Minor things that bother you

[skluth]

Automatic Dialers. I dislike when you pick up the phone and there is nobody there until a few seconds later an operator starts pitching. 

That's why I generally don't answer the phone unless I know who's calling. An unknown number can leave a voicemail. If the call isn't important enough for them to leave a message, it's certainly not important enough for me to answer.

And on the rare occasion when I do answer an unknown number, if I hear some phrase such as "please stay on the line for the next representative," I'm hanging up. YOU called ME, not the other way around. Ditto if there is any sort of delay in speaking on the other end when I answer.

I do all that too. I technically have a landline which I don't use and the only reason I have it is that it forces telemarketers spammers to use that number instead of my cell phone when calling. The only reason I know it's used is the Caller ID shows up on my TV (it's a Spectrum bundle). I probably average a half dozen calls daily that might have otherwise come over my mobile line (also Spectrum).

I do get annoyed by the fake texts I get on my cell phone but I can delete those.

[abefroman329]

Dress pants that are sold with unfinished bottoms.  I get why it's more efficient for manufacturers and consumers, but I don't really like the fact that a $50 pair of slacks actually cost $60 because it'll cost another $10 to hem them.

[skluth]

Dress pants that are sold with unfinished bottoms.  I get why it's more efficient for manufacturers and consumers, but I don't really like the fact that a $50 pair of slacks actually cost $60 because it'll cost another $10 to hem them.

I'm short, so even the standard 30" inseam is too long for me and I'd end up with frayed pants legs. Before I retired, I bought all my work pants from Lands End as you can buy their pants with custom inseams to the nearest 1/4". It was nice wearing pants with a 29.25" inseam. I don't know if they still have this policy as I've been retired for five years now.

[abefroman329]

Dress pants that are sold with unfinished bottoms.  I get why it's more efficient for manufacturers and consumers, but I don't really like the fact that a $50 pair of slacks actually cost $60 because it'll cost another $10 to hem them.

I'm short, so even the standard 30" inseam is too long for me and I'd end up with frayed pants legs. Before I retired, I bought all my work pants from Lands End as you can buy their pants with custom inseams to the nearest 1/4". It was nice wearing pants with a 29.25" inseam. I don't know if they still have this policy as I've been retired for five years now.

I'm somewhere between 30" and 32", it really depends on the manufacturer, but as long as I don't have a ton of sock showing and I'm not stepping on the bottoms, I'm happy.

I think I've seen something similar to what Lands End does, but don't you still have to pay extra for the custom hems?

[skluth]

Dress pants that are sold with unfinished bottoms.  I get why it's more efficient for manufacturers and consumers, but I don't really like the fact that a $50 pair of slacks actually cost $60 because it'll cost another $10 to hem them.

I'm short, so even the standard 30" inseam is too long for me and I'd end up with frayed pants legs. Before I retired, I bought all my work pants from Lands End as you can buy their pants with custom inseams to the nearest 1/4". It was nice wearing pants with a 29.25" inseam. I don't know if they still have this policy as I've been retired for five years now.

I'm somewhere between 30" and 32", it really depends on the manufacturer, but as long as I don't have a ton of sock showing and I'm not stepping on the bottoms, I'm happy.

I think I've seen something similar to what Lands End does, but don't you still have to pay extra for the custom hems?

No idea if Lands End still does custom hems. However, I bought their pants almost exclusively from the late 90's until I retired in 2017 and the custom inseams were built into the price.

[kphoger]

There is really no rational argument against writing something the same way you say it other than "this is my hill and I'm going to die on it".

Other than, you know, the fact that it would call into question approximately 50% of the spellings in the entire English language...

This is a similar argument to when my former boss claimed that people in Wichita saying "I-35" when referring to I-135 was really no different from them saying "ar-KAN-zass" instead of "AR-kan-saw" when referring to Arkansas Avenue.  I didn't buy that argument either.

Sorry, I guess I missed the part where "writing something" applied only to numbers and not words.

You're also ignoring the fact that the huge majority of the weird spellings in English are due to the Great Vowel Shift:  that is, the spelling of our language's words was standardized just as the pronunciation of our language's words was undergoing a monumental change.  Or, to put it another way, the spelling of our words does match the pronunciation of our words–a pronunciation from southern England 500 years ago.  If you understand the Great Vowel Shift, then those wacky spellings make total sense.

In contrast, no such change has happened in the way we say dates.  We didn't use to say the year first, and we still don't say the year first.  So there's no commonsense reason to write the year first in most contexts.

[webny99]

When someone rings the doorbell but is not patient enough to wait for me to answer it, so that by the time I get there, there's nobody around.

