gran rey de los mono's page

Dream I had today:

Person: "You don't understand? What are you, stupid?"
Me: "Maybe, but mainly because English isn't my first language."
Person: "Really? What is?"
Me: "'Murican."
Person: "That...that......that explains everything, actually."

The phrase "I've been hanging streamers for my daughter's birthday party" can create two very different mental images nowadays.

I saw this and enjoyed it. Maybe some of you will too.

"I got called in to HR today because, apparently, telling a coworker that I could tell he was a C-section baby by how he avoided labor is unacceptable in the workplace."

Sheesh, can't we check US election results without running into a Polish surname anymore? *rolls eyes*

Shhhhhhh...Someone might hear you and try to block people of Polish descent from holding office.

Some of the "highlights" from the work log for the weekend:

1) Someone tore the automatic closer off of one of the stairwell doors. Why? Who f~#~ing knows. How? Also a good question, as they are held open by electromagnets and should only close in case of a fire or power outage. Neither of which happened.

2) Lots of complaints about the pool being closed, as I predicted. But it has been drained, cleaned, and (mostly) refilled. They had to stop filling it because someone claimed that the sound of the water through the pipes was "so loud I can't hear myself think". Which is, frankly, bullshit. Especially since their room is one floor up and across the hall from the pipe. They're supposed to finish filling it and work on getting the chemical balance right tomorrow.

3) A guest yelled at 2nd shift because their TV didn't work. When she went up to look at it, the picture was working, but no sound. So she took the remote and turned the volume up. That's all it was, the previous guest had turned the volume all the way down, and he didn't think to turn it back up. Instead, he felt it necessary to yell at the desk clerk about it. Great guy.

4) Another guest yelled at the same desk clerk because they were charged for 3 nights instead of 2. They stayed for 3 nights. But apparently they feel that they should only have to pay for 2, because reasons? Another great guy, no doubt.

5) Guest checked in, went up to room. Called back down and asked about a feather-free room. Was told that "Sorry, all of our feather-free rooms are occupied. I can replace the feather pillows with foam ones if you'd like." He said "No, that's fine," hung up, and immediately filed a complaint with central saying that we didn't honor his (non-existent) feather-free request. At least he didn't yell at the desk clerk.

Finally, 6) A guest was extremely upset that we wouldn't put 3 roll-a-way beds into his room. He had a room with 2 queen-sized beds. Due to fire code, we can only put roll-a-ways into rooms with a king bed, and then only 1 per room. When told no, he flipped out, and almost got thrown out. Which he should have been anyways, since there were 9 adults in that room, and you are only allowed 5 (fire code again).

Sooooooooooooooo glad I don't work weekends anymore.

I saw a note that a Mom left for her (presumably teenage) kids before leaving them alone for the weekend. It said:

"Don't add to the population. Don't subtract from the population. Don't damage or destroy physical property. Stay out of the hospital, newspaper, and jail."

Maybe that would some in helpful for some of you.

Put up a sign pool closed due to alligators and hope there isn't a druid for whom that's a bonus?

I worked at 2 hotels in Florida that had outdoor pools. Gators were always a possibility. Never happened while I was there, but heard about it happening previously, and another hotel nearby had it happen while I was down there.

Pool update:

After seeing the pool wasn't draining any more, we called the company who sells us all our cleaning supplies, as well as pool chemicals. They said "We don't really do that, but I'll ask around." A while later, they called back and said "So, the manager says that since if we tell you something wrong there is serious risk of property damage and/or injury, we're not gonna be able to help you." Which is fair. Next, we called around to various other hotels asking if they could let us borrow their maintenance person for a while. Eventually, one agreed. The guy came over, looked around a bit, and said "Yeah, your shit is f*!#ed. Call the pros." So, we called around to several pool companies. They all basically said "Well, that sucks. We can't really give you a quote without knowing exactly what is wrong, but can tell you it would be $X per hour, plus parts. Also, we're booked out for at least a week."

Which means we likely won't have the pool up for a while, and this weekend is not just a football game, but Dad's Weekend for the university. So rates are jacked through the roof (like some people are paying over 5x our normal rate), and we won't have the pool open. Now, usually this wouldn't be a problem, because people rarely use the pool on those weekends. But you can bet your sweet bippy that there will be complaints aplenty about it being closed, mainly from people who wouldn't be using it anyways, but are just trying to get a discount.

Have I mentioned how glad I am that I don't work weekends anymore?

Guide to life improvement: Set reasonable, achievable goals.

NobodysHome's goal for tonight's game: Mute my mic before I fall asleep during the session.

Or at least don't snore too loudly.

