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

[Blergh]

JTMacc99, auntlada,

 

 Perhaps calling a child 'obnoxious' would work best  and it's completely gender-neutral! Alas, there's no shortage of it.

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

Because most people actually celebrate New Year's Eve?

Yeah, but ditch that stupid S when "Eve" (or "Day") doesn't follow! "Happy New Years" reminds me of when people say "one years old"!

[theredhead77]

2 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

I was lectured about referring to my daughter as "bossy" because it is a word often used to knock down strong women. 

So now I refer to her as very strong willed, even though bossy is exactly the right word. I know the difference between being strong with her beliefs and being a little poop-head who just likes the feeling of being in charge. But not everyone who I speak with knows that about me, so I stopped using the word. 

Tina Fey has a great piece on being bossy / being a strong woman. If you haven't read Bossypants, I highly recommend you add it to your list. It's a quick read.

[Moose135]

13 hours ago, lordonia said:

Organizational peeve: Why do so many websites omit dates on their articles and posts? I have to think it's deliberate but don't know why it would be of benefit to do so.

It results in people posting stories on FB about some famous person who died, only to have some of us point out that said famous person has been dead for 4 years.  It does generate clicks on the story from those who don't know better.

[TurtlePower]

Major Peeve: Why do some people refuse to take their shopping carts to designated corrals?  I watched a new Cadillac get rammed by 2 loose carts that were caught by 40 mph wind (what luck right?). The Cadillac wound up with two big dents, one on the door and one on the back panel all because some asshole was lazy or in a "hurry". 

Unless you have a disability or injury, there's almost NO excuse for this. Most of us have 2 perfectly good legs to walk on--be thankful and walk the cart to the corral!

[Quof]

Amateur fireworks.  Seriously, neighbours.   It's 7:30 on New Year's Eve and we old/sick people are trying to sleep.  

[Lizzing]

47 minutes ago, Quof said:

Amateur fireworks.  Seriously, neighbours.   It's 7:30 on New Year's Eve and we old/sick people are trying to sleep.  

ITA!  I'm getting a reprieve tonight because it's been pouring rain since noon and the rain will go well after midnight.  My dogs don't know how thankful they should be for just a small amount of thunder as opposed to hours of illegal fireworks.

[bilgistic]

Crazy old lady rant (again): y'all know how I have bitched about the damned kids that run through my building (but don't live in it). Thursday afternoon, I was running out to meet a work friend for dinner. Several of the kids were "playing" (read: hanging out, being loud, running) in my building's entryway, which is maybe 8'x8'. Obviously, one of them had gotten a hoverboard (neither hovers nor is a board; discuss) for Christmas and was propping the building's front door open with it. Oh, hell no. One of the kids ran to move it when I came down the stairs. My apartment is just six stairs up on the right from the entry; It's a split-level entry.

I got in my car and realized I forgot my phone, so I went back in the building. That damned hoverboard was in the middle of the entry. I said to the kids, "Y'all need to move that before someone falls." When I came back out of my apartment, they all dramatically shushed each other and had moved the hoverboard to the wall at the top of the other set of stairs. Not great, but whatever.

One morning a couple weeks ago, I saw the "resource officer" (police officer that lives here and patrols the complex as part of her regular duties) talking to them and their parents at the bus stop, so I'm assuming others have complained. I know another woman in my building has; I talked with her.

Today, I was napping and my goddamned doorbell rang again. I heard the kids running through the building before so I knew it was them, but right after the doorbell rang, MY DOOR KNOB WAS TURNED. Hold the fucking phone, because now they are getting into criminal territory. If my door had been unlocked and the door opened, that's borderline breaking and entering.

If my cat gets out, I'll be committing manslaughter.

I'll call the resource officer tomorrow; I'm sure tonight is crazy for the police. I know how bonkers I sound, but these kids are terrorizing everyone in the building. Management does NOTHING. How the hell is this behavior OK??

[Maharincess]

@bilgistic, you don't sound bonkers at all to me. You just sound like a woman who wants to live in peace in her own house and hates bratty ass kids disturbing that peace.  Nothing bonkers about that.  You're a much nicer person than I am, I'd have gone off on the kids then went and gave some to their parents too. Or I would go sit outside the parents houses and bang a drum as loudly as I could. 

