Minor things that bother you

[Beltway]

Do you regularly encounter people puking into sinks?

During my career as a restaurant manager, I think I had to clean puke out of a sink three times (over approximately 10 years).

Given the choice between standing upright in a public restroom and vomiting into a sink, and kneeling on the bathroom floor and vomiting into the toilet, I'm puking in the sink every time. At home, I'll worship the porcelain god. In a public restroom, nope, not doing it.

If you are unsure, or just really dizzy and nauseous, the safest place to puke is in the bath tub. It is easy to miss a commode, the sink has splash-back, but it is hard to miss a bath tub, and it will contain the mess without splash-back. If you hit the wall behind the tub, it will run down into the tub. Afterward wash it all down with the shower head.

[formulanone]

Years ago, my aux cable broke inside the car's aux port.  Sometime this year, I heard about some tools that are supposed to help (by inserting them in around the broken piece and then pulling it out), so I put them on my Christmas list.  Turns out the tools don't work at all, and if I want to fix this, it's going to be a (likely) very long appointment with the dealer's service department.  Is there a better way to deal with this?  I don't have a ton of time off to put towards fixing this problem, but I'd like to get that port fixed.

I would check YouTube to see if there's any how-to's on removing that part of the dash or center console. Sometimes the AUX / USB ports are a small part behind a larger piece of trim, which might make it easier to back out the broken prong. Interior trim is usually fairly easy to remove, and usually requires few (if any) special tools. (Example for a Honda Civic.)

On my current list are household electronics which just manage take up two receptacles on a wall outlet due to oblivious design.

[kphoger]

If you are unsure, or just really dizzy and nauseous, the safest place to puke is in the bath tub. It is easy to miss a commode, the sink has splash-back, but it is hard to miss a bath tub, and it will contain the mess without splash-back. If you hit the wall behind the tub, it will run down into the tub. Afterward wash it all down with the shower head.

With luck, you'll have opened the curtain first.

[Beltway]

I got an Epson printer about 5 years ago. It was a hassle keeping it properly supplied with ink and properly connected to the network.

About the bolded part...
A lot of wireless printers will only connect to Wi-Fi on the 2.4 GHz frequency band, which can cause issues with certain dual-band routers.  For example, we have a Panoramic gateway at home from Cox Communications.  A few months ago, after we had it upgraded during a service call, we had intermittent connectivity issues with our printer.  We then had the gateway swapped, downgraded, upgraded again—all to no avail.  Now, a Panoramic gateway has a built-in dual-band router that scans both frequency bands and uses whichever one it determines to be the best at that time.  What was apparently happening is that, unbeknownst to us, the bouncing around from 2.4 to 5.0 was making our wireless printer disconnect and reconnect from the Wi-Fi network every so often.  The solution was to rename our gateway's 5.0 GHz Wi-Fi network to something different (the two have the same name by default), which made our printer unable to recognize it and therefore never drop off the 2.4 band.
Shortly before Christmas, my parents upgraded from an old DOCSIS 3.0 eMTA to a Panoramic gateway as well.  Over the holiday, my mom mentioned that they were having intermittent connectivity issues with their printer.  My wife and I perked up immediately, because we knew how to fix it.  And fix it we did, by helping her download the Cox Wi-Fi app and renaming the 5.0 GHz network.
I work for a cable company that contracts for a couple of MSOs, including Cox.  But it was just one person here at work who first suggested trying the thing that ended up fixing our problem.  No one else had even heard of such a thing as wireless printers getting knocked off the network due to the dual-band thing.  So I shouldn't be surprised if a lot of service techs and IT support people out there aren't aware either.  But it's now work for both us and my parents.

Interesting -- though the new HP printer works fine, no problems.

I got an Epson printer about 5 years ago. It was a hassle keeping it properly supplied with ink and properly connected to the network.

The hassle of keeping it properly supplied with ink was another issue, the three cartridges. I still have it but it sits there unused. The HP is much simpler.

