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

[AgentRXS]

My peeve is I'm tired of certain someone of a high political ranking spending their weekends at certain country club in the county over from mine. Its all over the news and newspapers as if it isn't old hat by now. The traffic along the border of that county and mine is always worse due to people being forced to reroute due to detours.  Also, to be less than 50 miles from there in this day and age where anything can happen, makes me extremely nervous every visit.

[Mindthinkr]

@Petunia13 Thank you. I'd suggest that you check out the pets thread. Lots of us on there have black cats and some of the other posters have the cutest animals and do holiday pics with them wearing the cutest garb. There's even another poster who has 2 black cats that are twins for mine (well, hers aren't as fat!). I think that you'd enjoy it. 

[TurtlePower]

Season's Peevings! A certain car commercial (Acura, I believe) has ruined the song "Deck the Halls". Whoever created this track surely intended to drive people into a rage. Shaky, whiny female voice edited to sound like: "Dayyyy........dayyyy.....dayy the halls"......  Who "Days the Halls"? Add an incessant jingle sound and you got a real rage maker.

[Sun-Bun]

3 hours ago, TurtlePower said:

Whoever created this track surely intended to drive people into a rage. Shaky, whiny female voice edited to sound like: "Dayyyy........dayyyy.....dayy the halls"......  Who "Days the Halls"? 

Oh I definitely know that dreck of which you type---I had the TV on in the background when that commercial came on and remember thinking to myself, 'Goddamnit that's annoying...'

I think that gal is actually singing "Dayyy-uck, dayyy-uk, dayyy-uk..." in that ultra twee and annoying hipster lilt that we're hearing more and more female commercial jingle singers affecting. Gotta sound extra hip to get those millennial kids' attention, after all!! I actually complained about this trend on the commercial forums here---there was some chick who sang a similarly rage-inducing version of "If I Only Had a Brain" for the University of Phoenix commercials using that same ultra-affected lilt. I was about ready to hire a bounty hunter to find her so I could personally throat-punch her for that hot mess.

Speaking of holiday commercials, I thankfully haven't noticed any other new ones yet that get me as ragey as usual. And there are a handful of classic holiday commercials that have been shown for at least 20 or more years that get me all giddy with holiday cheer: the Norelco razor Santa, the Hershey's kisses ringing bells, the Foldgers commercial featuring golden child "PEETERRR!!" coming home, and the 'Oh Christmas Tree' Corona commercial.

[auntlada]

You clearly don't live in Oklahoma, @Sun-Bun. Ask anyone who grew up here about Christmas commercials, and they will mention he B.C. Clark jingle. It runs the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas, and everyone knows it. It was created in 1956.

[BooksRule]

Quote

I got a Rosemary plant shaped like a Christmas tree. Used one string of little lights and some ornaments and voila.  If I was having a party or hosting my family I'd do bigger and better. 

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get your Christmas tree-shaped rosemary plant?  I received one as gift a few years ago, and have bought one or two a couple of Christmas seasons from Lowe's, but I've never been able to keep one alive (I don't like cooking with rosemary--too piney for me--but I love the smell of the needles).  I was going to try once again, being very careful to keep it watered and immediately transplanting it to a flowerbed outside as soon as the holidays were over but I couldn't find any around this year.  (I only tried Lowe's-type places, not nurseries or florists).

Edited December 24, 2017 by BooksRule

[Mindthinkr]

10 hours ago, BooksRule said:

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get your Christmas tree-shaped rosemary plant?  I received one as gift a few years ago, and have bought one or two a couple of Christmas seasons from Lowe's, but I've never been able to keep one alive (I don't like cooking with rosemary--too piney for me--but I love the smell of the needles).  I was going to try once again, being very careful to keep it watered and immediately transplanting it to a flowerbed outside as soon as the holidays were over but I couldn't find any around this year.  (I only tried Lowe's-type places, not nurseries or florists).

I don't mind at all. I got it at Costco for $21. I hadn't seen them for a few years either so when they had one I couldn't resist. Good luck and Happy Holidays. ?

