Minor things that bother you

[1995hoo]

As I've noted before, the situation in which I absolutely do not understand back-in parking is at any business where you'll have a lot of stuff to put in the trunk of your car, or bulky items to put in the trunk (the grocery store and the hardware store are the two prime examples in my mind). Pushing the car between cars to get to the trunk, or constantly carrying items from the cart around the car (assuming the lot is not sloped, such that you can leave the cart in the drive aisle while you carry stuff), are both nuisances.

[webny99]

(2) why not just park far away and walk?

This is one of those "two types of people" memes. I typically park far away unless it's obvious the store isn't busy, because I don't mind the walk and I don't have to deal with people walking around my car, other vehicles coming and going behind me, etc.

My ex-best friend on the other hand was the type who would circle the lot all night if he had to in order to get a spot near the store.

The one situation in which it makes sense to circle around looking for a spot would be when a passenger jumps out and runs into the store for just one or a few items. In that case you want to be positioned so that you can see them and they can see you when they come out, and you might want to be as close to the storefront as possible for that reason.

[zachary_amaryllis]

People who reverse into parking spots and don't know what the hell they're doing, yeah.

People that pull into parking spots and don't know what the hell they're doing. 

If they pulled in crooked and the back-end is over the line, they're an idiot.

If they pulled in and need to back out once to readjust, ok.  If they need to do it 2 or more times, they're an idiot.

If they're purposely taking up 2 spots, that's fine.  They're being a dick, but at least they know what they're doing when they do it.

add 'people in big-honkin-ass trucks that do this. or park said truck in space that says 'compact only'. my camry goes there, not your ford f350.

See I disagree. If you can successfully fit your Ford F-350 into a "compact only" space and maneuver it in and out of the spot quickly, more power to you.

yes but these people don't leave a can opener so i can get into MY car when i leave. the parking lot i speak of, is tight. REALLY tight. when one of these things parks next to me, i'm not able to get to, much less open, my door. there are other non-compact-only spaces a tad further out.

[hbelkins]

(2) why not just park far away and walk?

This is one of those "two types of people" memes. I typically park far away unless it's obvious the store isn't busy, because I don't mind the walk and I don't have to deal with people walking around my car, other vehicles coming and going behind me, etc.

My ex-best friend on the other hand was the type who would circle the lot all night if he had to in order to get a spot near the store. I remember once at the house we rented in Superior, WI where we had street parking, one night there was a space in front of the house maybe a few inches larger than his bumpers on either end of his car. He insisted on trying to parallel park into it, steadily losing his notoriously short temper more and more with each failed attempt. He did get it eventually, but it was hardly worth the time lost.

My preference is that unless there is a spot near the entrance to the store -- and I do have a state-issued handicapped parking permit due to my knee issues with gout, but it's rarely used -- I want to park as close to the cart return corral as possible.

Count as a minor thing that bothers me people not returning their carts to the proper storage places, especially if they leave them in parking spaces.

[webny99]

The worst "minor thing that bothers me" is when people leave a voicemail telling you to call back without telling you why they're calling! Like, what??? 
Even a brief explanation like "quick question" is one thing, but no context whatsoever is the worst. It's almost like a weird psychological game where they're trying to create uncertainty and scare you into calling back, which in turn makes me think it isn't that important, or why wouldn't they just say what they're calling about?

(I'm realizing as I type that this is probably a very Gen Z comment. Yeah, I really don't like the phone, especially with total strangers, so you better have a good reason for calling!)

[jeffandnicole]

The worst "minor thing that bothers me" is when people leave a voicemail telling you to call back without telling you why they're calling! Like, what??? 
Even a brief explanation like "quick question" is one thing, but no context whatsoever is the worst. It's almost like a weird psychological game where they're trying to create uncertainty and scare you into calling back, which in turn makes me think it isn't that important, or why wouldn't they just say what they're calling about?

(I'm realizing as I type that this is probably a very Gen Z comment. Yeah, I really don't like the phone, especially with total strangers, so you better have a good reason for calling!)

Unless it's family or a close friend and you probably already know the reason or you're going to chat anyway, it's likely a scam or sales pitch and no reason to call back.