Since I work from home and don't leave the house most days, the majority of the time I am not dressed enough to answer the door for a stranger. But apparently the amount of time it takes to get up, go get dressed, and answer the door is too much to wait for some people. (Especially kids. It seems like most of the time it's kids ringing our bell. I'm not sure why–they're never around long enough for me to ask!)

I'm fine with that if it's for a delivery and they leave it on the porch.

For other purposes, it seems like the era of door-to-door soliciting is largely over post-covid, but I did it a few times as a kid and usually waited up to a minute, less than that if it looked like no one was home. One time someone came to the door while pulling on a t-shirt (I was cool with that), and another time, someone came to the door wearing only sweatpants, which was explained when he said he worked night shift (I actually felt bad for waking him up!). I guess that's just an inherent downside to working from home and/or dressing casually while at home. Personally, I might just not answer the door if it was going to take more than about 30 seconds to do so in respectable fashion, but that's just me.

[kphoger]

The opposite is even more bothersome:  someone rings your doorbell, you ignore it because you don't want to interact with the person, and then he just stands in your driveway for like five minutes.

[J N Winkler]

The opposite is even more bothersome:  someone rings your doorbell, you ignore it because you don't want to interact with the person, and then he just stands in your driveway for like five minutes.

Another variant:  you are returning from an errand and already have your blinker on to turn into your driveway when you see door-to-door salespeople walking up to your door, so you have to cancel your signal in a hurry and circle the block until they leave.

[webny99]

The opposite is even more bothersome:  someone rings your doorbell, you ignore it because you don't want to interact with the person, and then he just stands in your driveway for like five minutes.

It's definitely a tricky balance. Five minutes - or even half that long! - is too long to wait, but you don't want to give up immediately either, especially if it looks like someone is home.

And of course, when to answer the door and when not to is a whole 'nother subject. I'm generally pretty conservative in that regard (except on Halloween), but it's highly context-dependent.

[formulanone]

The opposite is even more bothersome:  someone rings your doorbell, you ignore it because you don't want to interact with the person, and then he just stands in your driveway for like five minutes.

Another variant:  you are returning from an errand and already have your blinker on to turn into your driveway when you see door-to-door salespeople walking up to your door, so you have to cancel your signal in a hurry and circle the block until they leave.

Though entirely plausible, this also seems like something from a Seinfeld episode.

[J N Winkler]

The opposite is even more bothersome:  someone rings your doorbell, you ignore it because you don't want to interact with the person, and then he just stands in your driveway for like five minutes.

Another variant:  you are returning from an errand and already have your blinker on to turn into your driveway when you see door-to-door salespeople walking up to your door, so you have to cancel your signal in a hurry and circle the block until they leave.

Though entirely plausible, this also seems like something from a Seinfeld episode.

It happened to me--for real--about a year ago.  The door-to-door folk numbered three and since I didn't speak to them, I'm not completely sure they were selling goods or services:  they might have been missionaries or soliciting charitable donations.  (It was the wrong season for them to be going door-to-door on behalf of a candidate for elected office.)  My reasoning was that letting them wait outside an empty house was better than any of several unpalatable options that crossed my mind (each beginning with me pulling into the garage):

*  Cut the engine immediately, close the garage door with the remote in the car, and enter through the back door, snubbing the three people.

*  Get out of my car, head for the front door, and go through the whole "Can you write it down?  I can't hear" routine when I know up front I'm not going to buy anything they are selling.

*  Get out of my car, and let myself into the house through the front door, pretending they're not there.

Edited to add:  A while ago the New Yorker had an article on door-to-door selling as currently practiced.  It notes that, compared to other sales methods, door-to-door works especially well for products prospective buyers would like to have, or think they need to have, but whose quality dimensions are so complex it takes an offputting amount of research and optimization to be sure of getting a good deal.  Solar power is currently big in the US right now.  In the UK, where most of the housing stock has single-pane windows, "double-glazing salesmen" has become slang for shysters trying to lock customers into disadvantageous deals.

[roadman65]

Obituaries of people far from dead.

Recently I've seen Chuck Norris, Tom Selleck, and Ron Howard reported to have died.

Then just today I read that Valeri Bertinelli died.

I of course recently searched all and found them to be hoaxes.

[kirbykart]

Obituaries of people far from dead.

Recently I've seen Chuck Norris, Tom Selleck, and Ron Howard reported to have died.

Then just today I read that Valeri Bertinelli died.

I of course recently searched all and found them to be hoaxes.

  My great-aunt always says that her brother would read the obituaries in the paper every day to make sure he wasn't dead.

[jeffandnicole]

Obituaries of people far from dead.

Recently I've seen Chuck Norris, Tom Selleck, and Ron Howard reported to have died.

Then just today I read that Valeri Bertinelli died.

I of course recently searched all and found them to be hoaxes.

Where are you getting your news??

[roadman65]

Obituaries of people far from dead.

