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

[GHScorpiosRule]

13 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

@GHScorpiosRule My like was a show of support, not because I liked what I read that you are going through. 

Oh I knew that! ?

9 minutes ago, ParadoxLost said:

My guess is that the mail carrier felt like he would get in trouble and lied.

In other news, you made me go get my mail.  There was a ton of it.  It was wet.  And it was all junk mail.

I’ll ask him when next I see him.

Umm...sorry?☺️

2 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

This is where I perform my regularly scheduled civic duty of telling you all about Catalog Choice, the free site that helps you get off mailing lists. I have used it for years, and it is fantastic!

I get almost zero unsolicited mail that is actually addressed to me, Mr. Postman. Seriously. It's taken a while to get to this point, but I am steadfast in my efforts to reduce waste.

Thanks for that! 2/3 of my mail is all JUNK MAIL! Shit I don’t need...and I especially hate the circulars for homes! Since I live in an apartment!

And yay! I got mail today! My Paralegal Reporter, pay stub (I get direct deposit) and two HOUSE improvement circulars.?

[DeLurker]

My neighborhood has centralized mailboxes.  My children are the designated mail retrievers.  One day I'll have to do it myself and then it'll be neglected for days.

[PRgal]

11 hours ago, DeLurker said:

My neighborhood has centralized mailboxes.  My children are the designated mail retrievers.  One day I'll have to do it myself and then it'll be neglected for days.

Ugh.  All the new developments (or at least those within the past 25-30 years) do this!  I live in a condo, so no need to trek TOO FAR!!

[Zola]

A very small peeve, and a peeve that probably only affects me, being an EU citizen. And the peeve in question is the "General Data Protection Regulation" or "GDPR" for short.

It's a new law that comes into effect 25th May for all EU businesses in that we have to conform to new regulations regarding the handling of personal information. I can see the benefits because it gives more power to the individual with regards how their PI is managed and processed; but the downside is that all businesses large or small, have to comply to these new laws by the 25th May or face steep and aggressive fines.

Since I am a self-employed consultant living in the UK, which is still part of the EU despite Brexit, I have to comply with these new regulations in just the same way as huge organisations employing thousands do. But the thing is those big organisations have sufficient resources to create their own GDPR team to focus on all this bureaucratic bullshit, while still being able to continue with business-as-usual. Whereas I have to do everything myself, and keep on top of my work - and I have to say the amount of documentation I have to prepare is beyond a joke, and something I just don't have time for. Moreover, if I wanted to hire a company to do all this for me, would cost a small fortune. 

But alas it's not something I can simply just ignore and hope will go away; I have to be in compliance by the 25th May otherwise I could be fined £000s!

It's kind of interesting that decades ago, when personal computers first arrived everyone said we would live in a "paperless society". Which is true in some circumstances; but that argument has been well and truly turned on its ass by the digital equivalent, whereby we have to produce electronic documents to make up for the old-fashioned paper ones. Which is great for the environment, but a real pain in the arse to adhere too.

[Mindthinkr]

@Zola It looks like less clubbing time for you as you now seem to have a double workload so you can be in compliance. Eat well and take care of yourself. 

[Zola]

1 hour ago, Mindthinkr said:

@Zola It looks like less clubbing time for you as you now seem to have a double workload so you can be in compliance. Eat well and take care of yourself. 

This is very true! No clubbing or raving for me for a good few weeks as I plough on producing Word documents, Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint docs and various process flowcharts for this utter bollocks! As if I haven't got enough to do trying to run my own business ffs!

Anyway, gripe over: it's 3:15pm here and I need to go out for a run and clear my head

Edited April 27, 2018 by Zola

[Hanahope]

On 4/24/2018 at 2:46 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Well, here's a little silver lining. An attorney who helped me out five years ago, when I was moving (the place I was at had become toxic--a supposed "friend" who rented me out her fully furnished basement and turned into a raving psycho when I informed her I wanted to move and had become violent with me, verbally, physically, cut off the television, threatened to get me fired from my job (no way she could do that and my firm dismissed her as loony tunes)) to my new place. Haven't spoken to him in years, but I called him to get his advice, and he offered to go to court with me, to see if this can't be dismissed or settled more reasonably. Had a nice talk with him, and I'm meeting him next week in his office to discuss this in depth.

Thats very nice for the attorney to help you out.

