This Really Grinds My Gears

Missile Double Standards

2006-07-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-26T11:04:00.001-07:00

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?

2006-06-25T22:12:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

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?

2006-05-12T22:29:00.000-07:00

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 ...

2006-05-10T10:22:00.000-07:00

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?

2006-01-28T21:48:00.000-08:00

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

2006-01-27T21:34:00.000-08:00

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

2006-01-27T21:32:00.000-08:00

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

2006-01-21T10:33:00.000-08:00

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!

2006-01-12T19:06:00.000-08:00

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

2006-01-06T07:42:00.000-08:00

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

2006-01-03T06:30:00.000-08:00

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

Computer Peripherals With "Soft" Power Buttons

2005-12-29T10:10:00.000-08:00

I like to turn off my computers with a power strip. But some of the external devices have soft power buttons ... which means when I turn them off with a power strip, when I turn the strip back on I STILL have to hit the power button on the device. What a pain. Why not a hard toggle so this isn't required? Naturally I'm always forgetting my NAS drive. This really Grinds My Gears.

Technorati Tags : Electonics, Computers

Software That Doesn't Tell You What It's Going to Do

2005-12-27T17:08:00.000-08:00

I hate software that tells you it's going to, say, optimize your system, then goes and finds say 100 things that need to be changed ... but doesn't tell you what they are! I realize most people won't understand ... but I will. And I want to know what's going to happen before it does! This really Grinds My Gears.

Technorati Tags : Software, Utilities

Software That Installs Services I Don't Need

2005-12-27T17:04:00.000-08:00

I really hate it when I install something that ends up installing a bunch of services and start-up programs that I don't need. Or only need if, for example, I want to schedule something. Which I usually don't. These services usually run automatically and take up RAM when they're never used. I have to a) figure out what they are, b) configure them to run manually. What a pain! This really Grinds My Gears.

Technorati Tags : Software, Utilities

Dairy-Free Creamers, Anyone?

2005-12-27T16:59:00.000-08:00

I'm lactose-intolerant, so I need dairy-free creamers when I have coffee. Yet so many coffee shops don't have it. Why? This really Grinds My Gears.

Technorati Tags : Milk, Coffee

Driving in the Rain as Though it Were Dry as a Bone

2005-12-25T13:10:00.000-08:00

Why is it people insist on driving in a downpour as though it were a clear, sunny day? Then you see them a couple of miles down the road and they've skidded out, and taken someone else with them. This really Grinds My Gears.

Technorati Tags : SUV, automobiles

SUVs and Compact Spaces

2005-12-23T16:20:00.000-08:00

OK, let's remember. It's called a compact space for a reason. Sure, a RAV4 can fit into one. But a Hummer? I saw a Hummer in one the other day, and it was sticking one foot into the next lane. And it wasn't because there were no regular spaces. It was because the guy was too lazy to walk across the parking lot. This really Grinds My Gears.

Technorati Tags : SUV

answers.yahoo.com

2005-12-18T19:04:00.000-08:00

Actually, the idea of the site is good. What I hate is all the "is it OK to cheat on my boyfriend", "what is sex", etc. etc. stupid questions. I go on the site to genuinely help people and I want to see real questions. Fake, silly questions (and answers) really Grind My Gears.

Technorati Tags : Yahoo

Lack of Vegetables in Restaurants ...

2005-12-17T15:59:00.000-08:00

A guest item from my wife ... she is amazed at how often she goes into restaurants, and asks them to substitute vegetables for something on the plate ... and gets told they don't really have vegetables there. Eh? It's so cheap to serve up some vegetables, and they don't have any? This really Grinds Her Gears.

Technorati Tags : Restaurants

John Smith in India, Can I Help You?

2005-12-16T15:08:00.000-08:00

One thing I hate is calling a call center and getting someone who says he's John Smith. But he's obviously not John Smith, he's Shriram and he's in India. Can you at least have the decency to use your real name? At least the real first name? This really Grinds My Gears.

Technorati Tags : Outsourcing , technology

The Crawl

2005-12-11T14:51:00.000-08:00

The Crawl is TV-speak for the bottom-of-the-screen news ticker that appears on CNN, etc. But that bottom part of the screen is now used by some channels like Court TV to advertise upcoming shows. Besides being annoying, how long will it be before they start putting real ads there? After all, so many of us are using PVRs now. This really Grinds My Gears.

Technorati Tags : Tivo, PVR

What's Wrong with Christmas!?

2005-12-11T14:20:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, we had Christmas parties. Now it's a dirty word. It's political correctness carried to extremes. What is the big deal? This really Grinds My Gears.

Park in the Middle of the Street, Don't Mind Me

2005-12-07T11:52:00.000-08:00

Driving to the store last night, I happened to drive by a place which I guess is used as a drop-off point for carpools. These guys stopped their van in the middle of the street (not a residential street, a side street in a business area) and I was forced to wait until I could pull around to pass.

This despite the fact that there was an open parking lot right next to them? Why did they do this? Because, as a lot of Americans are nowadays, there were rude and in a hurry, and didn't care if they inconvenienced anyone else. This really Grinds My Gears.

Bad TV Lives!

2005-12-06T06:53:00.001-08:00

Why is it that bad TV shows like "According to Jim" continue to live on while great TV shows like "Arrested Development" are cancelled? OK, OK, let's not say good or bad. Let's say critically panned vs. critically acclaimed.

Anyway, why is it? Are smart shows like "Arrested Development" simply too intelligent for most people? It does require you to pay attention. This really Grinds My Gears.

The Solomon Amendment

2005-12-06T06:49:00.000-08:00

As indicated in this news item from The Weekly Standard,

Federally-funded universities must open their doors to military recruiters at the risk of losing federal funds. After 9/11 the Defense Department began to threaten enforcement of the amendment, and law schools began to comply.

So, if this is allowed to stand, what's to prevent the government from withdrawing funds from universities that allow abortion in school hospitals or do stem-cell research? This really Grinds My Gears.

Smoker's Rights

2005-12-06T06:47:00.000-08:00

When a smoker says, "what about my right to smoke?" I always think, "what about my life to live?" If it comes down to his right to enjoy his habit of inhaling toxins vs. my right to live longer by not inhaling second-hand smoke, I think the right to life should win out. This really Grinds My Gears.

SUVs for Safety Reasons

2005-12-06T06:46:00.001-08:00

My wife knows a woman, older but with no kids and no husband. She drives a huge SUV because she thinks it's safer. Not because she needs the SUV. Sure, an SUV vs. say, my wife's Echo ... the SUV wins. But how about being a safe driver? Or should we all drive Hummers and get less than 10 miles per gallon? This really Grinds My Gears.

Cell Phones at the Movies

2005-12-06T06:46:00.000-08:00

Cell phones in movies, theatres, the library (!). The worst thing is when the phone rings in the movies and some idiot answers it! I really don't understand why we don't do what Japan does; they have cell phone jammers in a lot of places. This really Grinds My Gears.

Backing Into Parking Spots

2005-12-06T06:45:00.000-08:00

Why do people back into a parking space at a mall or parking lot? Is it for convenience? Most of the time it seems like they do it simply because they think "it's cool". This really Grinds My Gears.

Celebrities

2005-12-06T06:42:00.000-08:00

Why is it the U.S. ... no, the world, insists on making celebrities, whether they be TV stars, movie stars, theatre stars or sports stars ... into heroes or heroines? In the broad scope of things, what have they really done? Sure, they entertain us, but does that mean they deserve $20,000,000 a picture? Shouldn't a teacher, who can't get a wage that allows him or her to buy a house in California, be paid an equitable salary? This really Grinds My Gears.