Things I find a tad exasperating v.3

[Grappler]

Pit bulls.

Secondly, I don't buy it's all about training and upbringing. There's something dark rolling around in those dogs' heads.

I used to work with a woman whose husband was a county animal control employee.  He told me that this is very true - pit bills retain their pack mentality.  and that he would never, ever trust a pit bull, even if the owner says "oh, it's the nicest dog."

[pg1067]

I had to do my semi-annual anti-harassment training yesterday.  We do it online now, and they've foolproofed it to where you actually have to pay attention.  At least when it was live, we could have some fun with it.  I think I've enjoyed some root canals more than this.

[cramx3]

Pit bulls. First off, being declared a dangerous breed was the best thing that could have ever happened to them. The truth is that they just don't have much to offer, aside from loyalty. There are smarter dogs. There are more fun dogs. There are a whole helluva lot of better looking dogs (all of them, I reckon). There are dogs you want for your kids. It goes on and on. Pit bulls rank between average and low end in nearly every quality, save for loyalty. To be fair, that is a damned important quality in a dog, but it's not like golden retrievers are just itching to stab you in the back or anything, and they bring plenty more to the table.

Secondly, I don't buy it's all about training and upbringing. There's something dark rolling around in those dogs' heads. Plenty of people have owned the sweetest, most caring dog in the world that suddenly up and mauled somebody to death (or ate their owner--plenty of grizzly examples). Very dear friends of mine own two, and I'm pretty fond of one of them (and likewise). It took the quiet one a while to cotton to me, but she did and she's thrilled to death whenever I show up for dinner. If things ever turned seriously bad, there's nobody in the world I'd rather have in my corner than that dog. I'm always mindful of that that dog's capable of, and the unpredictable nature of the shy, quiet dog, though. Suffice it to say, when I started hanging out with them regularly one of the things I did was to research how to kill a dog with your bare hands, just in case.

For awhile I was on the "it's the human owner problem" regarding pit bulls, but I believe you are right.  There's just too many stories of good pit bulls and good owners who just randomly have the dog go wild on someone.  My x had a rescue pitbull and it was such a good and loving dog.  It made me think pitbulls could be fine pets, and they could be, but it's probably not worth the risk if you have kids. 

[Harmony]

People who don't understand the concept of personal space or waiting their turn.

Grocery store, gas station, liquor store....people just push up next to you while you are checking out.  I'm going to have to come up with some good material to get these mo-fos to back up.  During the pandemic it was easy - I just started coughing.  Of course the checkers didn't appreciate this one.

I think I'm going to try, "Oh are you paying for my stuff too?" and see how fast they move back.

[jingle.boy]

People who don't understand the concept of personal space or waiting their turn.

Grocery store, gas station, liquor store....people just push up next to you while you are checking out.  I'm going to have to come up with some good material to get these mo-fos to back up.  During the pandemic it was easy - I just started coughing.  Of course the checkers didn't appreciate this one.

I think I'm going to try, "Oh are you paying for my stuff too?" and see how fast they move back.

Pick up your phone ... "Oh, you have the results?  It's THAT contagious, really?!?!?  I shouldn't be leaving the house?"

[Harmony]

People who don't understand the concept of personal space or waiting their turn.

Grocery store, gas station, liquor store....people just push up next to you while you are checking out.  I'm going to have to come up with some good material to get these mo-fos to back up.  During the pandemic it was easy - I just started coughing.  Of course the checkers didn't appreciate this one.

I think I'm going to try, "Oh are you paying for my stuff too?" and see how fast they move back.

Pick up your phone ... "Oh, you have the results?  It's THAT contagious, really?!?!?  I shouldn't be leaving the house?"

yeah, but that's like the coughing scheme.  The poor checkers will get that worried look.  Their jobs are fucking hard enough, you know?   

[hefdaddy42]

People who don't understand the concept of personal space or waiting their turn.

Grocery store, gas station, liquor store....people just push up next to you while you are checking out.  I'm going to have to come up with some good material to get these mo-fos to back up.  During the pandemic it was easy - I just started coughing.  Of course the checkers didn't appreciate this one.

I think I'm going to try, "Oh are you paying for my stuff too?" and see how fast they move back.

A nice hard hip check has always worked for me.

