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

[auntlada]

The last time  went to a furniture store, I told the salesperson that I was just seeing what was out there for beds and I was not going to be buying for a while. She left me alone.

[Petunia13]

Fruit can not be good health wise because of the sugar. But they also have a bevy of health benefits such as high Vit C, Vit A, fiber, and quite a lot of antioxidants which fight free radicals and aging. Also they are fat free and low sodium. @bilgistic what do you mean about pear texture? Do you mean the juiciness? They are claimed to be the juiciest fruit when ripe. Your favorite cherries are available fresh year round during Spring thru Fall in US & Nov to March from Chile, if your grocer is into produce they will keep you in stock. They are known as the snacking fruit. 

A big peeve I have about produce is customers eating it without paying!! and leaving the rubbish on shelves or floors which is rude and dangerous for slips and falls. 

[backformore]

I got a text message today - sent to 13 people.  The text said that it was going out to a group, and asked that people not reply, so as to not get the group bogged down with a bunch of messages.   Anyway - the text was to inform me that Bruce passed away suddenly this afternoon, and gave all the details for the funeral, etc. 

WHO IS BRUCE? 

The email was from a number I don't have in my phone, and it was not signed.  I'm racking my brain trying to figure it out.  I've had this cell phone number for years.     People - do not send out mass text messages  to everyone in your contacts without signing the message so we know who it is that lost their "Bruce". 

I've been trying to do a search to find out if I might know this person.  There are a lot of sites that say "free reverse phone look up" - put the phone number in, they'll look it up.   But you have to pay to get the info.  Does anyone know one that is really free? 

[Demented Daisy]

7 hours ago, Petunia13 said:

what do you mean about pear texture? Do you mean the juiciness?

I'm not @bilgistic ;-), but it's not the juiciness.  Not for me, anyway.  Pears have a gritty/grainy texture to the meat of the fruit (as opposed to the skin) that it very, very unpleasant.  I loathe pears.

[DeLurker]

@Mountainair - How do you feel about smoothies?  I'd just throw some fruit in a blender with some yogurt once or twice a week to get the vitamins and fiber.  When I was pregnant with my son, I wanted zucchini - never liked it before so that was a surprise.  He loves zucchini.  With my daughter, I went through several periods where the only thing that did not make me nauseous was really cheap frozen pizza and lemon Italian ice.

2 hours ago, Demented Daisy said:

Pears have a gritty/grainy texture to the meat of the fruit (as opposed to the skin) that it very, very unpleasant.

There's a short window every year where the pear goodness out ranks that texture issue, but hell if I know when that is.  I flove the pears from Harry & David though and have been known to order them by the boxfull.

Edited September 5, 2016 by DeLurker
correct my spelink era. I crack me up.

[janestclair]

3 hours ago, Demented Daisy said:

Pears have a gritty/grainy texture to the meat of the fruit (as opposed to the skin) that it very, very unpleasant.  I loathe pears.

That gritty texture is part of the reason why I love pears.  It can be so hard to find a good one in the store though, and the window for ripe and delicious is very small.  Sometimes, I'll resort to canned pears because at least those are soft, and I know what I'm getting. The Jelly Belly pear flavored bean is my favorite because it tastes like pear, and it has that grittiness to it.  Love.  

I'm a food purist.  I like my coffee to taste like coffee. I like my cheesecake to taste like cheesecake, unless we're talking about lemon or ricotta cheesecake, then an exception can be made. 

14 hours ago, auntlada said:

One salesperson once told me that essential oils are safe for kids and wouldn't cause skin reactions because they are natural so you can't be allergic to them. It was in a meeting and the salesperson was a club member's daughter, so I didn't tell her that was stupid. I mean, poison ivy is pretty natural, but if I get that oil on me, it's going to irritate my skin a lot. I

 Wow.  The stupidity of that statement burns, much like poison ivy would.

[bilgistic]

9 hours ago, backformore said:

WHO IS BRUCE?

