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

[TattleTeeny]

My peeve today is "helpful" online articles about maximizing storage in a small home. They're often completely unrealistic--not in the sense that they can't be done, but that the typical person is not going to, say, hollow out beneath a condo staircase and install open shelving! Or, on the other side of the spectrum, there are suggestions like "hang your yoga mat on the wall when you're not using it." Wow, it's like I added a whole new room! And in between are the many obvious solutions that are probably already being employed by any person who is looking up such an article in the first place--i.e., someone who already cares about being neat and organized and just wants to do it better--like "buy some containers!" and "get rid of stuff you don't use!" Revolutionary.

I don't know exactly what I'm looking for (and I have come to terms with the fact that I have a lot of stuff that I am not interested getting rid of); I just thought maybe I'd find something I hadn't considered before.

ETA: If any fellow neat but stuff-lovin', small home-livin' (2BR, no attic or basement) folks have any suggestions, lay 'em on me! In the interest of full disclosure, I love clothes and my large(ish, and poorly laid out) closet is stuffed.

Edited April 1, 2018 by TattleTeeny

[StatisticalOutlier]

17 hours ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

For me, it depends on the circumstance.  I wouldn't say Googled in a business letter, resume, or any formal communication, but wouldn't hesitate to use it in a casual format like a personal email, or here for example.  Know your audience.

It's not the audience I'm concerned about.  I'm just doing my part in the lonely fight against Google's world domination.

 

12 hours ago, Blergh said:

 Sorry but I have Virginians in my  family who would very strongly argue that RIchmond the capital city is definitely in the South. I mean, if for no other reason because it's south of Baltimore which is considered by many to be the northernmost city of the South!  Of course one might argue why would those in North Carolina NOT want to consider Virginia to be a southern city.

Although, perhaps one could also argue why would it really be important whether or not one city is in the South if one didn't live in it.

Since Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy, I think there is a strong argument that it is part of the South.

There's a Richmond accent that is distinct from the area around it.  I haven't heard it in years, but that might explain the "ging-ale" that @annzeepark914 mentioned.

[SuprSuprElevated]

4 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

It's not the audience I'm concerned about.

I realize that my 'audience' statement read kind of bossy.  It wasn't intended. 

5 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Since Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy, I think there is a strong argument that it is part of the South.

 

Edited April 1, 2018 by SuprSuprElevated

[peacheslatour]

15 hours ago, biakbiak said:

I am a soda person though I dont know why because I grew up in Seattle which is pop territory. I went to college in the midwest and my friend from Manhattan once accidentally called it pop and it shook him to his core and he just got up and left the dining hall without finishing his meal!

I was born in Texas, raised in PA, IL and WA. We always called it "soda".

[annzeepark914]

1 hour ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

There's a Richmond accent that is distinct from the area around it.  I haven't heard it in years, but that might explain the "ging-ale" that @annzeepark914 mentioned.

The person who said "ging-ale" was my dad's sister-in-law whose family name was Bailey--I think they were from a little town called Bailey, not far from Richmond. Her great uncle was John Mosby.  She had a very soft, southern accent, spoke slowly.  We New Yorkers loved listening to her.  When we visited her (in CT where they lived) she always served baked Virginia ham.

Back to the soda/pop/whatever topic: in New York State they still argue about where the "line" is that divides downstate from upstate and some say it's where New Yorkers say soda and some say pop.  I think this debate has been going on for decades (probably similar to NC's debate over eastern bbq and western bbq--I love eastern!!)

My pet peeve of the day: all these hackers.  I happened to have had the volume turned up today and all of a sudden this voice came on yelling about a virus I probably had & how I had to call Windows, provided me an 800 number, went on and on.  We have Norton so I wasn't too nervous...but still!  Wish I could track down these creeps and have them thrown in prison.

[theredhead77]

3 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

ETA: If any fellow neat but stuff-lovin', small home-livin' (2BR, no attic or basement) folks have any suggestions, lay 'em on me! In the interest of full disclosure, I love clothes and my large(ish, and poorly laid out) closet is stuffed.

I doubt I have anything new or revolutionary to suggest. When I moved from my 1bd in CA to my 2bd in GA I thought I'd have so much more storage. Nope, turns out the 1bd had a ton of closet space and everything I had neatly organized there is taking up two closets in CA. 

The one nice thing are the cabinets and closet doors all leave space between the door and the shelf, so I can use Command hooks to hang things on the inside of the doors. I also bought stand alone shelf + drawers for some cabinets.

I also love clothes and the hardest part of me is getting rid of clothes that are super cute and I might wear 'some day'. What I ended up doing was trying on everything in batches. T-shirts / tops / sweaters one day, pants another day, etc... and doing the traditional keep, trash, donate but I also added a 'home wardrobe' pile for things you'll never wear outside the house. Anything that didn't look super cute that day was inspected and placed in a pile. I was ruthless with the donate pile and left the box for a month before getting rid of it. I didn't miss anything. Trash was anything with a non-discrete hole in it (discrete holes could go into the home wardrobe pile). I ended up getting rid of a lot more than I thought I would. I even looked at my socks and underwear.

