Things That Shouldn't Piss You Off But Do Anyway Thread v.cockroach up the butt

[Cool Chris]

But some do get pissed, and I fully understand why they would, given that they don't understand the additional problems associated with me stopping in that situation. because you are acting on what you think is best instead of following the rules of the road that everyone else (theoretically) abides by.

The issue with come cyclists, maybe this applies to you, maybe not, is that they feel they operate under a different set of rules, yet should still have full access to the roads.

[bosk1]

Yeah, I see that all the time.  I do not subscribe to that mindset at all.  But I recognize that I could be perceived that way, so I strive to avoid giving that impression.  I'm sure I don't always succeed.  But I try to both follow the rules and be considerate to others that share the roadway.

[El Barto]

Isn't that just a general "fuck you" attitude?   I see a lot of that.   The douche talking on the phone at Deep Purple volumes instead of ordering his Happy Meal while you're standing behind him ready to go?  The asswipe that speeds to the checkout line with a cart full of carbs and saturated fats while you stand there with a half gallon of milk and a smile?   The jag off that stands in front of you at the concert with his iPad on "RECORD" held over his head?

It's why I love Philly so much.   I was there last week and stopped for a Pat's cheesesteak and the guy in front of me was trying to figure out what he wanted (he had 30 minutes in line at least at that point to think about it) and the guy behind the counter just said straight out"step aside until you figure it out or go to Geno's" (the competition that is literally right across the street, denoted by their garish orange sign and inferior cheesesteaks). 

Seems being considerate is a lost art for a lot of people, and our society suffers for it.

I didn't know that any actual Philadelpharinos ate at Pat's or Geno's. I figured the locals left those for the tourists.

[Hyperplex]

Another gripe: people who fail to consider how their parking affects the cars around them. I'm not referring to the obvious asshole who parks crooked, over the line taking two spaces with his tail sticking out into the parking lot. That's a class all its own. What I am referring to is the person who has plenty of room to park, say at the curb in a residential community, and instead decides to park at the absolute extreme end of the open area, thereby created a massive visual obstacle for another car that is already there.

Right in front of my house is a perfect example of this as it happens to me regularly:

My house is an end-of-group townhome. Our parking spaces are recessed, that is off the main road, perpendicular to the front of the house. Since we are on the end, my space is next to the curb, which comes out the length of the space then goes to the left to follow the roadway. There is a street light at the corner in the grass. The entire length of the curb that runs along the street is open unrestricted parking, so that is where most guests in the neighborhood park. Generally speaking, if all of the cars park with the nose their cars even with or behind the streetlight, everything is copacetic. However, if they pull forward, even sometimes up to the absolute end of the that portion of the curb, they effectively blind me of any oncoming traffic from my left as I'm trying to pull out of my space. I should add, I'm talking about MAYBE a 4 foot cushion past the street light before my space begins. They really aren't conserving or opening up any more space by doing this.

So many times, people pull up and INSIST on pulling their cars as far past the light as they possibly can, and I have lost count of the times I've *almost* been smashed by oncoming traffic THAT I CAN'T SEE no matter how slowly I try to pull from my space. It also doesn't take a rocket scientist to look and assess viewing angles when you pull up. It's pretty goddamn obvious that if you park there, you're obstructing my view.

It just make me so damn mad because they really wouldn't be inconveniencing themselves if they just fucking parked from the street light back.

[bosk1]

^Giving people the benefit of the doubt, I would guess that a good portion of them just haven't paid attention to the fact that they would be obstructing your view, and I would guess that a good many probably incorrectly figure that, by pulling all the way to the end, they are making space for people to fit the most cars possible.  That would probably be my thinking anyway if I were parking there.  But anyway, what occurred to me from your last sentence is that there is probably a solution.  I would complain loudly and specifically about the issue to whoever runs your townhome community, your local police department, and your city council, and request (i.e. politely demand) that a sign be put up that says no parking in that 4-foot or so space because it creates a danger.  You might very well get results that could solve the problem.