I'm cracking up at this! The name "Bruce" has started to take on an absurd quality that words take the more you think about them.

Similarly, several years ago, I got a mass "Merry Christmas!" text on Christmas Day. I didn't know the number, and it took me a while to figure out who sent the text. I finally figured out it was some jackass I went on one or two dates with a great number of months before said Christmas Day. Why did he feel it necessary to text me after dates that went nowhere? Clean out your contacts, people!

5 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

Wouldn't it be free if you just sent a txt that said Who the hell are you and who the hell is Bruce? My condolences on your loss. ?

This cracked me up, too!

3 hours ago, Demented Daisy said:

I'm not @bilgistic ;-), but it's not the juiciness.  Not for me, anyway.  Pears have a gritty/grainy texture to the meat of the fruit (as opposed to the skin) that it very, very unpleasant.  I loathe pears.

This is exactly what I meant. Pears should die.

[TattleTeeny]

18 hours ago, bilgistic said:

After a shitty week at work (is there any other kind?), I decided to hell with my lactose intolerance this weekend and had my favorite kind of terribly wondeful frozen cheese pizza and Talenti double dark chocolate gelato. My body was very unhappy with me. Serves me right, but it was good going down. I'm back to fruits and veggies today.

I guess I won't be having cheesecake--pumpkin or otherwise--ever again.  :: sobbing ::

Have you tried the Ben & Jerry's dairy-free, or the So Delicious brand? Not gelato texture, but super convincing ice-cream doppelgängers! Also, the Amy's brand has a decent frozen pizza.

 

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I don't like a lot of smelly stuff because it irritates my sinuses, and I just don't believe that anointing myself with essential oils is better than using medicine.

I am laden with sinus issues (to the point of almost scheduling a stupid operation that I was trying to avoid) and I have to say that the by far best things I've used to help are the neti pot and inhaling lavender oil (not, like snorting it, haha--just rubbing a drop into my palms and sort of cupping it around my nose for about eight deep breaths. Or, when I'm lazy, just doing a few "hits" right from the bottle). No more allergist/ENT four times a month (UGH! I hated that nose camera!), no more sleeping with two pillows, and no more daily Claritin and Nasonex (though I still keep them around). 

Edited September 5, 2016 by TattleTeeny

[rcc]

I have sinus issues too especially at night. Before bed I take a Q-tip and dip it into a sinus oil I bought from a herbalist and put it under each nostril. It's made with eucalyptus, lavender, peppermint and lemon. It smells more like eucalyptus than anything and I think that's the most important ingredient. Works for me. No more prescription medication or mists.

[TattleTeeny]

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I don't do it as much since I now use SinusBuster spray. Yes, I shoot pepper spray up my nose.

My BF always yells in horror when he uses the pepper nose spray. It's hilarious--and I think he actually kind of likes it.

Sorry about your mom; I hope she's feeling better.

[auntlada]

3 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

I am laden with sinus issues (to the point of almost scheduling a stupid operation that I was trying to avoid) and I have to say that the by far best things I've used to help are the neti pot and inhaling lavender oil (not, like snorting it, haha--just rubbing a drop into my palms and sort of cupping it around my nose for about eight deep breaths. Or, when I'm lazy, just doing a few "hits" right from the bottle). No more allergist/ENT four times a month (UGH! I hated that nose camera!), no more sleeping with two pillows, and no more daily Claritin and Nasonex (though I still keep them around). 

I can't stand lavender. Flowery scents really bother me. I find eucalyptus scented stuff helps me (stuff that smells like Vick's), and I like mint if it's not too strong. Even with candles, I only like food scents. Flowery scents just give me a headache.

[TattleTeeny]

I don't find lavender oil to smell the same as, say, a lavender candle or some heinous air-freshener or something. I was surprised that it didn't call "floral" to mind (maybe I was thinking of lilac?). There's something...muskier? earthier? to it. Even if I hated though, I would not give it up--soooooo much less time in doctors' offices. Ugh, I hate waiting rooms. And also waiting.