[Podaar]

I've always gotten by with an abrupt turn and firm, "I'll be with you as soon as I'm finished here."

[Harmony]

True story - a few years before the pandemic I went to China with my family for a 2 week vacation.  Culturally, personal space there is very different than it is here in the states.  And waiting your turn in line can also look very different.  I don't pretend to be an expert on the culture there, just my own observations.

The day we went to see the Terracotta Warriors in Xi'An stands out in my memory with regard to personal space.  For those who have not seen the warriors, they are essentially funeral art and were an army of very ornate statues buried with the first Emperor of China to protect him in the afterlife.  So when you go into the space where the dig has uncovered them, you look down into a pit at various places.  It is a huge expanse - very cool to see.

So you stand with a bunch of people to inch your way up to piece of plexiglass to gaze down at the warriors in the pit.  At one point, some Chinese guy literally pressed the entire length of his body against my backside.  Needless to say, this made me quite uncomfortable.  Thankfully, another cultural aspect of Chinese life is carrying an umbrella to use for protection against rain but also as protection against the sun.  Every day of the year, people carry these umbrellas and we had them as well as it was the hottest time of the year to travel to China.  It was pretty miserable and I was always thankful to have the umbrella to provide some shade.

Anyhow, umbrellas are actually handy tools too.  I was able to use mine to excavate that Chinese fella from by backside almost instantaneously and then keep it strategically placed to prevent anyone else from getting that close again.  I like to think we all learned some good lessons that day....

[TAC]

I just spent a week in Walt Disney World. I'll try and parse out some of my thoughts between the exasperated and the pissed off thread over the next few days. I mentioned the qcodes for my beer list last week. Ugh.

[cramx3]

Oh man I can only imagine the complaints!    I mean, Disney can be a nightmare so I get it, but if the QR code got you worked up, I can't imagine what else.  Should be an entertaining write up.

[King Postwhore]

Deep thoughts by Tim.

[TAC]

Deep thoughts by Tim Handy.

[Stadler]

Anyone use Teams?   

I just sat through a presentation by my regional IT team.  285 participants.   At the end? On the Teams chat, "Thank you!" "Thank you!" "Thank you!" "Thank you!"... must've been 50 or more of them.  Some with GIFs.   I didn't turn the sound off in time and it sounded like a slot machine at a casino.   My wife came in to my office and was like "what's going on?  Is everything ok?"

I've even taken to, when I give my presentations over Teams, to wrap up with something along the lines of "Look I know you love me and you're grateful for my pitch.  Please don't burden the Teams chat with the obvious." 

[hefdaddy42]

I just spent a week in Walt Disney World.

My kid also just spent a week there, in Orlando.

They had a few complaints, but they were situational and relatively few, and overall had a marvelous time.  Of course, they are 20, and TAC is not.  I suspect that may have SOMETHING to do with it. 

Full disclosure: I've never been there.

Anyone use Teams?   

I just sat through a presentation by my regional IT team.  285 participants.   At the end? On the Teams chat, "Thank you!" "Thank you!" "Thank you!" "Thank you!"... must've been 50 or more of them.  Some with GIFs.   I didn't turn the sound off in time and it sounded like a slot machine at a casino.   My wife came in to my office and was like "what's going on?  Is everything ok?"

I've even taken to, when I give my presentations over Teams, to wrap up with something along the lines of "Look I know you love me and you're grateful for my pitch.  Please don't burden the Teams chat with the obvious."

I use Teams daily, but would hate to use it with 285 participants.  I would imagine, even without the Thank Yous, that would likely cause some lag.  When we have meetings that large, we shift over to Zoom.

[faizoff]

Anyone use Teams?   

I just sat through a presentation by my regional IT team.  285 participants.   At the end? On the Teams chat, "Thank you!" "Thank you!" "Thank you!" "Thank you!"... must've been 50 or more of them.  Some with GIFs.   I didn't turn the sound off in time and it sounded like a slot machine at a casino.   My wife came in to my office and was like "what's going on?  Is everything ok?"

I've even taken to, when I give my presentations over Teams, to wrap up with something along the lines of "Look I know you love me and you're grateful for my pitch.  Please don't burden the Teams chat with the obvious." 

