Minor things that bother you

[1995hoo]

I almost never back into parking spaces, but I will pull thru to face out if possible, especially in the parking garage where we park for hockey games. I pull thru to face the drive aisle that leads to the exit in order to expedite leaving. I NEVER pull thru at the grocery store, though, because I want easier access to the trunk.

Our one-car garage is too narrow to back into easily, even with a backup camera, but if I park the RX-7 in there I put the convertible top down, back it in, and then put the top back up. Putting the top down eliminates some huge blind spots, and with that car the reason for backing it in is to make it easier to jumpstart it if needed (which has happened more than once over the years).

What I really hate are the people who think you should be a mind-reader and know that they're randomly going to throw it in reverse, without using a blinker, in order to park backwards. I'm not going to back up for that, especially if there's someone else behind me. You fail to signal, you forfeit any right to expect anyone else to know you're going to park in a different way from most people.

[wanderer2575]

How about people who back into spots in general? Do they just like being contrary? Especially with the advent of rear-view cameras, I don't get it. I had neighbors that backed into their garage. For what purpose?

My cars have backup cameras and I still always back in or pull through two spots so I am facing out.  Better sightlines than what the camera provides, and I also get out there faster which means less chance of a collision with another vehicle backing out whose driver is not looking.

And I always back into my garage.  Again, better sightlines and faster exit when pulling into the road when I leave.

[J N Winkler]

I NEVER pull thru at the grocery store, though, because I want easier access to the trunk.

This is a personal preference, but I park nose-out at the grocery store too, so I don't have to mind a cart in the aisle.

What I really hate are the people who think you should be a mind-reader and know that they're randomly going to throw it in reverse, without using a blinker, in order to park backwards. I'm not going to back up for that, especially if there's someone else behind me. You fail to signal, you forfeit any right to expect anyone else to know you're going to park in a different way from most people.

I always put my signal on as I approach my target space, but I fully expect a following vehicle to gazump it unless I'm actually reversing as it arrives.  I also try to keep well back of a vehicle in front so the driver seeking a space has the flexibility to back rather than turn into it, but I know this courtesy will rarely (if ever) be reciprocated.

As with many driving-related things, there is a long game here.  I'm willing to put up with some inconvenience, including having to cruise a bit longer for a free space I can conveniently park in nose-out, to shave my risk of a parking-lot collision.  Even low-speed PDO crashes are enormous time-wasters.

[jeffandnicole]

What I really hate are the people who think you should be a mind-reader and know that they're randomly going to throw it in reverse, without using a blinker, in order to park backwards. I'm not going to back up for that, especially if there's someone else behind me. You fail to signal, you forfeit any right to expect anyone else to know you're going to park in a different way from most people.

I always use a blinker if I'm backing in, and motorists will still ride up on my bumper, as if they think I'm signaling to pull in to a space up ahead. I see this in the parking garage all the time (it's a 2 way garage).  And what does the person who was on my (or someone else's) ass do? They drive to the next open spot, stop, and back in as well. No turn signal. If that's how they normally park, they should expect others to do the same.

[1995hoo]

Turning to things other than parking...

My wife feels the need to react to, and comment on, things she sees on TV, and she will comment out loud immediately whenever she feels the urge. Doesn't matter what's on (news, sports, Jeopardy, anything), nor what her comment is, nor whether anyone else present is trying to listen to the TV (as I often am–I want to hear what the person on TV is saying, not the Social Justice Warrior complaining). So I back up the broadcast a bit to hear what was said, which almost causes a bigger argument than asking her to shut up.

Yet if I comment when she wants to hear something, you'd think I'd just cancelled Christmas.

[Max Rockatansky]

Turning to things other than parking...

My wife feels the need to react to, and comment on, things she sees on TV, and she will comment out loud immediately whenever she feels the urge. Doesn't matter what's on (news, sports, Jeopardy, anything), nor what her comment is, nor whether anyone else present is trying to listen to the TV (as I often am–I want to hear what the person on TV is saying, not the Social Justice Warrior complaining). So I back up the broadcast a bit to hear what was said, which almost causes a bigger argument than asking her to shut up.

Yet if I comment when she wants to hear something, you'd think I'd just cancelled Christmas.

My wife does the exact same thing to me.  She'll talk over movies all the time asking me to explain the plot.  But if I'm in the room when she watching junk like This is Us (or whatever that cat show with the girl from Blossom is called) she'll flip if I talk outside of a commercial.

The former really doesn't bother me since I like trying to dissect movie plots.  The latter really just gives me an excuse to go into the bedroom and watch something I want to on YouTube.  In fact I've purposely said things a couple times during shows so I get asked to leave. 

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Turning to things other than parking...

My wife feels the need to react to, and comment on, things she sees on TV, and she will comment out loud immediately whenever she feels the urge. Doesn't matter what's on (news, sports, Jeopardy, anything), nor what her comment is, nor whether anyone else present is trying to listen to the TV (as I often am–I want to hear what the person on TV is saying, not the Social Justice Warrior complaining). So I back up the broadcast a bit to hear what was said, which almost causes a bigger argument than asking her to shut up.

