Minor things that bother you

[kphoger]

Regarding boxers, they're supposedly good for fertility compared to briefs.

My understanding is that this is only a concern for men who are already on the edge of infertility.  For healthy men, the lower fertility is basically meaningless.

Anyway, it's only because briefs keep your family jewels slightly warmer than boxers.  If you're truly concerned about fertility, then lowering the temperature of your bathwater would certainly make a far greater difference.

[7/8]

I know several people who send numerous messages at a time, instead of a single longer message. Just got one now where the first four messages were a single word each. I don't need my phone buzzing a dozen times for something that could've been put into one message!

[tmoore952]

That we are likely going to have a 3rd straight Presidential election with 2 really old candidates.

Hillary Clinton was 69 in 2016.  That's not really old, by presidential standards.

It may seem that way now with Trump at 78 and Biden at 82 come election day 2024 but at the time it was old. What is really going to be strange is whoever wins the 2024 election will be older than the winner of the 1992 election. Has that ever been the case for an election 32 years apart before?

..."and I promise to not make an issue out of my opponent's age and inexperience!"  (Ronald Reagan at the start of a live televised debate against Walter Mondale before the 1984 election).

Mike

It was actually in the middle of that debate. I was watching that debate and remember that line being said.

It has not gone unnoticed by me (being born in the late '60s) that we have never nominated (much less elected) anyone younger than baby boomer age. I assume that baby boomer voting bloc is the largest (and if it isn't, they are certainly [at least right now] the largest voting bloc that actually votes, especially in primaries, where we decide who the nominees are). I'm not completely convinced that these two statements are not related.

[Bruce]

Here's another pet peeve of mine:  Drinking Water Fountains.

You go up to use one, turn it on, and the water flow is so low you'd have to literally suck on the spigot to get any decent amount.

And the building or business never attempts to have a plumber come out increase the flow/pressure or clear any clogs that may be inside.

Or worse yet...A store or building that has multiple fountains next to each other and ALL have the same flow or pressure problems!!!

If I were allowed to make one wide-ranging order to the world, it'd be to make fountains with bottle filling stations mandatory in all public spaces. Way more hygienic than the traditional fountain and encourages use of reusable bottles.

[route17fan]

Cracking gum

[Scott5114]

The discussion about Twitter/X became too political, so I've removed it.

The fact that it became political indicates that Twitter is apparently a major thing that bothers people, so it was kind of off-topic anyway.

[formulanone]

Here's another pet peeve of mine:  Drinking Water Fountains.

You go up to use one, turn it on, and the water flow is so low you'd have to literally suck on the spigot to get any decent amount.

And the building or business never attempts to have a plumber come out increase the flow/pressure or clear any clogs that may be inside.

Or worse yet...A store or building that has multiple fountains next to each other and ALL have the same flow or pressure problems!!!

If I were allowed to make one wide-ranging order to the world, it'd be to make fountains with bottle filling stations mandatory in all public spaces. Way more hygienic than the traditional fountain and encourages use of reusable bottles.

On a positive note, I'm glad that over 95% of the airports I encounter use these, even the small regional airports. DFW is a notable exception (I think there's exactly one water bottle station inside their most-recently refurbed terminal).

[webny99]

Hopefully this isn't too closely related to the previous removed discussion but I do think it's both topical and worthwhile to point out:

One minor thing that bothers me is the conflation of the terms climate change and global warming. They're two separate ideas/concepts with some very obvious differences (both in terms of the hypothesis presented and its provability), but they tend to get lumped together and that is bothersome because it leads to a lot of important context and nuance getting overlooked/ignored.

[WIroadfan]

Hopefully this isn't too closely related to the previous removed discussion but I do think it's both topical and worthwhile to point out:

One minor thing that bothers me is the conflation of the terms climate change and global warming. They're two separate ideas/concepts with some very obvious differences (both in terms of the hypothesis presented and its provability), but they tend to get lumped together and that is bothersome because it leads to a lot of important context and nuance getting overlooked/ignored.

It always seemed that it was called "global warming" when I was growing up, and now more recently it's become "climate change" or "the climate crisis".  The main thing they focus on is still carbon emissions and rising global temperatures though, so I'm not seeing the difference other than the change in buzzwords and the fact that now, we can blame ANY kind of unusual weather on "climate change" - even though weird weather has always happened and our climate has never been static.

[kphoger]

It always seemed that it was called "global warming" when I was growing up, and now more recently it's become "climate change" or "the climate crisis".  The main thing they focus on is still carbon emissions and rising global temperatures though, so I'm not seeing the difference other than the change in buzzwords ...

