Dan Antion

Random Rants and Raves

Spring is here!

After slightly over 900 blog posts (oooh, I just heard the Editor moan), I have a ton of ideas stashed away that may never make it to virtual paper. Still, things happen that I jot down because “that would be a good way to start talking about…” Fortunately for the Editor, some of those not-ready-for-prime-time ideas are being purged today. I’m going to put them out there with just a little backstory, and this overstretched introduction that is my style, lately.

Rants are always good for a few chuckles and for letting off steam, but as the title telegraphs, there are small good things too.

“Some people use those pumps to buy gas. Just sayin'”

Rant – No signs, no lines, no clue: I like to get gas on Fridays, so I don’t have to worry about getting gas over the weekend. It’s a pre-weekend gift to myself. And, since we live in the town with the airport, it saves me from sitting in line while the guy in front of me tries to stretch the hose over the rental car’s trunk (there’s a pump icon with an arrow on the dash, buddy). Never mind, that isn’t the rant. I followed a woman into the gas station on a Friday. Turns out, she wasn’t getting gas. She ignored the signs that said: “Gas Customers Only” – the lined parking spaces that said “Shopping” and she managed to park so as to block both pumps while she went in for two packs of cigarettes.

Rant – Switch to decaf: My commute requires me to take the left-lane exit from I-91s to I-84e. I didn’t design the highway, it’s not my fault. So, when the guy behind me starts flashing his high beams ¼ mile ahead of the exit, I really can’t be bothered. Chill buddy.

Rant – What time is it? Some company followed me on Twitter. I looked at a few of their tweets and decided to follow them back. Then, because of the nuances of iPhone notifications, I was woken up around 4:30 AM when this company sent a Direct Message (DM) to inform me of an upgrade to a product I don’t own.

“This one’s on the house!”

Rave – New glass: I stopped at our favorite restaurant to get some pizza to go. I ordered a beer to have while waiting. The bartender was new, which is always a challenge at a bar where you’re well known. I ordered a Corona. She poured it in a frosted glass and tossed in a wedge of lime. So far, so good. As I was about to take a sip, she yelled: “wait! Don’t drink that!” Startled, I set the glass down. She had noticed a bad chip on the rim. She poured a new Corona into a new glass, added a new lime and told me it was on the house.

Rave – Breakfast: – On the Fridays on which I get my haircut, I usually meet my best friend for breakfast at a little diner near his house. During Lent, I had been skipping bacon (all sacrifice is noted, but bacon gets an star). We’ve been doing this for years, so the waiter came over with our coffee and said:

“Bacon egg and cheese on Italian toast for you, two eggs over easy with toast and home fries for you. And, since he’s gonna have some of your home fries, I’ll bring an extra plate.”

“Where’s the bacon?”

I added that since Lent was over, bacon was back on the menu. He smiled. A few minutes later, the food was delivered, sans bacon. When I pointed that out, he brought me a plate of bacon and put that “on the house!”

OK, one last rant…

Really?

Rant – Who does this? Someone who uses our company kitchen does. That thing that appears to be a paper towel is the last remnant of the roll – the one that is glued to the cardboard tube – the unusable sheet. I opened the cabinet to show exactly how difficult it would be to replace that roll. The cabinet is full of unwrapped rolls of paper towels!

The gallery today is a few more signs of spring. Thanks for spending some time here today.

