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

[Qoass]

Well, just to pile on, I dislike fiction written in second person.  I seldom come across it so perhaps I'm not the only one.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 9/5/2016 at 0:31 PM, forumfish said:

I have had good luck with peppermint oil for sinus headaches. I'd heat a mug of water in the microwave, add 5-10 drops of peppermint oil, close my eyes (very important!) and inhale the steam through my nose. Burns all the way to the back of your head, but highly effective.

If you take the Celestial Seasonings tour in Boulder, Colorado, they have a peppermint room that they make a big point of saying is optional because some people just can't take it.  They keep that stuff separate from the other flavors so it doesn't contaminate them, and it is pretty overwhelming.  You could probably be the permanent tour guide in there. 

 

On 9/6/2016 at 9:41 PM, forumfish said:

DeLurker, I empathize. Not long ago, the clerk at Walgreens asked if I was over 50 'cause it was Senior Day. Good times.

Yikes.  Most employees of places like grocery stores and drug stores are cautioned never to offer a senior discount to anyone. 

Since you're in Austin...you know the Arbor Theater?  It shows art/foreign movies and weekday matinees are always a sea of cottontops.  One day a couple of years ago I was looking at my ticket and realized the girl had given me the senior discount without my asking (and for which I don't qualify).  Worse, the discount was 25 cents.  That's why they're not supposed to do it unless asked--people can really get insulted about that sort of thing.

I wonder if she's used to everybody asking for the senior discount at weekday matinees and she just does it kind of automatically.  But it's happened at other theaters on the opposite end of the spectrum--those staffed and frequented by hipsters.  I've been given the senior discount without asking there, too, and I think the problem there is they think anyone older than them is old.  Whatever--if they give it to me, I'm not going to argue.

Oh, and a peeve?  Senior discounts.  I think they're ridiculous.  People don't automatically start living on a [limited] fixed income when they're 65 any more.  Hell, it's the millennials who can't get a job (although they manage to find enough scratch for tattoos and vaping).

And back to age, another peeve--the prohibition on asking a woman's age.  Maybe this ties into Bastet's rant about the impossible position women in the public eye are in when it comes to growing older vs. plastic surgery.  I have never had a problem with anyone knowing my age, but I had a friend who said the problem with a woman admitting an advanced age is that expectations for her are immediately lowered.  That kind of made sense, but on the other hand, I've always been a fan of low expectations, especially when it comes to me.

And actually, I've always thought women should lie older.  Like if you're 55, tell people you're 70, and they will say, "Damn she looks good."  The risk, of course, being that they might say, "You don't look a day over 65."  (Never mind the fact that none of this should matter at all.)

[Mountainair]

I love peppermint oil. I used it religiously while I was pregnant to get rid of nausea and headaches. I'd keep the bottle in my purse and just take a big whiff every now and again. I also use that and tea tree oil in my laundry detergent and household cleaners. I make my own and the peppermint adds a nice scent and the tea tree has good antibacterial properties. I also use coconut oil to get rid of cradle cap on my daughter's head. That's about the extent of my "oiling" though.

[zxy556575]

Now I want to visit Celestial Seasonings! Peppermint is one of my favorite flavors -- Icebreaker mints, tea, ice cream (only available seasonally) and hard candies/canes. The last even though I once broke a tooth eating them.

My new peeve is that I'm almost out of a maintenance medication, my primary care doctor is on family leave until January and my pulmonologist doesn't accept my new Medicare insurance. I HATE the process of going to a new doctor, filling out their interminable forms (which are promptly ignored) and once again reviewing my extensive medical history. I had a minor brainstorm this morning and hied myself off to urgent care, where I cajoled them into giving me a 60 day supply. But I'm going to be in the same pickle again when that runs out.

[janestclair]

I always say my mental age is probably teens because I find stupid things funny, but I look like I'm in my early 20s. In reality, I'm mid-thirties, but my body already feels like I'm 75.  I have way too many aches and pains.  

[StatisticalOutlier]

53 minutes ago, forumfish said:

Yes, I saw movies at the Arbor back when it first opened in the 80s.

