What Grinds Your Gears? :)

[pennydreadful]

My gear-grind is PMS - and in particular, how it seems to have kicked into high gear now that I'm 30.

Seriously, WTF is with this? I'm usually so mellow, but when Aunt Irma's knocking on the door, I go into Trogdor the Burninator mode and just want to tear the heads off anybody who even breathes in my direction!!!



It's no fun going around feeling cranky. Any evolutionary benefits that could've come from aggressively signalling to males that you are not able to successfully mate have got to have long since ceased to be useful.

Hurry up and evolve already, human body - you are mushy, and ludicrous, completely inconvenient and I right now I totally hate you.

[Dawnatello Turtle Chick]

Originally Posted by pennydreadful

Oh dude, seriously, I think you're pretty groovy - you've certainly never weirded me out (mind you, I'm pretty weird myself! ).

Seriously, I get what you mean though - I used to be really self-conscious about how I came across to other people - mostly because I didn't really like myself. When my social anxiety was at its worst, I used to just refuse to go out or talk to anyone cuz if I did, afterwards I'd lie awake in bed mentally replaying everything I said and then cursing myself for not having said the perfect thing, not being funny enough, worrying over whether people liked me, what they thought of me, thinking I wasn't cool enough etc etc.

Thank jeebus I managed to unlock my self-esteem achievement and put that shiz behind me - it was seriously exhausting!

Honestly though, I think you come across fine, if that means anything. You're being way too harsh on yourself - we're always our own worst critics.

Just live by the code of Patsy:

http://media.giphy.com/media/kh92kUtfDCbpC/giphy.gif

Originally Posted by Metalwolf

Aww thank you, that means a lot

I have noticed that I tend to be hard on my self, I think it's because I tend to be a worrier and imagine a lot of 'what ifs.' I've been working on it, although once in a while I fall back into those old habits and I have to remember that people don't always think about it as the big deal I imagine it to be. It seems to be a common trait, like if a person has a small spot on the clothes and the person is imagining everyone's eyes zeroing in on that spot and judging that person, even though that spot might be barely visible or noticeable. I think I going to tell myself to relax today and not try to over think things, as you are right, it does use up a lot of mental energy.

Great minds think alike, and all that huh?! I was the same way for way too many years. It is quite exhausting. I was lucky to meet a couple very strong awesome women in my life that were both in their 50s and both told me that I reminded them of themselves when they were my age. Seeing that they went through all that pain & agony of making sure you act how you think others want you to or to make everyone happy even though most people don't seem to notice... Once I learned that A. It is okay for me to tell people NO I can't do that for you & B. Who gives a flying pig's fart what other people think of your personal choices since their opinion is largely uneducated and has no real bearing on how your life turns out- I was so much happier, it was so empowering. I have felt such a powerful sense of calm and peace. I now finally feel the freedom to be myself completely, much to my mother's chagrin.

But it is also important to note that a tiny spot on your clothing can and will bring a GIANT amount of attention to you..... if you happen to be Monica Lewinsky, but as long as you're not her, you're probably good. Sorry, I couldn't resist, lol.

[pennydreadful]

Originally Posted by Dawnatello Turtle Chick

Once I learned that A. It is okay for me to tell people NO I can't do that for you & B. Who gives a flying pig's fart what other people think of your personal choices since their opinion is largely uneducated and has no real bearing on how your life turns out- I was so much happier, it was so empowering. I have felt such a powerful sense of calm and peace. I now finally feel the freedom to be myself completely, much to my mother's chagrin.

Sing it, sister!



And double-win for the Lewinski joke.

[Metalwolf]

Thanks guys!

Another gear grinder, although a minor one:

Someone seems to keeps dropping pizza of all things onto the street. It's happened twice, first it was a slice (which would just have been considered an accident) now it's a whole pie. I'm walking by some house and I could see the whole pizza on the street, still in it's box, baking on the hot road tar. Road-baked pizza to me just doesn't smell nice, especially after the cheese has been congealing and the birds are picking at it.

