Really bugged

close up of raindrops on the windshield

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No indicator.

No indication something bad was about to happen.

Strangely odd in a modern car filled with tech and sensors.

On the way home during the latest road trip across the state, I was flying along the highway (in one of those sections that isn’t under construction) and bugs are splattering all over the windshield. One particularly messy bug (must have been a big, fat, juicy one!) messed up the windshield.

I went to clean the windshield and the washer fluid spurts a few times and then nothing. Nothing! So the wipers pretty much spread all that juiciness all of the windshield. Now my semi-obscured view of the roadway is worse than when I turned on the wipers.

That’s odd. I didn’t get a warning indicator on the dash or anything. How can I be out of wiper fluid? I thought to myself. As it turns out, this modern car that is only a year old has no such thing. NONE! As I filled up the fluid last night (a whole gallon) I took a look at the owner’s manual. Lot of dashboard indicators are shown and explained. None for wiper fluid. What??

I like my car. I did research and I feel like I got a good deal when I purchases it. But, this one feature sullies the otherwise good feelings I had about it. The 2018 Kia Niro has no windshield wiper fluid indicator. What was a five star car is now a three star car. I feel cheated. Scammed. I may have to trade the thing in now.


 

What feature on your car were you surprised it didn’t have, either before or after you bought it?

Lane closure

low angle photography of orange excavator under white clouds

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I have said it in the past but I am going to say it again. Sorry if it sounds like I am a broken record, but WADOT (Washington State Department of Transportation) seriously has to do a better job – not just them, but the contractors they hire as well.

It was another painful travel weekend. It think it was three weeks ago I mentioned the reduction of lanes on a major interstate highway (it’s actually I-5, a federal highway) and how badly it affected the traffic on a Friday night. Well, this last Friday was no different. Miles and miles and miles of lane closures and not a soul in sight doing any work! While progress may be getting done, it surely doesn’t appear like it and they are in no hurry to get it done. It’s kind of ridiculous really.

So, yesterday (Sunday for those of you keeping track), a major north/south highway had ALL of the northbound lanes closed. That’s right, I-405 was closed with only one lane (a collector/distributor lane) getting by. That means five lanes diverted to one. To top it off, they didn’t close on-ramps that directly affected that one diverted lane, so merging traffic and diverted traffic had to fight for the same space. Ultimately, that mean five lanes got bottle-necked and didn’t have a steady flow. Kind of a CF if you ask me!

Look, I get that construction needs to get done. I am fully aware of the condition of the roadways. But, let’s be honest here. These days, there is never a good time to close highways and there is never a good time to avoid the hassle.

BUT, what doesn’t appear to be happening is that WADOT isn’t requiring construction crews to complete the work in the fastest time possible (overnight work, 24/7, until it is done). Traffic volumes are much lower at night and it affects for fewer people/travelers when work is done then. And, let’s face it, with the technology that is available these days there is no reason work can’t be done at night.

Get it together WADOT! You are costing people money and time.

Exactly the point

NDT guns

Data doesn’t lie.

That’s the point.

It doesn’t minimize tragedy, it puts it into perspective. Perspective minimizes fear and hysteria.

The hysterical reaction to the above tweet proves the exact point Neil deGrasse Tyson was making. If you make a spectacle of something (which the media and illogical hysteria do), then you will of course have a perspective that is disproportionate to the event.

Should we want mass shootings to end? Of course. But are they really as big of a concern as we are led to believe? No.

You are more likely to die of a medical mistake than from a mass shooting. Do we see any hysteria around this fact? No. What if the media published or ran a body count update every evening on the news just like they did during the Vietnam War? Would people more afraid to go to their doctor or the hospital? Probably.

You are more likely to die in an automobile collision than from a mass shooting. We don’t see a call to ban cars (or really bad drivers) do we? No. Because it isn’t highlighted in the news like shootings are. A body count each night would do that though.

Is that what it takes to make the news these days? A body count? It would appear so.

Americans like to grandstand about highly publicized events, but don’t really think about their own irrational fears. Do bad things happen each and every day? Yes. Can you live in fear of cars, doctors, guns, crowds, mosquitoes, or whatever? I suppose you could, but does it really do you any good? No.

Let’s not be hysterical and have a knee-jerk reaction every time something bad and tragic happens in the country. Because it does happen, EVERY DAY. You just don’t hear about it because it wasn’t highlighted by the media. That’s exactly the point of the tweet.