Haha, other than citrus, I can't stand food-scented things--even if I like the actual food! I'd totally dig a bleach-scented candle though.

Edited September 5, 2016 by TattleTeeny

[zxy556575]

6 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

I am laden with sinus issues (to the point of almost scheduling a stupid operation that I was trying to avoid) ...

Standard I-am-not-a-doctor disclaimers apply, but I had sinus surgery a couple of decades ago and never looked back. Zero sinus infections or chronic congestion since. The recovery was a bit uncomfortable, mostly because of the packing, but it wasn't what I'd call painful.

[BooksRule]

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Pears have a gritty/grainy texture to the meat of the fruit (as opposed to the skin) that it very, very unpleasant.  I loathe pears.

I agree about disliking the grittiness of pears, although I like the flavor of pears.  My grandmother had a pear tree that produced what we always called 'cooking pears', but after looking online, the description of a Forelle pear seems to be the closest.  They taste like pears, but the texture is like a firm apple (think Granny Smith, but not tart).  They made good pies and cobblers, too.  I can't find them in stores, but I know a couple of people who have a tree in their yard, so I get a bag now and then.

[TattleTeeny]

39 minutes ago, lordonia said:

Standard I-am-not-a-doctor disclaimers apply, but I had sinus surgery a couple of decades ago and never looked back. Zero sinus infections or chronic congestion since. The recovery was a bit uncomfortable, mostly because of the packing, but it wasn't what I'd call painful.

Yeah, it's not off the table but as of now it's not on it either--it's dangling from the side of the table. I've got one friend who has nothing but rave reviews for it, and another who is back to where he was before he had it.

Edited September 5, 2016 by TattleTeeny

[bilgistic]

Granny Smith apples are the only kind I will eat. The rest are so dry and gross...unless they are in pie, then I'm good with them.

[auntlada]

Granny Smith apples are the best, crisp and tart. I find most others too mushy. I buy Granny Smith apples for eating and baking (although the only thing I bake with them is an apple cake).

[zxy556575]

Fruit peeves? I dislike mango and papaya -- the pulpy horror!

[ParadoxLost]

I realized several years ago that I did not know how to eat a fresh peach.  To eat the fuzzy skin or not eat the fuzzy skin.  I called my parents.  We had to look it up on the internet.  My childhood diet of fruit and vegetables was not varied.

I saw a guy exercising outside yesterday.  He was walking in the street with headphones on and reading a paperback novel.  I'm a reader.  I understand the impulse.  But really, as much as you might not like narration, there are times you must get it on a book or stop reading, for the sake of safety.

[TattleTeeny]

Avocados and their ridiculously short window of edibility! They're all like, "Come here...GO AWAY!"

Edited September 6, 2016 by TattleTeeny

[bilgistic]

45 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

Avocados and their ridiculously short window of edibility! They're all like, "Come here...GO AWAY!"

This is how I feel about bananas. I like bananas, but they must be just a titch past green and not yet showing any brown. I've learned to trick myself into eating the "too old" ones by peeling, cutting them up and freezing them for use in smoothies. My stepdad is the same way about the window of banana edibility.

And, yes, @lordonia, mangos and papayas are horrendous.

I can't eat anything in the melon family. The texture (like pears) just does me in. People around here dive headfirst into watermelon and my stomach just turns. Someone brought one to work and people hacked at its carcass for two days. I thought I would pass out. As a 20-year-plus vegetarian, I would've done better with a freshly killed steer on the kitchen counter.

My sisters would eat an entire cantaloupe, and I would just watch in horror. Oddly, the smell doesn't bother me. But the taste. Oh, god, the taste.

I will sit and eat a bowl full of berries from the farmer's market. I LOVE berries. Don't want them in pie, though!

We are all freaks.

