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

[Outdoor Girl]

This happened to a friend of my parents.  She was mostly a stay-at-home Mom and she managed the family finances, but everything was in her husband's name.  When the kids were mostly out of the house, she went back to school and became a minister.  She wanted to get a credit card in her own name that she could use for expenses related to church work, since she would be able to claim some of that on her income taxes.

She was turned down by every major bank, because she had no credit history herself - everything was in her husband's name.  She did manage to get a store credit card with a very low, $500 limit.  As she used the card and paid it off every month, they raised her limit and she was able to get a regular bank credit card.

I got one under one of those student promotions in my last year of university.  Best thing I ever did - I've never had lack of credit history issues.  And I only used the thing once every couple of months or so.

[Diane AKA Traska]

Meanwhile, it's a store card that we can't even get.  AND the more you apply for, the more it hurts your credit rating.

[Adelaide]

This is just me being picky, but I am getting to where I can't stand the way law students answer questions. The forum lends itself to long-winded, expressive answers, but still. We have:

-Mr. Whiny, who will start things off with a horribly petulant tone of voice. "Well, wouldn't it be..." or "But whyyyy..."
-Psycho Elle Woods. "Giggle giggle giggle <insert reference to being from the south> giggle giggle giggle look how cute I am"
-Captain Law School. Whenever he gets nervous he puts on an offensively self-assured tone as if he's trying to seduce you with the sexiness and mind-blowing awesomeness of his answer. If it weren't for the fact that I can hear the nervous tremor in his voice I would have throttled him already.

[Sirius]

Strangely enough, the reverse can be also true - you can be dinged on your credit report for too little debt.

We're trying to buy a house, which is going well.  However, we got a credit report stating that we were dinged for lack of installment plans on our credit report.  Of course we don't have a lot of installment debt - our cars are paid off, and we only use one credit card.  We paid all the rest off because we're trying to buy a house.  We also got dinged because I opened a bank account to handle my aunt's estate ("bank account opened too recently").  Our mortgage broker is working on getting that one taken off because of the circumstances.

[Shoo]

When I wake up in the morning, turn over, and the sun is right in my eyes! I hate having blinds...at least curtains block the sun out evenly.

Have you tried closing them facing upward instead of down?  That's how we keep the sun out of our bedroom.

[violinp]

When I wake up in the morning, turn over, and the sun is right in my eyes! I hate having blinds...at least curtains block the sun out evenly.

Have you tried closing them facing upward instead of down?  That's how we keep the sun out of our bedroom.

The spinny thing mostly snapped off about 10 years ago, but it can't hurt to try. Thanks for the tip. 

[mbbored]

This happened to a friend of my parents.  She was mostly a stay-at-home Mom and she managed the family finances, but everything was in her husband's name.  When the kids were mostly out of the house, she went back to school and became a minister.  She wanted to get a credit card in her own name that she could use for expenses related to church work, since she would be able to claim some of that on her income taxes.

She was turned down by every major bank, because she had no credit history herself - everything was in her husband's name.  She did manage to get a store credit card with a very low, $500 limit.  As she used the card and paid it off every month, they raised her limit and she was able to get a regular bank credit card.

I got one under one of those student promotions in my last year of university.  Best thing I ever did - I've never had lack of credit history issues.  And I only used the thing once every couple of months or so.

This is what I did. I got one of the cards with a horrific rate, put my groceries on it every month, then immediately send them a check for the remainder. That helped me establish enough credit to get a low limit credit card at my bank after I graduated.

[GreenEyedHawk]

This happened to a friend of my parents.  She was mostly a stay-at-home Mom and she managed the family finances, but everything was in her husband's name.  When the kids were mostly out of the house, she went back to school and became a minister.  She wanted to get a credit card in her own name that she could use for expenses related to church work, since she would be able to claim some of that on her income taxes.

She was turned down by every major bank, because she had no credit history herself - everything was in her husband's name.  She did manage to get a store credit card with a very low, $500 limit.  As she used the card and paid it off every month, they raised her limit and she was able to get a regular bank credit card.

I got one under one of those student promotions in my last year of university.  Best thing I ever did - I've never had lack of credit history issues.  And I only used the thing once every couple of months or so.

This is what I did. I got one of the cards with a horrific rate, put my groceries on it every month, then immediately send them a check for the remainder. That helped me establish enough credit to get a low limit credit card at my bank after I graduated.

Same here.  I got a student CC with a low limit, used it for groceries and paid it off right away.  I've been on paper since I was of legal age, with the same bank, so I have a long banking and credit history, which enabled me to get a mortgage at a good interest rate while still relatively young (I bought my home at 29).

