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

[PRgal]

On 10/12/2019 at 8:58 PM, shanndee said:

Is it Oct. 22 yet? I would really love to be able to stop biting my tongue and start talking honestly to some of my family members again...

Defeated sigh. Oh well. It will be here soon.

I assume you're Canadian.  Please enjoy your Thanksgiving and maybe talk about, oh, I dunno, sports or the latest movie you saw (if you are celebrating on Monday). 
 

Many hugs from another Canadian. 

Edited October 14, 2019 by PRgal

[ALenore]

On 10/12/2019 at 7:30 PM, GaT said:

Reminds me of when I kept seeing people using the word "walla" & I couldn't figure out what it meant until I finally realized they were trying to say "voila".

When I was a kid I heard the word "voila" all the time in cartoons and movies said by a magician, so I thought the word meant something magical had happened. It wasn't until later that I found out the word was French for "here is."

[GaT]

I am so tired of lotion bottles that have a pump that ends an inch before the bottom of the bottle, so you can never get all the lotion out. It's such a ripoff trying to force you into buying another bottle before the first one runs out.

[Bastet]

21 minutes ago, GaT said:

I am so tired of lotion bottles that have a pump that ends an inch before the bottom of the bottle, so you can never get all the lotion out. It's such a ripoff trying to force you into buying another bottle before the first one runs out.

I use this, the Drip-It funnel, to easily (meaning hands-free, I don't have to stand there and squeeze/wait) transfer the dregs of one bottle to the next.  (I know the link is to a discontinued product, but it's the specific one I have and there are several similar items still on the market - I don't want to pick from among those, just point people in the general direction of something I've been using for years to address this issue.)

[Zola]

When a popular website goes offline for whatever reason, you can guarantee its users will quickly post to a social media site complaining that "my <whatever> website is offline. Totally unacceptable. I need to post a photo of my baby smiling, and I can't do this now. What the hell is going on? This is the end of the world for me. I will never use <whatever> again..."

Doesn't matter if its a shopping website, social media, a banking website etc. that goes offline, it's members don't half get into a hissy state when they can't log on!

[meowmommy]

11 hours ago, GaT said:

I am so tired of lotion bottles that have a pump that ends an inch before the bottom of the bottle, so you can never get all the lotion out. It's such a ripoff trying to force you into buying another bottle before the first one runs out.

And then there are the toothpaste tubes, which used to be metal, so you could roll up the tube and get every last drop out.  Now they're plastic, and when it starts to run low, if you squeeze from the bottom, likely as not a huge glob will come flying out!  And there's no way to know for sure when it's really empty.

[BookWoman56]

3 hours ago, Zola said:

When a popular website goes offline for whatever reason, you can guarantee its users will quickly post to a social media site complaining that "my <whatever> website is offline. Totally unacceptable. I need to post a photo of my baby smiling, and I can't do this now. What the hell is going on? This is the end of the world for me. I will never use <whatever> again..."

Doesn't matter if its a shopping website, social media, a banking website etc. that goes offline, it's members don't half get into a hissy state when they can't log on!

I work for a very large bank and yes, once in a while the online banking site will crash, despite all precautions. But when that has happened, the responsible people are doing everything they can to restore it ASAP, because nobody on the business side wants to prolong the inability to transact business as usual. I can understand customers being upset, but as long as it’s not a frequent or prolonged problem, I don’t see why people declare they will never use that particular bank or company again. 

I have virtually no sympathy for people who react that way to a social media site being down temporarily. No site is immune from glitches or the need to do maintenance work. The sky is not going to fall just because people can’t access a particular social site for a day. Again, if it’s an ongoing problem, consider other options. But expecting any site to work 100%, 24/7, 365 days/year without occasional down time for maintenance or glitches is unrealistic. 

[2727]

The construction/repair guys were in my house for three days repairing the water damage caused by a leak in the A/C unit. I went to a hotel because 90 degree temps and no cooling is a non-starter for me.

So ... if you were a worker in that situation, would you use the guest bathroom or the master bath?

There were obvious signs of use in my master bath when I got back (toilet seat up, rug moved, dirty hand towel) and it bugged me. Rude!

[meowmommy]

42 minutes ago, 2727 said:

So ... if you were a worker in that situation, would you use the guest bathroom or the master bath?

I'd probably use the room that was closer to where I was working.  But they should have asked.  And you should complain.

What gets me is when they're working in a bathroom where everything's been removed so they can work there, and they use the bathroom...that has no toilet paper, soap, or hand towel.