Another pet peeve--brightly lit exit signs in movie theaters.  Actually, all lights, but exit signs in particular because they're often right by the screen.

At the Arbor in the 80s (they've moved since then), they had drapes hanging over the opening for the exit, below the exit sign.  In one of the theaters, I figured out that it was possible to take the edge of the drape and swing it big and high and make it catch on the exit sign, dimming it dramatically.  It might take a few tries to get the motion right, but it would eventually work. 

One time I did it I was back in that same theater about a week later and the drape was still like that  So nobody on the staff even noticed that the curtain was askew, making the light about 10% of normal, but everybody in the audience has to endure the blinding exit light unless some asshole like me does something about it. 

[rcc]

That theater drape reminds me of what happens more and more these days. Staff just do as little as possible. If something needs attention unless they are told exactly what needs to be done, it doesn't get done. I've seen so many times things on a store floor and employees go right by. When I worked at a department store years ago if I saw something on the floor I would just pick it up because it's the right thing to do. I didn't have to be told to pick it up. 

[Guest]

6 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Yikes.  Most employees of places like grocery stores and drug stores are cautioned never to offer a senior discount to anyone. 

They enacted a law here where every place that sold alcohol had to card everyone.  For a while, every restaurant was strictly following it as they were cracking down on violators.  European visitors that we would take to dinner would get super pissed off about it to the point that we would preemptively explain the law to all of them before the poor waitress asked for their drink order.

On the other side of the ocean, the waiter would look at us Americans like we were the scum of the earth for starting dinner before 8PM.

That brings me to another tale of woe.  Its very sad when you travel overseas for work, really want to stimulate their economy by shopping for interesting souvenirs and every store is closed by 6PM while you are still at the office. 

I don't know how people survive in some EU countries where there are only 4 hours on a Saturday where stuff is open outside of normal work hours.  Not to mention regulated vacuuming, laundry, and lawn mowing. 

But I digress.  Yes, I'm an American consumer.  And if I randomly decide I want to go shopping in the middle of the night twice a year, I like that I can.

[auntlada]

1 hour ago, ParadoxLost said:

On the other side of the ocean, the waiter would look at us Americans like we were the scum of the earth for starting dinner before 8PM.

That brings me to another tale of woe.  Its very sad when you travel overseas for work, really want to stimulate their economy by shopping for interesting souvenirs and every store is closed by 6PM while you are still at the office. 

I don't know how people survive in some EU countries where there are only 4 hours on a Saturday where stuff is open outside of normal work hours.

We were in Rome one year right after Christmas, and it seemed a lot of shops that sold things you'd buy as souvenirs (not food shops) weren't even open regular hours. They'd have hours posted, but the open times seemed to actually be whenever the owner or employees showed up. Of course, it was probably our fault for being in Rome between Christmas and New Year's, which is still the Christmas season there. Thank goodness the gelato shops were open pretty much all the time.

We never got odd looks for eating early. We usually ate supper around 6 p.m. (a regular time for us here) and always got excellent service. The waiters (and in one or two places, possibly the manager or owner) always seemed very happy to see us and would joke around with us. Of course, we were usually the only people in the place. The few times we had to eat later -- around 10 p.m. -- it took forever because everywhere was packed. Once we actually ate at McDonald's just because it was so late, we were tired, and it would be faster. It didn't taste any better than McDonald's here.

[Sandman87]

1 hour ago, ParadoxLost said:

Not to mention regulated vacuuming, laundry, and lawn mowing. 

Ok, I'll bite: Regulated vacuuming?

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Sandman87 said:

Ok, I'll bite: Regulated vacuuming?

When I was traveling in Switzerland, my coworkers, all expats from around EU and Eastern EU, regaled me of local laws/ordinances (and ways to avoid taxation).

