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

[JTMacc99]

21 minutes ago, Petunia13 said:

His gf is bitchy...and 22 to his 47 or 48. 

Lollllll!  As a man of that age, I can't imagine dating a 22 year old. What could we possibly have in common?  

[TattleTeeny]

Awww, man, Maharincess! That stinks! I got to meet my "boyfriend" Rob Zombie a couple of years ago and I was actually expecting him to be a bit standoffish. But he was a sweet darling (and complimented my super-old White Zombie T-shirt)!

And thank you--I love my tattooist so much!

I assume you already know this, but the Pretenders (or just C.H.--I can't recall) covered a Ramones song. 

Edited September 30, 2016 by TattleTeeny

[Maharincess]

@forumfish,  I'm sorry you had such a bad day, I hope tomorrow is better for you.    I think this is pretty much a general gripe thread,  that's what I use it for anyway. 

I have problems with mammograms too. I don't have any medical reason for my extremely small chest, just genetics but I have some of the same problems. My breasts also hurt for days afterwards.

[bilgistic]

Now I'm imagining the guy from Sugar Ray mowing the yard while his 22-year-old girlfriend sits by the pool with her friends, taking selfies.

[Maharincess]

6 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

6 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

Now I'm imagining the guy from Sugar Ray mowing the yard while his 22-year-old girlfriend sits by the pool with her friends, taking selfies.

.

That's exactly who I thought it was too! 

[Demented Daisy]

Sorry to disrupt the chat, but I just read this article and it just -- can a person be sad and angry at the same time?  

Yet another woman is attacked after trying to ignore catcallers.

I am so sick of living in a society that says, "Women, here is what you have to do to keep from being attacked."  Why does our behavior open us up to attacks?  And even when we do exactly what we're "supposed" to do, we get attacked anyway -- then get ignored by the police.

There was a time when catcalling was innocent and harmless.  There was a time when a woman could be out with a man and be safe.  There was a time when a woman could be in a large group of people and be safe.  There was a time when a woman could be out in broad daylight and be safe.  That obviously is no longer the case:

 

Quote

This is not the first case of a woman being physically attacked after ignoring or rejecting unwanted street harassment. Over Labor Day weekend at the J’Ouvert festival in Brooklyn, N.Y., a man grinded on 22-year-old student Tiarah Poyau. When she told the guy to get off her, he fatally shot her. In Kansas City, Mo., Chelsea Rodriguez was attacked after rejecting the advances of three catcallers. She and a male coworker were beaten by the men, though Rodriguez said her coworker is part of the reason she survived. A woman in New York City was attacked on a subway platform when she ignored a catcaller, who spit on her and then slashed her arm with a knife. Tyrelle D. Shaw attacked several Asian women in New York City, hitting them in the face with a plastic bag holding a heavy object. “I’ve been rejected, so much I feel absolutely numb,” he wrote on his personal blog, saying he wanted to “hit over a million Asian Women in the face with a stick.” Adrian Mendez in Marion County, Fla., ran over a 14-year-old girl with his SUV after she refused to have sex with him for $200. A Louisiana woman was hit in the face with a metal pipe after being harassed by a group of men.

Edited September 30, 2016 by Demented Daisy

[DeLurker]

^^^^ Mind numbing.

[auntlada]

I don't really thnk catcalling has ever been innicent and harmless. I thnk people thought it was and/or ignored it, but I thnk it has always considered the object of catcalling, usually women, as an object, not a person. And I think that carried to an extreme, that objectification leads to the sort of behavior described above. Do I think all catcallers would actually hurt a woman? No. Do I think they all have shady motives? No. I think some (a few) probably honestly think they are just telling women how pretty they look and that it is a compliment.

But it is objectifying the women. They are no longer individual people. And when they aren't individual people, you can do thngs to them. I feel the same way about porn (although it is on a stronger level).

It's along the lines of stuff I've been seeing a lot lately encouraging people to tell little girls something besides how pretty they are when you meet them, although that is much less serious, of course. Instead of saying how cute a little girl looks or how pretty her dress is, ask what she's read lately, ask what she's created or what she's interested in -- you know, the things people might ask little boys.

I'm struggling with how to teach my son this kind of stuff about women. Right now, we're working on when someone says stop doing that to me (tickling or whatever -- he's 5 so it's nothing too big now) then you stop. Wheen someone says no, you don't do it. Of course, he's 5, so we are working on that ingeneral for everything -- that when Mommy says stop, you stop. He's gong through another testing limits stage.

[backformore]

My pet peeve  - AIRFARES!!!

I don't travel a lot.  we're taking a trip, and I asked my son to set up the flights.  he procrastinated, then said he didn't have time.  He told me about websites he uses to get cheap flights.   SO I booked our flights - got a good price, I thought.  Cheap airfare, OK, we're saving money, right?

