What Grinds Your Gears? :)

[TurtleWA]

Originally Posted by MsMarvelDuckie

Not a gear grinder exactly but a neccessary "evil" to deal with this weekend- declaring war on all bugs in the apartment. Flea season has hit full force and they are eating our kitties alive. Angel especially seems to have them bad and is tearing her neck up scratching. On top of that we have been getting roaches lately from somewhere so now I have to eradicate those too. We never had any problems with them before so I don't know what the deal is but they are getting into the catfood bowl. Not cool.

I can relate. Currently on day three of the slow process to eradicate ants from the kitchen. I think the Queen is dead and the workers still hanging around are newly born. I guess in can take several weeks. Your poor kitties though, sad.

[BubblyShell22]

Sorry to hear about the kitties. Are there any medicines you can put on them or flea collars that might help?

[IndigoErth]

My sympathy. Our cats have dealt with flea issues for a couple years and nothing that was tried seemed to be helping enough. Incredibly frustrating. One in particular kept having periods of being pretty eaten up in places and scratching himself raw/bare.

To think about it now, I think maybe finally this spring it seems to have let up. They're only indoor cats and had never previously had problems with it, but we suspect an increase in mice, which presumably may have brought fleas in, was to blame. Still working on those little buggers and hoping a new trick seen online will work.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Ours are indoor only kitties but both originally lived outside- Angel literally showed up on our doorstep when she was about five or six months old, and Demona was outdoors when my mom had her before we took her back. I've used the oral flea treatments in the past and they work pretty well but I only have one left ATM. I'm giving it to Angel since she needs it the most. But they are both getting a bath and I have to close off and bomb the bedroom and spray the rest of the apartment down. Gonna go over the kitchen from top to bottom with bug spray and put down some fresh roach baits too. We think they are coming from one of our upstairs neighbors. Ugh...

[Utrommaniac]

My dad and I are planning on getting flea traps for our house.

Do a lot of combing, use a thing called Flea Bully especially around the corners of the house. It's also safe to rub on the cat's fur - away from the wounded areas, of course.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Yeah we have a flea cpmb and we've used just about every kind of flea treatment or killer out there. The natural ones seem to work the best. And I plan to get more of the pills too- they make the cats' blood actually toxic to the fleas!

[BubblyShell22]

Good to hear you have a plan, Duckie. Hope it works.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Bombing of the bedroom and Angel's treatment went off without much fuss. Still have to bathe them but the kitchen is mostly done. Looks like things are off to a good start! And I will get more pills on Monday, and some itch spray to help with the scratching.

[Jester]

Wife just had a baby, I have about 80 hours of sick time...but I can't use it because I'm not the one who just had a c-section. Hooray!

[IndigoErth]

Paternity leave really needs to be a common thing. Let dads have a chance to bond with baby and help mom out while she heals... That accumulated leave can't be used is ridiculous.



Grind... customers who don't feel they are obligated to leave once the store is closed.

Look, buddy, I know you may not have understood me when I told you in English that the store is closed... but I'm pretty certain you understand the Spanish version of our closing announcement. It was stated at least a couple times before closing, it shouldn't have to be said again 5 minutes afterward. Guy didn't get the hint until the lights were turned out on him.

I swear, someone who stays past closed and is not already in a line to pay should have to stay and help clean up... (Esp considering they may have torn up things that people who want to go home now have to fix. Again.)

[plastroncafe]

What's worse, is that dads who do get paternity leave are often punished for taking it in the first place. And if you decide to be a stay-at-home parent for a few years and you're a dude? It'll take longer for you to rebuild your career when you do decide to go back to work.

We're trying to make it better, guys. But progress is really slow.

In the meantime, congrats on the new kidlet, Jester!

[DarkFell]

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

Grind... customers who don't feel they are obligated to leave once the store is closed.

This reminded me of a similar incident that happened within an art museum that I used to work at, topped off with someone that felt offended enough to complain to my manager ..simply because I told him that the museum was closed for the evening. (I worked as a in-museum guard back then, and we literally had to 'lead' people out of the building.)

Also, congrats Jester.

[Utrommaniac]

Parental leave in the US is a joke as it is. Mothers are lucky to get at least a month in most businesses. Which is part of why I chose to be a graphic designer, I should be able to have a lot more time to work from home.