Yet if I comment when she wants to hear something, you'd think I'd just cancelled Christmas.

A friend specifically invited me to watch an important Packers/Vikings game with her in Week 17 of 2012 with a playoff spot on the line for the Vikings. She just kind of nonchalantly chatted through the entire thing in her usual manner telling me about this and that and not really watching much of the game, which I was very into and wished she would just shut up and keep knitting especially as the game turned into a nailbiter. Things like this are why I prefer to watch sports alone.

[jakeroot]

What I really hate are the people who think you should be a mind-reader and know that they're randomly going to throw it in reverse, without using a blinker, in order to park backwards. I'm not going to back up for that, especially if there's someone else behind me. You fail to signal, you forfeit any right to expect anyone else to know you're going to park in a different way from most people.

I always use a blinker if I'm backing in, and motorists will still ride up on my bumper, as if they think I'm signaling to pull in to a space up ahead. I see this in the parking garage all the time (it's a 2 way garage).  And what does the person who was on my (or someone else's) ass do? They drive to the next open spot, stop, and back in as well. No turn signal. If that's how they normally park, they should expect others to do the same.

As a former valet, I too always use my blinker when backing in (which is 98% of the time even years after I quit the job), and it makes zero difference. Sometimes I have to lay into the horn just to get someone to stop.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

That Google accounts are all-or-nothing when it comes to being signed in. For example, I can't be logged into YouTube and logged out of e-mail that I don't want to be checking.

[jeffandnicole]

That Google accounts are all-or-nothing when it comes to being signed in. For example, I can't be logged into YouTube and logged out of e-mail that I don't want to be checking.

Although it makes sense.  And it would be a lot more of a pain if someone had to sign in to every...single...Google...app...

[Scott5114]

That Google accounts are all-or-nothing when it comes to being signed in. For example, I can't be logged into YouTube and logged out of e-mail that I don't want to be checking.

Although it makes sense.  And it would be a lot more of a pain if someone had to sign in to every...single...Google...app...

It makes more sense for Google, because that way they can track what you do in all of their apps more easily.

Signing into every single app didn't feel like much of a problem before Google bought all of them...

[kkt]

That Google accounts are all-or-nothing when it comes to being signed in. For example, I can't be logged into YouTube and logged out of e-mail that I don't want to be checking.

Although it makes sense.  And it would be a lot more of a pain if someone had to sign in to every...single...Google...app...

It makes more sense for Google, because that way they can track what you do in all of their apps more easily.

Signing into every single app didn't feel like much of a problem before Google bought all of them...

I don't think Google has any trouble at all tracking you through all their apps.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

There's one reason I started using DuckDuckGo for web searches, I don't want freaking Google to save my searches.

And by the way, I've had to log into Gmail despite having been logged in for YouTube before.

[J N Winkler]

I configure Firefox to block tracking cookies and third-party cookies, keep location services turned off, and use an ad-blocking HOSTS file on every device I conveniently can (I've never heard of a way to install one on an Android device without access to Android developer tools), but I'm under no illusions that I can still be tracked through browser fingerprinting.

[hbelkins]

I may have mentioned this one before, but one of my biggest grammatical pet peeves is the use of "formally" when you mean "formerly."

I actually saw a social media ad from an area hospital noting that a doctor, "formally" of another practice, had joined them.

It's like the proverbial fingernails down a chalkboard when I read that.

[J N Winkler]

I may have mentioned this one before, but one of my biggest grammatical pet peeves is the use of "formally" when you mean "formerly."

I actually saw a social media ad from an area hospital noting that a doctor, "formally" of another practice, had joined them.

It's like the proverbial fingernails down a chalkboard when I read that.

Copyeditors these days seem to have given up on phrases such as "fulsome praise" or "he was reticent to [perform action]."

[Scott5114]

I actually saw a social media ad from an area hospital noting that a doctor, "formally" of another practice, had joined them.

Maybe he was on their payroll but never actually did anything. So he was formally of that practice, but not practically.

[kphoger]

How about people who back into spots in general? Do they just like being contrary? Especially with the advent of rear-view cameras, I don't get it. I had neighbors that backed into their garage. For what purpose?

it never seemed to me that the perceived benefits of back-in parking outweighed those of head-in parking. I was told the main reason is that, when leaving the space, the driver can more easily see oncoming cars/pedestrians.

Ever come out to your car, only to find the battery's dead?  Ever need to have your neighbor give you a jump-start so you can get to AutoZone?

Jump-starting a car is a lot more difficult if it's nosed in.  I don't have a garage, but I can only imagine what it would be like to try and jump-start a vehicle that's nosed into a below-street-level garage.

That's half the reason I back in to most spots.

[7/8]

This may very well have been mentioned in the previous 150 pages, but:

People who back-in park in angled spots in a one-way parking aisle, meaning they have to do awkward movements to get in and out; and since one-way parking aisles are generally narrower, they often have to execute a multi-point maneuver.

