The Complaint Department

[Thomas Veil]

In place of Arkham, feel free to vent your rants, pet peeves and such here.

I'll open with this upcoming primary election. This isn't a political gripe, only one where I mention that like a lot of people our age, Mrs. Veil and I sometimes spend the after-dinner hour watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!

However, we're fast getting out of the habit because there isn't one commercial break, not one, which isn't loaded with back-to-back commercials for some political candidate whom you wouldn't vote for in a million years.

My wife has been muting those spots, but they're so omnipresent that we're getting tired of having to do it. We just may not watch either of those shows until after the first Tuesday in May.

 

[Herdfan]

In place of Arkham, feel free to vent your rants, pet peeves and such here.

I'll open with this upcoming primary election. This isn't a political gripe, only one where I mention that like a lot of people our age, Mrs. Veil and I sometimes spend the after-dinner hour watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!

However, we're fast getting out of the habit because there isn't one commercial break, not one, which isn't loaded with back-to-back commercials for some political candidate whom you wouldn't vote for in a million years.

My wife has been muting those spots, but they're so omnipresent that we're getting tired of having to do it. We just may not watch either of those shows until after the first Tuesday in May.

First, a funny story about Jeopardy. I have been a DirecTV customer since the launch summer of 1994 and as such I was able to get the distant networks from NY and LA. This was long before they offered local channels. We finally got the locals, but kept the NY/LA versions in case the local affiliate decided to air a game or something. Well the NY affiliate aired Jeopardy at 7 where our local aired it at 7:30.

So one year when all the in-laws were in for a holiday, I watched Jeopardy in our bedroom and then went out and turned it on in the living room. I pretended to only be paying half attention, but would give answers to some of the most random questions, including the Final Jeopardy question. My snobby SIL who fancies herself as smarter than everyone else was confused as to how I knew all the answers. 🙂

Second, just hit record on the DVR and start watching at 7:15. Then FF through all the commercials. You will end at about the same time.

 

[Thomas Veil]

Yeah, I've thought about the DVR solution. My wife may relent and try it that way, but she's already getting hooked on watching Hallmark movies instead.

 

[Pumbaa]

Tourists that can’t keep their big loud mouths shut on safaris. Missed out on a perfectly good honey badger. 🤬

Anyone decently familiar with the German language? Would “Halt's Maul!” be appropriately rude and get the point across, should there be a next time?

 

[theSeb]

I hope that there is a special place in hell reserved for families (usually tourists) who need to walk abreast and take up the whole pavement in busy areas. They often stop and start looking around lost and confused, but none of them think to maybe huddle up a little bit, instead of hogging the entire pavement.

Same goes for those people who stop in the middle of a piste for a chat in groups of 4-6 . Love you.

 

[EricWN]

Tourists that can’t keep their big loud mouths shut on safaris. Missed out on a perfectly good honey badger. 🤬

Anyone decently familiar with the German language? Would “Halt's Maul!” be appropriately rude and get the point across, should there be a next time?

As native German I can assure you that would work just fine.

 

[Herdfan]

I hope that there is a special place in hell reserved for families (usually tourists) who need to walk abreast and take up the whole pavement in busy areas. They often stop and start looking around lost and confused, but none of them think to maybe huddle up a little bit, instead of hogging the entire pavement.

Same goes for those people who stop in the middle of a piste for a chat in groups of 4-6 . Love you.

The redneck corollary to this is people who stop in the middle of an ATV trail to socialize. Move your @$$ off to the side so other people can get by,

 

[MissNomer]

The redneck corollary to this is people who stop in the middle of an ATV trail to socialize. Move your @$$ off to the side so other people can get by,

I got better - the renters opposite seem to have someone who comes by a few times a week to pick them up and take them somewhere. The asshole drives up, stops in the MIDDLE of the road and lays on their horn repeatedly.

Vehicles wanting to get past have to drive on either side of this dickhead who sometimes can be there for up to 10 minutes. This despite the fact he could pull into the driveway 99% of the time.