[TattleTeeny]

Yup to everything you said about the fucking bananas (I too like them greenish, and then use the older ones in smoothies)! And a big ol' peeve goes out to my BF, who always says he wants bananas, which I buy...which he then doesn't eat...which forces me to have to do the smoothie thing after the greenness is gone!

[backformore]

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Yup to everything you said about the fucking bananas (I too like them greenish, and then use the older ones in smoothies)! And a big ol' peeve goes out to my BF, who always says he wants bananas, which I buy...which he then doesn't eat...which forces me to have to do the smoothie thing after the greenness is gone!

Put the bananas in sandwich bags and keep them in the freezer.  It makes for better smoothies, as you don't need to add ice,  or anything to make it thick, as frozen bananas blend up like ice cream. 

[TattleTeeny]

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Put the bananas in sandwich bags and keep them in the freezer. 

Or do the same to the BF, ahahahhahaaaaaa!

[backformore]

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Wouldn't it be free if you just sent a txt that said Who the hell are you and who the hell is Bruce? My condolences on your loss. ?

I didn't want to do that, the text asked that people NOT reply.  And I hate to bother someone who may have just lost their husband or boyfriend.  It's possible that  someone who used to be a co-worker sent it, as we all had each other's call phone numbers.  And I deleted some numbers from my phone, so it wasn't identified by name.   But I don't have a clue WHO it is.   It could be a wrong number, but the location of the funeral home is close to us.   I just don't understand why someone sends out a group text to a bunch of contacts and doesn't sign it. 

[FormerMod-a1]

7 hours ago, backformore said:

I didn't want to do that, the text asked that people NOT reply. 

Maybe they didn't want you to reply to the group text since it would go to everyone, but I'd think a message to the sender only (i.e. start a new message) would be OK.  Or if you recognized other numbers in the distribution, you could ask that person.

I have no problem with bananas.  I like them from a little green to a little brown.  I do, however, agree with avacados.  They go from too hard to such mush within a day it seems.  You need to catch the hour of ripeness, it seems.

[TattleTeeny]

Avocados: infuriatingly delicious.

[Petunia13]

15 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

I realized several years ago that I did not know how to eat a fresh peach.  To eat the fuzzy skin or not eat the fuzzy skin.  I called my parents.  We had to look it up on the internet.  My childhood diet of fruit and vegetables was not varied.

I saw a guy exercising outside yesterday.  He was walking in the street with headphones on and reading a paperback novel.  I'm a reader.  I understand the impulse.  But really, as much as you might not like narration, there are times you must get it on a book or stop reading, for the sake of safety.

Then eat a nectarine. Peaches and Nectarines are genetically almost identical except for their skin. 

[janestclair]

If bananas aren't ripe enough, I get a headache.  So they have to have at least a few flecks of brown on them before they're edible to me. 

I can't stand mango or papaya either. Mango tastes like a pine tree. No thank you.  

Honeydew melons smell like garbage to me.  Sweet, disgusting garbage.  I used to be ok with cantaloupe but now it hurts my mouth, so I stay away.  I don't like them enough to suffer the mouth pain.  I could probably make a significant dent in a whole watermelon if it was chilled. Yum. Room temperature watermelon is not good.   

Avocado is something I want to like. I keep trying it, and I can't get past the texture.  On the plus side, it saves me 2 bucks in Chipotle.

Ever have a donut peach? Those things are amazing, skin and all.    

[JTMacc99]

15 hours ago, forumfish said:

I'm allergic to bananas but the rest of my family likes them. If there's ever a half left over, I pop it in a sandwich bag and into the freezer, with the intention of making my sister a smoothie. Today, I cleaned out the freezer and found at least four sandwich bags containing the most vile looking, semi-smushy things imaginable. I finally realized they were bananas. Suffice it to say they went into the trash.

Melons? Allergic to those, too.

Fruit allergies, eh?  I think you have a version of the one I have if I understand them correctly.  I'm allergic to uncooked tree nuts and pitted fruits. Fortunately it's not terrible, but it does make my throat scratchy, especially the nuts. I like pears and apples, but I can't eat them raw.  It is my understanding that the tropical fruit version of this (like bananas) can be really bad.

