What little things drive you completely up the wall....?

[Piratelvr1121]

Speaking of comments, I have to remember to not read the comments on some fbook fan pages.  Unsurprisingly I'm sure, I "liked" a page that shares quite a few pictures of Johnny Depp daily and without fail there are women leaving comments as though it's actually Johnny sharing the photos.   It's made pretty clear that the page is a FAN page, not actually run by the man himself.

On the day of the Sandy Hook tragedy, one woman criticized Johnny for sharing pictures of himself when it was such a tragic day.   And there are ALWAYS comments like that directed to Johnny as though they think he's the one behind it.   

[Thipu1]

Accountant here. If we're manning the barricades against the popular misconceptions, count me in. I'll share with librarians and actuaries. I can bring a practising scientist who objects to the 'total nutcase in white lab coat trying to destroy the world' image too, if there's room?

Bring in the scientist!  The more the merrier and s/he can check the lab coat at the door.    All actuaries and accountants are wimps who wear horn rim glasses and bow ties.  Right?

Wrong.  One of our nephews is an actuary and he's an absolute hunk.

Let's all get together and have a nice big party.  I'll bring the Bruce Springsteen records.

[Yvaine]

People who leave worthless comments on webpages.

I was recently helping my sister hunt down instructions for a specific DIY home project. She wanted to take up Underwater Basket Weaving. Currently, Freshwater Basket Weaving is very popular and there is a ton of information available to help someone get started. However, my sister needed help with Seawater Basket Weaving. After a very tiresome, frustrating search process, she finally found a website devoted exclusively to the study of SBW. Yay! In reading the comments on the page, though, she came across this gem - "I love, love, love baskets, and want to learn UBW! But, I really need instructions on FBW, not SBW. Can you change your page to have FBW instructions?"

I no longer read the comments at the bottom of recipe/craft blogs because of the inevitable stupid questions. I was checking out a recipe a few weeks ago for some kind of brownie/bar--very simple recipe, everything was in whole cups/teaspoons/tablespoons and the number of eggs was even. There weren't many ingredients either, probably 6 or 7. Someone of course asked, "Can I cut this recipe in half, and if so, how?" Uh. How about simple division? Made me sad for humanity.

This is probably one for the brainhurt thread, but I have experienced this phenomenon in both directions while working food service with people:

(a) "I need a gallon of water, but Bob's using the gallon pitcher and there's only the half-gallon one left, what do I do?"

(b) "I need a half gallon of water, but Bob's using the half-gallon pitcher and there's only the gallon one left, help!" (Note: The gallon pitcher did have a gallon marking on it.)

[artk2002]

Tax season is here in the US. I had mentioned to my mom that DH and I are going to owe money back to the IRS, but we were still waiting on a few miscellaneous forms to arrive. My mother told me that she and my dad specifically picked an accountant that always gets them a refund.

So, no matter what changes year to year, according to my mom, there will be a refund.

So ... um ... can I have his number? 

The whole issue makes me wonder how sharp their reasoning is.

It could be very, very simple. The accountant merely tells them to put down more withholding (fewer deductions) on their W-4. Employer takes out more than necessary and so there's money to be retrieved from the IRS every year. A miracle worker!

[suzieQ]

Security packaging for cold tablets.

Seriously, I should not have to get our scissors or an x-acto knife to open the dose. Or cut myself, trying to tear the plastic (which has happened).

Intellectually,I acknowledge why that packaging is deemed necessary, but my virus-fogged brain does not appreciate the reality.

The old packaging for Dex 4 Glucose Tabs! You had to get the plastic off around the cap (which was hard to remove) then deal with another seal under the cap! I understand wanting customers to know it hasn't been tampered with, but when J is low and has shaking hands, he can't open it! I have a hard time opening it and I'm not diabetic (so don't deal with blood glucose in the 40's). I can only imagine how hard those are to open for someone experiencing a bad low with no one around to help them.