I’m no good with tree names, but this is pretty.
This is in a place where we don’t really have flowers, but it still comes up each year.
These are at work, but they make coming to work a little easier.
These bushes haven’t grown well, but they are hanging on.
Signs of spring.
Sunrise in the yard with Maddie (you don’t want to see what she’s doing…trust me).
Ground cover is welcoming spring.
Sammy has his peanut.
This was a few weeks ago. The lilacs are waking up.
Our office park is getting brighter.
Our office park is getting brighter.
Along my ride home.
Pretty soon, we won’t see much when looking to the west.
Skittish squirrel doesn’t know that I’m handing out peanuts.
My ride home is getting brighter, even on a rainy day.
My ride home is getting brighter, even on a rainy day.
I wish I had a power line filter. but…

73 comments

  1. Rants always remind me of days when I had few clients that wanted to write rants on American issues. I did write a few and the client was happy, but I felt I wasn’t doing justice. So, I didn’t take the new project. I then decided to start my own rant blog, but I dropped the idea because I can upset a lot of people. Sarah warned me that it can attract trolls and other unwanted issues in life. My friends also claim that I have a sharp tongue, so I better stick to travel blog.

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Sarah is a good guide. I limit rants to a limited schedule. They always seem popular, but I wouldn’t want to write them often. But, life isn’t perfect, and people are often the reason behind a bad day.

      Liked by 1 person

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  3. oooo – I like this idea of gathering miscellaneous pluses and minuses, then summarizing them in a post. The woman at the gas pump – I would have mentally hexed her and her car. I don’t know if my hexes actually work, but they make me feel much better 😉
    My hexes normally invoke major car failure because obviously these people shouldn’t be allowed to drive a vehicle if their ability to be considerate to others is so impaired.

    Liked by 2 people

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    • You could hex that woman. At first, I was wondering if she had mobility issues, I could understand that. But she didn’t seem to have any such problems. The aggressive drivers have no excuse. It’s dangerous and totally unnecessary. Thanks for the comment, Robin.

      Liked by 1 person

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  4. I like this, and now all those topics are off your plate and out of your head – good way to start May. :-) My one and only rant this week was showing up to pick up online orders three different times, but the store had no one working there. I had to wait and wait and then go find someone, and the last time the person told me he didn’t know how to complete the transaction so would I tell him how the previous person had done it. I don’t know if they read those surveys they send you, but if they do they probably didn’t like mine. :-)

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks Judy. If you are in business, your employees should know how to do things (and they should open the store). That’s a bit much. In my experience, those surveys have to be pretty bad before anyone notices.

      Liked by 1 person

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  5. You’re a creature of habit, aren’t you? 😉 I love how you have your usual things that you do on the same days of the week. I’m with you on replacing empty, or almost empty, paper towels when it is time; trying to shirk that duty is just plain lazy. However, karma will get you. I take comfort in that thought frequently.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • I am a creature of habit. I like to think there are good reasons behind those habits, but, at this point, they may just be habits.

      I do count on karma to take care of rude, lazy and selfish people.

      Liked by 1 person

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  8. I love a good rant, although you’ve got some pretty special raves there. Free beer and bacon? When are we meeting up?
    I was momentarily confused by the ‘Switch to decaf’ rant until I remembered you guys drive on the wron….er….other side of the road.

    Liked by 3 people

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  10. DM–I see that a lot and had no idea! So it is different than IM or email? ‘On the house’? Yes–it must be spring! Enjoy the flowers and the ride Dan. They look great.

    Liked by 2 people

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    • DM, on Twitter, is a Direct Message to one particular person. It’s like a text message. The problem (in this case) is that my phone treats it like a Text Message. I don’t get a notification from people who mention me on Twitter, between 9:00 pm and 5:00 am.Text messages (and therefore DMs) don’t have a quiet period, because I want to be able to notice text messages from family.

      “On the house” – free.

      Flowers are in spring mode. Thanks for swinging by here, Lois.

      Liked by 2 people

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  11. Ooooh, I love the spring buds, the flowers…it’s starting to look like that here as well.

    The lady in the gas station and the guy who needs to chill were just plain rude. The paper towel person has an issue with a lazy attitude, as are those who leave one section of toilet paper in the bathroom when there is a roll right there>>ready to go.

    There is something to be said about restaurants and businesses that are good to its customers rather than worrying about profit. I’ve been in a few restaurants where “I’m sorry” is the only response I get when the food or service is not good. Not so much as a free dessert or taking a few dollars off the bill. Those are places I seldom return to because it tells me that they are really not that concerned about the customer.

