People do gross stuff. It’s inherently in our nature but through civilized society and a desire to be more well, desirable, most of us try to rise above our base animal instincts. The general public keeps us in line and stops us from reverting back to juvenile behavior. At least, for the most part but a few members of society haven’t gotten the memo regarding manners, etiquette and personal hygiene. Here’s a quick list of some do’s and don’ts for being a human being in society at large. Note: if you have a friend who is guilty of one of these infractions, tear out this article and conveniently leave it on his or her dashboard. This is a message for you.
The first violation of the human code of conduct (hereafter referred to as human code) is in regard to public restrooms. It is my biggest pet peeve when people do not leave the bathroom ready for the next individual. It is gross, rude and very inconsiderate. Why does one person feel their needs are more important than the next? I don’t care what you do in the privacy of your own home but please, please flush the toilet when you are finished in public!
This leads me to hand-washing. I don’t need to preach the importance of hand-washing with regards to cleanliness and as a preventative health measure. However, I was recently made aware of some interesting hand-washing behavior. My brother has a friend, who in public situations, pretends to wash his hands but doesn’t. Hmmm…confusing, I know. Apparently, this person doesn’t want to be perceived as a non-hand washer but doesn’t want to actually wash his hands so, he goes through all the motions of pretending to wash his hands. If it takes just as long, why not actually do it? And remember, when washing your hands, you should soap and wash as long as it takes to sing, “Happy Birthday.”
The next topic I’d like to tackle in human code is – gum. First, gum should not be chewed in professional situations and for God’s sake, if you are going to be interviewed on television, please take your gum out of your mouth. Nothing screams “trashy” like Britney Spears being interviewed with a big wad of gum in her mouth. This brings me to proper gum disposal. Gum is sticky, messy and can ruin your clothes. When it is not disposed of properly, you are leaving a gum trap for the next shoe to hit the sidewalk or pants to rub the underside of a table. You might think gum issues are only for teenagers and kids, but you are wrong. This past weekend, my best friend went on a lunch date with a guy she had recently met. As lunch arrived, her date proceeded to take his gum out of his mouth. My friend assumed he was going to put the gum in a napkin or on his lunch plate. Instead, he said, “Watch this.” and stuck the gum underneath the table!?!?
In conclusion, all these little actions add up to represent you as a person. You may not think that people notice these more private moments in public space like when you are driving your car, using a public restroom or disposing of gum but all your little actions say a lot about who you are. Make sure you are representing yourself the way you want to by keeping the human code in mind.

Over the years, I’ve noticed a phenomenon related to how people deal with dirty glasses when they are visiting someone else’s house. Some people–myself included–put glasses in the dishwasher (if it’s clearly dirty) or on the counter. Others put their glass in the sink.

Those people are crazy. Here’s why:

1. You can stack dirty plates on top of one another in a sink. But once you have a single glass in there, no plates can soak in your sink.
2. Once you put a glass in the sink, you can no longer put it on the counter because it leaves a ring of nasty sink water on your marble countertop.
3. Sinks are slightly sloped so that the water will drain, making it easier for glasses to fall over. Show of hands: How many of you have broken a wine glass in the sink? It’s happened to all of us. I once had a person put a shot glass in my sink. Somehow it made it’s way into the drain; guess what happened when I turned on the garbage disposal? Yep, that was a lot of fun to clean out.
4. There’s a dishwasher right there! Just put it in there!

I really don’t understand this phenomenon. Do people think they’re helping you hide dirty dishes from view by putting them in the sink? Do these people not have dishwashers at home?

When you go to that wine and cheese party this weekend, do your host a favor: Either put your glass in the dishwasher, or leave it on the counter. They’ll thank you for the gesture.