At the risk of incriminating myself, I won't say if I've actually done something like that.  I'll just say to do it is very satisfying. Especially when the parents come out of the house complaining about the noise you're making and you tell them that this is what you live with every day because of their kids.  And if they don't stop the kids, you and your drum will be back.  

Not that I've done that or anything. 

[Blergh]

2 hours ago, Maharincess said:

@bilgistic, you don't sound bonkers at all to me. You just sound like a woman who wants to live in peace in her own house and hates bratty ass kids disturbing that peace.  Nothing bonkers about that.  You're a much nicer person than I am, I'd have gone off on the kids then went and gave some to their parents too. Or I would go sit outside the parents houses and bang a drum as loudly as I could. 

At the risk of incriminating myself, I won't say if I've actually done something like that.  I'll just say to do it is very satisfying. Especially when the parents come out of the house complaining about the noise you're making and you tell them that this is what you live with every day because of their kids.  And if they don't stop the kids, you and your drum will be back.  

Not that I've done that or anything. 

Now, Maharincess, are you saying that you haven't ever been tempted to live by the code of 'WWLD' [What Would LUCY Do]?  Somehow I think Mrs. Ricardo herself would have loved to have done that. I'll leave it at that. ;)

[TurtlePower]

14 hours ago, Quof said:

Amateur fireworks.  Seriously, neighbours.   It's 7:30 on New Year's Eve and we old/sick people are trying to sleep.  

Three words to describe it: Fuckheads with Fireworks.

[DeLurker]

Since I didn't know whether the fireworks would set off my dog, I was very disappointed when it stopped raining around dinnertime.  Still not a fan and always wonder how many of those sirens I hear are for calls that someone blew off a finger or two.

[BooksRule]

Quote

But don't get me started on Happy Valentines (or Happy Valentimes).

There is a clerk at the library where I work who says 'Valentimes'.  She also uses words like 'pitcher' (for picture), 'past' for 'passed' (in her e-mails) and will phrase a sentence this way:  'I'm going to leave work early for I can go to the store' instead of '...so I can go to the store' (although this might be a rural or country usage).   To be fair, she graduated high school from a school that isn't known for its academic strength, but you would think that the fact that she's worked in a university setting for the past 30-plus years would have meant that something from her surroundings should have rubbed off.  At least she doesn't say 'liberry'.  

[Quof]

I once overheard two young women (in their 20s) talking about work. One appeared to be a teacher, or perhaps a student teacher. She was explaining that she was working with a child with reading problems, and was talking to the parents about choosing books at his level so he didn't get FUSTRATED.  She is teaching the next generation to read. 

[3pwood]

56 minutes ago, Quof said:

I once overheard two young women (in their 20s) talking about work. One appeared to be a teacher, or perhaps a student teacher. She was explaining that she was working with a child with reading problems, and was talking to the parents about choosing books at his level so he didn't get FUSTRATED.  She is teaching the next generation to read. 

If her students learn how to read, they'll be exposed to correct spelling, which their teacher apparently was not.  

[ratgirlagogo]

On 12/31/2016 at 6:28 PM, Quof said:

 

Amateur fireworks

 

Sorry you were disturbed when you were sick, Quof.  That's not ever fun.  But I LOVE amateur fireworks!  I love every kind of New Year's Eve celebration in NYC that doesn't involve Times Square.     One of my personal superstitions is that whatever you're doing at the stroke of midnight on NYE is what you're going to be doing for the rest of the year -  and   being shut inside a fenced pen without any bathrooms in freezing cold weather surrounded by cops with submachine guns is a nightmare about the coming four years I want to stave off at all costs.

Edited January 2, 2017 by ratgirlagogo

[backformore]

I hate amateur fireworks because of the stories I see about kids and animals being hurt by them.   People joke about someone losing a finger, but sometimes injuries are much worse. 

[TurtlePower]

Mild peeve: New Year Resolutions. 

I know it sounds cynical and snarky, but if one has a behavior that is so bad that one must "resolve" to change it, perhaps it should not have waited until Jan 1, 2017.

But hey, they wanted to continue to eat cookies and pie (or whatever the behavior is) the whole holiday season and then flock to gyms and trainers. Then by mid March, 80% slack off and by November, they're back to eating holiday cookies and pie and make the same resolution all over again. Sheeple behavior is amusing. Baaa.

