| Author | Message | ||
     Dwardo |
Car commercials where parents base their choice of cars on their childrens' preferences. This seems most common among Asian brands. Yeah, I tried to talk my dad into buying a GTO but that seriously wasn't gonna happen. Also, little pussy kids wearing helmets while riding their bikes. I know that is their parents' doing but it makes me literally want to cry. Anybody wearing a helmet when I was a kid would have been laughed off the block. | ||
| Barraspalding |
pleb a*holes who believe they have the right to tell others where they can and can't post on this forum... | ||
| Aesquire |
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/05/a-sc andal-trifecta-immigration-welfare-fraud-and-terro rism.php Terrorist funding by daycare fraud. What grinds my gears is the inevitable crowd of people who will defend this practice and demand it as a right..... Just you see. | ||
| Aesquire |
"You might want to..." I appreciate being called a proletariat member by one with a decent vocabulary. ( if, indeed, the post was meant for me ) Don't think I was especially demanding, but I'll consider how to temper my authoritarian ways. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Ding ding ding. Absolutely. Riding a bike has tuned our SA to a level that people in cages can only dream of. Riding a bike at a spirited pace teaches exceptional awareness of speed, road conditions, throttle control, braking control, gearbox control, etc. Riding in traffic requires exceptional SA in order to survive. And for the most part it translates to when we get in our cage... After riding a motorcycle I feel like driving an truck with auto tranny is child's play easy--perhaps that's why I get frustrated with others on the road. It's not that hard to do right with courtesy for your fellow driver!!!! I wish I could not get as frustrated like you when dealing with others. 99% of whom don't have the same SA or driving skills as motorcyclists. | ||
| 86129squids |
Back to charitable giving: I stopped at Wallyworld yesterday, and there was a Shriner by the door taking donations for their children's hospital. As I left, I stopped and gave a buck. He was also a Korean War veteran, Navy, and I thanked him for his service in both capacities. THOSE guys I always thank, and give what I can. | ||
| Etennuly |
I've grown to hate the nanny cam car commercials. They are proving to idiots that they have absolutely no reason to pay attention to their driving. The car will stop on its own if you are distracted, so why won't it work If you just don't pay attention?!? I think the courts and the lawyers will sort this all out when the defense becomes the car should have stopped. So the car makers will be sued by both sides every time. What will happen with these cars if when the texters simply drive it off the road over an embankment, like a teen texter did into my field a couple of years ago? She was texting with her mother about which way to drive home. Will the car be at fault? The parenting was not working!!! | ||
| Sifo |
You mean like this... Tesla was in Autopilot mode before Utah crash, driver tells police The obvious problem is that an autopilot can not be expected to relieve the stress and fatigue of driving, as is advertised, if the driver is really expected to be ready to take over in an instant. In fact, it seems to me that you would not only have to maintain awareness of every thing you normally have to be aware of to drive, but also now be constantly questioning if the autopilot is working safely. Think about that last part. By the time you recognize the vehicle is doing something dangerous, it may very likely be far too late for you to take over control, and set a new course of action to avoid an accident. | ||
| Zacks |
Drivers that stop in the middle of the driving lane to have a conversation with someone on the porch. I mean is it too damn hard to pull to the curb? Worst are the idiots who take it to the next level and pull into the opposite lane to do this. Nothing like turning the corner to find a car pointed at you in your lane and dead stopped. At night. So you're blinded... | ||
| Hootowl |
I agree completely. Auto braking when the car detects an imminent collision is one thing, but to rely on it to drive for you is insane. Musk's response, which I agree with, to all the media attention surrounding this crash, is that there were 20,000 (I might have the number wrong) accidents involving standard cars last year, and no one batted an eye. And that someone crashed into a fire truck at 60 MPH and only hurt their ankle. That's a pretty safe car. Musk, and others in favor of taking the task of driving out of our hands, will argue that the number of traffic fatalities will go down significantly if every car on the road were self-driving. I do not disagree. But that's no consolation for the families of the people killed in a software glitch. | ||
| Sifo |
Musk, and others in favor of taking the task of driving out of our hands, will argue that the number of traffic fatalities will go down significantly if every car on the road were self-driving. I do not disagree. But that's no consolation for the families of the people killed in a software glitch. While I agree, when an individual is killed, there must still be accountability. You don't get out of accountability for an individual by reasoning that fewer of the masses have been killed. | ||