As a deeply tech infused nerd and professional, I despise Teams. I hate that stupid fucking notification sound and while the admin has all settings locked down so users are unable to change it, I one upped them and disabled notifications for Teams altogether on the OS. So no sounds for me. Having a chat with 285 participants sounds like a nightmare, I would leave that chat in a hurry.

[Stadler]

I just spent a week in Walt Disney World. I'll try and parse out some of my thoughts between the exasperated and the pissed off thread over the next few days. I mentioned the qcodes for my beer list last week. Ugh.

How was it generally?  Crowded?  Did they f--- with any of the processes, like the Speed Lines (I forget what they call them there) or anything?

I've been there several times, and we're planning to MAYBE go end of October/early November but haven't fully committed.  I've heard rumblings that they've changed some things and not for the better.

[faizoff]

I just spent a week in Walt Disney World.

My kid also just spent a week there, in Orlando.

They had a few complaints, but they were situational and relatively few, and overall had a marvelous time.  Of course, they are 20, and TAC is not.  I suspect that may have SOMETHING to do with it. 

Full disclosure: I've never been there.

With this heat aint no fucking way I'm going there. I'd be super miserable.

[TAC]

I just spent a week in Walt Disney World. I'll try and parse out some of my thoughts between the exasperated and the pissed off thread over the next few days. I mentioned the qcodes for my beer list last week. Ugh.

How was it generally?  Crowded?  Did they f--- with any of the processes, like the Speed Lines (I forget what they call them there) or anything?

I've been there several times, and we're planning to MAYBE go end of October/early November but haven't fully committed.  I've heard rumblings that they've changed some things and not for the better.

It wasn't crowded at all. August is usually slower anyway.


So, it should be no surprise that it is fucking expensive as all hell. I think Iger has even admitted as much. When our kids were younger, we'd buy an Annual Pass for $400, but now, a 4 Day Pass with a Water Park option cost over $500, and that's from AAA!


So, for the Speed Lanes... This probably pisses me off the most about the place. The old Fast Pass system was perfect. You slide your ticket into the machine and it spit out your pass. And then in 2 hours, you could go get another one. They ended up replacing it with an online version a few years ago, where you could reserve your time online, but you could only pick ONE premium ride per day (and two lesser rides), so at the Magic Kingdom, you couldn't get a Fast Pass for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train AND Space Mountain. WTF??

So now they have what's called Genie+, which costs anywhere between $15-$30 depending on park/day ON TOP OF YOUR park ticket. This is basically the new Fast Pass system, so NOW, you basically have to pay for your Fast Passes.

Also, there are some rides where you can join a Virtual Queue. There are two deadlines for this. The first is 7:00AM and you have to be on the app right on time. I should mention that as a resort guest, you can hit it at 7, non resort guests have to wait until 9, but by 7:01am, it's done. You'll have to try again at 1:00pm.

That meant on two days, I had to set my fucking alarm for 6:55. The first time, I tried to join the Virtual Queue for Tron at the Magic Kingdom, but apparently (surprise surprise) I had no clue how to do it, so we missed out.

The next day, I was ready to hit it for the Guardians Of The Galaxy at EPCOT. and we got into the ride shortly after 10:00.

OK..There is something else they sell, called a Lightning Lane. For these, you have to BUY a SEPERATE TICKET to ride a ride. So, for the day I fucked up the Tron Virtual Queue, the only other option was to buy a Lightning Lane ticket. It was fucking $20 each, so for my kids to ride it, it cost me $42 (incl tax).
Now, my oldest son has been following its construction online, so him not riding wasn't an option. But I didn't go on it. Fuck that.

And of course, it's ALL controlled on the My Disney Experience APP on your PHONE! 

With this heat aint no fucking way I'm going there. I'd be super miserable.

We used to go every August. It was always less crowded and well, it's usually just as hot here.





@Stadler..I forgot to mention..there are a couple of rides (Tron, Guardians) that you simply CANNOT show up to the park and get in line. The ONLY way to get on them is take your chance on the Virtual Queue or buy the Lightning Lane. Fucking blows!

[cramx3]

Anyone use Teams?   

I just sat through a presentation by my regional IT team.  285 participants.   At the end? On the Teams chat, "Thank you!" "Thank you!" "Thank you!" "Thank you!"... must've been 50 or more of them.  Some with GIFs.   I didn't turn the sound off in time and it sounded like a slot machine at a casino.   My wife came in to my office and was like "what's going on?  Is everything ok?"

