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

[Bethany]

23 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

I don't get it. How on earth were your bird feeders bothering this nitwit?

When we had mice a few years ago the guy from Orkin told us that having bird feeders too close to your house are like extending an open invitation to mice and rats.  This was in a townhouse though so not sure if that would really apply in an apartment setting.

[TattleTeeny]

He says that his balcony now has birp poop on it because of the birds hanging around. I guess it's a valid complaint and I would not want to prevent someone from enjoying their balcony. So I do get that part. However, the asshole never bothered to talk directly to me, even though his door is literally 2 feet from mine; he just called the property manager repeatedly. Another "however" is that I have never once seen/heard* him on his balcony and I use mine frequently (I know that I do not get to determine how often someone uses their balcony for a concern to be valid. But I do think that he is being petty and stupid).

I never had a "who cares about everyone else?" attitude; I legit didn't know that this was an issue for anyone. There is some poop on my balcony too (as there was even before I had any birdfeeders; we live in a woodsy area in rear condo units that face a big patch of trees), but it's super-minor, even though mine is where they are hanging out. He also told on me to the condo board person, who seems to believe he can fine me $100; neither has he asked me directly about this, even though I see and talk to him frequently when he's walking his adorable dog. The feeders have been down since September, but I really feel like there were many steps that could have been tried before outright banning them to lessen the "traffic" a bit (refilling them less often, going from 2 feeders to 1, buying him one of those fake owls to put on his otherwise empty balcony?).

Ugh, I really never imagined how much I would love having the birdfeeders.

*Unless we are both leaning over the railing simultaneously, we can't see each other from our respective balconies, though I would be able hear him moving around. If I were walking on the ground, I would be able to see him up there. I have not -- neither is there a chair or a table or anything out there.

Edited October 24, 2022 by TattleTeeny

[TattleTeeny]

OH! That said, in full disclosure, although the feeders are down and I canceled my repeat delivery of bird food, I do put out peanuts sometimes.* There is no way he would know this -- I mean, unless he sees a peanut in the beak of a bird who is flying away, which I suppose is possible if he is "spying" with binoculars? 

I'm no expert, but I don't think the mouse issue applies here, as I saw very little mess with the food I put out. I suppose that too is a valid concern (though also one that could probably be addressed with fewer fill-ups?).

*It's really cool have the blue jays trust me enough to come get a peanut right from the small table I'm sitting at. They are precious! I have a 9-second video, but it’s too big to attach here.

Edited October 24, 2022 by TattleTeeny

[Mondrianyone]

38 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

I'm no expert, but I don't think the mouse issue applies here, as I saw very little mess with the food I put out.

All you have to do to avoid any mouse issues is sweep/vac up the spilled seeds once a day. That should take about half a minute on a small balcony with a little hand vac.

[TattleTeeny]

I did that. I suppose they worry about what may have been dropped on the ground. Though judging from the minor amount on my balcony, they didn’t drop much anyway. 

Speaking of small balcony -- which, oof, these truly are (maybe 3 by 7 feet?)  -- he he claimed (in a note he so bravely taped to my door, after I'd gotten rid of the feeders) that it had taken him close to 3 hours to clean the poop off of his.

Here’s a still from the video that’s too big. I was about a foot away.

Edited October 24, 2022 by TattleTeeny

[oliviabenson]

On 10/21/2022 at 7:00 AM, Leeds said:

Initially I thought you were referring to the misplaced apostrophe in the news crawl.

That’s what I noticed lol

[Browncoat]

The only way I know to feed the birds with minimal seed waste is to feed sunflower chips -- no hulls, and no wasted filler material.  But that won't stop birds perching on his deck railing.  Hummingbird feeders are fairly no-mess, too, but, depending on where you live, hummingbirds might be gone by now.

[TattleTeeny]

Yeah, they're gone. The day I took down the regular feeders (in which I used the low-mess food), I went out and bought hummingbird feeders. I just took those down for fall/winter yesterday. 