[TattleTeeny]

OK, so, since I posted, I have received two of the missing three packages--and one only because I happened to be outside when the mailman (or mail dude, as he looked about 20 years old, haha!) was here! It kind of sounded like he was again not going to leave it even though I had signed the two release forms! The good part there is that it might be free because I contacted Amazon to say that the USPS was holding it hostage. The seller issued a refund literally within an hour before I got the package. So I replied to that message and let them know that, but they basically said whatever, enjoy, and take your money too. I am hoping the last one makes its way here somehow today--it was in Wisconsin yesterday, after having passed through Wayne, NJ, which is, oh...about 10 minutes from where I sit right now.

[theredhead77]

I ordered cat litter the other day and it was going to be delivered on Wednesday. It's now scheduled to be delivered today, yay. BUT I feel really bad for the AMZL driver who has to deliver it, by 8pm on XMAS eve.

[bilgistic]

I know I keep telling everyone how I worked a seasonal stint for UPS a few years ago, but I learned so much. The last day I worked for the season was Christmas Eve, and I worked until maybe 9:00. I know UPS gets a bad rap, but the sheer volume of packages is insanity.

I get annoyed that they almost always drop off my packages at the leasing office, which has regular business hours. When I was working, it was nearly impossible to get to the leasing office when they were open. I do understand them delivering to the leasing office because my complex can be kind of dicey, but I've never had anything stolen in four years. USPS leaves packages at the door.

[bilgistic]

Y'ALL.

My niece (18YO) is bringing her black boyfriend to dinner at my super-white 91-year-old grandma's tonight. Y'all know what a liberal, feminist treehugger I am? My grandma is my polar opposite.

My nieces are actually mixed-race. My ex-brother-in-law's mother is white and father is black, so that was a whole thing back then when my sister started dating, married and had kids with him (not in that order--yeah, more strife).

Give us all strength. It's going to be a mess.

[Quof]

It's going to be epic. Could you film it for us?

[bilgistic]

My other sister lives in Augusta won't be there. She asked me to text her the play-by-play. She is livid over it. Phewww boy.

[Random Noise]

Waiting for the mini-series.

Bilgistic Blues. Part 1 - Christmas Chaos

[BookWoman56]

@bilgistic, one of the many reasons I am happy not to be celebrating holidays (religious or not) with some of my other family members is that there's always going to be at least one person who gets into a snit on this sort of thing. My Christmas day dinner will be attended by me (atheist), my daughter (half-Jewish, half-atheist), my son (nominally Christian but I think is mostly lapsed), my son's wife (Chinese and Buddhist), my grandson (mixed ethnicity), and my daughter's boyfriend (Muslim) (daughter is bisexual and her girlfriend is in the military, currently stationed overseas).  I know that at least in my house, that mix will not create problems. My mother would probably be okay with the guest list, but at least one of my siblings would either walk out or regard it as the appropriate time and place to try to convert everyone to her own religious beliefs. My motto: Family - can't live with them; can't kill them; so don't hang out with the ones that make you stabby.

Edited December 24, 2017 by BookWoman56

[bilgistic]

Update! Upon my Augusta sister's prodding, Mom called my other sister and very tearfully told her that the boyfriend couldn't come, that it was disrespectful to her mom/our grandma. My sister told her OK and not to cry. Said she had to call daughter/boyfriend who are driving separately (about 1.5 hour trip for all them); they aren't coming now. My sister and other niece were going to our deadbeat father's for awhile (that's a whole other mess), then to my grandma's.

Drahhh-ma!

[bilgistic]

Well, we all survived. It wasn't bad at all. My grandma is looking frail, but otherwise everything was OK.

On to IHOP with my parents in the morning for our Christmas brunch, and then back home to my girls!

[Jaded]

On 12/20/2017 at 9:55 PM, walnutqueen said:

Back to your topic - I was recently (and inadvertently, I'm sure) hooked up with a dulcet toned UVerse rep named Sylvia.  Who magically dropped my monthly rate by about 40 bucks.  She enjoyed me shushing her to a whisper while I fed the raccoons begging at my back door.  But it was the baby raccoon impersonating Stevie Wonder while encountering my windchimes story that sent her over the cliff.