[theredhead77]

17 hours ago, 2727 said:

So ... if you were a worker in that situation, would you use the guest bathroom or the master bath?

I would use the restroom closest to where I was. And if it were my home and the dirty was from use but not abuse I certainly wouldn't complain.

[BookWoman56]

1 hour ago, theredhead77 said:

I would use the restroom closest to where I was. And if it were my home and the dirty was from use but not abuse I certainly wouldn't complain.

For a 3-day job, I would expect the repair workers to use whatever bathroom was closest. But it’s also possible they needed access to the master bathroom as part of the job. I recently had to have a repair person deal with my AC system, and he had to go into the 2nd floor attic to get to the condenser and also into the upstairs bathroom because the condenser drains into the pipes in the upstairs bathroom. My master bedroom and bathroom are downstairs, but if they were upstairs, it could easily have been the case that the condenser drained into the pipes for that bathroom. I really don’t care which bathroom repair people use, because generally I am so happy to get the problem fixed that a little minor cleaning isn’t a big deal. 

[2727]

18 hours ago, meowmommy said:

I'd probably use the room that was closer to where I was working.

That's fair, but my house is a 1350 sf. single story ranch. I just walked it off and the guest bathroom is actually a couple of feet closer, but both are within 20 steps from from where the inside work was being done. Nobody was hiking Kilimanjaro. 

I installed a water monitor/alarm in the garage and hope the A/C doesn't leak again, but in the future if I have to move out and leave workers on their own, I'm going to lock my bedroom door!

[auntlada]

I might use the one closest to where I was, but I would put the toilet seat back in the position it was when I went in there, along with anything else I moved. And I'd probably tell you about the hand towel if it was particularly dirty.

Now that I think about it, it wouldn't be a bad idea for the homeowner/renter/person who lives there to put away any good towels and put out old towels for handwashing in case workers have to wash and dry their hands.

I guess the good news is that at least the worker washed his hands.

[Guest]

On 10/8/2019 at 8:08 PM, meowmommy said:

I had Comcast for internet and DirecTV for TV back east, and as execrable as they could be, at least when I would call them for discounts, they'd inevitably scrounge around and find me one.  Now I'm out west and Cox knows they have no meaningful competition here, so they won't accommodate me.  They jacked up my rates $20/month at the end of the first year and refused to provide any new discounts, helpfully reminding me that at the end of the second year next February, they're going to shoot my rates up by about $100.  So I'm already researching my alternatives.  

I would like to protest that there is a worse cable company than Comcast.

First, they don't offer discounts for existing customers anymore either. I'm zero for two on that.

My latest attempt was tonight.  I was determined to be personable and kind.  Doesn't work any better than disgruntled customer does.

15 minutes on hold while she tried to find a promotion

10 minutes trying to up sell me into a same price promotion that would reset higher in a year

5 minutes of me explaining I wanted a simple Yes/No answer on whether there was a promotion with a lower price.  That it would be fine if there wasn't, I just didn't want to be on the phone any longer. She wouldn't answer, kept trying to sell.  I told her I was hanging up and did.

Then she called me back.  Then I asked her if she knew that I hung up on her and didn't get disconnected.  She said she did and continued to try to sell me.  Another 5 minutes later that call ends.

Then I start getting automated calls from Comcast that put me into waiting for the next available agent.   Three so far.

One happened while I was recording on the Comcast survey why I marked the lowest level of satisfaction.  I can recall my exact reaction to that, but I'm sure it will be a joy to listen to if anyone does.

So here's a question.  Can you block Comcast from calling your Comcast phone line?

No call for 27 minutes.  Hopefully its over.

[Nordly Beaumont]

I went into the Comcast "store" to cancel cable (I always had better service face to face). When the woman who waited on me canceled it with no questions asked, I said "that was easy" and she said "I don't do the arguing thing." She then told me about a guy who came in, very upset because his apartment building burned down and when he called to cancel phone/cable/internet they tried to up sell him!! He tried twice and then a friend told him to try going in and doing it face to face. The woman told me she waited on him and felt so bad he had to go through all that. She apologized on behalf of Comcast, canceled his service and made sure he wouldn't pay for the days since the fire. So there are good people at Comcast, just not a lot of them!