I hope this doesn't keep happening, it starts to attract critters.

[Dawnatello Turtle Chick]

Originally Posted by Metalwolf

Thanks guys!

Another gear grinder, although a minor one:

Someone seems to keeps dropping pizza of all things onto the street. It's happened twice, first it was a slice (which would just have been considered an accident) now it's a whole pie. I'm walking by some house and I could see the whole pizza on the street, still in it's box, baking on the hot road tar. Road-baked pizza to me just doesn't smell nice, especially after the cheese has been congealing and the birds are picking at it.

I hope this doesn't keep happening, it starts to attract critters.

As long as it isn't in an Antonio's Pizza box and softly calling to you... Cause then you've got a whole other problem.
But seriously, that is frustrating... and makes very little sense.

[Metroid]

People who drive like idiots, especially those that slow down to look at something going on on the other side of the freeway

[pennydreadful]

What grinds my gears - the fact that female-bodied persons have to worry about whether their nipples are showing through their shirt (and then have to put on a bra, or a camisole or something to cover them up), and male-bodied persons don't.

I get so jealous in summer that men can walk around shirtless and I can't.

god I'm a grumpy little cuss this morning, aren't I!

[BubblyShell22]

Yep bad drivers are horrible and really get on my nerves, too.

My gear grind has to do with headaches again. I was feeling fine this morning and then all of a sudden I get this intense sinus pain and have been having it the rest of the day. This happened yesterday too while I was picking up sticks with my dad. I was fine and then I got a really bad headache. Not sure if it's a delayed reaction to the cold or what, but it's so frustrating.

I hear you there, Penny. I really don't like bras all that much, but I know it's necessary for us to wear them.

[pennydreadful]

That's what bugs me though, Bubbly - it shouldn't be necessary; we should have a choice. Some people need to wear them for support - personally, I don't as I'm quite small-chested, so most of the time I don't wear one. But if I didn't specifically have to put one on when I'm wearing a shirt that makes it kind of obvious if I'm not wearing one (out of consideration for other people)... I wouldn't wear them at all. I've never really liked wearing them. Thank god for sports bras, cuz I can really only stand wearing a proper girl bra for about two hours before it just gets way too uncomfortable.

It just kind of sucks that women's nipples are automatically seen as sexual while men's aren't, just because we've got a bit of extra fat on our chests.

... I'm raging against the machine today.



Sorry to hear your headaches are giving you grief.

[Dawnatello Turtle Chick]

@BubblyShell22 & pennydreadful- I hate bras more than Garfield hates exercise! I need them for support unfortunately (I'm a DD) and my biggest issue right now is I've been breaking my underwires after 3 to 6 months and then they are like a torture device until I can get home to switch bras. One of them I didn't just pop the underwire through the material, but broke it in half! WTF?! I'd gladly give someone a breast transplant, personally I'd prefer a B or C at the most...

[Dawnatello Turtle Chick]

Okay, sorry to kinda double post (it has been over an hour..) but my printer is about to get drop-kicked out our second story window! First it was "Printing" for 30 minutes straight only to spit out an ink smeared mostly white sheet of paper, then I finally got it to print 3 of the 4 things I needed. For the last thing it took over an hour (!!!!???!!!) to print it out and half of it was completely messed up. So I decided to give up only now it starts pulling in paper and announces that it's "Printing" again, but there are absolutely no print jobs for it to print... I think that our home network of printers and computers has finally become self-aware and this is the beginning of the uprising- I told my husband not to name our Wifi Skynet.... I'm surprised it took this long. But seriously, our Wifi is named Skynet... so when the machines take over, you can blame my husband. And I'm now second guessing beating the printer Office Space style, might make it a martyr to be rallied behind...

[pennydreadful]

Dawn, I completely empathize with your printer woes. And the underwire thing sounds horrible.