THEN - they want $40 for each bag we check (even more for carry-on!)  and $14-18 EACH if we want to sit together! and $15 each if we want "priority boarding" (get on the plane before other people, access to overhead bins)  Oh, and if I want to save money, I can join their rewards program for only $59 and this will give me a discount on some of those fees. 

To hell with cheap airfare -  I want a fare that includes bringing a suitcase on a vacation, AND the privilege of sitting next to my son and husband - those are not EXTRAS! 

Edited September 30, 2016 by backformore

[Demented Daisy]

2 hours ago, auntlada said:

I don't really thnk catcalling has ever been innicent and harmless.

I can't say, with any certainty, that catcalling was "always" this or "never" that.  

I think there was a time when (some) men who catcalled did not intend to harm anyone.  I also think there was a time when (some) women who were catcalled didn't see a problem with it.  Of course, the opposite is true as well.

I won't tell anyone that they shouldn't be offended when they get catcalled.  But I won't tell them they must be offended, either.

[zxy556575]

As I browse around P.tv, I see TV shows (and actors) mentioned that I have literally never heard of. Not one article or newsfeed headline, and nobody I know has ever talked about them. Upon threat of death I could not tell you what they're about. This is why I look up so much shit on IMDB and wikipedia. A couple of recent examples are Adventure Time (on the air for 7 seasons) and Code Black. I don't tend to like animated shows so can forgive myself for the former, but Code Black is a network show going into its second season.

Am I just that old? I actually check out Variety and Hollywood Reporter most days but guess I only read/notice stories about shows I already know about. Some of it has to do with the way TV watching has changed. I used to subscribe to TV Guide, read it to see what was on every night, and plan my viewing. Now I have everything preset in my DVR and many times don't even notice what channel or night shows are on. They just come up in my play list. I also set my onscreen channel guide to hide all the networks I don't watch -- sports, religious programming, children's, etc. This means I never see titles of shows that are off my radar.

I'm trying to convince myself I'm not as superfluous as advertisers and the Nielsen ratings consider me to be, is what it is.

[auntlada]

4 hours ago, Demented Daisy said:

I can't say, with any certainty, that catcalling was "always" this or "never" that.  

I think there was a time when (some) men who catcalled did not intend to harm anyone.  I also think there was a time when (some) women who were catcalled didn't see a problem with it.  Of course, the opposite is true as well.

I won't tell anyone that they shouldn't be offended when they get catcalled.  But I won't tell them they must be offended, either.

Oh, they don't have to be offended. I'll be offended on their behalf. It all reminds me of the Designing Women episode in which Charlene's friend Monette shows up and hires the women to redecorate her mansion, and she turns out to be a madam. It's not really the same thing, but the conversation made me think of Julia's speech at minute 18.

[bilgistic]

3 hours ago, auntlada said:

Oh, they don't have to be offended. I'll be offended on their behalf. It all reminds me of the Designing Women episode in which Charlene's friend Monette shows up and hires the women to redecorate her mansion, and she turns out to be a madam. It's not really the same thing, but the conversation made me think of Julia's speech at minute 18.

I don't remember this from the original run, probably because I was 12-13 and it was over my head, but I love it. I don't know if that could be on network TV today, namely because "sex workers" would be offended, which is a whole other discussion. Dixie Carter is the best.

Edited October 1, 2016 by bilgistic

[Maharincess]

8 hours ago, lordonia said:

As I browse around P.tv, I see TV shows (and actors) mentioned that I have literally never heard of. Not one article or newsfeed headline, and nobody I know has ever talked about them. Upon threat of death I could not tell you what they're about. This is why I look up so much shit on IMDB and wikipedia. A couple of recent examples are Adventure Time (on the air for 7 seasons) and Code Black. I don't tend to like animated shows so can forgive myself for the former, but Code Black is a network show going into its second season.

Am I just that old? I actually check out Variety and Hollywood Reporter most days but guess I only read/notice stories about shows I already know about. Some of it has to do with the way TV watching has changed. I used to subscribe to TV Guide, read it to see what was on every night, and plan my viewing. Now I have everything preset in my DVR and many times don't even notice what channel or night shows are on. They just come up in my play list. I also set my onscreen channel guide to hide all the networks I don't watch -- sports, religious programming, children's, etc. This means I never see titles of shows that are off my radar.

I'm trying to convince myself I'm not as superfluous as advertisers and the Nielsen ratings consider me to be, is what it is.

I'm right there with you.   I've never heard of 80 percent of the shows on here. I think it's because there are so many channels now and I just have regular old basic cable and I'm fine with it.  I don't watch enough TV to warrant paying so much money.  