Apparently there are some very strict noise ordinances for Sunday and vacuuming is a violation (I guess if its an apartment).  So is lawn mowing.  And excessively noisy kids playing.  No one seemed to have their own washer and dryer and were assigned a laundry day for a shared appliance, but there is a requirement that every Xth house have a bomb shelter that must be perpetually ready to accommodate your neighbors in a nuclear attack/accident and can be inspected on 2 hours notice. 

I have no idea if this is a localized thing in that area of Switzerland or an outsized reaction of horror on my part to the idea that the government might care about my chores and how and when I do them that has blown it all out of proportion in my memory.

Being told when I can do stuff just won't work for me.  I can happily hang around the house all day, but tell me that I have to be at home during a window because someone is coming to deliver or fix something and I go stir crazy.  Being required to conform my chores to fit into a regimented schedule would make me lose my mind. 

[bilgistic]

1 hour ago, ParadoxLost said:

Apparently there are some very strict noise ordinances for ... excessively noisy kids playing.

Bye for now, everyone! I'll write you from Switzerland!!

[DeLurker]

Good chocolate and non-noisy kids?  Sounds like utopia!  Well, if you have a fat Swiss bank account to go with it.

[Guest]

11 hours ago, DeLurker said:

Good chocolate and non-noisy kids?  Sounds like utopia!  Well, if you have a fat Swiss bank account to go with it.

If you can afford the $75 USD plate of pasta with a soda.  I cringed a little when I filled out that expense report.  Well that and the stores are never open to sell you chocolate.

[Sandman87]

And you don't mind living in a country which has a constitution that recognizes "the dignity of plants", presumably in an attempt to encourage vegetation to immigrate.

[zxy556575]

I hate to let a day go by, so here's a longstanding, generic peeve: cleaning the toilet. One, the literal shit. Two, the stupid hard water rings that I can only remove by turning off the water, emptying the bowl, and laying in vinegar-soaked cloths for 24 hours.

On 9/9/2016 at 9:30 AM, DeLurker said:

Good chocolate and non-noisy kids?  Sounds like utopia!  Well, if you have a fat Swiss bank account to go with it.

Remember the '90s caning incident in Singapore? The news stories at the time all mentioned the strict laws against littering, noise, gum-chewing, etc. I was all, "Whoa. That is really ... sensible and kind of appealing."

[bilgistic]

1 hour ago, lordonia said:

I hate to let a day go by, so here's a longstanding, generic peeve: cleaning the toilet. One, the literal shit. Two, the stupid hard water rings that I can only remove by turning off the water, emptying the bowl, and laying in vinegar-soaked cloths for 24 hours.

You are a way better human--well, everything--than I am!

[auntlada]

1 hour ago, lordonia said:

I hate to let a day go by, so here's a longstanding, generic peeve: cleaning the toilet. One, the literal shit. Two, the stupid hard water rings that I can only remove by turning off the water, emptying the bowl, and laying in vinegar-soaked cloths for 24 hours.

I hope you have more than one toilet in your house.

[zxy556575]

4 minutes ago, auntlada said:

I hope you have more than one toilet in your house.

Ha! Make me snort laugh. The various options: squat outside in my back yard, use a service station, beg a neighbor, portapotty at nearby construction site, buy a bedside commode?

But yes, the other bathroom.  :)

[Frisson]

On the topic of toilets, I hate automatic flushing toilets that flush when you sit down. I haven't even done anything yet! 

[Frisson]

@stewedsquash It peeves me that sensors are either under- or overreactive to people! Even touching the sensor won't make it respond sometimes. 

[bilgistic]

On 9/11/2016 at 10:02 PM, Frisson said:

On the topic of toilets, I hate automatic flushing toilets that flush when you sit down. I haven't even done anything yet! 

I can't handle (pun) the toilet flushing when I'm in the stall. Supposedly, toilet flushes send a bajillion germs into the air, and public toilets--oh, dear god!! I don't use a public toilet unless I really have to, and I make flushing the last thing I do before leaving the stall. I kick the handle and run.

I do realize I'm certifiable.

