Venting Thread Delta - Now With Easy to Follow Rules

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

Flooding in the Bangor area of North Wales (my home).

The dual carriageway that connects North Wales to Mid England.


My home is safe, blessed to be on a a peak of a hill.

Elsewhere not so.

[empath]

Okay, when did driver schools stop telling their students to TURN ON THEIR expletive deleted HAZARD FLASHERS when they end up in a car accident and their car is sitting broken, blocking traffic?

Today we were obstructed by a t-bone collision (someone tried to turn left onto a busy street in too much traffic, and the oncoming motorist apparently wasn't paying attention and struck 'em in the rear door). Both cars were sitting in the LEFT-hand lane of the street...and neither had any lights on; one motorist was talking on their phone from behind the wheel, and the other was standing outside their car, taking pictures of the accident scene. Not a bad idea (former was probably either speaking with police or 911, or maybe their insurance company, or even friend/family to get a lift)...but STILL LET THE REST OF US KNOW there's an obstacle to the flow of traffic.

Heck, last week I was working, driving on the 'cross-town arterial' highway to a fare, and saw two cars blocking the right-hand lane near an intersection after a rear-end collision, and again, no one had any flashers on.

I thought to myself that they really should do something about that...

...after picking up my fare and dropping them off on that end of town, then returning to the city centre on the same arterial highway, I went through that intersection and looked across to see THREE collided cars and then two police cars (who at least had THEIR lights flashing )

Being proven right in this way is NOT reassuring.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

Just finished watching Charlie Brooker's 2015 wipe.

Oh shit...

[empath]

....god dammit...

just this

[Omega Lairon]

Oh hey... there's some totally unannounced Star Wars spoilers. Maybe... put a warning next to that link or something? I mean, "just this" is pretty ambiguous, and this *is* the venting thread and all... maybe someone who's already in a bad mood checks it out, gets spoiled, and only serves to worsen their mood?

Since I'm here...

My PC has developed a nasty habit of deciding to power itself off at seemingly random intervals. It doesn't seem to be a power supply problem - other devices on the same board continue uninterruptedly. I've given it a good clean in case it was from thermal distress (man there was a lot of dust... note to self - clean your PC more often than "once every 5 years maybe"), still happening. Left it on for a few days consecutively with only a word doc open - didn't restart then.

I conclude that it's because it only powers off when I'm doing "something" - which usually means playing games... but as above, keywords being "seemingly random". I can play something for an hour with no problem, or I can get maybe 5 minutes in before it blinks out. Hell, one time I was reading a wiki page with very little else open when it quit on me.

So the end result is I feel really uneasy about using the thing *at all*. It's kind of like that nihilist argument "why even bother if it's just going to die anyway"? For the sake of some incredibly stupid and minor fault, the bulk of my ability to interact with the larger world is effectively killed. And naturally, if I do try and get some tech support, the 2 things that'll happen are that it'll cost most of my remaining limbs for them to even *look* at (which this soon after DB is... very not good), and due to the randomness, I practically guarantee they won't be able to do jack s*** about fixing it anyway.

"Why bother"?

The only possibly good news out of this is that similar cases I found in my Googlings appear to have been resolved after a BIOS update (the symptoms don't entirely fit, as it's been months since the upgrade to Win10, and no real changes too soon before or after that, but I really just want things working at this point, so I'll take a "close enough"...). Problem is, I can grab the latest thing no problem... but that's precisely at the edge of my tech know-how. Searching for "I have the thing... now what?" (not-literally, I use proper search terms, of course) brings me a variety of non-answers ranging from "RTFM", to "the update software / instructions are bundled with the file" (they aren't, obvs.)

And hell, that's even using my own really baby-level diagnostic skills... the same skill which last time almost had me scrapping perfectly good RAM because of a faulty network adaptor. So even if by some miracle I've gome anywhere close to that being the right answer, and I eventually brute force this BIOS update without entirely f***ing up my system, there' no guarantee that it'll fix the problem.

"Why bother"?



Oh, also, I had an ingrown hair on my leg which I scratched at and now it hurts a little. That's sorta irritating too, I guess : \

[Dutch guy]

Oh hey... there's some totally unannounced Star Wars spoilers. Maybe... put a warning next to that link or something? I mean, "just this" is pretty ambiguous, and this *is* the venting thread and all... maybe someone who's already in a bad mood checks it out, gets spoiled, and only serves to worsen their mood?

Since I'm here...