Recently I’ve seen Chuck Norris, Tom Selleck, and Ron Howard reported to have died.

Then just today I read that Valeri Bertinelli died.

I of course recently searched all and found them to be hoaxes.

Where are you getting your news??

Not news but pop up ads that seem to take the MO of the National Enquirer and those mags you see in a super market checkout. Remember the ones that say Elvis is alive.

The funny thing is that some of them appeared on FB. However the Norris one didn’t as for once their fact checkers proved false info on a non political person.
https://www.facebook.com/AprendendoIngles0/photos/corona-virus-claims-a-black-belt-chuck-norris-dead-at-80carlos-ray-chuck-norris-/2911702705588355/

This might be why. https://christpoint.com/chuck-norris-the-resurrection-and-suffering/
Someone posted a joke article about him during Covid.

Here’s something to back up the rumor of Valeri Bertinellis rumored death.
https://deadorkicking.com/valerie-bertinelli-dead-or-alive/
https://en.mediamass.net/people/valerie-bertinelli/deathhoax.html

[kphoger]

This is before we get into the non-governmental implications of not being of the majority religion. One example is that my wife has had extreme difficulty finding a competent therapist that does not use Christianity as part and parcel of their therapeutic practice; she outright had one therapist tell her that her professionally-diagnosed clinical depression was due to her being "mad at God" and essentially that she needed to get right with a God she didn't believe in before the therapist could help her. This has left her with little progress in actually getting treatment for her condition.

Do bear in mind that 31% of respondents in Nevada attend religious services "at least once a week", compared to 43% in Oklahoma.  It's a difference, yes, but perhaps it's not the night-and-day difference you might be expecting.  It's the difference between #9 and #38 in the nation;  as a whole, even Wisconsin is less church-going than Nevada.  Anecdotally, the only person I personally know who lives in Nevada is a Southern Baptist and the son of a former Christian missionary.

[hotdogPi]

even Wisconsin is less church-going than Wisconsin

Are you sure about this?

[kphoger]

even Wisconsin is less church-going than Wisconsin

Are you sure about this?

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/compare/attendance-at-religious-services/by/state/

Nevada beats Wisconsin for "At least once a week" by 4%.  Nevada does beat Wisconsin for "Seldom/never", but only by a tight 2% margin.

[hotdogPi]

even Wisconsin is less church-going than Wisconsin

Are you sure about this?

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/compare/attendance-at-religious-services/by/state/

Nevada beats Wisconsin for "At least once a week" by 4%.  Nevada does beat Wisconsin for "Seldom/never", but only by a tight 2% margin.

The claim of yours I quoted was for Wisconsin vs. Wisconsin, not Nevada vs. Wisconsin.

[kphoger]

The claim of yours I quoted was for Wisconsin vs. Wisconsin, not Nevada vs. Wisconsin.

Well, in that case, it's a dead tie.   

Fixed my post.

[kphoger]

The lack of pockets in most athletic pants.
And those that do have them tend to only have front pockets, no rear ones.

[webny99]

Advance warning signage for an upcoming signal with a supplementary plaque that reads "PREPARE TO STOP WHEN FLASHING".

The timing of the flashing should be offset according to the speed limit and the sign's distance from the signal, not just flashing when yellow/red, and I'm never sure if it is, so I end up just ignoring the flashing when I can see the light. It would actually be very useful if you could use it to forecast an upcoming yellow phase (prepare to stop even though the light is green) or an upcoming green phase (light will be green by the time you get there, so don't prepare to stop unless warranted by other traffic).

[kphoger]

Advance warning signage for an upcoming signal with a supplementary plaque that reads "PREPARE TO STOP WHEN FLASHING".

The timing of the flashing should be offset according to the speed limit and the sign's distance from the signal, not just flashing when yellow/red, and I'm never sure if it is, so I end up just ignoring the flashing when I can see the light. It would actually be very useful if you could use it to forecast an upcoming yellow phase (prepare to stop even though the light is green) or an upcoming green phase (light will be green by the time you get there, so don't prepare to stop unless warranted by other traffic).

You mean that as in "is required to be", or "ought to be in my opinion"?

[webny99]

Advance warning signage for an upcoming signal with a supplementary plaque that reads "PREPARE TO STOP WHEN FLASHING".

The timing of the flashing should be offset according to the speed limit and the sign's distance from the signal, not just flashing when yellow/red, and I'm never sure if it is, so I end up just ignoring the flashing when I can see the light. It would actually be very useful if you could use it to forecast an upcoming yellow phase (prepare to stop even though the light is green) or an upcoming green phase (light will be green by the time you get there, so don't prepare to stop unless warranted by other traffic).

You mean that as in "is required to be", or "ought to be in my opinion"?

Should be required to be, in my opinion.