I called early last week to ask about my bill and got an absolute asshole of a rep who was really condescending. He'd repeat back what I said to him about the state of my current billing state in an accusatory tone like I was lying to him. When I pointed out what I'm paying he tried to make me feel like I was stupid and mentioned the price before taxes and said he was pretty sure I wasn't paying that much in taxes. He then proceeded to add the total of each service, threw in the taxes at the end and tried to spin it by saying that I wasn't paying the even number I rounded up to. I'm paying $3 damn dollars less then that. 

I told him I really would have to start looking elsewhere and then I hung up. A few minutes later a lady who said she was his supervisor called because he told her the call was dropped. I explained to her why I hung up on him and she said she'd supposedly speak with him about it. When I told her about my bill situation she pretended to look up promotions and said nothing was available not even crediting the HD fee. I told her thanks for her time and she gave the "Happy Holidays and thanks for being a customer" line.

I was surprised neither of them tried to get me to sign up for DirecTV or anything since AT&T owns that now too. Had DTV before and due to the weather situations here it can be really frustrating. I am jealous of the rates their customers can get when they go through negotiations with them though.

Edited December 26, 2017 by Jaded

[Maharincess]

On 12/24/2017 at 0:46 PM, bilgistic said:

On 12/24/2017 at 0:46 PM, bilgistic said:

Y'ALL.

My niece (18YO) is bringing her black boyfriend to dinner at my super-white 91-year-old grandma's tonight. Y'all know what a liberal, feminist treehugger I am? My grandma is my polar opposite.

My nieces are actually mixed-race. My ex-brother-in-law's mother is white and father is black, so that was a whole thing back then when my sister started dating, married and had kids with him (not in that order--yeah, more strife).

Give us all strength. It's going to be a mess.

 

 

 

On 12/24/2017 at 7:52 PM, bilgistic said:

Well, we all survived. It wasn't bad at all. My grandma is looking frail, but otherwise everything was OK.

On to IHOP with my parents in the morning for our Christmas brunch, and then back home to my girls!

I'm glad it went well. I told you what I'm dealing with right now.  I have custody of a pregnant teenager who's parents kicked her out because the baby she's carrying is half black. You know her asshole parents didn't even call her on Xmas?  They've abandoned their only child because her child's father is black.  I hate them. I don't say that often but I hate them. They aren't there for their child just when she needs them the most. 

I hope everyone had a great Xmas, or even just a great day off. 

[Zola]

I do wonder why some people on social media have to post inane questions like "does anyone know if Sainsbury's/Morrisons/Asda et al, is open on Christmas Day?"

FFS, why not just check the respective website's opening hours before posting on SM!

Moreover, when some of these people find out that said supermarket is actually closed on Christmas Day, they go into a tirade saying that "Well my Christmas is now ruined because I can't buy such and such from xyz supermarket. These shops should be open all the time including Christmas Day!"

I guess these people love to make a drama out of a crisis to hide their own lack of forward planning; and it's common knowledge that most, if not all of the main supermarkets close on Christmas Day, and have done so for decades!

 

** edit. I am referring to supermarkets here in the UK: not sure if this applies to North America and the rest of the world

Edited December 27, 2017 by Zola

[Scatterbrained]

On 12/22/2017 at 5:18 PM, Mindthinkr said:

I got a Rosemary plant shaped like a Christmas tree. Used one string of little lights and some ornaments and voila.  If I was having a party or hosting my family I'd do bigger and better. 

I do a rosemary tree every year, too.  

[Mindthinkr]

2 hours ago, Zola said:

Moreover, when some of these people find out that said supermarket is actually closed on Christmas Day, they go into a tirade saying that "Well my Christmas is now ruined because I can't buy such and such from xyz supermarket. These shops should be open all the time including Christmas Day!"

That's pretty entitled. I cringe when I hear that somewhere is open on a holiday because I know that's someone who is not having a holiday and time with their loved ones. Exceptions given to those in the medical and emergency services because sadly I always hear of a house fire or some such on the news the day after and that saddens me. 

[BookWoman56]

2 hours ago, Zola said:

I do wonder why some people on social media have to post inane questions like "does anyone know if Sainsbury's/Morrisons/Asda et al, is open on Christmas Day?"

