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

[Qoass]

We used to have that where I lived but it went away pretty quick. I think people are insulted that stores think their customers are lazy or thieves and need to be policed in this manner (even if they do).  Also, it added one more time wasting step to a task that many people are rushing through anyway.

[bilgistic]

Aldi supermarkets do the cart-for-a-quarter system. Aldi is a European company.

[ennui]

Most memorable license plate sighting: MMMWWW 

I think they were expecting to roll the car.

[TattleTeeny]

Not necessarily a peeve (and, to be fair, it made me cackle gleefully during a peeve-filled day), but earlier this evening, my phone's autocorrect changed a text saying, "I just need to finish something here" to "I just need to FBI sharpshooter something here."

[Sun-Bun]

11 hours ago, bilgistic said:

Aldi supermarkets do the cart-for-a-quarter system. Aldi is a European company.

Even though I go to the one closest to me maybe once or twice a year at the most, I really dig Aldi and their system. Not only do they enforce that brilliant cart system((because it appears that most Americans are either too lazy to return carts, or in some urban areas, will often *steal* carts)), but they allow their cashiers to humanely sit down while they scan your groceries and they don't bother with sackers or providing paper/plastic bags! You sacking your own groceries + your own sacks= cheaper groceries, go figure.

As for a shop I'll never support? Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has ruined this country by systematically putting smalltown merchants out of business one rural area at a time. Plus, the greedy Walton family are truly evil and treat their workers like slaves. I really applaud cities like Asheville, NC who are standing up to the Waltons and putting laws into place that will truly benefit their own communities/support local commodities and not just make the insanely rich Waltons even richer.

[MrSmith]

10 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

Not necessarily a peeve (and, to be fair, it made me cackle gleefully during a peeve-filled day), but earlier this evening, my phone's autocorrect changed a text saying, "I just need to finish something here" to "I just need to FBI sharpshooter something here."

My wife is dyslexic and she hates changing phones. This is because the autocorrect eventually learns how she misspells certain words and will helpfully correct them. When she gets a new phone, she has to train that phone to be dyslexic all over again.

[MrSmith]

10 hours ago, Sun-Bun said:

As for a shop I'll never support? Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has ruined this country by systematically putting smalltown merchants out of business one rural area at a time. Plus, the greedy Walton family are truly evil and treat their workers like slaves. I really applaud cities like Asheville, NC who are standing up to the Waltons and putting laws into place that will truly benefit their own communities/support local commodities and not just make the insanely rich Waltons even richer.

I hate Wal-Mart, too, and for the same reasons you stated. My problem is that in Red Wing, our choices of places to grocery shop (currently) are Wal-Mart or the horribly overpriced "Econofoods" (believe me, there's nothing economical about them!). Alternatively, we could drive an hour (north to Oakdale or south to Rochester) to shop at Hy-Vee, where the prices and selection are very good. (Higher prices than Wal-Mart, but the selection is like walking into a smorgasbord.) There is a Hy-Vee opening in Cottage Grove (about 35 minutes north) on 8 Aug and, apparently, we're going to get an Aldi in Red Wing in the near future. We're hoping for a nice selection of fruit and vegetables because those are incredibly hard to get in most of Minnesota (read as: outside TC and Rochester).

Edited to add: As for small town downtowns, they would still have died with the advent of Amazon.

Edited August 2, 2017 by MrSmith

[Qoass]

Quote

my phone's autocorrect changed a text saying, "I just need to finish something here" to "I just need to FBI sharpshooter something here."

At this point, I think autocorrect coders are just f@ckin' with us.

[Zola]

3 minutes ago, Qoass said:

At this point, I think autocorrect coders are just f@ckin' with us.

On one of my old Android phones, the autocorrect would change paediatrician to paedophile! 

Good job I noticed this before sending out a text message to my friend regarding her daughter's medical complaint!

[Qoass]

My friend's iPad sent me a message about bringing a griffin to a brouhaha. Any guesses on what that meant?

Spoiler

a grill to a barbecue.

[Katy M]

25 minutes ago, Qoass said:

My friend's iPad sent me a message about bringing a griffin to a brouhaha. Any guesses on what that meant?

  Hide contents

a grill to a barbecue.

Can I come? Griffin brouhahas are the BEST.

[emma675]

My phone constantly autocorrects "this" to "thus". IT IS NEVER "THUS"!! I can't figure out how it suddenly decided that was the word I wanted.

[MrSmith]

@emma675 When it suggests "thus", you could press and hold on the suggested word and then make it forget it.

[bilgistic]

This is an unpopular opinion, but I turn off autocorrect on a new phone and never use it. People complain so much about autocorrect. It can be turned off.

I have a Nexus (uses Google everything), which gives me options for words to insert in what I'm typing as I type (one-finger pecking). Sometimes the function is useful and sometimes it's just stupid. I'll start typing a word...let's use "gorkilla" as an example. Obviously, that's misspelled. I have a red squiggly line underneath the word. I go back to correct it, and the options I'm given are "gorkilla" and "gorkill". Thanks, Google?