IT department

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Chris in IT called yesterday.

From another state. With an accent from a foreign country. Weird, I thought IT was just down the hall…

Anyway, he called to tell me that my computer had a virus and it wasn’t operating at it’s best capability.

I told him I didn’t know that my typewriter could get a virus but was wondering if that is why the “B” key was sticking so badly. I let him know that it would just write an upper case “B” all the way across the page and sometimes I had to take the paper out before it would start the next line.

He said that my typewriter could get a virus…and then hung up. He hung up! That isn’t very good IT service.

Do people really fall for this crap? I supposed people probably do since we keep hearing about it.

Well, Chris from IT, see if you can figure out how to hack my typewriter.


 

How do you like to mess with these fraud calls or telemarketers? What’s your favorite tactic?

Read the fine print

photography of a woman sitting on the chair listening to music

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Actually, the print isn’t really even that fine. It is in BOLD, and in CAPS.

Anyone else out there notice this trend?

So, once in a while I come across stuff in the house or garage that is still in good shape and would likely be useful to someone else. It could be worth a little cash, so I have tried selling this stuff on OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace. I have even tried Craigslist. I am not trying to make bank and if it doesn’t sell within the first couple weeks of being posted it usually ends up getting donated to one of the thrift stores in the local area.

BUT, there seems to be a trend of people who don’t really read the description and only look a the price. Here’s the scenario I encounter all too often: I have an item marked “Price is firm” and yet I get low-ball offers that no one in their right mind would accept. Do people really believe items are priced with no prior research? I know what it is worth and I have researched it so it isn’t the highest priced item. I want it to sell! But I am also not going to necessarily give it away either (unless it is truly something that can be donated).

The other trend is that people don’t actually READ the description. An item I have posted right now has been inquired about at least 30 times. It always starts with the “Is it still available?” question. I always follow up with confirmation that it is indeed available but ask if they read the description. Shortly thereafter they respond that they are no longer interested. Obvious proof they haven’t read the description, which clearly states in caps that the tool is NOT CURRENTLY FUNCTIONAL. It needs repair, but it is beyond my capabilities. It is nearly new (as far as use goes) so someone could get some value out of it. However, people are just wasting my time by not actually reading the description and just clicking a button. They are totally distracted by the price.

Anyway, it’s kind of frustrating. But, actually, it doesn’t surprise me anymore. People only see what they want to see.


 

Have you experienced something similar?

Elevated

gold colored chandelier

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I don’t know what it is about me. Do I look like I really like elevators?

I don’t know why this is, but every time I have traveled for work in the last three years and stayed in a hotel I have been in the room directly across from the elevator.

If you have traveled much, you know that is an issue because people getting off the elevator generally aren’t quiet. They are loud and noisy in the elevator and as they get off the elevator. They typically quiet down as they turn the corner to head down the hallway to their rooms. As such, anyone in the room closest to the elevator gets the brunt of “offload” or “load” noise.

It’s irritating, really.

It definitely doesn’t elevate my stay.


 

What about staying in a hotel annoys you?

Get it right

black and white book browse dictionary

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Anyone else annoyed by words that don’t get pronounced correctly? What’s worse, is the word is pronounced so incorrectly that it is actually a different word, with a completely different meaning.

I listen to a lot of audio books because I spend so much time in the car commuting to and from work. As such, you get to hear a lot of different people read books and become accustomed to their cadence and inflection. But there are some, no matter what, you just can’t get used to because they can’t pronounce certain words correctly. Each time it happens, I find myself yelling at the narrator to GET IT CORRECT and pronouncing it the correct way for him. Crazy, I know, but sheesh already! Why didn’t someone correct him when he was recording it?

The word being mispronounced? Cavalry.

It’s being pronounced as calvary.

Yeah, totally different thing.

GET IT CORRECT already!!


 

What words get mispronounced or misused that annoys they hell out of you?

Why, oh why?

grass green golf golf ball

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Half day at the office today.

No, it’s an official work day. I am just taking a half day to go play golf (well, my version of playing it…course destruction, tree hitting, let’s go swimming after the ball golf) with a buddy.

And what do we here at work? There is some sort of “emergency” that requires immediate attention…

Think that is gonna keep me at the office?

Hell no.

Someone else can deal with this crap. Besides, the district doesn’t need to access their data anyway. It’s summer. LOL

Catch you on Monday!  FOUR!!