FFS, why not just check the respective website's opening hours before posting on SM!

Moreover, when some of these people find out that said supermarket is actually closed on Christmas Day, they go into a tirade saying that "Well my Christmas is now ruined because I can't buy such and such from xyz supermarket. These shops should be open all the time including Christmas Day!"

I guess these people love to make a drama out of a crisis to hide their own lack of forward planning; and it's common knowledge that most, if not all of the main supermarkets close on Christmas Day, and have done so for decades!

Agreed. I think many of us have had the experience of realizing on Christmas that we forgot an ingredient, or we thought for sure we had that ingredient and so did not buy it when doing the shopping, only to discover that the specific ingredient we need is nowhere to be found in the kitchen. For example, prior to Thanksgiving, I accidentally bought smoked paprika instead of regular paprika, which as it turned out nobody particularly liked. So a couple of days before Christmas, I did my major shopping and picked up regular paprika. However, as I was cooking on Christmas morning, I could not find the new paprika; don't know if it rolled out of the grocery bag and is in the trunk of my car, or if it got put up into a weird place and not where I keep the rest of my spices. I have zero doubt it'll show up in the next couple of days now that I don't need it immediately. But I am not going to rant and rave because local grocery stores aren't open on Christmas day so I can go buy a replacement jar of paprika. That's just part of the deal with Christmas day, and the day is not going to be ruined because I don't have the right kind of paprika. Even though for me it's a secular holiday with the extra benefit of being paid time off from work, I recognize that grocery store employees deserve to have a day off, especially because the last few days before Christmas have to be stressful. The employees are ready for a day when customers aren't besieging them with questions about where certain items are and why they don't have item ABC. I suspect the people bitching and moaning about their Christmas meal being ruined because the stores aren't open are the same people who procrastinate at work and routinely have "emergencies" that are nothing more than failure to plan ahead and get stuff done when it needs to be done instead of assuming the entire fucking universe is ready to accommodate them.

[theredhead77]

Major holidays do not just sneak up on someone like a freak weather event. As someone who thinks it's fucking bullshit that stores are closed for religious holidays like Christmas and Easter and but not for 4th of July I still understand how the country works and shop accordingly.

[KittyMom4]

58 minutes ago, BookWoman56 said:

Even though for me it's a secular holiday with the extra benefit of being paid time off from work, I recognize that grocery store employees deserve to have a day off, especially because the last few days before Christmas have to be stressful. The employees are ready for a day when customers aren't besieging them with questions about where certain items are and why they don't have item ABC. I suspect the people bitching and moaning about their Christmas meal being ruined because the stores aren't open are the same people who procrastinate at work and routinely have "emergencies" that are nothing more than failure to plan ahead and get stuff done when it needs to be done instead of assuming the entire fucking universe is ready to accommodate them.

My daughter works for a large supermarket chain, there has been signage on the doors and notices in the ads that the store will close at 6:00pm on Christmas eve and not reopen until December 26th at 7:00am for WEEKS. She worked until close on Christmas eve, at 5:00pm announcements were made that the store would close in an hour. At 5:30pm half of the doors were locked, and the only carts available were the small ones. At 5:45pm you could only take a hand-basket and announcements were made at both those intervals. At 5:50pm they tell customers to head to the front of the store to begin checking out. One woman reluctantly came up with a full cart, complaining that she still had more shopping to do. The manager politely apologized but stood his ground that she had to check out. My daughter told me the woman muttered for the rest of the transaction that the store was ruining her Christmas and she was going to complain to corporate. She didn't care about the employees that she was delaying from getting home to their families. Sheesh.

[Hanahope]

1 hour ago, theredhead77 said:

As someone who thinks it's fucking bullshit that stores are closed for religious holidays like Christmas and Easter and but not for 4th of July I still understand how the country works and shop accordingly.

Yeah, not everyone follows the same religions and I know plenty of people who feel just fine working on "religious" holidays.  But they understand that most people do care, so plan accordingly.  

That said, I couldn't recall if a particular grocery store was open on Christmas or not.  I check the website, it doesn't say, it just gives its normal operating hours.  checked a few other websites, but nothing saying one way or the other.  At least other people on social media knew the answer.

