Minor things that bother you

[J N Winkler]

Use of the word "preventative" for "preventive."

That one bugs me about as bad as using the non-word "publically" for "publicly."

Merriam-Webster endorses both preventive and preventative.  The same is not quite true of publicly versus publically, the latter being described as a "less common" usage.

Personally, I disapprove of reticent used in the sense of reluctant, but it seems that battle has been lost.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

When people don't communicate and then put the onus on you to be responsible for their non-communication.

[Scott5114]

When people don't communicate and then put the onus on you to be responsible for their non-communication.

I think this goes beyond a "minor thing". Had plenty of issues with supervisors in the past making up a new rule, not telling everyone about it, then getting you in trouble for not reading their mind and learning what you're supposed to do by osmosis. Or if you found out you're supposed to be doing X from a co-worker, getting you in trouble for gossiping.

[hbelkins]

When people don't communicate and then put the onus on you to be responsible for their non-communication.

I think this goes beyond a "minor thing". Had plenty of issues with supervisors in the past making up a new rule, not telling everyone about it, then getting you in trouble for not reading their mind and learning what you're supposed to do by osmosis. Or if you found out you're supposed to be doing X from a co-worker, getting you in trouble for gossiping.

That sounds a lot like "terms and conditions" when you download an app, sign up for a Web site, etc. There are volumes and volumes of workplace policies and it would be nigh on impossible for someone to read and remember them all, but woe be unto you if they have it out for you and you violate some obscure rule.

[hotdogPi]

Macy's is doing a Black Friday sale right now. It's July.

[abefroman329]

Macy's is doing a Black Friday sale right now. It's July.

Blame Amazon.

Although it was nice to not have to wait until November to replace our electric griddle.

[webny99]

Macy's is doing a Black Friday sale right now. It's July.

Blame Amazon.

Although it was nice to not have to wait until November to replace our electric griddle.

I have no problem with the sale, but they should call it something else.

[formulanone]

Macy's is doing a Black Friday sale right now. It's July.

Blame Amazon.

Although it was nice to not have to wait until November to replace our electric griddle.

I have no problem with the sale, but they should call it something else.

Announcing BigBoxCo's Composite Days: "When the savings are divisible by you!

[roadman65]

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6873688,-74.0566425,13.76z

Why NY claims ownership of Ellis Island and Bedlow Island, aka Liberty Island, when both islands are across the state line and are in NJ waters?  In fact Jersey City Police and Hudson County, NJ both should have criminal jurisdiction and not the City and County of New York.

This isnt like the twelve mile circle of Delaware where all the Delaware River is in NJ from 12 miles up and downstream from New Castle Delaware.

[CtrlAltDel]

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6873688,-74.0566425,13.76z

Why NY claims ownership of Ellis Island and Bedlow Island, aka Liberty Island, when both islands are across the state line and are in NJ waters?  In fact Jersey City Police and Hudson County, NJ both should have criminal jurisdiction and not the City and County of New York.

It's one of those compromises that happens every now and again. That said, it's more complicated than that, since it's not the whole of these islands that are in New York, but only the natural parts. The landfill parts of these islands are in New Jersey, as you believe they should be.

Essentially what happened is that New York had claim to the whole of the Hudson River while New Jersey had none. But early in the nineteenth century, it was able to set up an agreement with New York to split the border down the middle. By that time, though, the islands had been administered as part of New York for long enough that it was allowed to retain them. This was before the islands had been enlarged though land reclamation, which led to a case to the Supreme Court, which set up the current situation.

[US 89]

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6873688,-74.0566425,13.76z

Why NY claims ownership of Ellis Island and Bedlow Island, aka Liberty Island, when both islands are across the state line and are in NJ waters?  In fact Jersey City Police and Hudson County, NJ both should have criminal jurisdiction and not the City and County of New York.

It's one of those compromises that happens every now and again. That said, it's more complicated than that, since it's not the whole of these islands that are in New York, but only the natural parts. The landfill parts of these islands are in New Jersey, as you believe they should be.

Essentially what happened is that New York claimed the whole of the Hudson River (and in various ways maintained those claims) until the issue was settled by the Supreme Court. But by that time the islands had been administered as part of New York that it was allowed to retain them when the rest of the border was shifted. This was before the islands had been enlarged though land reclamation, leading to the current situation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgZ1f4ACZBQ

[CtrlAltDel]

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6873688,-74.0566425,13.76z

Why NY claims ownership of Ellis Island and Bedlow Island, aka Liberty Island, when both islands are across the state line and are in NJ waters?  In fact Jersey City Police and Hudson County, NJ both should have criminal jurisdiction and not the City and County of New York.

It's one of those compromises that happens every now and again. That said, it's more complicated than that, since it's not the whole of these islands that are in New York, but only the natural parts. The landfill parts of these islands are in New Jersey, as you believe they should be.

Essentially what happened is that New York claimed the whole of the Hudson River (and in various ways maintained those claims) until the issue was settled by the Supreme Court. But by that time the islands had been administered as part of New York that it was allowed to retain them when the rest of the border was shifted. This was before the islands had been enlarged though land reclamation, leading to the current situation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgZ1f4ACZBQ

(Let the record show that I have modified my original comment.)