| Hootowl |
I agree. Let the lawsuits begin! | ||
| 86129squids |
Grinding my gears lately: Birds eating my cherries! Got 2 trees, fruit's coming in nicely, and we're just sitting out there with a Nerf gun 12 shot repeater, firing at will when they do a "drive by". Heck, I put out the good seed, LEAVE MY CHERRY TREES ALONE!!! | ||
| Rick_a |
Asians have some of the most beautiful women in the world amongst them. That's obviously not the target market for North America. I find it amusing being called a fascist Russian Nazi for... ...believing in my own rights.  | ||
| Hootowl |
I had that problem with squirrels last year. Under my peach tree, there were hundreds of little green peaches with one bite taken out of each. Squirrel: Yuck! That one's no good. I'll try this one. Yuck! That one's no good. I'll try this one. I imagine this continued until the tree was bereft of unripened fruit. This year I had, literally, over 200 peaches make it to maturity. I'm sick of peaches (figuratively). | ||
| Airbozo |
"Asians have some of the most beautiful women in the world amongst them" That's a matter of opinion. Not mine though. | ||
| Airbozo |
"I had that problem with squirrels last year. " Had the same problem with my plum trees. Little bastards ate the ripe part and discarded the rest. Literally gorged themselves to the point they could not move when I turned the hose on them. I tried several things including a motion detector sprinkler (worked on the deer not the squirrels), but finally tried one of these:  https://www.amazon.com/Gardeneer-Dalen-Natural-Sca recrow-Action/dp/B005J24R26 It worked so well, none of the Blue Jays or ravens will come near the front yard either. I am buying another one for the back gardens. You just have to move it every couple of weeks. | ||
| 86129squids |
YAY!!! I'd totally forgotten about those things... solar powered to boot! Might have to whip out the credit card... | ||
| Airbozo |
To be honest I bought it as a joke, never expecting it to work. As soon as I put it on my front deck, the Blue Jays went nuts and didn't stop until just before the sun went down. Now everytime I move it they do the same thing. The squirrels have not been seen on my deck or front yard since I put it up. Too bad the late rains knocked off all the plum blossoms... | ||
| 86129squids |
Ordered! The only thing is that I have nested bluebirds and one red breasted grosbeak- just hoping they work on the nuisance birds. Yesterday I saw at least 3 red tailed hawks just squawking and partying- truly a sight to see. Don't want to disrupt their routines, but they don't seem to hunt around my property much. We've seen a "kettle" of hawks over the house at least twice... now THAT'S a sight to see. Looking to F around with the jays, mockingbirds, cardinals, and house sparrows. Certainly any starlings, "magpies"... haaate them. Unless there's a murmuration, which is almost as cool as a kettle. We've got a "creeper" squirrel. This one has lived enough to be smart, doesn't hop or run, but creeps. Likes to walk up in my yard from the back, and watches on approach. If it does things right, it defeats my dog defence, and gets unlimited free sunflower seed. Edit: It is teaching family the same gig. Saw as half dozen tree rats partying one morning. (Message edited by 86129squids on May 15, 2018) | ||
| Crusty |
More things that frost my ass; The way the price of gas goes up just before a holiday weekend. And they always have an excuse. The sanctions against Iran, or a pipeline broke, or the tanker got a flat tire. Why don't they just admit that they're greedy bastards and they're gonna make another megabuck at the public's expense? 28 oz. bottles of Gatorade that are on sale at 2/$3.50. My local supermarket sells 32 oz. bottles of Gatorade for $1.00 and when it's on sale, $0.69. People you meet at gas stops who just have to tell you about good old cousin Julius who had a bike wreck. | ||
| 86129squids |
Yeah. If I'm traveling, and I can't take any more coffee, I'll go for an energy drink... they want to sell you 2 for $3, or one for $1.75. I get the concept of "convenience stores", but aren't they really "take it up the aisss" stores?? Bastids. My aiss is chapped/frosted/butthurt over incompetence and unprofessionalism at work. Might easily go back to my old job. | ||
| Hootowl |
Gas stations don't make any money on gas. They make money selling cigarettes and energy drinks. The downstream oil industry isn't very profitable. All the money is upstream. Oil prices are set by the market, not a cabal of oil executives. Even an actual cabal, OPEC, can't directly set prices, all they can do is limit supply. But that doesn't really work any more, since the US is essentially energy independent now. Drill baby drill! | ||
| Sifo |
It doesn't help that government mandates force refineries to shut down right about the time of memorial day to switch over to "summer blend" gas. That will guarantee a spike in prices, every single year at that time. | ||
| Aesquire |