Like I said, I doubt I have anything revolutionary and I understand you don't want to get rid of things - the combing through the wardrobe thing was a huge help and really freed up mental space every time I went to find something to wear.

[TattleTeeny]

Oh, I've tried it all, haha! I do a "wardrobe sweep" every couple of months. I think the solution (other than a Lisa Vanderpump closet) might elude me forever, because I totally do wear things even if they've sat around unworn for well over one month! I might have to accept that I actually like "shopping" for something to wear to work. What Not to Wear would have a field day with me, man.

The other thing with clothes is that even when I cull stuff to donate, I tend to hang onto it until September, when the animal shelter I volunteer for participates in a townwide garage sale, with the proceeds going toward the shelter. So I still have to stash 'em anyway.

Edited April 1, 2018 by TattleTeeny

[SuprSuprElevated]

A month?  Eeks, I've got too many garments for that.  I go by seasons.  If at the end of winter, I didn't wear a given fall/winter garment, it leaves my closet, permanently.  Same for spring/summer.  I don't really have special occasion stuff anymore, so that's not really an issue.  My shoes take up an inordinate amount of space in my closet, so I have to be extra brutal/truthful with myself about them.  At my age, anything over a 2-2.5" heel height is unlikely to be worn again - out it goes.  If the heels are scrubbed up and can't be easily repaired - out they go.

The results are satisfying.

[Mountainair]

My Peeve for today is technology. It started yesterday actually. I always get my kids a movie as part of their Easter and it's usually Star Wars. The Last Jedi just came out on DVD so I went to the store yesterday to buy it. They were sold out of just the regular DVD version. All they had were blu-ray and digital. We don't have a blu ray player so that doesn't work for me. I drove to three more stores and the same scenario played out. 

Feeling defeated , on the way home my husband texts me that he remembered  our x box one plays blu ray. Well, too little too late. I'm already almost home. I called my dad who works near a place that had the DVD and he offered to pick up the blu ray for me. Problem solved. 

Tonight we decide to make it a family movie night and watch Star Wars downstairs on the big screen- usually the kids watch movies upstairs in the play room on a small tv with a DVD player attached or on the x box. Of course, we don't have a DVD player downstairs (we used to but it's been missing since we started our home renovation and we can't find it) but I figured the Digital component of the movie would be our answer. We aren't complete idiots when it comes to technology but it literally took us an hour and a half of logging into this, getting a text verification, logging into that, downloading this, downloading that, setting up user interfaces to connect and "talk" to each other, etc. By this point I've already sent the kids upstairs to watch something else. But, we are ready for Star Wars movie night later in the week though :) 

I'm in my 30's but remember the day when you had one device that played movies- a VCR. You bought or rented a movie and put it in the VCR and you were done (be kind, rewind). None of this app shit, blu ray compatible shit, digital shit, etc.... I just wanted to watch a damn movie! In a small way it was a win for me because I'm not into Star Wars at all and didn't really want to watch it but was going to take one for the team and participate :)  

[Blergh]

Mountainair,

Maybe you should consider that movie to be like bitter grapes the fox dropped before he could eat them- at least until you actually are able to see it.

[JTMacc99]

10 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

I usually tried to stress her a bit when she was here because she would organize my fridge and cupboards.

Ha!

Interestingly, a big pet peeve of mine is people moving my stuff around. Even if some of it just looks like a drawer full of disorganized junk, don't touch it, because I know that's where I toss specific things. It will be there when I need it, even if I have to root around a bit to find it. 

[TattleTeeny]

15 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

@TattleTeeny My youngest son's ex girlfriend was one of those super neat freaks (I admire people who can visualize organization and see it through to a finished vision). If she got stressed, she cleaned and organized things. I usually tried to stress her a bit when she was here because she would organize my fridge and cupboards.  Maybe you could find a neat freak friend to come over and help you "see" your clutter with new eyes and help you reorganize. Or you could bite the bullet and spend some of your  money on hiring a professional to come in and figure out a plan.

I tend to clean and purge during the night hours when everyone is sleeping. It gives me pleasure to have them come down the hall and tell me to go the heck to bed already. During the day I think, What if this is my last day on earth? Do I want to do laundry or read this book all day? Cleaning and purging at night makes the mornings better.

Oh, I am very organized, even with a ton of stuff (and I do that stress thing too, haha!). What I think I'm missing is how to maximize the space (unless, I've already done it as much as the square footage and odd closet configuration allows; one of my biggest annoyances is that I often run out of space to keep "like with like"--sometimes the "likes" have to be split up and I do not like that at all!).  However, I bet it wouldn't hurt to just happen to have a fellow neat freak with me one day as I ponder this! And I know just the friend to lure invite!