(they have updated packaging so there is only the plastic around the cap and it's much easier to remove now.)

[Yvaine]

Security packaging for cold tablets.

Seriously, I should not have to get our scissors or an x-acto knife to open the dose. Or cut myself, trying to tear the plastic (which has happened).

Intellectually,I acknowledge why that packaging is deemed necessary, but my virus-fogged brain does not appreciate the reality.

The old packaging for Dex 4 Glucose Tabs! You had to get the plastic off around the cap (which was hard to remove) then deal with another seal under the cap! I understand wanting customers to know it hasn't been tampered with, but when J is low and has shaking hands, he can't open it! I have a hard time opening it and I'm not diabetic (so don't deal with blood glucose in the 40's). I can only imagine how hard those are to open for someone experiencing a bad low with no one around to help them.

(they have updated packaging so there is only the plastic around the cap and it's much easier to remove now.)

I remember similar annoyances with trying to get into a package of Excedrin while having a migraine. 

[suzieQ]

Dealing with two annoyingly overly interested guys in my house, one of which seems to be losing his hearing. I can be on Facebook and it's "what are you looking at?" On the phone with someone else: "who you talking to?" "what are you talking about?"
Really, you aren't entitled to know my every thought and action and if I've told you once (to DH who is going deaf, I swear!) I don't want to tell you again, and a third time if you weren't paying enough attention to the SECOND time I told you!

I just want to yell "It's none of your business!"

[mbbored]

Accountant here. If we're manning the barricades against the popular misconceptions, count me in. I'll share with librarians and actuaries. I can bring a practising scientist who objects to the 'total nutcase in white lab coat trying to destroy the world' image too, if there's room?

Actually, most so-called mad scientists from movies etc are clearly engineers not scientists: building a giant laser is a task for an engineer not a chemist.

I spent yesterday at a science conference and we were a mix of men and women of all ages and sizes wearing a variety of styles and almost nobody had thick glasses or crazed hair. During down time we talked about science, but also sports, pop culture, fashion, current events and any number of topics. You'd almost think we were normal people!

[Free Range Hippy Chick]

Actually, most so-called mad scientists from movies etc are clearly engineers not scientists: building a giant laser is a task for an engineer not a chemist.

Up-the-wall-driving for the aforementioned scientist who is my DH - the tendency of the media to report on something with 'Scientists say...'

What sort of scientists? he cries. They aren't all the same. If the scientist who says that you can add years to your life by eating Splortweed is a biologist, or a botanist, well, it might be worth looking into planting some Splortweed. If she's a nuclear physicist, then what does she know about Splortweed, or human life expectancy? Equally, if the botanist says that we can reduce our energy requirements using small scale nuclear technology under everybody's beds, we might want to get a second opinion from the physicist.

[Shalamar]

People who use speakerphone at the office all the time.  There's a guy who has an office a few feet from me, and he's in love with speakerphone, even when it's not necessary.  Today, I overheard this conversation:

Rude Guy:  Blah blah blah.
Lady on Phone:  Blah blah - um, am I on speakerphone?
Rude Guy:  Yes.
Lady:  Who else is there?
Rude Guy:  No-one; just me.
Lady:  .... okay. 

It probably goes without saying that, despite having an office, he didn't bother shutting his door.   

[Shoo]

It drives me crazy when I go to turn on the kitchen faucet and someone (probably me) has left it in sprayer mode instead of regular mode.  It irritates me way more than it should!

[snowflake]

Tax season is here in the US. I had mentioned to my mom that DH and I are going to owe money back to the IRS, but we were still waiting on a few miscellaneous forms to arrive. My mother told me that she and my dad specifically picked an accountant that always gets them a refund.

So, no matter what changes year to year, according to my mom, there will be a refund.

So ... um ... can I have his number? 

The whole issue makes me wonder how sharp their reasoning is.