I've even taken to, when I give my presentations over Teams, to wrap up with something along the lines of "Look I know you love me and you're grateful for my pitch.  Please don't burden the Teams chat with the obvious." 

As a deeply tech infused nerd and professional, I despise Teams. I hate that stupid fucking notification sound and while the admin has all settings locked down so users are unable to change it, I one upped them and disabled notifications for Teams altogether on the OS. So no sounds for me. Having a chat with 285 participants sounds like a nightmare, I would leave that chat in a hurry.

Yup, Teams blows.  We were forced to migrate off Slack and onto Teams because of our new work overlords.  No one here was happy about it.  I've gotten used to it, but it just sucks overall when compared to Slack.

[Adami]

Anyone use Teams?   

I just sat through a presentation by my regional IT team.  285 participants.   At the end? On the Teams chat, "Thank you!" "Thank you!" "Thank you!" "Thank you!"... must've been 50 or more of them.  Some with GIFs.   I didn't turn the sound off in time and it sounded like a slot machine at a casino.   My wife came in to my office and was like "what's going on?  Is everything ok?"

I've even taken to, when I give my presentations over Teams, to wrap up with something along the lines of "Look I know you love me and you're grateful for my pitch.  Please don't burden the Teams chat with the obvious."

I don't use Teams (anymore) but still in a work chat (whatsapp) and a family chat (messenger) with my wife's family.

Luckily my coworkers don't use the chat for anything unnecessary. But I had to mute the family chat because it was an endless amount of people reacting to messages (not emojis, but those reaction things people can do) so I check it when I want and get no notifications. It's lovely.

[hefdaddy42]

And of course, it's ALL controlled on the My Disney Experience APP on your PHONE! 

You had me until this point.

[faizoff]

I just spent a week in Walt Disney World. I'll try and parse out some of my thoughts between the exasperated and the pissed off thread over the next few days. I mentioned the qcodes for my beer list last week. Ugh.

How was it generally?  Crowded?  Did they f--- with any of the processes, like the Speed Lines (I forget what they call them there) or anything?

I've been there several times, and we're planning to MAYBE go end of October/early November but haven't fully committed.  I've heard rumblings that they've changed some things and not for the better.

It wasn't crowded at all. August is usually slower anyway.


So, it should be no surprise that it is fucking expensive as all hell. I think Iger has even admitted as much. When our kids were younger, we'd buy an Annual Pass for $400, but now, a 4 Day Pass with a Water Park option cost over $500, and that's from AAA!


So, for the Speed Lanes... This probably pisses me off the most about the place. The old Fast Pass system was perfect. You slide your ticket into the machine and it spit out your pass. And then in 2 hours, you could go get another one. They ended up replacing it with an online version a few years ago, where you could reserve your time online, but you could only pick ONE premium ride per day (and two lesser rides), so at the Magic Kingdom, you couldn't get a Fast Pass for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train AND Space Mountain. WTF??

So now they have what's called Genie+, which costs anywhere between $15-$30 depending on park/day ON TOP OF YOUR park ticket. This is basically the new Fast Pass system, so NOW, you basically have to pay for your Fast Passes.

Also, there are some rides where you can join a Virtual Queue. There are two deadlines for this. The first is 7:00AM and you have to be on the app right on time. I should mention that as a resort guest, you can hit it at 7, non resort guests have to wait until 9, but by 7:01am, it's done. You'll have to try again at 1:00pm.

That meant on two days, I had to set my fucking alarm for 6:55. The first time, I tried to join the Virtual Queue for Tron at the Magic Kingdom, but apparently (surprise surprise) I had no clue how to do it, so we missed out.

The next day, I was ready to hit it for the Guardians Of The Galaxy at EPCOT. and we got into the ride shortly after 10:00.

OK..There is something else they sell, called a Lightning Lane. For these, you have to BUY a SEPERATE TICKET to ride a ride. So, for the day I fucked up the Tron Virtual Queue, the only other option was to buy a Lightning Lane ticket. It was fucking $20 each, so for my kids to ride it, it cost me $42 (incl tax).
Now, my oldest son has been following its construction online, so him not riding wasn't an option. But I didn't go on it. Fuck that.