Pool update:

I think the drain is fully clogged, as it looks the same tonight as when I left 16 hours ago. I suppose it's possible that they closed the drain for some reason, but I don't really care.

Or as I saw earlier today:
"Behold the field in which I grow my f*&@s. Lay thine eyes upon it and see that it is barren."

gran rey de los mono wrote:

I assume they know at least that much.

... have you been listening to your own stories about them? :)

Also yes, "its clogged, we have the valve open down here, someone go up there take the cover off and poke it with a broom" is the exact response i expect from management. Nope.. get a submersible pump and drain it if you have to. )(#&*$ the water bill.

You have a point. I'm hoping that whoever is doing maintenance (we don't actually have a maintenance person on staff anymore) would know that. Or that they hire a pool contractor to come look at it, who had better know.

I can't speak to any particular organizations, but my understanding is that a cash donation can be more effective than canned goods, assuming no one pockets it. Mainly because a) they can buy things that people in the area are more likely to eat, and b) they can usually buy wholesale and tax-exempt, thus getting more for their dollar than you do.

I have made birria, so now my house smells great and I will have tacos for the week.

Managed to break the table at game tonight. Not the literal table, but the players around it.

We were setting up to defend a guy's house. He left with most of his guards, but left 2 behind that were supposed to help us. We were already suspicious that one or both of them might have been working with the bad guys, so while we were telling them what we wanted them to do, the Druid asked if he could make a Sense Motive to see if they were acting weird. He rolled really well, and the GM told him that neither of them intended to do what we were telling them to do. So he confronted them, and they said "F$~~ the boss, we've been planning to leave anyways, so we're gone," grabbed their stuff, and walked out the door. The Bloodrager said "Good riddance" and slammed the door behind them. I said "I wait 10 seconds, step out on the front porch, and shout at the top of my lungs "AND I FAKED EVERY ORGASM!!!!"

Took a few minutes before we could continue.

"The thing that most non-Americans don't realize, is that the US is (at least) 50 small countries in a trench coat pretending to be one large country."

I had my patience tested today. It came back negative.

Friend who I've been annoying constantly: "Why are you like this?"
Me: "Well, when I was a child, they said that I could become anything. So I decided to become a problem."

Me: "There's something I really want to say, but I'm not sure how."
Girlfriend: "Just say it."
Me: "Worcestershire."

Me: "I have a phone interview tomorrow and I'm really nervous."
Friend: "Just relax and be yourself."
Me: "If I 'be myself' then I won't answer the phone."

"I don't want to be in the loop, or out of the loop. I want to be aware of the loop and its contents, but free of any loop-based responsibilities."

You know what I want to see in Star Trek? Space shanties. They're in the navy, they're working, there should be thousands of space shanties to help the crew pass the time, and I want to hear some of them!

I've been watching some videos from a home inspector out in Arizona, and I just love that he mentioned one of his clients having trouble getting the builders to honor the roof warranty. They claimed that the warranty was voided by a "disqualifying event". That event? Rain. It rained, and the roof leaked. So the builders claimed that rain, as an act of god, voided the warranty.

I don't think that's gonna hold up.

Me: *sees tour bus pull into parking lot, knowing we are sold out*
Guy: *parks bus out front, comes in* "Where am I supposed to park this bus? Your lot is full."
Me: "Yes, we are sold out, so the lot is full. We don't provide bus parking. They should have told you when you checked in."
Guy: "I'm checking in now, so tell me where to park."
Me: "I'm sorry, but as I said, we are sold out."
Guy: "Bullshit. My dispatcher just called you and you said you had rooms available. So check me in and tell me where park."
Me: "I didn't speak to anyone about a room for you. Maybe..."
Guy: *interrupts me* "Bullshit! She just called and spoke to someone here, so give me my f~$@ing room and tell me where to park the f$$+ing bus!"
Me: *getting angry* "I am the only one here. I have been the only one here for two and half hours. I spoke to no one about a room for you. Your dispatcher told you wrong."
Guy: "This is such f&+#ing bullshit!! I was on the phone with her as I pulled into the parking lot, and she said she spoke to you no more than 5 f*$&ing minutes ago!! So give me my f$@*ing room and f~&&ing tell me where the f*~+ to park the f+$~ing bus!!!!"
Me: *had it* "Your dispatcher either told you the wrong hotel or lied to you. I don't know which. I don't care which. There is no room for you here. Even if I had a room, I wouldn't rent it to you because you're an a*$&#%+. And I'd tell you where to park your f&~~ing bus, but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't like the answer. Now. Leave."
Guy: *turning bright red, starts to say something, but doesn't. leaves*
Me: *treated to the sight of him trying to back the bus out of the lot (a straight shot) for 5 minutes*

People like this are one of many reasons I hate my job.

