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

[Carol the Dabbler]

I know this is an odd thing for a former software engineer to say -- but I don't trust the software. After all, it was designed and coded by fallible humans. Guess I'd rather make my own mistakes!

[SherlockedCAMPer]

I know this is an odd thing for a former software engineer to say -- but I don't trust the software. After all, it was designed and coded by fallible humans. Guess I'd rather make my own mistakes!

Most of the software comes with a guarantee since it would be an error on their end.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Is that an adequate defense in tax court?

[Arcadia]

Probably depends on the judge. But some (maybe all?) companies guarantee they will pay your penalty, if you get one due to their error.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Will they also do time for you? ;)

[SherlockedCAMPer]

The form shows how it was done and if they make an error they'll let the IRS know.

[Arcadia]

I don't think they generally put people in jail for making mistakes on their taxes, but they may make an exception for ducks.

[Carol the Dabbler]

:P

[T.o.b.y]

I hate the tax hassle so much, I pay for help with our forms just to save myself the nervous breakdown. But yeah, finding all the forms and numbers is still a challenge. I thought I had everything together but then today our accountant called and told me there was still something missing from my husband. Ahhhrg! We're running out of time and he doesn't know where it is.

 

In Germany, btw, if you are not self-employed, income tax is automatically deducted from your salary each month and the main purpose of the tax declaration form for people like me is to get money back. Is it the same in the US? Or do you have to save up money to pay your taxes each year?

[Carol the Dabbler]

Right, US employers are required to collect taxes from each paycheck, so our April paperwork is generally a matter of a (relatively) few dollars one way or the other. Alex's employer messed up this past year, though, so we just had an unpleasant surprise.

 

It's always a hassle, though.

[Pseudonym]

My work has moved premises, which means I now have to drive from the opposite direction to get home. The motorway is so busy that way that it comes to a full stop and you're just stuck staring at the car in front of you. It's annoying but I can cope with it. What is unfair is that when you turn a bend and there's a stunning view of the bay, the traffic speeds up again so you can't look at it. 

[Boton]

I just read what might be the stupidest thing I have read all year (but 2017 is still young).  A business newsletter I get recommends "making our to-do lists the night before, so our minds can work on them all night."

 

Yep, that's exactly what I want.  I want a tool that will make me constantly have work running in background, interrupting my pleasure time and churning away while I sleep.  If I'm lucky, maybe I'll just wake up at 3am and not be able to get back to sleep because of all the work on my mind, and then I'll get up and drift into the office and start working.  Great idea.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Gah!!!  I have enough trouble turning off my work brain at night, without making a list for it to use.  It'll keep me half-awake all night if I let it.  My current favorite solution is to daydream (or whatever it's called at night) about being in The Shire.  My real-life concerns don't seem to know where I've gone. 

[Pseudonym]

When I got back into this fandom and started voraciously reading fic I always dreamt I was John, only dreamt I was Sherlock once when I woke myself up yelling for John. Being in The Shire is a pretty awesome dream. Are you any of the characters?

[Shadow Dweller]

Do dreaming of dancing and twirling on the air in a room that looks like the place the Crown Jewels were kept with the background of Rossini's The Thieving Magpie count?

[Carol the Dabbler]

Being in The Shire is a pretty awesome dream. Are you any of the characters?

 

I generally bring my own character with me, so she can react to the odd things she encounters (having never read any Tolkien, or perhaps coming from a universe where the good professor didn't write about hobbits).  I enjoy that sort of cross-cultural (virtual) adventure.

[Van Buren Supernova]

I don't really know what you guys are smoking, but I love daydreaming too. When I ride, when I'm about to sleep, when I need happy place, when I'm bored.

 

 

A rant, or actually just a question.

I know many people think it'a fun, but I always cringe when I see food fight in TV, or anything that waste food, like prank or even for purpose like Mythbuster. I keep thinking about things that can be done with those. Maybe it's my upbringing, my parents taught us not to waste food, especially when we had just enough to get by.

 

Is it just me, how do you guys feel about that?

[Pseudonym]

I cringe because of the mess and the nightmare it would be to clean up, not so much the waste. I hate throwing things away when they're past their use-by date though, that makes me cringe. I also hate it when I'm watching an episode of something, and people get called away just after making dinner, and I wonder what happens to the dinner? Or someone pitches a fit and throws the whole thing in the bin and I think put it in the fridge! Eat it later!

[T.o.b.y]

:-D I don't like to see food wasted either and I don't think it's funny.

[Fantasy Lover]

Oh, you're not the only one. I hate food eating contents.

[Pseudonym]

Oh God, have you ever watched Man vs Food?! It's vile, I thought I was going to be sick. 

[Arcadia]

Nope, the title alone is enough to keep me from watching it.

 

I've never found food fights funny either. Also when people on TV walk off and leave the refrigerator door open; that drives me crazy. Waste of electricity!

 

There is one time I found it funny; the pie fight at the end of The Great Race. I don't know why; I normally think they're stupid. Must be the timing: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCneye8GuSo

 

[Fantasy Lover]

Neither did I, But what I also hate is making world's largest pizza or something. What happens to the pizza?

 

I feel you Arcadia, I hate it when someone lets the water run of the shower on tv.

[Arcadia]

Or leaves their car running. Grrr.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Or somebody comes into a house and leaves the door open. Though after living in southern California (where most American TV shows are written/filmed), I could sort of understand that. It's never cold, it's never hot, and there are hardly any bugs.