Edited April 2, 2018 by TattleTeeny

[peacheslatour]

Try being me. We live in a 900 sq ft house and my husband is a hoarder. Oh, he keeps his jillions of model railroads contained and organized but sometimes I feel like I'm being buried alive.

[TattleTeeny]

With you--me fella is a comic book collector. New piles--granted, placed neatly in boxes--once a week! Our space is finite, man! But at least they can go in boxes after he reads them; I assume the trains would be no fun that way!

Edited April 3, 2018 by TattleTeeny

[theredhead77]

I hate clutter. My mom has hoarding tendencies but I've been able to get her to purge as time goes by. The worst was the garage, full of empty cardboard boxes of all sizes, from Amazon, petmeds, etc... that she kept just-in-case. I'm not talking about a couple boxes, or a stack of boxes that were broken down. Before I moved I went over there and just started  breaking them down and throwing them out. When she came out I told her I'd buy them new ones (they can afford to, but it's the point) and kept breaking them down and taking them to the recycle bin. My dad was fine with this and I told her I was moving across the country and could no longer mentally deal with the fire hazard in their garage.

Over Thanksgiving I purged the crap out of the kitchen and scrubbed the refrigerator. My dad 'approved' everything I was tossing. There was coffee from our family trip to HI, 20 years ago and a frozen slice of birthday cake from my dads birthday 5 years ago. When I go back this summer I'm going to purge the crap out of under the sink - that's full of empty butter dishes and cracked lids. She has a bajillion Tupperware containers to use.

I finally convinced my mom to stop bringing me knickknacks from vacation. I prefer unique edible treats, or something like a small magnet.

[JTMacc99]

Peeve: I like using a Fitbit. It judges me, and I am okay with that. It lets me know if I've been active or if I need to put in a little extra time exercising. But I also like wearing a watch, so I get a Fitbit that fits into a small band, like the Flex 2 if you're familiar with them. 

At some point on Saturday between me cleaning out the smoker, washing my car, mulching a garden bed and getting changed a couple times, the band twisted on my wrist to the point where the tiny little Fitbit fell out of the band. I have no idea where. I looked in all of the areas that seemed likely, but didn't find it. This is the second time this has happened to me.  I know it's somewhere around the house, as it still connects to the Bluetooth. 

The damn things need a locator incorporated into the app so I can go treasure hunting for it. 

[AgentRXS]

I can relate, @JTMacc99. Yesterday, while I was visiting a friend's house, I went from feeling a little under the weather to having a sore throat, fever, and chills within a span of a couple hours. I was out of it when I drove home and when I got in, I could not find my wallet anywhere. She confirmed that I did not leave it at her house, so I was tearing my car and apartment apart looking for it while in a semi-delirious state. It got to the point where I ordered replacement cards (listed under "damaged" so they don't send me new numbers) and finally, after 4 hours of searching and an hour after I ordered new cards, the wallet appeared randomly on the floor in a spot I paced by at least 100 times in my search. I cannot express in words how annoyed I am with myself.

Edited April 3, 2018 by AgentRXS

[JTMacc99]

40 minutes ago, AgentRXS said:

I cannot express in words how annoyed I am with myself.

Oof. I can feel that. 

So I complained to Fitbit. They acknowledged my frustration and directed me to an article on what to do if you lose it. Most of it was about how to retrace your steps, look by the laundry, and so on. But there was also a link to an app called LightBlue which may or may not have a proximity function to help me locate Bluetooth items. I'll give it shot this evening. 

[DeLurker]

12 hours ago, forumfish said:

My best friend coined a term we use to describe our respective houses: comfort clutter. In other words, a bit of stuff sitting out so guests feel at home, like a few magazines on the coffee table, or snacks on the kitchen table. The opposite is the kind of house that appears sterile; that makes you feel guilty for exhaling, much less actually sitting down.

I like that term - I need that too. 

My mom keeps a ton of stuff, but she can fit more stuff into a defined amount of space than the laws of physics allow.  My theory is she either bends the laws of physics or has mastered time travel.  Her closets and garage are packed, but if you ever need some odd thing, she'll have it or something that is close enough to work.  But she grew up at a time when Taiwan was being bombed and/or occupied by the Japanese & Chinese and there was never enough of even the basics so who am I to say that she's got a problem? 

I do regular purges of her fridges, freezers and pantry, 2 of each, when I am there.  That actually makes her happy since she knows it needs to be done and we both know she'll fill the space back up again.  Since I see her at least 2x a year, I know the canned and dry food are safe to eat and I just donate what I purge to a food pantry.

Never throw out clothes, books or other boxes without thoroughly searching them for valuables.    Mom always has some cash or easily traded items for cash tucked away.  Another holdover from growing up in a place under siege.