These are the ones --
EPSON598A0C (XP-4200 Series)
HP4B56FC (HP DeskJet 2700 series)

[JayhawkCO]

Re: the wireless printing, I thought my Brother printer wouldn't print from my work computer, but it turns out it only fails when I'm on my work VPN.

[Beltway]

If you are unsure, or just really dizzy and nauseous, the safest place to puke is in the bath tub. It is easy to miss a commode, the sink has splash-back, but it is hard to miss a bath tub, and it will contain the mess without splash-back. If you hit the wall behind the tub, it will run down into the tub. Afterward wash it all down with the shower head.

With luck, you'll have opened the curtain first.

Yes indeed -- yet the first time at age 14 I was so sick that I didn't realize that my 16 year old sister was in there when I pushed the shower curtain aside and let it rip. She was pretty angry.

[1995hoo]

Re: the wireless printing, I thought my Brother printer wouldn't print from my work computer, but it turns out it only fails when I'm on my work VPN.

That's normal with a VPN. Most of them lock out local network devices. The workaround is to run a wired connection from the work computer directly to the printer (I use a USB cable for that purpose, and my printer is also connected to the router with an Ethernet cable). Depending on the setup, you may have to have your IT people install the printer driver (I had to ask them to remote in because installing the driver required administrator rights, which I don't have).

[JayhawkCO]

Re: the wireless printing, I thought my Brother printer wouldn't print from my work computer, but it turns out it only fails when I'm on my work VPN.

That's normal with a VPN. Most of them lock out local network devices. The workaround is to run a wired connection from the work computer directly to the printer (I use a USB cable for that purpose, and my printer is also connected to the router with an Ethernet cable). Depending on the setup, you may have to have your IT people install the printer driver (I had to ask them to remote in because installing the driver required administrator rights, which I don't have).

I just disconnect from the VPN for a minute and then jump back on. I think that takes less time/effort than the other options personally. I only print something maybe once a month.

[kphoger]

I switched from desktop to laptop at work a few months ago.  I've been too lazy to have my boss add the correct print driver to the laptop.  And I print something every day.  So I move the file to a Dropbox folder, switch my monitor input to the desktop PC, open the file out of Dropbox on that computer, print it, and then switch the monitor input back again.

[hbelkins]

Do you regularly encounter people puking into sinks?

During my career as a restaurant manager, I think I had to clean puke out of a sink three times (over approximately 10 years).

Given the choice between standing upright in a public restroom and vomiting into a sink, and kneeling on the bathroom floor and vomiting into the toilet, I'm puking in the sink every time. At home, I'll worship the porcelain god. In a public restroom, nope, not doing it.

I would hope that you would take some paper towels and try to clean the remnant mess as opposed to leaving it for an innocent bystander though.

Oh, yes. Or at least try to rinse it out myself if it's one of those bathrooms that only has an electric hand dryer and no paper towels available.

[Max Rockatansky]

Do you regularly encounter people puking into sinks?

During my career as a restaurant manager, I think I had to clean puke out of a sink three times (over approximately 10 years).

It has happened on occasion in all the years I've been an LP Manager.  People puke a lot more into shopping carts and fitting rooms in stores though. 

[jeffandnicole]

If you are unsure, or just really dizzy and nauseous, the safest place to puke is in the bath tub. It is easy to miss a commode, the sink has splash-back, but it is hard to miss a bath tub, and it will contain the mess without splash-back. If you hit the wall behind the tub, it will run down into the tub. Afterward wash it all down with the shower head.

With luck, you'll have opened the curtain first.

Yes indeed -- yet the first time at age 14 I was so sick that I didn't realize that my 16 year old sister was in there when I pushed the shower curtain aside and let it rip. She was pretty angry.

  By far the best story you ever told.

[GaryV]

the safest place to puke is in the bath tub

I doubt you find too many of those in public rest rooms, such as those a restaurant manager would need to clean.

[kphoger]

I doubt you find too many of those in public rest rooms, such as those a restaurant manager would need to clean.