Okay, let me start off on the right foot. I understand what “We Are the World” did back in the 80’s, and what they are attempting to do today with it, and I support the effort. Believe me, there are many countries that need support, especially now, so yes, it’s a good idea. My problem with it is all about the remake. I think an iconic song like that is one that could be repeated for life, regardless of who actually participated in it. Is Cyndi Lauper still relevant, no, but does the message change because she isn’t…no. This week, the original masterminds behind the project, Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie, put together a new group, to sing the exact same song, only this time for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. It also just so happens to be the 25th anniversary of the song. Let me just share with you, the viewing audience, the list of participants:

Carlos Santana, Orianthi, Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx, Sugarland, Adam Levine, Jason Mraz, Earth Wind & Fire, Natalie Cole, The Jonas Brothers, T-Pain, Brian Wilson, Justin Bieber, Nicole Scherzinger, India.Arie, Julianne Hough, Mary Mary, Melanie Fiona, BeBe Winans, Mya, Tyrese Gibson, Anthony Hamilton, Raphael Saadiq, Gladys Knight, Keri Hilson, Joel and Benji Madden, Heart, Brandy, Pink, Musiq Soulchild, Miley Cyrus, Akon, Jordin Sparks, Celine Dion, Rob Thomas, Katharine McPhee, Jeff Bridges, Randy Jackson, Patti Austin, Kid CuDi, Usher, Will.i.am, Kanye West, LL Cool J, Issac Slade (of The Fray), Snoop Dogg, Nicole Richie, Trey Songz, Ethan Bortnick, Taryll Jackson, Taj Jackson, TJ Jackson, Vince Vaughn, Drake, Freda Payne, Faith Evans, Robin Thicke, Rashida Jones, Barbra Streisand, Jimmy Jean Louis, Enrique Iglesias, Zac Brown, Lil Wayne, Tony Bennett, Josh Groban, Sean Garrett, Harry Connick Jr., Al Jardine, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (Bizzy Bone) and A.R.Rahman.

Read that list carefully folks. You’ll see some “interesting” choices in there, mainly Vince Vaughn. Also note, that the role of Bob Dylan is now being played by…Lil Wayne. The other interesting note, that even though the song is EXACTLY the same, they had decided to take out Michael Jackson, which, to be honest, is the reason the first single took off and had any affect. Remember watching the original music video, of everyone singing, united…well fret not, you’ll be seeing the new one…somewhere. Tune into Music Mundane Television, and you’ll find the cast of Jersey Shore, but somewhere, you can watch this epic song re-shape…wait for it…in 3D. Yes, they are filming the music video in 3D. Why? Someone please tell me why? What purpose does this serve, other to spend money and try to take advantage of a new technology. It’s almost rubbing it in the face of their cause. I just don’t get it…any of it. I guess I don’t understand why, if all these artists wanted to participate, and all this “talent” was trapped in one room, why not share a new message?

If you don’t want to debate an issue,

DON’T CALL INTO A TALK RADIO SHOW!

Also, don’t spout off with “facts” and then get all pissy when someone else points out that you are wrong.

Thank you.

A listener.

a tiny but nevertheless worthy bullet point on my endless list of pet peeves? self-righteous imbeciles who claim hate is a strong word and then profess their undying love for the cashier at the corner laundromat. it stands to reason that one may wonder what could prompt such a passionate confession? the allure of a mind-blowing $5.00 coupon.

the lesson here? love isn’t a word you throw around lightly

until next time.

Wrong.

Warning:

Read this posting at your own peril. It’s a grammar lesson, the first of many to come, a veritable onslaught of similar postings and a site to which viewers will quickly become addicted. Anyone that adheres to the maxims presented on this site will be swimming upstream, ostracized, isolated and rejected by the multitudes that go with the flow. Ignore them. Stand out from the crowd. Keep swimming upstream.

This posting focuses on the use of irregardless, a word frequently used when a speaker wants to suggest that a certain something is to be disregarded. Its misuse is one of my pet peeves (and they are legion).

I plan to cover all my pet peeves eventually, and I will happily discuss any pet peeve that may be submitted by a viewer. I will also cheerfully answer, or attempt to answer, any question that may be presented, whether on pronunciation, sentence construction, spelling, subject and verb agreement, the use and construction of adverbs, the possessive form of nouns, etc. If I don’t know the answer and cannot find the answer, I will just as cheerfully admit that I don’t know it.

Try me.