I'm very meh on credit counseling, but maybe its changed from 20 years ago.  I had some financial problems and a friend recommended his credit counseling service, which he said lowered all his payments (and lowered all the interest), so he was doing great.  When I went, my interest went down on some cards, but not all, and my payments actually went up.  The credit counselor said I didn't need to spend money on things like electricity, water, gas, food.

All it did was send right to the bankruptcy attorney pdq. And all gone.  This was before Congress changed things and I think now they impose a payment plan in most cases.  And at least at the time, I didn't have much problem getting a new credit card, I just had to live with a small one for a while.  but not having the huge credit card payments freed up a lot of my income, so I could just pay cash for most things.

[backformore]

I'm really bothered by the charities that have people asking for money on the streets.  There are certain days for different charities, and I have no problem with them collecting money for a cause.  I dislike the way they do it.  Adults and teens, here, collect at busy intersections, by walking in between lanes of traffic, approaching cars stopped at the red light.  They're walking in the street, in rush hour traffic, often crossing lanes between cars.  This morning, I noted that southbound traffic on one street had a right turn lane, three lanes going straight, and two left turn lanes.  Two people were walking between lanes, approaching cars, crossing over to other lanes, at a busy intersection.  People drive like idiots, and many times as they approach an intersection, a driver might realize they need to be in a different lane, and switch over at the last minute.  Drivers going 45+mph, speeding up to get through the intersection before the light turns red, are in danger of hitting an unexpected person walking in the street.   Other than the charity collectors, you never see people just strolling between lanes of traffic - because it's DANGEROUS.  

[PRgal]

4 minutes ago, backformore said:

I'm really bothered by the charities that have people asking for money on the streets.  There are certain days for different charities, and I have no problem with them collecting money for a cause.  I dislike the way they do it.  Adults and teens, here, collect at busy intersections, by walking in between lanes of traffic, approaching cars stopped at the red light.  They're walking in the street, in rush hour traffic, often crossing lanes between cars.  This morning, I noted that southbound traffic on one street had a right turn lane, three lanes going straight, and two left turn lanes.  Two people were walking between lanes, approaching cars, crossing over to other lanes, at a busy intersection.  People drive like idiots, and many times as they approach an intersection, a driver might realize they need to be in a different lane, and switch over at the last minute.  Drivers going 45+mph, speeding up to get through the intersection before the light turns red, are in danger of hitting an unexpected person walking in the street.   Other than the charity collectors, you never see people just strolling between lanes of traffic - because it's DANGEROUS.  

To be honest, if I want to donate to an organization, I'll go online.  It's easier that way...I don't trust the people on the street.  Are they REALLY from said charity (yeah, I know they're wearing t-shirts or jackets from XYZ, but I'm not sure whether to trust them)?  I only trust people selling poppies for the legion around Remembrance Day, the Salvation Army around Christmas and little girls selling Girl Guide cookies (there may be a few others, but that's what's on top of my head right now).  

[bilgistic]

I can't remember if I've posted about my neighbors with the dogs. They live downstairs under me, where the pot smoker used to live. It's a guy and his wife and they have three dogs (in an 800SF apartment) who bark and/or howl the ENTIRE time they (the owners) are not home. We're talking eight hours of solid barking. I'd take barking over pot smoke smell in my place, but still, it's driving me crazy.

I left them a note pretty early on when they moved in. "Hey, neighbor, your dogs are driving me batshit crazy. Maybe find someone to stay with them? Here's my petsitter's info." That's not verbatim. The guy responded with a note under my door and it said that he'd try to make the dog (not dogs, like I can't hear different barks) more comfortable; it has crate anxiety.

It's like three weeks later and it sounds like someone's running a goddamned kennel downstairs. I called animal control a couple days ago and asked if they could come out and check it out. I looked up the situation online with my city/county first. The dog owners are violating the noise ordinance.

I didn't see animal control come out, but I wasn't really watching for them. I called them back today to get an update on the case. They told me that the officer left a note saying that a complaint had been made; no one was home (or pretended to not be home) when the officer came by.

OF COURSE, the apartment complex management won't do anything. I am considering rallying a couple neighbors to get them to call animal control so more complaints are registered. My adjacent neighbor mentioned the barking to me in the hall one day in passing, so I'm not the only one it's bothering. Her apartment doesn't abut the doghouse at all.

I don't want anything bad to happen to the dogs. It's not their fault that their owners are assholes. The dogs need some training and play and exercise, not just being left in a crate all the time. I get that they're unhappy and stressed and anxious, and howling and barking is how they deal. But...the rest of us in this building have a right to not have to listen to that for hours on end.