I would say a minor thing that bothers people is leaving a voicemail message in the first place... even calling in the first place... But that's too easy.

[J N Winkler]

Whenever I have to back out of a space, I simply wait until there's no cars (or people) in a decent distance from me. Sure, it may take a few minutes, but when I'm backing out I am POSITIVE that nobody will interfere with my backing out. Could I have avoided that if I backed in? Yes, but I'd still need to wait for people and/or cars to clear the area before I start moving, so at worst I lose a minute or two.

Sightlines are also a factor.  If you are parked nose-out, you are closer to the end of the parking space and have a larger sight triangle out to conflicting foot and vehicle traffic when you leave.  You are also facing in the direction you are going and are thus better positioned to notice and react promptly to the unexpected.  This all can help you avoid bent sheet metal if, for example, you are in a small car parked between two tall SUVs and someone comes racing up the aisle just as you think it's clear.

As for time, I think of it this way:  if you make, say, 360 trips a year that involve negotiating parking lots at each end, and you choose a method that takes a minute longer, then that's an extra 12 hours over the course of a year.  It sounds like a lot, but at a probable eventual minimum wage of $15/hour, that's just $180.  It's pretty hard to find an auto insurance policy with affordable collision coverage that doesn't have a deductible of at least $500, and nowadays it is hard to have even minor bumper damage repaired without spending the whole deductible.  Plus dealing with property-damage-only collisions in parking lots can be a time pit in and of itself since it typically involves a three-way liaison between you, the body shop, and your insurance provider.

Granted, I don't deal with busy lots often and I've had sour experiences trying to back into a space (nearly hit the other - family - car in my own driveway when practicing, nearly clipped a mailbox...) so this is probably just clear-cut bias.

It does take some practice to develop muscle memory and to identify index points that you can use to ensure the vehicle ends up straight and centered in the space.  I've been doing it for years and years, and I still find it easier to back in to the left than to the right.  On the other hand, reversing in can be a fantastic way of dealing with awkward spaces (such as the end stall in a blind aisle that doesn't have an apron for backing out:  example) since the pivot point is a lot closer to your rear axle than it is to your front axle.

As I've noted before, the situation in which I absolutely do not understand back-in parking is at any business where you'll have a lot of stuff to put in the trunk of your car, or bulky items to put in the trunk (the grocery store and the hardware store are the two prime examples in my mind). Pushing the cart between cars to get to the trunk, or constantly carrying items from the cart around the car (assuming the lot is not sloped, such that you can leave the cart in the drive aisle while you carry stuff), are both nuisances.

I park nose-out pretty much everywhere it is not explicitly forbidden, including at the supermarket and warehouse clubs.  I don't typically have a problem maneuvering the cart to the trunk and loading bulky cargo.  The only real disadvantages are having to work around a curb at the back of the stall (example) and trying not to step in oil spots.

This said, on the rare occasions I encounter diagonal spaces laid out in a herringbone pattern with one-way aisles and parking stops at the back of each space, I usually go with the flow and nose in.

This is one of those "two types of people" memes. I typically park far away unless it's obvious the store isn't busy, because I don't mind the walk and I don't have to deal with people walking around my car, other vehicles coming and going behind me, etc.

When I visit a big-box store that has diagonal parking stalls without parking stops, I often park at the foot of the lot to maximize my chances of being able to leave by driving through an empty adjacent stall without having to deadhead up to the front of the store (where pedestrian traffic is heaviest) to reach the exit.

The worst "minor thing that bothers me" is when people leave a voicemail telling you to call back without telling you why they're calling! Like, what??? 

Even a brief explanation like "quick question" is one thing, but no context whatsoever is the worst. It's almost like a weird psychological game where they're trying to create uncertainty and scare you into calling back, which in turn makes me think it isn't that important, or why wouldn't they just say what they're calling about?

In the case of cold calls from strangers, yes, it absolutely is a psychological game to get you to engage with them by provoking you into thinking there is a fire you have to put out.