As regards—or in regard to—or regarding—irregardless:

Irregardless is not a proper word, regardless of its appearance in dictionaries and regardless of its use in speeches and writings by supposedly erudite persons. It should not be used. One possible exception, perhaps, might be when a speaker is faced with an untutored audience of one or more persons that might tend to accept its use as proper—audiences in certain southern hilly or swampy areas, for example.

The proper word is regardless—it means without regard for, pay no attention to, do not regard. A loving and very understanding wife, for example, might tell her husband “Darling, I love you, regardless of your slovenly appearance and your disgusting bathroom habits.”As used here, the word means “in spite of.” (She may say it, but may not mean it).

Everyone is aware, of course, that the prefix ir means not, and the suffix less means without, therefore the word irregardless contains a double negative.

Less negates regard all by itself—it needs no help from ir.

Now that you’ve read my position on the word irregardless, I’ll give you Wikipedia’s stand:

Usage Note: Irregardless is a word that many mistakenly believe to be correct usage in formal style, when in fact it is used chiefly in nonstandard speech or casual writing. Coined in the United States in the early 20th century, it has met with a blizzard of condemnation for being an improper yoking of irrespective and regardless and for the logical absurdity of combining the negative ir- prefix and -less suffix in a single term. Although one might reasonably argue that it is no different from words with redundant affixes like debone and unravel, it has been considered a blunder for decades and will probably continue to be so.

Recently,  the concrete realization that age is subtly creeping along with me as my unwanted assistant really sucks.  Twenty years ago, I  imagined that I would  be retired and enjoying the good life.  I had, like many other people’s, dreams of retiring young.  So be it.  I also never realized that as I grew older,  I would not be able to do the same amount of work I did when I was young.  This I have to admit, was complete denial of reality, and this part really sucks.  Where did time go, and why did it leave?

One of those realizations I have given much thought over  recently is that of cynicism.  Am I alone here?  Does the passage of time create a general disposition to look on the dark side of life and to expect the worst in all things?  I hope this is just a passing phase of normal human growth as we head into our “golden” years.  Where did the ability to tolerate life’s drama disappear to?  And where did the idea of compromise go?  Personally I think it went out the window on the heels of tolerance.

TOLERANCE: noun; leniency, leeway, margin, allowance.  The power or capacity of an organism to tolerate unfavorable environmental conditions. To put up with inefficient government policies, inferior government administration of our future,  pathetic consumer services, and substandard and imported consumer products.

In years past, I have considered myself quite tolerant of all those tiny, irritating  inconveniences we deal with everyday.  Consumer products that fail to deliver what they are advertised to do, politicians who proclaim to have interest in their constituencies and will say or do anything to get elected or retain their position in government, hurry up and wait for expensive medical services.  Government facilities, rush hour traffic, the high price of fuel and a multitude of others.  Also in years past, I overlooked incompetency in business and bureaucratic dealings, but as I grow older, I find myself becoming less patient and less forgiving .  I am tired of receiving computer generated media from narrow minded outlets, I am tired of trying to understand bad English from some foreign support worker hired by a US company at the expense of domestic employees, and I am tired of being ripped off by businesses through hidden fees, surcharges, misrepresentation, and greed.  Taking all this crap into account, I have decided that to make life a bit simpler, all these pet peeves will be placed on the back burner of life, and then ignited.  No peeve…no problem.

Go far, take chances, live passionately@

ryeder…rv-visions

tanka bar

survival quarterly

Since I can’t do anything to avoid them, and they are likely never to change, I feel obligated to address the bad drivers of the world.  We’ve ALL encountered them at some point (how could we not, they’re everywhere) but for now I would like to focus on a particular type of bad driver: the “Extreme Braker.”

The Extreme Braker has, in my opinion, made a sport out of braking.  I’m pretty confident that they all join forces with the intention of ruining everyone’s day.  You have to admit, it’s a little coincidental that at the EXACT moment you approach a brake happy driver, you find yourself boxed in by cars on either side.  Just saying.

Unsure if you’re an Extreme Braker?  Well, you know you need to ease up on the brakes when: 

1. In fear of missing your exit, you decide to slam on their brakes and come to a complete stop (not exaggerating) in the left lane of the expressway as you make an attempt to cross five lanes of traffic…you’re definitely overdoing it.   
2. You tap the brakes every few feet just to make sure that they’re working properly and in most cases, there isn’t a single care around you. 