[ennui]

45 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

I have a Nexus (uses Google everything), which gives me options for words to insert in what I'm typing as I type 

Q: Is Google male or female?

A: Female, because it doesn't let you finish a sentence before making a suggestion.

[Katy M]

12 minutes ago, ennui said:

Q: Is Google male or female?

A: Female, because it doesn't let you finish a sentence before making a suggestion.

Q: Is Google male or female?

A: Male, because it doesn't let you finish a sentence before telling you what you really want.

[Bastet]

I left my cell phone in my purse and my purse on the dresser, so if I had put these things where they belong I wouldn't have had this problem, but:

I was awakened this morning by my cell phone's low battery warning.  Okay, annoying, but I'll just roll over and go back to sleep.  Except the damn thing went off again about ten minutes later.  What is this, a snooze alarm?  This happened several times before I finally mustered up the energy (and disturbed Riley) to get up and turn the phone off.  Why must it go off so frequently?  Tell me the battery is low and then shut up.  If the battery hasn't been charged (or died) an hour later, tell me again.  It's hardly an emergency that warrants squawking at me every ten minutes.

[bilgistic]

My smoke/carbon dioxide detector has a female voice that tells me very loudly when the battery is low, and invariably, it happens in the middle of the night. Bilgisticat and I will be off to dreamland and a lady startles us awake with "LOW BATTERY!!!" We both jump about a foot.

[Katy M]

2 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

My smoke/carbon dioxide detector has a female voice that tells me very loudly when the battery is low, and invariably, it happens in the middle of the night. Bilgisticat and I will be off to dreamland and a lady startles us awake with "LOW BATTERY!!!" We both jump about a foot.

Yes Yes Yes!!!  Smoke detector batteries always get low at 2a.m.  Although, one time my battery was low and instead of giving me the "battery low" warning it said "fire fire fire" really loud.  I jumped out of bed.  I looked around.  I'm like "I don't see a fire.  What about you, kitty?"  Nope.  she didn't see one either.  Then, it goes off with it's "Carbon Monoxide detected."  Well, that's not something I can see.  But it lost all credibility with the fire warning.  I took the battery out and hit the reset button, went back to bed and hoped for the best.

[emma675]

I got one of those 10 year fire alarms--the kind where it's supposed to last at least 10 years without a battery change and when it dies you just get an entirely new one. Four years in and the one outside my bedroom door goes off around 3am one morning and won't stop beeping no matter what I do. It was raining so I opened a window and threw the thing out into the backyard. After about 10 minutes it finally quit beeping.

[Zola]

On the subject of alarms, I have a neighbour four doors down who's house alarm seems to go off completely at random, and most usually at night. And it's not due to anything serious, but more the fact that there seems to be some kind of sensitive "trip" that goes off for whatever reason.

Clearly there is a problem with the sensitivity or motion-detector, and usually the owner will temporarily disable it should it go off. But this has been going on now for about a month and as far as I can tell he's had no one round to get the problem fixed.

He lives alone and goes to work during the day. If the alarm goes off then, it will ring out loud for a good 15-20 minutes before switching itself off; only to start again an hour later .... and so on until either the battery is dead or the guy returns home to disable it.

 A couple of other neighbours have asked/complained to him about the noise, but as I say, he's done anything about it. And to really cap it off, I think the guy goes on holiday in a couple of weeks!

Our local council, and even the police have been told about the noise pollution, but neither seem to really give a shit.

[Bastet]

Ugh, neighbors across the street installed a home alarm a couple of years ago, and they manage to set that thing off all.the.time.  If anyone is ever actually breaking into their home, no neighbors are going to bother looking out the window and helping, because of the whole cried wolf factor. 

I wish it was one of those alarm systems that automatically notify the police when it's activated, because with such systems in my city you get one free false alarm per year and then after that if you can't remember how to operate the thing and set it off, you get charged for every subsequent trip the cops make to your house because you're forgetful.

I'm not a home alarm person, but if you want one, go for it.  But, jeez, learn how it works and keep it in repair; everyone can have the occasional "oops" moment, but people like my neighbors who repeatedly set it off themselves, and well after the learning period should be over, drive me batty.  That is an annoying noise!  And, like car alarms, increasingly useless, as most people don't react anymore, assuming it was just user error rather than a security breach (because, most of the time, it was).

[bilgistic]

Home alarm owners in my city also have to register with the police. I wish car alarm owners had to as well. That money could go to schools, libraries and the arts.

[Zola]

My neighbour's alarm has gone off again, and the bad news is, the guy is out (hopefully not for the rest of the evening!)

I guess I can always watch the tv adorned with a pair of Bluetooth headphones to keep out the din.

 

A nice way to spend a Friday evening, ffs! 