[Bastet]

Ha!  I largely do not care about germs, so public toilets don't bother me on that front, but given the way a flushing toilet spews germs into the air, I can just imagine how those who are bothered by germs feel about a toilet they can't cover, especially those they can't even control when they flush.  So it is with all due sympathy I chuckle at the image of you delivering a ninja kick and fleeing the stall.

Edited September 13, 2016 by Bastet

[bilgistic]

Weirdly, I'm not very concerned about my own germs. I know it makes zero sense, particularly because the toilets at work, for example, are cleaned daily(?), whereas mine...is not. I am a freak about washing my hands before I eat, and after I touch railings and door handles--basically, the germiest things of all. I am fairly good about wiping down my workspace.

Stop me if you've heard this one. People (drunk and/or homeless, I assume) pee in the stairwell of the parking deck of the building where I work. I hate touching the railings or door handles...anything...there. The stairwell reeks of pee. There are pee trails down the walls. It is disgusting. I feel like hosing down when I get to my desk in the morning and/or when I get into my car in the evening. This is why my shoes come off at the door! Pee puddles!!

[JTMacc99]

I was about to second @Bastet on the not caring too much about germs, three years in the fraternity house has made the rest of my life seem perfectly safe, but ewww to the pee puddles on the way into work.  

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

@LORDONIA  Don't the bleach tablets that go in the tank eliminate the rings in the bowl for you? I use them continuously and also every morning pour just a bit of Pine Sol in the bowl and swish it around. Never any rings and I have well water, not town water. 

NOTHING DOES! I swear, we must look like dirtbags at my place and we are not, I promise! Dark waterline rings accented by a pinkish hue! The tablet things do nothing other than make it harder to see (until the blue fades, that is). The only thing that works is cleaning it.

[DeLurker]

2 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

The only thing that works is cleaning it.

That's just crazy talk.

[TattleTeeny]

I wish--and I'm a good cleaner too (though I have to constantly remind the fella that there is a HUGE difference between "I like to clean" and "I like things to be clean." He thinks he's all slick using the former in a spat).

[DeLurker]

I find pouring a gallon of water in the bowl will drop the water level below the normal height.  Then I spray lime-a-way on it, lay toilet paper over the offending line and respray (so the stuff doesn't just drain off).  I'm patient (& have a spare bathroom) so I turn on vent fan, close door and forget about it for a while.  A good scrub with regular toilet brush normally takes care of it.

[Maharincess]

On 9/6/2016 at 8:29 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

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.

I love all fruits too and almost all vegetables except lima beans.  I'm still, two days after reading it, trying to wrap my head around someone not liking any fruit.  I like my bananas greenish, I refuse to eat one if it has any brown on it.   Dark Bing cherries are my favorite fruit but I love them all. I love fruit so much that I have to have three fruit bowls on my table to hold them all.  

[auntlada]

I hate that most people with cell phones just assume that everyone has a smart phone. I don't, and while it might be neat to be able to look things up and do whatever, I don't want one because they are just too big. I'm happy with my cell phone that makes calls and sends texts and fits in my front pocket. (Don't even talk about back pockets. I'm a woman, and women's pants often don't have back pockets or have tiny, useless back pockets. That's another peeve. This peeve is about smart phones and the people who use them.)

Someone -- I have no way to know who -- sent me a "new media" text message. I think that means it's a picture or video, although sometimes people with iPhones send new media text messages that are just text. It seems to be the default setting, although I'm not sure because I don't have an iPhone. I can't get those messages, but they cost me more because not only do I not have a smart phone, I have a prepaid cell phone. Texting is cheaper than talking for me, but it still costs. I can't get today's message, though. I can try, and it will charge me for trying, but then it will say, "Message is too big." I can't even see who it is from. I had hoped my husband, who does have a smart phone, although also a prepaid one with the same company mine is with, got the message so I'd know what it was. His family all have iPhones and often send messages that I can't see. I've asked them not to, but they never remember. (When I'm really unlucky -- and pissed -- one person sends a message like that, and then everyone else responds the same way, and I get message after message of uselessness.) He didn't get one, though, so I don't know if one of them sent it only to me, or if someone else sent me something. If it's someone else, it might be important, but I don't know who it would be.