@backformore, that's ridiculous.  I hope you have fun on your trip!  

This will probably sound absolutely ridiculous to all of you but I've never flown in my life.  Just the thought of it makes my stomach jump and sweat break out.   I always say that the only thing that will ever get me to consider flying is if somebody gave me an all expense paid two week vacation in a glass floor suite in Bora Bora and even then I would need a lot of Valium. 

I've been a lot of places in cars, trains and boats but I will never fly. 

Edited October 1, 2016 by Maharincess

[Petunia13]

22 hours ago, bilgistic said:

Now I'm imagining the guy from Sugar Ray mowing the yard while his 22-year-old girlfriend sits by the pool with her friends, taking selfies.

I said twice I'm a fan. You and @Maharincess think I listen to sugar ray? What did I ever do to either of you lol.

think more Trent Reznor or Chris Cornell.

[Maharincess]

Chris Cornell.  Yum. 

[bilgistic]

Anthony Kiedis?

[MargeGunderson]

6 hours ago, bilgistic said:

Anthony Kiedis?

Nah, the girlfriend is too old for Kiedis.

[auntlada]

12 hours ago, Maharincess said:

This will probably sound absolutely ridiculous to all of you but I've never flown in my life.  Just the thought of it makes my stomach jump and sweat break out.   I always say that the only thing that will ever get me to consider flying is if somebody gave me an all expense paid two week vacation in a glass floor suite in Bora Bora and even then I would need a lot of Valium. 

I've been a lot of places in cars, trains and boats but I will never fly. 

I hate flying, and I've reached the point now where I don't want to do it for continental U.S. vacations (assuming we ever go on vacation again). I'd rather drive, even if it's a two-day drive. I've never enjoyed flying. I've done it, but the only time I ever got over the constant jitters was on overseas flights that were long enough to get bored. Even then, though, I felt better once I saw we weren't over the middle of the ocean any more.

Mostly, I flew when there was no choice: team trips to national cross country meets, overseas trips (it's hard to drive to Europe or Africa) or trips when we didn't own a car that would make it three states away and we didn't have time for that anyway. The last one was a required trip because my best friend was getting married.

[magicdog]

Maharincess:  That was horrible for Chrissie Hynde to treat you that way!!  I understand having to deal with fans can be exasperating sometimes, but what she did was totally over the line!  How hard would it have been to say, "You named your daughter after me?  How nice! "  All about making music?  It's not like you're preventing her from doing that!  How did that figure into anything?  Weird!   

If it had been me, I would have told her to go you know where and suggest she get a personality transplant!!

I haven't met many of my idols either - often not even writing fan letters - for similar reasons.

[JTMacc99]

12 hours ago, Maharincess said:

Chris Cornell.  Yum. 

You all saw the video I posted of him here, right?

Edited October 1, 2016 by JTMacc99

[ABay]

Air travel is a horrible experience in every way, with or without jitters. You have to hand it to the airplane designers though--it's a remarkable achievement to design seats that are equally uncomfortable for every possible body type. I would happily drive to Europe if someone would build bridges connecting Newfoundland  Greenland, Iceland, and Ireland.

NASA really needs to put Mars on the back burner and start trying to figure out how we can travel to other places on Earth by wormhole. 

Edited October 1, 2016 by ABay

[Blergh]

On 9/29/2016 at 9:11 PM, Maharincess said:

You have beautiful work. I have 9 tattoos and I have plans for more. The next one I want is a portrait of my Border Collies Kaylee and Harley.  My daughter made me a beautiful split photo of them and that's my next one, it's just hard to find one that will do the picture justice. I'll have to go into San Francisco to get really good work. 

This could be a peeve so I'm in the right place.  I'm a big Ramones fan too, I love all of the music from that era and genre. "My" band was the Pretenders. I saw them when I was 14 and that was it, they were my band. I loved them so much that my daughter's middle name is Christine, after Chrissie Hynde.  They were my favorites into adulthood and I still have the drumstick I caught from their drummer when I was 17.  

Anyway, 15 years ago my friends got us meet and greet tickets to see them for my birthday. I had seen them a bunch of times but I was excited to actually meet her. I brought the big tapestry of the band that I got for my 18th birthday for them to sign. Chrissie Hynde was a complete and total bitch (see you next Tuesday is more appropriate).  When I told her that I named my daughter after her, she sneered and said she hates hearing that rubbish because all she wants to do is make music.  Then she got even worse when she saw that I was wearing a leather jacket. My dad got that jacket for me on my 16th birthday and he had died that year so I decided to wear it to the concert. She called me all kinds of names and said I was the reason animals were being skinned and tortured. 

