The mild annoyances thread!

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Tom the Melaniephile

Tom the Melaniephile

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  • #1
    Sometimes things happen that you want to complain about - but it's not worth its own thread and it falls somewhere in between "things you liked" and "things that pissed you off"

    In this episode of 'Things That Piss Me Off'.........

    Maybe I'm channeling my inner Andy Rooney, but yesterday was a good example of things that piss me off. Feel free to share your stories of things that piss you off as well.. Yesterday, I go to the local convenience store. As I'm pulling driving down the road about to pull left into a parking...
    arstechnica.com arstechnica.com

    What happened today that you liked?

    8144 days ago, I was someone who was casually reading some Internet forum whose content appealed to who I was and what I was doing at the time. I'd been there a few times by then, and was reading the front page. I saw a thread. It was titled, What do you like?. The purity of the question...
    arstechnica.com arstechnica.com

    So, here you go. Mild annoyances thread! I'll go first.

    TL,DR: Dude, keep your Outlook calendar up to date!

    For those who don't already know, I work as a PM of the Portfolio Manager subtype. In this role, I oversee a couple of dozen projects and coordinate between internal stakeholders and an external organization who is doing most of the actual work (the external lead on each project acts as the project manager.) As part of this, I need to set up meetings. Typically, this means checking Outlook availability for everyone internal on the project, and communicating that to the external PM. This process is made 100% clear at the kickoff meeting, and the internal dude in question has been on several of my projects over time. This happened a little while ago.

    External PM requests a meeting ASAP to discuss decisions for an upcoming purchase. I give them an apparently open slot on the internal calendars. They agree, I send out the Teams invite. Internal dude replies back "I don't work on Fridays". I check his calendar again. Yep, it's open on Fridays*. This is the same dude who used to be "I don't do anything after 3:30, but any day is fine".

    It was resolved relatively quickly with a reminder about keeping calendars up to date, but it meant I had to reschedule the meeting with everyone.

    *There are at least 2 easy ways to block off Fridays - either tell Outlook your actual work hours, or just set a recurring appointment blocking Fridays. Dude already knows this, as (after some prodding over a year ago) they had set their work hours to end at 3:30. Dude also has an advanced degree and major professional license.
     
    rain shadow

    rain shadow

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  • #5
    whoisit said:
    Map software that thinks the quickest route to a location is through a road constuction zone that is down to one lane.
    Click to expand...
    My minor gripe with GPS directions is that they try to conserve time or fuel, and to do so they will generally choose the shortest route. What this often translates to is getting off the highway or freeway an exit or two earlier than I would myself, and driving through city or suburban "stroads" the rest of the way. I have yet to see a GPS setting for "keep me on highways a little longer if that leads to a route with less city driving." Even if there is some traffic on the highway, unless it's stop-and-go it's still faster than a street with traffic lights and turning vehicles.

    With a lot of newer cars having radar cruise, lane keeping, or highway self-driving, staying on the highway enables fuller use of those functions, reducing stress on the driver.
     
    Hound of Cullen

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  • #6
    Socks. Gold Toe makes these comfy, plush cotton socks they brand as "camp socks." They feel great. I bought a bunch! They also fall apart way too easily. This is less of an issue in summer, which is socks-optional. But I'm bummed at how something can feel so nice and yet be so poorly made. :(
     
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    Telwar

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  • #11
    rain shadow said:
    My minor gripe with GPS directions is that they try to conserve time or fuel, and to do so they will generally choose the shortest route. What this often translates to is getting off the highway or freeway an exit or two earlier than I would myself, and driving through city or suburban "stroads" the rest of the way. I have yet to see a GPS setting for "keep me on highways a little longer if that leads to a route with less city driving." Even if there is some traffic on the highway, unless it's stop-and-go it's still faster than a street with traffic lights and turning vehicles.