 

Every experienced an “emergency” on a day where you were looking forward to something else? One of those things that will suck your attention until dealt with?

Just the facts

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I am sure you are aware, but just in case you aren’t…we no longer live in a society that is based on facts. A large portion of our society, our neighbors, or family members just live on feelings.

It is nearly impossible to have a discussion with anyone these days and actually use facts as a counter argument to their hysteria because they just don’t have any reason left.

**Side note: Yes, I am quite aware that Trump has a poor grasp of facts, as well, so you don’t need to point that out. **

As an example, last night I was having a discussion with someone about the whole Home Depot, former founder, and donations/support of President Trump. The individual was jumping on the bandwagon of boycotting Home Depot (never mind that the guy no longer has anything at all to do with the retailer any longer and hasn’t for more than 10 years) because of it and they made the blanket statement about “old, rich white guys ruining the country.”

See my response below:

Here’s the weird thing about picking on rich, old white guys….
Old, rich white guys fought to make the colonies, then states, free and the place you call home. Similarly, old rich white guys fought to keep the colonies from being free and the place you now call home. 
Old, rich white guys fought to give equality to slaves during the Civil War. It was also old, rich white guys that fought to keep slaves and break apart the country you now call home. 
It’s old, rich people (because it just isn’t white or male anymore) fight to keep Planned Parenthood from killing babies. And, it’s old, rich people who fight to keep letting Planned Parenthood kill babies. 
It’s old rich people who fight to let you keep more of your money so you can do with it as you please because, hey, it’s a free country and you have freedom of thought & opinion. It’s old rich people fighting to force you to give up more of your money so they can spend it as they please, tell you what to say and think, and take away the freedoms old white guys gave you in the past. 
Which group of old rich people does right? That’s subjective. 
What is not subjective is that rich people put their money where they believe they can get the best deal and make more money. If the wind blows this way, they invest there. If it blows that way, they invest there. Heck, some invest in both regardless of which way the wind blows because they know eventually the wind will change either way. 
I imagine you are not really all that different from the rest of us, you put your money where you can get the best deal and can get the most out of it. Saying you’ll stop shopping at one place or another isn’t really the truth because you’re really just like those old rich people, and so am I.
This well reasoned response was met with a “I disagree with everything you just said.”
REALLY? Everything? Sorry, are you not an American? Do you have no knowledge and understanding of history at all? Do you not know how the economy and politics of our nation work, whether we like it or not?
Thus, the conversation ended because there is no reasoning with someone who doesn’t have a grasp of basic facts. The problem is, more and more conversations end this way. Reason is getting harder and harder to use, let alone find.
Let’s be honest here, it isn’t old rich people that are ruining the country. They have just done what they have always done, found a way to exploit those who don’t think for themselves and manipulate those people to do the work for them. The problem is that the people who are easily manipulated are multiplying faster than those who have a grasp on Reason.
Therein lies the true danger to the country.

Have you encountered the same sort of difficulty? Do facts and Reason have no place in society any longer?

Assigned seats

auditorium chairs comfortable concert

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Went to the movies last night and encountered something while buying tickets earlier in the day that was new – and didn’t like after I got to the theater.

The local AMC theater has always been first come, first served as far seating goes. Get there early and choose good seats. Come to think of it, I don’t think I have ever been to a theater that has done it any other way. So, when I went to buy tickets online yesterday afternoon (for a 7:15 showing) I just expected to buy tickets.

Instead I was greeted with a seating chart after I selected the movie (Spiderman: Far from Home) and I was supposed to select where I wanted to sit and how many seats I wanted. The chart showed available seats and which ones were not. I selected seats but was left wondering if this was going to be common practice or just because this was the opening night of a big movie.

After getting to the theater and asking a couple questions, turns out this has been going on for a couple months and will now be regular practice for all movies. OK, interesting.

Once in the theater, there were lots of people and single seats left all over the auditorium. Meaning, if you bought tickets late and went as a group, you would be split up for your group (as such, I have a 10 year old sitting next to me as the rest of his group was farther down the row). After thinking about this, I can’t imagine that this would encourage people to buy tickets for movies, but it might very well discourage most people.

I can tell you I don’t really like the practice. If I had logged in later in the day to buy tickets and all I saw were singletons or I was crammed into a row with people on boths sides, I wouldn’t buy a ticket.

I am still developing an opinion here, but I can’t see how this benefits ticket buyers.


What do you think? What is your experience? Do you like assigned seating at the movies?