A doctor explained it to me as my body, which has always been allergic to pollen, at one point confused something in these foods with pollen and sends out the same unnecessary response to where the food hits.  

And on the topic of bananas, I tolerate them on the greenish side, but enjoy them best with at least some brown spots.  

[MargeGunderson]

Another sufferer of food allergies. Mine seem to be at their worst when my pollen allergies are also at their peak. Apparently my system is so overwhelmed with pollen allergies that it starts overreacting to everything. Weirdly my allergies are to apples, pears, cherries, peaches and sometimes strawberries and pineapple. From March to June the only fruit I eat is citrus and grapes. I really want to eat cherries but that is a guaranteed trip to the ER.

[auntlada]

Bananas are best when they are very ripe so that someone else can mash them and cook them in banana chocolate chip pancakes, and all I have to do is eat the pancakes.

[TattleTeeny]

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Avocado is something I want to like. I keep trying it, and I can't get past the texture.

Not that it's important whether or not you join those of us who like avocados, but if you dig the taste but not the texture, maybe try mashing it and using it as a sandwich spread? I do that sometimes with my "on the brink" ones--take that, you little tricky bastards! I gotcha before you could get me!

[Demented Daisy]

The only way I can stand avocados is if they are blended with fresh (not jarred or canned) salsa verde.

[JTMacc99]

1 hour ago, MargeGunderson said:

Another sufferer of food allergies. Mine seem to be at their worst when my pollen allergies are also at their peak. Apparently my system is so overwhelmed with pollen allergies that it starts overreacting to everything. Weirdly my allergies are to apples, pears, cherries, peaches and sometimes strawberries and pineapple. From March to June the only fruit I eat is citrus and grapes. I really want to eat cherries but that is a guaranteed trip to the ER.

That's the same group of pitted fruits as me. Mangos for me, but not strawberries and pineapple. 

[Bastet]

I love pretty much every fruit that has been discussed recently, except bananas; those, I absolutely cannot stand.

Shifting gears:  Confronting the physical signs of aging in the mirror can be tough some days for anyone, so I can only imagine what those routinely presented to the world on giant, HD screens go through.  Thus, my personal feelings about plastic surgery/lesser cosmetic procedures aside, the people who give celebrities (usually women) shit for looking old and the people who give them shit for doing things to try to look a little younger are all on my peeve list.  And I find myself most annoyed by those who simultaneously give women shit for the ways they look their age and the ways they don’t -- you can’t huff about someone’s Botoxed face in one indignant breath and then make fun of the natural skin on their neck, hands, etc. in the next. 

I’ve got a “I miss her/his old face” list of celebrities I wish had left well enough alone and, not being blind, I certainly notice the changes when someone I haven’t seen on screen/in photographs since they were 40ish turns up again closer to 60 and – gasp – looks different 15-20 years later.  But, good lord, the level of criticism and outright vitriol heaped on these people, especially the women, for daring to get older is just ridiculous.  No wonder they get their wrinkles injected and such, but then they get shit for that, too.  It’s not the taking note, it’s the relentless commentary and nasty tone, no matter what they do or don't do. 

Edited September 7, 2016 by Bastet

[DeLurker]

Driving today and flipping through my preset stations - NPR, alt rock & classic rock.  Settle on classic and at the next commercial break I find out that one part of the morning show is brought to you by AARP.

F-U!  Music can be timeless and carry me back like the WABAC Machine! I don't need an intrusive reminder that I qualify for AARP.  And get off my damn lawn. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

Fruits: BLASPHEMY! BLASPHEMY! I love all melons and pears and especially Mangoes! But nothing, nothing beats the sweet, juicy taste of Alphonso Mangoes-only available in India.

I'll see myself out now.