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 8/1/2017 at 8:39 PM, Sun-Bun said:

Even though I go to the one closest to me maybe once or twice a year at the most, I really dig Aldi and their system. Not only do they enforce that brilliant cart system((because it appears that most Americans are either too lazy to return carts, or in some urban areas, will often *steal* carts)), but they allow their cashiers to humanely sit down while they scan your groceries and they don't bother with sackers or providing paper/plastic bags! You sacking your own groceries + your own sacks= cheaper groceries, go figure.

I just wish they had more checkers.  Did you know that items that Aldi carries have extra bar codes on them so the checker doesn't have to orient the item in a certain way for the scanner, so they can go faster?

I don't always need a shopping cart, but when I know I'm going to use one and will need to bring it to the car, I park near the cart corral.  Not exactly rocket science, but people don't seem to grasp the concept.

 

Quote

As for a shop I'll never support? Wal-Mart.

Walmart is the only place I can find large, pre-cooked breakfast sausage, like the size that McDonald's uses on a sausage biscuit. And they come in "spicy."  They really are good.

It's also they only place I can ever find unfrosted Pop-Tarts in any flavor other than strawberry, although I've checked three different Walmarts lately and none have had unfrosted blueberry, which is bringing up the eternal pet peeve:  discontinued products.  (And y'all's probable peeve--other people's diets!)

But the Walton family brings up another huge annoyance of mine:  museums.  I keep swearing I'm never going to go to one again because I can't think of a single time I've gone in the last few years when I haven't seen someone touch the art, and it just ruins the whole experience for me.  But I always back down.

The most egregious was when I was in Bentonville, Arkansas, and Crystal Bridges is highly touted, and free, so I'm not lining the Waltons' pockets with my visit.  Before getting to the art touchers, let's discuss the the museum guards.

It happened that I was stuck there for several hours, so I took that opportunity to do something I would normally not do.  There was a room with one Dan Flavin fluorescent-tube piece in it, and a bench to sit on.  I love the stuff, but only in a very superficial way.  But I decided, since there were no other pressing matters, that I was going to sit on that bench and look at that light for as long as I could stand it, and just see what happened.  Well, I could stand it for only a minute because there were three guards having a chatty discussion right outside the door.  I went and told them to stop talking, but the experiment was ruined.

I think the guards have the same job description as Walmart store greeters:  be friendly and engage everyone you see.  So when they weren't chatting among themselves, they were saying "hello" or "how are you doing" or "are you enjoying the museum?" to everyone they encountered. 

I was looking at a scale model of a planned expansion of the museum or something.  A guard walked up and started telling me about it.  First of all, I already know what I'm looking at, and second of all, even if I don't, that's not your concern.  Shut up.  Let me, and anyone within earshot, enjoy what we're doing.

And then, the most galling thing.  This model I was looking at was next to a huge painting on a wall.  It was also near an information desk, and there was a woman sitting at that desk, along with the aforementioned guard hanging around.  There was a family that included a teenage-ish boy, and they were gathered around the little information label on the side, of the huge painting, and the boy I guess was having trouble standing on his own, so he reached out and leaned on the painting with an outstretched arm while he read the label.  Before I could even form a thought I blurted out, "Hey! Don't touch the art!"  The family gave me the most hateful glare, and the woman at the desk and the guard just stood there. 

I won't even try to describe the chatter that was going on in the James Turrell Skyspace at sunset.

I just thought, "This is what happens when you bring free art to a bunch of hillbillies."

Not that I haven't seen it elsewhere, but between the patrons and the guards, this really did come off as museum by Walmart.

Oh, and the time in Buffalo, at Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House.  Someone brought what I gather was an autistic boy, late teens, on the tour.  He was a huge kid, talked loudly, and sat on the fucking furniture!  The poor docent was a volunteer, and [way too] meek.  She'd say, "Let's remember not to touch the items in the house," but the kid would do it again, and in the meantime wander around and touch every single surface in the place.  The docent would say, "Let's try to stay together," but he kept wandering.  I finally started trying to position myself so the boy wasn't in view, but he moved around so much it was impossible.  Plus I couldn't get away from him bleating, "I have a headache, I have a headache."  The two women would tell him to get up off the furniture, but didn't do anything about keeping him from doing this shit in the first place, and they tried to talk him out of his headache.   

The latest was in Denver, at a show of Japanese fashion designs from the 1980s and 90s.  Mr. Outlier (bless his heart, going with me to this) and I were the only people in a room with a woman and her daughter.  The woman was talking into mid-air (Bluetoothing, it appears), and didn't notice her daughter climb onto a display.  A guard did notice and told her to get down.  The woman continued her conversation and didn't notice when her daughter climbed up there AGAIN.  So fifty percent of the museum goers in that room were either talking on the phone or climbing up to touch the designs. 

Hmm...haven't been to a museum since then.  I'll see how long I can hold out this time.