I suppose my point is (pay attention grandma) that if the mere thought of driving on the highway causes you to have a conniption…you might want to consider taking an alternate route.  Or here’s a thought- take the bus. 

Are we sure that the recent Toyota recall wasn’t due to brake pedals getting stuck?  Look into it and get back to me on that.  Until then, safe driving.

Oh Grey’s Anatomy, how different they are in real life….  (Aah!! the elevator proposal!!) 

So I’ve come to DREAD that elevator ride up and down from first to second floor at my job.  Why not take the stairs you ask?  There are no stairs!!  Besides the emergency exit, so unless I want that bell going crazy twice a day I think I’m stuck riding those small spaces of hell.

So why do I hate them so much, you ask?  I’m not sure I do actually!  It’s more people’s annoying habits that get to me.  Like really, what is so difficult about riding elevators, people?!

So here’s what I encounter on a daily basis:

Outside the Elevator

1.  If you push it, it will come.  BUT YOU HAVE TO PUSH IT.  So I get to the elevator and there’s two men waiting for it.  No button has been pushed.  I’m going up, the elevator gets there and all three of us get in.  Then they get mad because they wanted to go down.  WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?  See this button?  You have to push it to summon the elevator.  sigh.

2.  Where are you going?!  Did you really have to push all the buttons, lady?  And then you get all upset when it starts going up and you were supposed to go down?!

3.  It’s going up, Sir.  You’d be surprised at how rudely people respond to me when I say this.  “Well it’s gonna go down eventually.”  Pardon me for trying to be nice and save you the rollercoaster ride.  Excuse me for a minute while I’m the stupid person who pushes all the buttons. muahaha.  It will go down eventually, after it’s done taking you to all the top floors!  muahaha.  I’ve never actually done this, but one day I will…  -_-

Inside the Elevator

1.  People smell.  Dear god.   To some people I feel like asking:  “Why did you shower in cologne/perfume??”  To others I want to ask, ”Why didn’t you SHOWER, period.”

2.  Don’t stand so close to me!  No, not the song…  People, there is such a thing as personal space.  And NO, TWENTY PEOPLE DO NOT FIT INTO AN ELEVATOR!  Wait for the next frickin elevator, you’re giving this perv an excuse to breathe down my neck!!!

3.  Aah, the pervs.  I can see you looking me up and down, sir, and I don’t appreciate it.  And when there are 5 men and I’m the only girl getting on the elevator?  Lovely.

4.  Aah, the pervs trying to make small talk.  Please don’t flirt with me.  I see that smile and that look in your eyes.  I’m not standing here for 1+ minutes to talk to you, in fact, I’m waiting for those doors to open so that I can get the hell AWAY FROM YOU!

Yes, my dislike of elevators & the people who ride them required an inside and outside section!  lol

I apologize for this post, but as a frequent elevator rider, this really has been a growing pet peeve!

What’s YOUR pet peeve?    Anyone experience similar elevator encounters?  lol

ps. I reply to comments in the comment section of the post you commented on.  If anyone cares. lol now say that 5 times fast.  ^_^

It really annoys me when people use words in stupid ways, or invent new words for no reasons. I don’t mean incorrect uses of words due to ignorance, or where words are commonly used with a commonly accepted meaning different from their dictionary definition. No, what annoys me is when people use words deliberately incorrectly because of some political reason, because of willful ignorance or because they think it’s clever or cute.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, and I doubt many people will find it interesting although some may find it informative. I am making this list largely for my own benefit; I am curious to see if a pattern emerges as I add words over time, as I find it curious that some words quite annoy me while others do not bother me in the least.

So without further ado, my list and justifications of why certain words or their uses annoy me.