[Dublagent66]

That seems like a problem that is damn near unsolvable.  A lot of people don't pay attention, are unaware of their surroundings, or just flat out don't care.  Even if there was a red curb there or sign that says "no parking past this point", people will still do it.


Here's a shout out to slow drivers.  They drive like they're going to live forever.  Meanwhile, I'm stuck being them and they just might get out of my way sometime between now and my death.   

[Hyperplex]

Bosk, I have actually brought it up at HOA meetings and with the County and am pretty much told the same thing each time: they won't do anything. It's "too small a curb area" to bother doing anything and since parking in front of a streetlight isn't a crime, there's no reason to block it off.

Thankfully it isn't such a rampant problem that it's a daily thing, but when it does happen it's a goddamn fucking pain the ass.

[Prog Snob]

Speaking of cyclists in the street, this scene from Californication brings me great joy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLIS6VM44Bo

[Podaar]

Background themes in emails. I hate them but shouldn't care.

[Hyperplex]

I concur.

In the same breath, I loathe overlong signatures. My company is semi-guilty of it, but ours aren't terrible. I've worked for a guy whose signature was easily over a full page long.

[Chino]

I concur.

In the same breath, I loathe overlong signatures. My company is semi-guilty of it, but ours aren't terrible. I've worked for a guy whose signature was easily over a full page long.

I HATE signatures in the office. I refuse to have one. There's nothing more annoying than trying to skim through a 20 message email chain and having there be more signature content than work communication content. If I need your home phone, cell phone, fax, email, company phone, or address, I'll just click your info button. I don't need it in every fucking email.

[Cool Chris]

Agreed 100%. Set up you sig file for new emails only, not replies. And if you have your company website in your signature, don't have it as part of an image file. Make it a link so I can click on it.

And goddamn quit telling me to "Think before I print."

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Webpages with black backgrounds and white text.  2 minutes of that shit and my eyes hurt.

[Hyperplex]

Actually, Coz, studies have shown white text on dark is better for screen reading. It provides a.more optimal contrast ratio for human perception and actually causes less eyestrain than black on white.

Of course, personal preference can trump a study any day.

[El Barto]

And now back to our regularly scheduled fuck cyclists circle-jerk. Driving into work this morning I passed a guy who's a somewhat regular obstruction. Inwood is a fairly busy street, 3 lanes each way, and and chock full of people turning into fast food places for their nine in the morning Taco Bell fix. In the midst of this urban American tableau is a school zone, further contributing to the bottleneck. From time to time some guy is pedaling along in the right hand lane. I'm not entirely unsympathetic to him. He has a right to the road and taking up full lane is essential to his not becoming a red stain and crippling civil lawsuit for the poor schmuck that hit his silly ass. I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't defend his right to be a law-abiding asshole. So like many other aspects of driving in this country I'm at first aggravated and then almost immediately resigned to the fact that it simply is what it is. C'est la guerre.

What fascinates me, though, is that I couldn't stand to be that guy. The knowledge that I'm creating my own personal, one man traffic jam would make me feel terrible. I couldn't stand to see car after car slow to a crawl to merge into already crowded lanes for miles upon miles, every person passing by staring and shaking their heads disapprovingly. I like neither being an inconvenience nor the center of attention. Hostile attention, at that.  I don't begrudge this fellow's right to ride to work (or perhaps Taco Bell), but I have to question how he weighs value considerations such as being a cyclist vs being an impediment to hundreds of other workers (and Taco Bell aficionados).

At what point is the sense of smug self-satisfaction of riding a bike to work outweighed by the realization that you have no soul?

[BlobVanDam]

Webpages with black backgrounds and white text.  2 minutes of that shit and my eyes hurt.