[bilgistic]

1 hour ago, Only Zola said:

My neighbour's alarm has gone off again, and the bad news is, the guy is out (hopefully not for the rest of the evening!)

I guess I can always watch the tv adorned with a pair of Bluetooth headphones to keep out the din.

 

A nice way to spend a Friday evening, ffs! 

My old system at my old condo (don't have one now) had the alarm siren high on a wall near the main alarm power box, which was "hidden" in an interior closet, near the alarm keypad. The siren looks like a small smoke alarm. If someone had come in and smashed those three components, the alarm would've been useless. I wanted to let you know just in case you were researching getting your own system and wanted to know what it would possibly look like and how it would function in your place.

The main power box was backup powered by a big battery, so I had to unhook that when the power went out because the keypad beeped incessantly, but only I, not my neighbors, could hear that.

[BookWoman56]

I just had a home security system installed (new house) but I am leaving it unarmed until such time, which may be never, that I have time to read the instructions and so forth. At this point, all it does is announce which door has just been opened, no alarms.  

On the subject of pet peeves, though, I have a new one: Vendors/companies who accept a job assignment and then fail to show up on schedule and do the agreed-upon work. I closed on my new house this past Friday and had booked a moving crew to load/unload a moving van on Saturday. I discussed with them how much furniture and so forth (3 BR apartment and a fuckton of books); they estimated it would take x number of hours. We did the packing ourselves, and were ready to go. The person who dispatches the crew texted me the day before to confirm time (1:00 pm) and location. That morning, he called to say they were running ahead on their first job of the day and would likely be there 30 minutes to an hour early. Okay, fine. Then he called around noon to say they were now running late. Eventually the crew showed up three hours late, took a look around, announced they would need more time than I had booked to load/unload everything, and that in any case, they couldn't do anything at all that day because they would risk being late to their "real" jobs. Excuse me? If you want to quibble about how many hours it will take to do the complete job, then give me an updated estimate of how long. But in the meantime, I booked you for a certain number of hours for this day, and the least you can do is go ahead and do the hours of work you already committed to.  Instead, they got their dispatcher on the phone who said they would come back Sunday  morning at 8:00 am. In a total panic at that point, because it was obviously too late to hire another crew that late in the day, I agreed.  My daughter was able to draft some friends on an emergency basis to come load the moving van for us (starting around 10 pm when they got off work), and drive it to the new house. By that time, everybody was too exhausted to unload the van, so I texted the moving crew dispatcher to just come to the new house and the job would be simply unloading.  The crew of course showed up an hour late, proceeded to work in slow motion to drag out the length of the job, and instead of taking the items to the specific rooms as either labeled on the boxes or directed by me, stuck all 1st floor items in the living room and all 2nd floor items in the game room upstairs. 

The kicker: As they were leaving, they had the nerve to ask me to give them a 5-star rating. I've since gotten a couple of texts asking me to rate them. I am still composing the review in my head, but the gist will be "late, incompetent, and unprofessional."

[bilgistic]

Wow, that's atrocious! Is it a national company or someone local?

Congrats on the new home!

[Jaded]

That's awful @BookWoman56. Make sure you didn't agree to not give them a bad rating in any of the paperwork you signed.

A friend on FB moved from Boston to a city in Nevada and the moving company she used claims they lost 22 of her freaking boxes! In the boxes she's gotten so far some stuff has been broken. They are trying to drag out and not respond promptly to her about the missing boxes but she's staying on them. She used the company because they claimed they didn't contract out to other companies but she found out that was a lie too. I remember a 20/20 related show on ABC that exposed different companies, situations and claims. Here's the one they did about movers.
 

[BookWoman56]

@bilgistic, it's a local company; this was just a move from one part of town to another. I have used similar local moving crews in the past with no problem. This one, though, goes on my "never again" list, and once I have recovered from the move itself, I will be posting a very detailed negative review.  @Jaded, I will check my paperwork but am 99% sure there was no prohibition against negative reviews.

I am in general thrilled to be in my new house. But this move was the move from hell. Aside from the moving crew debacle, the day we moved ended up being 107 degrees. I took this past week off from work to get settled in, but ended up with a stomach bug of some sort that left me flat on my back for two days.  I also now understand why my sales agent told me at closing to put a "No Soliciting" sign on my front door, because I have been inundated with people using devious tactics to get inside long enough to try to sell me something. Worst example so far is a couple of guys who claimed they were affiliated with the local water company. I was in fact expecting the water company to show up to take a meter reading, so I let them in. They said they needed to test the water because of the house being new construction. What they really did was put on a dog and pony show to demonstrate that the water here is hard (which anybody who has lived here more than 2 months knows, because there is serious limestone in the aquifer) and then try to convince me that I really, really need an $8K water filtration system.  So I am currently drafting my very own "No Soliciting" sign; my one regret is that my HOA rules probably prohibit me from including the words "Unless you are selling Girl Scout cookies, you can fuck right off" on it.