 

1 hour ago, AgentRXS said:

I can relate, @JTMacc99. Yesterday, while I was visiting a friend's house, I went from feeling a little under the weather to having a sore throat, fever, and chills within a span of a couple hours. I was out of it when I drove home and when I got in, I could not find my wallet anywhere. She confirmed that I did not leave it at her house, so I was tearing my car and apartment apart looking for it while in a semi-delirious state. It got to the point where I ordered replacement cards (listed under "damaged" so they don't send me new numbers) and finally, after 4 hours of searching and an hour after I ordered new cards, the wallet appeared randomly on the floor in a spot I paced by at least 100 times in my search. I cannot express in words how annoyed I am with myself.

My family always blame the ghost of a deceased loved one is playing tricks on us.

1 hour ago, JTMacc99 said:

Oof. I can feel that. 

So I complained to Fitbit. They acknowledged my frustration and directed me to an article on what to do if you lose it. Most of it was about how to retrace your steps, look by the laundry, and so on. But there was also a link to an app called LightBlue which may or may not have a proximity function to help me locate Bluetooth items. I'll give it shot this evening. 

My Mom lost her's once too.  My brother called, explained that she had been having a problem with the band opening on its own and asked that they replace the entire thing.  They did.

After that he got her an after-market band because the FitBit one seemed to be prone to having a problem.  The after-market one works nicely.

[peacheslatour]

18 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

With you--me fella is a comic book collector. New piles--granted, placed neatly in boxes--once a week! Our space is finite, man! But at least they can go in boxes after he reads them; I assume the trains would be no fun that way!

When our son moved out he built floor to ceiling shelves in his old room, all four walls. They are all filled and there are Rubbermaid containers filling the garden shed, the attic and in every bit of furniture that has shelves. They fill his mom's basement. So I envy you. Every time he walks through the door with another box I just grit my teeth. Surprised I have any left.
 

[TattleTeeny]

Same here. He's overflowed our second BR and now they're in our shared BR. It's annoying. Not annoying enough to argue with him over it but enough to make me wonder if my place will ever be remotely close the the way I'd hoped it would look/feel.

Edited April 3, 2018 by TattleTeeny

[peacheslatour]

I completely understand. He is aware at least and does try to contain it  but I worry that if he becomes one with the universe before I do I am going to be left to deal with it. Ugh. If we had enough money I'd live in the house next door. Hopefully your hubby's comics are worth something. I don't think trains are popular any more except with older men.

[backformore]

17 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

I finally convinced my mom to stop bringing me knickknacks from vacation. I prefer unique edible treats, or something like a small magnet.

Yes!  My mother-on-law once gave me a chicken made of tiny sea shells.  It said "souvenir of Arkansas"  and on the bottom "made in the Philippines" (because seashells in Arkansas?)  It was an ugly thing, that I felt I had to display in my kitchen.  I actually had a spot for it in a cabinet, and would take it out to put on the counter when she visited.  

When my mother-in-law died, I donated the chicken to a resale shop.  I wish I still had it, though, because it would be a great Christmas gift for one of those "swap" gift exchanges. 

6 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

At some point on Saturday between me cleaning out the smoker, washing my car, mulching a garden bed and getting changed a couple times, the band twisted on my wrist to the point where the tiny little Fitbit fell out of the band. I have no idea where. I looked in all of the areas that seemed likely, but didn't find it. This is the second time this has happened to me.  I know it's somewhere around the house, as it still connects to the Bluetooth. 

Upgrade to a newer design.  My original fitbit would occasionally twist like that, and come out.  My newer one (not really that new, I've had it 2 years)  can't fall out.  it's also a lot easier to charge, because you don't have to take the fitbit out of the band, just clip the charger on it. 

[JTMacc99]

1 hour ago, backformore said:

Upgrade to a newer design.  My original fitbit would occasionally twist like that, and come out.  My newer one (not really that new, I've had it 2 years)  can't fall out.  it's also a lot easier to charge, because you don't have to take the fitbit out of the band, just clip the charger on it. 

If I can't find it, that's probably what I will do. I did like the Flex two. Very thin band, and it was waterproof. 

[Katy M]

I called the doctor's office today to tell the doctor I wasn't taking the medication he prescribed and why I don't think I need it.  It actually took a lot of something for me to make that call.  I find the whole concept of defying authority scary.  I'm actually considering running off to Mexico over this.  Anyway, I was asked to leave a message stating why I called and whether or not I had actually started the meds, so I left the message along with my cell phone number.  Sigh. They called my landline.  So, instead of just being able to answer the phone, I now have to screw up courage to call back tomorrow.

[Bastet]

This morning I woke up to a phone call from my parents' home security system company (something they recently installed), saying they'd received two motion detector notifications four minutes apart, couldn't reach my parents (no, because they're out in the middle of nowhere), and had called the authorities.  Well, that's going to be a wasted trip, because despite the pitch that cats aren't big enough to set those things off plus they're up fairly high (even for cats on furniture), I've said from day one I bet they are, but I'm on my way.  Because I like being startled out of sleep and dashing off in my pajamas before I've even had a chance to pee.  Of course, no cops by the time I get there, and I confirm to the alarm company there's nothing amiss, so they called the cops back to say it's a false alarm (thankfully, I remembered the password).