• Chillax – There is absolutely no need for this word! It is a blending of Chill and relax when both words already mean the same thing. It is not a portmanteau since the two words already have the same meaning.
• The Human Condition – I’m not entirely sure why this annoys me. I guess it’s because being human is not a condition….nothing is gained by saying “Human Condition” over simply saying “being Human”. Everything that makes humans unique emotionally or physically is already implied by the word Human. There is nothing that defines us as Human Beings which can be said to be a symptom of a condition.
• USian instead of American – This is just retarded. It seems to be used by people who have a problem with the USA, and want to seperate the USA from the other countries in the Americas. There are at least to problems with this. Firstly, the USA is the only country where it’s denizens are referred to as Americans. When referring to Americans it will be obvious who is being referred to. Secondly, the only possible argument for using USian instead of American is to remove ambiguity which isn’t accomplished at all. There are two countries on the North American continent with “United” and “States” in their countries names. So when referring to USians, are people referring to people from the USA, or people from the United Mexican States? It’s always stupid to invent new words because you have a dislike of someone or something to the point you won’t even use the word.
• Homophobia – A word that should actually mean having a phobia of people with a same sex attracted. According to Wikipedia the word originated in 1969 to refer to heterosexual men who feared men may mistake them for being homosexual. These days the word is commonly used to refer to anyone who dislikes or disproves of homosexuals, the thinking being that in this enlightened day and age homophobia must be the only explanation if someone disproves of homosexuality. This is stupid..there may be many valid reasons for people to dislike homosexuality, none of which require a fear of homosexuality to justify that dislike.
• Occam’s Razor – A principle which states “entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity” leading to a conclusion that the simplest explanation is the best one. Unfortunately this has been adopted by most people to mean the simples explanation is the correct one, where arbitrary definitions of simple are used. As an example take a scenario where you have cheese and a mouse in a room unobserved for 5 hours. If the cheese had somehow ended up resembling a face or intelligent pattern most people when applying Occam’s razor would conclude that a human made the pattern, rather than the mouse. In this case those people would be using the word simple incorrectly when they actually mean likely. It may be more likely that a human snuck in made a pattern as a joke, however it is not simpler as the sneaky human is an additional variable. The Skeptics Dictionary has a more thorough explanation.
• Strawman argument – People seem to misuse and accuse people of this all the time. I gues they heard it on teh itnernets and couldn’t be bothered to look up what it actually meant. A Strawman argument is responding to a new different argument than the one made and passing it off as the opponents original argument. Not simply dismissing a point or making a new claim. You can see many examples of Strawman arguments and false accusations of such in the comments of my OpenBSD article.
• Ad Hominem – Often when someone insults someone in an argument they get accused of making an Ad Hominem attack. An Ad Hominem attack is not any argument that directly or implicitly insults an opponent, it is an argument that attempts to prove its correctness through insults an opponent. That is a big difference. I can insult someone as much as I like and as long as I also attack their argument then I am not making an Ad Hominem attack – I’m just being a jerk.
• Racist – Wow this word gets misused. Racism refers to negative discrimination of people due to their race. It is a lot more complex than that with all the underlying reasons and consequences and such, but in a nutshell that’s what it is. However, far too many uber-PC people seem to think even pointing out that people look different is racist. For example, using the color of someones skin to differentiate them out of a group. This is not negative discrimination at all, it is just an easy way to identify people out of a group, the same as using someones gender or body type. Another example may be imitating stereotype for comedic effect such as Eddie Murphy playing an asian guy in Norbit. There was nothing racist about that at all, anymore than Dave Chappelle playing a white news reporter. These examples can be racist if they were used to negatively discriminate or deliberately offend people but by themselves they are harmless unless people decide to make a big issue out of it.
• Troll – This also gets thrown around on the net simply because people disagree. A troll is someone whose primary motivation is to obtain a negative response out of people, often by being deliberately controversial or provocative. I think it is a shame that these days it is all too common for anyone with an unpopular idea to be labeled a troll, no matter how well it may be presented or supported.
• Third world countries – People tend to use the term “third world” to refer to developing countries which is incorrect. The term third world arose during the Cold War to refer to countries that remained non-aligned or neutral to capitalism . Thats pretty much it. Using third world to refer to any of the countries that are still developing or not as stable as the countries in Western Europe or the Anglosphere is incorrect and quite possibly offensive. Many countries today are far to complex to simply be categorized under the first/second/third world system. Simply referring to them as developed or developing makes far more sense.