[peacheslatour]

14 hours ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

I went into the Comcast "store" to cancel cable (I always had better service face to face). When the woman who waited on me canceled it with no questions asked, I said "that was easy" and she said "I don't do the arguing thing." She then told me about a guy who came in, very upset because his apartment building burned down and when he called to cancel phone/cable/internet they tried to up sell him!! He tried twice and then a friend told him to try going in and doing it face to face. The woman told me she waited on him and felt so bad he had to go through all that. She apologized on behalf of Comcast, canceled his service and made sure he wouldn't pay for the days since the fire. So there are good people at Comcast, just not a lot of them!

We went through that with Direct TV when my dad went into care and nobody was living in his house. Countless hours arguing on the phone and being on hold. We finally called once again and talked to an actual human. We got it cancelled. They told us so many bullshit things that turned out to be complete fabrications when we were able to quit for good. Direct TV makes Comcast look like customer service angels.

[ABay]

This conversation is timely! This afternoon, I went to the Comcast/xfinity place to cancel my account and turn over the equipment. Woo! I've had GoNetSpeed for a couple of months but my current deal with Comcast didn't expire until today. GoNetSpeed gave me 3 free months so I haven't had to pay both. It feels a little weird. I've had Comcast for 20 years, as ISP and sometimes TV. Even with the deal they gave me last year, the one that just expired, it was still $30 more a month than GoNetSpeed and was going to go up again.

Everntually I'll have to ditch Direct TV but for now I enjoy the DVR.

[Katy M]

I'm sick of headlines that say someone broke their silence or opened up about something. Especially when it's something that nobody was asking about in the first place.  If someone comes out to reveal where Jimmy Hoffa is buried, OK, that's a good use of breaking their silence.  But, we don't need a headline that Brad Pitt is opening up about how often he clips his toenails or that he's breaking his silence about who he had his first kiss with.

[Mindthinkr]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

But, we don't need a headline that Brad Pitt is opening up about how often he clips his toenails or that he's breaking his silence about who he had his first kiss with.

They have to keep their names out there on people’s lips. Hence the churning of the publicity machine. 

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

They have to keep their names out there on people’s lips. Hence the churning of the publicity machine. 

That's fine.  But, just say Brad Pitt says that he clips his toenails every Friday.  Unless that's a full moon, of course.  Not that he's opening up about it. Or breaking his silence.

I certainly hope I haven't given anyone any ideas about doing a hard hitting story about celebrity toenail cutting.

[Brookside]

PEOPLE WHO THINK USING ALL CAPS IS EFFECTIVE.

[Nordly Beaumont]

6 hours ago, Katy M said:

I'm sick of headlines that say someone broke their silence or opened up about something.

What gets my eyes rolling is when something happens on Monday and on Tuesday there's a headline "So-and-So Breaks Her Silence" on that thing that happened just 24 hours ago. Is that really a silence? Or just taking a minute?

[Zola]

Having an embarrassing itch at the most inconvenient of times!

(I will not go into details)

[BooksRule]

I have a pet peeve with myself.  I've always been bad about putting off things that I don't want to do in favor of the 'fun things' that might not be high priority.  I have to make a presentation at a conference late next week and here I am the Saturday before still working on it.  I've waited until the last minute before, but maybe not until quite this last minute (usually the last few days before I have to make a presentation is devoted to adding a few last details, cleaning up the slides and text a little and practicing it over and over--and over again).  I know it'll work out okay, but I'm mad at myself for now having to push myself to ignore other things I should be doing this weekend and working on my speech and PowerPoint.  I do know myself, though, and realize that I can't just sit down and work until it's finished.  So, I'm working on a section and then doing a couple of household chores and reading/watching TV a bit--rinse and repeat.  Hopefully, this will work, but if I don't have most of it finished by bedtime tonight, I'll have to work on it tomorrow non-stop until I finish. 

[Zola]

TV Sports programmes that air at least an hour before the actual game starts!

It really does my head in to have to put up with an hour of people bigging a particular game up with loads of fillers, interviews, vacuous punditry & endless statistics etc etc.

I do so wish such programmes could air 15 minutes before the game starts, or 30 minutes at a push! 

[Zola]

The clocks go back this coming Sunday (27th). and it really is a PITA to have to go round adjusting every clock, watch, whatever in my house.

Sometimes I wonder if this whole daylight saving hassle is really worth the bother!

***** NOTE-  You guys in North America don't change your clocks until November 3rd!! Whereas here in the UK it's happening on the 27th October. So don't go changing anything until the 3rd 😀

[Katy M]

35 minutes ago, Zola said:

The clocks go back this coming Sunday (27th). and it really is a PITA to have to go round adjusting every clock, watch, whatever in my house.