Moral of the story, don't meet your idols. 

And that ladies (and gentlemen?) is another Maharincess is bored as hell post.  

That's MOST infuriating! I mean it's not as though you were some mindless groupie wannabee who crashed her tour bus- monies had been paid for her to MEET AND GREET you and she came to see YOU and was getting some monies to do so!  The LEAST she could have done was nod and thank you for coming (or, if she truly was offended re leather, have it put in the preset conditions that no fan was to meet her whilst wearing it so you didn't have to get dumped on for wearing something that had great value for you).

    I had a similar experience but, inasmuch as I don't want to give them any more publicity I WON'T name names, will  but just say how infuriating it was for me that after paying $30 PER ITEM they were selling they and their handlers wouldn't let me say more than two sentences before I was rushed out like a cow in a roundup to keep the rest of the herd moving forward to keep paying $30 each for their souvenirs and spit out two sentences a piece.  Let's just say I'd supported their golden years enough after that.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 9/30/2016 at 1:36 PM, lordonia said:

Adventure Time (on the air for 7 seasons) and Code Black.

Adventure Time is an interesting show, Code Black not so much.  I channel surf a lot mostly to find oddball things but part of the value of PTV (and A.V. Club, although they've cut back their TV coverage) to me is finding interesting shows I might have missed or ignored.  But there's so much TV now we don't make any effort to try to watch everything that looks interesting.  And it takes us months to finish the shows off the DVR.  We haven't finished the last six episodes of LAST season's Blacklist!

[Blergh]

5 hours ago, ABay said:

Air travel is a horrible experience in every way, with or without jitters. You have to hand it to the airplane designers though--it's a remarkable achievement to design seats that are equally uncomfortable for every possible body type. I would happily drive to Europe if someone would build bridges connecting Newfoundland  Greenland, Iceland, and Ireland.

NASA really needs to put Mars on the back burner and start trying to figure out how we can travel to other places on Earth by wormhole. 

 Oddly enough, I like travelling by air (as long as I have that window seat) but wish there was a way to avoid driving. It's not me but a large percentage of other drivers who sour the experience.

[candall]

On ‎9‎/‎28‎/‎2016 at 8:35 AM, JTMacc99 said:

... we both disapprove of bands that don't add their own touch to the song.

This makes me think of Vince Vaughn, SO PROUD of remaking Psycho by duplicating Hitchcock's original frame for frame.  What could possibly be the point of that?

 

On ‎9‎/‎28‎/‎2016 at 10:34 PM, DeLurker said:

Acorns.  My little patio space is always covered with them now and if you step on one it is like a shard of glass .  I curse whoever planted these trees close to the house.

In my old neighborhood, the gracefully winding streets were lined with beautiful hundred-year old trees.  You wove around, in and out, under a sundappled canopy.  Except they were GUMBALL TREES--with the hard spikey porcupine golfball-size molt--and every autumn was a cruel exercise in trying not to break your ankles as you shuffled along the sidewalk  Then you had to bag up thousands of killer gumballs.  I used a snowshovel.

The neighborhood was designed and laid out in 1904 and the builders planted scores of pretty young gumball trees, thinking, rightly, that they would make lovely shade trees.  They never dreamed there would be a yearly spikey devil-spawn price to pay.  Ehh, what are you going to do?

On ‎9‎/‎29‎/‎2016 at 9:54 AM, topanga said:

 

It's like when my cousin-in-law came over, and when we were sitting in the kitchen, she told me that I have precisely 24 cabinets. Then she bemoaned the fact that she only has 6 cabinets in her kitchen. Mind you, my house is old, it's falling apart in places, and it's not especially big. I don't live in a McMansion. So I couldn't figure out if she was telling me I had too many cabinets, admiring my cabinets, or she was simply showing off that she could count to 24. I didn't know her well enough to have her clarify what she meant. Maybe that's my problem. I don't ask people to clarify their weird statements, so I always, always treat them as insults. 

Speaking as someone with five small hanging kitchen cabinets--no pantry, no broom closet, no drawers or under-counter storage--I think she probably meant that she was green with envy for your vast expanse of cabinetry, maybe with a little unspoken subtext about not taking your treasure trove of storage space for granted.  But that's not so bad, right?  Definitely not an insult.

Where do you live?  Can I put some stuff in your cabinets? 

******

Great news:  I saw a recent show segment somewhere on a new breast cancer detection/imagery machine.  It caught suspicious abnormalities at a much higher rate and didn't require pressing our breasts like a fucking pannini. 

[Maharincess]

2 hours ago, Blergh said:

 Oddly enough, I like travelling by air (as long as I have that window seat) but wish there was a way to avoid driving. It's not me but a large percentage of other drivers who sour the experience.