[Jaded]

People who are supposed to show up but don't call to say they won't be. I've ended up avoiding many needed naps due to this issue. The naps are important because I've been having sleeping issues for a few months.

[AgentRXS]

I saw this meme on FB and had to chuckle cause it is so me and its the reason this is my favorite thread on this site:

[DeLurker]

9 hours ago, Jaded said:

People who are supposed to show up but don't call to say they won't be. I've ended up avoiding many needed naps due to this issue. The naps are important because I've been having sleeping issues for a few months.

Just nap.  Back when I used to go out for nights of revelry, my friends knew that if they did not pick me up at the time I was expecting, there was a good chance that I would fall asleep.  Sleep is really more important (at least in my book).

One of my brothers is allergic to apples, celery, carrots and some other fruits and vegetables.  They are fine if they are cooked though.  He did some research and the majority of the foods are somehow related to birch trees (he says it more science-y).

Lately I've started to get an allergic reaction if I get by too many mosquitoes.  One or two, and it is just the typical uncomfortable itchy.  More than 6, I need to take a Benadryl.  I live in the Houston area, so I lose.

[zxy556575]

Insect peeve: Cockroaches, now and forever. They're why I could never be a Buddhist.

Bodily functions: If the drug store aisle is any indication, most of the world has the opposite problem but I have so had it with diarrhea (after my gall bladder was removed). Silver lining is that I've worked from home for the last decade and at least don't have to deal with public restrooms.

[ABay]

Books written in present tense. They should come with a warning on the cover. 

[Bastet]

My friend has had the same problem since her gall bladder removal several years ago, lordonia.  She asked her doctor if he could put it back in, as in hindsight she preferred the problems it was causing her to the one its absence is causing.

My peeve of the day: Seeing/hearing "nonplussed" used to mean the exact opposite of nonplussed (non-nonplussed, as José Chung on The X-Files would say).  I know, I know -- it's one of those words where the incorrect use has been so common for so long it has become accepted as an informal definition, but these are peeves, right?

[ParadoxLost]

4 hours ago, ABay said:

Books written in present tense. They should come with a warning on the cover. 

Amazon needs an exclude first person POV filter for Kindle.

[TattleTeeny]

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Books written in present tense. They should come with a warning on the cover. 

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Amazon needs an exclude first person POV filter for Kindle.

Wait -- I'm confused; which "person" is it that you guys dislike?

[ABay]

It's 2 different things. I can't abide present tense, @ParadoxLost dislikes first person POV.

I support the idea of  filters if would help me avoid wasting money on fricking present tense narratives.  A chapter or 2 I can tolerate, especially if it's from an author I already like. But an entire damned book written that way is just trying too hard and it's impossible for me to overcome my eye rolling enough to read it. I swear, while I think people who write in library books should be hung by their thumbs until they can't hold a pencil, I completely understand someone wanting to go through a book and add -ed to the verbs. I want to send the book that "inspired" my post back to Amaxon but no longer have the  receipt.

[ParadoxLost]

@ABay At least its easier for me.  I just scan a lot of first pages of books to do a mental count at the number of time 'I' shows up in text.

[zxy556575]

I happen to like first person narratives, but the silver cloud is that more and more books have excerpts available so I can dip a toe in before deciding if I want to spend my .... well, I buy mostly digital fiction on sale -- so my .99 cents.

This is a second-hand peeve, but Amazon has a lot of cozy mystery book sets of 3-5 volumes that cost less than a dollar, or are even free. I mean, some poor git had to actually plot and write all that stuff! It's nice for me but I feel bad for the authors. They're usually books that have been out for a few years, so maybe I should just think of it a digital remainder bin.

[TattleTeeny]

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It's 2 different things. I can't abide present tense, @PARADOXLOST dislikes first person POV.

OK, that's what I thought (I'm a copy editor) but then I somehow conflated two posts or some shit. Long, annoying day doing everyone's job but mine (a huge peeve); carry on!

Edited September 8, 2016 by TattleTeeny