What more do I do? @AgentRXS, what's your take on this situation?

Edited April 28, 2018 by bilgistic

[AgentRXS]

I googled the Charlotte ordinances before responding because our local nuisance ordinance doesn't include excessive noise for whatever reason.

It says : "An AC&C officer must see or hear the violation when they respond to take any kind of civil action."  That's tricky because dogs will always bark when someone knocks on the door/if an uninvited guest enters the home. How would the ACO determine the noise is excessive?

I would suggest making a recording//video of the noise if possible and ask the animal control officer to visit with you before visiting your neighbors again so that they can either hear the recording for themselves or actually hear the dogs barking in your unit.  At the most, they will issue a citation, but you may have to be willing to testify in order for the citation to be found valid.

I would say call code enforcement as well but they just may refer it back to animal control.

[bilgistic]

That's why I think (one or both halves of) the couple must've been home but didn't answer the door when the officer came. S/he would've heard the barking/howling from the parking lot had the couple not been home.

I don't want to start a war so I told dispatch to not have the officer come up and talk to me when s/he came to talk to the neighbors. The neighbors probably figured it was me that called AC, but I don't want them knowing for sure and risking them doing something to me or my property to "get back" at me.

Ugh.

[AgentRXS]

I'm so sorry. I know how frustrating it is. 

[bilgistic]

I know you do. I will never understand people not taking care of their pets.

[DeLurker]

@bilgistic - I remember you talking about the new people with the barking dog, but not dogs.  One dog barking excessively is not great, but multiple dogs is an exponential headache.  Doesn't the complex have a limit on the number of pets and provisions about noise by them?

The dogs are not at fault - the owners are asses.

[bilgistic]

I think they had one dog when they first moved in. Very shortly thereafter, I put the note under their door. I must've posted here just after that. I was coming in one day and saw two dogs through their patio door. They are similarly sized--about pointer size, but just mutts. Shortly after that, they got a yappy dog; it looks like a poodle. I saw the husband sitting outside with it the other day. The big dogs bark and howl and the poodle yaps.

I'm fairly sure we are limited to two animals per the lease agreement, but we all know by now that management doesn't hold anyone to what they signed, e.g., kids running through buildings screaming and leaving trash, residents smoking indoors, noise violations, etc.

I talked to management in person about the barking early on and one of them said, "Yeah, they told us they were crate-training it [so they know about only one dog]; there's nothing we can do." Cool cool cool. So if I tell you I'm going to be an inconsiderate asshole and disturb my neighbors for an indeterminate amount of time, it's all good?

I saw the wife in her car yesterday as I was leaving for an appointment. She has a magnet on the trunk that says "DOGMOM". Riiight.

Edited April 28, 2018 by bilgistic

[DeLurker]

15 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

kids running through buildings screaming and leaving trash, residents smoking indoors, noise violations, etc.

Maybe the dogs can chase away the obnoxious kid ?

[Mindthinkr]

@bilgistic You sound exasperated. It’s a shame that management isn’t doing their job. What about putting a speaker with music on loudly pointing right at their wall and then just go out (like when you are going shopping or everytime their dogs get to barking and yapping)? I’m sorry that it sounds petty but it might help them understand what an inconvenience certain noises can be to someone. Good Luck. 

[bilgistic]

They are downstairs from me. Sound travels up in this building. I rarely hear my adjacent neighbors on my bedroom side or my kitchen side. I'm SUPER mindful of the noise I make because I have a neighbor upstairs. I keep my TV as low as possible.

The main dog has been going strong for a good half an hour now. The second the owners close the door to leave, the barking starts up. Aaiigghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ironically, I got a mass email from the complex management a bit ago.

Quote

Valued residents,

As the weather gets warmer, we just wanted to send out a reminder about quiet hours. Please refrain from loud music or noises that could bedisturbing and your neighbors after 10:00 PM. 

:|

[magicdog]

 A little late answering this post but....

Quote

Saturday AM peeve:  Ants in my kitchen!  I'm making my coffee and see these large ants taking a stroll around my sink.  I can't track where they came in, but I clean up as many as I can see.  Ants before coffee is very unsettling.

Peppermint oil is very effective in repelling ants.  If you have a steam mop, just add a few drops on the mop head or on the floor.  Never put any drops in the steam mop water tank since it will invalidate the warranty.