Here's my peeve: When I asked which detector(s) went off (meaning in which room(s) was movement detected), I was told they don't have that info.  So what fucking use is that?  How am I supposed to figure out how a false alarm was triggered and thus how to adjust to avoid that in the future if I don't even know which one was triggered?  Bandit and Chester certainly aren't going to tell me what they were up to.  But the text alert my mom got reporting on the false alarm said motion detector in the guest bedroom -- but said nothing about there being two notifications.  Could you give complete information in any one of your communications?  Jeez!

This is one of the several reasons why, when my dad asked me if I wanted one of these systems for my house, I said no.

[Nordly Beaumont]

2 hours ago, Katy M said:

I called the doctor's office today to tell the doctor I wasn't taking the medication he prescribed and why I don't think I need it.  It actually took a lot of something for me to make that call.  I find the whole concept of defying authority scary.  I'm actually considering running off to Mexico over this.  Anyway, I was asked to leave a message stating why I called and whether or not I had actually started the meds, so I left the message along with my cell phone number.  Sigh. They called my landline.  So, instead of just being able to answer the phone, I now have to screw up courage to call back tomorrow.

I hear ya! Making phone calls (even if it's not someone in authority) is one of the hardest things for me. I have to take days to "psych up" to call anyone. I know most other people don't even think about it. Friends call their doctors, a store, restaurant, whatever, without a thought! I wish I could too, I don't know why I can't, I just know I can't.

[emma675]

Katy M, technically the doctor works for you (you're paying for his services). So you aren't really defying authority you're just making your own decisions. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

What a day.  I hate everybody.

One example:  the Costco gas station.  It's not uncommon for there to be cars in line at Costco gas stations, but in California, it looks like the fucking 1970s, with cars snaking around the store, feeding into 10 or 12 individual lines, and you have to pick which one to join, and of course watch every other line move faster than yours but unable to know why.

Each lane has two pumps, one right in front of the other.  So if the car in front finishes, you're supposed to leap-frog into that spot.  But you have to know that spot has opened, and that requires paying attention, and everybody is sitting there on their fucking phones and of course don't notice the movement of the car that's in front of the car they're sitting behind.  So that pump sits empty.  And if you're farther back than the first car waiting in the line, you can't see anything, especially if you're in a low car among the sea of SUVs, so you don't even realize that pump is empty, so you can't "help" the inattentive person notice that he needs to leap-frog.

As if that's not bad enough, there was a guy who took forever filling his tank.  I have no idea what was going on because all I could do was peer around the behemoth in front of me a little bit, but cars in other lanes were moving in and out while this guy stood there pumping.  But he finally finished (that's another thing--if you can watch the numbers that represent 1/1000s of a gallon change, that pump is too slow) and he put the nozzle up and got his receipt, and got back in his car and ONLY THEN did some kids who were out of the car meander back to the car.  They finally got in, and still no movement, and then I saw a woman come walking around and get in the car--I don't know if she was wrangling a kid on the other side or what.  But finally, they drove off, after the car with the real estate logo that was next to me had made it through his lane and pumped his gas and driven off.

1.  Pay attention.  Keep your eye on the car at the front pump in case it finishes before the car you're right behind.

2.  Nobody gets out except the person doing the pumping, and if somebody HAS to get out even though there's no reason in the world that should be the case, make damn sure you don't cause any delay once the pumping is finished.

It's really not that hard, but geeeeeeez.  It wasn't that long ago that these people were among the mass of 100 cars sitting there idling.  Doesn't anybody but me think, "That was annoying.  I should do this as quickly as possible so we can all get out of here sooner"? 

FWIW, I have noticed that people these days are much more tolerant about waiting in lines because they occupy themselves with their phones, so they don't even notice it.  I do not think that's a good thing.

[backformore]

Here's my pet peeve. 

I'm setting up an office.  there are a lot of things I need, so I've been doing some online shopping.  I found a ladder bookcase I liked, and ordered it from Wayfair.  They immediately told me it was out of stock.  OK, I looked at other stores.  Sears had the bookcase for $105 - BARGAIN!  I ordered it two weeks ago, they gave me an estimated delivery date of April 6-11.

Fast forward two weeks. Yesterday I emailed sears asking for a firm delivery date.  This morning, I got an email back confirming my CANCELLATION of the order.  I went to the online chat, and asked about it.  The guy told me that the order was cancelled because the item is out of stock.  Then he gave me a link to "sears marketplace"  where the same bookcase, the one I ordered at $105, could be had for $229 plus $50 for shipping/handling.  I said, wait, I purchased the item, it's "out of stock" but I can buy it for $279? That's not right! He assured me that it was out of sears' control, because the "marketplace"  was where you didn't actually buy FROM sears, but from vendors, through the Sears website - and Sears has no control over prices the vendors charge.  