[Qoass]

I have seen many news reports on how the new tax reform will affect "average" Americans. Apparently, as a single person with no children, I am not average. I guess many reporters missed the news that the two parent plus children family is no longer the norm. Just once I would like to see a financial story that speaks to people like me who are handling their finances without a net rather than married couples with two incomes from Social Security or middle aged people with kids going to college. We count too.

Edited December 26, 2017 by Qoass

[bilgistic]

3 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

Major holidays do not just sneak up on someone like a freak weather event. As someone who thinks it's fucking bullshit that stores are closed for religious holidays like Christmas and Easter and but not for 4th of July I still understand how the country works and shop accordingly.

I'll take that one step further and pronounce it bullshit that the U.S. doesn't recognize Jewish holidays nationally. Where I live is an area heavily populated with Jewish folks, centered upon a couple of community centers/worship centers/schools just up the street. Back at my former job, several of our clients were Jewish and took off the high holidays.

Christians don't have a lock on the whole thing. Worldwide, there are far fewer Christians than other religions. Many of us here in this forum, including me, aren't religious at all. I still go to my grandma's Christmas Eve dinner because we've had it forever, and I politely stay quiet during the pre-dinner prayer instead of flipping the table and telling them all what I really think.

Same goes with discussions about politics and equality, obviously.

Edited December 26, 2017 by bilgistic

[theredhead77]

Just now, bilgistic said:

I'll take that one step further and pronounce it bullshit that the U.S. doesn't recognize Jewish holidays nationally. Where I live is a heavily Jewish area with a couple of community centers/worship centers just up the street. Back at my former job, several of our clients were Jewish and took off the high holidays.

I'm an extremely lapsed Jew but if I weren't and had previously used my 'floating holidays' for the High Holidays I'd consider a lawsuit against my current company for forcing me to take a random day after XMAS off as a designated floating holiday and requiring me to use a vacation day for the High Holidays. 

I'd rather they designated the 26th as a company holiday and only give 1 floater but I suspect corporate sets the major holidays and gives the regional 'companies' the leeway to do what they will with the 2 floaters.

[bilgistic]

I was trying to say something like that, but got lost in my own words. Religious non-Christians are forced to use vacation time for their religion's holidays, which is garbage.

[Guest]

37 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

I'm an extremely lapsed Jew but if I weren't and had previously used my 'floating holidays' for the High Holidays I'd consider a lawsuit against my current company for forcing me to take a random day after XMAS off as a designated floating holiday and requiring me to use a vacation day for the High Holidays. 

I'd rather they designated the 26th as a company holiday and only give 1 floater but I suspect corporate sets the major holidays and gives the regional 'companies' the leeway to do what they will with the 2 floaters.

I think my company is that way too with certain days pre determined and others at the site's discretion.

But I hate floaters. Hate them.  I gripe about it to HR every year.  They can celebrate whatever day will make others happy but I want that day organized and the office closed.

As it is they give us the "benefit" of two floating holidays.  You know what happens on floating holidays?  Its the same as vacations.  Stuff needs to be covered while you are gone or you need to cover others while they are gone. Jerks assume you can attend their conference call be cause they are special.   You need to work extra hours before you go to be able to go and when you come back to catch up.

And if you don't like doing that, then floating holidays are just a couple more days a year you are "able" to take off but you don't.

At this point I'd happily donate my "flexible" vacation time and floating holidays to find a company that just shuts down at certain times of the year to give me an actual break where I don't need to be reachable for an "emergency" and to not to come back to in inbox with a horrifying number of emails.

[peacheslatour]

I don't care if we're supposed to be celebrating the Cthulhu Advent of the Old Ones or the Holy Colander of Flying Spaghetti Monster (may his noodly appendage bless you) a paid day off is a paid day off.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

I don't care if we're supposed to be celebrating the Cthulhu Advent of the Old Ones or the Holy Colander of Flying Spaghetti Monster (may his noodly appendage bless you) a paid day off is a paid day off.

I see you and raise you, just because I'm salary doesn't mean I'm available for weekend emergencies.  A weekend is a day I'm not even paid, not matter what you think, so don't even think about it.