Anthony, on the other hand, abhors banks because of all the "holds" and "limits" and "restrictions" they put on him.  I keep trying to explain to him that if he'd just pick a dang bank and stick with them for awhile, those things DO eventually go away.  But hey, what do I know, right?

[Snooks]

DH taking my car and returning it with next to no fuel, he drives past a petrol station on his way home, even if he'd just put half a tank in I'd have been happy because it would have replaced what he used.  Now I have to go out of my way to fill up my car when I go out on Saturday.

[Hollanda]

When people say to give 110%.  100% is maximum, you can't give any more than that.

This. Louis Walsh did it on X Factor a few years ago. He actually at one point said a million per cent yes. DH and I call it affirmation inflation.

[violinp]

When I wake up in the morning, turn over, and the sun is right in my eyes! I hate having blinds...at least curtains block the sun out evenly.

Have you tried closing them facing upward instead of down?  That's how we keep the sun out of our bedroom.

The spinny thing mostly snapped off about 10 years ago, but it can't hurt to try. Thanks for the tip. 

It worked! Thanks, Shoo!

[Shoo]

When I wake up in the morning, turn over, and the sun is right in my eyes! I hate having blinds...at least curtains block the sun out evenly.

Have you tried closing them facing upward instead of down?  That's how we keep the sun out of our bedroom.

The spinny thing mostly snapped off about 10 years ago, but it can't hurt to try. Thanks for the tip. 

It worked! Thanks, Shoo!

Yay!

[Diane AKA Traska]

When I wake up in the morning, turn over, and the sun is right in my eyes! I hate having blinds...at least curtains block the sun out evenly.

Have you tried closing them facing upward instead of down?  That's how we keep the sun out of our bedroom.

The spinny thing mostly snapped off about 10 years ago, but it can't hurt to try. Thanks for the tip. 

It worked! Thanks, Shoo!

Etiquette Hell: Practical solutions to life's little annoyances!

[Piratelvr1121]

Being short gets annoying some days.  For the most part I'm cool with my height, or lack thereof, but there are times when it's just really inconvenient!

Case in point: Baby gates. We have 4 in our house.  Top and bottom of the stairs, as well as one cutting off the entrance to the office, the other cutting off the hallway that leads to the bathroom and basement stairs.  (both hallways lead to the kitchen, we think our house might have at one point been in the works to become a duplex and it was an abandoned effort)

The gates on the stairs don't need to be stepped over, they swing open, but being on a bit of a budget we just got your typical pressure gates and oh they are not fun to try and step over when one is a short-legged thing like me. Especially when Piratebabe is on the other side of the gate and I'm having to step over the gate AND him to get to the living room. When DH is more settled into this job I'm going to look into pressure mounted gates that have swinging doors built in, if you know what I mean.

This is what I'm talking about : http://www.target.com/p/regalo-white-easy-step-walk-through-gate/-/A-13800334  At Target they're affordable it seems but other places they're around 30-40.

[Yvaine]

When people mutter.  DH does it constantly and it drives me absolutely round the bend.  I have to make him repeat everything 3 times. And I only hear him when he shouts.  So I ask him kindly not to shout as it alarms DS and he goes back to mumbling under his breath again. 

I hear you.  It's gotten to the point where I'm starting to wonder if I'm the one with a hearing problem or if it could be that ALL of my family members mutter.  Sometimes when I'm really exasperated I pull a Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp version) and say "Mumbler" when they mutter.

It's really annoying when I ask my eldest to repeat himself and he only repeats part of his sentence.

"muttermuttermutter oatmeal cookies?"
"You muttered, what did you say?"
"Oatmeal cookies."
"What about them?"
"You know, the ones in the kitchen?"
"And what about them?"
"The oatmeal cookies!!" Gaaaaah!!!!

I've started telling them that if they don't make themselves heard, they're not getting what they ask for.

This is my hubby to a T!!! Instead of repeating what he said, he repeats what he is talking about. GRRRRRR.
And if I ask him something, he automatically says "huh". I just wait a few seconds and he will answer the question. Why say "huh" if you heard me? 

I've done the "huh" and then the delayed-reaction comprehension--usually what happens is I can't hear the whole sentence, and then a few seconds later my brain papers over the gaps enough that I figure out what they probably meant.

But yeah, I've experienced the thing where I don't hear the person, I ask them to repeat, and they repeat the part I already heard.

Or, with one guy I know, he makes all kinds of cryptic comments that I think are inside jokes to himself. He'll say something to me that makes about as much sense as a verse from The Jabberwocky, though I can hear it perfectly. I'll say "What," and he'll repeat the same thing. I end up having to explain "I can hear you, I just don't get it."