My PC has developed a nasty habit of deciding to power itself off at seemingly random intervals. It doesn't seem to be a power supply problem - other devices on the same board continue uninterruptedly. I've given it a good clean in case it was from thermal distress (man there was a lot of dust... note to self - clean your PC more often than "once every 5 years maybe"), still happening. Left it on for a few days consecutively with only a word doc open - didn't restart then.

I conclude that it's because it only powers off when I'm doing "something" - which usually means playing games... but as above, keywords being "seemingly random". I can play something for an hour with no problem, or I can get maybe 5 minutes in before it blinks out. Hell, one time I was reading a wiki page with very little else open when it quit on me.

So the end result is I feel really uneasy about using the thing *at all*. It's kind of like that nihilist argument "why even bother if it's just going to die anyway"? For the sake of some incredibly stupid and minor fault, the bulk of my ability to interact with the larger world is effectively killed. And naturally, if I do try and get some tech support, the 2 things that'll happen are that it'll cost most of my remaining limbs for them to even *look* at (which this soon after DB is... very not good), and due to the randomness, I practically guarantee they won't be able to do jack s*** about fixing it anyway.

"Why bother"?

The only possibly good news out of this is that similar cases I found in my Googlings appear to have been resolved after a BIOS update (the symptoms don't entirely fit, as it's been months since the upgrade to Win10, and no real changes too soon before or after that, but I really just want things working at this point, so I'll take a "close enough"...). Problem is, I can grab the latest thing no problem... but that's precisely at the edge of my tech know-how. Searching for "I have the thing... now what?" (not-literally, I use proper search terms, of course) brings me a variety of non-answers ranging from "RTFM", to "the update software / instructions are bundled with the file" (they aren't, obvs.)

And hell, that's even using my own really baby-level diagnostic skills... the same skill which last time almost had me scrapping perfectly good RAM because of a faulty network adaptor. So even if by some miracle I've gome anywhere close to that being the right answer, and I eventually brute force this BIOS update without entirely f***ing up my system, there' no guarantee that it'll fix the problem.

"Why bother"?



Oh, also, I had an ingrown hair on my leg which I scratched at and now it hurts a little. That's sorta irritating too, I guess : \

It's not really possible to diagnose these kinds of faults remotely but they sound more like PSU problems to me. The BIOS doesn't really come into play once the system is running. It's just a way for the manufacturer to store and tell the operating system the boot settings needed to boot the PC. After the OS is started it shouldn't really be doing anything other than some low level monitoring of voltages and temperatures. Maybe install something like Speedfan and monitor the voltages for a while to see if they are stable? (http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php)

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

Oh hi! I'm going to write a song with aggravating lyrics and then proceed with "haters gonna hate!".

[Omega Lairon]

(snip)

Turns out it was the PSU

Also, I dug out the ingrown hair, so everything is groovy again.

[Kapol]

Fuck this laptop. I got it because it was fairly cheap, and decently powerful. Most of it works fine. But the one part that doesn't is so important that it makes me want to pull my hair out. The mousepad.

If I type for any length of time (and even when I just stop using it for a minute, them mousepad will sometimes just... stop working. When it starts to move, it's janky and only moves a little bit in random directions. It also randomly 'clicks' as if I double pressed it. I have lost many, many words to it exiting out of webpages when I'm writing.

It's also positioned that, when I'm writing, my wrist bumps into it. Which means I'm mid-sentence when I either stop writing entirely. Or, alternatively, accidentally erase a big chunk due to it mass selecting text, or even just suddenly typing in another part of the bubble.

[Jamfalcon]

Do you ever use a regular mouse? If so, maybe it would help to disable the pad (I think you can in device manager? Not positive where off the top of my head) when you don't need it and it'll just be an annoyance.

[Master Gunner]

Yeah, I pretty much always use a mouse and disable the touchpad on a laptop. Usually there's a button or one of the function keys to turn it off.

[Kapol]

I do have a mouse, but it's a wired one. The main issue is I don't always have room to use it, and carrying it around can be a hassle. It's frustrating because the pad generally works. And by the time I get the mouse when it stops working, it starts working again anyways.

I'm more just frustrated that everything works fine but the mousepad, with no fix in sight for it.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

I was checking my internet banking, and thought I'd investigate direct debiting (for future use). I saw I could see active direct debits. I was naturally curious.

I found out I was paying someone £25 every 3 months.

What happened was that I bought a replacement Bamboo Graphics Tablet pen off eBay and paid through Paypal. Somehow, instead of a one-off payment, it was £25 every 3 months.

So I cancelled it. I pay the amount I needed to pay and stopped the weird thing.