Edited October 24, 2022 by TattleTeeny

[TattleTeeny]

He also claims in the note he taped on my door (again, after I'd taken down the seed feeders like he wanted) that he hadn't contacted the property manager to tattle -- he merely did it out of innocent curiosity as to why so many birds might live here in our tree-filled area across from a river (because our property manager is some kind of hobby ornithologist on the side, I guess?). Maybe they poop on his balcony simply because he's an asshole.

Edited October 24, 2022 by TattleTeeny

[ABay]

That's my theory on why the pigeons targeted my asshole neighbor's house. I mean, they bombed my car, too, but that's because pigeons are themselves assholes.

I had to take down my feeders over the summer, partly because I was sick of his bitching but mostly because I saw a rat a couple of times. I also removed the feed I was keeping outside in a steel garbage can (I don't have a garage and keeping it in the house is what led to the ongoing pantry moth issue, so the closed can seemed like a good alternative). Haven't seen a rat since.

Now I want to put at least 2 feeders back up--one open, one caged--because I miss the birds and it's getting on to winter. But I'm going to stick to black oil sunflower seeds (sorry, blue jays) and will keep the bag in my car. Maybe using the huskless ones will deter the pigeons, too, since there won't be such a mess on the ground.

Edited October 25, 2022 by ABay

[Browncoat]

1 hour ago, ABay said:

But I'm going to stick to black oil sunflower seeds (sorry, blue jays)

Blue jays will eat the hell out of black oil sunflower seeds.  I had a jay on my feeder this afternoon just gorging itself!  I primarily feed black oil sunflower seeds, although I started putting out dried mealworms in the winter for the mockingbirds.  The jays eat those too.  The mealworms, not the mockingbirds.

And to keep this marginally on-topic -- today's peeve is starlings.  They are pigs and eat all the things, leaving nothing for the native birds.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

And to keep this marginally on-topic -- today's peeve is starlings.  They are pigs and eat all the things, leaving nothing for the native birds.

Fucking starlings. You can blame one Eugene Schieffelin. They're horribly invasive and we have him to thank.

So much so that in 1890, a German immigrant named Eugene Schieffelin decided it would be a great idea to introduce as many of Shakespeare's birds as possible to North America.

One cold winter's day he released 60 starlings into New York's Central Park in the hope they would start breeding.

Unfortunately, they did.

[oliviabenson]

Why isn’t sugar sold next to the coffee? I don’t want to go to a different aisle lol.

[Kitty Redstone]

I hear that.  Years ago we had a Super Kmart up the street that was so convenient for basic groceries, but they stocked coffee filters way back in the coffee pots/small appliance aisle instead of in the grocery aisle by the coffee.  Actually I get having some stock by the coffee pots, because if someone is buying a new maker the filters aren't going to be included.  But why not have filters by the coffee, too?  It made no sense at all.  Probably another piss poor decision by Eddie Lampert.

[TattleTeeny]

And now someone has left my two little succulent plants on the floor next to my door. I had placed them on the windowsill in the shared hallway to get some sun,* since it's been a little cold lately outside on the (birdfeederless!) balcony. I also left a little sticky note saying why I'd put them there and "just knock on my door and let me know if there's an issue." I should have known no one here is capable of handling things like a normal person. 

I very well may be in the technical wrong here, but I really didn't drag out the bylaws over two very small potted plants. This place is also very small (maybe 30 units, 4 per each "hallway section") and there's no office/security/maintenance/authority figure on the premises, so I thought it might be OK. I was wrong, as I was in my assumption that people would opt to not be passive aggressive (meanwhile, the plug-in air freshener in that same shared hallway kind of stinks).

*I don't have any sunny windows inside my place that are not cat accessible.