[bilgistic]

I'm at Starbucks, in denial that this is my last day of my vacation/time off, and there is a guy here doing this sniff/snort thing that is pretty much the most annoying sound a human can make with a nose. Blow your nose, guy!

[JTMacc99]

39 minutes ago, Runnergirl said:

Mild peeve: New Year Resolutions. 

I know it sounds cynical and snarky, but if one has a behavior that is so bad that one must "resolve" to change it, perhaps it should not have waited until Jan 1, 2017.

But hey, they wanted to continue to eat cookies and pie (or whatever the behavior is) the whole holiday season and then flock to gyms and trainers. Then by mid March, 80% slack off and by November, they're back to eating holiday cookies and pie and make the same resolution all over again. Sheeple behavior is amusing. Baaa.

It's an emotional thing. For many people the holiday season is difficult, and seeking comfort in food and drink isn't unusual. For others the start of a new year is the symbol of a fresh start. 

But change is hard. It's easier to just repeat the behavior year after year than it is to make permanent change. 

Edited January 2, 2017 by JTMacc99

[TattleTeeny]

19 hours ago, BooksRule said:

There is a clerk at the library where I work who says 'Valentimes'.  She also uses words like 'pitcher' (for picture), 'past' for 'passed' (in her e-mails) and will phrase a sentence this way:  'I'm going to leave work early for I can go to the store' instead of '...so I can go to the store' (although this might be a rural or country usage).   To be fair, she graduated high school from a school that isn't known for its academic strength, but you would think that the fact that she's worked in a university setting for the past 30-plus years would have meant that something from her surroundings should have rubbed off.  At least she doesn't say 'liberry'.  

I knew someone once who insisted on saying "chicken pops" for "chicken pox." She was otherwise awesome and fun, so it was more funny to me than it was annoying.

[Sun-Bun]

9 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

I knew someone once who insisted on saying "chicken pops" for "chicken pox." She was otherwise awesome and fun, so it was more funny to me than it was annoying.

A Belgian lady I once knew used to always accidentally say "all of a subtle" instead of "all of a sudden." Used to make me giggle until I finally told her why I tittered with delight every time she said it---it just sounded so cute to me because she spoke perfect English otherwise with her lovely Belgian accent.

Living in the South seems to lead to lots of random S's added to the ends of words, as well as random R's on the ends. My late grandmother used to always say things like "bra'r" for bra/brazierre or "diarear" for diahrea, so I was always giggly growing up around her and listening to her drawl.

Edited January 2, 2017 by Sun-Bun

[BooksRule]

Quote

A Belgian lady I once knew used to always accidentally say "all of a subtle" instead of "all of a sudden."

I used to see a commercial for a local furniture store that was meant to show off the quality of their furniture.  One part annoyed me every time I saw it was when the saleswoman ran her hand up the front of a big easy chair and mentioned how subtle the fabric was to the feel.  I guess she meant supple, but it grated.   On another related front, I used to work with a woman who had moved here to the deep south from Germany years before. She spoke English very well, but still had a pretty good German accent.  One day at a meeting she said (with the accent) that she was 'fixin' to do something' and we all cheered and applauded her, saying that she had finally become a southerner.  Then someone said that she was almost there, but would need to say that she was 'fixin' to get ready to do something' and then she would have arrived.  

Peeve:  Why do some neighbors try to give you the impression that they are being helpful when they are just being nosy or pushy?  My house needs work (and I'm getting it done as I can), but I hate it when I'm talking to a neighbor over the fence and she says (very casually) 'did you know that you have some peeling paint right there below your roof?'  I just say, 'Yes, I know' and move on, when I want to say very sarcastically, 'No!  I never would have spotted that!  Thank you so much for looking out for me!'  Grrrrr!

[Blergh]

1 hour ago, Sun-Bun said:

A Belgian lady I once knew used to always accidentally say "all of a subtle" instead of "all of a sudden." Used to make me giggle until I finally told her why I tittered with delight every time she said it---it just sounded so cute to me because she spoke perfect English otherwise with her lovely Belgian accent.

Living in the South seems to lead to lots of random S's added to the ends of words, as well as random R's on the ends. My late grandmother used to always say things like "bra'r" for bra/brazierre or "diarear" for diahrea, so I was always giggly growing up around her and listening to her drawl.