Edited December 28, 2017 by ParadoxLost

[bilgistic]

Unless an employee is a doctor or first responder, there's no "emergency" that requires an employee's attention when one is outside of regular business hours. I really hate that our culture has decided that we should be available for work at any time. I know, this should be in the work thread.

[Qoass]

That's a big reason I don't have a smart phone.

[Quof]

Flying for the holidays. So many peeves.   People who have never flown before, so have no idea what they are doing, can't be bothered to do a little research beforehand and don't pay attention to all of the signs and verbal instructions telling them what to do.  Aw, it's so cute you are flying for the first time ever. Could you get the hell out of my way?  And why can't people read the numbers and letters over the seats?   Why were at least a dozen people in the wrong seats?

I boarded my last flight to discover parents with a toddler across the aisle. Great. They didn't bother to board early, so blocked everyone else while they loaded their abundance of stuff into all of the surrounding overhead bins. The child was coughing up a storm before we even boarded.  "This is going to be great"  I thought.   The child was actually quiet throughout the flight.  He was happy as a pig in shit.  Literally, as he dumped a load in his diaper before we were even airborne and his parents couldn't be arsed to go change him. (I was actually afraid they might do it at their seats, at which point I was going to go ballistic).  Instead, they let the smell waft through the cabin for the duration of the flight.  As someone posted upthread, if I can tell your child needs a diaper change, so can you. 

[TattleTeeny]

Ugh, I swear, the more "convenient" the technology, the more headaches I get, hahahhahaha! First, there's the whole pre-exit the car routine of unplugging and wrangling anything you don't want to be without or have stolen, then the inevitable "hold on, this thing is not working the way it should and I have NO IDEA how to correct it quickly," and then the ubiquitous "I thought this was supposed to make life easier; why am I jumping through hoops to do so?!" 

Bear in mind that I am no kind of techie at all (and I'm also not interested in learning--just work!), so my issues might be no big deal to others. I also seem to have a biological makeup that ruins technology, if that's even a thing. I pretty much use my iPhone only for the basics and am OK with it for the most part. But because I am not trying to do anything super-special with it, it's even more irritating when it doesn't want to cooperate! Damn iTunes has been a source of irritation for me constantly.* More than once, I've seriously considered going back to the old way: carrying a book of CDs into the car with me! And do not even get my started on that "haha, fuck you--you're almost out of storage even though you just deleted a bunch of stuff!" message.

* I remember when iTunes was new, and I was even less technologically inclined. And what do you know, it was far less difficult to deal with then! That, to me, is nuts. Now, my stupid iTunes library seems to vary from phone (which I don't even know how the music got on there!), iPod (the Touch model, which is, IMO, inferior to the older, simpler ones), my laptop, and what shows up in Apple TV! Come on! Just all be the same--why can't you just all be the same?!

In the interest of not sounding like a complete Luddite, I'll add that my Kindle seems to behave itself. And now I'm suspicious: the not-Apple (and far less pricy) device is the one that doesn't try to fuck up my life regularly!

Edited December 28, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[theredhead77]

I have new downstairs neighbors who think it's appropriate to blast their bass heavy music (or bass heavy TV) in the middle of the night. In late November they had it going well past midnight. I emailed the leasing office and it was quiet.... until last night. I was woken up at 2am to serious bass, so heavy it was shaking the walls. I did the mature thing and pounded on the walls, and it was turned down, a little. I pounded more and the volume went down more. But I could still hear it. I proceeded to pound on the walls but they didn't turn it down further so I popped in ear plugs and tried to fall back to sleep. As a result of the ear plugs I overslept all my alarms. Thankfully I have a job where I can roll in whenever, so I was only 45 minutes later than usual.

I emailed the leasing office at 2am and left the neighbors a serious nastygram. Obviously I can't wear ear plugs since I don't hear my alarms. It's also the type of noise that isn't really blocked since noise is transmitted through the bones and nerves within the ear. I live in a super nice complex that is pretty soundproof between units. For me to hear their noise with the clarify I did, I can't even imagine how loud they had it indoors. They are on the 2nd floor, I am on the 3rd so they have someone below them too, and next door. Assholes.