I agree with this.  (Note that I am not attempting to prove or disprove the phenomenon.)  There may be a semantic difference between "climate change" and "global warming" but, in actual practice, the only type of the former that is ever discussed is the latter.

[webny99]

It always seemed that it was called "global warming" when I was growing up, and now more recently it's become "climate change" or "the climate crisis".  The main thing they focus on is still carbon emissions and rising global temperatures though, so I'm not seeing the difference other than the change in buzzwords ...

I agree with this.  (Note that I am not attempting to prove or disprove the phenomenon.)  There may be a semantic difference between "climate change" and "global warming" but, in actual practice, the only type of the former that is ever discussed is the latter.

Hmm. I think people trying to make them mean the same thing when they actually don't, or using them interchangeably, is a big part of the problem.

Climate change is an umbrella term that is often used to refer to changes caused by human activities in modern usage, but encompasses all long term changes to Earth's climate and is not necessarily specific to human-caused changes. Global warming is more explicitly/inherently linked to human activities. But, the debate is not around whether or not climate change exists, it's only around the extent to which it's caused by human activities. So the way I see it is that any debate over the existence of climate change is a direct result of the term being misused/misunderstood.  But maybe I am oversimplifying it.

[1995hoo]

It always seemed that it was called "global warming" when I was growing up, and now more recently it's become "climate change" or "the climate crisis".  The main thing they focus on is still carbon emissions and rising global temperatures though, so I'm not seeing the difference other than the change in buzzwords ...

I agree with this.  (Note that I am not attempting to prove or disprove the phenomenon.)  There may be a semantic difference between "climate change" and "global warming" but, in actual practice, the only type of the former that is ever discussed is the latter.

Hmm. I think people trying to make them mean the same thing when they actually don't, or using them interchangeably, is a big part of the problem.

Climate change is an umbrella term that is often used to refer to changes caused by human activities in modern usage, but encompasses all long term changes to Earth's climate and is not necessarily specific to human-caused changes. Global warming is more explicitly/inherently linked to human activities. But, the debate is not around whether or not climate change exists, it's only around the extent to which it's caused by human activities. So the way I see it is that any debate over the existence of climate change is a direct result of the term being misused/misunderstood.  But maybe I am oversimplifying it.

I think—and I am trying to be careful how I phrase this to avoid being political to the extent I can do so—that part of the reason for the more common use of "climate change" in recent years is a reaction to people who say things like, "Oh, look, the weather is really cold, so what's all this 'global warming' BS?" In other words, I think part of it is an attempt to recognize the idea that the planet is warming overall even if some locations may experience colder-than-normal weather and to recognize that weather anomalies may not be limited simply to higher temperatures.

[kphoger]

Climate change is an umbrella term that is often used to refer to changes caused by human activities in modern usage, but encompasses all long term changes to Earth's climate and is not necessarily specific to human-caused changes. Global warming is more explicitly/inherently linked to human activities. But, the debate is not around whether or not climate change exists, it's only around the extent to which it's caused by human activities. So the way I see it is that any debate over the existence of climate change is a direct result of the term being misused/misunderstood.  But maybe I am oversimplifying it.

Whenever I hear anything on the radio about extreme weather events, they always phrase it as being "due to climate change".

(1)  If all they meant were that Earth's climate is constantly changing, then there would be no need to mention it at all.  The fact that they say it that way shows that they want to put it in the listener's mind that the disaster (whatever it is) was contributed to by human activity.  Otherwise, why mention climate change at all?

(2)  A lot of times, the extreme weather event is explicitly linked by the reporter to "rising temperatures".  Sometimes it's even in the context of a story that's more broadly about human-caused global warming and efforts to slow or stop it.

Thus, what I said:  even if there is theoretically a semantic difference between the two terms, there is no distinction in actual practice.

[webny99]

Climate change is an umbrella term that is often used to refer to changes caused by human activities in modern usage, but encompasses all long term changes to Earth's climate and is not necessarily specific to human-caused changes. Global warming is more explicitly/inherently linked to human activities. But, the debate is not around whether or not climate change exists, it's only around the extent to which it's caused by human activities. So the way I see it is that any debate over the existence of climate change is a direct result of the term being misused/misunderstood.  But maybe I am oversimplifying it.

Whenever I hear anything on the radio about extreme weather events, they always phrase it as being "due to climate change".

(1)  If all they meant were that Earth's climate is constantly changing, then there would be no need to mention it at all.  The fact that they say it that way shows that they want to put it in the listener's mind that the disaster (whatever it is) was contributed to by human activity.  Otherwise, why mention climate change at all?

(2)  A lot of times, the extreme weather event is explicitly linked by the reporter to "rising temperatures".  Sometimes it's even in the context of a story that's more broadly about human-caused global warming and efforts to slow or stop it.