Dead right about the Summer gas switch. You didn't notice this the last 20 plus years? I've worked at a gas station. A few. For years, That one with the numbers for a name? Yes, that one. Night Manager. You get your truck load of gasoline weekly or more often. The Gas Station pays the going rate, that day, for gas, and has no more say than you do. Every DAY the boss would read the prices on the other stations as she drove in, and send ( usually me ) out to change the price, after she checked to see what she had paid. If your price is too low, some jerk will try and sue you for undercutting the competition. ( too high just means you lose a few customers ) The police may actually come by and give you crap for having too low a price. You charge, simply, for the gas you just bought, at the daily price, or you lose money and can't buy the next load. Gas is a negative profit item. ( there is a Term i don't recall for this ) That one or two penny profit you NEED to just pay the bigger bill next load, doesn't actually pay for the tanks, pumps, and labor to keep a gas station going. Your profit comes from Cigarettes and pop, and beer and energy drinks. I've seen the numbers, buying Peanut butter and making a 25 cent profit on a small, overpriced jar, almost doesn't make it worth buying. Most items, gas, Lottery Tickets, etc. are loss leaders, just to get a customer in the door, and get them to buy the real profit items, like Slurpees. And then there are hidden costs that never get recovered in money terms. I never let a cop pay for coffee, almost never for donuts. That's just good sense to encourage a police presence in a job that is more likely to get you shot than Combat & Police jobs. Convenience store clerk is one of the most dangerous jobs in America. | ||
| Aesquire |
In the Bugs me category.... Stupid college stoners. I worked in a store close to a major Tech university. Serious smart people. Fusion labs, Wind tunnels, The most powerful laser in the world was on the street I live on. The owner of the Convenience store was a wonderful lady who was a bit old fashioned and didn't sell Playboy or other nudie magazines, and didn't sell rolling papers. ( but did sell tobacco, Profit! ) Every week, some college student would come in and ask for papers. And get upset that they were then going to be unable to get high. I would point out we had apples. We had aluminum foil. We sold beverages in cans. Blank looks. My SOP became, after three or four suggestions that anyone who read Dr. Atomic or other "underground" comics from the 1970's & 80's would get with an "AH HA!" was to tell them point blank that if they couldn't figure out how to make a pipe with the resources at hand, they didn't DESERVE to get high. I wasn't going to lead them by the hand. On more than one occasion the police hanging out by the coffee machine would lose it laughing after the student left the building. My coffee was always fresh, and the carafes spotless. Coke Slurpee rules for cleaning coffee pots. Soap is an abomination. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I grew up in 7-11 stores, my father having owned several of them. I had Coke Slurpee in my veins and could eat whatever I wanted so long as I brought him the wrapper so he could report the item stolen or damaged or whatever. That being said, what really grinds my gears these says is the absolute LACK of respect that every 7-11 store owner seems to have for their Slurpee machines. The last decent Slurpee I had was in Colorado in 2010. Every store I have had the absolute displeasure of visiting since then has dispensed •••••• •••••• •••••• runny brown •••••• shit. Did I mention they were all ••••••? | ||
| Ourdee |
Employees that won't work. That is stealing. | ||
| Aesquire |
At the downtown Post office they tried the bobble head owls to scare away the pigeons that made a health & safety hazard. They work, but you have to move them or the pigeons learn they can ignore them. At the Henrietta facility they installed bird distress screamers, that periodically make loud distress calls. The employees complained and asked they be put on timers so they would be silent when loading time came, but got no response. My regret is I never moved one into the executive office to annoy them. They are really nerve wracking. Work pretty good on the pigeons, though. If I lived nearby, I would complain to the police. There's being a whiney jerk who complains about near nothing, and genuine annoyance. I admit it can be hard, sometimes, to define the boundaries. In Dansville, they used to do explosive metal forming. Big outdoor water tank, you hang a slab of steel under water, and detonate a high explosive charge in the water a carefully calculated distance away. Instant hemisphere. A freak of acoustics made it unnoticeable in town, but on a hillside a few valleys away, clear as a bell. Locals got used to it. Like they ignore the natural gas explosions in underwater caves in the Finger lakes. Freaky rumbling roars in the middle of the night. I tried scuba spelunking in them. Once. Exceeded my limits on the risk/reward scale, & many consider me pretty far up the chart. ( or down if you label one axis sanity ) | ||
| Aesquire |
Bad slurpee? Complain. Then complain to Southland corp. That's a signature product, the company reputation is at stake. |
