Rants *enter at own risk*

[Red ochre]

... the five minute argument?

[doughty]

My car starter went out last week - $212.37 to get it replaced.

[pyrochild]

Just hand crank it like the good old days

[doughty]

Good old days. When was that?

Generally, I don't think women were allowed to drive in the the early days of cars.

[AGJM]

Well, today my teacher - the one who didn't accept the definition of "institution" as anything besides a group of people or an organization - yelled at me. She was giving the list of banned words of which we couldn't use in our essay. Anything in 1st or 2nd person was banned, as were "stuff" and "things". After she explained this, she openly asked, "Any questions?"

I raised my hand and politely asked "Why is 'things' banned? It's a word, and it's commonly used - there isn't anything incorrect about it. It tends to be the least awkward way to write some sentences. If we explain what the things are, can we use it?"

She responded, "Well, it's easy to provide alternatives to - you can say things like 'pieces,' 'practices,' and so on instead of it."

I then said, "But is that any reason to ban the use of it? If you use it correctly, isn't it just as good as 'pieces,' or, 'practices?"

To that she said "You should be using better things, 'things' isn't good vocabulary for someone in 9th grade honors. If you use that, you shouldn't be in it."

I pointed out - politely, I wasn't trying to insult her, that she used "things" in that sentence. After I pointed that out, the class started laughing - then her face turned red. She then started waving her fist and, quite literally, yelling about how she "was the teacher and that gives her the right to say that 'things" isn't appropriate for 9th grade students to use" and that "You all have known that since the first quarter, so suck it up and write other words! It isn't that hard, you'd have to be stupid to find other things to use!"

I kindly said "Okay, yes mam." (I didn't mean to cause the class to laugh - and I feared being sent to the office - so I added in the mam part, trying to make her less angry.)

I've learned that when she opens a topic up for discussion, it will quickly be closed if share an opinion that opposes hers. Most of the time, she'll justify it by saying that she was the teacher and that should excuse any mistakes of hers, and she will be rude to you - which, as several others have disagreed with her to the same effect, will happen whether you are polite to her or not.

[pdnnoob]

There is a major difference between writing and speaking. When you speak, nobody cares so much if you use the same sentence opener three or four times in a row. However, doing the same in writing results in a monotonous tone. Using the word "thing" in speech is only an issue if you are not clear as to what "thing" is referring to. However, in writing, it almost always "sounds" indescriptive and uneducated. Part of the reason is that, when you write, you have plenty of time to come up with the proper word to describe the object(s), but when speaking, the audience automatically, and usually subconsciously, interprets the word based on context, but expectations are raised when you are writing.

You see, how formal your piece of literature (spoken or written) is depends on the rhetorical situation. In other words, it depends on the goal, audience, and style of literature you are composing. In ninth grade literature class, you are being taught the "formal essay" style of writing. The rules which you follow are not there because your teacher wishes to make your life miserable. In fact, your teacher has no power over what rules of writing she teaches. Her job is simply to reiterate what the higher powers tell her. Keep in mind that the goal of your class is to prepare you for future classes. Being in a "future class" myself, I can tell you things aren't as strict here as they once were. That is because, at higher levels, we are given many different rhetorical situations and taught multiple styles of writing. For now, just learn things the way they are taught because, once you have the basics down, you can move on to the fun stuff.

Unfortunately, your teacher has either been teaching the same materials for a long time or has just started teaching. Either way, she has lost the purpose behind her job somewhere in the flurry of instruction and seems to believe she is teaching the absolute "right" way to write. There is not a set "right" way to write! How you should write depends solely on the context in which you are writing, whether you are writing a short story, a textbook, an essay, or even a post on a forum. Your teacher is showing you the right way to write for a specific rhetorical situation, not the appropriate way for ninth graders to write. The fact of the matter is, ninth graders can write however the <family friendly forum> they want. Just make sure you follow your teacher's instructions when you write papers for the class.