A related tactic, often used in direct-mail postcards from real-estate prospectors, is to say something along the lines of "I have been trying to get a hold of you for the past few weeks regarding your property at [address].  Unfortunately, I have not been successful in contacting you, so as a last resort, I have sent you this postcard in hopes that you will respond back soon."  This is calculated to create a sense of urgency (seize the business opportunity before it goes!) in gullible people--specifically, the kind that have inherited property they don't know what to do with and can be induced to part with for 60%-70% of fair market value, which is the target demographic for these postcards.  The reality is that if they're using direct mail, they aren't making other attempts at contact, full stop.

[1995hoo]

Minor annoyance in the scheme of things: Looking at last night's CONCACAF scores (or really for that matter any soccer scores, including MLS scores), ESPN has them listed backwards with the home team first. I get that the Europeans apparently do it that way, but it doesn't mean the American media need to follow. Home team second is customary here, presumably because of the standard "Visitor at Home" usage (last night, "Jamaica at USA" or "Canada at Mexico"), and there's no real reason to change it just for one sport.

[SSOWorld]

Minor annoyance in the scheme of things: Looking at last night's CONCACAF scores (or really for that matter any soccer scores, including MLS scores), ESPN has them listed backwards with the home team first. I get that the Europeans apparently do it that way, but it doesn't mean the American media need to follow. Home team second is customary here, presumably because of the standard "Visitor at Home" usage (last night, "Jamaica at USA" or "Canada at Mexico"), and there's no real reason to change it just for one sport.

No, it's USA v Jamaica and Canada v Mexico.  When the results are finals... or full time.... USA 1 - 0 Jamaica and Mexico 2 - 2 Mexico. (made them up).  American sports do it wrong.  Association Futbol is showing them how to do it RIGHT!!!

[hotdogPi]

Minor annoyance in the scheme of things: Looking at last night's CONCACAF scores (or really for that matter any soccer scores, including MLS scores), ESPN has them listed backwards with the home team first. I get that the Europeans apparently do it that way, but it doesn't mean the American media need to follow. Home team second is customary here, presumably because of the standard "Visitor at Home" usage (last night, "Jamaica at USA" or "Canada at Mexico"), and there's no real reason to change it just for one sport.

No, it's USA v Jamaica and Canada v Mexico.  When the results are finals... or full time.... USA 1 - 0 Jamaica and Mexico 2 - 2 Mexico. (made them up).  American sports do it wrong.  Association Futbol is showing them how to do it RIGHT!!!

No, "v" is for court cases.

[kkt]

The worst "minor thing that bothers me" is when people leave a voicemail telling you to call back without telling you why they're calling! Like, what??? 
Even a brief explanation like "quick question" is one thing, but no context whatsoever is the worst. It's almost like a weird psychological game where they're trying to create uncertainty and scare you into calling back, which in turn makes me think it isn't that important, or why wouldn't they just say what they're calling about?

(I'm realizing as I type that this is probably a very Gen Z comment. Yeah, I really don't like the phone, especially with total strangers, so you better have a good reason for calling!)

I'm not Gen Z and I don't like the phone much either.  If I don't know you and you don't leave a good reason for me to call you back, your call will remain unreturned.

[vdeane]

Hotel key cards that will stop working if they go near a phone.  Apparently "near" means "anywhere in my purse", so I'm not sure where exactly I'm supposed to carry it.  Pockets are hit or miss with women's clothing, and if I'm standing for a long time (as I tend to on roadmeets), I tend to switch which side my purse is on because it gets uncomfortable (especially if I have to have my umbrella on me, as it makes my purse heavy), so it would get near my phone anyways.

On the subject of hotels, room service.  I don't need my soap thrown out and replaced every single day.  Same for the towels.  It's wasteful and makes more work for me.

[SSOWorld]

Minor annoyance in the scheme of things: Looking at last night's CONCACAF scores (or really for that matter any soccer scores, including MLS scores), ESPN has them listed backwards with the home team first. I get that the Europeans apparently do it that way, but it doesn't mean the American media need to follow. Home team second is customary here, presumably because of the standard "Visitor at Home" usage (last night, "Jamaica at USA" or "Canada at Mexico"), and there's no real reason to change it just for one sport.