How about people who back into spots in general? Do they just like being contrary? Especially with the advent of rear-view cameras, I don't get it. I had neighbors that backed into their garage. For what purpose?

Because of backup cameras, I find it almost easier to back in than pull in to a parking spot. Because I have a low car, if I pull in, I have to be careful to not hit the bumper on the curb (if there is one), but backing in, I can see exactly how far to go. It's also safer pulling out than backing out even with the camera.

As far as garages go, my preference for a two-car garage is to back in on the left side (facing the house) and pull in on the right side. That why, the cars can sit close to the outside walls, leaving more space in the middle to walk and open the car doors.

[Roadgeekteen]

When you get a shock of static electricity from touching things. EVERYTHING at UMass is metal, so I've been shocked by sink handles, shower handles, doorknobs, elevator buttons, dining hall serving utensils... I actually had some bad anxiety about touching sink handles so I had to use my sleeve to turn on the sink and I also use my sleeve to open doors and touch elevator buttons. Hopefully, people don't think it's too weird...

[SSOWorld]

people who get bitchy because others have prefereces that don't match theirs.

[vdeane]

Chrome taking away the flag to stop the menus for bookmarks and right click in incognito being changed to dark mode.  It's so ugly and makes things harder to find (especially bookmarks, since the favicons are less visible).  I was already considering switching browsers over the coming API changes that will break adblockers, but this might just be the final nail in the coffin.  Maybe I'll switch to Firefox (since I've figured out how to fix the font annoyance), though I'd have to figure out new ways to do a few things and being on a difference rendering engine than most internet users could be an issue given that I have a website (also not sure how streaming services will react, given that I run Linux and probably can't fall back on OS codecs if the browser can't do something).  Vivaldi is also a strong contender, though I've never used it before so I'll have to try it out.  Can't do Brave (I think) unfortunately since I need bookmark and reading list sync across my desktop, laptop, and phone and their system doesn't sound as good.

[J N Winkler]

I was already considering switching browsers over the coming API changes that will break adblockers, but this might just be the final nail in the coffin.

Manifest version 3, you mean?  Google's pretense that this isn't a naked exercise of its economic power is even more threadbare than usual.  I'm just glad they aren't doing anything about ad-blocking HOSTS files.

Speaking of which, I have discovered another browser-related annoyance:  websites that use JavaScript calls to read the system clock for purposes of allowing or denying access to resources.  Popeyes' website, for instance, will not allow me to place an order online past a time in the early afternoon, because my current system time (British Summer Time) is six hours ahead of Central Daylight Time.  Developers have attempted to write extensions to give users control over whether and how timezones are reported, but it's a game of Whac-a-Mole since websites can use different JavaScript commands and no one extension seems to cover them all.

[Scott5114]

Either Firefox has code to finesse the issue, or I just haven't had the misfortune of trying to do business with a place that cares enough to check my system clock... but I wonder how that functions on Linux, where the hardware system clock is by custom set to UTC, and adjusted to local time only when it is to be displayed to the user. (This leads to various forms of weirdness in the rare case I need to run Windows software on Linux, like GRLevel3's auto-polling breaking because thinks the next Doppler data refresh will be 6 hours in the future.)

Related: websites that have "hours of operation" and close at night, like the IRS website. Have their Web developers somehow never been on the Internet before?

[J N Winkler]

Either Firefox has code to finesse the issue, or I just haven't had the misfortune of trying to do business with a place that cares enough to check my system clock... but I wonder how that functions on Linux, where the hardware system clock is by custom set to UTC, and adjusted to local time only when it is to be displayed to the user. (This leads to various forms of weirdness in the rare case I need to run Windows software on Linux, like GRLevel3's auto-polling breaking because thinks the next Doppler data refresh will be 6 hours in the future.)

If you are curious, you can go to Popeyes' store locator, enter your city and state, and see if any of the locations are reported as closed.  I've done this just now for Norman, Oklahoma and the website says they are all closed, which is just not believable going into the dinner hour in this timezone.  (This is with Firefox 98 64-bit on Windows 10.)

Related: websites that have "hours of operation" and close at night, like the IRS website. Have their Web developers somehow never been on the Internet before?

This is strange.  I wonder if the hours-of-operation thing arises from the website being so buggy it cannot be allowed to serve remote clients without a sysadmin on hand to intervene manually when it falls over.

I actually try to run downloaders outside usual business hours so I'm not competing with office workers in the respective timezones for resource availability.  I launch many of them shortly after six PM my local time, which is after five PM closing for about half the country and is in the middle of the night in Europe.

Every so often, I work with a website that hosts large files and seems to undergo a reboot every day at 5 AM in its local time.  If downloads are still active at 5 AM, they are interrupted with a hard close even though this corrupts the local copies of the files.  If a new downloading session is then started shortly after 5 AM, it will usually run smoothly for hours and hours.  If it is started much later in the day, say during the evening or even the late afternoon, trouble (stalled downloads, attempts to load new pages landing instead on the "session expired" page despite use of an autologout suppressor, etc.) is much more likely to happen.