Mindthinkr :

Sorry to hear about your water troubles.  Has it cleared up yet?  I personally use the Radiant Life brand filter (both the one for a point of entry and under the sink) to purify my water.  Best investment ever!  For those who may not be able to afford that system, Zero Water was recommended to me in a pinch but Big Berkey filters have been highly recommended as well (though I never used it myself).

[Mindthinkr]

@magicdog Yes, the situation is over (or so they say). After 36 hours of don’t use the water, then we got a “Boil water” advisory for 24 hours. I must say they worked hard to flush the system in a timely manner. Now do I trust it? Yes and no. I’m still drinking bottled water and same for the kitties. If I’m cooking with water then I will also use bottled. My friend had clean water and filled up 6 containers for me so depending on what I’m using it for I’ve also got it. They also brought in copious amounts of bottled water into the schools. I think the city stepped up to the plate and did what they could. 

Still from what I gather Flint is still having problems and I appreciate what they are going through so much more. 

Thank you for asking. 

Edited April 29, 2018 by Mindthinkr

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, magicdog said:

Peppermint oil is very effective in repelling ants.  If you have a steam mop, just add a few drops on the mop head or on the floor. 

Be very careful using essential oils if you have cats, because with some of the oils it's not just ingestion that can be toxic, but skin contact (which, in cats, of course can lead to ingestion as well, since they lick themselves a lot) or even inhalation.  Peppermint oil is on the "bad oils" list for cats.

[DeLurker]

@Mindthinkr - I was stumped as to why you were advised not to use the water to do laundry, but could not find a reason online.  I was wondering if that the higher levels of fluoride in the water could possible damage the machine somehow?   Pure fluorine is a powerful agent (lengthy description in the spoiler bars), but I don't know anything about how and where it is controlled to add to water sources.
 

Spoiler

Fluorine (Latin: fluere, meaning "to flow"), is the chemical element with the symbol F and atomic number 9. It is a nonmetallic, diatomic gas that is a trace element and member of the halogen family. Pure fluorine (F2) is a corrosive, poisonous, pale yellowish brown gas that is a powerful oxidizing agent. It is the most reactive and electronegative of all the elements (4. 0), and readily forms compounds with most other elements. Fluorine even combines with the noble gases, krypton, xenon, and radon. Even in dark, cool conditions, fluorine reacts explosively with hydrogen. It is so reactive that glass, metals, and even water, as well as other substances, burn with a bright flame in a jet of fluorine gas. It is far too reactive to be found in elemental form and has such an affinity for most elements, including silicon, that it can neither be prepared nor be kept in ordinary glass vessels. Instead, it must be kept in specialized quartz tubes lined with a very thin layer of fluorocarbons. In moist air it reacts with water to form also-dangerous hydrofluoric acid. Elemental fluorine is a powerful oxidizer which can cause organic material, combustibles, or other flammable materials to ignite. Both elemental fluorine and fluoride ions are highly toxic and must be handled with great care and any contact with skin and eyes should be strictly avoided. Physiologically, fluorine. exists as an ion in the body. When it is a free element, fluorine has a characteristic pungent odor that is detectable in concentrations as low as 20 nL/L. Fluorine is used in dentistry as flouride (Fluorides) to prevent dental caries. Sodium and stannous salts of fluorine are commonly used in dentifrices. Contact of exposed skin with HF (hydrofluoric acid) solutions posses one of the most extreme and insidious industrial threats-- one which is exacerbated by the fact that HF damages nerves in such a way as to make such burns initially painless. The HF molecule is capable of rapidly migrating through lipid layers of cells which would ordinarily stop an ionized acid, and the burns are typically deep. HF may react with calcium, permanently damaging the bone. More seriously, reaction with the body's calcium can cause cardiac arrhythmias, followed by cardiac arrest brought on by sudden chemical changes within the body. These cannot always be prevented with local or intravenous injection of calcium salts. HF spills over just 2. 5% of the body's surface area, despite copious immediate washing, have been fatal If the patient survives, HF burns typically produce open wounds of an especially slow-healing nature. Fluorine in the form of fluorspar (also called fluorite) (calcium fluoride) was described in 1530 by Georgius Agricola for its use as a flux , which is a substance that is used to promote the fusion of metals or minerals. In 1670 Schwanhard found that glass was etched when it was exposed to fluorspar that was treated with acid. Karl Scheele and many later researchers, including Humphry Davy, Gay-Lussac, Antoine Lavoisier, and Louis Thenard all would experiment with hydrofluoric acid, easily obtained by treating calcium fluoride (fluorspar) with concentrated sulfuric acid.