My eyes don't even last two minutes. That shit is literally painful to look at. If a site is light text on black and more than a page long, I won't even bother, because it fucks my eyes up too badly, too quickly. Not even exaggerating. It gives me a head-ache, makes my eyes hurt for a while, and makes me see weird patterns and shit afterwards. Under any other circumstance, I don't have a single issue staring at my monitor for 10+ hours a day. Also, it's not 1998 any more, people. It looks so dated.

And if you have any problem with black text on white hurting your eyes, your monitor is adjusted too bright! The average monitor these days is capable of over double what you should be using. My monitor is only using about 1/3 of it's max brightness, and that's at the highest recommended setting. I've read entire books on it with no strain at all.

[Chino]

When people have to get off an elevator in an order other than who's closest to the door.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Of course, personal preference can trump a study any day.

Exactly, but in this case, it isn't exactly "preference".  I don't prefer black text on white, it literally makes my eyes fatigued.  If I HAVE to read white text on black, I will click and drag to highlight the entire section of text I have to read, because it is incredibly exhausting on my eyes, immediately, just like BVD's experience.

[Hyperplex]

That is kind of what I meant; that which works best for you, be it by choice or necessity. It's how different people react to different things.

[bosk1]

And now back to our regularly scheduled fuck cyclists circle-jerk. Driving into work this morning I passed a guy who's a somewhat regular obstruction. Inwood is a fairly busy street, 3 lanes each way, and and chock full of people turning into fast food places for their nine in the morning Taco Bell fix. In the midst of this urban American tableau is a school zone, further contributing to the bottleneck. From time to time some guy is pedaling along in the right hand lane. I'm not entirely unsympathetic to him. He has a right to the road and taking up full lane is essential to his not becoming a red stain and crippling civil lawsuit for the poor schmuck that hit his silly ass. I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't defend his right to be a law-abiding asshole. So like many other aspects of driving in this country I'm at first aggravated and then almost immediately resigned to the fact that it simply is what it is. C'est la guerre.

What fascinates me, though, is that I couldn't stand to be that guy. The knowledge that I'm creating my own personal, one man traffic jam would make me feel terrible. I couldn't stand to see car after car slow to a crawl to merge into already crowded lanes for miles upon miles, every person passing by staring and shaking their heads disapprovingly. I like neither being an inconvenience nor the center of attention. Hostile attention, at that.  I don't begrudge this fellow's right to ride to work (or perhaps Taco Bell), but I have to question how he weighs value considerations such as being a cyclist vs being an impediment to hundreds of other workers (and Taco Bell aficionados).

At what point is the sense of smug self-satisfaction of riding a bike to work outweighed by the realization that you have no soul?

  I feel fortunate that my most-used route (work to home) involves very minimal travel on surface streets (just over a mile), and that on streets that are wide and/or have bike lanes, with the remaining 23 miles on bike trails.  Most of the other rides I do are similarly on roads that have designated bike lanes or on trails.  This is a very bike-friendly area where most of the neighboring cities and towns have trails or bike lanes, so there is plenty of opportunity to ride without being a nuisance to vehicular traffic. 

[El Barto]

Dallas is a bike-hostile town. Partly it's just the way that it evolved, but it's also a function of Dallas S.O.B. Sprawl makes driving a necessity and city management focuses on long term goals rather than immediate need. While there are a few bike lanes in Dallas they're only in places that The Man wants people to start riding bikes, rather than where people actually do. Along with the fact that it's already closing in on 100°, most people here have the good sense to drive a damn car. The exception are the silly fucks I referred to that care more about their own self-congratulatory intrepidness than the sum of their safety, discomfort, and fondness of being dicks. 

[ReaperKK]

I concur.

In the same breath, I loathe overlong signatures. My company is semi-guilty of it, but ours aren't terrible. I've worked for a guy whose signature was easily over a full page long.

I HATE signatures in the office. I refuse to have one. There's nothing more annoying than trying to skim through a 20 message email chain and having there be more signature content than work communication content. If I need your home phone, cell phone, fax, email, company phone, or address, I'll just click your info button. I don't need it in every fucking email.