Edited October 26, 2022 by TattleTeeny

[Leeds]

1 hour ago, TattleTeeny said:

And now someone has left my two little succulent plants on the floor next to my door. I had placed them on the windowsill in the shared hallway to get some sun,* since it's been a little cold lately outside on the (birdfeederless!) balcony. I also left a little sticky note saying why I'd put them there and "just knock on my door and let me know if there's an issue." I should have known no one here is capable of handling things like a normal person. 

I very well may be in the technical wrong here, but I really didn't drag out the bylaws over two very small plants. This place is very small (maybe 30 units, 4 per each "hallway section") and there's no office/security/maintenance/authority figure on the premises, so I thought it might be OK. I was wrong, as I was in my assumption that people would opt to not be passive aggressive (meanwhile, the plug-in air freshener in that same shared hallway kind of stinks).

*I don't have any sunny windows inside my place that are not cat accessible.

Perhaps they knocked on the door but you weren't home, or you were in the shower and didn't hear them?  And Post-It notes I have used typically fell off half the things I tried to use them on. I have no idea why someone would object to a couple of plants, but people are people.  Personally, I'd stealthily remove the air freshener and toss it somewhere offsite.

[TattleTeeny]

I work at home — was here within earshot of the door all day. And no trace of the Post-it, so it had to have been taken. And I did toy with the idea of trashing the air freshener, but decided I’d rather not be like these people (this decision could be temporary—who knows?!).

Edited October 26, 2022 by TattleTeeny

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, TattleTeeny said:

I work at home — was here within earshot of the door all day. And no trace of the Post-it, so it had to have been taken. And I did toy with the idea of trashing the air freshener, but decided I’d rather not be like these people (this decision could be temporary—who knows?!).

Oh, you have a bad neighbor. 

[TattleTeeny]

He’s a petty motherfucker, alright. I wonder what else he will cause me to have to cross off my “simple sources of joy” list? Jeezalou! Dumb dickhole.

[peacheslatour]

1 minute ago, TattleTeeny said:

He’s a petty motherfucker, alright. I wonder what else he will cause me to have to cross off my “simple sources of joy” list? Jeezalou! Dumb dickhole.

Do you bake?

[TattleTeeny]

I do not . But I could learn for valid and important reasons and outcomes.

[Kitty Redstone]

4 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

And now someone has left my two little succulent plants on the floor next to my door. I had placed them on the windowsill in the shared hallway to get some sun,* since it's been a little cold lately outside on the (birdfeederless!) balcony. I also left a little sticky note saying why I'd put them there and "just knock on my door and let me know if there's an issue." I should have known no one here is capable of handling things like a normal person. 

I very well may be in the technical wrong here, but I really didn't drag out the bylaws over two very small potted plants. This place is also very small (maybe 30 units, 4 per each "hallway section") and there's no office/security/maintenance/authority figure on the premises, so I thought it might be OK. I was wrong, as I was in my assumption that people would opt to not be passive aggressive (meanwhile, the plug-in air freshener in that same shared hallway kind of stinks).

*I don't have any sunny windows inside my place that are not cat accessible.

Your neighbor is a dick.  I'd be putting that smelly air freshener in the trash.

Our one sunny window is also plant-less for cat related reasons.  However, I keep some succulents (as well as a Kleim's hardy gardenia, an African violet and other assorted houseplants) under a regular lamp with a daytime bulb and they do fine.  Even a florescent light will work.  I used to keep a large hibiscus in the basement during the winter and it bloomed happily under a cheap florescent shop light.  Right now I'm on the lookout for a fish tank with a light hood to house two small begonias that the cats have decided to munch on. 

[Bastet]

11 minutes ago, Kitty Redstone said:

However, I keep some succulents (as well as a Kleim's hardy gardenia, an African violet and other assorted houseplants) under a regular lamp with a daytime bulb and they do fine.  Even a florescent light will work.