I also find it interesting that certain uses of phrases or words do not annoy me. For example, when people use the word literally to mean something figurative people get annoyed because they say the word literally is being used incorrectly. This is incorrect however as the word literally has been used as an intensifier since the 17th century. People also get annoyed at the phrase “begs the question” being used opposite to its actual meaning. I suppose this doesn’t annoy me because it is obvious how the people using the phrase mean it, with the new meaning being commonly accepted and self-evident.

]]> http://hesaidandshesaid.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/she-said-athlete-pet-peeves/ Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:05:11 +0000 hesaidandshesaid http://hesaidandshesaid.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/she-said-athlete-pet-peeves/

This is one of the posts where I feel like, as the responder, I’m at a disadvantage.  Jeremy has been fuming for weeks now, compiling evidence for his post, and I am sitting on the couch oblivious to his angst, and now I have to post.  Premeditated irascibility is an advantage.

So, off the top of my head, here are my pet peeves.

1. Crying.  I’m not talking about someone tearing up after winning their first Grand Slam or an amazing athletic achievement. I’m talking about getting knocked out of a tournament, not performing as well as you had hoped, and crying about it.  As Tom Hanks said in League of Their Own, “there’s not crying in baseball!?”  Only, apply that to any sport or competition.  It’s okay to be pissed, upset, disappointed, etc.  But, Do.  Not.  Cry.

2. The Fox transformer football icon.  It’s not cool, even my five year-old son who loves Transformers thinks it’s lame.  Ditch it.

3. Grunting in tennis.  While I fully support an athlete doing whatever they need to do in order to perform at their best, when you’re still grunting as your opponent is hitting the ball, or the female spectators are thinking “I’ll have what she’s having”, I think it’s gone a little too far.

4. Olympics coverage.  In the past, we have one channel broadcasting whatever event they think will bring in the most viewers.  While I understand that there are people who have put an inordinate amount of time into figuring out how NBC is going to garner the largest audience who are probably incredibly good at doing so, I also know that there are many of us who are not that thrilled about watching hours of footage on Apollo Ohno or three weeks of figure skating.  I propose a change.  Throughout this latest Australian Open, DirectTV has offered six channels of tennis footage and it has been awesome.  A viewer can watch all six channels at once with a running score under each shot, or pick one to focus on.  Don’t feel like watching women’s tennis but want to watch the Open?  DirectTV is your answer.  It’s also answered my Olympics coverage issue.  NBC, or whoever is airing the Olympics.  Might I suggest you do something similar?  Let those of us who want to watch something other than figure skating have that choice!  And I’m not talking about showing Bode’s run and a heartfelt vignette about his youth and adolescence in a cabin in the white mountains and then cutting back to the fascinating coverage of Sasha Cohen’s pre-skate ankle taping.  Give us a chance to watch an entire event, or at least show all the American competitors.  Call DirectTV, figure something out.  You’ll make more money.

5. VS (or the channel formerly known as OLN).  For those of you who do receive this channel, you know how amazing it is, despite the terrible name change.  Bull riding, bike racing, hunting, it’s got it all.  Anyone interested in watching competitive road biking, has done the annual pilgrimage to VS in order to check out their amazing coverage.  For some reason, this channel gets in disagreements with DirectTV and DishNetwork and the like, over contracts, pricing, what have you, and I randomly find that while I have sought out the package that includes both NESN and VS, that package no longer includes VS because of some dispute between VS and my carrier.  I would like to say, after years of this repetitive bickering, FIGURE IT OUT.  Also, please stop letting another channel carry the bike racing on Sundays.  The coverage is not nearly as good and it’s annoying to settle for lackluster coverage.

6. Crossover.  Just because you are an amazing athlete, it does not mean you can subject us to your writing, acting skills, or the like.  Think of how much better off this world would be without The Rock’s latest movie The Toothfairy, or any of his movies for that matter, the badly written autobiography’s (even a ghost writer can’t help most of these), or Shaq’s album.  The only exception I can think of is the Foreman grill – perhaps the best way to make a grilled cheese ever.

