Minor things that bother you

[kphoger]

Is there a way to opt out of pointless Verizon texts like "we received your payment" (the email confirmation of autopay is sufficient, although sadly, they now appear to have discontinued that) while still getting text notifications for things that are actually urgent?

https://www.verizon.com/support/my-verizon-alerts-and-notifications-faqs/

[gonealookin]

Is there a way to opt out of pointless Verizon texts like "we received your payment" (the email confirmation of autopay is sufficient, although sadly, they now appear to have discontinued that) while still getting text notifications for things that are actually urgent?

Medicare sends me an "Easy Pay Premium Statement" by snail mail every month for my Part B deductible.

"Easy Pay" is the auto-debit from a bank account.  I don't need any notice from Medicare at all; like any other auto-debit, it happens every month on the same date, and the bank confirms it with a text on that date.

I don't see any way to turn off the snail mail statements.  Talk about a government inefficiency that could be fixed pretty easily.

[vdeane]

Is there a way to opt out of pointless Verizon texts like "we received your payment" (the email confirmation of autopay is sufficient, although sadly, they now appear to have discontinued that) while still getting text notifications for things that are actually urgent?

https://www.verizon.com/support/my-verizon-alerts-and-notifications-faqs/

I have everything set to go by email and not by text yet I still get "we received your payment" texts anyways.

[kphoger]

I have everything set to go by email and not by text yet I still get "we received your payment" texts anyways.

Ick.  That would bother me too.  If it's important enough to waste a half-hour, I'd call customer service.

[interstatefan990]

Is there a way to opt out of pointless Verizon texts like "we received your payment" (the email confirmation of autopay is sufficient, although sadly, they now appear to have discontinued that) while still getting text notifications for things that are actually urgent?

Texting back "STOP" doesn't work anymore? I thought that was legally mandated.

[TheCatalyst31]

Of course another part of that is that if you did lump all of this into "Los Angeles" or "San Diego" or whatever then both of those would lose all meaning. There are a crapton of these cities, and there are dozens and dozens of them with six-digit populations that you've never heard of. Go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_municipalities_in_California and sort by population descending and you're bound to see a bunch where you're like "That's a thing?"

I both went to college in the Los Angeles metro area and memorized the larger US cities for fun for a while, and I still forgot some of those places existed. It doesn't help that a handful of them weren't even incorporated 20 years ago, like Menifee and Jurupa Valley.

[thenetwork]

Is there a way to opt out of pointless Verizon texts like "we received your payment" (the email confirmation of autopay is sufficient, although sadly, they now appear to have discontinued that) while still getting text notifications for things that are actually urgent?

Texting back "STOP" doesn't work anymore? I thought that was legally mandated.

Usually the "we received payment" confirmation texts go hand in hand with the reminder texts about "Payment is Due in x Days" reminders, if you are like me and wait until the last week before making payment.

[PColumbus73]

I get more texts for two-factor authentication than I do from actual people

[1995hoo]

Is there a way to opt out of pointless Verizon texts like "we received your payment" (the email confirmation of autopay is sufficient, although sadly, they now appear to have discontinued that) while still getting text notifications for things that are actually urgent?

https://www.verizon.com/support/my-verizon-alerts-and-notifications-faqs/

I have everything set to go by email and not by text yet I still get "we received your payment" texts anyways.

In a somewhat-related, yet also somewhat different, vein, I get annoyed when banks or credit card issuers send you something with an e-mail link they want you to use, and if you log into their app directly you can't find whatever that is. American Express, for example, just sent me their annual request that I confirm my income. The e-mail has a link to do that. I dislike clicking on any link in any message claiming to be from a financial institution, no matter how familiar it looks, so I opened the Amex app instead. You'd think if they deemed it important for me to update the amount, it would pop up a notice upon login. Nope. So I guess it's not important enough to them and I won't worry about it.

Banks are always warning everyone to be wary of phishing scams and the like, so you'd think they, of all businesses, would not send unsolicited links to their customers. I guess it's another example of "rules for thee but not for me."

[kphoger]

I get more texts for two-factor authentication than I do from actual people

Same here, especially because one of the programs I used at work automatically times out after just fifteen minutes of inactivity.  Heaven help me if I leave my phone at home by mistake one of these days.

I both went to college in the Los Angeles metro area and memorized the larger US cities for fun for a while, and I still forgot some of those places existed. It doesn't help that a handful of them weren't even incorporated 20 years ago, like Menifee and Jurupa Valley.

I just have the list from Frank Zappa's Billy the Mountain memorized:

Torrance
Hawthorne
Lomita
Westchester
Playa del Rey
Santa Monica
Tujunga
Sunland
San Fernando
Pacoima
Sylmar
Newhall
Canoga Park
Palmdale
Glendale
Irwindale
Rolling Hills
Granada Hills
Shadow Hills
Cheviot Hills

[vdeane]

When you get a voicemail and the return phone number requires an extension, but none was provided in the voicemail.  It's amazing how often this happens - it's as if people don't realize that they're under phone trees and don't have a direct line.  Now, some of this is on me for not fully transcribing voicemail before I delete it, but I've had times where I've had to look up who someone is even after digging through my deleted messages because they never said what their job function is in the first place.