I'm pissed, and I smell a rat.  The email they had sent to me said I had cancelled the order, when I had not.  Then, the item that's "not available", IS available at more than twice the price.   The kicker is that Sears now keeps bombarding me with ads  on every page I visit, ads for the bookcase, and saying it's on sale for $105! But clicking on the ad brings up the Sears marketplace ad for the bookcase at $229!  

I'm done with Sears.  Maybe this bullshit is why they're ending up closing so many stores. 

I went on Amazon, ordered two bookcases, a desk, and a wall decoration.  

[Bastet]

Ugh, the gas station.  I fill up at Costco for the savings, but I have to time it properly, and even on a random afternoon I can wind up behind a line of people who, against all odds, seem to be encountering a gas pump for the first time.  When I pull up to the pump, I have my gas cap open and my credit card in my hand, so selecting my payment type, entering my zip code, designating an octane, and opting for a receipt takes maybe 30 seconds -- away I go.  What the hell the people in front of me are doing, I do not know; they're like the people at the bank who seem to be conducting a hostile takeover through the ATM.

[KittyMom4]

On 3/30/2018 at 7:55 PM, Malia110 said:

We have a girl eats brussel sprouts EVERY DAY.  She puts thrm in our toaster oven and. They. STINK!!!

We had a new person in our office a few years ago, poor lady heated up some brussel sprouts with some other pungent item, maybe broccoli, and ate it at her desk. The office was dead silent (unusual) the whole time she was eating because we were trying not to gag and we didn't want to make her feel bad, one of our VP's came back into the office from another building and immediately said loudly, "whoever is eating that food needs to never, ever eat it in the office again." The woman immediately got up and went to dump the rest of her dish and then apologized, I felt so bad for her but she never brought it back to her desk again. 

[KittyMom4]

On 4/1/2018 at 3:51 PM, theredhead77 said:

I also love clothes and the hardest part of me is getting rid of clothes that are super cute and I might wear 'some day'. What I ended up doing was trying on everything in batches. T-shirts / tops / sweaters one day, pants another day, etc... and doing the traditional keep, trash, donate but I also added a 'home wardrobe' pile for things you'll never wear outside the house. Anything that didn't look super cute that day was inspected and placed in a pile. I was ruthless with the donate pile and left the box for a month before getting rid of it. I didn't miss anything. Trash was anything with a non-discrete hole in it (discrete holes could go into the home wardrobe pile). I ended up getting rid of a lot more than I thought I would. I even looked at my socks and underwear.

I've been on a year long closet purging because I used to have the mindset that 'some day' I'll want to wear that, or 'some day' that will look good on me. I also tend to hang on to things that have small stains or holes thinking that I can cover it with a sweater or jacket. It got to a point where my walk-in closet was a standing room only closet. I have donated to the local battered women's shelter & goodwill, at least 2 or 3 large bags a month.  Once my closet got to a manageable level, joined Stitch Fix (I hate to shop for clothes) to get some unique and updated styles. When my box arrives and I decide what I'm keeping I take the same number of items out of my closet for donation so I don't end up back at square one. It's been a process but totally worth it.

[theredhead77]

My Costco gas peeves are people who flat out refuse to leap-frog and insist on tandem entry / exit, people who carelessly pull up to their pump and make it nearly impossible to do the leap-frog and people who leave their doors open, making it impossible to leap-frog.

I've gone up to people and told them the pump in front was open.

 

Sure, if the person in front of you finishes at the same time, tandem but don't be sitting around waiting when the other person is obviously pumping gas.

[backformore]

2 hours ago, GoodieGirl said:

I've been on a year long closet purging because I used to have the mindset that 'some day' I'll want to wear that, or 'some day' that will look good on me. I also tend to hang on to things that have small stains or holes thinking that I can cover it with a sweater or jacket. It got to a point where my walk-in closet was a standing room only closet. I have donated to the local battered women's shelter & goodwill, at least 2 or 3 large bags a month.  Once my closet got to a manageable level, joined Stitch Fix (I hate to shop for clothes) to get some unique and updated styles. When my box arrives and I decide what I'm keeping I take the same number of items out of my closet for donation so I don't end up back at square one. It's been a process but totally worth it.

yeah, my issue is that I lost weight several years ago and bought some really cute clothes.  then, some of the weight started creeping back up on me.   Now I have a closet full of sections: stuff that fits me now, stuff that will fit if I lose 10 pounds, and stuff that will fit if I lose 20 pounds.  It LOOKS like I have a lot of clothes, but my "wearable wardrobe"  is actually pretty limited. 

[Hanahope]

On 3/29/2018 at 2:12 PM, Bastet said:

Using DVR as a verb (especially with a damn apostrophe).  "I DVR'd [show]."  Why not just say you recorded it?  Back in the day, we did not say, "I VCRed" something.

Back then, I would say I taped something, which obviously isn't the appropriate word these days.

[Hanahope]

1 hour ago, theredhead77 said:

My Costco gas peeves are people who flat out refuse to leap-frog and insist on tandem entry / exit, people who carelessly pull up to their pump and make it nearly impossible to do the leap-frog and people who leave their doors open, making it impossible to leap-frog.