Any of you looking for a great couples' costume for Halloween? I saw an idea. One of you dresses like a tomato. The other like Denethor. Yum yum.

Let him fight the sky. Maybe he'll win.

But if we let you delete anything, we might not be able to keep spying on you.

A: "If corals get stressed, they die. If I was a coral, I would have died so many times."
B: "What do corals even have to get stressed about?"
A: "Current events."
B: "...Get out."

I have only used a 3rd-party food delivery service twice, neither by choice. A pizza place near me that I used to order from occasionally outsourced their deliveries to Doordash. Both times everything was right, but definitely took longer than when they used their own drivers. Which is one reason why I haven't ordered from them in over 6 months, and probably won't order from them again unless I'm desperate.

Having said that, last Wednesday, one of my coworkers had ordered from one of the delivery services (not sure which one), and the driver gave his food to someone else, asked him to cancel the order, and when he refused the driver pulled up to the hotel and marked the food as delivered even though it wasn't. So, that's another reason why I don't intend to try it.

Them: "You're acting weird."
Me: "First of all, I'm not acting."

I love how the phrase "we're expecting a baby" implies that it could be something else.

Downsides to immortality:

Finally thinking of the perfect comeback to someone who has been dead for 300 years.

Having the perfect pun, but not being able to use it anymore due to linguistic drift.

Having a song from the 13th century stuck in your head, and you can't get it out because you don't remember how it ends and you're the only one alive who even knows it existed.

Not being able to eat your favorite food anymore because one of the crucial ingredients/flavorings has gone extinct.

It really is depressing watching animals behave in a manner that's detrimental to them, and having no way to communicate with them. (At least if a person is being self-destructive and you point it out and they continue doing it, you can wash your hands of them.)

GothBard's gone for 3 weeks and I was worried Nefret would pine away in her lonely existence in the studio; when we were in Vegas for only 5 days she lost almost half a pound.

So when it started sprinkling I brought her into the house.

The kittens spend almost every day sleeping in the studio with her nearby, so her presence is nothing new to them. But in the house!?!?!? They were all curiosity, and wanted to sniff her, lie with her, or otherwise socialize with her. And she growled and hissed and ran away to the point that I came across a tableau of her trotting through the dining room, one kitten ahead of her and two behind her, and she was hissing and growling and horrifically upset, and they were all tails straight up, happy-as-can-be, "What's wrong? Can we help you?"

Can't help but me reminded of Clippy. But cuter.

ALL Nefret has to do is not hate the kittens and her life would be SO much better. They've been better towards her than any kittens I've ever seen towards and older cat. And she'll have none of it.

Nefret feels the same way about those kittens as I do about kids.

Watched the movie "Sneakers" tonight. It's been a long time since I'd seen it. It was ok. I did like at the end when the main characters were telling an NSA agent (James Earl Jones) what they wanted in exchange for the macguffin they had. One of them said he wanted "Peace on Earth, good will towards men." James Earl Jones replied "We're the United States government. We don't do that sort of thing!"

What happens when a dog runs onto the football field and barks at the quarterback? He gets a penalty for ruffing the passer, of course.

I mean, it'll be more fun to harp on it after this session, since apparently tonight's a "wrap-up session" to close out the first story arc, wherein:

(1) GothBard's spellblade bodyguard never drew her blade nor actually defended the person she was guarding. (He spent the entire arc unconscious and unmolested.)

(2) Shiro's spellcasting bard never cast a spell nor performed.

(3) NobodysHome's shapeshifting spy never shifted shape nor spied on anything other than other people's underwear drawers.

(4) Other than our healer, we never actually accomplished anything. There was an attempted murder, but thanks to our healer he eventually got better and walked off. There was a trial, but even though we were the only witnesses we weren't invited to testify and it happened offscreen. (Apparently once the guy woke up and showed up at the trial it ended.) There was an assassin, but we never caught him and they brought in an NPC to track him down, so we were relieved of that duty.

So... no idea what we're doing tonight. So I'm on FFXIV.

This whole campaign could have been an email?

...

So our company's pushing hard to convert our entire division to AI-generated content without understanding the underlying foundation of HOW AI generates that content.

Treat it like most other AI and let it mine Studio Ghibli for content.

"Why are we supposed to be afraid of Voldemort? He sucks as a villain. Darth Vader took over an entire galaxy. Sauron nearly conquered all the realms of Middle-Earth. Voldemort tried to take over a high school, and failed!"

"I wish JK Simmons had written Harry Potter. I want to see Dumbledore shout 'Get me more pictures of Harry Potter!' at Hagrid."

