sabotaging brain has decided I should be thinking about evil ghosts. WTF? I think to feel as thoroughly creeped out as I do I must have had a nightmare that I don't remember. I'm pottering about online to snap out of it in the hope of actually getting back asleep at some point.

Welcome to the club. This kind of thing happens to me all the time. I find that listening to something (radio, CD, podcast, YouTube vid audio only) is more effective in helping me go back to sleep though. The light from the screen messes with my inner clock too much it seems.

[Pseudonym]

 

I bet you didn't expect to get advice on proper squatting in wilderness when you signed up. XD

 

 

You're right, I thought it would be just talking about Sherlock - how very wrong I was! 

 

 

Welcome to the club. This kind of thing happens to me all the time. I find that listening to something (radio, CD, podcast, YouTube vid audio only) is more effective in helping me go back to sleep though. The light from the screen messes with my inner clock too much it seems.

 

 

I wake up with worries from time to time, but fortunately I don't usually wake up scared. I remember a time in uni when I woke up too terrified to move, God knows how long I lay there without even being able to turn on the light. I've got Flux on my computer which is quite good for stopping the screen messing with your body clock too much - it knocks out the blue glare and darkens as it gets close to bed time. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I've got Flux on my computer which is quite good for stopping the screen messing with your body clock too much - it knocks out the blue glare and darkens as it gets close to bed time.

 

Is that software or hardware (or both)? Is it adjustable?

[Pseudonym]

Free software, you just download it. 

 

justgetflux.com

 

One of my friends recommended it to me when I was having insomnia, and I rolled my eyes a bit, but I do think it's helpful. I'm using the Mac version, but I would imagine the Windows one is the same. It's fully adjustable, can be told to go off for certain programs (the last thing I need is my work in Photoshop all having an orange tint!), or turned off completely. You set the time you want to get up, and it slowly gets darker towards what should be your bedtime. It's also easy to tell it how dark to get. You can set different light effects if one isn't working for you, mine is all set to custom. I tend to turn it off in the day, and put it back on in the evening - it's a lot easier on the eyes, the blueish glare makes me flinch a bit at night.  

[Arcadia]

Good lord, what a bunch of Halloween grinches! :p

 

That flux thing is built right into my laptop, but I didn't even know it until a few weeks ago. Don't even remember how I found it. Must work, I have no complaints.

 

Not touching the other subject with a 10-foot pole. I keep thinking I smell a whiff of outhouse.......

[Pseudonym]

Yup, that would be me. Peed down my leg again. Sorry. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

You definitely need more practice.

[Van Buren Supernova]

I come to see and I smell.. oops.

 

How would Pseud get more practice when she doesn't go to the wild that often?

Well, you have cats.. there are litterbox..

 

Alright...let's rant about something else.

 

What is your stand in sharing foods or drinks and with friends?

It's normally just happens. A friend wants to try your drink and take the sip from the same straw, or they offer it. And food, take a spoon or a fork of something, but normally it's their own utensils.

 

I only did/let this voluntarily with very small number of friends and gave in only when I became trip buddies, where we got much closer and there were initial purpose to it, like when we stuck in strange places and want to try different food/drinks.

However, people around me do that, although they stay out of my way when I decline to try their drinks or offer mine. It seems common enough though.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I only do that with someone I'm romantically involved with -- after all, it would be silly to kiss a person and then refuse to share a spoon!  I think I have on rare occasions shared a glass or cup by drinking from the other side, but that was years ago.

 

So nope, I really don't do that.  It's not only the ick factor, it's also a very practical avoidance of germs.  I'm happy to give people a taste of what I have, but they need to use a clean spoon.

[Pseudonym]

I'll happily share food with someone with a fresh utensil. Drinks, I'd drink out of the other side of a glass or drink from another straw. I have occasionally shared a bottle with someone, when it seemed too weird to refuse, but it does gross me out. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

A few years back, Alex was getting lots of colds, even though he was taking vitamins and washing his hands before meals.

 

His office has a bottled-water dispenser, and he had been filling his mug from that -- till one day he noticed that the guy ahead of him was refilling an individual water bottle by jamming it right up against the spigot. Alex started bringing his drinking water from home, and has hardly had a cold since.

 

So it isn't just squeamishness. There's a very practical reason for not sharing utensils and such.

[Pseudonym]

Euuurrghhhh gross. 

[Pseudonym]

My brother's friend is here helping my brother do stock take, which is good because it means I don't have to do it, but he's singing the same one bar of a song over and over... it's starting to grate. I get the feeling he's not a fan of silence. 

[SherlockedCAMPer]

My brother's friend is here helping my brother do stock take, which is good because it means I don't have to do it, but he's singing the same one bar of a song over and over... it's starting to grate. I get the feeling he's not a fan of silence.

No...really?! (Taken with the largest dose of sarcasm possible)

[Pseudonym]

Or alternately he's just not comfortable being stuck in a room with someone else being silent. Could go either way. I'm comfortable not talking but maybe he thinks it's an uncomfortable silence? 

 

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

He's in the same room with you, and I assume you're clearly trying to work?  That's really odd.  Like you say, though, maybe he's nervous.

 

OK, I must ask, what are the lyrics (if a single bar even merits the plural) that he's singing?

[Pseudonym]

Oh God I can't remember (I've maybe blocked i out?). He's back next week, if he does it again then I'll let you know.

[Pseudonym]

A couple of months ago I had a plumber out to look at my boiler because I was convinced it wasn't working properly (I still don't think it is). My parents were at my house to let him in because I was in work. Whilst he was here he had a look at the valves on all the radiators because some are them are leaking, gave a quote for new valves, which I decided to pass on, and that was that. 

 

Cut to tonight. As the only one living in my house I am, of course, the only one who touches the thermostat and the radiators. Today I have been like a block of ice all day, I couldn't wait to get home, crank up the heating, curl up under a blanket and read a good fic. All evening I have been freezing. The heating was turned up higher than ever, I was wearing layer upon layer of fleece, still frozen. Finally I decided to go to bed early in the hope that at least under the duvet I might be warm. But before going to bed I had to put my washing on the radiator to dry for tomorrow. Took a bundle to the radiator in the living room. Guess what, it's stone cold. Move some stuff out of the way, ah, it's turned off. Annoying, but at least now I know why I've been so cold all night so it won't happen again. I turn it on. Black water starts pouring out of the other side, all over my floor. Plumber dearest apparently took the valve off to check it, decided it might need eventual replacing, and so rather than putting it back on just balanced it where it should be and turned the radiator off. What. A. F*cking. W*nker.  

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I had an auto mechanic like that a few years back.  He neglected to screw my radiator cap back on, and on another occasion didn't bother to screw my oil-fill cap back on.  I took to requesting a specific other mechanic, one I knew was competent.  Fortunately the owner of the repair shop eventually realized what a detriment the other guy was and reassigned him to the front desk (where he wasn't too bad a fit).  Shortly after that, he was gone completely.  I really appreciate it when the owner of a business establishment keeps an eye on things and doesn't let problems go on for long.

[Pseudonym]

Apparently, my father informs me, it was left like that so the water pressure of the boiler doesn't drop before the valve is changed. And did no on think to inform ME, the actual HOUSE OWNER if this small fact?!!

 

I'm always iffy with mechanics, I hate trusting someone to do something when I have no idea if they are trying to pull a fast one or not. That bloke definitely sounds like a liability though! I wonder if he did something at the desk bad enough to get sacked, or did he get another job as a mechanic elsewhere?