MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and
chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.
20 July 2010
This is a crabbing thread→[More:]Crab crab crab. Calling me 3 times before noon does not make me more likely to help you; it just annoys me. Crab crab crab. The postage machine is broken and I have important things to mail. Crab crab crab.
Hey I thought this was going to be about crabbing! I bought some crab traps yesterday and I was hoping for some bait tips. I usually use cut-up chicken.
My dad and I used to go crabbing. Good memories. Until he hauled up the traps (those pyramid-shaped ones) and they always got tangled in the line and they didn't fold out neatly like they were supposed to but instead emerged out of the water slightly wonky and open on one side and the crabs would sense their doom and, clambering for freedom, spill out onto the dock and scuttle in every direction but MOSTLY towards my tennis shoes and they'd wave their angry little claws at my shoelaces and I was sure they'd climb up my socks and pinch my knees and OH GOD THE CRABS!!!
Oh, I'm ready to crab the nasty kind of crab. To the people making me crabby today: There's no need to hang me out to dry because of your executive-team politics. Screw you. Find another scapegoat.
I have another beach story! We went to the Outer Banks a few years ago for vacation. At night, the ghost crabs come out. It's the scariest thing ever. There are literally hundreds of thousands of them on the beach. They're only about 2 inches long. You can't see or hear them at night, but they're all over the beach, and when you walk, they scurry silently out of the way of your feet at the very last possible nanosecond. They know your foot is coming, even in the dark.
My SIL knew about the crabs, I didn't. We went for a walk on the beach at night, she wanted to show me a McMansion that was being built down the block from where we were staying. So I went barefoot. I didn't know any better. On the walk back, she turned on a flashlight and I saw. I saw the horror. I was barefoot, and I screamed with every agonizing step, the whole way home.
The next night I had waders on. No way those little fuckers were getting anywhere near me. Sneaky little bastards.
haha pups when I was a kid growing up in MD, we used to catch them in nets off the docks and dump them into pails... except they never would drop cleanly out of the nets into the pails (those crabby crabby claws!) and of course because we were kids 9 times out of 10 we'd go charging about on the dock chasing our siblings with a pissed off crab stuck in / dangling from the net waving its pincers and snapping at anything that moved; bonus points if it was Tasty Sibling Flesh. About half the time they'd wriggle free and fall back in the water. I'm not sure how much we really cared, because OMG I'M CHASING MY STUPIDHEAD BROTHER WITH A LIVE CRAB LULZ!!!!
all in all it sorta resembled that scene in Labyrinth where those knights are jousting with the nasty little bitey creatures tied to the ends of their lances. Only with more splashing and screaming.
Now, have all you crabbers had something to eat? Because I was reading this on my lunch break:
"It is -- certainly with me it is -- a symptom of fatigue and want of food to marvel at the ways of men. My spirit goes more and more inclined to carp as my body grows more tired and hungry. When I am not too weary and have [had breakfast], my thoughts have a cheerful way of fixing themselves entirely on the happy side of things, and life seems extraordinarily charming. But I see nothing happy and my soul is lost in blackness if, for many hours, I have had no food."
I wish. My husband has roped me into going some church-related fundraiser after work (granted, it's for a very good cause). I plan to get there early, eat, and leave as quickly as possible.
I am monstrously crabby today. I was tired this morning so I drank a cup of coffee, which I have not done in months, and proceeded to have a minor heart attack while talking 100 miles an hour. Then I got a headache which is still here. I am supposed to go to a friend's house tonight for a bbq to celebrate her engagement, and right now I'm feeling too overwhelmed with work and home chores to imagine going. I got ridiculous attitude from someone who should be kissing my ass today, so that hasn't helped. And I consistently and constantly get attitude from certain paralegals at work which fricking pisses me off because I was once a paralegal and I would never act the way they do.
I applied, via e-mail, for a job elsewhere on campus. The acknowledgment of receipt was as follows: a pdf of the paper acknowledgment letter, scanned it in so it was three pages long (one page letter, blank sheet, another copy of the letter), sent out to 15 applicants with obvious names in e-mails. So, hey! Now I know who my competitors are. Oh, and they know who I am, too. LOVELY.
The person in question is the executive assistant to the director (who is brand new, since they've been a mess for like a decade). She's been there since I worked there in 2002. I've since applied for jobs there at least five times. Not only have I never made it to the next round, I'm pretty sure this isn't the first time I've been identified in such a lazy fashion.
It pisses me off that people like her (not a bad person, per se, but driving me crazy) can stay there while my boss, who from my perspective has done a great job, is getting fired as a scapegoat.
So here I am in Buffalo, visiting my mom with my wife and son. By visiting, I mean staying in her house and getting brow-beat severely and having to listen to my mom complain about everything and and everyone. It's getting really hard to visit mom.
We have to listen to story after story, mostly made up but with just enough truth that we can't call BS on her, about how the world would have simply fallen apart, had she not stepped to to right the wrongs and save the day.
Oh, doohickie, that is so hard. I'm sorry you are having to deal with that. In my humble opinion, which comes from dealing with my own crabby, difficult mom for years, your mom is probably saying I Need You I Need You But I Will Never Ever Ask.
I called my doctor's office 36 hours ago and have not gotten a response (yes, I called back again today and left another message). It's not a dire emergency (or I'd just go to the hospital) but it is rather important. I liked her in person so I'm reluctant to fire her just yet.
Also, I thought I had cancelled my renter's insurance LAST YEAR by phone, but they auto-renewed the policy, which I didn't find out until they'd taken the premium out of my bank account. I called them again today and was put through a barrage of questions about why I was cancelling.
When talking about our various summer vacations—which I asked for over a month ago and got approved and paid for the ticket and got my passport and everything—my boss said that she was thinking of leaving the office on the same day I'd been approved to leave. When I reminded her of that, she made the following "joke":
"Well, then I guess you're just going to have to re-schedule then... *with teasing smile*"
I am in Mexico for work and it sucks and the only reason I agreed to come down here was for good Mexican food and it is day 3 and I have not had anything other than crappy American food so far.
My university is requiring that all students replace their ID cards such that incoming freshman will be likely to open new bank accounts with a predetermined national bank. Hi, I'd like the credit union version, please?
The skein of yarn I'm using to crochet a baby blanket is hopelessly tangled. It's the worst I have ever seen, and I'm spending far more time untangling knots (which is not my cup of tea) than actually making something cuddly. This makes me cross.
Also, I have a headache which just will not go away.
And I really don't want to go with my friend to his chemo treatment tomorrow, which is terribly mean of me, but I'm just tired and grumpy and not in the mood for hanging out and bad cancer jokes. I'll go, but I sure hope I can get my attitude adjusted before tomorrow morning.
Well, we survived the visit with my mom. We left Buffalo and drove to Albany. We're currently at my sis-in-law's house getting ready for lasagna dinner.
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