A quick google says that starting Oct 1, Medicare will only cover telehealth for people in rural office or medical facility. There are a few exceptions. Here is a link for the Medicare website: https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/telehealth

I don't care to speculate on why the media isn't covering it *cough*fear of retaliation, including loss of FCC license *cough cough*.

As opposed to my anti collection plan of just not having any money....

Not sure if that's really a plan, or just a fringe benefit of an unfortunate situation.

NobodysHome wrote:

gran rey de los mono wrote:

I don't think any of my teachers would have given an instant zero for that, but definitely lots of points off, and maybe extra homework. It is really frustrating to see it so often, although my main pet peeve is when people put the dollar sign after the amount. As in, 15$ rather than $15. Drives me crazy, especially the times I've seen it on fast food signs and such.

I see scholars defend it as a natural evolution of language in a digital age where Autocorrect always wants to use "it's", but my counterargument is that precisely because we're in a digital age where spell checking and grammar checking are ubiquitous, we should at least be able to manage consistent usage.

For example, I'd be happy to do away with one of the itses and use "it's" for everything, but at the moment I see texts where people intermix the two even when they have the same meaning. "I'm going to go to the store to see whether it's open, and if its not I'm going to drive over to the mall."

Grr....

I shall be sure to refer to you as Nobody's Home in future.

And I shall call him "Penelope, Pincher of Pope's Noses".

*squelorches around hungrily in search of deer that have received personal introductions to cars*

Guy goes into X-Men mansion, walks right up to Prof X, and says "I wanna be an X-Man!" Xavier says, "Well, do you have a mutant power?" Guy says "Yes! I have the power of Hindsight!" Xavier looks puzzled for a moment and says "That's...that's not really a useful power." Guy says "Yeah, I can see that now."

And, once again, I get home from work and am greeted by a river flowing down the street, originating from my yard. Or rather, the water main running through my yard. I think this is the 4th time is the last 5 years.

gran rey de los mono wrote:

NobodysHome wrote:

My kids really are masters at picking the wrong classes. Impus Minor was late to his math class this morning. His professor is one of those people who locks the door the minute class starts and won't allow tardy students into his class, in his own little petty tyranny.

I have no (polite) words.

They're allowed to lock the doors? None of my professors ever did, and I'm pretty sure they would have gotten into trouble if they did. Have you, or better Impus Minor, complained to administration about it?

Here in California, when I was a high schooler it was remarkably common among the "mean" teachers. When I was a math professor I had a handful of colleagues who did it and the administration was well aware of it. Fast forward 25 years and at DVC Impus Major encountered a couple of them. So as far as I know, it's legal in California and somewhere probably a little below 5% of instructors do it.

Still might be worth an email. After all, just because it's legal doesn't mean that the school is okay with it.

My kids really are masters at picking the wrong classes. Impus Minor was late to his math class this morning. His professor is one of those people who locks the door the minute class starts and won't allow tardy students into his class, in his own little petty tyranny.

I have no (polite) words.

They're allowed to lock the doors? None of my professors ever did, and I'm pretty sure they would have gotten into trouble if they did. Have you, or better Impus Minor, complained to administration about it?

We finally got a new computer at work to replace the old one at the desk. It has needed replaced for a while, but we only got a new one because it couldn't update to Windows 11 (not enough space on ssd). They installed it Tuesday morning, and said "Don't touch it! It takes 48-72 hours for it to configure itself to the network," which sounds like nonsense to me, but whatever. Well, Friday afternoon, it still hadn't "configured itself", so the finally called support about it. Support did some stuff and got it mostly working, and said they would keep working on it on their end, and that it should have been fully working in a couple of hours. It's now late Sunday night, and it still doesn't fully work. I'm betting the manager will have to call support and yell/threaten/whatever to (hopefully) get it finished tomorrow.

It would be nice if they sent us things that actually just worked.

Gods. My household.

Impus Minor: Why is the butter in the glasses cabinet?
NobodysHome: Morrigan. Welcome to the wonderful world of having a smart, dextrous cat.
Impus Major: Can't we just feed her the butter? Don't we need her to gain weight anyway?
NobodysHome: So, what would happen if you asked the vet, "Can I feed my cat pure butter to help her gain weight?"

...

(A few minutes later after Mephisto yet again saw someone trying to drink water, stuck his arm elbow deep in it, got mad about getting wet, and started attacking the glass)

Impus Major: So we have a cat that steals butter and a cat that hates water. And that's why we love you, Lenore!

Tell him that he can feed that cat pure butter, but that he is responsible for any mess that results from it.

Me: "No matter what I do the voices just won't stop."
Therapist: "Those are other people. They're allowed to talk."

Me: *brings therapist to family gathering* "See?"
Therapist: OH MY GOD... I get it now.