My local Costco doesn't sell gas, boo!  But I shop weekly at Giant which does sell gas.  Thier grocery stores has points for cents off gas, 10 cents for every 100 points, and each point is a dollar spent.  They routinely have certain items give double or more points and some weeks will have 2x points on everything coupon.  The points will carry over one month (buy something the 1st of January, it'll be good until Feb. 28/29).  Regularly at the end of a month, the line for gas will be quite long, but Giant is good about having an employee or two direct the cars to the open pumps.  The line moves pretty quickly that way.

[CatsAndMoreCats]

I bounce around on two or three other forums here.  But this is my first time posting a "pet peeve."  :o)  This is really a lifelong peeve.  I'm one of those goody two-shoes who was raised to be honest, keep your word, do what you say you're going to do, etc., etc.  So yeah, even though I'm old and crumbling to pieces at this point, I still get blindsided when it happens, because of how I'm programmed.  It's pretty simple to say "No" if that's what you really mean.  The alternative is to string along Miss Goody Two-Shoes here, because she thought you actually meant you WOULD (fill in the blank with unfulfilled promise).

And people wonder why I chose to work with cats my entire adult life. lol

[emma675]

My pet peeve today is myself.

I have a new dogwalker who is a very sweet girl with a few special needs. I walked out this morning and totally forgot to take the safety bar off the front door. So when she came to walk Bonnie, she could unlock the door and open it a few inches but not all the way. So the alarm went off and she's stuck outside and Bonnie was not happy. Luckily I got the call from the alarm company so the police dispatch was cancelled but I ruined her day and I'm sure I'll have a nasty note from the police on my door about being more careful with my alarm.

[SuprSuprElevated]

1 minute ago, emma675 said:

My pet peeve today is myself.

I have a new dogwalker who is a very sweet girl with a few special needs. I walked out this morning and totally forgot to take the safety bar off the front door. So when she came to walk Bonnie, she could unlock the door and open it a few inches but not all the way. So the alarm went off and she's stuck outside and Bonnie was not happy. Luckily I got the call from the alarm company so the police dispatch was cancelled but I ruined her day and I'm sure I'll have a nasty note from the police on my door about being more careful with my alarm.

Though I haven't done it in a while, I've done it.  Told a contractor once that I would be sure and leave the alarm off.  Than proceded to set the alarm as I left.  Yeah, that was a great experience for all.

[StatisticalOutlier]

2 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

My Costco gas peeves are people who flat out refuse to leap-frog and insist on tandem entry / exit, people who carelessly pull up to their pump and make it nearly impossible to do the leap-frog and people who leave their doors open, making it impossible to leap-frog.

Fortunately I have a small car (unfortunately, it means I can't see over anybody, though) and I will be able to squeeze through the leap-frogging chute no matter how anybody parks.  Leaving the door open?  I'd pull up and sit right there, and if they still didn't close it, I'd get out and shut the door myself.  I'm not the least bit shy about moving people's carts in grocery store aisles if they're blocking the way.

 

Quote

I've gone up to people and told them the pump in front was open.

Good for you!  Did they then leap-frog?  Because if I told someone the pump was open and they didn't, I'd leap-frog into it myself. 

In fact, I'm thinking that even if I were 3 cars behind and I was the one who went to the trouble to watch what's going on and get my ass out of the car to alert the next person in line about the open pump and they didn't take it, I'd take it.  Those people between us obviously didn't want it badly enough to do something about it.

Actually, I wonder if I'd have the balls to leap-frog it without telling the first person in line.  You snooze, you lose.

If you hear about a riot at a Costco gas station...

[Scatterbrained]

Currently house hunting and “Get Ready to Sell Gray” is really starting to irritate me.  Especially when homeowners use about 50 different shades of it, sometimes using 3 different shades in the same room.  I think I might prefer the old “Buy It Now Beige”, or maybe “It’s All White” (because then priming and painting is a bit easier).

[KittyMom4]

2 hours ago, Scatterbrained said:

Currently house hunting and “Get Ready to Sell Gray” is really starting to irritate me.  Especially when homeowners use about 50 different shades of it, sometimes using 3 different shades in the same room.  I think I might prefer the old “Buy It Now Beige”, or maybe “It’s All White” (because then priming and painting is a bit easier).

Just remember it's the realtor who insists on these colors most of the time, supposedly it helps the potential buyer "envision his/her own items in the room" or some such hooey.  Personally the color of the walls, the carpeting/wood floor and fixtures never mattered when I was looking for a house as I knew I could replace them fairly easily and cheaply.

When my ex-husband and I were house hunting 15+ years ago we went into a home with so much clutter, every wall, every shelf, every table top covered with knick-knacks, pictures, "artwork", etc. that we only looked at the kitchen & dining room before we walked out. With all that stuff it was hard to figure out the space and dimensions. I remember their realtor apologizing and telling us he'd had several people walk out after a brief visit and no matter how many time he begged the homeowner to clear it out they refused. Just be grateful it's only Gray/Beige/White wall that you have to deal with! 