It could be someone trying to RSVP to my son's birthday party. I won't know that until about three or four days before the party when I have to try to contact people who have not responded to find out if their children are coming. (You'd think they would RSVP. That's another peeve.)

Anyway, I'm just annoyed that people assume everyone has a smart phone and can see whatever crap they are sending that way. Some of us are cheap and have small hands and pockets and don't want to pay for or carry a giant phone.

[ABay]

I've had to text back to friends and family saying "I know you sent me a message but all I see is a folder icon." Emojis show up as blank squares. So I can't see them either.

[Maharincess]

I'm confused, why would it cost you money if somebody texts you? 

[Bastet]

I don't remember how much it costs me per text, but I have to pay for each text sent or received.  It's the plan I chose - I hardly ever text, so it would make no sense to pay more per month for a plan that includes free texting; it's far cheaper to just pay individually for the handful of texts I send/receive each year. 

I hardly ever use my cell phone, period, and very few people have the number.  Those who do know it spends most of its time in my car or purse/briefcase waiting to be charged and thus not to call me on it.  Every once in a while, someone gets amnesia, though, and when I finally unearth my phone and charge it, I'll discover a weeks-old message. 

I share the peeve with people who assume everyone has a smartphone.  When I ask about something in a store and the clerk tells me, "You can get it on your phone" or starts talking about an app, I like to dig out my flip phone and ask, "Oh, really?"

Edited September 14, 2016 by Bastet

[Wiendish Fitch]

I still have a "dumb phone". A part of me would dearly love a smartphone, but I just do not have the self-discipline not to be on it all the damn time.

Drivers who use their smartphones behind the wheel scare the ever-living crap out of me. 

[auntlada]

18 minutes ago, Maharincess said:

I'm confused, why would it cost you money if somebody texts you? 

It costs me to send and receive. It's half a minute each way (I think) so it's less than talking, but it still costs. I don't call much except with my husband and in emergencies from daycare or school. I text with my husband and my mother. That's about it.

9 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I share the peeve with people who assume everyone has a smartphone.  When I ask about something in a store and the clerk tells me, "You can get it on your phone" or starts talking about an app, I like to dig out my flip phone and ask, "Oh, really?"

I miss my slider phone, which I got after the flip phone died. I had to get a new phone after the buttons stopped working. Now I have a phone that looks smart, except that it's a lot smaller, but it isn't. It just has a touch screen. I accidentally call people all the time. I finally started calling my home phone after every call from someone else so that if I accidentally call, it's just my phone. I find that lots of places want my cell phone, but I know the doctor's office, etc., is almost never going to call me.

I used to accidentally call 911 when I first got the phone because I locked the screen so I wouldn't accidentally call people. But you can call 911 even with a locked phone, and I did. I did that once in the middle of the night and had to try to explain that I didn't mean to. I was pretty groggy, so I'm sure it sounded bad. So I started keeping it unlocked and now just redial the last number.

Edited September 14, 2016 by auntlada

[Maharincess]

I have a Samsung smart  phone and pay a flat $41 a month with unlimited data, text and calls.  I would hate having to pay per text or call. 

@Bastet, my husband has an old flip phone too and he loves it.  It only works now if it on speaker but he refuses to get rid of it. He wouldn't know how to work a smart phone if he wanted to, which he doesn't.  

I love my smart phone because with all of my hospital visits, being confined to bed and stuff like that, my phone is pretty much my computer. Every time I'm on here it's on my phone.  It's easy to hold while lying down, it does everything a computer does and the 4G is cheaper than internet.  I did resist getting a smart phone for a long time. When my daughter upgraded one of hers she talked me into getting rid of my flip phone and transferring everything to her old one. That way I could try it without having to buy one. I HATED it for the first couple of weeks. I complained to her that I missed my old, simple phone, the smart phone was too complicated and when I would try to answer the phone I always hung it up instead.  After a while I loved it and I'll never go back to a dumb phone. 

Edited September 14, 2016 by Maharincess
Because I'm a dumb ass.

