What grinds your gears?

[Fragile Bird]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

They've been running ads for sex toys on TV for a long time now. Get with the times, Birdie. 

I don’t think I’ve seen the sex toy ads, but I don’t watch a lot of live tv. I record things and skip the ads. Pubic hairs and poo, ugh!

[Tywin et al.]

25 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

I don’t think I’ve seen the sex toy ads, but I don’t watch a lot of live tv. I record things and skip the ads. Pubic hairs and poo, ugh!

Odd considering you live in Toronto even if you try to skip the ads. 

[Madame deVenoge]

18 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

I don’t think I’ve seen the sex toy ads, but I don’t watch a lot of live tv. I record things and skip the ads. Pubic hairs and poo, ugh!

Right there with you. Fortunately, I do not watch TV with commercials, and haven’t for years, thus sparing me all of this.

When I was with W, he watched “old person TV” - the shows that were popular in the late 70s and early 80s, like Hazel and I Dream of Jeannie. There were lots of commercials for social security stuff. Or Medicare Advantage plans. 

[LongRider]

I didn't watch tv for years and just started watching streaming tv last year when I signed up on HULU to watch the Handmaid's Tale.  The streaming with no ads is affordable, so I didn't see any, which made me happy.   This year I cancelled Hulu to pick up HBO Max to watch Succession.  At first, I got the cheap with ads stream, and quickly switched to the no ads.  After Succession, I watched The West Wing on Max as I had never seen it.   All seven seasons without an ad, heaven.   Streaming is the way to go for me and I really like it.

 

[Teng Ai Hui]

18 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

I don’t think I’ve seen the sex toy ads, but I don’t watch a lot of live tv. I record things and skip the ads. Pubic hairs and poo, ugh!

I'm visiting family these days.  My aunt mentioned hating those exact same ads.  She couldn't change the channel fast enough to avoid that razor ad.

For me, the midwestern dialect in USA is killing my brain cells.  If I hear another person say worsh or Worshington, I'm going to shove spoons in my ears.

Also, if you're a politician who says Missour-ah instead of Missouri, then you can go fuck yourself.  Politicians should be better than the people they represent, not trying to make their constituents want to have a beer with them.

[Larry of the Lawn]

I've must be getting old because I keep getting this weird ad:

 

 

[Fragile Bird]

18 minutes ago, Larry of the Lawn said:

I've must be getting old because I keep getting this weird ad:

 

 

Well that’s a helluva a lot more interesting than pubic hair shavers and poo softener…

Edited August 20 by Fragile Bird

[LongRider]

9 hours ago, Teng Ai Hui said:

Also, if you're a politician who says Missour-ah instead of Missouri, then you can go fuck yourself. 

And please pilgrim, don’t say Ne-vaa-dah to me.  Proper pronunciation is Ne-vad-ah .  
You’re welcome. 

[Madame deVenoge]

Currently grinding my gears is arthritis. I have NO IDEA why evolution has put up with ridiculous pain while walking - spine and knees, though knees only up stairs, which, I suppose, we haven’t been bipedal long enough to solve the knees issue, but surely, the spine thing is really not necessary for having all this pain?? We are nothing if not vertebrates, the spine has been around for a long time, why have we not managed to fix it??

I blame my ancestors. 

[LongRider]

@Madame deVenoge

I hear ya!  The two things that helped my very painful back was learning proper movement.   First is don't bend over, hinge at the hips with a straight back.  The second was learning how to properly lift with my legs.  Yeah, Yeah, heard that before many times.  Just learned the proper way and it's fantastic!  Really made a difference. 

The PT told me to bend at the knees with back straight, lower down and pick up item keeping a straight back, if a heavy item or has any weight really, bring the item close to your body.  When ready to stand up, squeeze your buns in the back and engage your core in the front and push with your legs.  I try to push my heels into the floor when standing up and I find it useful.  Done correctly the back doesn't engage and doesn't hurt. 

My back issue is arthritis and when it flares up, holy shit.  My right knee arthritis hurts going downstairs and is ok going up.  I was off work for 2 years with my back injury and the rest and lack of stress, and learning proper movement is what helped me the most.  Anyway, here's to feeling better.   

[RhaenysBee]

Gen z employees. I’m sorry but I just can’t deal with these kids.  This morning I went to a local bakery to pick up a loaf of bread, and since I was short on time to get home for my first meeting, I decided to buy a coffee in the bakery instead of taking the longer route home to hit my current favorite cafe. 

The woman in front of me in the line had a couple questions about ingredients ( I assumed she was vegan, but she could have had allergies too). Gen Z employee was unable to answer any of them, and in fact started making faces at the second question already, as if it weren’t a 100% valid expectation that she should know basic dietary information about the products she serves, especially that the bakery has vegan sandwiches and alternative milk options so it clearly aims to cater to dietary needs. Luckily the actual baker who make the products was on a coffee break in the shop so she could answer the woman’s questions. Okay, it was my turn, I asked if they had decaf coffee, the cashier told me they did, so I requested a decaf cappuccino with oat milk which the gen z employee proceeded to prepare. I paid and in a couple minutes I was handed a cup with a foamy top and the right size so I assumed it was okay. I placed a lid on top, got home. On the very first sip of the froth I could tell that the milk was farmer’s whole milk, originating from a cow. I don’t always make a fuss about that even though most places charge extra. I keep sipping, it’s all kinda tasteless, and after I get through the foam, I become suspicious. I open the lid, wow it’s so light. I get a spoon, no color in sight. There’s just no way there’s coffee in this. I pour it out into a glass to be sure, it’s just milk. So now my meeting is over and I’m going to walk back and take the cup of cow’s milk and ask for my money back.

of Course the problem would not even arise if I myself weren’t a wasteful millennial asshat who buys coffee to go instead of brewing it at home like a proper gen Xer. 