  Sun-Bun, at least, she had the excuse of English not being her first language.

Then,too, did you ask her if she was doing that to make up for virtually all us US Americans not pronouncing the 3rd of  the four S's in the vegetable 'Brussells sprouts'- or could  it be that we're merely be taking away an S to from that term to make up for all those extra S's we add to other words? Yes, I confess that I myself call them 'Brussell sprouts' even though they're named after Belgium's capital city and  at no point of time did either the city or vegetable drop that tricky 3rd S. My mother is the ONLY person I know who actually pronounces it correctly without having had someone else calling them on it.

Edited January 2, 2017 by Blergh
clarity

[Sun-Bun]

20 hours ago, Blergh said:

  Sun-Bun, at least, she had the excuse of English not being her first language.

Then,too, did you ask her if she was doing that to make up for virtually all us US Americans not pronouncing the 3rd of  the four S's in the vegetable 'Brussells sprouts'- or could we're merely be taking away an S to from that term to make up for all those extra S's we add to other words? Yes, I confess that I myself call them 'Brussell sprouts' even though they're named after Belgium's capital city and  at no point of time did either the city or vegetable drop that tricky 3rd S. My mother is the ONLY person I know who actually pronounces it correctly without being someone else calling them on it.

Oh I totally praised her for her command of languages since she spoke 3 others semi-fluently. Again, I thought it was a cute little slip in her beautifully bilingual abilities to use the "subtle" word, especially since my dumb American ass only can speak a tiny bit of long forgotten Spanish and some broken French.

And that's one of many things I truly do admire about other countries: they stress the importance of growing up and learning second languages as children, something American education is still ass-backwards on finally realizing. It truly makes my blood boil when I see ignorant Americans screeching at immigrants to "Speak English! We speak American around here!!" Dumbasses who barely speak their own English language coherently actually think they have the right to tell foreigners to "speak American"...crazy world we live in, eh?

Edited January 3, 2017 by GenL

[janestclair]

33 minutes ago, Blergh said:

  Then,too, did you ask her if she was doing that to make up for virtually all us US Americans not pronouncing the 3rd of  the four S's in the vegetable 'Brussells sprouts'- or could  it be that we're merely be taking away an S to from that term to make up for all those extra S's we add to other words? Yes, I confess that I myself call them 'Brussell sprouts' even though they're named after Belgium's capital city and  at no point of time did either the city or vegetable drop that tricky 3rd S. My mother is the ONLY person I know who actually pronounces it correctly without having had someone else calling them on it.

I don't think I ever put together that Brussels sprouts were named for the city. That's probably because I drop the s too.  So many s sounds in a row is just awkward to say or something.  

My dad calls tater tots "tater tops".  It cracks me up every time.  He also says "chimley", "helicocter" and "colonostopy".  He's 74, so I've given up trying to correct him at this point.  

[Quof]

I am still sick, but dragging myself through some errands I need to accomplish before returning to work tomorrow. So this morning, I go for an oil change at one of those quicky/no appointment necessary places.   The Point of Sale terminal offers me the option of tipping. The hell????  The young man who changed my oil was pleasant and efficient enough, but that really is the baseline of what I expect.  What could possibly warrant a tip?   I know they make PoS terminals that don't have a tip option (my supermarket, for example, doesn't give me the option of tipping), so why would this business owner make a deliberate choice to purchase this type of terminal?  

[backformore]

15 minutes ago, janestclair said:

My dad calls tater tots "tater tops".  It cracks me up every time.  He also says "chimley", "helicocter" and "colonostopy".  He's 74, so I've given up trying to correct him at this point.  

My father-in-law called his drivers license a "Lice-ness" his garage was a "Grage"

I'm ok with resolutions for the new year.  Holiday season often means we celebrate and neglect our health, so resolving to make healthier choices this year can be a good thing. 

[Quof]

Unless any of you has a relative who pronounces "Saturday" as "Sair-day", I win.  Don't know what I win, but I do.

[DeLurker]

I have a hard time with the proper pronunciation of some words - some just exist in a fog bank.  Gesture is one - I have never been able to remember it is with a j sound or a hard g.  I know I get it wrong and then I struggle for a mental minute going jesture? gesture?  Argghh!  I usually find a synonym after that mental minute,

[Angeltoes]

Our local news just did a piece on a group that feeds the homeless.  One of the group members chirped,"We make them feel like people!"  The homeless are people, you dolt.