As for the toweling off, while I’m not a Roddick fan 90% of the time and I agree that his overuse of the towel is needless, I do get why one would use extensive towel time when playing Federer on one of his tears.  You need to take time between the points because once he’s on fire, you’re five games down in a set in no time.  Towel off between each point.  It’s your only hope.

]]> http://mrssmart09.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/my-pet-peeve/ Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:10:10 +0000 zackuse http://mrssmart09.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/my-pet-peeve/

My pet peeve is my big brother. He twists my hand around and my legs so I have to turn around my body while he is doing it so it does not hurt me. Other wise I do it back so then I am his pet peeve.

]]> http://krafty237.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/pet-pee-ve-of-the-week-restrooms/ Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:05:06 +0000 Matt http://krafty237.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/pet-pee-ve-of-the-week-restrooms/

Are you looking at this and wondering why I actually took a photo of the urinals in the men’s room? Well, it’s because this situation in particular is one of my biggest pet peeves…it’s called being cheap. Women, you have it made to a certain extent…you always have walls that separate you from your peer while in the bathroom…we’re not so lucky. Sometimes, we’ll go in and there won’t be any doors, which sucks, but there is still a wall. In most, however, there isn’t even a wall between two urinals. Listen, I have pee anxiety. I can’t go to the bathroom if someone is behind me, or there is no wall…its all about personal space, and there is never a moment I need my personal space more than when I am in the bathroom. I remember going to a hockey game with some friends, and having to wait in line…once you got up there, everyone is waiting for you, and you can see them out of the corner of your eye…anxiously waiting for you to go, but nothing happened. Bathroom anxiety is real, and it happens a lot. But hey, at least this isn’t as bad a the trough at the Daytona 500. MAJOR bathroom fail.
]]> http://thestohs.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/this-is-why-i-rarely-eat-oranges/ Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:15:35 +0000 hilarysk http://thestohs.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/this-is-why-i-rarely-eat-oranges/

.

We used to have orange-peeling contests in high school during lunch — the goal was to remove the peel in as few pieces as possible.

Thanks to these fruitful exploits, I can now strip an orange like it’s nobody’s business … but I’d still spend 10 to 15 minutes attempting to remove the “yacky white stringy bits.”

So I just don’t eat oranges.

My life is average.



What are you smiling about, asshole? You better wipe that smirk off your face or I'll squeeze your bulbous body until you leak juice. Then who'll be laughing? Moron.

]]> http://awatchcry.wordpress.com/2010/01/24/pet-peeve-1/ Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:08:54 +0000 Brittany Taylor http://awatchcry.wordpress.com/2010/01/24/pet-peeve-1/

I admit it. I’m a New York Times girl. But a journalism professor assigned me the Washington Post’s style section and Sunday magazine for the rest of the semester, and so I’m slogging my way through.

I have a problem with the Post. Aside from their website, which I find unattractive and unintuitive, their Style columnists and reporters have a tendency toward unnecessary snark and cattiness.

Take, for example, treatment of “lesser” papers. I’m not a tabloid reader, but I’m not entirely sure the attitude Howard Kurtz assumes in this piece about the National Enquirer’s editor, Barry Levine, is necessary. He admits that other media outlets–bigger, better outlets is implied–were scooped by this supermarket rag, but I get a sense that someone’s a little touchy that other less sensational outlets (um, like the Washington Post) are forced to give the Nat’l Enquirer a pat on the back. A very reluctant pat on the back. More like a slap on the back, maybe with one of this trick handshake shockers mounted to the palm.

Many of Kurtz’s points are valid. The Enquirer frequently pays for scoops, which mainstream news organizations don’t do. But was this really necessary?

He added that “at the end of the day, it’s great to see he’s taking responsibility for this child, Frances Quinn. She needs to know who her father is.” That’s right: a supermarket tabloid editor is now lecturing a former vice-presidential nominee on matters of morality.

I don’t think so.

Another article, written by Phillip Kennicott on the images of Tiger Woods entering a sexual addiction rehabilitation center taken and published by the National Enquirer includes this little gem:

The Enquirer insists that the images, taken last Friday, are authentic; semi-respectable news organizations, such as the New York Post, have taken them at face value.