 

Edited August 21 by RhaenysBee

[Phylum of Alexandria]

15 hours ago, Madame deVenoge said:

Currently grinding my gears is arthritis. I have NO IDEA why evolution has put up with ridiculous pain while walking - spine and knees, though knees only up stairs, which, I suppose, we haven’t been bipedal long enough to solve the knees issue, but surely, the spine thing is really not necessary for having all this pain?? We are nothing if not vertebrates, the spine has been around for a long time, why have we not managed to fix it??

I blame my ancestors. 

I love returning to the ground. Ambulation is for suckers. 

[Zorral]

Asshole bike rider screaming at me, "BIKE LANE! GET THE HELL OUT OF IT!"  I was walking in a crosswalk, with the light.  Since when does riding a bike in a bike lane excuse the rider from traffic rules and keeps pedestrians from crossing the bike lane with the light to get to the other side?

Why yes, NEVER!  But fucking bikers don't believe it.  If there had been a car crossing there, like I saw happen not that long ago, that biker would have been paste.

[baxus]

Cycling as a mode of transportation has never really caught on in Belgrade. Partly because of lack of bike lanes, partly because of the terrain (flat on one side of the river, rather hilly on the other). As a result, there's no cycling culture in place and on the other hand the other people in traffic don't really pay attention to cyclists.

That being said, I absolutely loathe people on bikes riding down the middle of the lane, not wearing a helmet, not having lights on etc., using the street when it's convenient and riding on the sidewalk or a pedestrian crossing when that's more convenient. It's EXTREMELY annoying. On one occasion I remember this one guy riding a bike in such a chaotic manner that I was actually hoping he gets hit by a car, as long as it's not my car that hits him.

Full disclosure, cyclists are just one part in the mayhem that is Belgrade traffic and nowhere near the biggest contributor to the chaos.

[polishgenius]

On 5/27/2023 at 6:19 PM, polishgenius said:

 

If I'm the first person getting off the train and there's someone getting on who tries to stand in the middle of the door instead of to the side as it opens, I will make it clear that I'm just gonna step directly forwards. Haven't had anyone not step out of the way yet, to be fair. I don't understand it at all, though- being at the side is way faster to get on.

 

Also if in a crowded area I stand aside to let someone from the opposite direction through, and someone from behind me cuts in front instead, I am absolutely petty enough to catch up to them, overtake, and slow right down in their way. Especially if the person I was letting through was elderly, had a kid/pushchair, or anything of that sort. Like fuck you. 

 

I was reminded of this kvetch today when I got a particularly satisfying petty moment in that basically combined the two. Waiting to get on a train and some dude was one of those (which I am too) aiming to be standing by a door as it pulled in. When he realised he'd misjudged he elbowed his way along the front of the platform to get a better spot, which is not how the game is played. Except he overshot and tried to make his way back again when it stopped, which is just extra double not okay at that point.

So when he tried to step past me again I just cut in front of him completely blatantly. And then let the two people at the opposite side of the door in first once the crowd was off. Could feel him fuming all the way up the stairs to the top deck.

 

I just don't understand how people can be so fucking rude though. It'd be one thing if it seemed like he didn't understand the ettiquete, that happens, but he clearly did and was trying to game it.

[Fragile Bird]

Being in Canada you see American commercials on US tv all the time, and the one really really bugging me right now is for the Medicare plan reviews. Americans who have Medicare plans can change plans during a limited period ie now. There’s one company that uses a whining white woman saying she’s sick of all the commercials and, of course, her name is Karen. And the announcer uses her name throughout the commercial, emphasizing the word Karen.

Now, my name is not Karen, but like the whining woman I can’t stand the commercials because I’m not an American and they don’t apply to me. But I feel sorry for all the women named Karen and listening to the announcer shove the name Karen in your face over and over just grinds my gears. It’s not funny in any way, shape or form.

An hour ago the same company ran a commercial with another whining white woman and her name was Martha. I thought to myself, omg, they got the message from people complaining. Nope. She’s in rotation with Karen.

If I were in the US I’d make sure not to call that insurer because if the obnoxious nature of the commercial. It also makes me wonder who their target market is.

[Zorral]

I'm happy to say that today a mom was carrying her toddler and stroller down a flight of stairs.  She had to leave her bags on the steps to do that.  When I changed course to help her, several other people had done the same thing!  So there are still moments of decency in this country, at least when people aren't on bicycles?

[kissdbyfire]

On 8/19/2023 at 2:59 PM, LongRider said:

watched The West Wing on Max as I had never seen it.   All seven seasons without an ad, heaven. 

The West Wing is so good! Been meaning to do a rewatch but current global politics is holding me back, I think it would be so utterly depressing to watch that quasi-utopian show and then watch whatever news outlet with its endless stream of insane and infuriating news, a lot of it to do w/ some nasty horrible evangelical nutjob, who every damn time reminds me of this scene.

 

[SeanF]

1 hour ago, kissdbyfire said:

The West Wing is so good! Been meaning to do a rewatch but current global politics is holding me back, I think it would be so utterly depressing to watch that quasi-utopian show and then watch whatever news outlet with its endless stream of insane and infuriating news, a lot of it to do w/ some nasty horrible evangelical nutjob, who every damn time reminds me of this scene.

 

It was always far-fetched.  Even good US Presidents (and there have been some good ones) are more like Machiavelli’s Prince than this President.

[LongRider]

I liked the show for many reasons, the writing, the acting, ect.  I did consider it fantasy though.