I don't know if it's a computer error, or the seller was sinister and malicious. Grrrr.

[Fenrir]

YOU. ARE NOT. IN LOVE. WITH HER.

We're talking about a girl you've literally been in any kind of real proximity with for AROUND a week, who you met on a beach in Hawaii while probably more than a little drunk, made out with - while showing interest in ANOTHER girl - and probably had sex with, and then entered into a relationship with.

Yet now you're going on about how she's the love of your life, and you wanna marry her, and you're LITERALLY going to be moving her down to your part of the country to live with you.

Again, this is a girl you've known FOR. A. WEEK. (And I mean properly known). You've also not even been in the relationship a month.

It says something as well that all your friends could do was comment on her looks.

....Yet somehow no one bats an eyelid at your relationship. They're all for it, and no one stops to consider how this will probably end BADLY for one of you two.

[auberginequeen]

This goddamn course!

So back in Summer 2014 I took a course that was necessary for my grad degree. However, I wasn't technically enrolled in the program at the time. As a result, the course doesn't show up on my transcript. This course is required to graduate... but the Grad Office has no indication I did, in fact, take it. The training people said I was all good and that the course was outdated, and asked me to provide links to where the inaccurate info is located. I did.

Fast forward to last term. None of the info about the course I provided has been changed or removed. My degree requirements still state I need to have completed the course. There is still no record of my taking the course on my transcript (though apparently someone, somewhere has my certification "on file" - whether or not the records people know about this is anyone's guess). A friend of mine enrolled in the course in the Summer to cover his ass. With his advice and the advice of my family and friends, I decide to do likewise and enroll in the course in Fall, just so there is some record I took it at some point. (This is a very informal "course", it's online pass/fail - think WHMIS training. And for the record, I asked 3 different university departments about what I should do, and each of them gave me a different, unhelpful answer).

Now, looking at my transcript at 4 AM in Winter, I see I received an "incomplete" for the course. No one contacted me about this (or any of the course content, or added me to anything, nothing) the entire term and now I have an "incomplete" despite having already done it previously (it's not unusual at the grad level to add students to courses in a different term than they completed them just for the sake of bureaucracy).

I am now hoping the same training person who said that I was okay can/will help me out here and get the designation changed. I did the work... in Summer 2014, when I wasn't technically a student. There are records. I'm just pissed off and frightened this might keep me from graduating this summer if it's not resolved. I wonder if I had been better off not registering at all, however I get the feeling I would have been rejected either way because I was missing the course.

Sigh.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

My art business e-mail address has a limit with how much data it can send in an e-mail.

This was a problem today when I e-mailed two potential stockists of my merchandise, and my e-mail got bounced for being too big. (Included image files of the designs.)

So I had to send the e-mails from my personal derpy e-mail address. Sign.

[Elomin Sha]

Tip: have a mediafire account to dump art and email them the link.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

I'll use that next time.
Or link from my website.

[MinniChi]

Overtime was missing from my paycheck. I really hope it is fixed for Monday. Or at least for the next pay. I'm also supposed to get another 8-12 hours overtime for the next pay check. I hope they don't "forget" to add it on.

[hacofo]

Screwed up a test for University where 60% of the content where introduced the Week before, by someone that hasn't had a clue what they were doing...

So I'm not to happy...

[Elomin Sha]

Bring it up with your course lead, my class did that a couple times with one of our lecturers who mucked up in a similar way.

[hacofo]

Might be worth a try, but with the track-record complaints this Semester have.
I might be using my time more efficiently, and less frustrating if I start learning for the repeat exam.

[Zombaholic]

I was basing my success on quality not quantity of my work load, and now I'm on thin ice. I wish someone told me they were looking for numbers 5 months ago, and that when my teammate asked if they wanted to animate my shots that was a bad thing. It's all so frustrating to know I've been doing it wrong this whole time and no one was telling me.

[Fenrir]

So, let me get this straight....

Despite the fact he's now working full time - literally getting up at 6am each work day and not getting home til around 6-7pm - you guys STILL insist on taking up basically all his free time with stupid shit you could PROBABLY do yourselves? Despite knowing full damn well y'all now have more free time than he does.

I like you guys, but fuck. you. That is some bullshit. It's also cutting into MY time with him at the weekend.

[Merrymaker_Mortalis]

Mum gets angry at me asking why I cannot catch the bus that gets me to voluntary work 10 mins before shift start. I decide to yield and accept.
Immediately dives into something else inflammatory and keeps talking at me in my room.

Mum pisses me off often.