Many, many moons ago in my first career I had a great office (complete with minibar), but my desk didn't get quite enough sunlight for the African violets I had on it, so I put a fluorescent plant bulb in my desk lamp and they lived happily ever after.

[Leeds]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Many, many moons ago in my first career I had a great office (complete with minibar), but my desk didn't get quite enough sunlight for the African violets I had on it, so I put a fluorescent plant bulb in my desk lamp and they lived happily ever after.

This is the opposite of a pet peeve but I feel compelled to post nonetheless:

Many moons ago, at my first job, every Monday the company had an open tab at the pub next door.  Everyone from temps to the bosses would be there, some of us for quite a while.  (It was in central London, within stumbling distance of the Tube.)  Why Monday not Friday?   Presumably because we had better things to do on a Friday night than hang out with our colleagues.

[TattleTeeny]

Oh, holy hell -- the "ding" for Slack notifications. More so, my coworkers' need to cause the ding to happen way more than is ever needed!

Also, not really a peeve to me, but probably a perfectly valid one: condo management here doesn't seem to let people know in advance that workers will be on the premises doing stuff. For example, I guess they're flushing the sprinklers or something now (is that a thing?) and it's super noisy (and super abrupt too; when the noise started, oh my god -- I nearly jumped out of my skin! ), with mini geysers, like...geysering into the air. I can see how someone might get a little worried that some kind of bad thing was happening, especially if they can't see anyone in a uniform looking official and in-the-know. Last week, we had gutter cleaner guys on ladders outside the windows. I can really see how that might affect someone negatively and/or yield some problematic (at best, and dangerous at worst!) situations.

Edited October 28, 2022 by TattleTeeny

[Cloud9Shopper]

Going out anymore feels like a hassle. Gas in my area just went back over $4 a gallon. I live in a small city in PA. Problem #1.

Traffic. There always seems to be some sort of construction going on and everyone and their mother is out at the same time. Spend all of one radio song in traffic at a long line by a red light. When you can drive you’re never fast enough for anyone and everyone flies around you. I drive as fast as I can, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Chill out.

Lines and long waits for everything. Half an hour for one coffee drink. Ross’s has one cashier and a line wrapped around the register. Even at 1:00 in the afternoon everyone wants coffee at Dunkin. 

I also need dress pants for a viewing I have to go on Sunday (lady from my old church died unexpectedly when she was hit by a car; there is nothing to say about that except how tragic it is. The spot where she was hit is notorious for blind spots and drivers unable to see/pedestrians who have nearly been hit). I fully expect to struggle to find anything to wear. I don’t think clothes are as well made as they used to be. 

[isalicat]

1 hour ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I fully expect to struggle to find anything to wear. I don’t think clothes are as well made as they used to be. 

That is most certainly true! (and a very reasonable peeve!). Since you don't have time to find something on eBay, I recommend thrift/vintage clothes shopping as both fun and frugal. Good luck!

[Bastet]

Construction noise.  Nobody is doing anything wrong; the neighbors are certainly free to renovate or build (and I've taken my turns making noise over the years) and the crews aren't working outside the permissible hours.  And the volume of the noise is on me, as I choose to have my windows open most of the year. 

It's just on my last nerve regardless, because it seems like it has been going on for years with no break; as soon as one person finishes, another one starts up.  Right now I've got the house across from me and one two houses down.  The latter is about 75% done with the noisy stuff, but the former is just starting the demolition stage.  Before that it was the house next door and one two houses up.  Before that, halfway down the street. 

[Leeds]

23 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I also need dress pants for a viewing I have to go on Sunday (lady from my old church died unexpectedly when she was hit by a car; there is nothing to say about that except how tragic it is. The spot where she was hit is notorious for blind spots and drivers unable to see/pedestrians who have nearly been hit). I fully expect to struggle to find anything to wear. I don’t think clothes are as well made as they used to be. 

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend.

