Your Most Absurd Pet Peeves
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The usual pet peeves that we all have in common are pretty straightforward. But, what about pet peeves that you have that others don't? What's something that drives only you up the wall, while other people are just fine with it? I have a few absurd pet peeves. Whenever I think of miniature golf, my inner dialogue explodes into a vulgarity-laden tirade. I don't know anyone else who shares the same experience. Even just driving past a miniature golf course is enough to compel my thoughts into darkness. Don't get me started on that stupid windmill thing! Every miniature golf course has one. Just thinking about it makes me want to set it on fire. I get this image in my head seeing it engulfed in flames while its windmill continues to rotate, as though it's still taunting me. And then there's the putter they give you. That thing is nothing but a device of torture. It's like going to a restaurant and ordering a bowl of soup with nothing but a pair of chopsticks. By the time I get to the last hole, my blood pressure is through the roof and I hate the entire world. Upon completing the last hole, what's your reward? They take away your golf ball! Once it falls into the hole, it disappears, and that's it. It's like you can hear them whisper into your ear. "You're done now. Give us back our golf ball and go away!". I don't understand. I need to return the golf club to the front desk anyway. I might as well return the golf ball, too. Do they think I'm going to steal their golf ball? Do they think I'll inadvertently forget to return it and mistakenly bring it home with me? If they're going to take my golf ball away, why not rip the golf club from my hands and punch me in the face?
My favorite bit is the 18th hole abduction pearl clutching. I don't hate mini golf, but I did always have a sort of :( about that whole take my ball thing too. I have not always been so zen but thinking on this topic, I'm more monk-like than I would have guessed. These little things? I have near no capacity to care for even when totally reasonable. I was buying something and dealing with a salesman on a call and he could hear the ticking of my very old oven clock. He said it would drive him nuts. In the distant past I had considered cleaving the internals apart until I could excise anything clock like in the hopes of leaving any heating bits in tact. For years though, I hadn't much noticed it or thought of it until he said something. But I have thought of what is definitely my most absurd pet peeve. People with narrow eating preferences and a stubborn reluctance to try anything new. It's absurd. Why should I care what they want? It's an annoyance borne of frustrated love really. You just want to share with someone "hey this stuff is easy to love huh?" Maybe it isn't so absurd. Stuffing something in your mouth is just so easy. It's almost literally all we do for like our whole second year of life. The annoyance, I think, is the implicit "no, if it risks connecting with you on any sort of level I will not consume even a bite of anything you deem tasty". This hasn't crossed their mind, generally... probably. Somewhere deep in the folds it was rolling around my dome though.
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People spending an eternity attempting to eat food using only a fork when a perfectly serviceable knife is in front of them. If I asked you to dig a hole, would you eschew for proffered shovel and look instead for a pair of tweezers?
I'd amend that to "people using the nearest tool to do a job rather then the actual, appropriate tool that is designed for the job and is just over there". Herself is in this group, which explains a set of cheap and nasty basic tools at the front of my tool cupboard where she can see it first ... I then hover them up from anywhere she might have used a tool because they never go back where she got them. Which is another peeve of mine! :mad:
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Any traffic jam with no obvious cause being described on the radio as “due to sheer wight of traffic.”
Trouble is, it';s pretty much accurate: the higher the traffic density, the more likely a jam is, because one set of brake lights going on, slows X cars down in response, and they slow a further Y, and "slowness wave" propagates back through the traffic getting slower and slower until some traffic does stop, even momentarily. Which makes more people stop, and you rapidly build a jam for no reason other than the amount of traffic. It's weirdly beautiful to watch in models, but frustrating if you are driving!
Rich Leyshon wrote:
TV announcers who for reasons I cannot begin to imagine, feel the need to tell you what is about to happen in the programme that you are about to watch.
On W, we watch Masterchef Australia. And just before the program starts, and sometimes during the advert breaks they show an advert for the program we would be watching if it wasn't for your stupid advert!
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Trouble is, it';s pretty much accurate: the higher the traffic density, the more likely a jam is, because one set of brake lights going on, slows X cars down in response, and they slow a further Y, and "slowness wave" propagates back through the traffic getting slower and slower until some traffic does stop, even momentarily. Which makes more people stop, and you rapidly build a jam for no reason other than the amount of traffic. It's weirdly beautiful to watch in models, but frustrating if you are driving!
I don’t know if this happens in the UK but here in the states I’ve frequently been in traffic jams where it turns out the actual accident was on the other side of the median (otherwise known as traffic going in the opposite direction) and the only reason you’ve had to sit in an hour long backup is because of all the rubberneckers who come to a complete stop so
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People spending an eternity attempting to eat food using only a fork when a perfectly serviceable knife is in front of them. If I asked you to dig a hole, would you eschew for proffered shovel and look instead for a pair of tweezers?