It could be very, very simple. The accountant merely tells them to put down more withholding (fewer deductions) on their W-4. Employer takes out more than necessary and so there's money to be retrieved from the IRS every year. A miracle worker!

I've actually had a large amount of brain-hurty conversations with people who believe that if they get a refund, they are paying less income tax.  I've tried to explain that you only pay less tax if your income goes down, but they don't believe me.

Some odd person actually once tried to tell me I was managing my money "wrong" because I didn't get a refund.  Keep in mind, this was a conversation between a few salaried people who don't have side jobs, large amounts of capital gains or anything other than straight-forward wages.  It has always been my practice to minimize deductions and put money in savings so if I have to pay, at least I have been getting some interest.  He told me that I was wasting money.  He kept saying, "I don't know how tax works, but if you get money you HAVE to be getting ahead."

A related brain-hurt was the time someone was ranting about how high her tax bill was and how jealous she was of people getting refunds "instead of paying tax."  I tried to point out that I myself that year had gotten a refund due to an insane amount of medical bills but that didn't mean that my tax bill was zero.  She immediately said, "That's a good idea!  I'll just have high medical bills so they give me back money."  Well, high medical bills just means you don't have to pay taxes on top of them.  20K in medical bills will save you $3500 (at 15%) at tax time, but still you have to pay for the 20K so it doesn't actually come out ahead!  (Oh, and the whole having surgery and recovering thing kind of stinks as well.)

[siamesecat2965]

People who can’t get it together. I was asked to file something electronically today, fine, no problem. They are acknowledgements of confidentiality. I specifically asked if we needed a cover letter and was told no. Then the attorney who reviewed them said, yes, we should do one. SO he emailed the person who asked me to file them, who said ok. I also sent him one we had done previously. I don’t have the word file, nor do I have his electronic signature, so I can’t do the letter. Meanwhile, filer guy is in a meeting, and I was supposed to leave 10 minutes ago. While its not the end of the world, I really don’t like being stuck here late for stuff that COULD have been easily avoided.

I also just found out we have yet another big filing tomorrow or Friday. which means we have to fed ex it to another office to be hand filed, and then I have to file electronically. Again fine, but we are supposed to get hit with nasty weather on Friday, and I had planned to work from home. I will be none too pleased if I have to come in simply to bring something down to the mailroom.

[Elfmama]

People who leave worthless comments on webpages.

I was recently helping my sister hunt down instructions for a specific DIY home project. She wanted to take up Underwater Basket Weaving. Currently, Freshwater Basket Weaving is very popular and there is a ton of information available to help someone get started. However, my sister needed help with Seawater Basket Weaving. After a very tiresome, frustrating search process, she finally found a website devoted exclusively to the study of SBW. Yay! In reading the comments on the page, though, she came across this gem - "I love, love, love baskets, and want to learn UBW! But, I really need instructions on FBW, not SBW. Can you change your page to have FBW instructions?"

I no longer read the comments at the bottom of recipe/craft blogs because of the inevitable stupid questions. I was checking out a recipe a few weeks ago for some kind of brownie/bar--very simple recipe, everything was in whole cups/teaspoons/tablespoons and the number of eggs was even. There weren't many ingredients either, probably 6 or 7. Someone of course asked, "Can I cut this recipe in half, and if so, how?" Uh. How about simple division? Made me sad for humanity.

In their defense, I have heard that some recipes don't react well when halved or multipled.  The spice or salt balance is off, or there needs to be more yeast, or some other small ingredient like that.

[Twik]

Accountant here. If we're manning the barricades against the popular misconceptions, count me in. I'll share with librarians and actuaries. I can bring a practising scientist who objects to the 'total nutcase in white lab coat trying to destroy the world' image too, if there's room?

Actually, most so-called mad scientists from movies etc are clearly engineers not scientists: building a giant laser is a task for an engineer not a chemist.

Yes, but we chemists get the glowing and/or steaming flasks of coloured liquids that mean SCIENCE! is being done.