And of course, it's ALL controlled on the My Disney Experience APP on your PHONE! 

With this heat aint no fucking way I'm going there. I'd be super miserable.

We used to go every August. It was always less crowded and well, it's usually just as hot here.





@Stadler..I forgot to mention..there are a couple of rides (Tron, Guardians) that you simply CANNOT show up to the park and get in line. The ONLY way to get on them is take your chance on the Virtual Queue or buy the Lightning Lane. Fucking blows!

I hate that new virtual queue system, I hate the new Genie+ system, fastpass was perfect. Of course they weren't making any money out of it. Putting aside the cost of the new Genie+ system, it still blows. You can't schedule the rides you want like you could do in Fastpass (3 per day plus a bonus 4th allowed per person). You could book those 3 in advance and spread them out over the day and with the gaps you go for the rides that have less waiting time. Now you can do that, when booking a ride with Genie+ you have to wait a set amount of time (usually hours) before you can even book the next one. It just completely blows.

[ReaperKK]

Anyone use Teams?   

I just sat through a presentation by my regional IT team.  285 participants.   At the end? On the Teams chat, "Thank you!" "Thank you!" "Thank you!" "Thank you!"... must've been 50 or more of them.  Some with GIFs.   I didn't turn the sound off in time and it sounded like a slot machine at a casino.   My wife came in to my office and was like "what's going on?  Is everything ok?"

I've even taken to, when I give my presentations over Teams, to wrap up with something along the lines of "Look I know you love me and you're grateful for my pitch.  Please don't burden the Teams chat with the obvious." 

I do all day, everyday. I just got off a 200+ meeting and when those end everyone just signs off. No one does any thanks so, although there are a few virtual clappers.

I just spent a week in Walt Disney World. I'll try and parse out some of my thoughts between the exasperated and the pissed off thread over the next few days. I mentioned the qcodes for my beer list last week. Ugh.

How was it generally?  Crowded?  Did they f--- with any of the processes, like the Speed Lines (I forget what they call them there) or anything?

I've been there several times, and we're planning to MAYBE go end of October/early November but haven't fully committed.  I've heard rumblings that they've changed some things and not for the better.

It wasn't crowded at all. August is usually slower anyway.


So, it should be no surprise that it is fucking expensive as all hell. I think Iger has even admitted as much. When our kids were younger, we'd buy an Annual Pass for $400, but now, a 4 Day Pass with a Water Park option cost over $500, and that's from AAA!


So, for the Speed Lanes... This probably pisses me off the most about the place. The old Fast Pass system was perfect. You slide your ticket into the machine and it spit out your pass. And then in 2 hours, you could go get another one. They ended up replacing it with an online version a few years ago, where you could reserve your time online, but you could only pick ONE premium ride per day (and two lesser rides), so at the Magic Kingdom, you couldn't get a Fast Pass for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train AND Space Mountain. WTF??

So now they have what's called Genie+, which costs anywhere between $15-$30 depending on park/day ON TOP OF YOUR park ticket. This is basically the new Fast Pass system, so NOW, you basically have to pay for your Fast Passes.

Also, there are some rides where you can join a Virtual Queue. There are two deadlines for this. The first is 7:00AM and you have to be on the app right on time. I should mention that as a resort guest, you can hit it at 7, non resort guests have to wait until 9, but by 7:01am, it's done. You'll have to try again at 1:00pm.

That meant on two days, I had to set my fucking alarm for 6:55. The first time, I tried to join the Virtual Queue for Tron at the Magic Kingdom, but apparently (surprise surprise) I had no clue how to do it, so we missed out.

The next day, I was ready to hit it for the Guardians Of The Galaxy at EPCOT. and we got into the ride shortly after 10:00.

OK..There is something else they sell, called a Lightning Lane. For these, you have to BUY a SEPERATE TICKET to ride a ride. So, for the day I fucked up the Tron Virtual Queue, the only other option was to buy a Lightning Lane ticket. It was fucking $20 each, so for my kids to ride it, it cost me $42 (incl tax).
Now, my oldest son has been following its construction online, so him not riding wasn't an option. But I didn't go on it. Fuck that.

And of course, it's ALL controlled on the My Disney Experience APP on your PHONE! 

With this heat aint no fucking way I'm going there. I'd be super miserable.