 

[CatsAndMoreCats]

16 hours ago, bilgistic said:

They are downstairs from me. Sound travels up in this building. I rarely hear my adjacent neighbors on my bedroom side or my kitchen side. I'm SUPER mindful of the noise I make because I have a neighbor upstairs. I keep my TV as low as possible.

The main dog has been going strong for a good half an hour now. The second the owners close the door to leave, the barking starts up. Aaiigghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ironically, I got a mass email from the complex management a bit ago.

:|

Oh, how I feel your pain.  I'm extremely noise sensitive.  I've found that the best way to protect myself from noisy neighbors (who could not care less how their noise impacts on others) was to live on the top floor of a condo building, not close to a trash chute, or an alley where garbage trucks inevitably roll up just before dawn.  Why a condo building?  No offense to renters, but I've found that renters don't feel the same sense of investment in their living space.  "I'm outta here when the lease is up, so who cares what I do?  If they evict me I'll just find another apartment."  I've also found that managers of condo buildings tend to be a bit more responsive to complaints.  Of course, there are exceptions to every rule.  But maybe this will help you when you're ready to make a move?  

[bilgistic]

I'm planning to win the HGTV Smart Home, which I will sell. I will take the proceeds and move to a secluded cabin in Montana.

[PRgal]

22 hours ago, bilgistic said:

They are downstairs from me. Sound travels up in this building. I rarely hear my adjacent neighbors on my bedroom side or my kitchen side. I'm SUPER mindful of the noise I make because I have a neighbor upstairs. I keep my TV as low as possible.

The main dog has been going strong for a good half an hour now. The second the owners close the door to leave, the barking starts up. Aaiigghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ironically, I got a mass email from the complex management a bit ago.

:|

Quiet hours?  I haven't heard that used since....since I was an UNDERGRAD.  

[bilgistic]

Yeah, it's odd. They don't enforce anything in the leases we sign, so that dumb email isn't going to make a difference.

I know that the problem is ultimately with ownership. I've mentioned before who it is--one of the sons of a family that owns a discount store chain. He and the family are notoriously cheap and dismissive of issues in their developments.

They also own a shopping center adjacent to my complex. The center is half closed and boarded up. There are three tenants--a tutoring service, a Jewish deli and a gym, which has been doing very well since opening maybe a year ago. The center could be refreshed and a grocery store could be put in. It would do great business, since it's at least two miles to other stores in any direction. Residents could walk to get things they need. The ownership owns another big complex on the other side of the shopping center, so it would do very good business.

Also, we get a lot of through-traffic in our complex because of a restricted left turn at the major artery intersection just west of the complex. Those folks driving through might stop to pick up a few things at a grocery store in the center. The owners just aren't willing to spend any money to improve the community.

[Mindthinkr]

3 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I'm planning to win the HGTV Smart Home, which I will sell. I will take the proceeds and move to a secluded cabin in Montana.

I will hope that you do so you can have some peace and quiet. Good Luck. 

[bilgistic]

Thanks! There are something like 40 million entries every year, so my odds are excellent!

[Wings]

5 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I'm planning to win the HGTV Smart Home, which I will sell. I will take the proceeds and move to a secluded cabin in Montana.

Where is the prize home located?   Just looked it up.  Beautiful home.  Does it come furnished with all the trimmings shown on the video tour?  

Edited April 29, 2018 by Wings

[bilgistic]

I don't know, but I would think so. I just want the $100K, the car (to sell) and the house (to sell). The real estate agent I hire can sell the furnishings, too.

[bubbls]

On 4/25/2018 at 1:26 PM, Bastet said:

I think what the poster was referring to was capitalizing numerous words throughout one's text, not a word here and there for emphasis, and with no discernible pattern.  I've seen several people write like that; my above sentence would look something along the lines of, "I Think what the Poster was Referring to Was Capitalizing numerous Words Throughout one's text ..."  It's both baffling (because I can't imagine that being auto-correct) and annoying.

Yes, exactly that! I think it’s stupid to cap for emphasis, but at least that makes sense. It’s more work too. Aaaaaa!!!!