I have a good friend who loves to fly,  she's always trying to get me to fly somewhere and telling me how much I would love it. Hell no.  

@candall, I thought I was the only person who has no drawers in their kitchen. I have a lot of cabinets but there isn't one deawer in there. My son made me some, they're like those plastic drawers but he made them out of wood. I have them under a cabinet and those are all I have in there. 

Along these same lines, kinda,  what I hate is this kind of thing,  my brother in law and his girlfriend came over once and when she saw that I have a trash compactor she said "how do you have a trash compactor? I don't even have one of those".   What the hell is that supposed to mean?   I hate when people say shit like that.  It sounds like they think they are more worthy of having something then I am and she's pissed that I dare to have it and she doesn't.    I don't know if I'm  wording this right but I hope you know what I mean. 

Edited October 2, 2016 by Maharincess
Because I'm a dumb ass.

[Bastet]

I enjoy flying.  If I'm just going to Vegas or San Francisco, I prefer to drive, and I've driven to Utah for hiking trips (oh my god, the national parks in that state are particularly beautiful) but beyond that I'd rather fly.  I love to travel, and I like being on a plane.  I find it relaxing.  (Granted, the one time I flew coach I felt rather differently about the airplane experience!)

One of my best friends used to love to fly, and then developed a rather strong anxiety about it, so she hasn't done any international travel (or even returned to the East coast) in over a decade.  Her partner (with whom she lives) hates to drive any significant distance, so travel is a big bone of contention between them -- he hates road trips, and she wants to accommodate that, but she doesn't just dislike getting on a plane, she becomes crippled with anxiety by it, so that wins out.  So they've done one long road trip and otherwise stayed within the state. 

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

Dixie Carter is the best.

Her speeches on that show were awesome. My friend and I still to this day like to add, "I would like to thank YOU, Ray Don" to our random outbursts at perceived injustices.

 

Quote

To hell with cheap airfare -  I want a fare that includes bringing a suitcase on a vacation, AND the privilege of sitting next to my son and husband - those are not EXTRAS! 

Kind of makes me wonder if it's cheaper to just ship a cardboard box of clothing and toiletries via UPS to your hotel and skip the suitcases altogether! Or say fuck it, and buy stuff when you get there!

Edited October 2, 2016 by TattleTeeny

[zxy556575]

2 hours ago, candall said:

Speaking as someone with five small hanging kitchen cabinets--no pantry, no broom closet, no drawers or under-counter storage--I think she probably meant that she was green with envy for your vast expanse of cabinetry, maybe with a little unspoken subtext about not taking your treasure trove of storage space for granted.

I shall now imagine you living gracefully in a glass lake house, with an small urban jewelbox as your pied–à–terre.

You made me curious so I just counted: 5 double lower cabinets, 7 double uppers, 4 double drawers, one 36" wide pantry. Galley kitchen. Suburban 1350 sf tract house set among thousands of others, woot!

[candall]

Oh, Lordonia, you always make me laugh.

My father had a secret lovenest mobile home hidden about a million miles from civilization, deep in the woods (with a lake!), but the ladies objected to the snakes and mice that wandered in.  So he told a builder to scrap the trailer, build him an A-frame (glass-front!) and call him when it was ready.

When he toppled over one day and left me family-free, I decided all my friends in DC were ultimately likely to be transient and I needed to be Scarlett O'Hara:  THE LAND is my heritage and strength!  Uh-huh, turns out 4x4 pickup trucks are not my bag and I got sick of gas station fried chicken as my primary food source.  With the DC mortgage money burning a hole in my pocket, I bought the beautiful 1904 stained glass/gumball tree house (pied-a-terre!) about three hours away and turned bi-homal.  Perfect . . .until I got Madoff'ed and had to waaay downsize.  Hmm, you'd think lattes and ethno-socio-sexual orientatio diversity would win the day, but every time I got in the truck I found a starving dog some asshole had dumped on the gravel road and the vote came out 40-1 for bunny trails over book clubs.

So I ditched another set of friends and learned to cook.  The funny part is winding up in a house which was conceived and built as a fantasy by a man for another man--all boudoir, no silverware drawers.  (And there's no "hundred years from now" in that scenario, so all the masculine pewter and dark red plush and rich gold shag were installed over crappy construction and the snakes and mice STILL wander in.)

Edited October 2, 2016 by candall

[janestclair]

15 hours ago, candall said:

In my old neighborhood, the gracefully winding streets were lined with beautiful hundred-year old trees.  You wove around, in and out, under a sundappled canopy.  Except they were GUMBALL TREES--with the hard spikey porcupine golfball-size molt--and every autumn was a cruel exercise in trying not to break your ankles as you shuffled along the sidewalk  Then you had to bag up thousands of killer gumballs.  I used a snowshovel.

