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So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

Fifty150

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,113
Location
The Barbary Coast
When you park your car, open the door, look down:

The City.jpg
 

Fifty150

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,113
Location
The Barbary Coast
ran a gizmo through the line that cut out the little bit of intruding roots. They looked hair-like in the video, apparently the capillary(?) roots and not the big ’uns.


In my younger days, I was often dispatched to service calls that were mindless. The kind of calls where they didn't really need you there. Respond to whatever secured building, and stand by while a plumber, electrician, or whomever did the real work. It's supposed to be a secured building. So I had to hang out, in case the rooter guy was a spy or terrorist. But I watched what those guys were doing. Offered to lend a hand if needed. Made polite conversation. Listened to everything that they said.

One of the service plumbers told me about his sewer jet. High pressure water. It works a lot better than a snake. Being a homeowner, I went out and bought the equipment. It cost less than half of what a plumber would charge for an emergency service call. It paid for itself.

Sewer lines will clog. Sludge and grease build up, along with the typical things that people flush down the toilet. And if your kitchen sink has a disposal unit, it's worse. Because you are putting pieces of food into a blender, hoping that the blades chop it down enough to flow down the pipe. That's just more stuff to clog the line with.



 
Messages
10,930
Location
My mother's basement
^^^^^
Decades ago some person whose name I have since forgotten told me that washing spent coffee grounds down the drain with lotsa hot water helped keep the drains free of grease buildup. The reasoning was that the hot water dissolved the grease, which got carried by the coffee grounds through the pipes and into the city main.

Baloney? Maybe. Maybe even likely. Still, though, my drains stay clear. I keep screens over the drains in the double sinks in the kitchens (got two kitchens here) and wipe up as much of the grease as I can with paper towels before washing the pots and pans. That’s probably more effective than washing spent coffee grounds down the drain with lotsa hot water, but I still wash coffee grounds down the drain with lotsa hot water.
 
Messages
12,941
Location
Germany
Do you got this ugly dry air in North America??

Man, I'm sick of March. Gimme APRIL, please!!
Meteorolgists say, the "Africa Low" brings the dry air from Sahara.
 

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,005
Location
Gads Hill, Ontario
Do you got this ugly dry air in North America??

Man, I'm sick of March. Gimme APRIL, please!!
Meteorolgists say, the "Africa Low" brings the dry air from Sahara.
Depends on the area. In southwestern Ontario, Canada, the winter is dry, but otherwise it's often humidity central, so much so, we have an index called the - humidex. Like the windchill index in the winter, how cold it FEELS vice how cold it actually is, it "values" how HOT it feels to a human compared to the ambient temperature.

As in "today's high will be 30 celsius, feeling like 37 with the humidex".

Ick. Blame the Great Lakes effect.
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,775
Location
New Forest
TV weather people who leave the third of four syllables out of the word tem·per·a·ture.
The diction of most TV presenters would have my school English teacher frothing at the mouth. Maybe it's just the accent but on this side of the pond you will often hear temperature pronounced tempre-ture.

Another omission that would drive my English teacher to the funny farm is the first "R" in February, it seems to be pronounced: Feb-you-ary!
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,715
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
That's "Cumf-TA-b'l" here in the Great Northeast. In addition to eliding post-vocalic Rs,we consider it good local form to avoid any unnecessary use of vowels.

I have often declared, and will declare again, that anyone, especially a TV meteorologist born anywhere west of Philadelphia who describes a weather event as a "nor'easter", as though they are honoring our local dialect by doing so, needs to get a building high-pressure system right up the funnel. We say "no'theasta." Deal with it.

Meanwhile, what I came here to complain about today is the irritating way computers and software address users with a phony, friendly familiarity that I find both presumptuous and obnoxious. I'm no stickler for form when it comes to dealing with humans, but unless I'm dealing with a quirky cat-owning android from Omicron Theta, I can't stand it when a computer tells me "Hey lizziemaine! We've got a few updates for you today! Please don't turn off your computer, OK?" You're going to thus waste half an hour of my valuable time loading in features I don't want and surveillance tools I'll disable and delete as soon as you're done, so don't waste my time further with your phony cheery goodwill. Just say "UPDATES REQUIRED. DO NOT TURN OFF" and get on with it.
 
Messages
12,941
Location
Germany
Meanwhile, what I came here to complain about today is the irritating way computers and software address users with a phony, friendly familiarity that I find both presumptuous and obnoxious. I'm no stickler for form when it comes to dealing with humans, but unless I'm dealing with a quirky cat-owning android from Omicron Theta, I can't stand it when a computer tells me "Hey lizziemaine! We've got a few updates for you today! Please don't turn off your computer, OK?" You're going to thus waste half an hour of my valuable time loading in features I don't want and surveillance tools I'll disable and delete as soon as you're done, so don't waste my time further with your phony cheery goodwill. Just say "UPDATES REQUIRED. DO NOT TURN OFF" and get on with it.

What the hell??

Lizzie, you're living in the wrong country. We don't do stuff, that's far ahead the 90s, here! We still love Clippy. ;) Usually without tone. ;)
 

pyjamadoux

New in Town
Messages
17
Location
Limoges France
Il y a une autre chose très curieuse, que je n'ai pas mentionnée ici, avant.

Il y a un an, j'étais à l'hôpital, chambre à quatre lits. La nuit, on m'a encore rappelé que j'étais l'un des derniers Allemands classiques, dormant en vrais vêtements de nuit (dans ce cas, pyjama/pyjama shorty habituel ). Les autres en sous-vêtements.