[backformore]

My pet peeves about my husband:

1) the volume on the TV is too loud, I can't get away from it.  I'll be reading at the other end of the house, and I hear every word of the TV show he's watching.  He won't admit that he's losing his hearing, he says he just likes the tv to be  loud. 

2) He won't ask for a senior discount.  Movies are expensive.  Our movie theater gives you $2 off if you're 60+  All you have to do is buy two "senior" tickets instead of regular.  the teens working there don't ask for proof, to them anyone over 40 is ancient.  We qualify - all He has to do is say it.  So, when we go to see a movie, I buy the tickets. it comes out of the same account, but it's cheaper because I admit that we are old.  

[PRgal]

7 hours ago, backformore said:

My pet peeves about my husband:

1) the volume on the TV is too loud, I can't get away from it.  I'll be reading at the other end of the house, and I hear every word of the TV show he's watching.  He won't admit that he's losing his hearing, he says he just likes the tv to be  loud. 

2) He won't ask for a senior discount.  Movies are expensive.  Our movie theater gives you $2 off if you're 60+  All you have to do is buy two "senior" tickets instead of regular.  the teens working there don't ask for proof, to them anyone over 40 is ancient.  We qualify - all He has to do is say it.  So, when we go to see a movie, I buy the tickets. it comes out of the same account, but it's cheaper because I admit that we are old.  

My parents started to take advantage of senior discounts as soon as they were able to.  I mean, free coffee, cheap tickets, discounts everywhere, so why not?  Saves them some!

[DeLurker]

7 hours ago, backformore said:

My pet peeves about my husband:

1) the volume on the TV is too loud, I can't get away from it.  I'll be reading at the other end of the house, and I hear every word of the TV show he's watching.  He won't admit that he's losing his hearing, he says he just likes the tv to be  loud.

This would happen with my Dad too.  My brother got my parents some wireless tv headphones.  When he bought them, the wireless tech was new so he paid a goodly price for them.  Now, you can get them from probably $20 - however much you wish to spend. 

There are both Blue Tooth and Radio Frequency options available.  If you already have Blue Tooth headphones, you can set it up for the tv without too much trouble (said the person who relies on her children & nephews for anything tech related).

[bilgistic]

9 hours ago, PRgal said:

My parents started to take advantage of senior discounts as soon as they were able to.  I mean, free coffee, cheap tickets, discounts everywhere, so why not?  Saves them some!

My mom did, too. She and I went to see a movie when we were at the beach, and she bought two senior tickets. I didn't feel like that was right because *I'm* not a senior. Her reasoning was that she was the one buying the tickets.

My dad has a hearing aid, but he still listens to the TV at an ear-splitting volume. Most people have the TV up way louder than I can tolerate. I wear earplugs in movies, so I'm just weird.

[AgentRXS]

4 hours ago, bilgistic said:

. Most people have the TV up way louder than I can tolerate.

This is because sound mixing is shit nowadays. Or maybe its just because the old-fashioned shouty-style of acting is no longer en vogue. In either case, I (a person with no known hearing issues) have trouble capturing dialogue if I don't have my sound turned way louder than I'm comfortable with.  I know I should probably just use closed-captioning but I'm too lazy. I can't stand how today's actors mumble half their lines under their breath, especially when a musical score is mixed in.

[bilgistic]

I agree. I do use closed captioning. I don't have to have the volume up as loud and I catch everything mumbly actors say.

I even have the sound setting on my TV to "clear voice", to theoretically elevate vocal tracks a bit higher than musical and effects tracks (or however it works), but I can't tell that it makes a difference.

I use a sound bar sitting under my TV, so that the audio is coming forward and out instead of just out of the back of the TV at the wall. It makes a big difference over the TV audio.

Edited May 1, 2018 by bilgistic

[SuprSuprElevated]

Today's Peeve - 

That my Fitbit doesn't have an exercise option of "painting one's own toenails while chubby".

That should be like 3 days worth of cardio ffs.

[walnutqueen]

1 hour ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

Today's Peeve - 

That my Fitbit doesn't have an exercise option of "painting one's own toenails while chubby".

That should be like 3 days worth of cardio ffs.

I quit doing that shit right around the time my Buddha Belly got in the way.  I stopped spreading my legs that wide many years ago; I'll be damned it I do it just to hide my gnarly toenails with polish.  ;-)

[bilgistic]

5 hours ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

Today's Peeve - 

That my Fitbit doesn't have an exercise option of "painting one's own toenails while chubby".