And, just to be fair - said dickhead drives a car with a Biden/Hariss bumper sticker - so yeah, takes all sorts...

 

[Thomas Veil]

Websites that place a video, unbidden, over the text you’re trying to read. And if you dismiss it, the moment you scroll down, another one appears. Sometimes these things take up a third of your screen or more. 😡

​

 

[EricWN]

Websites that place a video, unbidden, over the text you’re trying to read. And if you dismiss it, the moment you scroll down, another one appears. Sometimes these things take up a third of your screen or more. 😡

View attachment 161​

There's a special hell just for the folks implementing this crap.

 

[Thomas Veil]

So last week I went to my local carrier's store to trade in my phone for a newer model. With the budget I had in mind, I went in looking for a iPhone 13 Pro, 256 GB. The store said there were no more to be had, so they offered to set me up with an equivalent 14 Pro for the same price. Sounded a bit weird to me, but I took the deal. An hour or so later, it was done.

Yesterday the phone arrived and it was...a 14 Plus, not a Pro.

I should've known.

I took it to the store, where they told me I'd have to call customer service. I called customer service and between the low volume of the call and the lady's accent, I couldn't make out half of what she told me, but the upshot was that I needed to take the phone back to the store and tell them to call customer service. Which I did.

They were willing to work with me, but I kid you not, it was like a boat and fire drill. The store's sales rep who helped me was apparently required to give them the address of the store, and he gave it to them wrong not once, but twice. I told them I'm on my daughter's plan, and he proceeded to explain to customer service that I was on my wife's plan. Three times.

I gave them the answer to the security question -- a simple name -- and it took four tries for them to spell it right. They also couldn't get my credit card to enter correctly, so the company's customer service rep told the sales guy who was helping me that they would call him back in a "few" minutes. Ten minutes (and no return call) later he called them back, got connected with another person, and it took another fifteen minutes to route him back to the original customer service rep.

All told I was there two hours.

Oh, and the phone I originally wanted? I found an iPhone 13 Pro 512 GB on the company's website for the same money I had planned to spend, showed it to the sales rep, and that is what they ordered for me.

I've learned my lesson. Next time I do the transaction entirely online, not at my carrier's store.

 

[EricWN]

So last week I went to my local carrier's store to trade in my phone for a newer model. With the budget I had in mind, I went in looking for a iPhone 13 Pro, 256 GB. The store said there were no more to be had, so they offered to set me up with an equivalent 14 Pro for the same price. Sounded a bit weird to me, but I took the deal. An hour or so later, it was done.

Yesterday the phone arrived and it was...a 14 Plus, not a Pro.

I should've known.

I took it to the store, where they told me I'd have to call customer service. I called customer service and between the low volume of the call and the lady's accent, I couldn't make out half of what she told me, but the upshot was that I needed to take the phone back to the store and tell them to call customer service. Which I did.

They were willing to work with me, but I kid you not, it was like a boat and fire drill. The store's sales rep who helped me was apparently required to give them the address of the store, and he gave it to them wrong not once, but twice. I told them I'm on my daughter's plan, and he proceeded to explain to customer service that I was on my wife's plan. Three times.

I gave them the answer to the security question -- a simple name -- and it took four tries for them to spell it right. They also couldn't get my credit card to enter correctly, so the company's customer service rep told the sales guy who was helping me that they would call him back in a "few" minutes. Ten minutes (and no return call) later he called them back, got connected with another person, and it took another fifteen minutes to route him back to the original customer service rep.

All told I was there two hours.

Oh, and the phone I originally wanted? I found an iPhone 13 Pro 512 GB on the company's website for the same money I had planned to spend, showed it to the sales rep, and that is what they ordered for me.

I've learned my lesson. Next time I do the transaction entirely online, not at my carrier's store.

Omg what a nightmare !

 

[Thomas Veil]

The person down the hall from me is watching a series of videos that is just one big chain of patriotic songs. You know, “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”, “God Bless America”, “The Star Spangled Banner”, “America the Beautiful” and more…all sung in that oh-so-sincere 1950s style that folks in the heartland love so much.

