Shoot the Wall (A.K.A. The Rant Thread)

[Pseudonym]

Ah, I knew to you a pavement is a sidewalk, which made me wonder if by 'pavement' you meant road, but wasn't sure. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Yeah, if you're talking about a road over here and say there's no pavement, that would mean that the road itself is unpaved; i.e., presumably dirt, gravel, or crushed stone.

[J.P.]

The horror… the horror…

[Carol the Dabbler]

Hey, anything's better than mud! 

[Van Buren Supernova]

On 3/26/2018 at 11:00 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

 

2)  They don't want to put anything in writing.  Certain phone companies are notorious for this.  I phoned to get a quote for wi-fi service, and three different people told me I was eligible for a really good rate the first year, but they wouldn't send me a written quote, and wanted me to hurry and sign up because the deal (which wasn't even mentioned on their website) was about to expire.  Feeling like a sucker I signed up -- and, sure enough, when the first bill came, it was for the regular amount.  When I phoned for an explanation, they said I hadn't signed up quite soon enough -- even though the person who took my credit-card number had assured me the deal was still on.  But of course I couldn't prove anything.  

Understand the frustation, still can't get why companies still use the on-hold music and your call is important to us crap. It does nothing but making me furious.

Anyway, maybe I'm too paranoid, but I would never give my card number away through phone especially for something like sale. And I don't even have a credit card, just a debit that works wonderfully well for transactions.

(However the debit card of my current staying place can't be used for online transaction despite the claim that they should. I'm very pissed that it seems like I have to maybe 'consider' getting a credit card despite successfully avoiding it all my life. ^@$#&%)

On 3/29/2018 at 1:16 AM, Pseudonym said:

 

Here's a possible point on interest - you guys asked before about CCTV cameras here. When I broke down a highways officer came along not long after and pulled over to check everything was alright and that I was calling for roadside recovery. Before they headed off they told me they were asking the CCTV camera operators to keep an eye on me to make sure everything was okay, and that if I needed help to use one of the breakdown phones dotted along the hard shoulder as that would go through directly to one of the camera operators. 

I'm appalled that you didn't walk around in pattern of F*ck Off, despite knowing for sure that Mycroft is watching. Geez, Pseud!!

[Pseudonym]

I was actually fairly reassured to be on camera. Perhaps it's because I've grown up in a country where I am used to cameras everywhere, but I'd rather be watched and have someone immediately know something has happened to me than not. 

[Van Buren Supernova]

2 minutes ago, Pseudonym said:

I was actually fairly reassured to be on camera. Perhaps it's because I've grown up in a country where I am used to cameras everywhere, but I'd rather be watched and have someone immediately know something has happened to me than not. 

I think you are right, it really depends on where you are. Like in your case I'd probably feel better that someone is keeping eye on me, especially when he/she mentioned it for safety purpose.

In other cases,  I don't trust cameras. There are couple of surveillance cameras at homes, and I would never do anything funny in front of them; such as I'm always fully clothed near it and do nothing to show valuable stuffs.  It's ridiculously easy to hack those things.

On normal occasions, I have this skeptical stand that it's more often than people who have potential to harm you is people who know you, regardless whether you know them or not. For example, I wouldn't trust installing home safety device, as that means giving someone knowledge about the kind of safety I'm using and condition of my home. Their company may be professional, but the people in charge are still strangers who probably know a way around their safety device and at the same time having to chance to survey my house. I don't think it's paranoia though, as I had seen things going wrong and the scenario is very possible. I'd rather let the potential criminal guess how many baseball bats that I have.

[Pseudonym]

I'm pretty paranoid letting people in my home too. They might be giving me a quote on plumbing or something that needs doing but it feels a bit like 'by all means, come in, check which windows open and how many doors there are, take note of the motion sensors on the alarm and the blind spots, have a good look...'