No, it's USA v Jamaica and Canada v Mexico.  When the results are finals... or full time.... USA 1 - 0 Jamaica and Mexico 2 - 2 Mexico. (made them up).  American sports do it wrong.  Association Futbol is showing them how to do it RIGHT!!!

No, "v" is for court cases.

Your opinion.  I have mine too (above)

[CtrlAltDel]

Minor annoyance in the scheme of things: Looking at last night's CONCACAF scores (or really for that matter any soccer scores, including MLS scores), ESPN has them listed backwards with the home team first. I get that the Europeans apparently do it that way, but it doesn't mean the American media need to follow. Home team second is customary here, presumably because of the standard "Visitor at Home" usage (last night, "Jamaica at USA" or "Canada at Mexico"), and there's no real reason to change it just for one sport.

No, it's USA v Jamaica and Canada v Mexico.  When the results are finals... or full time.... USA 1 - 0 Jamaica and Mexico 2 - 2 Mexico. (made them up).  American sports do it wrong.  Association Futbol is showing them how to do it RIGHT!!!

It's not really a question of right or wrong, but of convention. That said, listing the home team last comes from baseball where it makes sense because the visiting team bats first. The rest of American sports, which didn't become popular until later, followed suit.

[Big John]

Minor annoyance in the scheme of things: Looking at last night's CONCACAF scores (or really for that matter any soccer scores, including MLS scores), ESPN has them listed backwards with the home team first. I get that the Europeans apparently do it that way, but it doesn't mean the American media need to follow. Home team second is customary here, presumably because of the standard "Visitor at Home" usage (last night, "Jamaica at USA" or "Canada at Mexico"), and there's no real reason to change it just for one sport.

No, it's USA v Jamaica and Canada v Mexico.  When the results are finals... or full time.... USA 1 - 0 Jamaica and Mexico 2 - 2 Mexico. (made them up).  American sports do it wrong.  Association Futbol is showing them how to do it RIGHT!!!

It's not really a question of right or wrong, but of convention. That said, listing the home team last comes from baseball where it makes sense because the visiting team bats first. The rest of American sports, which didn't become popular until later, followed suit.

At the stadium/arena where they are playing (except baseball), they will show the home team first. Otherwise they show the home team last.

[1995hoo]

Minor annoyance in the scheme of things: Looking at last night's CONCACAF scores (or really for that matter any soccer scores, including MLS scores), ESPN has them listed backwards with the home team first. I get that the Europeans apparently do it that way, but it doesn't mean the American media need to follow. Home team second is customary here, presumably because of the standard "Visitor at Home" usage (last night, "Jamaica at USA" or "Canada at Mexico"), and there's no real reason to change it just for one sport.

No, it's USA v Jamaica and Canada v Mexico.  When the results are finals... or full time.... USA 1 - 0 Jamaica and Mexico 2 - 2 Mexico. (made them up).  American sports do it wrong.  Association Futbol is showing them how to do it RIGHT!!!

It's not really a question of right or wrong, but of convention. That said, listing the home team last comes from baseball where it makes sense because the visiting team bats first. The rest of American sports, which didn't become popular until later, followed suit.

At the stadium/arena where they are playing (except baseball), they will show the home team first. Otherwise they show the home team last.

I remember some years back the Capitals tried swapping that in the arena. There was some pushback and ultimately the solution that was reached (which makes sense) is that the out-of-town scoreboard listed the visiting teams on top, home teams on bottom, in the normal fashion, while the main scoreboard showing the in-house game listed the Caps first–which also makes sense because if you're at the game, presumably you know which team is at home and which team is visiting (and if you don't, you have bigger problems than being confused by the scoreboard).

As I said, I don't think it makes sense for the media to use the opposite convention for one sport (soccer). At least most media sources I read do list the standings in the normal win-loss-tie order.

[Bruce]

There's some MLS broadcasts that insist on using the baseball ordering and it's awful. The international standard makes more sense for the sport and should not be modified for the perceived American palette.

