Pet Peeves: Aka Things That Make You Go "Gah!"

[ABay]

CT has only had Sunday liquor sales for a couple of years, and the stores still close at 9 pm. I think that in New England the persistence of some of the laws is meant to protect the package stores, which are small businesses. There is some restriction on Sunday sales of beer at supermarkets but I don't what it is, I just know that early Sunday morning is the only time I see the shroud pulled over the refrigerator cases and shelves. 

Even in OH, with the drive-through liquor store, there was some Sunday limit on sales at Kroger. If the cashier was under 18? 21? they had to call for older back-up to touch the demon liquor. 

My elderly neighbor is currently house bound and I've been tasked with getting her half gallon of Cutty Sark every now and then. It would be more convenient if I could do that at Stop & Shop but since I stop at Liquor Land (that is really it's name) for sangria rather often, it's not really a hardship.

One last alcohol observation: in Ontario, I used to see stores that just said BEER. That's what they sell and that's what they're called. 

[ZaldamoWilder]

21 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

We have EVERYTHING here, damn it (though I could do just fine with only three of the four seasons, thank you)--except, apparently, booze in our supermarkets! 
 

We have the most bizarre and misguided sign on our office fridge: "Be considerate of others: label your food." What?! I am expected to identify myself...so that a thief can decide who is a more desirable coworker to steal lunch from? Labeled or not, you'd think that in a place full of adults, it would be a given that, if you didn't put it in there, you don't take it out. Also, we have free bagels every Friday; because of weirdo thieves, I can't leave my dairy-free cream cheese here, and am forced to carry a splorp of it from home every week in order to partake!

I tend to pretzel up at work, usually in sort of a collapsed-to the-side-kneel (hip and part of butt on seat, with legs bent at the knees and folded off to the side. Luckily I'm a small person in a big chair). I've gotten a few weird looks from people who come up to talk to me. However, I feel they are just jealous of my flexibility...or maybe just my fancy seat.

Lol.  Voting yes on seasons or I'll take the four they have in L.A. summer, summer spring and summer.   It's rare but you can buy liquor in select supermarkets in NJ.  The kicker may be that hard liquor must be sold in its own standalone entity.  The town where I grew up has a liquor store attached that you would think is part of the supermarket because they have the same name and share the same retail space.  But you can't pay for anything in Shoprite Liquors that came from Shoprite supermarket and vice versa.  I was going to say Trader Joe's might be the exception but you can't buy hard liquor in there (in NJ) either, just wine and beer.    I can see it being a pain in the ass if a storm's coming and you just want to pick something up while you're already in the store but we're not short on liquor stores.  Besides, anyone who's ever been in NJ when a storm was coming will tell you we really only sell out eggs, milk, bread and syrup because we're serious as fuck about our french toast. 

I love your company's employee labeling policy.   I hardly ever put stuff in the fridge anymore but when I did I had a favorite note:  already has my dna on it, but take your chances.  Highly effective ;-)

 

Quote

On 6/25/2016 at 11:36 PM, auntlada said:

A number of years ago, we had a big ruckus in town about restrictions on how many unrelated people could live in a house and whether or not you could park on the lawn, etc., mostly because of college students. People thought that restricting the number of college students who could live together in one house to three would stop them from having big parties. At least that's what they said. They complained about noise and parties and parking. For two of those (noise and parties), they already have means to do something about them: Call the police. If someone is having a loud party outside (or inside but is loud enough to hear in the next several houses) or otherwise making lots of noise at 2 a.m., the police will come and stop it.

 

Ok.  I need ya'lls help with this exact thing.  Specifically the wording on a postcard to my neighbor.  She lives in a house on the corner across the street from me (and 6 other houses on our side of the street).   She's got a yard large enough for a pool and some outdoor tables and regularly puts them to good use.  Fine.  On Saturday she had a party that began at 3pm, lasted until 3 am.  The music was so loud I could hear it on the other side of my house with all my windows closed.  This is a regular occurrence for her.  I called the police at 10:06 and every 45 minutes thereafter that the music continued.  They were backlogged with noise complaints and said they'd get to mine.  Never did, she just knocked it off before they showed up if they showed up.  It's not unusual for this neighbor.  She's relatively new, been there less than 2 years and whenever she has a party, the rest of us just aren't gonna get any sleep.  What can I tell her that's strong enough to be effective but mild enough to keep us off Judge Judy in a postcard (because letters in envelopes marked "dear homeowner" automatically get thrown in the trash).   What would ya'll respond to if you got a card like that in the mail.  I just want to be able to rest at home, damn. 

 

@krimimimi I don't think I saw the update, what ever happened with the Moochersons? Lol.

[auntlada]

I can't help you with the letter because I am always afraid people will go, well, postal (albeit not in a workplace) about things like that. (Can we still say "go postal" without offending people? I mean, I live in the state where one of the things that caused the phrase happened, but I don't know.)

What my husband often does is pick a time when he thinks those neighbors will be trying to sleep or relax (but not the middle of the night) and then goes outside to practice his bagpipes. He does it when our neighbor's dog won't stop barking.