I'd amend that to "people using the nearest tool to do a job rather then the actual, appropriate tool that is designed for the job and is just over there". Herself is in this group, which explains a set of cheap and nasty basic tools at the front of my tool cupboard where she can see it first ... I then hover them up from anywhere she might have used a tool because they never go back where she got them. Which is another peeve of mine! :mad:
Quote:
Any traffic jam with no obvious cause being described on the radio as “due to sheer wight of traffic.”
Trouble is, it';s pretty much accurate: the higher the traffic density, the more likely a jam is, because one set of brake lights going on, slows X cars down in response, and they slow a further Y, and "slowness wave" propagates back through the traffic getting slower and slower until some traffic does stop, even momentarily. Which makes more people stop, and you rapidly build a jam for no reason other than the amount of traffic. It's weirdly beautiful to watch in models, but frustrating if you are driving!
Rich Leyshon wrote:
TV announcers who for reasons I cannot begin to imagine, feel the need to tell you what is about to happen in the programme that you are about to watch.
On W, we watch Masterchef Australia. And just before the program starts, and sometimes during the advert breaks they show an advert for the program we would be watching if it wasn't for your stupid advert!
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
I don’t know if this happens in the UK but here in the states I’ve frequently been in traffic jams where it turns out the actual accident was on the other side of the median (otherwise known as traffic going in the opposite direction) and the only reason you’ve had to sit in an hour long backup is because of all the rubberneckers who come to a complete stop so
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The essence of science is the evolution of "proof-based facts". Around 1900, Rutherford spoke of the "death of physics"--that it had all been pretty much figured out. Soon afterwards, Einstein showed up. There is often a general consensus based on what is currently "known", but even that is subject to manipulation. Unfortunately, more and more areas are getting politicized.
Robust Services Core | Software Techniques for Lemmings | Articles
The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.I cannot find a reference for Rutherford speaking about "death of physics", so I cannot know in what context to put it. He should have been however quite aware of the Ultraviolet catastrophe[^] and expect it to be solved somehow. More recently, I know of someone else who proclaimed the "end of history", so maybe we can generalize, paraphrasing Mark Twain: news of any domain death are greatly exaggerated :)
Greg Utas wrote:
Unfortunately, more and more areas are getting politicized.
I don't think it's so much politicization as flooding with information we ("we" as society, not "we" as individuals) cannot handle. If you have time to spare, you can see my ideas in more detail here: The Third Cultural Revolution[^].
Mircea
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DerekT-P wrote:
the other cat will throw up to command by feeding it a tiny, tiny bit of brie
Yep. Most adult cats are lactose intolerant, but love cheese. (They lose the enzyme to digest lactose as part of the weaning process as they shift to an obligate carnivore metabolism, but the memory of milk takes them back to a "kitten comfort" state, I think).
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
You all have my sympathies... We have a 20 year old cat and two 18 year olds. We know the drill but we feel we have been doing something wrong here... :)
Steve Naidamast Sr. Software Engineer Black Falcon Software, Inc. blackfalconsoftware@outlook.com
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The usual pet peeves that we all have in common are pretty straightforward. But, what about pet peeves that you have that others don't? What's something that drives only you up the wall, while other people are just fine with it? I have a few absurd pet peeves. Whenever I think of miniature golf, my inner dialogue explodes into a vulgarity-laden tirade. I don't know anyone else who shares the same experience. Even just driving past a miniature golf course is enough to compel my thoughts into darkness. Don't get me started on that stupid windmill thing! Every miniature golf course has one. Just thinking about it makes me want to set it on fire. I get this image in my head seeing it engulfed in flames while its windmill continues to rotate, as though it's still taunting me. And then there's the putter they give you. That thing is nothing but a device of torture. It's like going to a restaurant and ordering a bowl of soup with nothing but a pair of chopsticks. By the time I get to the last hole, my blood pressure is through the roof and I hate the entire world. Upon completing the last hole, what's your reward? They take away your golf ball! Once it falls into the hole, it disappears, and that's it. It's like you can hear them whisper into your ear. "You're done now. Give us back our golf ball and go away!". I don't understand. I need to return the golf club to the front desk anyway. I might as well return the golf ball, too. Do they think I'm going to steal their golf ball? Do they think I'll inadvertently forget to return it and mistakenly bring it home with me? If they're going to take my golf ball away, why not rip the golf club from my hands and punch me in the face?
Humans that obey the automated any system even when it is clearly wrong, broken, unusable. At a new doctor's office, speaking face-to-face with admin assistant: Asst: "I can't set up a personalized account for you. You need to call our help desk" Me: "for some reason your office phone system has my number listed as an advertising site and won't allow it to continue." Asst: "Oh then just go call on your home phone and you can set it up from there." Me: "Are they in the same building? Can I just go see them in person?" Asst: "They're on the next floor. But they go home at 3:00 so they're not there." Me: [ looking dumbfounded at the sincerely eager-to-help person in front of me who hadn't connected the dots, and realizing that she only had the job because there were no better applicants. ] Um, I'll try tomorrow.