    I shouldn’t have looked at your breakfast photos. I’m hungry…

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Yeah, sorry about those photos, Mary. You’re right, it’s rude behavior and it really shouldn’t have a place in society.

      I don’t return to restaurants that are only focused on money. I was in a group that met one at Buffalo Wild Wings. They treated us so badly, that I’ve never gone back.

      I’m glad spring is coming to your area as well.

      Liked by 2 people

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  13. Wonderful post and pictures, as always. And it constantly surprises me, the number of businesses that don’t understand how much good will and good word-of-mouth advertising they would get from a few cents’ worth of “on the house”.

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Thanks Marian. It’s true, a free beer or a glass of wine can make up for a lot of things that go wrong. It’s also great way to think regulars. The owner of my regular watering hole walked in one Saturday. When he noticed four regular customers at the bar, he bought us all a round.

      Liked by 1 person

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  18. I am stealing your power line filter idea and adding my own photos today!!!! What a bummer to see something you want to photograph and just cant seem to get a good view due to the darn power lines!!!

    Liked by 2 people

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  19. Hi Dan – hope you get blue skies soon … and so many rants and raves … I messed up at the ferry at the weekend – such is life … but I’ll take the bacon … have a good relaxing working week – cheers Hilary

    Liked by 2 people

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  20. HAPPY DANCE for your signs of Spring, Dan!! Thank goodness She is FINALLY here! I laughed so hard on your last rant. Why? I’ve been known to do this, when in a hurry. Hubby of course, engineer-minded like you, is right behind me moaning the fact how hard could it be to put a new toilet roll (in this case) on? Hehehehehe …. Or, I’m left with a paper towel like in the picture at a time when I’m flying and with hands that need drying so here I am cursing under my breath (who me?) while I try to peel off the ONE piece of paper towel left to at least get my hands somewhat dry. And then I go down to the basement to get a replacement. Life. We mean well, yet sometimes the “flying” makes us forget to do the little stuff. Neither one of us does this type of thing on purpose … And good luck with the housekeeping regarding posts. Sigh away, Editor. 😎

    Liked by 2 people

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  21. Thanks Amy, Yes, when we’re in a hurry, things happen – we’ll just leave it at that. Nobody’s counting. This roll is at work, in a common kitchen. Some of us are forever cleaning up after some others of us.

    I’m loving your pictures of spring lately.

    Liked by 1 person

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  22. Rants are good for the soul whether or not they make it to ciberspace. I currently have a draft on potty training after about 5 months solid trying to train 7 children under 3. OMG! I can’t even begin…. but I survived. lol When I retire I may publish it under an anonymous name :)

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  23. OMG!! BACON! I smell bacon! And home fries!! I gotta get me some. Lol.

    Beautiful photos of spring in all its glory. A variety of colors are springing up in our area too. Woohoo!! That tree is magnificent. Too bad springs beauty lasts such a short time.

    Rants and raves. Occasionally necessary to keep one’s lid from blowing off. “Better out than in” my dad always said. Wait! What? Whoops, I don’t think he was referring to rants!! 😂😂😂
    🔹 Ginger 🔹

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Ha ha – Thanks Ginger. Those home fries are soooo good. None of these seemed worth an entire post, but they all seemed worthy of a little time in the spotlight – especially the raves.

      Like

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  24. Bacon! Hubby had to go on a sodium-restricted diet, which meant I had to, too, ’cause we didn’t want those salty foods in the house tempting him. We were able to find low-sodium potato chips, reduced salt crackers, and I even managed to find no-salt added canned mushrooms. But bacon? It took me quite awhile, but yes, I did finally find low-sodium bacon, and it tastes every bit as good as the regular bacon. Sunday breakfast is enjoyable again.