We used to go every August. It was always less crowded and well, it's usually just as hot here.





@Stadler..I forgot to mention..there are a couple of rides (Tron, Guardians) that you simply CANNOT show up to the park and get in line. The ONLY way to get on them is take your chance on the Virtual Queue or buy the Lightning Lane. Fucking blows!

As an ex-florida resisdent I hate what they turned fast pass into. There is a great documentary on it here:

https://youtu.be/9yjZpBq1XBE?si=2DAkY0SehhYkitPi

[Stadler]

We've been there once since the app was in play and we had a miserable experience with it.   

[wolfking]

We use Teams at work, It's pretty clunky and I'm sure there's way better systems out there.  I'm not a fan but the organisation love it.  We don't even call each other anymore by phone, it's everybody calling each other via Teams.  I don't fucking get it.

[TAC]

We've been there once since the app was in play and we had a miserable experience with it.   

Everyone has their face in their phone.

I mean the phones are convenient, and they were great when we had two kids that wanted to go in separate directions. My wife and I could maintain contact if needed.


But WTF..I have to be all squinty eyed just to plan my day. People you are in Disney paying a fucking fortune. ENJOY IT!!!

[Harmony]

I feel you.

I doubt I will ever be in a Disney park again.  Been to Disney Land a half dozen times and Disney World once.  Had a great time even though I am no fan of crowds and I can't do all the rides due to severe motion sickness tendencies.

But no Fast Pass and having to be on your phone the whole time?  I'll pass.

[TAC]

I never had motion sickness before, but I had it bad this trip.


We've been to DL twice and are likely planning another trip out there in the next few years. We've been to DW tons of times, and well, it's a lot more fun when the kids were younger.

We didn't really plan to go to Disney this year. We had trouble deciding on our summer TACation, but the accommodations were too good to pass up. We were there 7 nights, but only bought 4 day park tickets.

[Cool Chris]

I took my 5 year old to Disneyland in April, not having been myself as an adult. I had the app on my phone but didn't sign up for any Lightning Lane/Genie+ or anything. I used the paper map to navigate. I only ever looked at the app for wait times for rides, but I didn't ever really kept track of time, so never knew if they were accurate at all. My best guess at how long we waited in line for anything is 45 minutes, and it never wore on either of us. And not once did I ever wish I signed up for LL or anything extra.

[cramx3]

But WTF..I have to be all squinty eyed just to plan my day. People you are in Disney paying a fucking fortune. ENJOY IT!!!

Generally I enjoy the convenience of using the phone for a lot of things, but if it's taking you out of the immersiveness of being at Disney then I think that's not cool at all.

[orcus116]

The last time I was in Disney my one friend mastered the app so we luckily had him helping plan things but I agree it's such an expensive pain nowadays. They really need a one day Express Pass like Universal. I'll pay $50-60 in order to skip to the front of each ride even if it's limited to one per ride.

[orcus116]

I was just at a Modest Mouse/Pixies concert and during Modest Mouse there was a group near us that no sense of spatial awareness. While I appreciate the enthusiasm with the music the girl near me was dancing in a 3 foot bubble as if she had a 6 foot bubble, just elbows and arms flailing everywhere without a care if she was going to hit someone in the face. I was eventually able to give her a wide berth but I swore I was going to get a broken nose many times.

On a side note I know very little Modest Mouse but they killed it and I definitely need to check out more of their stuff.

[Lonk]

Bad contractors.

3 weeks dealing with a contractor to rent heating equipment (getting all the details right). Last week they finally sent a quote, but they sent a sale quote. I call them letting them know we were looking for rental, not a sale. I'm told that they'll correct the quote and get back to me. A week later I call to see what's going on and get told that the equipment we are looking for is a special order, and can only be purchased, not rented.

Then why not say that from week 1? 4 weeks wasted and now I'm back to square 1. The funny thing is that they were trying to charge $3,000 of shipping, for equipment that weights 20-30 pounds max, and fits into small packaging 

[Snow Dog]

3 1/2 years ago, we moved into our current house. I'm still consistently receiving mail addressed to the previous owners. At least one every one to two weeks. Important stuff, too - court documents, financial statements, mail related to their kids' schooling... It's baffling to me why it's still happening. And I'm getting tired of returning it all to sender.