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RM can have some more as well: Amazon tracking shows where the parcel is, and a window for delivery: when it gets close switches to exactly where the truck is, and how many deliveries between there and you. The Royal Mail Track system says "we've picked it up it" and "we'll update this status when we have delivered it". :doh:
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
Heh, I'm waiting for a package being shipped via UPS. Here's the tracking info they provide: Friday, October 20 12:25 AM Package left the carrier facility. Thursday, October 19 10:15 PM Package arrived at a carrier facility. 9:26 PM Package left the carrier facility. 9:08 PM Package arrived at a carrier facility. 5:11 PM Package left the carrier facility. 4:04 PM Package arrived at a carrier facility. Carrier picked up the package. Talk about totally useless information.
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In the beginning there was the Big Bang. After 10E-33 seconds were the Age of Inflation. And so on. And so on. I guess that we should shift to a coarser time scale if we want to get through it before the Gnab Gib.
Of course, according to the AC/DC time scale "In the beginning" was in 1955. Because man didn't know about a rock'n'roll show. And all that jive.
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I share most of the ones mentioned later in this thread, but one not mentioned yet that really gets my goat: When somebody of note dies (eg Nelson Mandela) the media (esp. rolling news TV) will not only ignore anything else happening around the world, no matter how important (esp. to those involved), but will spend all its time finding people to interview to ask either for their reminiscences about the person concerned - whether they knew them or not! - or their thoughts about what other people who might have known that person are feeling about other people who might have known that person are feeling. (Recursion: see Recursion.) Surprisingly, this didn't happen as much as I expected when Prince Philip and The Queen died, possibly because there is both more respect for them and there was also plenty of other stuff associated with their deaths to cover. For Mandela though, we ended up with the rediculous situation of someone who had never met or known him asking another perosn who might just possibly have glanced at a photo of Mandela on a newspaper page once many years ago (perhaps whilst looking over the shoulder of a commuter on the Tube) being asked what Mandela's family were feeling at the moment etc. (Repeat endlessly until something more newsworthy comes along, like the presenter dropping their pencil etc.) This carrries on still in a minor way, with long, insensitive interviews with people who have suffered some tradegy, not with the aim of improving the victim's lot, but because it makes for 'good' emotional TV and hence draws in the rubber-neckers to increase viewing figures. (Think of the coverage of that poor woman with mental health issues who drowned recently.) ... AND another thing! This trope (adopted by just about every media co now) of sending someone to stand outside a building (often in the dark/and or rain etc) with a TV crew to tell you something that the studio presenter could easily report, or which that same reporter could have said in the studio. I'm not talking about on-the-ground live-coverage/breaking news stuff here (eg reports from Kyiv etc), but when there is - for example - a ministerial or business statement. Some poor reporter and team is sent to relate the contents from outside a closed office building, or No 10 with only Larry the Cat and the policeman for company. Such a waste of time and money. --- Sorry, I'll get me coat...
One of the most ridiculous examples of this was after an airliner crashed and sunk in the ocean. A news channel was showing an image of water- probably a local river or pool in front of their building from the size of the waves.
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OriginalGriff wrote:
if you had to change "2023" to "2022" to fit in a year zero
Astronomers never suggested that. They treat 1 BC as year 0 by their scale, and BC 4, say, as their year 3. Very few of our everyday time stamps refer to years BC with single-year precision, and are unaffected by the adjustment of n BC being adjusted to n-1 BC. There are not very many textbooks making exact time references 2000 years back in time. Probably the most significant ones are those contradicting the religious scriptures, e.g. pointing out that Herod died 4 BC - it doesn't matter if we call that year -3 - they don't fit the Jesus myths anyway. On the other side of the line: Quirinius became a Legate of Syria AD 6, but that was before Jesus was born. So Jesus was born both (at least) 4 year BC (or year -3), but also at least 6 years into the AD era. I know that this does not affect believers, but to me it just strengthens the idea that the birth of one specific religious preacher should not control our calendar, especially when it provably couldn't have had happened the suggested time.
Imagine the outcry if there was a push to change the date system to something from another religion. I like the Japanese system of counting an era with the new Emperor. Fans talk about Showa-era Godzilla movies, or Heisei Super-Sentai. I want to see a Sengoku Mothra movie, or Meiji Kamen Rider. :) Oddly, nobody seems to date anime or manga after the era.
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Drivers who merge early when a lane is closed - it is actually a road rule to merge as late as possible in Oz. But when you calmly pass all the idjits that have merged out of the closing lane to merge just before the lane closes they get pissed off and some even try and stop you from merging late.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity - RAH I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
My peeve is the constant promotion of zipper merge. It depends entirely on all the drivers being courteous. From my years of commuting in Michigan with almost-constant construction and road repair, I can tell you this would take some universe-bending magic. The other is construction of roundabouts where there's an unending line of traffic from one direction- a shift change or parents dropping off and picking up their kiddos from school. If you're on the downstream leg of the intersection, you can get trapped in a mile-long line of unmoving cars.
