The Complaining and Bitching Thread

My new-ish neighbor, who doesn't yet live in his house, has been working next door with his contractor and another dude for most of the evening. They were hammering, sawing, and playing music loudly enough that I could hear every song and practically every word, as well as shouting to one another off and on over the course of the past few hours. I fought every awkwardly non confrontational bone in my body to knock on their door not once but twice and ask them to keep it down—both times I didn't have the chance because they didn't hear me.

I could tell they were getting ready to leave, having been able to hear every word of their conversation, and stuck around downstairs until the neighbor came out to his car to tell him how audible they had been from here on the other side of the wall. As reluctant as I was to go through with it, I'm going to give myself a little pat on the back for having done so and hope that I haven't immediately typecast myself as the geriatric wet blanket that wants to ruin their good time.

 

You just never have a taser handy when you need one.

 

@Baraka_Guru, I share in your outrage.

 

One of my local news stations that I follow on FB, posted an article about a European zoo that killed a giraffe because of worries over inbreeding.
In the article synopsis on FB they used "should of" instead of "should have".
After answering their question on whether they should have tried finding other alternatives in dealing with the giraffe, I pointed out the error in grammar. A little less diplomatically than I should have, I suppose.
A few hours later I reread the commentaries and noticed the correction to the article and that my post had been deleted.

I would like to complain, but I find it more funny, than anything. So I'm here to brag.

 

I've notice that writing quality has seriously slipped in electronic communications. It frequently looks like no one has actually read the thing before posting it. I've seen it it online newspapers.

 

Just need to read the effusive praise lavished upon (often multiple) editors by (not-self) published writers to see examples of writers that know they'd be sunk without good editors.

You should rant more often.

For the record, I'm constantly reminded of what an average writer I am when I read pieces by 'real' writers.
And I'm a terrible editor, hampered by my utter failure in grade school to grasp all but the most basic grammar skills.
I'm an Internet hack writer. The best of my writing comes out when I'm very enthused about something. Then it writes itself. I wish it would edit itself, too.

 

And, yes, I realized the irony in my post, that I left a typo in it. Duuuuhhhhh

 

OMG! I lose my cool when I read the pedestrian craptasticness that passes for an article in an online newspaper!
When I can honestly say, I could write a better piece than this, you know it is bad. And it is often bad in the first couple of sentences. Factual errors, misspelling of people's names. It's painful to read. No proofreading done. At all. Good grief.
Now I'm getting rant-y.
--- merged: Feb 12, 2014 at 7:18 PM ---

See, hamsterball, it is different in a forum space. This is not the place to spend a lot of time editing what you've written. I try not to be judge-y. I admit I have a bit of a reaction to to, two, and too but balls, I'm sure I've driven people straight up a wall with my inability to finally and forever commit to memory it's versus its (I learned them wrong all those years ago in my wonderful Connecticut school of higher learning).

 

A) I didn't consider that a rant

B) Fangirl is right, you should do it more often

I think you provided an excellent discussion point or three, and I quite agree with you. My job requires a combination of technical and persuasive writing, and I've frequently been called upon to edit documents prior to sending them to regulatory agencies. Many times, the documents are grammatically correct, but fail to construct a persuasive argument, or fall short of creating a chain of logic, leading to a justifiable conclusion. And I'm far from a professional editor.

Please feel free to expand anytime you wish.



And, Fangirl, I feel certain that you're being far too critical of yourself. I suspect that you're a MUCH better writer than you think.
--- merged: Feb 12, 2014 at 7:24 PM ---

Fangirl, you are as kind as you are intelligent and charming. I'm grateful for your words.

 

So sorry to hear that you're in pain, @snowy. Hope it settles down soon.

 

Thanks for that insight. It gave me a new perspective on the situation. And no, it wasn't a rant at all.

 

Ah geez. Thank you, Baraka_Guru. That means a great deal coming from you.

I have followed rather closely the decline and near fall of the music industry.
The decline and fall(ing) of the print industry, be it newspaper, magazine or book continues and I find it heartbreaking. I believe we are all losing out.
I wish it were simple to convert the losses from paper to tech as it was ultimately from vinyl to cassette to CD to mp3. Digital download.
We have this notion that the Internet should be free but content creators need to be paid what they are worth. And no one has fully figured out a long term, guaranteed way to keep an income stream on the 'net except the very biggest of sites. And even they struggle, parring back staff--and quality, as you mentioned.
I completely understand the deadline rush. If news, even entertainment news is not timely, there's no point in publishing it. And because of the tech age people expect to get their news fresh, practically as it happens--but that leaves no time for fact-checking, proofing, editing.
I love technology as much as the next modern person yet I'm the one who cancelled our newspaper (the Chicago Tribune) as the news on my doorstep became day-old news, the size of the newspaper dwindled and my favourite writers slipped away to other venues.

I love books and because I spend 10, 12, 14-hours a day looking at a screen, I'd really rather read a book made of paper. But I'm not against Kindles and such and when the last magazine that we subscribe to folds, I'll buy one to keep on the coffee table.

 

Had to cancel dinner reservations tonight at a wonderful restaurant because of the snowstorm....Grrrrr

 

Ugh. Bad sleep. Eyes are itchy and burning. Spouse is running a huge table saw, cutting wood pieces for the main hallway floor. The wood dust is everywhere, including my eyes. I will be very, very happy when he is done. Gradually getting rid of the wall-to-wall carpet is the long-term plan. Time off is hard to come by as is the big bucks it takes to wood-floor a two-story home. It's coming along...arg, there goes the saw again. I hear the ringing in my sleep.