[Pseudonym]

Bl00dy customs. I bought a jumper from America, thinking it was cheap enough I wouldn't be stung with any duty from customs. Apparently not. Instead, as far as I can work out, I'm likely to be given a 20 quid tax fee and then Royal Mail are sticking their oar in and chucking in another 8 quid as a handling fee. It might wind up even more, I'm waiting for the oh-do-delightful 'you owe us money' card to be delivered. Not amused. If the jumper doesn't fit me I'm going to be even less amused - I had to just guess at the size and I'm hoping it isn't too small. Tax men are a nightmare, anything they can do to claw money off you they'll do it. 

[Pseudonym]

Where does the Discovery channel get off showing 21 year old documentaries? The one I just saw was so horrifically dated I couldn't even sit through five minutes. I'm used to repeats, they repeat things constantly (which is annoying enough), but digging out programs made in the '90s is really pushing it. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

The nineties?  Wasn't that just day before yesterday?

[Pseudonym]

Afraid not. 

It's funny how so many films age fine but old documentaries are AWFUL. The 'graphics', the narration, the overblown storytelling, the clunky editing. So bad. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

... the "gosh-wow" vocal tone of the narrator....

[Pseudonym]

It was about the Third Reich. 'Gosh golly darn it the new Fuhrer was a most disagreeable chap.'  

[Van Buren Supernova]

21 years old documentary? How come it's still relevant?

I think cable is going down though and eventually only sport channels would be relevant.

[Arcadia]

As far as I'm concerned it's the sports channels that are already irrelevant.

[Van Buren Supernova]

How so? As long as they are doing live stream I don't think they can be replaced soon. Sport rerun is like the price of a new car that has just come out from show room.

Somehow, even when you don't know the result it's not the same because the result had been decided, while watching it live you can chant and curse (and of course that helps :p)

Disclaimer, not an avid sport watcher at all, only enjoyed NBA a lot once upon a time and occasional Olympic.

Anyway, this has been a very very meh Monday. I've been doing a lot of things, but it seems like nothing matters much and I am spent.

Like, the only new thing I learn today is that Alexander The Great had the same middle name with Winnie The Pooh!!

[Pseudonym]

I think she means because she finds sports in general irrelevant.

[Pseudonym]

I've probably mentioned before that I have a fiery passionate hatred for Facebook. If it was up to me I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. Annoyingly I need it for updates on a group I'm part of and because two of my friends seem incapable of communicating via anything but Messenger. 

So I have the absolute minimum details on there. No photos. No posts. Only the two friends previously mentioned as contacts. Not my full name. 

I just went on there to look for updates on possible walks this weekend, the group that annoyingly only post on there, and came across the friends suggestions section. It's really freaked me out. There are suggestions on there for people I knew in school, people I knew in two different unis, people I haven't seen for over fifteen years. How the f**k does is know about people I haven't seen for so long? They aren't even friends of friends, there's no obvious link. I've not even put in my whole surname. My email address is completely different to what it was in my uni days when I did briefly have an account, the fact it knows that information about me when I've put hardly any information in freaks me the f**k out. I don't want to talk to any of those people, I don't want to see updates on their lives, and most importantly I DO NOT want myself coming up as a suggested friend for them. I'd delete my account and sod my friends were it not for the fact I want the walk updates. Why the hell they can't update on their website like normal people I don't know. Eurgh. I know I have issues with the whole thing but Facebook makes my skin crawl. 

