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the daily gripe
Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 1:33 pm
by dragon wench
I can't recall if there have been similar threads, but I am dedicating this one to those relatively minor things in life that don't cause any serious problems but nonetheless are a source of irritation....
For me it is the pervasive influx of televisions in various eating/drinking establishments.
I don't mind seeing the tube in sports bars, that seems par for the course. But do they have to put the damn things in every type of pub in existence ! When I go out for a drink with somebody I do not head to a pub in order to watch TV, I go because I want to spend time with a friend! I find having one of THOSE THINGS on in the background really intrusive! Grrrr....
And this morning....hence this thread..... I dropped into a local cafe, and discovered they too had placed no less than two televisions in the place.....
Allowing the pernicious box to inhabit every pub on the planet (so it seems anyway) is bad enough....but cafes!!!! That, surely, is a new low.....
Feel free to contribute to this rant or add your own.....
And please try to keep any spam on topic

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 1:35 pm
by HighLordDave
I want a bumper sticker that reads
Hang up and drive!
Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 1:39 pm
by Tybaltus
Originally posted by HighLordDave
I want a bumper sticker that reads
Hang up and drive!
Oh man. You got that right. The things I see on the road today drive me insane. Cell phone have got to go.
Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 2:01 pm
by Bloodmist
Í have only seen one person pull over, ever, while talking in the phone. I don't see why people do it, it's too damn dangerous.
Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 2:11 pm
by Bloodstalker
Middle class white kids from SE Kentucky who are driving around in their cars their parents bought them dressing and acting like they live in the hood.....in some cases, they actually believe it

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 2:14 pm
by HighLordDave
Cell phones are one of my pet peeves. I hate them. I realise that some people need them (doctors, etc.), but for a lot of people they're either status symbols or devices of convenience.
Unfortunately, no one seems to get the ettiquette lesson with the phone. I can't stand people who talk on them while they drive, while at a restaurant, during a movie, in class at school and even in church. I don't even like to walk through the mall while talking on one; there's nobody in the world I need to speak with so badly that it can't wait until I get home or to some place private that I can take/make a call.
Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 3:07 pm
by Mr Flibble
I have to agree. I hate my phone, but need it for work, but I never answer it in the car.
What annoys me most, however, are taxi drivers. They seem to ignore everyone else on the roads, don't indicate, stop in the middle of busy streets and wait, and are generally *&@%^$# annoying!!!!

[/end rant mode]
@Tyb, I take it back, don't become a taxi driver.

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 3:23 pm
by Vinin
Sigh, I also hate white boys who dont live remotely near a 'hood dressing like they are from it...that ticks me off so much.
Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 3:32 pm
by Aegis
Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 4:26 pm
by RandomThug
End Users
You people, the end user. The "my keyboard doesnt work" the "Why cant I access
http://www.somedumbasssite.com" the "some vendors email didnt get through, whats wrong with your email server" the "Come here its an emergency" when in reality she needs me to teach her how to turn her damn machine on!!
The fact that I a comp. Admin is in charge of 320 cpu's when I should only be in charge of 50 end users. I hate YOU ALL DAMN DAY!
thug
p.s. I got some damn wierd sore thing creepin on my inner lip... kinda like a mini pimple but it looks like a damn cold sore and this hot broad is lookin to hang with me tonight but i gota get this little "dont kiss brett" thing goin on... I hate you end user... sorry still thinking about you.
Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 5:02 pm
by Mr Flibble
@Thug. Be at peace and with patience grasshopper. With patience comes wisdom, and with that wisdom you shall discover that end users are in fact in awe of you, even though they will deny it and consider you nothing more than a tool to sort out that evil thing Bill Gates has unleashed upon us. But you must go on, knowing that you are indeed righteous, that you are one of the few who *know* these things.
But above all, know that you are not alone. I hate end users too. Stupid "what does invaild boot disk mean?" questions. TAKE THE DAMN DISK OUT OF YOUR FLOPPY DRIVE!!!!
Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 5:44 pm
by dragon wench
lol! I agree re:cell phones......
The things are really overused IMO....
the combination from Hell.... a pub with both TVs and cell phones going off!