Now, I don’t dislike these songs. But the person playing them is one of those Trump-loving, flag-waving ultra-conservative zombies, and when these songs are played by the kind of people who are hellbent on tearing down America, its enough to drive me up a wall.

Time to pop in the old ear buds, before they cue up Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA”.

 

[SouprMatt]

The person down the hall from me is watching a series of videos that is just one big chain of patriotic songs. You know, “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”, “God Bless America”, “The Star Spangled Banner”, “America the Beautiful” and more…all sung in that oh-so-sincere 1950s style that folks in the heartland love so much.

Now, I don’t dislike these songs. But the person playing them is one of those Trump-loving, flag-waving ultra-conservative zombies, and when these songs are played by the kind of people who are hellbent on tearing down America, its enough to drive me up a wall.

Time to pop in the old ear buds, before they cue up Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA”.

This music list sounds like a typical day at work for me. “This land is your land” is a patriotic song with a distinctly different message, and even “This is My Country” celebrates immigration in one verse (land of my choice). Then you can finish them off with Neil Diamond’s “They’re coming to America” for the pro-immigrant patriotic closer!

 

[lizkat]

The person down the hall from me is watching a series of videos that is just one big chain of patriotic songs. You know, “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”, “God Bless America”, “The Star Spangled Banner”, “America the Beautiful” and more…all sung in that oh-so-sincere 1950s style that folks in the heartland love so much.

Now, I don’t dislike these songs. But the person playing them is one of those Trump-loving, flag-waving ultra-conservative zombies, and when these songs are played by the kind of people who are hellbent on tearing down America, its enough to drive me up a wall.

Time to pop in the old ear buds, before they cue up Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA”.

I'd be more likely to suggest THEY use ear buds!

 

[lizkat]

This music list sounds like a typical day at work for me. “This land is your land” is a patriotic song with a distinctly different message, and even “This is My Country” celebrates immigration in one verse (land of my choice). Then you can finish them off with Neil Diamond’s “They’re coming to America” for the pro-immigrant patriotic closer!

It's all about context for me... I'd stop on the street and listen to this guy playing God Bless America, I'm pretty sure... his wife passed away from complications of Alzheimers, and he still plays patriotic tunes on the street in her memory to keep raising funds for more research into that disease).

He plays the trumpet nightly since his wife died, and has raised $15K for charity (WaPo, paywall lifted)

 

[lizkat]

Catching up on a few beach reads neglected during more than a few summers. I've concluded that what has passed for book editing in the past couple decades is either totally inadequate or else a few of the authors celebrated in mass media are so sure they're top-drawer that they can afford to resist almost all editorial efforts. I used to buy light reading fare in summer and pass the purchases along when done reading them. Now I borrow them from the library and return some of them early in exasperation. Had I bought some of them I'd have been embarrassed to pass them along!

So my actual complaint du jour is with mainstream book reviewers --- the "What To Read this Summer!" variety-- who won't actually apply critical thinking skills to anything they read for the job. Some beach reads nowadays are so bad they deserve to be outed for bad writing and lack of editing, not just left out of the "don't miss these books!" reviews. I just read one written by a guy whose claim to fame rests in TV productions. He should have stuck to that instead of trying to pass off a pre-screenplay treatment as an actual novel. 'Nuf said. I'm going to watch a few archived ball games instead for the rest of this weeks' entertainment.

 

[Pumbaa]

Siri.

”Turn off all lights” apparently now means “Turn off fracking everything, including power outlets and air purifiers”.

I should really get my migration to Home Assistant over with and code that extension for refusing to turn off the computer outlets while the computer is up and running…

 

[lizkat]

that extension for refusing to turn off the computer outlets while the computer is up and running…

omg. sounds vital. Siri needs to be better than the old jokes about coding robots to look out for tables and doors before executing commands to leave the room.

 

[Pumbaa]

Sooo tired of 95% of short videos online all using the same segment from Makeba. There are more songs out there you know…