Minor things that bother you

[kphoger]

One of the more interesting things I learned about the Union Jack the other week is that, with a few narrow exceptions, it is not supposed to be flown by civilian vessels--rather, an ensign appropriate to the ship's status is to be flown instead.

Oh, cool, I see that the reason for the law is that there was a complaint made in 1634 that members of the mercantile marine were slipping past port customs officers without paying duty, by virtue of their flying the same flag as the Navy Royal.  The author of the linked-to book has a rather nuanced take on the validity of that justification.

[Hobart]

I am in several Discord servers. There is one user who, to start a conversation, posts the following, with no context or additional thought:

flops (as in, the action of flopping? i don't know)

I really don't understand how or why I'm expected to turn this into a legitimate conversation.

[hbelkins]

there would be a single religion represented until they took down the creche.

With my preferred method, there would have been a single religion (Judaism) represented during Hanukkah and a single religion (Christmas) (but probably also Kwanzaa, if Wichita does that, which is a question I don't know the answer to) during Christmastide.

Except Kwanzaa isn't a religious holiday. It's presented as an African cultural holiday observance.

[tmoore952]

Apparently $19 per month is now the magic number for all charitable organizations.  (I know, it's an old marketing gimmick that it appears less costly than $20.)  And all their TV commercials look exactly the same.

I was talking about this with my sister while watching TV, and then there was a commercial for saving elephants (don't remember the name of the organization). I said, "let me guess, $19/month?". Turns out elephants are cheap, at only $12/month.

Or 63 cents a day is what I often hear, which is $18.90 for a 30 day month and $19.53 for a 31 day month.

[tmoore952]

I'd be in favor of both those things:  only light up the Christmas tree/stuff during the 12 days of Christmas (Christmas Eve through Twelfth Night), and only light up the Menorah during the eight days/nights of Hanukkah.  Of course, I totally agree that the first part of that would prompt a big uproar, but it's what I'd personally prefer.

My religion does not observe Christmas until Christmas Eve. And they take down right after the Sunday that falls between Jan. 9 and Jan. 15.

[hotdogPi]

One of the restaurants I saw on Balboa Island or the adjacent peninsula had what they called a "students menu". It was just a renamed kids menu. I've seen enough "students 10% off" or "students free drink" in college towns that it confused me at first, since I knew this location wasn't a college town.

[Scott5114]

I am in several Discord servers. There is one user who, to start a conversation, posts the following, with no context or additional thought:

flops (as in, the action of flopping? i don't know)

I really don't understand how or why I'm expected to turn this into a legitimate conversation.

Maybe they really want to talk about floating point operations.

[1995hoo]

Every year around this time of year there is invariably a barrage of e-mails from places like universities and other charities soliciting donations and claiming that "time is running out." Time isn't running out for anyone except their own desire to meet their own calendar-year goal. That's not my problem.

[DTComposer]

Every year around this time of year there is invariably a barrage of e-mails from places like universities and other charities soliciting donations and claiming that "time is running out." Time isn't running out for anyone except their own desire to meet their own calendar-year goal. That's not my problem.

True to an extent, but it's also aimed at individuals wanting to make last-minute donations as a tax write-off for the year.

[1995hoo]

Every year around this time of year there is invariably a barrage of e-mails from places like universities and other charities soliciting donations and claiming that "time is running out." Time isn't running out for anyone except their own desire to meet their own calendar-year goal. That's not my problem.

True to an extent, but it's also aimed at individuals wanting to make last-minute donations as a tax write-off for the year.

I understand that (I used to itemize before the last big tax law rewrite), although I also tend to think that the majority of people who take advantage of that sort of thing are well aware of the timing without nagging spam messages.

[GaryV]

Salvation Army spammed my wife with a text - during church this morning. Really?

[mgk920]

there would be a single religion represented until they took down the creche.

With my preferred method, there would have been a single religion (Judaism) represented during Hanukkah and a single religion (Christmas) (but probably also Kwanzaa, if Wichita does that, which is a question I don't know the answer to) during Christmastide.

Except Kwanzaa isn't a religious holiday. It's presented as an African cultural holiday observance.

IIRC, it was dreamed up by a professor at Wayne State University in Detroit during the late 1960s.

Mike

[kkt]

Salvation Army spammed my wife with a text - during church this morning. Really?

Does the Salvation Army have some way of knowning which church service you attend?  Does your phone not have an "off" button?

[jeffandnicole]

Salvation Army spammed my wife with a text - during church this morning. Really?

If it was a sunrise service, I'd be piased also. But 10 or 11am? I mean, how are they supposed to know?

[Rothman]

Salvation Army spammed my wife with a text - during church this morning. Really?

If it was a sunrise service, I'd be piased also. But 10 or 11am? I mean, how are they supposed to know?