Sometimes I wonder if this whole daylight saving hassle is really worth the bother!

***** NOTE-  You guys in North America don't change your clocks until November 3rd!! Whereas here in the UK it's happening on the 27th October. So don't go changing anything until the 3rd 😀

I like falling back. I don't like springing forward. 

[walnutqueen]

I never care what time it is, and only change the clocks on my 2 household appliances (range & microwave) when there's a power interruption and they force me to set the clock before I can use them again.  My TV, Phone & Chromebook always know the correct time.

[AgentRXS]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

I like falling back. I don't like springing forward. 

I'm the opposite. I loathe falling back.  Having it get darker earlier plus the additional holiday traffic this time of year causes traffic nightmares. 

[Katy M]

19 minutes ago, AgentRXS said:

I'm the opposite. I loathe falling back.  Having it get darker earlier plus the additional holiday traffic this time of year causes traffic nightmares. 

I'm not entirely sure I like the result.  But, I like the extra hour of weekend.

[GaT]

2 hours ago, Katy M said:

I like falling back. I don't like springing forward. 

I prefer springing forward because it's easier to change the time on a clock by moving it forward an hour than having to cycle through 23 hours to make it go back an hour.

[ABay]

I think daylight saving time has outlived its purpose and we should just stop springing and falling. And setting clocks, too.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, AgentRXS said:

I'm the opposite. I loathe falling back. 

Same here.  It already gets dark way too early for me this time of year, and once we fall back I'm going to slip into a funk for a while.

It's nice in the morning that first week, when it feels like 10:30 when the alarm goes off at 9:30, but that's vastly outweighed by the long stretch of dark evenings.

I wish we stayed on DST all year.

[ginger90]

Working 3rd shift when the clocks go back an hour.

[meowmommy]

I'm in Arizona.  Y'all have fun changing your clocks.

That said, I've had an alarm clock for years (finally gave it to my daughter this year) that automatically resets itself when it thinks it's DST.  Except it thinks it's still in October and April, and the reset can't be disabled.  Before I had a smartphone for an alarm, I got up one Sunday morning for my 6 am shift at the hospital, got in my car, saw that it was really 4 am, not 5 am, on my car clock, and realized the damn alarm clock got me again.

57 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

Working 3rd shift when the clocks go back an hour.

I did that, too, when I didn't live in AZ.  Not only was it my damn birthday, but I had to work 13 hours.  In the spring, it would be 11 hours on night shift.  I always said day and night shift should split the difference, each giving up half an hour, but nobody ever listened.

[auntlada]

5 hours ago, Katy M said:

I like falling back. I don't like springing forward. 

I hate the act of springing forward, but I loved the extra daylight in the evening in the summer when I was a kid. I'd still love it if I didn't have to get up and go to work every day just as I do in the winter.

[tiftgirl]

Unfortunately Kittie tummies do not fall back!  Nothing like being whapped in the face at 4:30 in the morning because someone(s) thinks it is 5:30 and time for breakfast.  Shlomo used to put his mouth to my ear and I swear it sounded like he was saying NOW. Once when patting my face wasn't getting the desired results Shana put one claw IN my nose and pulled!

I miss them and their little rebellious tummies so much.

[meowmommy]

2 minutes ago, tiftgirl said:

I miss them and their little rebellious tummies so much.

I miss mine, too.  They knew what time breakfast should be there.  My current furballs are unlike every other cat who's ever owned me in that they don't ever ask for breakfast.  I was so well trained by my other meowies, though, that I still feel like the first thing I have to do when I wake up is clean the box and feed the furries.  

[2727]

You know how supermarkets take older hamburger meat that's still within the sell-by period and wrap newer grind around it so it looks fresher in the package? 

Well, not finding pounding chicken to be a particularly inspiring activity, I've started paying a bit more for thin-sliced chicken breasts, which is when I discovered that the actual thin ones are carefully placed on top. The bottom layer looks like regular old breasts to me!

(Rather than pounding, I've taken to broiling the thin breasts in the toaster oven and the regular size ones in the oven. Twice the work!)

[meowmommy]

3 minutes ago, 2727 said:

You know how supermarkets take older hamburger meat that's still within the sell-by period and wrap newer grind around it so it looks fresher in the package? 

No, I didn't know that.  Good thing I don't eat hamburger!