Our office policy is that we use our signatures for really high level executives, other than that we email with no signatures or use skype

[orcus116]

I concur.

In the same breath, I loathe overlong signatures. My company is semi-guilty of it, but ours aren't terrible. I've worked for a guy whose signature was easily over a full page long.

I HATE signatures in the office. I refuse to have one. There's nothing more annoying than trying to skim through a 20 message email chain and having there be more signature content than work communication content. If I need your home phone, cell phone, fax, email, company phone, or address, I'll just click your info button. I don't need it in every fucking email.

I have a regular one for sending emails and a very truncated one for replies. I like having my information on there at all times because it can get annoying looking for a particular client's phone number because they don't use signatures so it's just a courtesy.

[Stadler]

Isn't that just a general "fuck you" attitude?   I see a lot of that.   The douche talking on the phone at Deep Purple volumes instead of ordering his Happy Meal while you're standing behind him ready to go?  The asswipe that speeds to the checkout line with a cart full of carbs and saturated fats while you stand there with a half gallon of milk and a smile?   The jag off that stands in front of you at the concert with his iPad on "RECORD" held over his head?

It's why I love Philly so much.   I was there last week and stopped for a Pat's cheesesteak and the guy in front of me was trying to figure out what he wanted (he had 30 minutes in line at least at that point to think about it) and the guy behind the counter just said straight out"step aside until you figure it out or go to Geno's" (the competition that is literally right across the street, denoted by their garish orange sign and inferior cheesesteaks). 

Seems being considerate is a lost art for a lot of people, and our society suffers for it.

I didn't know that any actual Philadelpharinos ate at Pat's or Geno's. I figured the locals left those for the tourists.

Well that's true; I would have been at Jim's on 4th Street if it was up to me, but I didn't have a ton of time.  I had to get on stage with Gene.  

[Stadler]

When people have to get off an elevator in an order other than who's closest to the door.

When people try to get ON the elevator (or stand there in the opening) before everyone gets off the elevator.  PHYSICS (or, I guess, geometry)!

[Hyperplex]

When people try to get ON the elevator (or stand there in the opening) before everyone gets off the elevator.  PHYSICS (or, I guess, geometry)!

This is such an annoying violation of social decorum, I try to instill the proper behavior in both my kids as soon as they are walking on their own. I always have to remind them to wait for people to get off first. The impetuousness of youth...

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

When I get on the elevator at work, I can generally assess who will be getting off on what floors (a lot easier when there's only 6 floors), so I try to position myself in the elevator in such a way as to exit in turn.

[Stadler]

^^^See, I love that.  That's a level of awareness, consideration, and decency that is lacking in 95% of our species. 

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

^^^See, I love that.  That's a level of awareness, consideration, and decency that is lacking in 95% of our species.

I try.  But it's only because I would hope people would similarly GTFO of my way when they aren't exiting before me.  In the end, that can still all kiss my ass, because:

People.

[Prog Snob]

When people have to get off an elevator in an order other than who's closest to the door.

When people try to get ON the elevator (or stand there in the opening) before everyone gets off the elevator.  PHYSICS (or, I guess, geometry)!

People in my office building constantly do that. It's exceedingly ironic considering who we work for.

[Cool Chris]

Progressive Insurance commercials. They are on the internet radio I listen to all freaking day and goddamn if they aren't the dumbest commercials. Flo has to be the worst pitch-person in the history of advertising.

[Chino]

I love Flo, and I'd let her have my offspring if she wanted to.

[Prog Snob]

Progressive Insurance commercials. They are on the internet radio I listen to all freaking day and goddamn if they aren't the dumbest commercials. Flo has to be the worst pitch-person in the history of advertising.

I don't know what it is about her but she irritates me. It's probably because she's trying to be funny - and she's not.

[Hyperplex]

I fucking HATE all car insurance commercials, especially Flo. There is nothing endearing about those commercials anymore.

[Chino]

Gheico's commercials are pretty funny.