It may seem like splitting hairs, but “semi-respectable”? I’m not a NY Post reader, but I do know that the Post caters to a different audience then the other regional biggie, the NYT. Sitting on a New Jersey Transit train heading home around five or six o’clock on a weekday afternoon, you’ll see men in suits toting briefcases and The Times. Post readers are generally more blue collar. Maybe I’m just not up on the differences between papers like the NYT and the Post, but I feel like this semi-respectable comment is a nod toward elitism. It rubs me the wrong way.

]]> http://drdonaldgregory.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/pet-peeves/ Sun, 24 Jan 2010 02:25:04 +0000 drdonaldgregory http://drdonaldgregory.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/pet-peeves/

I wonder if blogging about my pet peeves will actually make me feel better?  Do you agree with any of them?  My plan is to take time to occasionally add pet peeves as entries.

Customer service – parking deck: We went to the high museum of art today.  Parking at the Arts center was only available to monthly card holders and those who had bought tickets ahead of time (must have been a performance going on.)  We had to park in a deck across the street.  Upon leaving, there was no staff present (Saturday, quite 5 p.m.) and there was a line of cars trying to exit.  There is one machine, no credit cards, and in the lower left it instructs you to pay $5.  It took one car about 10 minutes.  I think they could not speak or read English.  Very crazy way to run a business.  The entire arts center is confusing and difficult for visitors to navigate or understand.  Another sign of the unfortunate state of Atlanta’s lackluster attempt at being a great city.

]]> http://chartreuseflamethrower.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/a-public-service-announcement/ Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:37:23 +0000 chartreuseflamethrower http://chartreuseflamethrower.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/a-public-service-announcement/ http://upupandagay.com/2010/01/22/pet-peeve-airport-appreciation/ Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:01:24 +0000 Bobby http://upupandagay.com/2010/01/22/pet-peeve-airport-appreciation/

One of my biggest pet peeves of being a flight attendant is airport appreciation. To those of you not in the industry you’re probably wondering what I’m talking about. Well here’s a quick explanation.

When the airline builds our trips (sometimes known as pairings) which include all of the flights we’re scheduled to work, there is sometimes “sit” times (or the time between flights of which we have to work) in between flights. Extended sit times, usually more than 2 hours we refer to as “airport appreciation time.”

There is nothing to do durning this time but wander through the airport, maybe grab some over priced airport food, catch up on phone calls, emails, etc. You would think we would WANT “sit times,” but we don’t. Remember flight crews are usually only paid from the moment the door closes to when it opens in your arrival city. For these sit times, we’re only earning per diem, which at my airline is $1.75 an hour. So, for those 2-3-4 hours in between flights I’ve made, maybe: $5. Talk about unproductive!

One of my past trips drove me crazy. Actually, I drove myself crazy. I bid for the trip only because of the layovers and didn’t bother to look at what flights I would be working. The first day I had a one hour sit, the second day I had a two hour sit, and the worst of all, the third day I worked a flight departing at 645am arrived into San Francisco at 8am and didn’t work my next flight, a transcontinental one mind you, until 1130am! That day in particular killed me. I was up at 4:15am to get ready for my 530am van to the airport to work a flight at 645am, and didn’t get to my final arrival city until 730pm east coast time, or 430pm pacific. I worked a 11 hour day and only got paid for 6 hours thanks to the sit time. Whats sad is on day three my whole crew walked into the lounge we have, and found 2 other crews on 2 or 3 hour sits.. all with nothing to do! We all went out for breakfast together… and still had time to kill afterwards.

Usually sit times are a real downer. You’re awake, your working, all of a sudden you’re sitting around with nothing to do.. you get tired.. and then CRAP! It’s time to work a 5 hour flight!

Unfortunately the FAA has no regulations in place regarding how long between flights we can sit around. It falls under the “duty time” limitations, but thats a whole other topic.

Lesson Learned: Don’t bid for trips based on layovers or any other criteria without looking at the actual flights to be worked. Sit times are a waste of time.



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