4 minutes ago, 2727 said:

Well, not finding pounding chicken to be a particularly inspiring activity, I've started paying a bit more for thin-sliced chicken breasts which is when I discovered that the actual thin ones are carefully placed on top. The bottom layer looks like regular old breasts to me!

What I do know is that they now "enhance" chicken, so you pay at least 10 - 15% for nothing but water weight.  Grrrr.

Your best bet could be to buy chicken tenderloins.  My experience has been that the tenders are laid out side-by-side in the package, so there's nothing hidden underneath.  YMMV.

[Isle Of Why]

Oh, come on! This banner is now displaying every time I open Chrome. It's 14 months away!

Flash is required to play quite a few live streaming TV network sites and constantly having to enable/disable it is definitely a peeve. Sometimes it works and sometimes I have to close out Chrome, refresh, etc.

Edited October 23, 2019 by Isle Of Why

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, tiftgirl said:

Unfortunately Kittie tummies do not fall back!

Oh, crap!  My cat sleeps in even later than I do, so I don't have to get up to give her breakfast (my previous two cats didn't wake me for breakfast, either; I've been very lucky), but my parents' cats are the "it's breakfast time!" type and I just realized my parents will be gone the first week of the switch back to standard time - which means I'll be staying at their house every other night, and thus woken up early every other morning.  (Bandit always quickly remembers meal times are several hours later when I'm there, but Chester takes several days to adjust; until he does, he licks me every 30-45 minutes starting around 7:00 - which will now be 6:00 - trying to get me up.) 

That week is going to suck, because I also have to go to a friend's house (thankfully located between my house and my parents') once/day to take care of her cats while she's out of town. 

Everyone's on vacation but me!

Edited October 24, 2019 by Bastet

[JTMacc99]

I love going through whatever clocks and watches still need to be set when the time shifts, getting them all synced up to the exact time again. 
 

I know: Nerd!

[auntlada]

We quit feeding our cats first thing in the morning several years ago because one of them kept moving the time he thought he should get food earlier and earlier until he was meowing for food at about 2:30 a.m.

[ebk57]

2 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

I love going through whatever clocks and watches still need to be set when the time shifts, getting them all synced up to the exact time again. 
 

I know: Nerd!

I have about 30 watches (I love watches!).  I just reset them whenever I wear them the first time after a time change.  I do wish we would just settle on a time and stick with it.  

My peeve, I guess, is that it's about time for my annual watch battery change.  It's kinda a PITA.

[meowmommy]

1 hour ago, ebk57 said:

My peeve, I guess, is that it's about time for my annual watch battery change.  It's kinda a PITA.

Back in the last century when I still owned a watch, I had the battery changed when the watch stopped running.  Never thought to do it on a schedule.

However, it is also about time for everyone's semi-annual check and replacement of the batteries in their smoke alarms.  My PSA for the day.

[Isle Of Why]

My late kitty, an 18 pounder, would jump on me in bed, pat my face, knead my chest, lay on my head, etc. Often at 4 am. If I closed my bedroom door, she would throw herself against it over and over.

Now, she would do the normal pet thing and plop a few inches from the back door to my enclosed patio/air shaft, staring at me until I let her in or out. She never did that with the front door because she knew that wasn't happening.

She was always waiting for me by the front or back door when I got home from work, depending if I was coming from the garage or the bus stop. Knew what time it was, heard the garage door, heard the bus, simply waited there all day? I dunno.

My conclusion about waking me up in the morning is that she knew very well she couldn't open doors and threw herself against the bedroom door solely to make noise.

She pretty much had no use for me except at mealtimes and to manage doorknobs. I miss her like heck!

[2727]

14 minutes ago, meowmommy said:

However, it is also about time for everyone's semi-annual check and replacement of the batteries in their smoke alarms. My PSA for the day.

One of mine started chirping last week. I got out the ladder, looked at it, looked up at the alarm. Sighed. My sister and BIl came over, looked. and sighed. We're all in our 70s and they didn't want to climb the ladder, either.

Fortunately the fire department here will come out and do it for you. PSA #2 in case anyone has balance or strength limitations!

[Browncoat]

God-damned mice in my attic and walls this morning (it’s 33 degrees here right now, and they come in to get warm).

[Mindthinkr]

8 hours ago, 2727 said:

Fortunately the fire department here will come out and do it for you. PSA #2 in case anyone has balance or strength limitations!

That is good to know. I have high ceilings, don’t have a ladder that would reach them and really can’t pay a handyman for a 5 minute job. I would bake chocolate chip cookies for the firehouse as a thank you. Thanks for the info.