[ZaldamoWilder]

Lol.  Oh girl, I can Petty Murphy with the best of them.   But, I can't irritate her without punishing the rest of my neighbors too.  Worse?  she might like it.

[JTMacc99]

15 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I hate that I can't pump my own gas in New Jersey or Oregon.  When I'm in Portland, if I'm planning to cross the border to Vancouver, Washington, I try to do it with an empty tank so I can fill it up myself over there.

I grew up in NJ, so I'm kind of used to it. Now that I'm across the border in NY, I FAR prefer to pump my own gas for the reasons you stated.

However, I will also run my car to empty to cross the border into NJ to take advantage of the $0.40 per gallon lower taxes.

1 hour ago, ZaldamoWilder said:

But you can't pay for anything in Shoprite Liquors that came from Shoprite supermarket and vice versa.

The one in Oakland near where I grew up had the same setup you described.  There was also an A&P, I think it was in Allendale, where the wine and liquor store was in the actual store, but it had it's own register.

[ZaldamoWilder]

3 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

I grew up in NJ, so I'm kind of used to it. Now that I'm across the border in NY, I FAR prefer to pump my own gas for the reasons you stated.

However, I will also run my car to empty to cross the border into NJ to take advantage of the $0.40 per gallon lower taxes.

The one in Oakland near where I grew up had the same setup you described.  There was also an A&P, I think it was in Allendale, where the wine and liquor store was in the actual store, but it had it's own register.

Did you hear that just today in fact, lawmakers decided to revoke this privilege?  In time for the 4th of July weekend, you won't be looking to cross bridges and tunnels anymore, we're about to incur a (n average) $0.25 hike per gallon.  

Paramus girl.  Hey neighbor! 

[TattleTeeny]

Butler, NJ, over here--not far from the wilds of West Milford (of the famed Clinton Road), a place that can almost make you wonder if you ended up well out of Jersey somehow, haha!

[backformore]

19 hours ago, Petunia13 said:

In Illinois you can drink alcohol while you shop. At Marianos people offer shop holding a glass of wine or mimosa or browse with a pint of beer. 

All three are sold at gas stations, liquor stores, grocery stores, street fears, block parties ect

chicago is not at all tightassed when it comes to this shit 

Yeah, Mariano's is always trying to get me drunk!  wine samples, vodka samples, a new line of mixed rum drinks -  sample! sample!  sample! I usually pass, because it's early in the day.  (and I have to drive home)

I like having wine for sale in the grocery store if I'm shopping for ingredients for dinner, I can select a wine to go along with dinner at the same time.

17 hours ago, Quof said:

In those states where alcohol is sold in supermarkets or corner stores, must the cashier be over 21 in order to sell it? 

Cashiers are often as young as 16.  They cannot sell alcohol until age 21. So they yell out "21 on  register 5" to summon an adult manager or supervisor over to their register.  The over-21 person then moves the alcohol past the scanner, which is the action that legally, I guess, constitutes a "sale". Then the underage cashier continues the process.  No matter how busy, or how long it takes a manager to get to the register, to move alcohol along the line past the scanner is a crime.  And the police, at least where I am, send people in to check on the procedure.

It's actually a good system.   The law actually protects teens working at a store  from being persuaded or coerced by friends (or bullies)  into selling them alcohol. 

[JTMacc99]

11 minutes ago, ZaldamoWilder said:

Did you hear that just today in fact, lawmakers decided to revoke this privilege?  In time for the 4th of July weekend, you won't be looking to cross bridges and tunnels anymore, we're about to incur a (n average) $0.25 hike per gallon.  

Paramus girl.  Hey neighbor! 

No! I did not hear that. Well that sucks. I mean, the taxes are still more abusive across the board (income and sales for example) here in NY (I'm in Orange County) but closing the gap on gas is a nasty change.  

 

6 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

Butler, NJ, over here--not far from the wilds of West Milford (of the famed Clinton Road), a place that can almost make you wonder if you ended up well out of Jersey somehow, haha!

Yes, that's up in my neck of the woods. Where the bear and coyotes play. 

[TattleTeeny]

After three years here (and all over North Jersey before that), I finally saw a bear! Broad daylight and he's ambling through the grass behind my condo completely carefree before doing a cute little skippy-hop into the trees with his big bear butt!

The other night, I heard a crazy-ass scream outside. I muted the TV and did one of those "did I hear that?" head-tilt faces and it happened again! I went out onto my dark balcony, which faces the woods, and it happened again, causing me to yell and hop around as if the floor had suddenly turned to hot coals! I found out the next day that it was likely foxes mating! Ugh, it was so gloriously creepy though--reminded me of the story "The Boarded Window" by Ambrose Bierce. Sometimes it's hard to believe I am two minutes away from two busy highways.

 

Edited June 28, 2016 by TattleTeeny

[GHScorpiosRule]

On June 26, 2016 at 7:07 PM, stewedsquash said:

@GHScorpiosRule If you have questions, I think all post offices have a post master that you can talk to. If each office does not have one there should be a central one. You should call and ask about this. 