The neighborhood was designed and laid out in 1904 and the builders planted scores of pretty young gumball trees, thinking, rightly, that they would make lovely shade trees.  They never dreamed there would be a yearly spikey devil-spawn price to pay.  Ehh, what are you going to do?

That's like those trees they planted freaking everywhere around here because they have nice white blossoms in the spring, but they smell like rotting fish. I drive past a bunch on my commute, and I have to roll up the window.  

I've met my favorite musician a bunch of times, and he's been nothing but fantastic every time.  I have a couple great memories.  Once was a in store performance and CD signing.  So of course this whole thing is a cattle call, as these kinds of things usually are. Saying a few words to everyone, maybe snapping a picture.  I get up there and he signs my CD, and I say thanks and am walking away and then he grabs my arm and pulls me back and we have a whole conversation. The only part I remember is he wanted to know how I already knew all the words to the songs because the album had come out that day,  and I was like, "It's a good album, you should listen to it." We laughed.  And then there was the time there was a whole lot of us waiting out by the tour buses, and he took a group picture with all of us, just because.  That was pretty cool too.  Mostly because there were at least twenty of those disposable cameras, so it took forever, and he had his arm around me the entire time.  Heh. If looks could kill, I would've been dead.   

[bilgistic]

1 hour ago, janestclair said:

That's like those trees they planted freaking everywhere around here because they have nice white blossoms in the spring, but they smell like rotting fish. I drive past a bunch on my commute, and I have to roll up the window.

Bradford Pear trees smell like cat pee when they bloom. Is that what you are talking about? They are everywhere here in Charlotte.

[JTMacc99]

That was my guess of white flowering trees too. They grow fast, are cheap, and do look nice when in bloom. 

[DeLurker]

I have a Bradford Pear in my front yard.  I'm not enamored with it, but it will probably be here when I no longer am.

[ParadoxLost]

50 minutes ago, DeLurker said:

I have a Bradford Pear in my front yard.  I'm not enamored with it, but it will probably be here when I no longer am.

I hate to tell you this but my neighborhood is full of Bradford Pears.  They reach a certain age and start splitting down the middle and falling everywhere from nothing more than a gentle rain.

[auntlada]

Bradford pears are horrible trees. They planted them here, I think because they are fast-growing. Then the downtown merchants complained that the birds liked them too much and pooped all over the sidewalks, which the shoppers hate. Also, they aren't very strong in wind, and we have a lot of wind. When your state song mentions wind twice, you should plant things that will stand up to it.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 10/1/2016 at 1:05 PM, ABay said:

 

Air travel is a horrible experience in every way, with or without jitters. You have to hand it to the airplane designers though--it's a remarkable achievement to design seats that are equally uncomfortable for every possible body type. I would happily drive to Europe if someone would build bridges connecting Newfoundland  Greenland, Iceland, and Ireland.

NASA really needs to put Mars on the back burner and start trying to figure out how we can travel to other places on Earth by wormhole. 

 

I used to fly on Pacific Southwest Airlines a couple of times a month when I was in college in the late seventies, going between northern and southern California.  It was fantastic - took less than an hour and was cheaper than the Greyhound bus.  Then the crash of PSA Flight 182 in San Diego - 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSA_Flight_182

Of course that put PSA out of business - and I knew a few people who lost friends or family in that horrifically gory disaster.  It took a while before I was willing to fly again, although I was flying a lot for a while, in the eighties.  But I haven't been in a plane since 9/11.  That was IT for me and Mr Rat both.  Never again.  We love the train and that's how we travel now.  More relaxed, more civilized, and even if we crash we feel better about our chances of survival.

[Bastet]

Quote

Then the crash of PSA Flight 182 in San Diego - 

I'm addicted to plane crash documentaries (odd, perhaps, given how much I enjoy flying; maybe it reinforces for me how statistically unlikely I am to be in one, I don't know) and I'm readily familiar with that crash.  It has always struck me how very similar a later jet vs. small plane midair collision was, an Aeromexico flight that went down in Cerritos (and was also captured on camera by ground photographers who happened to be in the area for other events).

Quote

But I haven't been in a plane since 9/11

I had to fly for business that November, which was my first time in the air since the attacks.  (I was on vacation when they happened, and scheduled to fly back the following weekend, but I was just a state away from home and the airports were still horribly backed up from just being re-opened, that I just rented a car.)  I wasn't nervous that I can recall, but I remember my mom being pretty anxious about me flying.

