- just found out i'm an auntie again today
― smoove operator, Sunday, 25 December 2011 19:32 (twelve years ago) link
auntie smoove
― mookieproof, Sunday, 25 December 2011 19:41 (twelve years ago) link
oh also found out that my stepsister--22 year old college junior not really seeing anybody--is having a kid.
― HOOS aka driver of steen, Sunday, 25 December 2011 20:11 (twelve years ago) link
congrats smoove auntie! and congrats stepuncle steen?
― macarena of time (step hen faps), Sunday, 25 December 2011 20:16 (twelve years ago) link
dammit, hoos, just saw this. i'm so sorry. was it near shaw again?
― Z S, Monday, 26 December 2011 00:47 (twelve years ago) link
Gratz to everyone.
I just dyed my hair a dark scarlet red. More later when it dries.
― Christine 'Green Leafy Dragon' Indigo, Monday, 26 December 2011 02:56 (twelve years ago) link
Damn. Sorry, hoos. All you can do with shit like that is live your way past it.
― Aimless, Monday, 26 December 2011 05:30 (twelve years ago) link
I sort of did get mugged once.
In 2004, a tourist from Ireland named Joe stole my wallet and cell phone after I didn't have cash for the cab we split.
I met him when he and I and another stranger took shelter from a severe thunderstorm under an awning and smoked cigarettes. After the worst of the storm, we all went to a 4:00 bar and got shitty. When it closed, he and I took a cab to a 5:00 bar. All I remember is that he was pissed because I didn't have cash and when I offered to buy his drinks or go to the ATM, he shoved me against a tree, got in my face, [apparently took my stuff], and then I walked home.
The next day I was without wallet or phone, so I called my voice mail number. I had a message from Joe that said, in a this accent, "Yeh, this is Joe. I have your cell phone, if you want it back. I got in a car accident and I'm upstairs in St. Joseph's Hospital."
I went to the hospital and after much persuasion, the receptionist searched for "Joe" who was "upstairs." She and found him and called him, but he told her he was not accepting visitors.
― Sandbox Jesse, Monday, 26 December 2011 07:20 (twelve years ago) link
yarg, i'm having the worst luck with flying recently. my flight on the way out of dc was cancelled, as i whined about a few days ago, and now, upon arrival, my bags are missing. i'm heading to the airport bar. fuck it.
― Z S, Monday, 26 December 2011 19:17 (twelve years ago) link
maybe i should just live in the airport. they have everything!
― Z S, Monday, 26 December 2011 19:18 (twelve years ago) link
yeah great transport links
― judith, Monday, 26 December 2011 19:28 (twelve years ago) link
As I often boast and tempt fate, I've only had one significant flight delay in my life (~5 hours in Atlanta due to a storm in 1988), and never a canceled flight. And no lost luggage. Once it was delayed b/c it wouldn't fit on the puddle jumper to Key West, but I got it a few hours later.
― Sandbox Jesse, Monday, 26 December 2011 19:47 (twelve years ago) link
if you're back in dc, just go home and make them deliver the bags
― mookieproof, Monday, 26 December 2011 19:48 (twelve years ago) link
also f u jesse
Also no significant turbulence. Only some small bumps, like running over a pothole in a car.
You know this means I'm going to die in a heinous aircrash, right?
― Sandbox Jesse, Monday, 26 December 2011 19:50 (twelve years ago) link
eh, i thought about it, but my medicine is in there, and also a bunch of my work clothes. i didn't want to mess with them delivering it during the week when i'm at work. and plus it's supposed to arrive in about an hour, now (apparently it's on the next flight from philly?) and i have some work to do on my computer anyway.
― Z S, Monday, 26 December 2011 20:05 (twelve years ago) link
my only canceled flight meant i got to delay my holiday by three days hanging out by the pool in a hotel
― judith, Monday, 26 December 2011 20:15 (twelve years ago) link
was that in Orlando? didn't you also watch Mark Ruffalo movies ?
― sarahel, Monday, 26 December 2011 20:51 (twelve years ago) link
carry-on only over here *brushes dirt off of shoulder*
― nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Monday, 26 December 2011 20:53 (twelve years ago) link
yes i also watched mark ruffalo movies! also watched the same movie on the flight back too. but they edited out his ass.
― judith, Monday, 26 December 2011 22:09 (twelve years ago) link
Rark! Muffalo!
― Jeff, Monday, 26 December 2011 22:55 (twelve years ago) link
i know i'm being a fusspot but i would rather deal with the vagaries of checked luggage than go around town with dirt on my shoulder. xp
― estela, Monday, 26 December 2011 23:10 (twelve years ago) link
I will admit it's perhaps an uneven tradeoff *continues brushing dirt off*
― nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Tuesday, 27 December 2011 02:09 (twelve years ago) link
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5d/Pig-pen_peanuts.PNG
― Z S, Tuesday, 27 December 2011 02:09 (twelve years ago) link
urgent tipping question: some guys are coming in an hour to clean and fix the gutters on our roof. $260 for the job. should we tip and if so how much??
― nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Tuesday, 27 December 2011 12:51 (twelve years ago) link
oh god really?
― judith, Tuesday, 27 December 2011 12:53 (twelve years ago) link
I know I can't believe I'm sullying the sandbox w/ a tipping question
― nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Tuesday, 27 December 2011 12:55 (twelve years ago) link
I wouldn't if they were self-employed builders. If they're guys working for a wage, maybe round up to $300 if you can afford it, as it's Christmas.
― If you did that to me in Turkey, i'd have to kill you (ShariVari), Tuesday, 27 December 2011 12:57 (twelve years ago) link
Would you tip if you paid somebody to mow your lawn? Or to shovel snow/rake leaves?
I don't know the answers to any of those questions (renter for LIFE!), but they seem like a reasonable guide. I think cleaning gutters is more like cutting grass than, say, fixing your roof, which I would not think would necessitate tipping.
― wore glasses and said things (thejenny), Tuesday, 27 December 2011 13:18 (twelve years ago) link
the payment is the tip for those first two cases
I think it's more about fixing the roof - nailing the gutters to the side of the house so it doesn't come loose in a windstorm. so maybe the tip is built into the $260
― nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Tuesday, 27 December 2011 13:19 (twelve years ago) link
No tip.
― Jeff, Tuesday, 27 December 2011 13:23 (twelve years ago) link
that's the kind of affirmative response I'm looking for, thank you jeff
― nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Tuesday, 27 December 2011 13:26 (twelve years ago) link
wouldn't hurt to throw a double fingerpoint at them though, *maybe* even with a wink
― Z S, Tuesday, 27 December 2011 13:28 (twelve years ago) link
i don't know the answer, dayo.
what i do know is that a child in a village india is making microprocessors for satellites from scrap items he finds in his garden. sometimes you don't have to go to washington or beijing to find ideas that are transforming our ecenomy and our world.
― nakhchivan, Tuesday, 27 December 2011 13:30 (twelve years ago) link
was gonna use hand guns myself but duly noted
― nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Tuesday, 27 December 2011 13:30 (twelve years ago) link
Thank god that's settled. I'm not joking. I was using some valuable mental bandwidth on the question.
― Sandbox Jesse, Tuesday, 27 December 2011 14:35 (twelve years ago) link
My can driver is wearing a suit. A relatively nice one (idk from suits, but it's not crap) and a crisp shirt and nice looking tie.
― Sandbox Jesse, Tuesday, 27 December 2011 14:38 (twelve years ago) link
*cab not can
-they showed up an hour late-they want $40 extra for 'materials'
guess that solves the question
― nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Tuesday, 27 December 2011 15:02 (twelve years ago) link
really they are being quite silly I think
― nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Tuesday, 27 December 2011 15:04 (twelve years ago) link
Was that $40 materials fee or the possibility thereof in the original agreement? If not, that's BS.
― wore glasses and said things (thejenny), Tuesday, 27 December 2011 15:07 (twelve years ago) link
I think the guys who did show up were subcontracted out by the company we called, and no I don't think it was in the original agreement, so yeah we're fighting them about this
― nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Tuesday, 27 December 2011 15:09 (twelve years ago) link
"Materials"? What sorts of materials?
My cab driver took an "interesting" route, which added ~$5 to what I should have paid. Or maybe it was a surcharge for the suit.
― Sandbox Jesse, Tuesday, 27 December 2011 15:17 (twelve years ago) link
Yo is there an effective way to call cab drivers out on shit like that?
― Stevie :-D, Tuesday, 27 December 2011 15:18 (twelve years ago) link
Yes, but it's more than $5 worth of hassle.
― Sandbox Jesse, Tuesday, 27 December 2011 15:21 (twelve years ago) link
when that happens I usually pee on the floor
― nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Tuesday, 27 December 2011 15:25 (twelve years ago) link
(for anyone familiar w/ Chicago who cares, a normal route from my house to work would be Clark to LaSalle, to one of various Loop streets, to Peoria + Jackson. this guy took LSD to lower Randolph, which Google maps says added 1.9 miles)
― Sandbox Jesse, Tuesday, 27 December 2011 15:27 (twelve years ago) link
that seems weird but aside from asking him to state his intended route before you enter traffic, what are you going to do, argue about it? probably not.
― league of women voters, Tuesday, 27 December 2011 15:32 (twelve years ago) link
you could just give him what you think is the right price and leave
― nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Tuesday, 27 December 2011 15:33 (twelve years ago) link
Usually I don't think they're hustling. They're either totally unfamiliar w/ the streets (no "Knowledge" tests here) or they think it's the best route.
I have spoken up before the driver got huffy and sort of argued (yeh yeh it's the same, the same) and I compensated for the difference by not tipping.
Today I just didn't have the energy, and honestly, the route he took was faster, despite being 2 miles longer.
― Sandbox Jesse, Tuesday, 27 December 2011 15:40 (twelve years ago) link