Edited October 23, 2012 by pdnnoob

[barbieq25]

I love how people slam teachers. As teachers we get slammed for everything - from our students non-existent dietary intake of anything that remotely resembles food, to lack of any semblance of manners & a myriad of other social imperfections such as contraception & alcohol drug/substance abuse. The last thing we ever get to do is actually teach.

You all could have told me this earlier & I would not have had to waste 10 years in study & we won't even speak of the financial outlay!

I should have become a check out chick. I am now off to work to waste another day of my life teaching when all I needed to do was to get a 9th grader to do it for me.

[AGJM]

In ninth grade literature class

It's history class.

I love how people slam teachers. As teachers we get slammed for everything - from our students non-existent dietary intake of anything that remotely resembles food, to lack of any semblance of manners & a myriad of other social imperfections such as contraception & alcohol drug/substance abuse. The last thing we ever get to do is actually teach.

You all could have told me this earlier & I would not have had to waste 10 years in study & we won't even speak of the financial outlay!

I should have become a check out chick. I am now off to work to waste another day of my life teaching when all I needed to do was to get a 9th grader to do it for me.

I'm just angered on the basis that she yelled at me when I was speaking in a polite tone. I'm not saying that I could teach the class, I'm saying she makes a lot of mistakes and doesn't allow anyone to correct her. I couldn't teach the class, but the majority of teachers could do it better. I'm slamming her for over-extending herself, slipping up, and yelling at me after I was polite about asking her as to why we couldn't use a certain word. I do my school work, I am taught, I learn - but I don't appreciate being yelled at for carrying out a polite discussion. I don't hate all of my teachers - I actually typically enjoy learning - it's when a teacher underestimates me, grades unfairly or based off of a mistake, or refuses to listen to a student's correction merely because it is a student's that upsets me. It isn't fair, it isn't right, and, when mentioned, people assume it's exaggerated complaints that only exist because the student doesn't want to work or learn. It isn't because of anything unrelated to her teaching - it's her poor teaching skills. If you'd FREAKING LISTEN next time and consider my statement, instead of assuming it is based off of a predisposition against all teachers, maybe I wouldn't have to write such a long statement about how your assumption is wrong. It isn't right for a teacher to yell after being politely questioned or corrected, especially when she asked, "Any questions?"

[pyrochild]

Holy bloody potato. This is the rants thread, not the personal attacks thread. Everyone take a day off.

[pyrochild]

OK, play nice or this thread will be gone forever. We'll all have to go back to traditional methods of anger management like screaming in pillows, yelling at cats, punching holes in drywall, or beating spouses (which is a horrible thing that should never be joked about).

[AGJM]

Okay. Sorry. I have a caffeinated drink now, I should be good. The pizza guy didn't bring it, so he went back - I had paid for it, and he was taking about thirty minutes, but he brought it back. Glad I could trust him - he also thanked me rather excessively for not making a big deal out of it. Not a rant, just a discussion-starter.

Rant:

I just found the perfect televised show for my cousin's girlfriend, who is a conspiracy theorist - saying 9/11 was caused by the government, the illuminati rule the world (I, personally, believe that theory only exists because the group existed during the time of a band of militia standing up the world's most powerful war machine - and the fact that it is an extremely cool name), and so on and so forth. But I saw a show about all of the conspiracies about 9/11 - and the evidence against them presented in a way that a conspiracy theorist would have to make a conspiracy about to deny. As in, it had the professionals show actual evidence, and the college students basing their views from their apartment with their cat in the background or on the street yelling at police officers. Of course, that wasn't the only way it was shown, but it still showed how skewed the "evidence" for all of those theories were. I still get chills down my spine when I see the planes crash into the towers.

Back to the point, though, I had "unfriended" her because she made a complaint that someone can't trespass to fish, has to have a permit for open flame, can't be naked in their backyard, and can't commit suicide because it was illegal. I made a sarcastic statement, to the likes of "They could just go get food stamps," trying to inspire laughter (the entire post was based upon "You can teach a man to fish, and he'll have to get a fishing permit. To get a fishing permit, he needs a job and has to pay taxes. Etc. Etc.). The response I got was, "Andrew, you're sweet, but that - it's grasping air. You're young, you'll see how the world works when you're older."