[AgentRXS]

11 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

I have new downstairs neighbors who think it's appropriate to blast their bass heavy music (or bass heavy TV) in the middle of the night. In late November they had it going well past midnight. I emailed the leasing office and it was quiet.... until last night. I was woken up at 2am to serious bass, so heavy it was shaking the walls. I did the mature thing and pounded on the walls, and it was turned down, a little. I pounded more and the volume went down more. But I could still hear it. I proceeded to pound on the walls but they didn't turn it down further so I popped in ear plugs and tried to fall back to sleep. As a result of the ear plugs I overslept all my alarms. Thankfully I have a job where I can roll in whenever, so I was only 45 minutes later than usual.

I emailed the leasing office at 2am and left the neighbors a serious nastygram. Obviously I can't wear ear plugs since I don't hear my alarms. It's also the type of noise that isn't really blocked since noise is transmitted through the bones and nerves within the ear. I live in a super nice complex that is pretty soundproof between units. For me to hear their noise with the clarify I did, I can't even imagine how loud they had it indoors. They are on the 2nd floor, I am on the 3rd so they have someone below them too, and next door. Assholes.

I lived in my last apartment for almost 13 years and had to move because new upstairs and next door neighbors were constantly playing loud bass heavy music almost 24/7 and both my landlord and the condo association refused to address the issue.  Loud bass-heavy music is my biggest peeve ever--in both homes and cars. Why do people have to play it so loud that EVERYONE can hear it? Nobody wants to hear it, no one thinks your cool because you have the loudest system ever. All it does is make everyone think of you as an obnoxious asshole. Sorry you have to deal with that crap. I hate apartment living.

Edited December 29, 2017 by AgentRXS

[Qoass]

I live next door to a constantly barking dog and the management will do nothing about it since the owner is on the board. In desperation, I banged on the wall and quickly got a notice to stop doing that as I may cause damage to the wall.

[DrSpaceman73]

On the topic of flying, this is my pet peeve :  the plane stops and IMMEDIATELY EVERYONE ON THE PLANE STANDS UP and JUMP IN THE AISLE, like they are all going to get off at once. 

Calm down people.  The ones in front have to get out first.  You are going o be standing, awkwardly, leaning over so your head does not hit the overhead bin, for at least 10 minutes. 

[theredhead77]

Leasing manager replied that he contacted the resident below me but could not send an official lease violation without the courtesy officer verifying where it came from. Next time I'll call the courtesy officer right away and have them come into my apartment if needed since it can't be heard from the breeways.

2 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

On the topic of flying, this is my pet peeve :  the plane stops and IMMEDIATELY EVERYONE ON THE PLANE STANDS UP and JUMP IN THE AISLE, like they are all going to get off at once. 

Calm down people.  The ones in front have to get out first.  You are going o be standing, awkwardly, leaning over so your head does not hit the overhead bin, for at least 10 minutes. 

Guilty! I don't do it thinking I'm going to get off the plane any faster, I do it because 1) I have a bit of claustrophobia and everyone now standing doesn't help and 2) I've just been sitting for several hours, I need to get up.

[bilgistic]

Speaking of terrible apartment neighbors (y'all know where this is going), my downstairs neighbor is STILL smoking pot! It has woken me up from a dead sleep twice in the past two weeks. The leasing office sent him a lease violation letter. So much for that.

[peacheslatour]

56 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

Leasing manager replied that he contacted the resident below me but could not send an official lease violation without the courtesy officer verifying where it came from. Next time I'll call the courtesy officer right away and have them come into my apartment if needed since it can't be heard from the breeways.

Guilty! I don't do it thinking I'm going to get off the plane any faster, I do it because 1) I have a bit of claustrophobia and everyone now standing doesn't help and 2) I've just been sitting for several hours, I need to get up.

I feel you. I can't wait to get off the plane and you're right people standing up all around you makes you feel even more closed in. I have a peeve about people who try to get on elevators before the people in them can get out. Stand back and give people a chance to get out!