[backformore]

24 minutes ago, Quof said:

Unless any of you has a relative who pronounces "Saturday" as "Sair-day", I win.  Don't know what I win, but I do.

Yeah, father-in-law mentioned above did that as well.   Hubby will do it on occasion, but just to bug me.  

Father-in-law also pronounced the number 3 as "tree" .  I think it's all  a southside of Chicago thing. 

[Quof]

backformore, hard to imagine how my relatives on the east coast of Canada picked up a southside of Chicago thing :)

[bilgistic]

37 minutes ago, Quof said:

I am still sick, but dragging myself through some errands I need to accomplish before returning to work tomorrow. So this morning, I go for an oil change at one of those quicky/no appointment necessary places.   The Point of Sale terminal offers me the option of tipping. The hell????  The young man who changed my oil was pleasant and efficient enough, but that really is the baseline of what I expect.  What could possibly warrant a tip?   I know they make PoS terminals that don't have a tip option (my supermarket, for example, doesn't give me the option of tipping), so why would this business owner make a deliberate choice to purchase this type of terminal?  

I think we've discussed this before, but tipping has gotten out of control. I order from Postmates and DoorDash (food delivery services) more frequently than I'd like to admit. On top of their delivery and "service fee", they want a tip. What do the other charges go to, then? The Door Dash app forces a tip during checkout--before food has been delivered!!

I won't tip at Starbucks when I'm already paying $5++ for a soy latte (thanks, lactose intolerance and, yes, my laziness). I know those employees get paId a decent wage. I do tip when I get a free drink, though. I also tipped when the store in my office building was open the day after the shooting riots and we, too, had to work.

Because both of my sisters work(ed) in restaurants, I feel tipping guilt, but I think the whole practice is crazy. Here in NC, the hourly wage for servers hasn't increased since I waited tables for two months in 1990; it's still $2.15 an hour, plus tips. Employers are supposed to make up the difference to bring up the wage to the minimum if tips don't, but that rarely happens.

[Quof]

I've mentioned before that the US tipping culture has spread into Canada, and I hate it. I am aware that, in the US, food servers are paid a much lower minimum wage than other industries and the difference is made up in tips.  I get that.  Servers are making about $3 an hour.  In Canada, food servers are paid the same minimum wage as other industries (those who serve alcohol are paid approximately $0.50 less an hour, in 3 provinces).  So food servers are paid at least $11 an hour, without tips.  Is it a lot of money? No. But it's the same income as the person who rings in my groceries, pumps my gas, etc.  and I don't tip them.  Canadian food servers are now insisting that tips of 20% are standard.  

[ABay]

Canadian food servers are now insisting that tips of 20% are standard.

I'm not in Canada, but 20% is the standard tip I leave. It goes up for extenuating circumstances. Any job that requires that much interaction with people, especially in "family" restaurants where screaming children seem to attract everyone's attention but their parents', I'm OK with tipping the worker. That's just me. YMMV.

[Quof]

And as I pointed out, pay for food servers is very different in Canada than it is in the US.  People in lots of jobs put up with crappy conditions, including dealing with the public and screaming children.  They don't get tipped 20%, or even any tip.  

[janestclair]

Bare minimum service gets fifteen percent from me.  If I'm at a restaurant and you brought my meal and my drink without incident but didn't show up to see if I needed anything during the meal, that's all you're getting.  Bring me extra napkins or refill my drink without being asked, then that bumps up to twenty percent.  If you're not wait staff being paid $2.13 an hour, don't expect a tip from me unless you went above and beyond standard service.  So I'll tip the pizza guy because supposedly the 'delivery charge' is not a tip, and they are using their own vehicle to bring me my dinner, but not the barista at Starbucks.  

[backformore]

1 hour ago, Quof said:

And as I pointed out, pay for food servers is very different in Canada than it is in the US.  People in lots of jobs put up with crappy conditions, including dealing with the public and screaming children.  They don't get tipped 20%, or even any tip.  