[walnutqueen]

Ya know - home-buyers used to be able to think and use their own imagination, without  realtors insisting on expensive purging & staging to make their commission that much easier to attain.  Back in the day, you could see a "lived in" house and still see it's "bones" - and buy it!

I somehow suspect realtors are the driving force behind all these unimaginative buyers - like the tail wagging the lazy dog.

[BookWoman56]

Back when I was working in the default servicing part of the home mortgage area of the bank for which I work, I wrote/updated procedures for dealing with houses where the owners had defaulted on the mortgage and the bank ended up foreclosing on the property or the owners did a short sale to the bank to dump the property. In many cases the owners simply abandoned the house, and so it would be after they didn't make their mortgage payments for 90 days that the bank would start investigating the property. Because of the quantity of properties and the fact that they were scattered across the country, we had a standard procedure for contractors to follow when they went into the houses to repair damages and prep the house for sale. It was called the "white box" approach, which consists of pretty much what it sounds like. Walls painted white; carpeting in neutral colors, appliances replaced to match existing ones, and overall making sure any replaced items matched the overall quality level of the property, so no upscale fixtures in a fairly cheap property, and no cheap fixtures in an expensive property. The whole point was simply to make the house vanilla and easier to sell, so that potential buyers didn't walk in and immediately leave because the walls were purple or something. The contractors did have some latitude, in that if a house had been customized in a way that would sell, such as very nice wallpaper in part of an upscale house, that would be left intact but the standard approach was to remove all traces of the previous owners' decorating choices. 

[KittyMom4]

11 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

Ya know - home-buyers used to be able to think and use their own imagination, without  realtors insisting on expensive purging & staging to make their commission that much easier to attain.  Back in the day, you could see a "lived in" house and still see it's "bones" - and buy it!

I somehow suspect realtors are the driving force behind all these unimaginative buyers - like the tail wagging the lazy dog.

This is so true, after my divorce I attempted to sell my house (this was in the early 2000's when the market fell) it was only a couple years old as my ex and I had had it built, and we'd barely touched it decorating-wise so it had white walls and new carpet. The buyer feedback I got from my realtor was "the 4th bedroom is small", "the basement isn't finished", "don't like the carpeting", etc. Really? Shouldn't the realtor be discussing the potential? Gah! In the end I was so frustrated with my realtor's nonchalant "oh well, if you rip up the carpet and maybe knockout this wall to make the bedroom bigger..." type advice I wanted to throttle her. I ended up taking it off the market and refinancing it in my own name. 

[BookWoman56]

@GoodieGirl,  undoubtedly if you'd knocked out a wall to make the bedroom bigger, the feedback would have been that the former wall should have been retained. Your realtor sounds like someone who was putting in the least amount of effort possible. Years ago when I briefly worked in real estate (writing ads and brochures, not actually selling), the realtor for whom I worked would give owners very specific advice on ways to make their house more marketable. OTOH, even with the best realtor, some prospective buyers make idiotic comments. I remember one set whose feedback was that the bedrooms of the house they'd just looked at were too large. WTF? It wasn't like the bedrooms were super large and the dimensions of the living room and so forth were small. This was just a house that had a lot of space everywhere. From their comments, they thought the 4 large upstairs bedrooms should have been chopped up into about 6 small bedrooms, with the result that there would have been a master bedroom downstairs that was decently sized, and 6 small bedrooms upstairs whose dimensions would have not really fit with the rest of the house.

Edited April 6, 2018 by BookWoman56

[StatisticalOutlier]

18 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

I somehow suspect realtors are the driving force behind all these unimaginative buyers - like the tail wagging the lazy dog.

I'm one of those people without a lick of imagination.  A friend and I drove by a house for sale once probably 30 years ago and I said I wasn't interested.  He asked why not.  "It's brown."  Fortunately, I wasn't seriously looking.  But I just have zero ability to picture things other than as they are.

Back when I would sew clothes, everything I made looked exactly like the drawing on the pattern envelope.  I can't help it.

[theredhead77]

I've been poking around Zillow seeing what's out there and while I can picture things other than they look, the thought of making changes or needing to hire someone to make changes causes me great anxiety. Any home I buy will need to be pretty perfect. On the peeve note, so many terrible photos and cluttered houses. You know these photos are being taken to sell your house, pick up your clothes and make the bed!

[CatsAndMoreCats]

3 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

I've been poking around Zillow seeing what's out there and while I can picture things other than they look, the thought of making changes or needing to hire someone to make changes causes me great anxiety. Any home I buy will need to be pretty perfect. On the peeve note, so many terrible photos and cluttered houses. You know these photos are being taken to sell your house, pick up your clothes and make the bed!

And for god's sake, put the lid on the toilet seat DOWN!  (For photos, I mean.)