Just don't puke in the fryer and then post a video of it on social media...

[kphoger]

When I start to stream a TV show, and the thing pops up for [SKIP INTRO], but I don't hit the button on the remote control fast enough, so then I have to watch the intro anyway.

First world problems, anyone...

[JayhawkCO]

When I start to stream a TV show, and the thing pops up for [SKIP INTRO], but I don't hit the button on the remote control fast enough, so then I have to watch the intro anyway.

First world problems, anyone...

In a similar vein:

When my son requests a specific episode of Bluey and I track it down on Disney Plus. The problem is that it takes me to the point in the episode about 0.8 milliseconds before it auto-skips to the next episode, since I've already watched the episode previously. So, then I basically have to always go to the episode before the one I want to watch and then either let it auto-skip to the one I actually want or manually hit next episode.

[formulanone]

When I start to stream a TV show, and the thing pops up for [SKIP INTRO], but I don't hit the button on the remote control fast enough, so then I have to watch the intro anyway.

First world problems, anyone...

In a similar vein:

When my son requests a specific episode of Bluey and I track it down on Disney Plus. The problem is that it takes me to the point in the episode about 0.8 milliseconds before it auto-skips to the next episode, since I've already watched the episode previously. So, then I basically have to always go to the episode before the one I want to watch and then either let it auto-skip to the one I actually want or manually hit next episode.

Bandit is definitely trying to start a lawnmower or chainsaw, I'll die on that hill.

[Beltway]

the safest place to puke is in the bath tub

I doubt you find too many of those in public rest rooms, such as those a restaurant manager would need to clean.

Well that would be at home.

Some public rest rooms have a wash tub, and that would work for blowing groceries into.

[Max Rockatansky]

I rarely throw up in general.  On the road though when I was sick it was fairly easy to puke into a small bag or pull to the side of the road.  It only really got super concerning for me when diarrhea was involved.

[vdeane]

Years ago, my aux cable broke inside the car's aux port.  Sometime this year, I heard about some tools that are supposed to help (by inserting them in around the broken piece and then pulling it out), so I put them on my Christmas list.  Turns out the tools don't work at all, and if I want to fix this, it's going to be a (likely) very long appointment with the dealer's service department.  Is there a better way to deal with this?  I don't have a ton of time off to put towards fixing this problem, but I'd like to get that port fixed.

The tool I got works similarly; what's supposed to happen is it wraps around the broken piece, then you scrunch it together and pull it out.  Alas, it's buried too deep, and I don't think I have straws like that (nor do I have superglue).  The cable also broke pretty cleanly, so I'm not sure if there's a core.

I tried contacting the dealer, but they want me to spend at least an hour there on a work day to "diagnose" the issue.  I don't have that kind of time at this point; if I can't get it done on a weekend/holiday (or at least be assured of exactly how long this will all take to convince me to draw from my limited remaining personal time), I can't do it.  Is there anywhere else I can take the car to get this fixed?

Incidentally, the number of places closed on 1/1 is a minor thing that bothers me.  I don't think I've celebrated New Year's Day since I was 10, and I don't know anyone else who does either.  The real celebrations are all 12/31 for New Year's Eve, with the holiday being useful only for being able to sleep in after staying up to ring in the new year.  If the dealer were open for service on 1/1, even if they reduced hours to just the afternoon, I'd be able to go then, but I can't (and they say the technician needed to "diagnose" the issue doesn't work Saturdays; I don't understand why they can't just take my word for it that a piece of the cable is broken off and stuck in the jack and that they need to remove it and give me a straight answer about what that entails and how long it will take).

[Scott5114]

I don't understand why they can't just take my word for it that a piece of the cable is broken off and stuck in the jack and that they need to remove it and give me a straight answer about what that entails and how long it will take

1. Stupid people come to them all the time swearing up and down that the issue is X when it's really Y. They have no way of knowing for sure you're someone who has actually taken the time to try and fix it themselves.
2. Diagnosis includes figuring out what removing it entails and how long it will take. Presumably they're going to charge you labor by the hour for this, so they need to look at it before they can give you a quote.