Minor things that bother me: People who don't turn off their audible notifications during church.  And yes, I have yet to be in a congregation where a phone beeps or goes off and a doctor or police officer has to run out of the room.

[ZLoth]

And yes, I have yet to be in a congregation where a phone beeps or goes off and a doctor or police officer has to run out of the room.

Hey, there are people in mission-critical IT support who are on-call as well!

[kkt]

Salvation Army spammed my wife with a text - during church this morning. Really?

If it was a sunrise service, I'd be piased also. But 10 or 11am? I mean, how are they supposed to know?

Minor things that bother me: People who don't turn off their audible notifications during church.  And yes, I have yet to be in a congregation where a phone beeps or goes off and a doctor or police officer has to run out of the room.

That's what "vibrate mode" is for.

[hbelkins]

Every year around this time of year there is invariably a barrage of e-mails from places like universities and other charities soliciting donations and claiming that "time is running out." Time isn't running out for anyone except their own desire to meet their own calendar-year goal. That's not my problem.

True to an extent, but it's also aimed at individuals wanting to make last-minute donations as a tax write-off for the year.

Most of the solicitation emails I get are from politicians asking for my help in meeting their critically important year-end fundraising goals.

[1995hoo]

Salvation Army spammed my wife with a text - during church this morning. Really?

If it was a sunrise service, I'd be piased also. But 10 or 11am? I mean, how are they supposed to know?

Minor things that bother me: People who don't turn off their audible notifications during church.  And yes, I have yet to be in a congregation where a phone beeps or goes off and a doctor or police officer has to run out of the room.

I was at Mass one Sunday when the priest said, during his homily, that he was going to read a message from St. Francis of Assisi. Right then, some lady's phone rang. The priest, without missing a beat, said, "Oh, never mind. He's calling to give us the message himself." The lady looked ready to crawl under the pew and die.

I put my phone in airplane mode in churches, at the dentist, at the barber, and at the movies. Silent mode isn't enough to ensure it won't make noise, and at the dentist and the barber I don't want to be startled at the wrong moment.

[Scott5114]

The first thing I do when I get a new phone is put it on vibrate, and then I never take it off of that. Most of the time I don't want to know if someone is calling me, much less anyone else.

[vdeane]

Salvation Army spammed my wife with a text - during church this morning. Really?

If it was a sunrise service, I'd be piased also. But 10 or 11am? I mean, how are they supposed to know?

Christian churches typically have their services on Sundays with many having services throughout the morning, so I would think an organization as Christian as the Salvation Army would try to avoid that time period.

[kkt]

Salvation Army spammed my wife with a text - during church this morning. Really?

If it was a sunrise service, I'd be piased also. But 10 or 11am? I mean, how are they supposed to know?

Christian churches typically have their services on Sundays with many having services throughout the morning, so I would think an organization as Christian as the Salvation Army would try to avoid that time period.

We also had a Saturday late afternoon mass, and a Wednesday mass.  On the whole, worshipers should learn to turn their phones off.

[hbelkins]

Invariably, at a public gathering, there will be an announcement that phones should be set to silent or vibrate. And invariably, someone's phone will go off.

[tmoore952]

Unbelievable numbers of TV graphics that are misspelled on the news shows on my local stations.

Two of many: "morning a loss" (should be "mourning")
"extenguishing a fire" (should be "extinguishing).

I'm not sure how this happens. Some computer program translating voice commands, or someone typing?

As mentioned, these are two of many. If I'd been keeping a list, I'd probably have filled an entire page.

Along the same lines, from a couple days ago (Channel 4, Washington DC).
This is an approximation of the entire headline -- but I did get the error right.

"Loose blot causes Boeing to urge inspections of 737 Max planes"   (should be "loose bolt")

[tmoore952]

Every year around this time of year there is invariably a barrage of e-mails from places like universities and other charities soliciting donations and claiming that "time is running out." Time isn't running out for anyone except their own desire to meet their own calendar-year goal. That's not my problem.

True to an extent, but it's also aimed at individuals wanting to make last-minute donations as a tax write-off for the year.

I understand that (I used to itemize before the last big tax law rewrite), although I also tend to think that the majority of people who take advantage of that sort of thing are well aware of the timing without nagging spam messages.

I also used to itemize until a year ago (the last tax law rewrite was not kind to itemizers (as many of you know)), and it caused me to accelerate getting my house paid off to get out of the itemization game quicker. Last year was the last year I will itemize for mortgage interest reasons, at least for my current residence, and likely for all time, given high real estate prices where I live.

Because of my (now) non-itemization, I was less inclined to do year-end donations, as I had less incentive to do so at least from a financial standpoint. Getting a $3000 car repair bill on Dec 23 pretty much killed that idea for this year.