The bra thing just bugs me, y'know? I mean, I'll wear them when needed because I'm not going to subject some poor person to looking at a part of me that makes them feel uncomfortable, but I think it's so silly that society's this uptight over body parts. As far as I'm concerned, the only time my nipples are sexual is when I'm in the middle of getting it on. The rest of the time, they're just another body part, like my eyelashes or my ears or my feet. I mean, we use our hands for sexual purposes too, but nobody's expected to go around wearing gloves to cover them up.

Stupid uptight puritan society... always raining on my parade. I demand a pantsless society where bodies can jiggle freely!!!

I know I've been a total grump in all of my posts today - I'm sorry everybody! Ithink I need to just go home, eat some chocolate and watch a comfort flick.

[pennydreadful]

I'ma share two special gear grinds today.

#1 - When it's 3.30am and I can't sleep and my girl cat decides to behave like a complete *sshole (opening cupboard doors, knocking things over, jumping on top of the tv and walking on everything, starting shenanigans with her brothers) until I get up and give her breakfast early just to shut her up. Seriously. She did it on the weekend and I held out for an hour against her psychological warfare before I finally gave up. She's the devil.

#2 - Cyclists. I know, I'm a huge jerky jerk-person, but cyclists grind my gears. I should applaud you for getting exercise and not contributing to pollution, but you ride about a third of the way out in my lane, and I stink at gauging distances so because I don't want to hit you, I have to sit behind you until there's room to pass because all the other lanes are blocked. god forbid I miscalculate the distance and get too close to you because if I do, you catch up to me at the traffic lights and yell at me to watch how I'm driving.

Cyclists, driving in peak hour is difficult enough as it is - you are adding to it by making me have to worry about vehicular manslaughter. And your butts don't even look good in those pants, meaning there's absolutely nothing for me to enjoy about our daily sharing of the roads.

Cyclists... I can't stand you. If you want to be environmentally friendly, get public transport. I don't have a choice in driving to work; I live an hour away from my job. Stop making my life difficult.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Well, it took most of the day, but I found my gear-grinder, and it is the washing machine room of my apartment complex. Specifically, a machine in the room that does not work properly, but didn't have a sign on it announcing such. So naturally, I put my clothes in, turn it on, and when I come back an hour later to take them out, I find them sitting in a machine full of water that doesn't even look like they were fully washed. The one next to it that I used for a throw blanket and most of the towels worked fine- but of COURSE the one with my work clothes in it is the one that f***ed up! And I'm out of quarters to rewash, and no money (or time) to go down to the Shell station down the street for more change. So I had to wring them all out BY HAND, and toss them in the dryer using my remaining quarters (for said purpose) and HOPE to whatever deity exists that they get dry.

[Metalwolf]

Originally Posted by pennydreadful

#2 - Cyclists. I know, I'm a huge jerky jerk-person, but cyclists grind my gears. I should applaud you for getting exercise and not contributing to pollution, but you ride about a third of the way out in my lane, and I stink at gauging distances so because I don't want to hit you, I have to sit behind you until there's room to pass because all the other lanes are blocked.

There is a reason why they do that, even though it can make them a pain. It's so they can be more easily seen by drivers, since most drivers are scanning mainly towards the center of the road, and so much the sides. Plus if they are too far into the shoulder, a passing car doesn't move much towards the center to give them space and is more likely to clip one of the handle bars and knock the cyclist down, as often they will overestimate how much space they actually have. Fortunately there is a bike lane for most of our streets, so a cyclist going out that far is rarely necessary.

I am a cyclist, although mainly I use the bike for transportation and aren't one of those lulzy hardbodies that are hardcore enough to use the bike shorts. I always find that group annoying, they look like those colorful tree frogs with the tight spandex all over their bodies, and I always want to shout 'Hardcore!' or "Ribbit, ribbit!" when they pass by me on their bikes. Not all do, but enough in that group seem to give cyclists a bad name.