I have finally finished getting all the utilities set up (but still need a return trip on my cable) and getting mail service started; I didn't realize that with new construction, you have to go to the post office with documentation that yes, this address now exists and you are the property owner who needs mail. Aside from that, I'm mostly bouncing between "Yes! Much more space! Real office instead of bedroom converted to office! Garage in which to park the car and no need to climb stairs to bring in groceries!" and "Holy fuck, I am never going to finish unpacking."

[bilgistic]

Over the last few days, I've been in a couple of forums for TV shows that have touched on real-life women's issues. In both cases, women have completely denied these completely factual issues exist, like someone saying the sky is brown. I find that completely appalling. I get that people choose to remain ignorant. My mother does. I simply don't understand women not supporting one another, not that I haven't seen my share of that in my life, either.

I guess I've just become used to conversing with completely sensible and supportive women here and in my Instagram feed.

[BookWoman56]

@bilgistic, I have tried understanding that mentality, but the only conclusion I have reached is this: You can't fix stupid. 

Some people are willfully ignorant. Some may know the facts but deny them, as if denying them somehow negates reality. It's like those people who claim, if there is one instance proved of a false rape accusation, that rape doesn't really exist; it's instead all women who consented to sex but then changed their mind, or they were drunk/wearing skimpy outfits, which apparently serves as a declaration that they agree to sex with random strangers even if they do not verbally consent or even if they verbally state they don't want sex.  The best explanation I can think of is that women who believe that way do so because it's psychologically easier for them to feel that they themselves could never be at risk for rape; if something like rape occurs, it's because the woman involved made bad choices.  It's very annoying to me because you could apply that logic to many other crimes, and people would flip the fuck out. So, one business owner files a false robbery report = there are never any real robberies. One business owner commits arson to collect the insurance money = there are never any real instances of arson committed by pyromaniacs.  In addition, what did the business owner expect, having goods displayed in the window where everyone could see them? The business owner was just asking for someone to take those goods, and instead of a police investigation and criminal charges being filed against the thief, the business owner deserves a lecture on the evils of tempting people by having their goods on display. 

I would pay good money for a tv episode of some crime procedural to take that idea and run with it. That is, the detectives show up at the crime scene and berate the store owner for having a window display; the thief is treated as the real victim here, etc. 

[Mindthinkr]

On 7/27/2017 at 1:34 PM, Katy M said:

On 7/27/2017 at 0:58 PM, TattleTeeny said:

 

Ditto for Mayo.  I went out to eat with a bunch of friends once. Ordered a sandwich or burger no mayo.  First, I got served last.  It had mayo on it, so I sent it back.  (Will not eat mayo, gross, blech).  My friends were all done eating by the time my food came back.

You are one of the few ppl that I've ever encountered that share my extreme dislike for Mayo!!  

[Zola]

I had a couple of friends round for Sunday lunch earlier today. All rather easy going & informal, helped somewhat by an agreeable bottle of wine. 

However, the afternoon was soured somewhat by one of my friends constantly butting into what I was saying, or just generally talking over me and taking the conversation into a different direction entirely.

For example:-

ME - "I might change my bank because they're not very reliable, and was thinking of moving to....."

HER - "National Westminster Bank is pretty good. I bank with them. They're very friendly. I've been with them for 10 years. You'll find a branch just ..... " <and on and on and on, while I tried to get back into the conversation and actually say National Westminster bank anyway!

Another example...

ME - "I hope you like the Cajun chicken and rice? I took the recipe from the BBC website, and the seasoning I did ....."

HER - "Oh I never bother with the BBC! Their recipes don't do anything for me. The BBC should be privatised. I hate paying the licence fee....." <blah blah>

 

And she doesn't just interrupt me. but my other friend too. I was so close to telling her to STFU, but that would have been the wine talking. Just wish she would let people finish speaking first before jumping in again and again.

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, AgentRXS said:

My favorite is always the  "alligator in the canal" because the call goes "Yeah, hi, I was going for an afternoon jog near the canal and I saw an alligator swimming in it. I need you guys to come remove it because there are children in the area and they are at risk". First, LMAO at the idea of me or any of my co-workers alligator wrestling; 2nd, how about you NOT jog near the canal if alligators make you nervous; 3rd, the gator is in its own habitat, leave it the eff alone; 4th.....half of the existing county was still swampland until about 35-40 years ago. And now its so  overbuilt that people are living practically on the existing Everglades.  How about you don't move to a swampland area if you don't want to deal with wildlife?

(From the workplace thread; I'm bringing it here because this part of it reminded me of a peeve.)

I live in the foothills, and our Animal Control is inundated with phone calls demanding that the coyotes be removed.  (To where?  Put a leash on them, walk them back up into the hills, and say, "Sit. Stay"?)  And then the callers get pissy when they're informed that's not going to happen, and given advice on living in coyote territory.  Learning how to co-exist with coyotes is just part of living here.  I particularly like the "OMG, there's a coyote in my backyard!" posts to Nextdoor, when I glance at where they live and see their house is halfway up the mountain.  Dude, if the coyotes had a social networking site, they'd post, "Here we go again; some asshole just built a house right outside my den."

