Things that annoy me . . . . And should

It's like Golliwog being excised from Enid Blyton.

 

Nah It’s BS. When I was in school, our alma mater was changed to be gender sex inclusive. That made sense, since it isn’t just a song for older generations, but also for the newest students as well.

These stories aren’t contemporaneous. Why update them?

 

Reminds me of my first breakfast in the Navy. I gave it back to them on the same tray I got it.

 

I went from Marine boot camp/MCT chow halls to Army dining halls to Air Force Michelin-starred restaurants (there was a sign to put on your tray if you were getting up to get another drink that would stop the busboys from taking it away)...

...straight back to Marine chow halls for the last two years. Got to eat on a Navy base one time but felt really weird because I didn't know which fork to use in the enlisted mess.

 

Okay, this is nuts. I got a membership at my local plastic model makerspace at the start of February. Built three nice models since then, and since I'm all out of models (and money. The fees are reasonable for what you get, but I'm in a minor pinch and don't have extra to throw around at the moment) I want to cancel my membership at the end of the month. Went up to the staff dude today and told him that I was very happy with the place, but just like last year I needed to cancel my membership.

"Oh, I can't do that. You can only do that online."

Online. In written Japanese. Yes, Mrs. A can help me with it, and I'll use Google translate as much as possible, but what do you mean I can't cancel my membership here in the shop?

Sigh.

 

Parents who leave their giant SUVs idling in the parking lot when dropping off their kids at daycare. Seriously people, 20F isn't that cold. If you're rich enough for a G-class you can afford a jacket.

I get it if it is super cold and they are picking their kids up, because thick jackets make car seats less safe, but dropping off... cmon people, a little chill won't hurt you.

 

Gotta vent somewhere...

So I had a letter that needed to get to the US on a fairly tight time schedule because reasons and privacy. Went to my local express delivery place (nationwide chain with international shipping partnerships with UPS and such) because the post office is a nightmare. This was Friday. I told them that it needed to be to the US by the following Thursday. They said that it would probably get there but they couldn't guarantee it, but since that was what I had available without going into the city proper I decided to risk it. The address was to a business, but listed as a P.O. box. Many businesses use this and it's not Myrtle from reception going to the physical post office to unlock the mail slot.

But I dropped it off for mailing on Friday. On Monday, after dinnertime, when I was working, I got a call. I was actually teaching so I couldn't check until around 8:30 pm, it was from an unknown number and there was no message.

Scam.

On Tuesday I got another call from the same number and picked it up. It was the delivery company. They can't deliver to P.O. boxes, but the staff member didn't notice when they accepted the letter.

Could I provide a different address?

No, that's the address I was given.

Really? Because if you can find another-

I can't. Can you send the letter back to me? You have my return address.

Oh, no, I'm sorry, it's addressed to the P.O. box, we can't deliver it there and we can't deliver it anywhere else.

What is the point of a return address if not to return undeliverable mail?*

You can pick it up at the office where you dropped it off.

Great, I'll go right down there.

Oh, it's not there now. It'll be there on Thursday and you can pick it up.

Thursday. The day I said it needed to be in America?

We're so sorry.

Yeah, me too.

****

Spoiler: *

A friend of the family used to save money on postage when sending letters crosstown. They would put the recipient's address in the return address section and their own address as the destination, then "forget" to put a stamp on the letter. It would get "returned" to the person it was intended for. This family friend is now deceased and there's probably a statute of limitations that's run out, but it's worth noting that this was almost certainly illegal as hell.

 

Seeing the @Iain Aschendale's mail issue, reminds me of a project I did more than 10 years ago. The client operated several cancer treatment centers from LA to New York City to Boca Raton, FL and wanted the various Doctor Master Files cleaned up and corrected as much as possible. There was more than 50% duplication, incorrect Medicaid Identifiers or NPI numbers (which were new then). So I created an application to run through the files ans run edit reports; these had to be manually verified and corrected. Then I had another application to edit and upload changes/ additions etc. This used a spreadsheet, and among the various columns were Address Line 1, Address Line 2, City, State and Zip. The clinics' admitting people were supposed to fillt it out and submit weekly to run through the edit/upload app. The biggest problem I had was for the 2 clinics in New York City. Apparently, they believed a proper USPS address would allow the word "City" to mean "New York City, New York, any zip code".

And they say people in the rural west are parochial.

 

Just remember, Brooklyn and Queens are on Long Island, but they are not part of "Long Island". They're "The City".

 

Etymology
From Turkish İstanbul, from Ottoman Turkish استانبول‎ (istanbul), a corruption of Byzantine Greek εἰς τὴν Πόλιν (eis tḕn Pólin, “to the City”), which is how Constantinople was referred to by the local Greeks.

 

When you check your schedule the day before work and in the morning before you leave for work AND when you get to work and it hasnt changed.

And 3 hours later, while you are using your off desk time to do your work, a coworker asks why you arent on desk right now and that you were supposed to be on desk 2 hours ago.

WTF.

IT SHOULD BE COMMON COURTESY TO LET YOUR EMPLOYEES KNOW IF THERE IS A LAST MINUTE SCHEDULE CHANGE!
i literally passed my boss in the hall and he said NOTHING to me about the schedule change. Let me go on my merry way.

Im annoyed. Im mad. Im all of the above.

And now i got people looking at me like im the flaky employee

 

That would burn me too.

 

SOS--- Shit on a shingle. Or "slop on a shingle," in front of the children.

 

I'd be keeping records of such incidents to back up my contentions of harassment and hostile work environment when the Powers That Be finally get around to firing me on spurious grounds. Of course, Michigan is a right to work state and employers need no grounds for termination. Stupid law. Wyoming has it, too. Michigan legislators are working to repeal the right to work law, but even with it in place, one can haul an employer's malicious ass through the legal system.

 

Received four items from Amazon. Two had been opened and thrown back in the box/bag without the internal packaging, and one of those (curtains) reeked of cigarette smoke. Those order-picking robots can't get here fast enough.

 

I never heard it like that. It was always on a "shingle", I presume so the acronym would be "SOS".

Actually, I don't mind it - rather like sausage gravy on biscuits, just less flavorful.

 

My Type A is showing:

We had training on how to do a booking on our calendar.
We have written step by step procedures on how to do it as well.
Everyone had access to it....

.....so WHY is it STILL done wrong???? WHY cant people just follow the directions?? Its even color coded!
Last week, someone did their own thing and messed up THE ENTIRE CALENDAR from here until fall that i had to go in and correct.

And everyone is so chill about it. But i guarentee, the more people doing it wrong, the sooner people will start complaining about how complicated it is (because everyone is doing it their own way) and revolt. Like the did before which led to this new system

 

And when they finally figure out this new system and start doing things correctly, they will switch it up.

 

The world is full of slack jawed mouth breathers. I have employed more than a few in my past.
You cant win, we are massively outnumbered.

 

That strikes me as vague, harsh, and judgmental. I'm wondering how you define "we."