And another thing I have a rant about, sort of related. I despise having my photo taken, but when I go out with one of the Meetup groups they always seem to have to take a smiley happy photo of the group to post online. Usually I try to duck behind someone, and if that fails I just grit my teeth and bear it. The last walk I went on with them there was some woman I'd never met before, who did the unbearably cliched whipping out of the camera phone in front of a view and wanted everyone to gather in. I offered to take the photo, explaining that since I hate having mine taken (and I tell she was a hundreds of selfies person) I'd be happy to take it if she wanted to be in the group. Fine. Done. But then came the bit that really got my back up - she couldn't get her head around someone not wanting to be photographed, so I just kept saying I hate it. And then, the infuriating part, she said that was vain. WHAT THE ACTUAL F**K?!!!! So she's taking photos left right and centre, slathering them all over Facebook, and I'M THE VAIN ONE? I guess the argument being I'm too focused on my looks, but it's really not about that. I obviously pointed out if anything it was the opposite of vain, it's not that I don't want my photo taken because I'm not dolled up enough or something, I just don't want it taken full stop. I started to get pretty angry, and had to downplay it under the pretence of being friendly, I think she could tell though since she started to backpedal a bit and swiftly changed the subject. God though, I can be accused of being a lot of things but vain is certainly not one of them. It riles me up every time I think about it. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

1 hour ago, Pseudonym said:

I just went on [Facebook....] and came across the friends suggestions section. It's really freaked me out. There are suggestions on there for people I knew in school, people I knew in two different unis, people I haven't seen for over fifteen years. How the f**k does is know about people I haven't seen for so long? They aren't even friends of friends, there's no obvious link. I've not even put in my whole surname. My email address is completely different to what it was in my uni days when I did briefly have an account....

Gah!  I can't imagine.  I've been assuming that the "suggestions" I get are from people who actually allowed Facebook access to their email files (!), because most of them are people I've exchanged emails with at one time or another.  And I assume the few strangers are Friends of those people (because I'm like Sherlock, I don't have Friends -- not on Facebook, anyhow).  But golly gee, considering your total lack of an audit trail, I have no idea!

[T.o.b.y]

And people still ask why I am not on Facebook... 

[Sheerluck]

2 hours ago, Pseudonym said:

I've probably mentioned before that I have a fiery passionate hatred for Facebook. If it was up to me I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. Annoyingly I need it for updates on a group I'm part of and because two of my friends seem incapable of communicating via anything but Messenger. 

So I have the absolute minimum details on there. No photos. No posts. Only the two friends previously mentioned as contacts. Not my full name. 

I just went on there to look for updates on possible walks this weekend, the group that annoyingly only post on there, and came across the friends suggestions section. It's really freaked me out. There are suggestions on there for people I knew in school, people I knew in two different unis, people I haven't seen for over fifteen years. How the f**k does is know about people I haven't seen for so long? They aren't even friends of friends, there's no obvious link. I've not even put in my whole surname. My email address is completely different to what it was in my uni days when I did briefly have an account, the fact it knows that information about me when I've put hardly any information in freaks me the f**k out. I don't want to talk to any of those people, I don't want to see updates on their lives, and most importantly I DO NOT want myself coming up as a suggested friend for them. I'd delete my account and sod my friends were it not for the fact I want the walk updates. Why the hell they can't update on their website like normal people I don't know. Eurgh. I know I have issues with the whole thing but Facebook makes my skin crawl. 

 

I've never had a Facebook account and never will. I get flak from friends and family about it, but I tell them if you can't be bothered to get together to tell me about your life then I'm not about to try and hunt it up on Farcebook.

Same goes with my phone. I hate it, but it's a necessary evil. However, I have precisely zero contacts stored in it. The way I look at it, I know the numbers I need and use, the rest I can look up.

[Pseudonym]

That's what I've always thought too, if you can't be bothered to stay in contact with me in real life then we're clearly not really friends anyway. It means that over the years I've lost contact with some people I thought were good friends, but so be it. If only that group would start updating their website properly. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I agree.  However I will admit to feeling a certain annoyance when friends write letters to me (on paper, I mean, and send them via the post office).  If they're not online, fine, but the least they could do is give me their new phone number if they've moved.

[Pseudonym]

I don't know anyone online but yea that would annoy me too. 

When I was in uni my friend was doing an exchange program in Germany and we would write to each other on paper, not because we couldn't email but just for the fun of it. I have to admit though it would have annoyed me if it was the only option.