Edited August 6, 2017 by Bastet

[AgentRXS]

Quote

I live in the foothills, and, our Animal Control is inundated with phone calls demanding that the coyotes be removed.  (To where?  Put a leash on them, walk them back up into the hills, and say, "Sit. Stay"?)  And then the callers get pissy when they're informed that's not going to happen, and given advice on living in coyote territory.  Learning how to co-exist with coyotes is just part of living here.  I particularly like the "OMG, there's a coyote in my backyard!" posts to Nextdoor, when I glance at where they live and see their house is halfway up the mountain.  Dude, if the coyotes had a social networking site, they'd post, "Here we go again; some asshole just built a house right outside my den."

I don't get it. Why do transplants move to an area and then bitch about its ecosystem? Why not just stay where you came from? I say transplants, because usually a native who was raised in the area is already acclimated to dealing with that areas ecosystem.  If you want to live in in a secluded area, you better be prepared from some critters in your backyard. They are trying to get away from the people, just like you are.

Another peeve: I know several recent transplants that do nothing but bitch about they year-round heat in FL.  "It's 90 degrees on Christmas. Waaaa!" Now, I grew up here and will be the first to say that the temps are higher then before, and the "cool winters" are shorter then before (thanks, global warming!sarcasm). But gee, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Go back up north and try dealing with the snowstorms during the winter again, and I'm sure you'll shut the eff up. I just don't get moving to an area and constantly complaining about everything.

[bilgistic]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

I live in the foothills, and, our Animal Control is inundated with phone calls demanding that the coyotes be removed.  (To where?  Put a leash on them, walk them back up into the hills, and say, "Sit. Stay"?)  And then the callers get pissy when they're informed that's not going to happen, and given advice on living in coyote territory.  Learning how to co-exist with coyotes is just part of living here.  I particularly like the "OMG, there's a coyote in my backyard!" posts to Nextdoor, when I glance at where they live and see their house is halfway up the mountain.  Dude, if the coyotes had a social networking site, they'd post, "Here we go again; some asshole just built a house right outside my den."

Hilarious!

There are deer all over the place here in the suburbs. I saw one recently in the late afternoon after work on the hill along the treeline adjacent my complex. I saw three together one night at my old complex. They are all along the interstates at night scrounging at food people assedly throw out of their cars--which is also how hawks and owls get hit by cars: they go after vermin eating thrown-out food.

A deer ran out into a four-lane secondary road behind me one weekday morning during rush hour, and I saw it in my rearview mirror being hit by the minivan behind me. I wailed for a long time while simultaneously being glad it hadn't run out in front of me and totaled my car.

And yes, people bitch about them. The woods we keep chopping down for "development" were their home, so where are they supposed to go? And don't come at me with "deer overpopulation" if you are a hunter because I will just point at the human species as an example of gross overpopulation and consumption. If we're taking away the natural habitat of the deer, we're also taking away their natural predator's habitat.

4 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

 

Edited August 6, 2017 by bilgistic

[Moose135]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Put a leash on them, walk them back up into the hills, and say, "Sit. Stay"?

I literally laughed out loud at this!

[Kelly]

1 hour ago, Only Zola said:

I had a couple of friends round for Sunday lunch earlier today. All rather easy going & informal, helped somewhat by an agreeable bottle of wine. 

However, the afternoon was soured somewhat by one of my friends constantly butting into what I was saying, or just generally talking over me and taking the conversation into a different direction entirely.

For example:-

ME - "I might change my bank because they're not very reliable, and was thinking of moving to....."

HER - "National Westminster Bank is pretty good. I bank with them. They're very friendly. I've been with them for 10 years. You'll find a branch just ..... " <and on and on and on, while I tried to get back into the conversation and actually say National Westminster bank anyway!

Another example...

ME - "I hope you like the Cajun chicken and rice? I took the recipe from the BBC website, and the seasoning I did ....."

HER - "Oh I never bother with the BBC! Their recipes don't do anything for me. The BBC should be privatised. I hate paying the licence fee....." <blah blah>

 

And she doesn't just interrupt me. but my other friend too. I was so close to telling her to STFU, but that would have been the wine talking. Just wish she would let people finish speaking first before jumping in again and again.

Grr...I can relate.  Its very annoying (rude and disrespectful too).  I know someone like this as well, she is really more a "friend of a friend" - often included when I see a good friend of mine. I have to admit, Im secretly glad when shes unable to attend group events. She just completely monopolizes any conversation.

[theredhead77]

5 hours ago, Bastet said:

(From the workplace thread; I'm bringing it here because this part of it reminded me of a peeve.)