I wish I could have showed it (the documentary) to her.

Edit:

Rant Numero Dos:

I just dropped $80 on Forza Horizon.

I'm fighting the urge to spend $40 more on the DLC for more car packs. Anyways, this is only a half-serious rant. I'm getting the game tomorrow, I can't wait. Also, don't try typing a rant while driving. I just busted up my Viper, in the demo.

Edit 3: Game came early. Enjoying it right now. Feels fancy. Steel box and stuff, with the limited edition... I'm very happy.

Edited October 25, 2012 by AGJM

[whisper2u]

@BoltBait I bought a very nice used car for even less than 4k.... all it needs is an oil change. : \

[nitenurse79]

yelling at cats

Again with the poor cats, they are cute and cuddly and affectionate. The eleventh commandment says "thou shalt not yell at cats"

[pdnnoob]

@BoltBait I bought a very nice used car for even less than 4k.... all it needs is an oil change. : \

woahwoahwoah, this is the rants thread; you can't be posting that here!

I got 7 hours of sleep last week. This week is almost over and I'm still so darned tired...

[NinjaManDan21]

My family and I are in the process of moving back to Colorado from Virginia. I'm sore, exhausted, my brother takes 30 minute breaks every 10 minutes to play on his new iPod Touch 5th Generation while my mother and I pack and lift boxes all day, and my two most recent works that I finished in Paint.net both can't be read the very next morning after working completely fricking fine all that night (and saving and re-opening perfectly too)!

[pyrochild]

The good news is Colorado is awesome.

[Mike Ryan]

The good news is Colorado is awesome.

As a Colorado native, I can confirm this. Looking forward to visiting for a few weeks this Christmas.

Rant time: Long term clients should be banned from creating 'emergency projects' if they directly conflict with school work.

[BoltBait]

The good news is Colorado is awesome.

I've lived in Colorado Springs and can confirm that this is true.

[Ego Eram Reputo]

Rant: Wasted hours 'reinterpreting' a board game (called Thud) - only to find the supposed 'logic' of the game is fundamentally flawed.

With analytical play on both sides, I don't believe that the Dwarves can ever defeat the Trolls. I've spent a half-day on this and the Trolls always win without the loss of a single unit.

Am so annoyed I'm attaching a copy of the rules in the hope that someone can disprove my allegation.

THE GAME OF THUD.pdf

[Kemaru]

I overslept: missed first class, then went back to sleep and missed my second class as well.

[jim100361]

LMAO

[Kemaru]

It is funny : D

I really shouldn't be missing any classes though. I'm going away for a whole week in November and we have a school policy according to which you get thrown out of a course should you miss 4 classes.

[Ego Eram Reputo]

@ EER ... it lost me @ trolls and dwarves ... although I did think dwarf hurling wasn't pc anymore

Thud is derived from the books of Terry Pratchett http://www.amazon.com/Thud-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0060815310/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351312472&sr=8-1&keywords=thud!

Politically correct he is not! I actually think the "Dwarf Hurling" is an intentional jibe at the PC brigade.

Personal statement: I have never personally hurled a Dwarf, and no Dwarves were harmed during the time I spent on the game

[BoltBait]

I just burnt the bottom of the pizza I was making in the oven.

Not enough to throw it away. Just enough to eat it anyway and complain about the taste.

[jim100361]

OMG, I had to go look that up. I wasn't aware of the game:

Salt and Ice - A game practiced by middle school and high school students. Salt is poured on an area of the arm/or hand and then an ice cube is placed on top. This will create a burning sensation. After the ice cube melts or you've had enough pain there will be a white scar which will eventually turn red and be extremely painful. The game is played until someone has had enough pain.