Quoting you again @stewedsquash because I got my answer today. Post Master was not available, but the agent I spoke with gave me the numbers for a supervisor-WHO told me that , NO, agents are not prohibited from helping customers out who asked the questions I did.  On the contrary, they're supposed to help as much as they possibly can. She knew exactly wh I was talking about when I described the agent who I dealt with and apologized on her behalf.  

I feel better knowing I wasn't asking the agent to break the law.

Still not going back to that one, though.

[JTMacc99]

2 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

The other night, I heard a crazy-ass scream outside. I muted the TV and did one of those "did I hear that?" head-tilt faces and it happened again! I went out onto my dark balcony, which faces the woods, and it happened again, causing me to yell and hop around as if the floor had suddenly turned to hot coals! I found out the next day that it was likely foxes mating! Ugh, it was so gloriously creepy though--reminded me of the story "The Boarded Window" by Ambrose Bierce. Sometimes it's hard to believe I am two minutes away from two busy highways.

Awesome. Hee!

Foxes are cute though. They're all fur and they eat all of the disgusting rodents. I think they weigh about the same as my Italian Greyhound at 20 pounds.  The Coyotes makes some seriously awful noises at night too.

[ABay]

6 hours ago, ZaldamoWilder said:

Voting yes on seasons or I'll take the four they have in L.A. summer, summer spring and summer

I thought the 4 LA seasons were wildfire, mudslide, earthquake, and drought.

[shapeshifter]

20 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I love windchimes, but this made me laugh, namely because my apartment complex has far more bass-booming drive-throughs (at 2:30 in the morning) than windchimes. I have a small set of windchimes hanging on the balcony. I have a couple inside. They're good for chi, supposedly. There's no wind inside.

The wind chimes next door sound like a bicycle bell that a kid is endlessly twanging. Fortunately, my hearing isn't as sharp anymore, so it doesn't bother me much. Forty years ago while caretaking a home miles from any other living souls, I made wind chimes from oyster shells. I took them down after a few days because they were driving me batty.

 

An odd liquor law: When I wanted to purchase a small amount of vodka to try in a mixed drink at night for my sciatica (I'd been a tea-totaler since I was married to an alcoholic even though we parted over 30 years ago), I discovered that at least in Lake County, IL (don't know about the state) you can't buy anything smaller than a frickin' fifth!

[krimimimi]

Yeah, sorry, @ZaldamoWilder and anyone else interested, I was writing about our adventures with the SFMoochersons, when I got a massive dose of perspective which pretty much took the wind out of my sails (more details in the relationship thread if curious). 

Swiss Family Moochersons (hee!) meet the Mimis: 

Recap: friends of hubs' just invited themselves over to watch television and eat our food. By text. "That's ok, isn't it?"

1) They descended upon us as expected, and brought neither food nor beverages, just ravenous family members. (side-eye) I hid out upstairs for the most part, and didn't subject myself to icky sports or unwanted entertaining just because of peer pressure. Thanks to everyone's support (from here), I didn't even feel like a jerk, but watched a nice mystery instead. Bliss.

2) I did talk to Mr. Mimi about the situation, but he doesn't get it. We agreed we both felt blindsided by the Moochersons, but somehow he felt that put us in the same boat. Um??? I couldn't seem to get him to understand that *he* was the one that allowed this to happen. (Hopefully part of that is denial, and he's not just thick. Fortunately, he's pretty. ;-)) So nothing solved there, and it's likely to happen again. Hmmm.

3) I was annoyed that the DIY ceased to be a priority, but just did a lot of it myself and learned some stuff in the process. It would have been easier (and quicker, and better) with help, but the result is ok. Atta Mimi! Biscuit for me.

4) I let the hubs do most of the cleaning in preparation (:-)), but I *did* cook (:-|). I know a bunch of you are shaking your heads, but I don't think that makes me a total doormat, because I believe in team work. Give and take. Sometimes he gets sucked into doing stuff for me that he hates. (truer words... sigh)

But the real success for me lies in accepting (at least a little bit) that if I don't want other people to dictate my life, that I won't/can't always be nice, popular or sometimes even reasonable. When I kicked up a fuss, hubs tried a provocative "I'll never invite them again," which is excessive (and inaccurate) and normally leads to me relenting, but instead I just ran with it and said "good." It's worth noting that Mr. Mimi isn't a drama queen, if he says it, he means it, and he's ridiculously stubborn. He's completely likely to *not* invite them for a couple of years. It will end with me begging him to do so... But I can live with that.

 

Now for the reality check:

Crack of dawn a few days ago, Mr. Mimi's out walking the dog (per usual), and he runs into a friend of mine, also out with her dog, sobbing. Clued in chap that he sometimes is, he basically tucked her under his arm and brought her home, woke me, and set me off to sort it. (If we're being snarky, we could say this continues his trend of surprising me with random guests, but...)

Her MIL had passed unexpectedly in the night and her husband had completely lost the plot, thoroughly malignantly, and his rantings and behavior left her and subsequently us wondering if she is even safe around him. Zero to 80 in no time flat, this came out of the deepest blue. 

