The Bummer and Rant Thread

[Flashjeff]

Here's a prime example of the risks and perils inherent with living in the inner city.

Early Friday night, a man was shot here in Philly. Sadly, that happens here with a disturbing regularity as 105 people were murdered since 2007 began, the difference with this victim was that he was in his house, in his second floor bedroom getting dressed for work when a stray bullet, fired from God only knows where crashed through his window, struck him and wound up killing him. Let me emphasize this: this poor guy was in his house when he was killed! Absolutely mindboggling!

Where he lives is barely half a mile away from where I live, and only four blocks from a nearby police precinct. Needless to say, even someone like me who's been numbed to all the chaos that comes from living in a sometimes dangerous inner city all my life, this incident shocked me pretty good, making me wonder if I might one day wind up being a statistic, someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. When you're not safe in your own house, where are you safe?

 

[Kinsao]

^ omg Jeff, that's awful! ☝ It certainly makes my bummers and rants pale into insignificance.

My only complaint today is that my mum absolutely totally and utterly does. not. like. my. boyfriend. Which wouldn't be so bad, except that I am beginning to think she is right... he is selfish, immature and an idiot.

 

[KirinMan]

Flash I'm sorry that you have to live in that environment.

One of the many reasons that I choose to raise my kids here in Japan. I don't have to "fear" that my kids are going to get murdered by either a drive by or random bullet coming through the house.

Thank goodness for the strict gun control laws here in Japan.

 

[Flashjeff]

And it only gets worse I'm afraid. Last night, an anti-violence rally was held on a street corner only a few blocks away from my house, and, wouldn't you know it, gunfire erupted during the rally as some lunatic fired into that crowd of people. A woman was hit in the back and hospitalized but is expected to pull through. Just when I thought I couldn't be shocked any more at the level of violence in my hometown, something like this happens to remind me that the madness is alive and well. As much as I love Philadelphia, the city I was born and raised in, if I could move, I would, in a heartbeat.

 

[Flashjeff]

Life must be good for the folks here since I last posted here. Well, I have a brand new bummer, and boy, is it ever an expensive one. And it's all my fault to boot. I went to the dentist for the first time in four years (mostly out of fear), and all sorts of unpleasant things were found. To make a long story short, I need a goodly amount of treatment, in fact, my treatment plan ran two whole pages, covering four appointments! I'm gonna need teeth cleaning, an extraction and the ever dreaded root canal. UGH! As for the expensive part----try nearly $6,800.00!!! Fortunately, I have health insurance, so my out of pocket expense will be just over $3,700.00, to be paid via an installment plan I qualified for. Still, it's a hefty sum, if only I'd been more diligent about visiting the dentist, I probably wouldn't have these problems. Moral to this story: don't ignore your teeth, folks, visit your dentist regularly, or you'll wind up paying through the nose to fix problems like I am!

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Well worth taking care of !

Dealing with dentures is a real pain and the price of implants is unbelievable. Dentistry today is almost painless except in the pocketbook. Your teeth look great in all your pics Jeff!

Uncle Frank

 

[Mars Man]

Oh man...OUCH...does that hurt. With the insurance plans here in Japan, the out of the pocket costs are much less than that, but the number of visits can stretch out over some three to four months, depending on what the problem is. Good luck !! MM

 

[Kinsao]

Aww gosh, i'm sorry to hear that, Jeff. I hate going to the dentist, but not because of the pain or anything - for that very reason, that every time i go i'm convinced the dentist is gonna tell me i need lots of expensive work! ☝ *hides*

 

[Mycernius]

I partially feel for you Jeff. I left going to the dentists for years. When I finally went I had a major descale and root canal and a tooth capped. I thought the 250 pounds I paid was a bit steep (around 500 dollars), but your bills pale mine into insignificance. With the shhotings and high dental bill you need to move to another country. UKs nice this time of year

 

[Kinsao]

I got a phone call from my ex(?)bf(?) last night - his younger brother has been in a bad car crash and is in hospital. We don't yet know how badly he's hurt - x/bf was just on his way there to see him, in a bit of a state as you'd expect, he's really close to his bro.

