The Daily Peeve / Rant

[happystuff]

I used to need/want the background noise of the television when I was home alone, but in recent years things have changed and I do appreciate the silence.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Well now sibling has an entirely predictable broken bone from an entirely predictable fall (off a chair in this case). I knew this would happen.

I kind of can't believe it actually happened just like I foresaw it. Well I didn't know what they'd fall off (a roof perhaps?), but yea, I knew there would be a fall and injury (if not worse - a death or something). I saw it so many times in my imagination. Most of the things I worry about may never happen anyway. But just like I foresaw, it happened. It's uncanny.

See I told my mom again and again "hire someone to paint the house, it's cheaper than the medical bills" I could not light a fire. So faced with dire necessity sibling was trying to paint the house. And so now come the medical bills I guess. I warned. But family is impossible. Hey I was just saying that on a thread here. Anything you say is always completely ignored. There is no reasoning. There is only fate. And medical bills (but not mine). Hey they could have fell off a roof and died. Fate had to happen, but fate was kind?

[happystuff]

So sorry your sibling was injured. Hope they heal quickly.

[iris lilies]

Oh ANM, this is more that you are going to worry about. I wish you didn’t have to worry about it.

[rosarugosa]

I'm so sorry, ANM. Sometimes you would really rather be wrong. Is this your only sibling?

[catherine]

I am currently engaged in the Project From Hell. Don't have time to say more, but I've never been more strongly inclined to tell the clients that I'm not the right person for their project.

Argghhh...

[Tradd]

I’m sick of cheap people. I have a NYT digital subscription. Pretty good deal at $8/month. Someone I know likes reading the NYT but is too cheap to get a subscription of her own. Keeps asking me to send her article links (subscribers can “gift” articles) so she can read them as she soon goes over the free monthly allotment. This happens daily. After the second day I told her no and to get her own. Pays oodles for multiple streaming services but has this thing about refusing to pay for anything news related.

[Greg44]

Fellow employees who are always on their phone/social media. Shessh give it a rest.
Favorite fast food menu options they discontinue. McSkillet Burrito (drop the sausage/red sauce) so good, so discontinued. Taco bell Tostadas. Cheap and tasty for the vegetarian.
Shoppers who change their mind on perishables and just randomly leave them on any shelf.
Customers who just leave their fast food trash at the table and walk away.
Morning TV shows who try and cram a cooking segment in 4 minutes, why bother.
Businesses that want to save postage/paper with an e-statement, yet continue to send me junk mail.

[catherine]

Kind of a rant-y observation in the workplace.

I was asked, last minute, to write a report for a quick study I moderated. I was given the task of writing the report just Tuesday, and I was told the deliverable could be a bulleted summary. I created a 10 page report which included the 2 pages of executive summary they asked for.

So, just got this feedback from the client: "The current deck doesn’t address the 2 page executive summary that highlight’s (sic) all of the themes visually and succinctly."

My exec sum is two pages, with the themes clearly designated in color blocks. I'm quite sure there are no more than 200 words on the two pages.

My rant is the Era of Infographia. I don't mind infographics; in fact, I do find them easy to read. But they take time and energy to do. You have to analyze the content, edit it down to the nuggets, and then figure out how to use color, arrows, icons and blocks of text to get it all done "visually and succinctly."

These two pages I created under a tight timeline would take the reader no more than 5 minutes to process. And it's not a criticism of this particular client--it's just a sign of the times. I have gotten pushback from post-docs who complain about too many words. I'm sure this is a Baby Boomer rant. And I'm sure that this post is already too many words and too few pictures.

[iris lilies]

Kind of a rant-y observation in the workplace.

I was asked, last minute, to write a report for a quick study I moderated. I was given the task of writing the report just Tuesday, and I was told the deliverable could be a bulleted summary. I created a 10 page report which included the 2 pages of executive summary they asked for.

So, just got this feedback from the client: "The current deck doesn’t address the 2 page executive summary that highlight’s (sic) all of the themes visually and succinctly."

My exec sum is two pages, with the themes clearly designated in color blocks. I'm quite sure there are no more than 200 words on the two pages.

My rant is the Era of Infographia. I don't mind infographics; in fact, I do find them easy to read. But they take time and energy to do. You have to analyze the content, edit it down to the nuggets, and then figure out how to use color, arrows, icons and blocks of text to get it all done "visually and succinctly."

These two pages I created under a tight timeline would take the reader no more than 5 minutes to process. And it's not a criticism of this particular client--it's just a sign of the times. I have gotten pushback from post-docs who complain about too many words. I'm sure this is a Baby Boomer rant. And I'm sure that this post is already too many words and too few pictures.

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