[pennydreadful]

Originally Posted by Metalwolf

There is a reason why they do that, even though it can make them a pain. It's so they can be more easily seen by drivers, since most drivers are scanning mainly towards the center of the road, and so much the sides. Plus if they are too far into the shoulder, a passing car doesn't move much towards the center to give them space and is more likely to clip one of the handle bars and knock the cyclist down, as often they will overestimate how much space they actually have. Fortunately there is a bike lane for most of our streets, so a cyclist going out that far is rarely necessary.

I guess that makes a little more sense; I never understood it. That being said though, I can't wrap my head around why somebody would want to risk life and limb bike-riding through the city dealing with peak hour traffic and buses, where there are no bike lanes. Like I said, my dislike of cyclists is more rooted in the fact that I am frightened of hitting one - and I don't like people that add to my stress levels.

[Netkeeper]

Existential crises.

How do you even handle these little *****.

[JamieH]

Wal-Mart. Pays their workers as little as possible while also squeezing them for all they're worth. So, what you get is people that hate their job and don't give a **** about really doing it.

And this came into effect doing some late night shopping tonight. Only self check out and register 10 were open, well 10 appeared to be open. But no one was there, stood there for a minute or two, nothing. So I see the girl over at self check out and figure I'll ask her who's working 10. She sees me walking over to her, and I **** you not, she starts walking away. Like she knew I was going to ask her something or she was about to have to do some tiny amount of work (if you've ever used the so-called "self check-out", you know how faulty it is and requires a clerk to OK something or some **** usually). Well, I have no problem speaking up from across the store, I sure as hell wasn't about to chase her down. "Excuse me! Who's working register 10?", I asked as civilly as I could while being loud enough to be heard from a distance.

Turns out someone was working 10, but only before midnight, and they had left. It was just her in self check out. Fine, I'll use self check out. See, I had went to a regular register because I didn't want to have to lift the case of water and box of cat litter out of the cart just to put them back in after ringing them up. You know, because that would be the sensible thing. They could've at least cut the lane light off to signify it was closed, like every other single damn lane.

I damn near said **** it, and thought about walking right on out to my car with the cart. Just skip paying altogether and steal the **** from Wal-Mart, because obviously no one there tonight seemed to give a damn. But I didn't.

If I could get away with never having to go to another Wal-Mart again, I'd be just fine with that.

[Dawnatello Turtle Chick]

Originally Posted by Metalwolf

I am a cyclist, although mainly I use the bike for transportation and aren't one of those lulzy hardbodies that are hardcore enough to use the bike shorts. I always find that group annoying, they look like those colorful tree frogs with the tight spandex all over their bodies, and I always want to shout 'Hardcore!' or "Ribbit, ribbit!" when they pass by me on their bikes. Not all do, but enough in that group seem to give cyclists a bad name.

I wear bike shorts, but only because they prevent chaffing.... I also have sense enough to wear gym pants over them- seriously, no one actually looks good in those things... Except my husband... But I might be biased there!

Originally Posted by JamieH

If I could get away with never having to go to another Wal-Mart again, I'd be just fine with that.

Amen to that!



My gear grinder- my super-boobs decided to break another underwire in half around 11:00 am today and I wasn't able to get home til after 8:30 this evening so I had a 1/2" of jagged metal gouging me for several hours and got home to find that I had been skewered... Nice gouge wound in my boob.... that's sexy!

[pennydreadful]

Originally Posted by Netkeeper

Existential crises.

How do you even handle these little *****.

I find chocolate helps!

Originally Posted by Dawnatello Turtle Chick

My gear grinder- my super-boobs decided to break another underwire in half around 11:00 am today and I wasn't able to get home til after 8:30 this evening so I had a 1/2" of jagged metal gouging me for several hours and got home to find that I had been skewered... Nice gouge wound in my boob.... that's sexy!

Poor Dawn! Are there any wireless bras for larger breasts that you can try? Or do they not really give you the right kind of support?