Also, another annoyance is seeing the start of soccer broadcasts bumped to a lesser ESPN channel (like ESPNU) because the preceding event is running over its slot, or worse yet the next event's kickoff getting delayed. It would be pretty easy to take this into account when scheduling, and in fact most cup or knockout matches do get some slack time in the schedule in case they have to go to extra time and/or penalties.

[Scott5114]

The international standard makes more sense for the sport and should not be modified for the perceived American palette.

That's kind of silly–listing them either way is an arbitrary convention. If you're an American that likes watching all the sports, you're going to be used to seeing them listed one way for the four other sports you like to watch, and then have to mentally keep reminding yourself that it's the other way on this one sport. Them following the European convention is of no benefit to you if you don't also watch European football.

[jakeroot]

The international standard makes more sense for the sport and should not be modified for the perceived American palette.

That's kind of silly–listing them either way is an arbitrary convention. If you're an American that likes watching all the sports, you're going to be used to seeing them listed one way for the four other sports you like to watch, and then have to mentally keep reminding yourself that it's the other way on this one sport. Them following the European convention is of no benefit to you if you don't also watch European football.

My gut tells me that a lot of people who watch MLS also watch international soccer/football matches somewhat regularly. Using 'Visitor at Home' for domestic broadcasts but 'Home vs Visitor' for everything else seems more confusing than simply accepting soccer as a sport that uses 'Home' first, and sticking to that convention.

[CtrlAltDel]

I know that things are currently slower due to Covid, but this seems a bit long:



I remember when licenses were printed while you wait, and I get that it's now required that they be printed in a secure location, but, at least in normal times, it should take no more than four or five days to arrive by mail. As it stands, I have no "official" driver's license to present when needed, and so, I'm compelled to use my passport, which is bulky, and also people sometimes don't know how to deal with it.

I may have spoken too soon. My license showed up yesterday, making for 8 days total wait, which, while longer than I think ideal, is on the whole not that big of a deal.

[tolbs17]

When I see all the archives in the Wayback Machine such as here - https://web.archive.org/web/20201031165301/https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=100.3625

I wonder if users are keeping track of what's happened.

That's a minor thing that bothers me.

[hotdogPi]

When I see all the archives in the Wayback Machine such as here - https://web.archive.org/web/20201031165301/https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=100.3625

Not seeing the problem. It's considerably less broken than most Wayback pages I've seen, and it doesn't seem to be a content issue, either.

[tolbs17]

When I see all the archives in the Wayback Machine such as here - https://web.archive.org/web/20201031165301/https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=100.3625

Not seeing the problem. It's considerably less broken than most Wayback pages I've seen, and it doesn't seem to be a content issue, either.

The stuff you see on there is permanently saved.

[Scott5114]

When I see all the archives in the Wayback Machine such as here - https://web.archive.org/web/20201031165301/https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=100.3625

Not seeing the problem. It's considerably less broken than most Wayback pages I've seen, and it doesn't seem to be a content issue, either.

The stuff you see on there is permanently saved.

Good.

There was a site that I used to reference all the time that had a lot of good info on it. One day it just went down out of the blue, no warning or anything. Turns out the guy who ran it died, so the server went offline whenever he stopped paying for it. But all of that is stored in the Wayback Machine, so I can still access his work. I think he would be happy that I could still appreciate it.

Stuff goes offline all the time, for both good reasons and stupid ones, so it's nice that there's a way to still access it when it does.

[dlsterner]

When I see all the archives in the Wayback Machine such as here - https://web.archive.org/web/20201031165301/https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=100.3625

Not seeing the problem. It's considerably less broken than most Wayback pages I've seen, and it doesn't seem to be a content issue, either.

The stuff you see on there is permanently saved.

It's best practice to assume that anything you post on the internet will stay there "forever" in some sort of archive, such as the Wayback Machine.  Always a good thing to remember before posting something you may later regret - such as profane rants by "(Un)SafeSpeeder" a month or so ago, or by "Cra_shit" last Friday.

To its credit, the Wayback Machine was a big help when a friend of mine thought she had lost the entire content of her web site.  I was able to recover almost all of it through the Wayback Machine (which she had never heard of before).