Things That Annoy Me, But Shouldn't

I'm typing this on my smartphone, sorry.

British accents on TV shows set in France.

 

Or English accents on a TV show set in Russia.

 

That so many of the best actors on American shows turn out to be English or from some other English-speaking country and do perfect American accents, so you just think they're American. Like Hugh Laurie on House.

 

Yeah, but to be fair we do get the best actors Canada has to offer.

 

^^ I guess it's like pro sports. You have what's supposed to be a local team, but half of the names seem suspiciously foreign...

 

I heard but cannot cite that in the mid 90s the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team hired so many Russian players that it made more sense to have Russian-language classes for the English speakers than vice-versa.

 

At least I guess it's building bridges between nations. Plus well, anything to win the game right?

 

Star Trek communicator?

 

^^ Steampunk edition.

 

Oh my goodness, yes.

And British accents in Biblical dramas. Can't they at least come up with some Israeli actors?

And--- Well, I bought this novel a couple-three years ago, called Honour and the Sword. It's an historical drama set in 17th century France. And for some very silly reason the author has all the French peasants talk like Cockneys. Or something equally British and inappropriate. It's so off-putting I'm finding it hard to finish the book.

 

Comment is no good without my oversize pic

 

People who pretend they know more than they do and don't want to let you loose till you act on their erroneous information.

I've got to get some holes drilled into cinder block. Cinder block that's now covered in stucco, so I can't find the mortar joints to drill into them. Online research tells me I need a hammer drill.

So the other day I had a weird shift at the Big Blue Box Store that saw me clocking out at 6:50 PM instead of 11:00. I head for Hardware & Tools to see what we have. My colleague there, an older guy (older than me, even!) starts telling me I don't need a hammer drill, I should just drill into the joints, and if I can't find the joints, I should "knock off a 2" diameter section of the stucco" to find one (is he crazy?) , and if I use a hammer drill, it'll just shatter the cinderblock into pieces (bs), and I should really use expanding anchor bolts (never mind that you have to drill a hole to get the stupid things in, which gets us back to the original problem), and now he's going to show me the kind of bit I need (I bought one a week ago), etc., etc.

As I let this wash over me, the only reason I'm not freaking over what he might be telling the regular customers day to day is that I haven't eaten for over seven hours and my blood sugar is plummeting. And I just want to leave and do my shopping at Wally World and go home and this guy is still talking at me!

The stupidest thing about it is that if he'd been thinking clearly, he could have sold me a hammer drill. As it is, I bought one on Amazon tonight. No, not being disloyal--- we supposedly carry that model, but it's out of stock. But if I have to deal with him, I don't want to wait for it to come in.

 

There's actually a subliminal reason for that. I forget where I read this, but it's legit.

The British accents in the Biblical movies are to align the Romans with the English, because English, to an American audience, means Empire, and we were the rebels who stood against them.

 

Well, no, what I'm objecting to is British accents for Jesus and the disciples. All those crude Galilean fisherman chattering away like Oxford grads? No.

 

Oh, well that's just plain WRONG then!!

No-one else is allowed to have a Jesus or a Santa Claus with their own accent!

 

eBay sellers who don't have the common courtesy to reject/respond to an offer, and instead just allow it to sit there and expire, not caring that it means the potential buyer can't risk making any bids / offers on other listings of the same item.

Because of this it looks like I'm going to have to wait another 22 hours before I can even consider other listings!!

 

eBay really seems to stress you out. Most sellers just don't check their computer as often as you want them to.

 

I know this to be true, but the arse'ole in me never sees things this practically and reasonably.

 

Back to work, as of 1st June!

 

Brilliant

 

No, that's not the word I had in mind.

 

Ebay sellers in the U.S. who tell me, "We can ship to Puerto Rico, but you have to pay for international shipping and it needs to be in American dollars."

Thanks, Kyle, but no thanks. Everything you just said tells me everything I need to know about how this is going to go down. I'll look for someone on the east coast who knows what the fuq is going on.

 

Tourism has its fads here. Back ages ago everyone was on an aurora borealis kick and I recall reading in the paper that the Alaskan tourism board routinely got calls from Japanese travel agents asking what language was spoken there and what currency they used.

At least in Hawaii (in the early 90s) there were stores with signage entirely in Japanese and Japanese-speaking staff that took yen.