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  25. Driving automatically produces lots of rants on my part, Dan, even though I’ve worked hard over the years to just be relaxed while driving. It’s just hard when there are so many people doing boneheaded/dangerous things. :-) I also have plenty opportunities to rant at things that happen at work, but I try my best to confine those rants to my poor husband so as not to get in trouble or alienate anyone I work with. :-)

    I prefer to focus on your breakfast, which looks great. Of all meals out, breakfast is one of my favorites, with or without bacon. But I’m also amazed at what simple breakfast ingredients cost when at a restaurant. I guess that’s why there are so many breakfast places springing up these days.

    Nice photos, too. Hope you enjoyed the day.

    janet

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    • Driving is crazy, Janet.. I try not to take it personally. I go to work early to avoid the worst of rush hour, and I drive a longer, back way home to avoid the highway as much as possible. So, when I run into these guys, it’s frustrating.

      I don’t complain about work/coworkers, but if the person who routinely leaves the empty roll over the sink, the empty milk in the fridge, the full k-cup container in the coffee maker and the crumbs all over the counter reads this, I don’t care if he/she s offended. They should have learned this stuff before they were five!

      This breakfast is at a grimy little grill. It very good and not very expensive. That meal is about $3 more than McDonald’s and they never stop pouring coffee. I hope these little places stay in business forever.

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  26. Great rants and raves and beautiful pictures of spring. Your paper towel rant reminded me of the teeny tiny little bit of coffee some people left in the carafe at work just so they didn’t have to start a new pot. The woman who parked by the pumps to shop… just no! Your raves warmed this former restaurant worker’s heart.

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Thanks! I had to balance out the negative. There are good people in the world and they do little acts of kindness every day. The gas lady was the worst, because I followed her into that lane only to have to back out and switch lanes.

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  27. Luffly photos :) Our lilacs are bloomed and our daffodils are already kaput. Not seen much of the squirrels since a black lab moved in a few doors down. We like the lab, even Sadie likes the lab, but um, he roams often and we do miss our local critters.
    I am cursed with being the person, anywhere I go, who has to replace the tp and the paper towels, anywhere I go. I wish I was being dramatic, but I’m not.
    Great news with the glass and the bacon. I am off the interstate and back to secondary roads at my new job and I’m happy as a squirrel with a nut :D Happier, probably!

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Thanks. I am gradually reducing the amount of time I’m on the highway. It seems people are getting crazier. I am very happy with my new back-way home – so much less stress. The husky behind us reduces the critter population every year. We try to avoid scaring the bunnies into that yard, but he got several last year.

      Sorry for you having to replace the rolls – it’s not fair, but some people just…

      The beer and the bacon more than made up for the rants. I’m good.

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  29. Good rants, and raves!

    Woman like the one you had in front of you at the gas station irk me to no end! They’re so rude.

    Love your flowering trees, and all the signs of Spring.

    Perhaps, it’s a good things that Sammy and Co. are keeping your place for peanuts on the Q.T. imagine if they told all the squirrels they knew and run into where they get free peanuts what the line at your house would be like! :)

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks! I’ve been stuck behind people at that gas station before, but this one got to me because she didn’t even pull up far enough for me to reach one of the two pumps.

      Things are breaking out in nice colors this week. I’ve been on the road for a while, and it was nice to return to big swaths of green and other colors.

      I had always read that squirrels encourage their young to go find a new habitat. I think we’ve got the squirrel equivalent of the kids that live in mom and dad’s basement until they’re 35. We’re trying to wean them off the peanuts, now that more natural food is available.

      Liked by 1 person

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  32. You know what’s even worse? When it’s the toilet paper roll.

    Years of dealing with people in airports has taught me that some people think they’re the only ones around, like your lady with the cigarettes.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks! I wish I had a voice-activated sign on the back of my car. Of course, that would get me into trouble at some point, but seriously – I didn’t build the highway!

      Like

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