I live in the foothills, and our Animal Control is inundated with phone calls demanding that the coyotes be removed.  (To where?  Put a leash on them, walk them back up into the hills, and say, "Sit. Stay"?)  And then the callers get pissy when they're informed that's not going to happen, and given advice on living in coyote territory.  Learning how to co-exist with coyotes is just part of living here.  I particularly like the "OMG, there's a coyote in my backyard!" posts to Nextdoor, when I glance at where they live and see their house is halfway up the mountain.  Dude, if the coyotes had a social networking site, they'd post, "Here we go again; some asshole just built a house right outside my den."

I live in a beach community that has its share of coyote issues. They come down the dry riverbeds and form dens in the underbrush of a sparsely populated naval weapons station that is also in wetlands. This is not the city I live in but they have a huge coyote issue. People post "OMG there's a coyote" all over Nextdoor here, too but refuse to keep their pets or pet food indoors.

3 hours ago, Moose135 said:

I literally laughed out loud at this!

me too!

[BookWoman56]

6 hours ago, Only Zola said:

I had a couple of friends round for Sunday lunch earlier today. All rather easy going & informal, helped somewhat by an agreeable bottle of wine. 

However, the afternoon was soured somewhat by one of my friends constantly butting into what I was saying, or just generally talking over me and taking the conversation into a different direction entirely.

For example:-

ME - "I might change my bank because they're not very reliable, and was thinking of moving to....."

HER - "National Westminster Bank is pretty good. I bank with them. They're very friendly. I've been with them for 10 years. You'll find a branch just ..... " <and on and on and on, while I tried to get back into the conversation and actually say National Westminster bank anyway!

Another example...

ME - "I hope you like the Cajun chicken and rice? I took the recipe from the BBC website, and the seasoning I did ....."

HER - "Oh I never bother with the BBC! Their recipes don't do anything for me. The BBC should be privatised. I hate paying the licence fee....." <blah blah>

 

And she doesn't just interrupt me. but my other friend too. I was so close to telling her to STFU, but that would have been the wine talking. Just wish she would let people finish speaking first before jumping in again and again.

If interrupting people while they are talking and then hijacking the conversation bothers you, then I would strongly suggest that you never watch Sex and the City, because that was the ongoing MO of the main character (Carrie), which is why there were always multiple posts expressing the desire for her to STFU.  No matter how the conversation started, her default response was to interrupt and change the topic to her crisis du jour. People like that, whether fictional or IRL, make me want to throw things at them.

[Zola]

7 hours ago, BookWoman56 said:

If interrupting people while they are talking and then hijacking the conversation bothers you, then I would strongly suggest that you never watch Sex and the City, because that was the ongoing MO of the main character (Carrie), which is why there were always multiple posts expressing the desire for her to STFU.  No matter how the conversation started, her default response was to interrupt and change the topic to her crisis du jour. People like that, whether fictional or IRL, make me want to throw things at them.

It is fortunate (for me), that I only see her every few months, so I can just about tolerate her constant need to interject into any humdrum topic-of-conversation and make a faux drama out of a crisis! Which is just as well because any more frequent and I'm pretty sure I would dig a shallow grave and bury her!

And she has this further trait of always trying to make her problem bigger than your problem - exaggerated or otherwise.

I mentioned my period pains were causing some discomfort and quick as a flash she chimes in and says "Well my period pains were really bad last month! Could barely move. Was considering going to the hospital, but I fought the pain and got over it."

For a moment I wished I was Tomas Torquemada for 30 minutes!

[Qoass]

Quote

I live in the foothills, and our Animal Control is inundated with phone calls demanding that the coyotes be removed.

And there are sharks! In the ocean!! Which is near the shore!!! Imagine that.

[NutMeg]

19 hours ago, Only Zola said:

I had a couple of friends round for Sunday lunch earlier today. All rather easy going & informal, helped somewhat by an agreeable bottle of wine. 

However, the afternoon was soured somewhat by one of my friends constantly butting into what I was saying, or just generally talking over me and taking the conversation into a different direction entirely.

For example:-

ME - "I might change my bank because they're not very reliable, and was thinking of moving to....."

HER - "National Westminster Bank is pretty good. I bank with them. They're very friendly. I've been with them for 10 years. You'll find a branch just ..... " <and on and on and on, while I tried to get back into the conversation and actually say National Westminster bank anyway!

Another example...

ME - "I hope you like the Cajun chicken and rice? I took the recipe from the BBC website, and the seasoning I did ....."

HER - "Oh I never bother with the BBC! Their recipes don't do anything for me. The BBC should be privatised. I hate paying the licence fee....." <blah blah>

 

And she doesn't just interrupt me. but my other friend too. I was so close to telling her to STFU, but that would have been the wine talking. Just wish she would let people finish speaking first before jumping in again and again.

I also have come to really resent people who, instead of listening to what you have to say, are only waiting for the moment they can interject something/anything in the conversation.