[bilgistic]

I agree that lima beans are vile.

I pay only $30 a month for my plan, and I have a smart phone. I have something crazy like 1500 texts and minutes, when the only people who call me are telemarketers.

My carrier is a third-party non-contract thing, and I have 1GB of data. I never go over the data, though, because there's WiFi at home, work, restaurants, truck stops and back alleys.

[Bastet]

Quote

I have a Samsung smart  phone and pay a flat $41 a month with unlimited data, text and calls.  I would hate having to pay per text or call. 

I would too if I actually made calls and texts with any regularity; I pay less than half that per month for far more minutes than I'll ever use and a per text fee that adds up to peanuts because I so rarely text.  I pay the bare minimum because I use the bare minimum -- I want a cell phone for those emergencies that never happen and when I'm stuck in traffic and like the ability to place a courtesy "I'm going to be late enough you should go ahead and grab a drink and a table" call, and that's it.

Presumably the day will come when one can't have a cell phone that isn't a smart phone, and at that point I'll have to learn to use one.  No problem, but I will resent the hell out of the increased cost since I just don't use a mobile phone enough to justify more than what I'm paying now.  And that won't change.  I can't fathom squinting at a tiny phone to read correspondence, let alone watch video content, so that's never going to be useful to me -- I have a large monitor and really large TVs because I want my eyes to have a large surface when they have to stare at electronic images.  And I don't take work calls/check work emails outside of office hours and don't take social calls when I'm busy, so I just don't need the 24/7 connection.

Lima beans?  Eww.  But, then, I have never met a bean I did not hate.  Well, not true - I like edamame.  The rest, though, I'll take a pass. 

[zxy556575]

A related phone peeve is that businesses I deal with -- doctors, insurance company, etc. -- always ask for my "main" phone number in addition to my cell phone and seem to disbelieve me when I say I don't have one. Get with it, folks. Not that unusual.

On the other hand I'm way behind in phone tech myself and can't imagine being online or playing games on a tiny phone screen. My vision isn't good enough for that shit, plus the keyboard is minuscule! I suppose you get used to it.

I love lima beans, especially the ones with pork at my favorite barbecue restaurant. Brussels sprouts are another favorite that seems to be widely derided.

[Bastet]

Brussels sprouts I love (as is true of the majority of vegetables) -- I could eat them daily and not get sick of them.

I suppose it does go both ways with cell phones -- those staring at a screen with multiple phone number fields to fill in, unable to comprehend someone giving only a cell phone number or someone giving only a home or work number.  I get a lot of "We don't have a cell phone number listed for you; would you like to add that now?" questions when I have to call my bank, insurance company, etc.  The negative answer often perplexes them.  "You don't have a cell phone?"  Um, yeah, but I won't be giving you the number.

[backformore]

7 hours ago, Maharincess said:

I love all fruits too and almost all vegetables except lima beans. 

Wow!   Me too!  It's the one vegetable I hated as a kid (and had to clean my plate!)  so after choking them down as a child, I have not had even ONE as an adult.

[Maharincess]

@backformore,  when I had to eat them when I was a kid I would cut them into three pieces with my fork and swallow them like pills. That way I ate them and never had to taste the nasty things.  I loved vegetables when I was a kid, my friends parents were always surprised when I'd ask for more broccoli or peas. 

@Bastet, I'm with you on brussels sprouts, I love them.  There are so many different ways to cook them, I have them at least once a week. 

Edited September 14, 2016 by Maharincess

[Maharincess]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

I would too if I actually made calls and texts with any regularity; I pay less than half that per month for far more minutes than I'll ever use and a per text fee that adds up to peanuts because I so rarely text.  I pay the bare minimum because I use the bare minimum -- I want a cell phone for those emergencies that never happen and when I'm stuck in traffic and like the ability to place a courtesy "I'm going to be late enough you should go ahead and grab a drink and a table" call, and that's it.