[wxfree]

The adoption of a type style for web address boxes that makes two characters look the same.  I'm a traditionalist, I like Times New Roman, I like printed newspapers and paper books.  I like my serifs.  I really don't like any serifless letter forms, but at the barest minimum, you should be able to tell exactly which letter is in a URL box.  Going to the wrong address is a security risk.  Fortunately, the domain names are lowercase.  I don't know what the rules are, but I've never seen one with a capital letter.  Still, it's a security risk.  In a link, real(L)address.topleveldomain could instead be reaI(i)address.topleveldomain and you wouldn't see it.  (Is there a way to change fonts here?)  It would change to lowercase after going to the site, but you probably aren't paying attention then.  Something like a shorturl.topleveldomain/aBc1Dl(L) or shorturl.topleveldomain/aBc1DI(i) should not look alike.  The biggest one for me is YouTube.  When I want to type a video ID (between phone and computer, where I can't just copy and paste), I have to copy and paste it into a text editor to read it when it has that straight line.

[kphoger]

Fortunately, the domain names are lowercase.  I don't know what the rules are, but I've never seen one with a capital letter.

YouTube videos.

[wxfree]

Fortunately, the domain names are lowercase.  I don't know what the rules are, but I've never seen one with a capital letter.

YouTube videos.

I mean the domain name, like aaroads.com or youtube.com.  I've never seen it as AarOads.coM or yoUtuBe.Com.  If you type it that way, it recognizes the letters, but changes it to lowercase.  The part after the first single slash can have mixed case letters, otherwise this wouldn't be an issue.

The forum automatically renders my mixed case link in lowercase letters, as is standard.  My YouTube links don't render because they're followed by periods.

[kphoger]

I mean the domain name, like aaroads.com or youtube.com.

Ah.  Then yes, those are all registered in lowercase letters only (and maybe numbers or hyphens too).  If you type a capital letter in a domain name instead, your DNS will interpret it as the corresponding lowercase letter.

[I-57/Route 66 Fan]

When public restrooms run out of toilet paper.

[kphoger]

When public restrooms run out of toilet paper.

Let me tell you about Mexico...

[Max Rockatansky]

When public restrooms run out of toilet paper.

Let me tell you about Mexico...

Yes, you have to pay for the privilege of using a public restroom.  Single ply toilet paper and powdered soap usually cost extra.  Also, you usually don't get a toilet seat.

[kphoger]

Yes, you have to pay for the privilege of using a public restroom.  Single ply toilet paper and powdered soap usually cost extra.  Also, you usually don't get a toilet seat.

I've kind of grown fond of the truck stop restrooms that have toilet paper dispensers outside between the men's and women's entrances.

[Scott5114]

Is there a way to change fonts here?

Not exactly, but you can change to a monospaced font using the tt tag.

[kphoger]

I'm a traditionalist, I like Times New Roman, I like printed newspapers and paper books.

You're no old school enough if you don't prefer Fraktur.

[wxfree]

I'm a traditionalist, I like Times New Roman, I like printed newspapers and paper books.

You're no old school enough if you don't prefer Fraktur.

Looking up what that is, I don't like it at all.  That reminds me of another complaint, signs with such pretty and fancy writing you can't tell what the dubya tee eff it says.  It's distracting when a roadside business sign is like that.  I'm drawn to study it to see if I can decode it, but that's unsafe.  Sometimes I'm inclined to stop so I can study it, but so far I never have.  I don't know what's in a few new stores because the signs are indecipherable to drive-by reading.  The problem is that the business owner who orders the sign already knows the company name so he reads it easily.

I'm not old school, but traditionalist, and I have no tradition of reading print from centuries ago.  I just like serifs.  Some newspapers are starting to print headlines without serifs.  When it's all caps it doesn't hurt as much, but when it's mixed-case, I hate it.

[Scott5114]

I'm not old school, but traditionalist, and I have no tradition of reading print from centuries ago.  I just like serifs.  Some newspapers are starting to print headlines without serifs.  When it's all caps it doesn't hurt as much, but when it's mixed-case, I hate it.

Which is funny because serifs have traditionally been used for running text (since serifs make the eye track the line of text better) and sans-serifs for headings (since the sheer size of headings makes the eye track them).

[SSOWorld]

I'm a traditionalist, I like Times New Roman, I like printed newspapers and paper books.

You're no old school enough if you don't prefer Fraktur.

And you're an idiot if you prefer Comic Sans MS

[Rothman]

I'm a traditionalist, I like Times New Roman, I like printed newspapers and paper books.

You're no old school enough if you don't prefer Fraktur.

And you're an idiot if you prefer Comic Sans MS

It's very legible.