    With a lot of newer cars having radar cruise, lane keeping, or highway self-driving, staying on the highway enables fuller use of those functions, reducing stress on the driver.
    Click to expand...
    I'd love a "get to the interstate from where I am now, I know my way from there" function. I don't need my GPS to tell me how to drive home once I'm on 495, dammit.

    And to be fair, that's fairly easy, I just switch back to the radio from media so Maps doesn't say anything any more.


    But I would really appreciate not being sent onto 1.5 lane farm access roads in an unfamiliar area, too. When the locals have a sign up saying "No thru trucks, Google lies," it's a little telling.
     
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    asbath

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  • #12
    paintivore said:
    I am expected to have both Teams and Slack open at work because people will randomly pick one and use it.
    Click to expand...
    I'll do you one worse: Teams, Slack, Zoom, and - I can't believe I'm typing this - Skype for Business. Why all 4? Because different units across the institute use any combination of them. So all of them ping at different times and different decibel levels during the work day.

    It's not infuriating, because I understand why this is a thing. It's a mild annoyance because my brain mixes up the different notification sounds for the wrong application.
     
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    Tom the Melaniephile

    Tom the Melaniephile

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  • #13
    von Chaps said:
    I've said it before and I'll say it again, "threads that have the word thread in the title". Yes, it's a thread, we know that. Otherwise it wouldn't be a thread.

    More generally, grammatical inexectitudes. Yes, I'm a grammar nazi! Bite me.
    Click to expand...
    Would you prefer "perpetual thread"? :devilish:
     
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    leet

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  • #17
    von Chaps said:
    I've said it before and I'll say it again, "threads that have the word thread in the title". Yes, it's a thread, we know that. Otherwise it wouldn't be a thread.

    More generally, grammatical inexectitudes. Yes, I'm a grammar nazi! Bite me.
    Click to expand...
    I’m going to start a thread called “thread:poll should threads have thread in the title?” so we can settle this once and for all.

    You’re welcome!
     
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    s@nDOk@n

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  • #20
    1. People who use their claxons as if it were an art expression
    2. People who feel their call in life to share their taste in music from their vehicles onto the world
    3. People who take it for granted that everyone is a dog lover
    4. Salesmen who have no clue about the specifics of whatever the fuck they are trying to sell
    5. Guys who drive with their left arm hanging out of the driver's window
    Just for the time being, 5 instances that piss me off.
     
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    SuperDave

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  • #30
    Mildly annoying: Got off at 1400, with tomorrow off, knowing I was headed for my favorite downtown watering hole. Been a weird work schedule for the last week and I've had to abstain. So I'm standing at the bus stop, cloudy but not a drop of rain, and while I'm waiting for the bus the skyscrapers in Center City completely disappear under an intense downpour. By the time I got there it was like standing under a waterfall. Block and a half to walk, have an umbrella with me, and I still arrived at the destination completely soaked from above my knees downward.

    Been here ten minutes, and it's now bright and sunny outside.
     
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    Tom the Melaniephile

    Tom the Melaniephile

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  • #31
    So, I wanted to walk a trail along a semi-local creek after lunch. It's dang hot out - so I filled up a Contigo with icewater, set it down outside when I spotted some wilting potted plants and went to water them. And totally forgot to pick it back up again when I left for my walk.

    Oh, well. Had a good walk and it was still icewater when I got back.
     
    Yagisama

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  • #39
    von Chaps said:
    I've said it before and I'll say it again, "threads that have the word thread in the title". Yes, it's a thread, we know that. Otherwise it wouldn't be a thread.

    More generally, grammatical inexectitudes. Yes, I'm a grammar nazi! Bite me.
    Click to expand...

    I know what you mean. Some GESC titles are really well done. For example:

    No Man's Sky, an endlessness of space thingy
    Tom Clancy's The Division 2 - that robot dog is not a good boy
    Click to expand...

    Others, not so much. ;)

    The <insert name of game here> thread
    Click to expand...
     
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