Grrr....
Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2002 1:37 am
by Jaesha
re: Cellphones
I have to agree here. I have grown to hate my cellphone, the thing that you are never alone. Especially at the restaurants! Why can´t people just leave em alone???
I don´t watch much TV, though, but the fact that it is absolutely everywhere, even at the cheap kebab houses (and they are all playing mtv) makes my skin crawl!
Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2002 2:23 am
by Tamerlane
One I have recently experienced would be music being played in cafes. Cafe's are places to chat, the music regardless of how soothing it may appear at first can really get to you after quite a while.
Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2002 5:18 am
by Locke Da'averan
cell phones
i like mine, although it's been bumbed into every known hard material too hard and thus having sucky battery, but still... and even though you ppl hate them, they can also save lives... what if there's an accident somewhere where the nearest phone is 60 miles away??? do you run to it and hope your buddy "makes" it until rescuers come???
yes i know they cause more accidents than save lives but still...
what bothers me the most is the fact that out of the 5 weekend's off from army, i've been twice sick through the weekend, thus not being able to join my friends at the bar and this time my throat is hurts like he*l i can't almost swallow... it may not sound much, but after you're in there for 3 weeks in a row, you'd do almost anything to get out of there...
Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2002 7:01 am
by HighLordDave
Re: cell phones
Originally posted by Locke Da'averan
i like mine, although it's been bumbed into every known hard material too hard and thus having sucky battery, but still... and even though you ppl hate them, they can also save lives... what if there's an accident somewhere where the nearest phone is 60 miles away??? do you run to it and hope your buddy "makes" it until rescuers come???
I'm not saying that cell phones don't have value; in fact, they do. However, the woman driving the Suburban and yapping on the phone to her neighbour isn't in danger of losing her life (unless I join Weasel's 10% and club her to death); her cell phone exists for the sole sake of "convenience".
@RandomThug:
I have a buddy who works for AOL's tech support line and he wants a button on his phone labeled "Smite". Every time a "member" (AOL slang for a stupid user) calls and acts like a jerk, he says he'd like to hit the Smite button and put 10,000 volts of electricity into their ear. That way, the rest of the world could tell the idiots apart by the half of their head that's been burned hairless.
Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2002 8:41 am
by fable
We only acquired a cellphone this past year. I've never seen the need for it in my line of work, since I'm usually anchored to a computer, writing. However, with my wife's move as a consultant to a job about 500 miles away, four days a week, that cellphone lets us keep in touch. It reduces our nightly phonebills, and it's proven useful when we're together on the road, and something comes up.
With our vacation in a week, we're investigating an add-on to her laptop that will allow the computer to function on the Internet by using the cellphone link. Has anybody tried this? I'm skeptical of the line quality, even in well-serviced areas.
Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2002 11:12 am
by Mr Sleep
Cell phones are a pet peeve of mine as well, i also don't own one, which has only been an inconveinience thrice.
Drivers who insist on driving everywhere at 40, even through 30mph zones they will continue on in their belligerent non concern towards other drivers and people, speed on the roads does kill, but in my opinion it is more likely the person that is driving slow that has caused the problem. I could give examples if necessary.
Really loud music in pubs gets on my nerves, it seems to be an antithesis towards conversation and socialising, okay loud music in a club makes sense, but on the average pub crawl one ends up accidently depositing a lung in someones drink from all the shouting.
I will surely have more pet peeves at another point

Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2002 11:14 am
by dragon wench
Re: the cell phone issue
I do think cell phones have their uses, such as those illustrated by Fable.... And if something goes wrong while you are travelling on the road they are definitely handy (providing you are in a cell range area). Indeed, I even own a cell phone.
However, I do not believe it necessary for them to be continually going off in public areas. Many cell phones have a "vibrate function" which means their owners can discretely slip out of movie theatres and the like to answer them.... Moreover, most cell phone plans come with both caller id and voicemail; thus, they do not always *have* to be answered.
My partner works in an area that requires him to use a cell phone a great deal, but he never answers it while driving. Rather he lets it go to voicemail and pulls over to deal with it when opportunity allows. This really is not difficult.......

IMO anyone caught driving while using a cell phone should be subject to the same penalties as drunk drivers.
Finally, I think it is really rude when somebody with whom you are alledgedly spending time answers their phone in mid-conversation. Unless I am expecting an important call, I always have my phone off when I go out with a friend.
Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2002 11:24 am
by Mr Sleep
Originally posted by dragon wench
My partner works in an area that requires him to use a cell phone a great deal, but he never answers it while driving. Rather he lets it go to voicemail and pulls over to deal with it when opportunity allows. This really is not difficult.......
IMO anyone caught driving while using a cell phone should be subject to the same penalties as drunk drivers.
That is very militant of you

at what point does one stop, for instance I quite often drink water while driving which i think is a good thing since it stops me from dehydrating and becoming tired from that but in the UK it is actually a finable offence the same as mobile phone use whilst driving. I do wonder how many accidents they actually cause and how many times the drivers are at fault. I don't know the facts I just wonder how much concerntration it actually takes from the road.