From different experiences, and seeing how different interjectors are really quiet in circumstances when they feel insecure, I've come to think that often these people want to monopolise a conversation with people they feel comfy with, because they wouldn't dare in contexts where there feel insecure. Exhibit 1: a dear aunt of mine, who's the best listener to people she feels 'inferior" to, but who cut me that time I wanted to share some deep/painful experience to tell me some random story about someone she knows in passing and that I never met.

Then again, people who cut you off are nor really respectful, are they? And I think they have no idea. My mom does it all the time, it used to drive me crazy, but I've come to realize she needs to feel helpful, and she really thinks her opinions are helpful. So here again, instead of listening, she is on "being helpful" mode. My aunt is on "being heard" mode.

So many issues that are super annoying. A good listener is hard to find, when you find ones, keep them close! 

[Qoass]

I confess; I am one of those people who feels the opposite of talking is waiting for your turn to talk. However, in a bout of low spirits during which I didn't feel much like talking to anybody, I discovered that it's really much less stressful to let other people do the talking! I can just smile and nod periodically and my work is done!

[Blergh]

I have a relative who never gets the hint that I'd like to talk to other folks on my own during  get-togethers and will go out of their way to be sure to sit close to where I'm sitting to monopolize the entire conversation with the other person  leaving me a log bump even though I'd have preferred to talk to the other person.  I've even tried the 'why don't you sit on that side of the table so we can each entertain other folks' to no avail.

 

Another pet peeve: Public restrooms with automatic timed lights. Let's just say there have been times I've been desperate for nature to take its course all on my own there when suddenly everything goes pitch black and I have to suddenly stand up and walk around to try to get said lights to return. ARGGH!!

Edited August 7, 2017 by Blergh
addendum

[NutMeg]

13 minutes ago, Blergh said:

I have a relative who never gets the hint that I'd like to talk to other folks on my own during  get-togethers and will go out of their way to be sure to sit close to where I'm sitting to monopolize the entire conversation with the other person  leaving me a log bump even though I'd have preferred to talk to the other person.  I've even tried the 'why don't you sit on that side of the table so we can each entertain other folks' to no avail.

 

Another pet peeve: Public restrooms with automatic timed lights. Let's just say there have been times I've been desperate for nature to take its course all on my own there when suddenly everything goes pitch black and I have to suddenly stand up and walk around to try to get said lights to return. ARGGH!!

I have that kind of relatives too, so I can empathize.

As for the automatic times lights in restrooms, never met them, but how horrific that must be! 

[Katy M]

48 minutes ago, Blergh said:

Another pet peeve: Public restrooms with automatic timed lights. Let's just say there have been times I've been desperate for nature to take its course all on my own there when suddenly everything goes pitch black and I have to suddenly stand up and walk around to try to get said lights to return. ARGGH!!

I've never see that either, but is there any reason you can't let nature take its course in the dark?  You don't really need to see anything to, um, do that.

[Zola]

51 minutes ago, Blergh said:

I have a relative who never gets the hint that I'd like to talk to other folks on my own during  get-togethers and will go out of their way to be sure to sit close to where I'm sitting to monopolize the entire conversation with the other person  leaving me a log bump even though I'd have preferred to talk to the other person.  I've even tried the 'why don't you sit on that side of the table so we can each entertain other folks' to no avail.

 

Another pet peeve: Public restrooms with automatic timed lights. Let's just say there have been times I've been desperate for nature to take its course all on my own there when suddenly everything goes pitch black and I have to suddenly stand up and walk around to try to get said lights to return. ARGGH!!

Oh my, I thought I'd forgotten all about that one!

Happened to me twice: once at university, and the other at a hotel in Tokyo, Japan. 

The university one happened because they had only fitted these automatic timer lights a couple of weeks beforehand, and was still being "tested". Scared the hell out me when the lights went out while in the rather cramped cubicle. I wasn't even aware they were using timers - there was no warning signs or anything. So I was just sitting there in the dark trying to keep calm while also attempting to pull my jeans back up!

The Tokyo one wasn't so bad as it soon picked up body movement (although I had to wave my arms around while sitting on the loo!)

[Wiendish Fitch]

I'm so sick of click bait articles proclaiming that "the cast of (insert show/movie here) look DIFFERENT in real life!!"

WHHHHAAATTTT??!?!? Actors don't resemble their fictional counterparts!? You mean... Ray Bolger WASN'T made of straw?! Elijah Wood ISN'T  a hobbit?! Sloth from The Goonies WASN'T disfigured? Neither Jennifer Lawrence OR Rebecca Romijn are blue-skinned shape-shifters? Tom Cruise is such an effete, undersized weakling that he could get easily pummeled by a senile corgi?!!? NOOOOOOOOO!!! My illusions are shattered, my innocence lost! I don't know what's real anymore!! Will no one take pity on me?!?!?!?!?

 

 

 

 

Edited August 7, 2017 by Wiendish Fitch