In terms of clothes, I have a long black jersey cotton skirt with an elastic waist that I wear for funerals.  It's very forgiving and means I can wear a long, bright, interesting top without drawing attention to my hips or thighs or belly roll! (Though I do have to remember wear an underskirt/slip.)  Because it's long, it means I can also wear a comfortable (but smart) pair of boots and don't have to deal with tights/panty hose.

PS:  For some reason I assumed you're a woman Cloud9shopper.  Apologies for that, though if you aren't and want to cause a stir, my recommendation stands. 

Edited October 29, 2022 by Leeds

[RealHousewife]

Two first world problem pet peeves.

My iPhone transfer is taking forever! Good lord.

When a restaurant forgets something that comes with your meal. I was really looking forward to the bread that comes with my food. :(

[PRgal]

I don’t like criticizing Halloween costumes, especially costumes worn by children, but seriously, if your kid’s costume has accessories, tell them ahead of time to keep the accessories to themselves.  I was nearly attacked by a nine year old (well, I’m guessing the child is nine based on size) Grim Reaper this afternoon.  

[theredhead77]

Tiny holes in my pants caused by the adorable murder mittens of my house lions. 

[TattleTeeny]

Shampoo/conditioner bottles that, due to shape or plastic thickness, are nearly impossible to squeeze product out of, much less do so with slippery, wet hands! Do manufacturers not consider this?

In cacti news, I rigged up a pretty cool "shelf" of a series of 4 tension rods within the frame of our LR window, out of reach of my "bad" cats. It's very sunny and surprisingly secure -- let's hope that Petty Asshole Next Door,* should he decide to take a walk around the back, isn't somehow offended by the sight of the former hallway plants. We get a ton of sun, so hopefully they last until they can go back outside in the spring. I bought a small open metal shelf yesterday that I thought would fit into the window (like one of those 3-tiered ones people with small apartment bathrooms might place next to the sink or in a narrow space between sink/tub/toilet/whatever...), but it hung just the tiniest bit off the edge of the sill, damn it!

*I am actually not even certain that he is the one who moved them; he has no reason to walk past the window where I had set them.

Edited November 1, 2022 by TattleTeeny

[Mondrianyone]

Getting all revved up because you thought someone stole your campaign signs. And then found out they probably blew away. After you bought an outdoor spy camera to catch them doing it again so you could get them nailed with a $250 fine.

Now I have all these vengeance hormones streaming around in my blood that I don't know what to do with. Does anyone here need somebody's kneecaps broken?

[Wiendish Fitch]

3 minutes ago, Mondrianyone said:

Now I have all these vengeance hormones streaming around in my blood that I don't know what to do with. Does anyone here need somebody's kneecaps broken?

Always!! 😈

[EtheltoTillie]

On 10/30/2022 at 7:31 PM, PRgal said:

I don’t like criticizing Halloween costumes, especially costumes worn by children, but seriously, if your kid’s costume has accessories, tell them ahead of time to keep the accessories to themselves.  I was nearly attacked by a nine year old (well, I’m guessing the child is nine based on size) Grim Reaper this afternoon.  

I was almost whacked by a similarly aged Luke Skywalker wielding a light saber last night--on a NYC subway platform, no less.  Fortunately, his dad curbed the action.  Or I might have made national news.

38 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

Shampoo/conditioner bottles that, due to shape or plastic thickness, are nearly impossible to squeeze product out of, much less do so with slippery, wet hands! Do manufacturers not consider this?

The big offender is Mrs. Meyers, I have observed. 

[PRgal]

3 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I was almost whacked by a similarly aged Luke Skywalker wielding a light saber last night--on a NYC subway platform, no less.  Fortunately, his dad curbed the action.  Or I might have made national news.

The big offender is Mrs. Meyers, I have observed. 

Was Dad dressed as Darth Vader? 

[Anela]

On 10/31/2022 at 11:15 PM, theredhead77 said:

Tiny holes in my pants caused by the adorable murder mittens of my house lions. 