Presumably the day will come when one can't have a cell phone that isn't a smart phone, and at that point I'll have to learn to use one.  No problem, but I will resent the hell out of the increased cost since I just don't use a mobile phone enough to justify more than what I'm paying now.  And that won't change.  I can't fathom squinting at a tiny phone to read correspondence, let alone watch video content, so that's never going to be useful to me -- I have a large monitor and really large TVs because I want my eyes to have a large surface when they have to stare at electronic images.  And I don't take work calls/check work emails outside of office hours and don't take social calls when I'm busy, so I just don't need the 24/7 connection.

Lima beans?  Eww.  But, then, I have never met a bean I did not hate.  Well, not true - I like edamame.  The rest, though, I'll take a pass. 

My husband is worried about the day that there will only be smart phones. 

My daughter and I text each other all day every day, I would say at least a hundred a day.  We text about TV shows, what the kids are doing and just every day stuff.  My son and I text a lot and I text one friend too but my daughter and I set records.   She and I both hate talking on the phone and she's busy throughout the day,  we're really close and texting is just our way of staying in touch.  She comes over a lot too, both kids go to school right near my house so when she drops the older one off at school, she has 90 minutes until my grandson has to go so they come over every day.  I don't know why I added that, just didn't want you to think our only communication was texting.   So my point after rambling is that it's worth it to me to pay for the unlimited texting.  Plus my phone is basically our house phone and its used to make appointments and stuff like that.  My house phone never rings. If it does I know it's nobody I want to talk to. 

[Qoass]

Love lima beans.  Hate brussel sprouts.  Totally sympathize with Bastet on the phone thing.  I had a no-contract deal of $5 per month payable 90 days at a time.  The first call of the day was $1 and then something like 7 cents a minute after that.  When I "upgraded" to a phone with a slide out keyboard and a $25 unlimited text & data/300 minutes plan, I had over $100 banked from the original plan.  Does anybody know if you can use a smart phone without getting a 4G plan?

[NutMeg]

52 minutes ago, Qoass said:

Love lima beans.  Hate brussel sprouts.  Totally sympathize with Bastet on the phone thing.  I had a no-contract deal of $5 per month payable 90 days at a time.  The first call of the day was $1 and then something like 7 cents a minute after that.  When I "upgraded" to a phone with a slide out keyboard and a $25 unlimited text & data/300 minutes plan, I had over $100 banked from the original plan.  Does anybody know if you can use a smart phone without getting a 4G plan?

That's what I do. When my old flip phone died, I bought an iphone, had my sim card resized, and kept on paying less than $10 a month. I still use it as a phone mostly, only using the smart feature where I have wifi (home, when I want to check something without switching on computer) or when traveling, basically). I don't live in the US though. I also don't know anyone else who does that. People look at me as if I were from another planet sometimes :)

[zxy556575]

My cell phone is usually off unless I need to make a call. I turned it on this morning to check voicemail and there were two messages to verify references for a guy who used to work for me. He had already asked if I'd be a reference and I said sure but that I left my phone off and it wasn't a good way to reach me.

Now I'm sure there's a way to set my voicemail so that it tells me the date and time of the message, but I don't know how to do it so have no idea when the guy called. I only check my phone every couple of weeks. At any rate, I called the guy back and he said the "case was closed." Shit! I hope I didn't cost my friend a job.

Edited September 14, 2016 by lordonia

[Qoass]

I put in my message that this number is only used for emergencies so if you leave a message, there's no guarantee I'll get it in a timely manner.

[DeLurker]

10 hours ago, Bastet said:

Presumably the day will come when one can't have a cell phone that isn't a smart phone, and at that point I'll have to learn to use one.

 

8 hours ago, Maharincess said:

My husband is worried about the day that there will only be smart phones. 

Eventually cellphones will be embedded in our bodies so that we are reachable and monitored round the clock.  I don't think calling it a "cell" phone was coincidental - part of Apple's long term master plan to dominate and unite us all.  No Snowden can save us now.

[zxy556575]

I was composing an email and mis-typed "carked" instead of "cracked" and it occurred to me that carked is a good word to express being peeved. Can we make it happen?