My issue with the 20% thing is this -  the server at a family, lower-cost place has to work pretty damn hard.  The server at a high end place also works hard.  But when you talk about 20% - that means that when have a $20 tab for pancakes, the server should get $4, but if I go to place where dinner for 2 is $200, the server gets $40?   It's not like it takes more work to put a $50 steak on a table than to put a $7 plate of pancakes on the table!

To be clear, I get tipping, when servers are paid so little - but the percentage is a little nuts at an expensive restaurant. 

[theredhead77]

2 hours ago, Quof said:

So this morning, I go for an oil change at one of those quicky/no appointment necessary places.   The Point of Sale terminal offers me the option of tipping. The hell????  The young man who changed my oil was pleasant and efficient enough, but that really is the baseline of what I expect.  What could possibly warrant a tip?   I know they make PoS terminals that don't have a tip option (my supermarket, for example, doesn't give me the option of tipping), so why would this business owner make a deliberate choice to purchase this type of terminal?  

Cost? Sometimes they get the POS terminal for "free" with POS software. Provide feedback to the place (or corporate) about the tipping option.

My default tip is typically 20% and never less than $2. As minimum wage in CA continues to rise I'm finding myself tipping less at places like Starbucks or counter service places. Instead of a $1, I'll toss in the coins. I'll tip a bit more at places I frequent because they hook me up. In bars I'll tip $1 / beer and $2 for a mixed drink if I'm paying cash. If I run a tab it varies but rarely less than $5.

[harrie]

14 minutes ago, backformore said:

My issue with the 20% thing is this -  the server at a family, lower-cost place has to work pretty damn hard.  The server at a high end place also works hard.  But when you talk about 20% - that means that when have a $20 tab for pancakes, the server should get $4, but if I go to place where dinner for 2 is $200, the server gets $40?   It's not like it takes more work to put a $50 steak on a table than to put a $7 plate of pancakes on the table!

To be clear, I get tipping, when servers are paid so little - but the percentage is a little nuts at an expensive restaurant. 

I agree that a server for breakfast or lunch has to hustle just as much (or more, depending) than someone working the dinner shift, so we tip higher on those meals - usually about 40-50%. At dinner, we start at 20% - partly because it's easier to figure, especially if we're having wine - and go upwards for attentive service, helpfulness, or extra hustle.  We'd have to have had an abysmal experience to give a 15% tip.  And we tip at sandwich places and Dunkin' Donuts type places where it's accepted.  We're pretty generous tippers, I guess, but it often works in our favor in the long term. 

Edited January 2, 2017 by harrie

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

I think we've discussed this before, but tipping has gotten out of control. I order from Postmates and DoorDash (food delivery services) more frequently than I'd like to admit. On top of their delivery and "service fee", they want a tip. What do the other charges go to, then? The Door Dash app forces a tip during checkout--before food has been delivered!!

The delivery and service fees don't go to the driver/delivery person though; my BF delivers part time and the tip is strictly for the person doing that job (I believe that for large orders, the phone people ask the customer if they want to put the tip on at that point instead of at the delivery....though why? What if the guy is a messy messy mess about it?). Same with my grocery orders, which have the service fee. I just tip when I place the online order because I never know when I'll have actual real live cash on me, but the delivery person already knows that and says, "Thank you for the online tip" (and they all do it; I wonder if it's mandatory or something?). As for that service fee, I've gotten mine back a million times because, UGH, the shit they do when they select and pack the order! Like, one item per plastic bag sometimes...65 items of all weights and shapes other times. Or they just hurl the blueberries in and I have to pick 'em loose from the bag. Or the time the delivery guy must have put my bags down in mud before he brought them in. And...

the time there was a crumpled used napkin in my bag! UGH, I can't even. I know all of this could be alleviated if I'd just do it myself but I hate grocery shopping with a fury (though I do make trips to the hippie food store for shit I can't get) and I just don't have the time or patience to do it. Or the desire to carry it all up here (I'm That Person who seems to believe she can do it in one trip, forgetting that at some point, I will need a free hand to unlock the doors).

Now, as for that last part you mention about that app, ooooh, that sounds very shady on their part! Not fair!

Edited January 2, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[theredhead77]

31 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

 Or the desire to carry it all up here (I'm That Person who seems to believe she can do it in one trip, forgetting that at some point, I will need a free hand to unlock the doors).

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, Blergh said:

My mother is the ONLY person I know who actually pronounces it correctly without having had someone else calling them on it.