For me, lately, it's been when they use my stomach as a trampoline.

Right now, my peeve is nightmares. All kinds, waking me up after two or three hours. 

[emma675]

My dumb brain is my pet peeve today. I have an early morning flight for work today and even though I set multiple alarms so I didn't oversleep, my brain would not shut off and I got like 3 hours of sleep. I kept waking up in a panic that I had slept through my alarms. And now I'm facing a 12+ hour day on little sleep, ugh.

[oliviabenson]

8 hours ago, emma675 said:

My dumb brain is my pet peeve today. I have an early morning flight for work today and even though I set multiple alarms so I didn't oversleep, my brain would not shut off and I got like 3 hours of sleep. I kept waking up in a panic that I had slept through my alarms. And now I'm facing a 12+ hour day on little sleep, ugh.

That happens to me all the time. I can’t sleep well if I have something important the next day.

[Joan of Argh]

It drives me nuts when people especially cops will say “the gentleman raped and strangled her and left her body in the ditch” or some such shit!!  Grrrrrrrr quit calling evil, murdering monsters “gentleman”

every time it happens I want to scream “are you even listening to what you’re saying!?!?!!!!”  🤬

[peacheslatour]

55 minutes ago, Joan of Argh said:

It drives me nuts when people especially cops will say “the gentleman raped and strangled her and left her body in the ditch” or some such shit!!  Grrrrrrrr quit calling evil, murdering monsters “gentleman”

every time it happens I want to scream “are you even listening to what you’re saying!?!?!!!!”  🤬

I have literally never heard anyone say that.

[SuprSuprElevated]

1 minute ago, peacheslatour said:

I have literally never heard anyone say that.

I actually have, and while it's off-putting, I never took it as anything other than a professional habit that wasn't really thought about.

[peacheslatour]

2 minutes ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

I actually have, and while it's off-putting, I never took it as anything other than a professional habit that wasn't really thought about.

I usually only hear LEOs refer to them as "individuals".

[TattleTeeny]

You can hear an example of the “gentleman” thing in one of the witness 911 calls about Gabby Petito.

Edit: never mind the rest; carry on.

Edited November 2, 2022 by TattleTeeny

[GaT]

This drives me crazy. When you sign up for a website's email, which you get every day, but when you go to the site, you still get the stupid pop up inviting you to sign up for their email. There's a website whose email I get every day & lots of times I click directly on the email to get to the site & still get the full page pop up to sign up for email. If you can send me an email every day, you can figure out a way to not have a pop up every time I go to your site.

[Joan of Argh]

3 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

I have literally never heard anyone say that.

It’s hard to believe but it does happen occasionally on reality cop shows like “First 48” or “On the case with Paula Zahn” and other similar shows…. Every time it happens I can’t believe my ears!

3 hours ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

I actually have, and while it's off-putting, I never took it as anything other than a professional habit that wasn't really thought about.

Exactly they just rattle it off like they’re not aware of what they’re saying but it drives me crazy lol

[EtheltoTillie]

1 hour ago, GaT said:

This drives me crazy. When you sign up for a website's email, which you get every day, but when you go to the site, you still get the stupid pop up inviting you to sign up for their email. There's a website whose email I get every day & lots of times I click directly on the email to get to the site & still get the full page pop up to sign up for email. If you can send me an email every day, you can figure out a way to not have a pop up every time I go to your site.

I belong to one that does this, and it drives me crazy.  Is this one about crafts

Spoiler

(knitting),

by any chance? 

[GaT]

8 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I belong to one that does this, and it drives me crazy.  Is this one about crafts

  Hide contents

(knitting),

by any chance? 

Nope, it's a company for nail strips.

[Gramto6]

My current pet peeve is all the nose bleeds I have been getting. I have no explanation for them they just happen randomly. Some I can control quickly some it takes almost an hour. I am at the point I am almost afraid to move around at all.