[theredhead77]

The leasing manager said the guy below me responded that he was also woken up by that noise and it wasn't him. If that's true, I feel like an ass for leaving the note this AM but it can't be coming from anywhere else. I only hear it in my bedroom. I've gone on my balcony thinking it was a car in the next neighborhood but it's silent out there. I've gone out the front door despite not being able to hear anything in the living room., or bathroom, which I would think I would be able to since I share a wall with my next door neighbors. If it was them I should have been able to hear or feel it elsewhere in my apartment. There is no one above me and the floor plans are identical on all 4 levels. Everyone in the building except for the person below me has lived there for over a year. There has not been any noise issues, at all, until late November, shortly after they moved in. 

And the whole turning down the volume once I started banging on the walls seems really suspect. The people below him couldn't hear that, not that the volume that I heard the noise at would be as loud as it was if it were 2 floors down.

[bilgistic]

Not that it helps, but I can hear my downstairs neighbor's TV and music through my bedroom wall as if it's coming from the adjacent apartment. All the sound in this place reverberates through the walls. I will never understand why "multifamily" housing is not built with better soundproofing and insulation.

[theredhead77]

I came home to a note on my door, in response to the note I left. It was well deserved and even though I didn't sign the note the guy said he thought the noise was coming from the unit above him (mine). I called the leasing manager and he said he already talked with him and said it couldn't have been from me. The maintenance manager was in my unit recently and while they aren't poking around it's clear there is no way I have the set-up to support whatever is causing it. Supposedly the person below me didn't live here in November when the first round of music was going.

I wasn't comfortable with a random rent-a-cop security person coming into my unit in the middle of the night but it turns out our 'courtesy patrol' person is an actual police officer who lives in our complex and does courtesy patrol as a side-gig and the next time this happens, if there is a next time, I will call and have him check it out, in my unit. 

This unit has amazing sound proofing. Years and years ago I lived in a complex that had a heater like this one, and the unit below me had theirs in the same spot. This made a great conductor for sound, I could hear the downstairs neighbor's TV all the time. Then again I could also hear the next door neighbor take a leak.

 

[TattleTeeny]

2 hours ago, bilgistic said:

Not that it helps, but I can hear my downstairs neighbor's TV and music through my bedroom wall as if it's coming from the adjacent apartment. All the sound in this place reverberates through the walls. I will never understand why "multifamily" housing is not built with better soundproofing and insulation.

I always wondered this in the complex I used to live in! I understand it if it's a former one-family house that was converted, but when it's been built to be garden apartments, why is it not better? My condo was built about 12 years ago, I think, and my downstairs neighbor can barely hear us--even when I have a late-night dance party!

[bilgistic]

I can hear my upstairs neighbor peeing when she's in the bathroom at the same time I am. Our floor plans are identical, so our bathrooms are stacked.

Every so often, I'll get surveys from the complex management. One question was, "Would you pay extra for these amenities?" Some of the choices were built-in Wi-Fi, dog park and trash concierge. One of the options was better soundproofing. Um, no. That should be part of apartment construction.

[AgentRXS]

All this stuff makes me so glad that I now live in a one-story corner unit.

My neighbor peeve is that my neighbor continues to not allow me to relax on my patio in peace. He entertains on his patio and I can hear every bit of the conversation but I never say a word.

If I try to sit on my patio and have a phone conversation, he comes outside and immediately starts loudly playing a video on his phone to try to disrupt me. If I'm outside just trying to enjoy the weather, he will come outside a start a loud conversation on his phone or smoke a cigarette and blow the smoke over in my direction.  The only time I've ever been able to sit on my patio in peace is when he is out of town or when my ex used to come over as he was intimidated by him. He is just a nosy old man that needs to know everyone's business at all times.

He also brought a huge outdoor lamp and refuses to put a lampshade over it and the light is so bright that it blinds me through the divider I purchased that separates our patio units. I've taken to putting a blanket over the divider which he peels off because he says the blanket makes the divider look "ghetto". I explained that his light is blinding me when I come home at night and he said he won't purchase a lampshade as he wants his patio to be bright as possible to keep critters out of his garden area.  So every day before work I put the blanket over the divider but by morning he peels it off.  Both the divider and the blanket are my purchases so I don't know what makes him feel so entitled to touch my things. He's so aggravating.

Edited December 29, 2017 by AgentRXS