Thus, what I said:  even if there is theoretically a semantic difference between the two terms, there is no distinction in actual practice.

And I'm saying: usage that allows/encourages people to treat them as synonyms is problematic, because then it just transfers the argument to being about a new term instead of changing the nature of the argument (which, to 1995hoo's point, was the intent of "climate change" becoming mainstream).

[roadman65]

Those one size fits all shower curtain rods that eliminates the need for screws and hardware by extending the rod in ether direction to grab the wall on both sides to be trapped in between.  Mine keeps falling down and when I try to put it back up it don't get trapped.  I have to play around and find a spot that does grab. Then sometimes hours later it only falls again.

[kphoger]

Those one size fits all shower curtain rods that eliminates the need for screws and hardware by extending the rod in ether direction to grab the wall on both sides to be trapped in between.  Mine keeps falling down and when I try to put it back up it don't get trapped.  I have to play around and find a spot that does grab. Then sometimes hours later it only falls again.

That's why I started just hosing off in the driveway instead.

In all seriousness, though, I hear you.  The worst is if the tension mechanism inside breaks, because then you can't put it up at all.

[bm7]

When someone greets you as if they know you, but you have no idea who they are.

[GenExpwy]

Those one size fits all shower curtain rods that eliminates the need for screws and hardware by extending the rod in ether direction to grab the wall on both sides to be trapped in between.  Mine keeps falling down and when I try to put it back up it don't get trapped.  I have to play around and find a spot that does grab. Then sometimes hours later it only falls again.

It's pretty much doomed to failure if you don't get it exactly perpendicular to the walls. Therefore, a good plan is to use a measuring tape to find equal distances, on both sides, from the ceiling and back wall, and mark those measurements using an L of blue painter's tape — rather than trying to eyeball it.

[zachary_amaryllis]

Here's another pet peeve of mine:  Drinking Water Fountains.

You go up to use one, turn it on, and the water flow is so low you'd have to literally suck on the spigot to get any decent amount.

And the building or business never attempts to have a plumber come out increase the flow/pressure or clear any clogs that may be inside.

Or worse yet...A store or building that has multiple fountains next to each other and ALL have the same flow or pressure problems!!!

Pro tip, from a diabetic who chugs water constantly:
Drink from one, till it gets warm and kicks on. Switch to other one, repeat. When that one's done, the first one is usually cold again. Repeat as necessary.

[WIroadfan]

When someone greets you as if they know you, but you have no idea who they are.

What especially bothers me is when you tell them you have no idea who they are, they insist they totally know you from <place you've never been or activity you were never part of>, and don't accept it when you tell them otherwise.

[Big John]

When someone greets you as if they know you, but you have no idea who they are.

Then they tell you your life story while you are trying to figure out who they are.

[tmoore952]

When someone greets you as if they know you, but you have no idea who they are.

Then they tell you your life story while you are trying to figure out who they are.

I have been the person who mistook someone for someone else. Sometimes people can look similar.

If I am not sure, I ask the person if they are "<whatever name you think is theirs>", or if I don't remember that I say where I think I know them from. f they say yes, then good. If they say no, I apologize. Saves me the embarrassment (and in this day and age, the privacy concern) of telling my life story.

[kurumi]

Not remembering names bugs me, even though I meet a fair amount of new people.

I was walking down the street chatting with Danielle and Megumi, two women I had met recently (this is a Japanese conversation meetup). In the flow of the conversation, I remarked that Danielle had a good point, then I caught a confused look from Megumi.

I looked at Danielle, putting two and two together. "I'm sorry, I have your name wrong, don't I."

But she was cool about it. "Danielle's a nice name," Tamara said. (My brain had put her in the same slot as the real Danielle, who was similar age and appearance.)

I apologized and things were OK after that, but it was still a little embarrassing.

Also, Megumi in the story was actually Yoshiko, but I was able to silently figure that out.

[CtrlAltDel]

Those one size fits all shower curtain rods that eliminates the need for screws and hardware by extending the rod in ether direction to grab the wall on both sides to be trapped in between.  Mine keeps falling down and when I try to put it back up it don't get trapped.  I have to play around and find a spot that does grab. Then sometimes hours later it only falls again.

That's why I started just hosing off in the driveway instead.

In all seriousness, though, I hear you.  The worst is if the tension mechanism inside breaks, because then you can't put it up at all.

I concur. That's why I got these. (They have adhesive on the back.)

[roadman65]

Thirty something people now driving senior citizens tricycles.  I'm guessing it's the middle age derelicts who find it easier to balance themselves being their earthly possessions make riding a two wheeler a tad more difficult.