That should be like 3 days worth of cardio ffs.

Cracking up! I hear you! I desperately need a pedicure because I can't comfortably contort to get to my baby toes. My mom's coming down tomorrow, and I'm not-so-subtly trying to talk her into subsidizing a pedicure for me since all my money is going to medical bills.

I say that I have "farmer feet". My grandparents and ancestors were farmers, and I inherited their rough, calloused feet. Alternately, they're "Flintstone feet", because they are rough enough to use as brakes to stop a car like Fred Flintstone does.

Edited May 1, 2018 by bilgistic

[theredhead77]

My pet peeve is the mindset if you don't have kids you can't judge parenting choices. I may not have kids but when your kid is disturbing me with their tablet playing full volume I'm going to judge the shit out of you. Not for letting your kid use electronics for entertainment but for not having fucking consideration for the rest of us. Some of us have sensitive hearing and the noise from the full volume tablet is not just annoying, it's painful.

[Quof]

Amen.  You're not judging their parenting.  You're judging their performance as a decent human being, and they get a failing grade for annoying (or allowing their spawn to annoy) everyone around them.   Since you are a human being, you are qualified to judge others. 

[Mindthinkr]

I was on an airplane and some kid behind me had their tablet on at full volume. The flight attendant told the mother to have their child turn it down. Every time the stewardess went to the front of the cabin the kid snuck the decibel level up. She’d come back and go after the parent again. They didn’t have earbuds so that wasn’t an option. Finally she asked them to just turn it off! That it was disturbing the other passengers. Again the parent (who obviously didn’t care and wasn’t helping matters) allowed the kid to put it back on again. There was steam coming out of the attendants ears. My point is that disregarding the attendant was being eforced by that parents behavior. Gosh I hope never to be seated next to that child when she gets older. Compete disregard for authority and for others personal space and comfort. 

[bilgistic]

Here's the thing about your hearing: you don't get it back once you damage it. When people let their kids listen to their devices at full blast or have the TV blaring all the time, I think to myself, "They're not going to be able to hear at all by the time they are 30."

Edited May 1, 2018 by bilgistic

[Quof]

Quote

Every time the stewardess went to the front of the cabin the kid snuck the decibel level up. She’d come back and go after the parent again.

If an adult did that, the FA would have forcibly taken the tablet away.  Had the adult passenger resisted, police would have been waiting when the plane landed because failing to obey the instructions of flight crew is a federal crime. 

[SuprSuprElevated]

1 hour ago, Quof said:

Amen.  You're not judging their parenting.  You're judging their performance as a decent human being, and they get a failing grade for annoying (or allowing their spawn to annoy) everyone around them.   Since you are a human being, you are qualified to judge others. 

Trying to teach my mother how to mute the ringer on her flip phone, (don't judge, she's 87) so that she doesn't annoy the life out of everyone around her while she moves at a glacial pace to answer the damn thing, which is of course set at a gazillion decibels.  

I guess the joke is on me...I'm the only one annoyed because all of the folks around her are in her ~ahem~ demographic, and don't hear it anyway, lol.

Love the mom, hate the phone.

Edited May 1, 2018 by SuprSuprElevated

[theredhead77]

@SuprSuprElevated my mom is in her late 70s and has decided it's OK to call me from restaurants. Nope. I will make sure it's not an emergency, tell her I love her and to call me when they get home.

[SuprSuprElevated]

15 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

@SuprSuprElevated my mom is in her late 70s and has decided it's OK to call me from restaurants. Nope. I will make sure it's not an emergency, tell her I love her and to call me when they get home.

I tried hard to talk her out of getting a cell, because I knew that it would be a perpetual training session, but I lost the battle.  She wanted to be like all the other girls you know, lol.  Caring for an aging parent really is so much like raising a child - just with more tears and frustration.  

[walnutqueen]

2 hours ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

I tried hard to talk her out of getting a cell, because I knew that it would be a perpetual training session, but I lost the battle.  She wanted to be like all the other girls you know, lol.  Caring for an aging parent really is so much like raising a child - just with more tears and frustration.  

I only half-raised a niece a long time ago, so I have no one to be annoyed with me in my dotage (my critters don't care as long as I remember to feed them).  I also don't have a cell phone to bug some youngster about - but I could teach them a thing or two about land lines (and yes, even party lines & 4 digit phone numbers!!!).  ;-)

Technology makes my teeth itch.