Getting back to peeves, we have great tree-lined streets in my neighborhood (the kind where the trees meet in the middle overhead, creating a lovely canopy), and it would drive me batty if the city had planted trees that dropped things like crazy.  Especially those spiky brown balls someone was talking about up-thread; growing up, a friend's neighbor had one of those trees in their front yard, close enough it would drop those deathtraps on the sidewalk, which wreaked havoc when we were roller skating or riding bikes down the sidewalk.

Edited October 2, 2016 by Bastet

[auntlada]

Damn it. I had a whole post about car seats and booster seats and then got an error, and now it's gone. Suffice it to say the boy's car seat expires, we ordered a new booster seat that we hope will fit but can't check without ordering it, and now we'll have to get rid of the old car seat somehow. I need to check to see if the plastic is recyclable because it's that or throw it in the trash since it expires this month and can't be sold or donated.

[Mountainair]

6 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

I hate to tell you this but my neighborhood is full of Bradford Pears.  They reach a certain age and start splitting down the middle and falling everywhere from nothing more than a gentle rain.

Oh my gosh, yes! Our yard had about seven Bradford pears when we moved in seven years ago (ha). Once a year a snow storm takes one out-split right down the middle. Thankfully all our Bradford's are gone now but we still have a generous amount of hundred year old oak trees.

[Mountainair]

2 hours ago, auntlada said:

Damn it. I had a whole post about car seats and booster seats and then got an error, and now it's gone. Suffice it to say the boy's car seat expires, we ordered a new booster seat that we hope will fit but can't check without ordering it, and now we'll have to get rid of the old car seat somehow. I need to check to see if the plastic is recyclable because it's that or throw it in the trash since it expires this month and can't be sold or donated.

Double posting here-. I know Babies R Us does the car seat trade in thing and I thought they accepted expired seats- I could be mistaken. I have a ton of expired car seats but never remember to check out Babies R Us when they have their trade in event.

[AgentRXS]

Today's pet peeve: Noise pollution.

I live in a quadplex. My building was sold last year to my new landlord who is converting the building into vacation rentals (I live in a very gay-friendly tourist trap part of town).  I live in on one end of the unit. The vacationers that have rented out the 2 units on  other half of the building for the past year or so have been quiet. Of course, this newest one has been here the longest (going on 5 months now) and she is the only one that's been a problem. She lives on the other end of the property and I can hear (and feel) the bass tremble from her apartment to mine all. the. time. I generally try to ignore it, but this morning she started in at 8:30am! I work nights and woke up to "thump-thump-thump-thump-boom", which I was not too happy about . I go over to her side and try to be as nice as I possible, explaining I can hear it all from the other end, and I usually don't complain, but I work nights, and I'm trying to sleep so can you please turn it down? "Sure, no problem", I'm told. An hour passes and there it goes again. And its been off and on all day and night.

Which brings me to my other peeve.....tourists.

I'm tired of living section of FL where tourists flock. I'm tired of them driving up real estate/rental prices. I am tired of them refusing to learn how to keep up/drive with traffic and being unapologetic and defiant by blatantly almost causing accidents. I am tired of people coming down here and not respecting that the locals. I've been lucky that its just been this one asshole here, but other people I know are complaining about vacationers renting housing in their neighborhood and causing disruption (nightly parties, multiple cars outside the home blocking access to roads). I wish I had family somewhere else so I could move. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to native New Yorkers or LA residents....we are still small potatoes compared to them.

I miss the days where Miami and Ft Lauderdale where somewhat sleepy towns where old people came to die lol. Now they try too hard to be the LA of the east/New York of the south and the natives hate it. I can't even really enjoy watching  "Golden Girls" anymore because it makes me long for the Miami of my childhood that no longer exists. 

Sorry for the long rant. I'm likely to be extra moody from now until Jan 2. so I probably will be a very active participant in this thread for awhile.

[DeLurker]

I grew up in Hollywood, FL and get what you are upset about @AgentRXS.  It used to take me 15 minutes to drive the 7 miles to my favorite beach; last time I tried I gave up when 45 minutes only got me 1/2 way.

Tourists are funny creatures - often overwhelmed and shocked by the life there or trying to live out a Jimmy Buffet song on their vacation.  

Most of my family has moved upcoast.  Some of those areas are a lot like what I grew up with (minus the Ft Lauderdale Strip which still was destination #1 for spring break). But pricey.

[AgentRXS]

Quote

I grew up in Hollywood, FL and get what you are upset about @AgentRXS.  It used to take me 15 minutes to drive the 7 miles to my favorite beach; last time I tried I gave up when 45 minutes only got me 1/2 way.