There was a *lot* of drama here this weekend. She kept going home and then coming back to us in tears. Hubs loathes drama, and yet he didn't even blink. He just kept sweeping up all the extra dog hair between visits. Further, she was having trouble wrapping her head around the idea that she could actually be in danger, and felt that surely we wouldn't be able to believe it as she scarcely believed it herself, and he reassured her that he took her at her word. (Which he did.) Hearing that from a guy proved more comforting to her than coming from me. <3

When the doorbell rang, and I went to get it (we'd accepted a package for the neighbors), he swooped downstairs to get to the door first. (I'm slow, so that works.) He considered it possible that her husband might be there, and he didn't want me answering it. <3<3

You know those moments when you look at your partner and know why you love them? Yeah. This weekend was full of them. And also of reminders of how fragile that can be, and how thankful I should be for what I have. He was terrific. He didn't ignore someone in pain, he didn't hesitate to do what they needed, he sacrificed his weekend, he listened and believed and comforted (and swept! ooo!), and I positively adore him for it. So, not just a pretty face. And the human shield thing... Woof.

 

So anyway, now I feel like a bit of an ass for getting my nose bent out of joint at the Moocherson debacle. (Still, clearly they are sort of evil and their manners are pants.)

[Petunia13]

32 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

An odd liquor law: When I wanted to purchase a small amount of vodka to try in a mixed drink at night for my sciatica (I'd been a tea-totaler since I was married to an alcoholic even though we parted over 30 years ago), I discovered that at least in Lake County, IL (don't know about the state) you can't buy anything smaller than a frickin' fifth!

That's not true they sell those airplane bottles at binnys in highland park, il lake county. I think I've seen them in some c stores in Waukegan and North Chicago too. 

Edited June 28, 2016 by Petunia13

[shapeshifter]

20 minutes ago, Petunia13 said:

That's not true they sell those airplane bottles at binnys in highland park, il lake county. I think I've seen them in some c stores in Waukegan and North Chicago too. 

Wish I'd known that then. Are they a certain kind of store? Like not grocery or big box? Anyway, that was a couple of years ago, and I'm on my second fifth now.

[bilgistic]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

The wind chimes next door sound like a bicycle bell that a kid is endlessly twanging. Fortunately, my hearing isn't as sharp anymore, so it doesn't bother me much. Forty years ago while caretaking a home miles from any other living souls, I made wind chimes from oyster shells. I took them down after a few days because they were driving me batty.

My windchimes are little tinkly quiet, inoffensive brass chimes. I don't think you can even hear them unless you are standing within a few feet of them. I doubt I paid very much for them because I am cheap, but "good" windchimes are properly "tuned" to not be dissonant.

[auntlada]

54 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

My windchimes are little tinkly quiet, inoffensive brass chimes. I don't think you can even hear them unless you are standing within a few feet of them. I doubt I paid very much for them because I am cheap, but "good" windchimes are properly "tuned" to not be dissonant.

During the day, I'm OK with them, but at night if I have a window open, I don't care how tuned they are, they drive me crazy and keep me from sleeping. My mother-in-law finally put rubber bands around hers at night when we visited. They were right outside our window.

[Demented Daisy]

I am tired.  I am so, so tired of trying to be nice; trying to be polite; trying to follow the rules.  Then it bites me in the ass.  I try not to complain.  I try to roll with the punches, to maintain the peace.  I'm at an age when fighting with people (even over the internet) holds no interest for me.  

I try so hard, but sometimes I wonder why I bother any more.  The loudmouths, the assholes, they get all the perks.  They get the attention and the special treatment.  It's so frustrating.

The only reason I still do it is because I'd hate myself if I didn't.

[Wiendish Fitch]

28 minutes ago, Demented Daisy said:

I am tired.  I am so, so tired of trying to be nice; trying to be polite; trying to follow the rules.  Then it bites me in the ass.  I try not to complain.  I try to roll with the punches, to maintain the peace.  I'm at an age when fighting with people (even over the internet) holds no interest for me.  

I try so hard, but sometimes I wonder why I bother any more.  The loudmouths, the assholes, they get all the perks.  They get the attention and the special treatment.  It's so frustrating.

The only reason I still do it is because I'd hate myself if I didn't.

Oh, come and sit by me. I just try to think of it this way: the loudmouths and assholes may inherit the earth (or at least the attention and special treatment)... but no one will give a shit when they die. :)

[EighteenTwelve]

On 6/28/2016 at 3:22 AM, Babalu said:

And my OH town was dry. Except for the one hotel in town, which had a special dispensation, and a small bar that was only allowed to serve 3.2 beer. You had to go out of town to buy any alcohol you could take out. Weird, since it was a very liberal college town, but I guess there was quite a temperance movement there in the late 19th century.

You don't by any chance mean Oberlin, do you?  It was dry when I was there.  When I went back for my 10th reunion, I got the shock of my life when Gibson's was selling beer.