And since your wife had a c-section, she'd need your help more than ever.

For me, this pretty much sums up my grind

[Netkeeper]

Originally Posted by Utrommaniac

Parental leave in the US is a joke as it is. Mothers are lucky to get at least a month in most businesses. Which is part of why I chose to be a graphic designer, I should be able to have a lot more time to work from home.

Yeah none of the places anybody I know works for have maternity leave that I'm even aware of. I think one place might allow like two weeks which I mean, better than nothing, but...

[BubblyShell22]

Woke up at 2 with a small case of the runs. Not sure why, but I've had this three days this week so far. Hope it calms down.

[plastroncafe]

Roommates, and their significant others, who get in the shower without asking if anyone in the house needs the bathroom first.

[IndigoErth]

Originally Posted by Netkeeper

Yeah none of the places anybody I know works for have maternity leave that I'm even aware of. I think one place might allow like two weeks which I mean, better than nothing, but...

My sister 'lucked out' and got somewhere around six or eight weeks. Probably helps that she works at a medical (urology) office that actually understands medical needs. *sigh*

Originally Posted by DarkFell

This reminded me of a similar incident that happened within an art museum that I used to work at, topped off with someone that felt offended enough to complain to my manager ..simply because I told him that the museum was closed for the evening. (I worked as a in-museum guard back then, and we literally had to 'lead' people out of the building.)

I do not understand how these people exist or how they missed these very basic life lessons that when it is closed and time to leave, yes, that means you too. When did people start believing they were the exception to the rule.

Tell you what, I feel bad for places like Disney World.




Grind... and from another angle of retail annoyances, I'm tired of retail store websites trying to be like Amazon and listing unrelated third party sellers. Sears does it and I get tired of trying to explain to customers, esp older ones who don't understand the internet as much, that not everything they see on the website is sold by us. Just another headache for employees to deal with someone who is now mad that they saw it on the site but then it isn't in the store when they came "all this way" to buy it. Partly the company's fault for making it confusing like this, and partly customer fault for failing to take note of the noted seller name, which does not say Sears.

BUT. At least Sears has a big obvious "Only Sears" tab to filter out the "Marketplace" (non-Sears) listings. (Also sorta customer fault for failing to click it, though I blame the company for that tab not being the default.) Walmart on the other hand... They do this too now, but annoyingly I don't see a "Walmart only" option.

Plus their age-range option doesn't seem to work, esp for non-Walmart sellers. God forbid I try to see what Turtles branded stuff might be available for 1-year-olds and not get pages upon pages of things he'd choke on or expensive adult collectables; with one sippy cup listed among an entire first page of inappropriate toys... Some nitwit (prob those people who can't leave stores and museums at closing) is going to assume this stuff is okay and let their kid choke to death.


Edit: After coming back from a run to both stores... lets add to website gripes when something is cheaper online than in store. Were it not the place I work I might have said something, and kinda wish I had, but I don't really want to be 'that' customer who wants to argue it and make their job harder or take longer, esp when I'd have to face them later and the cashier was a new girl. *sigh*

At least the 2 2-pack Turtle bibs I got at Walmart came up only $1 a piece (cheaper than online) and kinda made up for it.

[Vegita-San]

When radio stations become so sponsored, they become unlistenable.

some suffer this with the traffic reports. they not only give the traffic three sponsors but also one extra long commercial at the end ;o).

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Gear-grind/personal peril..... Practicing that ancient martial art known as cat-bathing. First, one must prepare the battlefield ahead of time and ensure the opponent cannot escape the fight. This includes gathering all neccessary weapons and making sure the field of battle (the tub) is full and at the optimal temperature for combat. Never underestimate the abilities or cunning of the opponent, as it can lead to personal injury and can cause unneccessary bloodshed. Grappling with the opponent when they are slippery and squirming is highly dangerous- teeth and claws WILL be used without hesitation! Vulneable body parts should be protected as well as possible, especially since armor (clothes) of any kind will only become heavy and soggy and will hamper one's efforts. Battling two or more opponents in succession is NOT reccomended unless one has a second on the battlefield to assist with triage or post-combat reconciliation.

[IndigoErth]

You fought bravely human... but tonight I dine on human regret.