Cool! I lived in Hollywood from 2013-2014. When I moved there, it was still mostly old folk. Now....its nothing but French Canadians and folks moving up from Miami.  And  now you can't even see the beach from A1A as their is so many hotels blocking the view. The last straw I had with Hollywood Beach was when Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville Hotel went up where the old Johnson St parking lot used to be. I used to love to go there to watch the sunrise after getting off work. Now its too much of hassle to go to Hollywood Beach. And Ft Lauderdale beach has always been too crowded for my tastes.

[rcc]

10 hours ago, AgentRXS said:

Today's pet peeve: Noise pollution.

I live in a quadplex. My building was sold last year to my new landlord who is converting the building into vacation rentals (I live in a very gay-friendly tourist trap part of town).  I live in on one end of the unit. The vacationers that have rented out the 2 units on  other half of the building for the past year or so have been quiet. Of course, this newest one has been here the longest (going on 5 months now) and she is the only one that's been a problem. She lives on the other end of the property and I can hear (and feel) the bass tremble from her apartment to mine all. the. time. I generally try to ignore it, but this morning she started in at 8:30am! I work nights and woke up to "thump-thump-thump-thump-boom", which I was not too happy about . I go over to her side and try to be as nice as I possible, explaining I can hear it all from the other end, and I usually don't complain, but I work nights, and I'm trying to sleep so can you please turn it down? "Sure, no problem", I'm told. An hour passes and there it goes again. And its been off and on all day and night.

Which brings me to my other peeve.....tourists.

I'm tired of living section of FL where tourists flock. I'm tired of them driving up real estate/rental prices. I am tired of them refusing to learn how to keep up/drive with traffic and being unapologetic and defiant by blatantly almost causing accidents. I am tired of people coming down here and not respecting that the locals. I've been lucky that its just been this one asshole here, but other people I know are complaining about vacationers renting housing in their neighborhood and causing disruption (nightly parties, multiple cars outside the home blocking access to roads). I wish I had family somewhere else so I could move. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to native New Yorkers or LA residents....we are still small potatoes compared to them.

I miss the days where Miami and Ft Lauderdale where somewhat sleepy towns where old people came to die lol. Now they try too hard to be the LA of the east/New York of the south and the natives hate it. I can't even really enjoy watching  "Golden Girls" anymore because it makes me long for the Miami of my childhood that no longer exists. 

Sorry for the long rant. I'm likely to be extra moody from now until Jan 2. so I probably will be a very active participant in this thread for awhile.

I can't stand when a car goes by with that boom-boom coming from their speakers. I can only imagine how it is to have at home constantly. People are so self-absorbed and inconsiderate these days.

[DeLurker]

9 hours ago, AgentRXS said:

Now....its nothing but French Canadians and folks moving up from Miami.  And  now you can't even see the beach from A1A as their is so many hotels blocking the view. The last straw I had with Hollywood Beach was when Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville Hotel went up where the old Johnson St parking lot used to be. I used to love to go there to watch the sunrise after getting off work. Now its too much of hassle to go to Hollywood Beach

The French Canadians have been a fixture there forever, even in the dark ages when I was a kid.  Most of them only came down from winter-spring (well, Canada's winter since Florida has only two seasons:  summer and not quite summer) but maybe that's changed.  Please don't tell me they've torn down the paddle ball courts that were between Johnson Street and Hollywood Blvd. - I want to say Garfield Street or thereabouts.  I've seen the Margaritaville, in all its monstrous glory.

Damn it! Now I want a Cuban café con leche.  And papas rellenas. And and and...

[Qoass]

I am reminded of a button a coworker used to wear:

If it's called tourist season, why can't we shoot at them?

[candall]

12 hours ago, AgentRXS said:

I miss the days where Miami and Ft Lauderdale where somewhat sleepy towns where old people came to die lol. Now they try too hard to be the LA of the east/New York of the south and the natives hate it. I can't even really enjoy watching  "Golden Girls" anymore because it makes me long for the Miami of my childhood that no longer exists. 

Yikes, try Key West.  I lived there for years when everyone worked their asses off for three months during "the season" and the rest of the year it was a sleepy little stonerville with a population of characters you knew from being perched on the next barstool.

But . . .there were many people who were grumpy about the likes of me--they remembered when there was no tourist season at all because it took 14 hours ferrying between islands to get there and the main recreation was combing the beaches for "square grouper."

Ha, everyone always wants to be the last one in.

Edited October 3, 2016 by candall

[zxy556575]

It would be nice if residential building standards mandated some damned soundproofing between apartment units -- ceilings and walls. The owner above me in a previous condo had tile floors throughout and, even though she was quite a petite person, had a very heavy walk. I knew where she was in her apartment at every moment, including showering and flushing the toilet.

My retirement community in central Florida frowns on the word snowbird and would please like us to refer to them as seasonal residents. Whatever, the population still doubles for half the year.

Edited October 3, 2016 by lordonia