[krimimimi]

18 hours ago, Demented Daisy said:

I am tired.  I am so, so tired of trying to be nice; trying to be polite; trying to follow the rules.  Then it bites me in the ass.  I try not to complain.  I try to roll with the punches, to maintain the peace.  I'm at an age when fighting with people (even over the internet) holds no interest for me.  

I try so hard, but sometimes I wonder why I bother any more.  The loudmouths, the assholes, they get all the perks.  They get the attention and the special treatment.  It's so frustrating.

The only reason I still do it is because I'd hate myself if I didn't.

Please hang in there, Daisy. Don't let them win. They are toads; you are not.

I think in the long run it's far more important to be able to like and respect yourself than any perks surrendering to the morass might bring. To be able to do so as a person of standards just proves more challenging than if you have none. So they might win in the short term on the squeaky wheel principle and economy of effort, but I'm fairly certain good people get genuinely liked and the jerks don't. There's no substitute for genuine affection, and it can't be bought. (Shy of a pet store, anyway.)

[Babalu]

5 hours ago, EighteenTwelve said:

You don't by any chance mean Oberlin, do you?  It was dry when I was there.  When I went back for my 10th reunion, I got the shock of my life when Gibson's was selling beer.

Yes, Oberlin is my home town! I was just there last month visiting my mom, but still don't know whether you can buy alcohol, other than beer and bar drinks, in town. We always had to go to Johnny's Carryout, north of city limits - which was highly illegal since we were minors.

[Quof]

Woman in front of me at a Lebanese fast food restaurant, bitching because the dressing on her Greek salad isn't Greek dressing.   Um, lady, the sign on the door says "Lebanese", and the menu says "salad", and there are no olives or feta in the picture of the salad.   Those should have been your first, second and third clues that you have your cuisines confused.

[backformore]

  My pet peeve at the gym, is there is a box for "comments, suggestions and complaints".  It's  that dark plastic, but still transparent, with   a slot in the top, and an attached holder for a pen and pad of paper - like the size of post-it notes.  It's not at the desk where you sign in, it's on the gym side.  They put it on the counter after a gym member suggested that it would be nice to have a way to make anonymous comments.   (Up until then you could only comment on their website,  but you have to sign in with your name, and the comments were for everyone to see.)

Anyway -  There have been a few times when I saw a problem, and thought of writing a comment.  For the past month, when I think of it, I look, and there are no slips of paper in the box - none.  Why?  Because there is no pen, and no post-its in the compartment.  Now, this is a GYM.  so, nobody is carrying around pens and paper.  My purse is in the locker.  I could ask for paper and pen, but then the workers at the counter would know exactly who wrote the comment -  the lady who asked for paper.  The box is right there on the counter, so it's not "anonymous"  who wrote a comment, you have to ask for paper and then put the comment in the box right in front of the workers at the counter. and it's not on the side where you sign in, so walking around to the box when I still have my purse and stuff with me would make it obvious.   And I'm sure as soon as I left, they would read the comment, share it, and decide whether to pass it along or toss it.    I go to the gym at non-busy times, the higher-ups aren't there.   My only recourse, I guess, is to write a comment at home, bring it to the gym, and try to sneak it into the box when the people at the front are distracted.  ( they sit and look at their phones all evening, which is only one of the things I want to comment on)   

It's a small problem, in the grander scheme of things.  But it irritates the HELL out of me that someone went through the process of putting in a suggestion box and a sign, just to make it impossible for anyone to use it.  I guess they will conclude that everyone is happy, since they've had zero complaints.  But in reality, a lot of gym members are grumbling about various issues, mostly involving the staff who aren't doing their jobs. 

Thanks for listening (reading)  to my minor annoyance tonight.

[Sun-Bun]

Speaking of gym etiquette, does anyone else recoil in disgust at those gross guys who insist on grunting/groaning as they lift weights? Seriously, I don't care to hear anyone sounding/looking as though they're mid-orgasm when I'm just trying to squeeze in a quick jog on the treadmill. 

Coincidentally, many of those same gross guys are the same ones who loudly CLANG and BANG the weights/weight machines down when they're done with their strenuous extreme lifts. And then my sensitive ears and I are usually left jolted and aching in annoyance after this, wondering why I even attempt to hit the gym without earbuds in my iPhone, blaring a personal gym mix. But really, fellas, if you have to literally toss your weights to the floor/clang down weight machines in aching relief, I'm guessing your lifting wayyyy too much for your poor arms to capably handle. 

[Moose135]

6 hours ago, Sun-Bun said:

Speaking of gym etiquette, does anyone else recoil in disgust at those gross guys who insist on grunting/groaning as they lift weights?

Like this guy?

[Qoass]

I think it was Paula Poundstone who said if you have to grunt when picking something up, put it down!.

[Petunia13]

On June 30, 2016 at 11:03 PM, backformore said:

  My pet peeve at the gym, is there is a box for "comments, suggestions and complaints".  It's  that dark plastic, but still transparent, with   a slot in the top, and an attached holder for a pen and pad of paper - like the size of post-it notes.  It's not at the desk where you sign in, it's on the gym side.  They put it on the counter after a gym member suggested that it would be nice to have a way to make anonymous comments.   (Up until then you could only comment on their website,  but you have to sign in with your name, and the comments were for everyone to see.)

