Minor rant thread. Post your rants o' the day here!

Karacticus said:

Apparently they are pretty happy with the state they've got his kidneys running in again, but there's some heart arrhythmia that he picked up while his potassium was pegged that they intend to address elsewhere. 
 

I guess that means that nephrology is running ahead in the game versus cardiology at this point. 

Great to hear Kara!

So what's happening with potassium is basically: all cells in your body use it as apart of the electron transport chain, and your heart in particular has a moment of every single beat where the cell forces potassium OUT in favor of sodium coming IN, to alter it's charge before it beats again. Because potassium is so crucial to your heart in particular, it has lots of methods to control just how much is going in, since the heart can potentially beat on other electrical impulses as low as millivolts. However, the kidneys don't really understand any of that, and if you're given water pills like Lasix it'll just strip all the potassium out of your blood stream into your pee before you know it.

So basically- Potassium is really easy to tank, REALLY hard to build up, and giving too much can make the heart beat badly because it'll conduct too much of it's own self-generated electricity.

ALSO: To help with the potential of going to assisted living, tons of them are literally like College dorms for the elderly. Go into several and interview some of the residents; if he's having any issues with lonliness, he might really like being in one before you realize.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

 

Berrrrrrrrrrrrkeley

That'll do it.

Ten points for ease of access, minus eight for putting it close to where wet driver's boots go.  (Two points were retained for not actually putting the SUM *under* the carpeting)

When the SUM fails, the suspension defaults to full stiff and the headlights aim full down.  Full stiff is ridiculously stiff, like the car skates around like a drift car because the suspension does not move.

I had 5 hours scheduled with my flight instructor today.  Total time logged, 0.6.   Thr pitot tube for the airspeed indicator was frozen somewhere and wouldn't unfreeze, and that is a critical instrument.  The head tech in our flying club checked it tonight and it works OK, so it was probably just frozen somewhere as it was cold last night.  Lost all that time plus the 2 hr drive each way to the plane.  
 

When back home I went to learn aluminum TIG welding which was my plan for tomorrow.  Got everything prepped, put down about 5" of bead when the welder shut off and is flashing a warning light and is unresponsive even after resets, none of the info available in paper or online describes what the warning light is about.  So, all my weekend plans are shot until Eastwood opens on Monday to ask them about the welder and next Saturdays weather looks too crappy for VFR flying.   Boo. 
 

Anyone know what the white warning light on the top left of the panel means on an Eastwood TIG200 digital? 

We made it to florida but our bag did not. I'm glad we packed our carryons pretty full!!

I had a beef with AT&T (Did you know that it takes up to 10 days for them to post a payment that comes in via snail mail?!) I call customer service and get a deeply accented Indian voice who introduces himself with a classically American name (I forget which - something like Carl Perkins). Now I don't like waiting 40 minutes, but I kinda expect it from these clowns. But there was something about him adopting a false name that really rubbed me the wrong way. I don't mind talking to a Sanjay or Prassad,  but tell me the truth for Pete's sake! 

Sonic said:

Anyone know what the white warning light on the top left of the panel means on an Eastwood TIG200 digital? 

I don't know, but I once called Eastwood for support on my MIG welder and asked for a PDF of the service manual. "I'm sorry sir, there is no such manual" 

Decadently minor rant here after all the more serious ones in my life but...

How was Wakanda Forever considered a great movie? It's slow, weird , weirdly shot and the bad guys have a backstory pulled from a Futurama episode.

Sad because the opening sequence/homage to Chadwick Boseman was touching and great, Namor was well played and his whole city underwater thing would have been cool to see a lot of it

In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :

I got a dude one time that sounded like Ghandi and indentified as Warren Beatty.

Going to the doctor is insanity. 

I've been scheduling appointments left and right to try and get my life together. Yesterday, I had one of their schedulers call me FOUR TIMES while I was in the car because she could not figure out how to give me the three appointments I need in order to enter the weight loss program. Come on lady, all I wanna do is be not fat. Make the damn appointments. If you're unsure, just don't call me back until you are. 

Antihero said:

Decadently minor rant here after all the more serious ones in my life but...

 

How was Wakanda Forever considered a great movie? It's slow, weird , weirdly shot and the bad guys have a backstory pulled from a Futurama episode.

 

Sad because the opening sequence/homage to Chadwick Boseman was touching and great, Namor was well played and his whole city underwater thing would have been cool to see a lot of it

Hail Atlanta. 

In reply to Mndsm :

Exactly!

berkeleyin cough is getting worse and worse.  Feel like E36 M3 (no fever, thankfully)

Try to get out in the garage and start working on something and of course because its no longer frozen I'm swarmed by mosquitos.

FML

I agree to buy your very common motorcycle for a reasonable price and get the cash and trailer together. You don't make it, don't get pissed at me when I go buy another one from another seller the same day. 

This guy that works on the operations side of the house and is ostensibly responsible for the installation and day-to-day operations of this storage device has basically no idea how the thing is supposed to work.  He asks me to jump on a call with him to go through building out the configuration.  Fine...  I'll go ahead and give a reading from the Second Book Of Manual, Chapter 4 verses 42 through 95.  He starts peppering me with a series of run-on questions that have very little to do with each other before I can even get a word in edgewise.  He finally stops to take a breath and I ask him "okay...  so why did you start the config like that?" 