I pronounce it correctly, and often have people tell me I'm saying it wrong!  I don't think I've ever had anyone point out my "error" when I've written it, but it has happened multiple times when I've said it.  Then when I explain that no, I had it right to start with, there's the look of confusion before I nudge, "You know, Brussels - capital of Belgium," and then they put it together.  (As for why I've said "Brussels sprouts" so often in my life, they're delicious, and I order and buy them a lot.)

[TattleTeeny]

Love the Brussels sprouts! But as for all the Ss, I just assume one of the blends into to the other when saying it out loud.

[StatisticalOutlier]

3 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I think we've discussed this before, but tipping has gotten out of control.

I watched a show the other day called "Adam Ruins Everything" about restaurants, and one of the segments was on tipping.  It's insane that a business's customers pay directly for one of the business's costs.  Customers don't pay directly for rent, or electricity, or office supplies--why do they pay the employees' wages?

Not only that, studies have shown that black servers receive less in tips than white servers.  And no servers have a predictable income.  And, as Adam pointed out, tipping makes the end of every meal kind of a downer.  (Actually, I think he used the word "ruins.")  The only people who can possibly like it are the restaurant owners--a clear minority if you add up customers, servers, and restaurant owners.  Yet the system persists.

I eat out a lot but almost never go to full service restaurants any more as my little protest against tipping.  And no, I don't tip for counter service.  As someone pointed out, there are lots and lots of people who work terrible jobs for minimum wage and don't have a tip jar.

[DeLurker]

I won't order delivery from a place that charged a delivery fee that isn't going to the driver (papa john's I'm looking at you).  I have no problem tipping the delivery person, but I sure won't pay a random extra charge to the restaurant. 

[Maharincess]

5 hours ago, Quof said:

Unless any of you has a relative who pronounces "Saturday" as "Sair-day", I win.  Don't know what I win, but I do.

My aunt Joanne said Saturday that way. She also said skew for screw and skewill for squirrel.  

[BooksRule]

Pet peeve:  An aging house.  My house was built in 1964 (ranch-type home on a slab) and although I think that houses built years ago are generally better built than those built today (unless you custom build and choose really durable materials), I'm beginning to have to fix stuff.  And I don't know how to fix stuff.  I'm definitely going to look into taking some workshops on general home repair (google and youtube can only take you so far).  I posted details in the 'home repair' thread, but I'm hoping I was just successful in taking care of my first bathtub clog.  I'm not replacing the overflow plate pieces and the drain cover until I'm sure, but every few minutes, I've been going in there and running hot water down the drain and it's draining nicely so far.  We'll see.  

Since I bought the house in 2001, I've replaced the roof (Hurricane Katrina forced me to), replaced the gas water heater (again, H. Katrina) and about 6 or 7 years ago (I think about that much) I replaced the A/C unit/heat pump (outside unit and inside unit).  I was told by the installation guys that the A/C unit was at least 25 years old, so I'm sure it gave more than it was expected to in the long run.  Oh, I also have all of the outside pipes in the back yard replaced as well, because of roots growing into the pipes.  

I don't think I will ever feel comfortable tackling electrical problems, but I really need to learn basic home plumbing fixes.

[Sun-Bun]

BooksRule, I'm sorry to hear this. Yes, owning an older house is usually a pricy, all-consuming lifestyle choice. It's probably the main reason I've happily lived in modern lofts/condos my entire adult life: you're financially responsible to a house and are pretty much married to it as an owner, especially if it's larger and older. Between keeping it clean and updated, painting it, replacing roofs, cleaning gutters, lawn care and all the other electrical necessities, it's a never ending expense.

Your situation sounds similar to my older brother's after he inherited my grandmother's house when she passed away several years ago. It's a lovely ranch house on a creekbank that she had built back in 1961, but she cut sooooo many corners costwise  that wouldn't even pass inspections for today's houses and she never bothered to update the house beyond several paint jobs and roofs over the years, so bro is basically throwing away his cash on a money pit that's more than likely a potential tear down anyway. But he's a sentimental fool who can't bear to part with "his heritage" so he keeps slaving away to keep that place semi-functional. It doesn't seem remotely worth the money/effort he puts into the place as it crumbles around him, but it's his money so I can't judge too much.