Et cette curieuse tendance se poursuit depuis quelques années, ici. Dans ma génération (1984/85) et bien sûr les plus jeunes, les vrais vêtements de nuit disparaissent.
Mais pourquoi? Quel est le sens d'aller au lit en laissant vos sous-vêtements ? C'est inconfortable, c'est mauvais pour la peau.
Je veux dire, soit nu ou avec des vêtements de nuit.

Alors, quand cette curieuse tendance a-t-elle commencé ? Et pourquoi?? Je veux dire, les vêtements de nuit sont si bon marché sur les marques de magasins de bonne qualité. Tout le monde peut se le permettre.
Bonjour, je partage votre message à propos des pyjamas . C'est tellement plus agréable et confortable au lit sous la couette douillette. Cordialement.
 

Harp

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,508
Location
Chicago, IL US
That's "Cumf-TA-b'l" here in the Great Northeast. In addition to eliding post-vocalic Rs,we consider it good local form to avoid any unnecessary use of vowels.

I have often declared, and will declare again, that anyone, especially a TV meteorologist born anywhere west of Philadelphia who describes a weather event as a "nor'easter", as though they are honoring our local dialect by doing so, needs to get a building high-pressure system right up the funnel. We say "no'theasta." Deal with it.

Meanwhile, what I came here to complain about today is the irritating way computers and software address users with a phony, friendly familiarity that I find both presumptuous and obnoxious. I'm no stickler for form when it comes to dealing with humans, but unless I'm dealing with a quirky cat-owning android from Omicron Theta, I can't stand it when a computer tells me "Hey lizziemaine! We've got a few updates for you today! Please don't turn off your computer, OK?" You're going to thus waste half an hour of my valuable time loading in features I don't want and surveillance tools I'll disable and delete as soon as you're done, so don't waste my time further with your phony cheery goodwill. Just say "UPDATES REQUIRED. DO NOT TURN OFF" and get on with it.

^pyjamadoux,
Comme je l'ai fait remarquer dans votre fil de pyjama, dormez nu comme un chat.;)
--------
Weather forecasters, television and radio, have been using nor'easter here all winter.
Maine guys in the Army really didn't speak English...;)
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,775
Location
New Forest
I can't stand it when a computer tells me "Hey lizziemaine! We've got a few updates for you today! Please don't turn off your computer, OK?" You're going to thus waste half an hour of my valuable time loading in features I don't want and surveillance tools I'll disable and delete as soon as you're done, so don't waste my time further with your phony cheery goodwill. Just say "UPDATES REQUIRED. DO NOT TURN OFF" and get on with it.
My father hated bad language, he would say that the English language is capable of being fine tuned to a specific point that negates any need for profanities.

My father didn't live in the computer age, Lizzie's comment about phoney computer messages has probably resonated amongst those of us who remember civility and cordiality.

Sorry Dad, but computers that speak, and computer speak, raises the blood pressure to the point where only that old English acronym, that was common centuries ago, which stands for:
Found Under Carnal Knowledge, acts like the valve on a pressure cooker.
 

Harp

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,508
Location
Chicago, IL US
My father hated bad language, he would say that the English language is capable of being fine tuned to a specific point that negates any need for profanities.

raises the blood pressure to the point where only that old English acronym, that was common centuries ago, which stands for:
Found Under Carnal Knowledge, acts like the valve on a pressure cooker.

Your dad is an interesting character. I like his wartime language acquisition with German,
wish I had that particular gift of tongues instead of struggling all night with text and lecture notes.
Recall the post war photo you posted with him wearing his discharge suit and sporting that Hollywood
newly discharged veteran back with wife and son smile. A wonderful snapshot of time's eternal truth
of love for wife, child, home, hearth, and country. :)

Common law cases remember killing the king's deer and torts of misadventure decisions
but no coitus actus reus constituent elements men rea Cupid arrows....;)
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,775
Location
New Forest
Your dad is an interesting character. I like his wartime language acquisition with German,
wish I had that particular gift of tongues instead of struggling all night with text and lecture notes.
Recall the post war photo you posted with him wearing his discharge suit and sporting that Hollywood
newly discharged veteran back with wife and son smile. A wonderful snapshot of time's eternal truth
of love for wife, child, home, hearth, and country. :)
Such a kindly compliment, thank you. Dad's language gift was akin to those for whom the keys of a piano come naturally. He certainly helped me get through my French an Latin at school.


Common law cases remember killing the king's deer and torts of misadventure decisions
but no coitus actus reus constituent elements men rea Cupid arrows....;)
Where's my Dad when I need him? My Catholic teaching wouldn't have had coitus in the curriculum, that's for sure.
I know that actus reus, sometimes called the external element or the objective element of a crime, is the Latin term for the "guilty act" which, when proved beyond a reasonable doubt in combination with the mens rea, "guilty mind", produces criminal liability in the common law-based criminal law jurisdictions of Canada, and Australia. I just cannot connect actus reus to coitus.

For those whose Latin is a little rusty, allow me to quote from my school Latin/English dictionary:

Coitus: "copulation, sexual intercourse," 1848, scientific use of Latin coitus "a meeting together; sexual union," past participle of coire "to come together, meet," from assimilated form of com "together" (see co-) + ire (past participle itus) "to come, to go," (from PIE root *ei- "to go").

It's that bit about, "to come together," that causes silly Catholic schoolboy sniggers.
 

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,005
Location
Gads Hill, Ontario
The diction of most TV presenters would have my school English teacher frothing at the mouth. Maybe it's just the accent but on this side of the pond you will often hear temperature pronounced tempre-ture.

Another omission that would drive my English teacher to the funny farm is the first "R" in February, it seems to be pronounced: Feb-you-ary!

Nuclear - nuke-you-ler
 

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