 

[Ma Cherie]

I got a phone call from my ex(?)bf(?) last night - his younger brother has been in a bad car crash and is in hospital. We don't yet know how badly he's hurt - x/bf was just on his way there to see him, in a bit of a state as you'd expect, he's really close to his bro.

I'm soo sorry to hear that Kinsao. I hope everything okay.

 

[storeyinallinanyways]

Gosh Kinsao, that is awful. Hope he is ok.

 

[Kinsao]

Thank you Ma Cherie and storeyinallinanyways. I'm happy to say that I heard that he is alright.

As for bummer and rant... I want to apologise to someone, but am finding it impossible to get hold of them on the phone. ☝ I hope they aren't avoiding me...

 

[Mars Man]

I surely hope not !! Please keep on trying, and don't think negatively yet...and great news on your ex's younger brother !! I've been down that road before, though maybe it wasn't that bad.

 

[Flashjeff]

Well, I had the first of my four appointments (deep cleaning) today. They did the whole right side of my mouth, top and bottom, and from the way the hygenist was digging and scraping around, I must've had lots of gunk in there. As I type these words of wit(?), the novacain I was given prior to the procedure has worn off, so I'm looking forward to lots of fun tonight. However, no rest for the weary as I'll be right back in the chair Thursday to have the left side cleaned. Yeah, the expensive is considerable, more than I was prepared to deal with, but I can handle it. Like I have a choice. Oh, well.

 

[Haru-san`sTeiraa]

My boyfriend and I broke up over the weekend...

 

[Grandpa Frank]

The poor fool......

My boyfriend and I broke up over the weekend...

give him a day or two and he will come crawling back, begging you to forgive him.Love as a teen is the most painful of all I think. I remember being in pain for a week after break-ups; a broken heart sure hurts.

Uncle Frank

 

[Kinsao]

My boyfriend and I broke up over the weekend...

.....*big hug*.....

 

[Anchyyy]

My boyfriend and I broke up over the weekend...

I know how you feel... *hugs*

 

[Kinsao]

^ seems like it's 3 of us together... *group hug*

 

[Grandpa Frank]

UGH !!

Just got the bill for getting rid of the big tree that fell in my back yard during the storm - $600 US. I was hopeing to put that money into a new desktop PC, darn.

Uncle Frank

 

[Sukotto]

Just got the bill for getting rid of the big tree that fell in my back yard during the storm - $600 US. I was hopeing to put that money into a new desktop PC, darn.
Uncle Frank

doesn't home owners insurance cover something like that?
on the bright side, now you've got a bunch of fire wood.
you could even sell it in bundles. you'll get no where near 600$ i'm sure,
but a little bit?

 

[Kinsao]

^ omg that's a lot! *pat-pat*
haha, Sukotto, you have a good business head!

my rant... yesterday i received the most insulting text i have ever had in my life
i am still blazing mad about it! :angryfire: :box:
i don't normally lose my temper, but when i do... phew...

 

[Zaff]

Operating Systems Assignment HELL!!!!! It has to be done for Friday its a complete pain in the backside! Not only do I have to go into some extreme detail on how an OS works. I need to go and sign a contract for my house for next year so I have somewhere to live (and trash ). This means I have Thursday and Friday morning to do heaps of work and its just going to kill me :'(

Oh and in the terms of explaining some of the functions of the OS is say everybody should use DOS! So much easier to explain...

 

[Goldiegirl]

Sorry you have so much work Zaff.

My bummer and rant is my own fault. I finally got rid of the Hillary Clinton haircut, which is great, but the bummer and rant is that I had my hair colored dark brown with some gold highlights. The color is pretty, but not on me. It's darker than my hair has ever been and I don't know if I can get used to it. I can't believe I did that.