Anyway -  There have been a few times when I saw a problem, and thought of writing a comment.  For the past month, when I think of it, I look, and there are no slips of paper in the box - none.  Why?  Because there is no pen, and no post-its in the compartment.  Now, this is a GYM.  so, nobody is carrying around pens and paper.  My purse is in the locker.  I could ask for paper and pen, but then the workers at the counter would know exactly who wrote the comment -  the lady who asked for paper.  The box is right there on the counter, so it's not "anonymous"  who wrote a comment, you have to ask for paper and then put the comment in the box right in front of the workers at the counter. and it's not on the side where you sign in, so walking around to the box when I still have my purse and stuff with me would make it obvious.   And I'm sure as soon as I left, they would read the comment, share it, and decide whether to pass it along or toss it.    I go to the gym at non-busy times, the higher-ups aren't there.   My only recourse, I guess, is to write a comment at home, bring it to the gym, and try to sneak it into the box when the people at the front are distracted.  ( they sit and look at their phones all evening, which is only one of the things I want to comment on)   

It's a small problem, in the grander scheme of things.  But it irritates the HELL out of me that someone went through the process of putting in a suggestion box and a sign, just to make it impossible for anyone to use it.  I guess they will conclude that everyone is happy, since they've had zero complaints.  But in reality, a lot of gym members are grumbling about various issues, mostly involving the staff who aren't doing their jobs. 

Thanks for listening (reading)  to my minor annoyance tonight.

Write a Yelp review with a nickname as your SN ...or tweet the the business with an ambiguous handle....send an anonymous note via snail mail ....

[backformore]

On ‎7‎/‎1‎/‎2016 at 1:06 AM, Sun-Bun said:

Speaking of gym etiquette, does anyone else recoil in disgust at those gross guys who insist on grunting/groaning as they lift weights? Seriously, I don't care to hear anyone sounding/looking as though they're mid-orgasm when I'm just trying to squeeze in a quick jog on the treadmill. 

Coincidentally, many of those same gross guys are the same ones who loudly CLANG and BANG the weights/weight machines down when they're done with their strenuous extreme lifts. And then my sensitive ears and I are usually left jolted and aching in annoyance after this, wondering why I even attempt to hit the gym without earbuds in my iPhone, blaring a personal gym mix. But really, fellas, if you have to literally toss your weights to the floor/clang down weight machines in aching relief, I'm guessing your lifting wayyyy too much for your poor arms to capably handle. 

Yes, and what bugs me the MOST is when they use a machine and don't wipe it off afterwards. 

I belong to a community gym, run by the town.  It's every bit as nice as some of the private bigger name gyms, as far as I am concerned.  But the "ordinary"  folks who are just trying to keep in shape far outnumber the muscle-bound weightlifter.body builder types.  Sometimes those strongmen type guys seem to be showing off with the clanging of weights, and loading up machines with the highest possible weights. 

And yeah, my son is one of those weightlifters.  But he knows to not CLANG weights, and he always sets the machines back to a normal range.  He has also moved on to the kind of gym that caters to him more. 

[Quof]

Quote

Yes, and what bugs me the MOST is when they use a machine and don't wipe it off afterwards. 

I don't understand the insistence on wiping down a seat, such as on a stationary bike. There are 2 layers between my ass and that seat, and presumably for the next user as well. What do you think you're going to catch?

[backformore]

1 hour ago, Quof said:

I don't understand the insistence on wiping down a seat, such as on a stationary bike. There are 2 layers between my ass and that seat, and presumably for the next user as well. What do you think you're going to catch?

For me, it's more about the weight machines that, when you get up, have a layer of sweat on them.  that's nasty.

  But yeah, after reading an article about germs at the gym, I use the sani-wipes before and after I use any machine.

[zxy556575]

48 hours without a single peeve? That's annoying. ;-)

[ABay]

Here are a couple:

1. This site! Half the time when I click on a topc, it takes me to post 1, page 1 instead of the newest post. WTF?

2. My local PBS station, for many reasons. This minute, because they run ads for shows they are never going to show. Just now there were a bunch for cooking shows, including the Great British Bake Off, which I love. Fuck you, CPTV. Last year, they ran episodes at 3 am. Or didn't, even though it would be on the on screen guide. You know where I have to watch that? On the national PBS website. Because you suck. The PBS app on Roku makes you set up an account and forces you to choose a local station. I picked the NYC station because CPTV, you suck. 