Let the record also show that the question of the video, "Who owns the Statue of Liberty, New York or New Jersey?" is somewhat inaccurate. The statue is, of course, owned by the federal government.

[CtrlAltDel]

Personally, I disapprove of reticent used in the sense of reluctant, but it seems that battle has been lost.

Not to rub salt into the wound, but the Oxford English Dictionary dates this meaning to 1875.

[mgk920]

The big dispute WRT those two islands (I agree, the feds 'own' everything on both of them) is who collects the sales and income tax revenue from from the activity on them.

Mike

[Scott5114]

The big dispute WRT those two islands (I agree, the feds 'own' everything on both of them) is who collects the sales and income tax revenue from from the activity on them.

Mike

I think they should just assign both of them to Kansas so it can have some coastline for a change.

[LilianaUwU]

As a Wikipedia editor, it bothers me whenever I revert vandalism only for the vandal to do it again.

[Scott5114]

As a Wikipedia editor, it bothers me whenever I revert vandalism only for the vandal to do it again.

I just block them for 37 hours when they do that.

[CtrlAltDel]

Trucks and SUVs with removable trailer hitches that don't remove them when they're not being used.

[GaryV]

^ And then they park them so the trailer hitch hangs out over the sidewalk so you can bang your shins as you go by.

[hbelkins]

Headlines written in this format:

"Man drove away from gas pumps without paying: Police"

This should be properly written in this format:

"Police: Man drove away from gas pumps without paying"

Ideally, it would be written as "Police say man drove away from gas pumps without paying" but having been a headline writer myself in a past life, I understand the desire to omit words when possible.

The offending phrasing could be corrected by "Man drove away from gas pumps without paying, police say"

[Big John]

Today it would be a clickbait headline, such as "Police report a crime you won't believe!"

[jeffandnicole]

Headlines written in this format:

"Man drove away from gas pumps without paying: Police"

This should be properly written in this format:

"Police: Man drove away from gas pumps without paying"

Ideally, it would be written as "Police say man drove away from gas pumps without paying" but having been a headline writer myself in a past life, I understand the desire to omit words when possible.

The offending phrasing could be corrected by "Man drove away from gas pumps without paying, police say"

Or:  Headlines and stories that use "Experts say".  Who are the experts?  Rarely mentioned.  What made them an expert?  Who knows.

[CtrlAltDel]

^ And then they park them so the trailer hitch hangs out over the sidewalk so you can bang your shins as you go by.

When that happens, it can be hard to suppress the urge to remove them myself and throw them through the back window.

[ZLoth]

I really love it when people who only occasionally ride in my daily driver know my car better than I do, especially when it comes to gas milage. My vehicle has an effective gas efficiency of 25 MPG, which means that the effective range is 390 miles. Obviously, if I'm on a road trip, the range is higher (up to around 450 miles), but for planning purposes, I target 300 miles daily milage and fill up my gas tank accordingly. I have never run out of gas. But, you take someone who lived though the 1970s, and they start getting on my case if my car is below a half-tank full.

Uh, wait a second. I live in DFW Metroplex which has plenty of gas stations within a 5 minute drive. There are plenty of stations on both US-75 between DFW and Tulsa and I-35 between DFW and Oklahoma City, especially if I'm not really picky on prices (my preference is Costco and Sam's Club), and much better options than I-40 between Barstow and the Arizona state line or I-10 between Indio and the Arizona state line. I know that my gas gage is not a 1:1 indication as it goes down slower when the tank is nearly full verses when the tank is nearly empty. My car not only provides an estimated fuel range, but starts warning me when I have approximately 40-50 mile range left (about 2 gallons). I am also aware of the fuel pump issues if you run your gas tank "bone dry" between fill-ups. Did I mention that I'm taking good car of my vehicle, as I cannot afford a new one under the current situation. It's 9 years old, but only has 95K miles on it, and I'm drive less now.

Not for my mother. Here we are driving on I-20 returning from a Christmas holiday break in Shreveport, LA. (Sigh... are there any good casinos in LA? The ones in Durant and Thackerville, OK are better, but my mother doesn't like the size of the Thackerville casino. It's only the worlds largest). I had topped off my tank before I started on this trip, and do expect to hit a Buc-ees for a fillup on the return trip. I got this. My mother disagrees, and when we are driving home, my mom is on my case as soon as the gas gage hits the halfway mark. I keep telling her, we're OK, but what if we are stuck and can't move for three hours. This is Texas, not upstate New York. It is not only very unlikely that we will get a blizzard in Texas, but if there is snow in the forecast, WE STAY HOME.

No wonder solo road trips are so relaxing.

[J N Winkler]

I've had people tell me that I should turn on the A/C (when it still worked) in my Saturn in the winter to speed up defogging.  As a general rule, that is a good idea, but it does not work in any of the three generations of the Saturn S-Series because, by design, the PCM prohibits A/C operation when ambient temperature is under 40° F.

As regards the nuisances other people make of their own vehicles:  once I happened to be out for a walk in pitch-black night and, for the better part of a block, had to deal with glare from a vehicle parked at the curb with its headlamps on.  When I got to it and saw that it was unoccupied with the engine running (wasting gas), I was tempted to open the driver's door, shut off the engine, and throw the keys underneath one of the seats.