Silence

"Uh.  Well, I don't know.  I just wanted to build something."

So I ask him what should be the first question: "Well, what is it, exactly, that the end user customer is expecting to see?  How do they intend to use this system?"

"Uh.  Well.  They're going to attach some systems to it and I guess they'll use the storage from there".

No E36 M3, birdbrain.  You've successfully defined the function of a storage array.  Glad that you're here to tell me what this device I've been an expert in for the last two decades is for.  Clears up a lot of confusion I've had and why it hasn't appreciated the coffee I've been pouring through the vents.  What I actually say is: "Right, but what protocol do they want to use?  How many file systems do they need?  How many virtual file servers?"

Silence again.

"Well.  I guess I don't know"

You guess you don't know?  Buddy, this is a pretty binary situation.  Either you've sat down with them and asked the question "What are your requirements?" or you haven't.  That's not one of those things that you should need to think about.  It doesn't really happen without you knowing.  But instead, through gritted teeth I say: "Ah, I see.  Perhaps our first step should be to find out what the expectation from the customer is?"

"Yeah."  Long pause.  "I was just hoping to show my boss that I was making some progress."

"Progress, you say?  Yeah.  With what, exactly?"

"Well, I want to start building the system out"

"Right.  But you don't know how the system should be built?"

"uh.  well.  I mean, they're going to connect some servers to it".

Yes, my intellectually-limited friend, we've established that.  Servers connect to storage and then they do things with the storage.  Sort of the table stakes of the whole arrangement, really.  But instead I say:  "Yeah, well, go ahead and get a meeting put together with the customer and determine what their expectations are, and then I can help you design a storage configuration to accommodate that."

"Uh, well, do you mind being on that call?  I'm not sure if I know what I need to ask them"

Sure.  I'm berkeleying amazing enough that I can do your job as well my own and still get my afternoon nap.  "Sure thing.  Be happy to.  Just set it up."

Rear main seal on an Equinox.

Mitchell calls for less time to do the seal than engine R&R or transmission R&R, either of which is a prerequisite to doing the seal.  (The engine is coming out for safety reasons)

Mitchell calls for HALF the time that Alldata does.

I'm burnt out. Not sure where to go from here. Move on? Keep asking for things to improve?  

Antihero said:

How was Wakanda Forever considered a great movie?

Because it is a marvel movie.

Went to the concert on Saturday. Skinny Lister, Anti-Flag and Flogging Molly. Amazing concert but I did something to my finger in the mosh pit. I took my wedding ring off cause it felt like it was starting to swell and no it won't go back on. Maybe I am getting old.

Buddy, you may be listed as the sole source, but you are only the sole source as long as you can provide the GC with what is required. I hate to say it but you are out of your league. 

The GC gave you the plans, a set of specs, and a new function description for every location. It is up to you to generate the list of parts you need to provide to make that happen. They aren't going to do it for you. You are going to have to visit every location, figure out what is there, and what isn't, and bid the project accordingly. 

This is why I went to every meeting with the architect (something that almost never happens for a subcontractor) and walked the job with him 3 times asking questions, offering suggestions, and jotting down notes. This is why I'll walk the job again with the plans and specs and make even more notes of everything I need to make his requirements happen. 

No one is going to hold your hand and explain it to you or tell you what you need to quote. You are playing in the bigs now. It's time to get big. 

As a side rant. 340 pages of specs for a 30-door project? Seriously? Is that actually necessary? 

Note to self. Don't print the specs without first checking how many pages it is. 

Toyman! said:

As a side rant. 340 pages of specs for a 30-door project? Seriously? Is that actually necessary? 

Depends on who's paying for the work.

Government funded in any way?  If so, yes, it is almost certainly required.  I have published 3/4"inch thick project manuals with no technical spec sections at all, just front end boilerplate.

I know you do a lot of hospital / healthcare work too.  Hospitals and big medical groups usually come with big inflexible bureaucracy, as well.

In reply to Duke :

Yea, I know. Not only is this a hospital, but it's also a government-funded hospital and a government grant-funded project to boot. 85% is boilerplate. 13% is GC requirements. Meaning I only needed about 2% of the entire stack. Worst case I can use it to put myself to sleep any time I need and start fires with it. 

USPS package and FedEx package both supposed to arrive today.  Both last show tracking on Friday, FedEx 80 miles away, and USPS "moving within system"...  past experience says neither will show up until at least Friday, and there's a good chance they're both lost.

100% of the rest of the parts I need to finish the EJ20 have arrived.  Unicorn-hide cam seals, exhaust gaskets, new timing covers, everything.

Water heater decided to take a dump today.  It's been about 30 years since I last diag'ed a water heater...

I've found myself muttering "Berk it" to an inordinate amount of things lately.

93EXCivic said:

Went to the concert on Saturday. Skinny Lister, Anti-Flag and Flogging Molly. Amazing concert but I did something to my finger in the mosh pit. I took my wedding ring off cause it felt like it was starting to swell and no it won't go back on. Maybe I am getting old.

Every time I come out of a concert these days, I swear Im buying one of these shirts.  Still haven't done it, but I have a few weeks before the Dropkick Murphys show...