[BookWoman56]

I have a new one: the red tape one must go through to get certain prescriptions filled. My daughter is bipolar and has a few meds she takes for that condition, including one that she has been on for about 9 months now. However, because it is a very controlled substance, there are numerous hoops that must be jumped through to get the medicine. First, when she was initially prescribed this med, it took a few weeks for my health insurance to approve it, so I had to pay full price of $75 for it the first time. Now that their approval is on file, it is back down to a normal copay of $7, which is quite a difference. But there are so many rules around the use of the med that make it difficult to obtain. It requires a physical copy of the prescription, meaning that the doctor cannot submit the prescription electronically as is done for many other meds. It cannot be refilled, at all, meaning that every month, I have to go to the doctor’s office to pick up the physical prescription for what has become essentially a maintenance prescription. It can only be filled every 30 days. This combo of regulations results in the following scenario: A few days ago my daughter had her appointment and got the prescription for this med plus a few others. We dropped them off at the pharmacy and I told them it was fine to pick everything up the following day. They asked me to wait while they checked inventory and then told me they had everything in stock. So the next day I came to pick up the meds, and was then told that I could pick up all but the controlled one, as it had not been quite 30 days since it was last filled, and so I would need to wait one more day to pick it up. Fine, so I come back the next day  (my third trip to the pharmacy in 3 days), only to be told that it’s not ready because they don’t ever fill that type of prescription in advance, so I need to wait about 20 minutes while they fill it.

Now, I am lucky in that both the doctor’s office and the pharmacy are relatively close to me, less than 5 minutes away for both of them. However, if I lived out from the city, this would be a serious PITA to have to drive into town once a month to pick up the prescription, then go to the drugstore, and then possibly have to return to the drugstore a day or two later because of the 30-day restriction. If my daughter wants to go out of town, she has to time it around when this prescription can be filled. So, if the prescription can be filled on the 1st of the month, for example, she can’t go out of town on the 30th for a week, because she will be out of her one-month supply of it on the 31st, and can’t get a new prescription filled before the 1st.  In theory, I guess she could take the prescription with her and get it filled elsewhere, but that would be problematic because a lot of pharmacies do not keep it in stock regularly, and would want to call the doctor’s office for verification before filling an out-of-town prescription for a controlled substance. I understand why they don’t want to give people a huge supply of the med, but this is ridiculous. I already resent the move to giving prescriptions for only a 90-day supply of meds for anything other than oral contraceptives, but at least my doctor will authorize refills of my maintenance meds with no problem. The 30-day limit to me is excessive, especially given the other regulations around getting it filled.

[bmasters9]

Another pet peeve of mine is that the only kind of popcorn that can be found at the Wal-Mart in Simpsonville is buttered popcorn. Why is this a peeve, you might ask? Because while I grant that buttered popcorn is popular when seeing a film (both at the theaters and at home), to make it to where if you want popcorn it's buttered or bust would drive plain popcorn lovers crazy, IMO. It works the other way around as well-- I prefer plain popcorn, but would I want it to be made to where if you wanted popcorn it was plain or bust?! No way! That would drive the buttered popcorn lovers crazy. 

[backformore]

15 hours ago, BookWoman56 said:

have a new one: the red tape one must go through to get certain prescriptions filled

I agree with you.  there is an issue with  the fact that anyone with depression may be at risk for suicide, so they shouldn't have large amounts of meds.  BUT - that can be left up to a doctor's judgement, especially if someone is stable on meds, they are more at risk of suicidal thoughts if they stop taking them. 

Something you may not know is that when legislators and psychiatric organizations have attempted to make any changes in the laws about psychiatric meds, they have faced HUGE opposition from an organization called Citizens Committee on Human Rights.   While that name sounds pretty benign, it is an organization that is closely tied to Guess What Church?  - Yep, Scientology!   Because of the number of millionaire Hollywood types who donate money for the causes, the CCHR has been successful in lobbying against and blocking any changes.  This is an organization that has nothing to do with Human Rights, and is all about convincing people that psychiatrists are the bad guys here, that Bipolar disorder, ADHD, Post-partum depression, etc,  DO NOT EXIST.  And they want to make it as difficult as possible for people to get psychiatric treatment. 

[bmasters9]

47 minutes ago, backformore said:

Something you may not know is that when legislators and psychiatric organizations have attempted to make any changes in the laws about psychiatric meds, they have faced HUGE opposition from an organization called Citizens Committee on Human Rights.   

Then they need to change the name to Citizens Committee Against Human Rights, because as you say, they're not about what their name implies. 

[annzeepark914]

Quote

I can't get rid of this quote insert box or whatever you'd call it.  That's my pet peeve.

 

[backformore]

30 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

Quote

I can't get rid of this quote insert box or whatever you'd call it.  That's my pet peeve.

 

I have trouble with it too.   If I want to type something before or after a quote box, it won't let me unless I do it in the right order.   I can't move the damn cursor from inside the quotebox to outside it, and back. 

[auntlada]

I have a 30th high school reunion coming up in a couple of weeks and have been looking for a nice, summery, sort of casual but not too casual dress to wear. (Any purchase will also require buying new shoes. It's a hardship. I haven't told my husband about my need for new shoes yet.) I can't find anything that I like. I've found lots of knit dresses (in T-shirt type material, but clingy) in a shape that looks like a long tube. They're just going to cling -- and not to the things I want a dress to cling to. Mostly I've found lots of dresses in this 100 percent polyester knit material that feels yuck in my fingers and doesn't feel as though it would breathe at all. They also look clingy.

