Missile Double Standards

Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't want to see North Korea with missiles. But India test fires a missile and it makes very small news. Why no objection? Why not hassle them about it. They have not signed the non-proliferation treaty, after all. I would expect to see a little disapproval.

Why not? Because they have a lot to offer the U.S. economically. Yep, outsourcing and all that. That's why they received that agreement earlier in the year ... seeing as the administration is pro-corporations. Like I said, I definitely don't want to see North Korea with missiles, but let's have one standard. This really Grinds My Gears.

Tags: India, Nuclear, Korea

TailGating When There's Nowhere to Go

Why bother tailgating me if there's nowhere to go?  I have a bunch of cars in front of me, so why bother tailgating?  You go around me, you just end up right behind someone else.  Ah, I see, you want to push everyone out of the way!  This really Grinds My Gears.

Global Warming ... What a Fantasy, Right?

No, I'm not upset by people who believe in Global Warming (or better named, Global Climate Change). I'm upset at those who, despite all the evidence, insist that there is no change. It's all cyclical. Well, OK, take a look at Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth ... take a look at the graph in part of the movie when he shows how, yes, CO2 has varied from time to time. But it has never gone over 300 parts per million. And now it's at 380 ... and if you look at the graph, has climbed incredibly since the Industrial Revolution.

But of course, we have nothing to do with it. Well, even if we don't, temperatures are going up, and we need to do something about it. This really Grinds My Gears.

Ads, Ads, Everywhere

I went to a supermarket today. It took me a while to notice it, but there was a LCD screen facing the shoppers ... not with prices on it, but with ads! There's nowhere you can go to avoid ads. This really Grinds My Gears.

Whatever happened to Customer Support?

Not only is the customer no longer right, frequently the customer is wrong. And, what Grinds My Gears, is when two customer service reps contradict each other. For example, I traded in a car. I was told NOT to turn off the automatic payment, as it was my responsibility to make sure the payments were still handled until the dealer sent in the paperwork. When I complained about the fact that they took out the last payment (not only that, the last payment was supposed to be $282 and they took out $330), they told me it was my responsibility to turn OFF the automatic payment. This despite the fact that the other rep told me not to do it!

My signal does not mean speed up ...

When I signal to change lanes, for some reason people seem to think, oftentimes, it means I want them to speed up and block my lane change. This really Grinds My Gears.

Leaving Your Parking Space ... Or Not?

Saw it today.  A truck in front of me was waiting for someone to leave a space.  The driver of the car in question clearly was getting into his car to leave.  So what does he do?  Sit there and create a huge backup.  Eventually we all had to pass by the space and move on.  I was convinced he did this on purpose.  This really Grinds My Gears.

Splashing on Public Toilet Seats ... and Not Wiping

Give me a break.  If you make the mess, clean it up.  If you splash all over the toilet seat, can you at least wipe it up!?  This really Grinds My Gears.

Public Who Hold Up Public Transit by Standing in the Doorway

Just happened today on BART.  Standing in the doorway to hold the door for her friend.  This causes the BART train to wait, holding up hundreds of passengers for one rude idiot.  This really Grinds My Gears.

Poor Error Messages in Software

Yep, this really gets me.  I was helping a friend convert from Quicken to Microsoft Money.  He was trying to convert the files over, but it kept saying that it couldn't convert the file.  No reason why, just couldn't.  It should have worked.  Quicken 2005 -> Money 2006.  I finally figured out it was because the Quicken file had a password we'd forgotten about.  Actually, I figured the Money program would have said "Enter Quicken Password" or something, or at the very least, "Cannot Convert File because it has a password."  These kind of unhelpful error messages are common in software (some as cryptic as Error 514).  This really Grinds My Gears.

Commenters!

OK, so I post a story on my blog, or on a blog I contribute to.  You don't agree with it.  Fine, comment.  But don't call me an idiot.  That's uncalled for.  This really Grinds My Gears.

Parents and Kid's Sports

Kids are supposed to have fun playing Little League, or soccer, or whatever.  But nowadays parents are so into the games, that they are a) unhappy if their kid doesn't play, to the point of fighting with the coach, b) berate the kid if they lose.  The idea is for the kids (not the adults) to have fun!  Let's try to remember who the sports are for.  This really Grinds My Gears.

Parking Meters That Reset Themselves

Parking meters that reset themselves when a car leaves. This means no leftover minutes. Really, that's like double taxation. That time was already paid for. This really Grinds My Gears.

Technorati Tags : Parking, Technology