[TheCatalyst31]

I rented a Mitsubishi Outlander for the trip I'm currently on, and today I had to gas it up for the first time. As I got to the pump, I saw that it had one of those fuel doors that you have to open from inside the car. So I looked for a button or something that looked like it would open the fuel door, but I couldn't see anything. I then checked the manual, assuming I had just overlooked it, but it just said there was a lever somewhere on the left side of the driver but didn't actually show where it was. (The only lever I could see was for the hood, which I popped in the process of trying to find this mystery lever.) It was only after looking up an instruction video on Youtube that I learned that the fuel door lever was on the floor next to the driver's door, and it turned out mine was covered up by the floor mat. Why on earth would the designers put a lever you need to use on a regular basis somewhere so unintuitive?

[Max Rockatansky]

I rented a Mitsubishi Outlander for the trip I'm currently on, and today I had to gas it up for the first time. As I got to the pump, I saw that it had one of those fuel doors that you have to open from inside the car. So I looked for a button or something that looked like it would open the fuel door, but I couldn't see anything. I then checked the manual, assuming I had just overlooked it, but it just said there was a lever somewhere on the left side of the driver but didn't actually show where it was. (The only lever I could see was for the hood, which I popped in the process of trying to find this mystery lever.) It was only after looking up an instruction video on Youtube that I learned that the fuel door lever was on the floor next to the driver's door, and it turned out mine was covered up by the floor mat. Why on earth would the designers put a lever you need to use on a regular basis somewhere so unintuitive?

Most Japanese cars have the fuel lever on the floor near the driver's door.

[TheCatalyst31]

I rented a Mitsubishi Outlander for the trip I'm currently on, and today I had to gas it up for the first time. As I got to the pump, I saw that it had one of those fuel doors that you have to open from inside the car. So I looked for a button or something that looked like it would open the fuel door, but I couldn't see anything. I then checked the manual, assuming I had just overlooked it, but it just said there was a lever somewhere on the left side of the driver but didn't actually show where it was. (The only lever I could see was for the hood, which I popped in the process of trying to find this mystery lever.) It was only after looking up an instruction video on Youtube that I learned that the fuel door lever was on the floor next to the driver's door, and it turned out mine was covered up by the floor mat. Why on earth would the designers put a lever you need to use on a regular basis somewhere so unintuitive?

Most Japanese cars have the fuel lever on the floor near the driver's door.

Huh, this is the first time I've run into it, but this is also the first time I've needed to gas up a Japanese car in a while. My own car is an American car where you can just open the fuel door, and my last couple of rentals were Hyundais where the fuel lever was somewhere more convenient.

[Molandfreak]

I rented a Mitsubishi Outlander for the trip I'm currently on, and today I had to gas it up for the first time. As I got to the pump, I saw that it had one of those fuel doors that you have to open from inside the car. So I looked for a button or something that looked like it would open the fuel door, but I couldn't see anything. I then checked the manual, assuming I had just overlooked it, but it just said there was a lever somewhere on the left side of the driver but didn't actually show where it was. (The only lever I could see was for the hood, which I popped in the process of trying to find this mystery lever.) It was only after looking up an instruction video on Youtube that I learned that the fuel door lever was on the floor next to the driver's door, and it turned out mine was covered up by the floor mat. Why on earth would the designers put a lever you need to use on a regular basis somewhere so unintuitive?

Most Japanese cars have the fuel lever on the floor near the driver's door.

Huh, this is the first time I've run into it, but this is also the first time I've needed to gas up a Japanese car in a while. My own car is an American car where you can just open the fuel door, and my last couple of rentals were Hyundais where the fuel lever was somewhere more convenient.

On my mom's Highlander, there is a button to open the rear hatch very close to this button. Maybe the idea is that they want it to be easily accessible, but you won't be able to accidentally hit it while you're driving.