What happened to making dresses in a light cotton fabric (that isn't white and see-through)? It's times like these I wish I could sew better.

[harrie]

On 7/10/2016 at 10:06 PM, BookWoman56 said:

I have a new one: the red tape one must go through to get certain prescriptions filled.

BookWoman, I hear ya!  I have a couple of very basic prescriptions (thyroid and BP meds) and every once in a while run into a timing or some other weird issue that has me visiting the pharmacy day after day after day sometimes. I can only imagine the hoops they must make someone jump through who has a more complex situation.

[Malia110]

My pet peeve is that I am currently trying to deep clean my home (summer clean rather than spring clean) and it is very difficult to do this with six people living here.  Waaaaah!!!

[Sandman87]

22 hours ago, Malia110 said:

My pet peeve is that I am currently trying to deep clean my home (summer clean rather than spring clean) and it is very difficult to do this with six people living here.  Waaaaah!!!

Don't think of them as six people living there. Think of them as involuntary labor to help with the cleaning.

[Maharincess]

@Malia110, I remember those days well.  I am so happy to have my empty nest. When I clean something now it stays clean, if I put something aside for later, it's still there when I go get it.  I loved raising my kids but now I love my quiet, peaceful, clean house.  

In regards to prescriptions, it was a nightmare trying to get my pain medicine refills when my Dr was out on maternity leave recently.  I'm in a wheelchair, when I wear shorts I have a lot of really bad, visible scars, I've never once taken more than what's prescribed to me, never once tried to get them early, in fact I usually pick them up late. The fill in doctors know my history and they know I have another major surgery coming very soon.   But I'm still treated like a drug seeking addict when I call in my refills.  It's the same thing when there's somebody new at my pharmacy,  I'm always treated like I'm a drug addict and it really gets to me sometimes.  I hate how the druggies have made it so damn hard for the people who legitimately need these medications. 

Edited July 13, 2016 by Maharincess

[topanga]

12 hours ago, Maharincess said:

@Malia110, I remember those days well.  I am so happy to have my empty nest. When I clean something now it stays clean, if I put something aside for later, it's still there when I go get it.  I loved raising my kids but now I love my quiet, peaceful, clean house.  

In regards to prescriptions, it was a nightmare trying to get my pain medicine refills when my Dr was out on maternity leave recently.  I'm in a wheelchair, when I wear shorts I have a lot of really bad, visible scars, I've never once taken more than what's prescribed to me, never once tried to get them early, in fact I usually pick them up late. The fill in doctors know my history and they know I have another major surgery coming very soon.   But I'm still treated like a drug seeking addict when I call in my refills.  It's the same thing when there's somebody new at my pharmacy,  I'm always treated like I'm a drug addict and it really gets to me sometimes.  I hate how the druggies have made it so damn hard for the people who legitimately need these medications. 

I like having my kids around because I came blame them for my messy house!

I feel for you when it comes to medication prescriptions. Pain medication has been getting a twisted, negative wrap these days. Even news stories lead with "Why are so many chronic pain patients taking narcotics?" Umm, because for many chronic pain patients, narcotics are the only things that allow them to get out of bed in the mornings. Oh, and because medical marijuana is illegal in many states. And even if it is legal,and you're functional enough to be able to work, most employers won't accept prescription marijuana as "medicine." If your urine drug screen shows marijuana, you risk being fired. 

Doctors are getting a bad wrap for the same reason. Yes, there are some quacks out there who'll prescribe Percoet or Oxycontin to anyone who walks through the door. But most physicians are more ethical and conscientious than that. They prescribe narcotics to their chronic pain patients because nothing else works to provide even a modicum of pain relief. Ibuprofen doesn't work. Naproxen doesn't work. Tramadol doesn't work. Surgery hasn't worked (in many cases). Acupuncture might help some, but the effects tend to be short-lived. Yoga and medication have helped a some people, but  the effects haven't been proven, and not everyone can practice yoga or meditate. No narcotics are not ideal. They can be physically addictive, their effectiveness lessens over time, they make you constipated, and a few bad-apple drug seekers do abuse (or sell) their medication. But in most cases, there aren't other effective options. 

[Maharincess]

The pain medicine situation is getting ridiculous. My daughter in-law recently broke her leg, broke an actual bone.  She was given 12 norco at the hospital and told to contact her doctor to get more. She hates taking pills and those 12 norco lasted her a long time. When she called her doctor to get a refill she was lectured about addiction.  This is a girl who has never had a narcotic pain medicine prescribed for her in her life, she has no history of any kind of addiction but still she was lectured for wanting to get pain medicine for a broken leg.  She was in tears when she got off the phone.  

[Bastet]

Huh.  My mom was prescribed Norco after each of her knee replacement surgeries and we never had any problems.  She got plenty of pills at one time, all she had to do for a refill was call or email her doctor, and I was able to go pick them up.

[Maharincess]

That's how it is with me with my regular doctor. I call them in and my daughter picks them up.  It's not the norm though, I've heard so many stories of people who legitimately needed the medication and we're refused.