Thursday, January 14, 2010

Thursday Thirteen

Today, I offer up a few peeves, in no particular order.

1. The new Windows 7 operating system apparently reverts back to some kind of a DOS check occasionally on start-up. It takes the computer several minutes to run a chkdsk command. It never finds anything wrong.

2. My Brita filter in my Brita pitcher has little black specs of carbon or charcoal or something. All the time, every filter. According to the literature on the box, this is "normal." And of course because some corporation says so, we all believe it, right?

3. Snow on the ground for four weeks. Okay, I'm ready to see some grass! Preferably green.

4. Junk mail. I still get an awful lot of it and this year at Christmas it seemed worse than it had been in years. I apparently got on some mailing list after spending years trying to get off of them all.

5. Leaking windows. Our windows, which were installed in 1987, let air in now. During some of the really cold days this month I thought I would freeze.

6. Books that aren't as good as promised.

7. Movies that are worse than I ever expected. (Pretty much anything with Adam Sandler fits this bill.)

8. Pillows that go flat within a month of use. What is up with this, anyway? I pay $30 and up for a name-brand hypo-allergenic support pillow and in 30 days the thing looks like it's been run over by a fleet of trucks. Where's the neck support?

9. Chatty checkout clerks who feel it is their duty to comment on your purchase, the color of your checks, the kind of coupons you use, etc. Mostly I don't mind but sometimes it rubs me the wrong way. I try to remember that pushing items across a little beam of light all day (not to mention hearing that "beep beep" for eight hours) cannot be that exciting.

10. My husband's chewing tobacco. If he only knew how much I loathe that stuff! Or maybe he knows but doesn't care - Lord knows I've complained about it enough. At any rate, I hate it. That big cup of spit sitting around the house. Dribble on his shirt. Flecks of tobacco all over my car. Yuck.

11. Emotional reactions to social and economic issues that instead require actual thinking. I see a lot of this going on, not only from the man in the street but the people who are supposed to be making changes for the better. It scares me.

12. Telemarketing phone calls. Thanks to the federal "do not call" list there are fewer of these interruptions, but I still get them. Other countries don't have this problem. Why? Because they are "opt in" and not "opt out." That means that people can't just up and call you unless you've given them permission to. And would you give permission to the banks, the politicos, etc., to call you whenever they feel like it? I didn't think so.

13. No decaffeinated Irish Breakfast Tea at my local supermarkets. I frequent three and none carry it. It is my favorite and it is extremely hard to find in the Roanoke area.

Lots of people play Thursday Thirteen. Learn more about it and see other participants here. You can see my other Thursday Thirteens here. This is my 122 entry!

18 comments:

  1. This may sound weird but I used to receive a load of junk mail. I marked them spam and they actually doubled. It was like someone found where to send junk to. I ignored them; didn't mark them spam anymore and just kept on deleting them. They actually stopped coming, well almost so I consider that better. Here's hoping things keep on improving for you.

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  2. I'm with you on the chewing tobacco. I once knew a man who chewed and lost his tongue to cancer. Now he has no tongue and guess what? He still chews tobacco. Shaking me head.

    Happy T13!

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  3. you may have to resort to on-line shopping for your tea(s). personally, i shop for all of my clothes and many other items on-line. the roanoke valley just does not have the selection and quality i am used to...the pits.
    junk mail of any kind is not a good thing. i actually did not receive a mountain of catalogs this year. a good thing :)
    we are doing window replacement this Spring and have put the funds aside for it. and yes, it is a huge expenditure. have already lined up a company to do the work. i am just leary as they have to remove all my beautiful plantation shutters (inside) and worry that they will destroy them in the process. will have to make sure that they (shutters) are covered in the contract before we sign off for any work.
    other than discontent with the continued cold weather...i am happy as a clam. vacation is 4 weeks out...yippeeee!
    sorry to ramble on :)

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  4. Just got Windows7 and cringed when I saw that chkdsk thing. Suppose they put it there for nostalgic reasons?

    Things I'm Not Writing About

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  5. Mine is watching DVD movies that I discover I have seen before but don't have the will to turn off because I keep forgetting what comes up next but it's all strangely familiar.

    I saw a guy watering the snow yesterday. I think he was trying to melt a bank but he could have been cleaning it! It's so dirty now.

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  6. Our Britta does that same thing and it drives me nuts. I'm supposed to be getting a new computer this weekend with Windows 7 on it. Hoping it's better then Vista! Happy TT!

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  7. I get my little 4 year old to answer the phone during dinner, the time when telemarketers usually call! After talking their ear off about his day and his favourite TV shows... he hangs up on them :-)

    http://shasherslife.blogspot.com/2010/01/thursday-13.html

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  8. I liked reading your list of pet peeves.

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  9. I love catalogs, but not junk mail so much. Catalogs are like this world of possibility... I've actually used some of the things I've encountered to help build a character or two!

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  10. I hear you. Especially telemarketing calls. In this economy (and being a former telemarketer myself) I dont' have the heart to put myself on the list because people need those jobs--but still,

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  11. I'm on that list and I'm still getting annoying phone calls. uurrrgghhh



    Have a great Thursday!
    http://iamharriet.blogspot.com/2010/01/can-you-really-feel-sorry-for-celebs.html

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  12. I've noticed an uptick in the tele-sales--wondered about that. #10 is so yucko! Is this the hill to die on? I would be for me.

    http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2010/01/thursday-thirteen-thrift-shop-buys.html

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  13. I couldn't agree more with the pillow thing. I just bought a new one last week and I'm waiting for it to flatten out!

    Great TT!

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  14. I"m with you on a lot of these but mostly #3. Green grass and blue skies are just a dream right now.

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  15. Amen to the flat pillow thing. They cost a fortune these days, but apparently, we are buying air since they go flat in no time.

    As to chatty clerks: I don't mind it if they're actually talking to ME. What I hate is when they hold a conversation with, say, the bagger and act like I don't exist. Hello?? Remember me---your customer???

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  16. I love chatty clerks. It's wonderful! And then when I get a good recipe idea or sales tip, well, that's just icing on the cake!

    Okay, I finally just signed up for the Thursday 13 but what do I do? Just write about any old thirteen things on Thursday?

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  17. Deb - Great! Yep, just write about any old 13 things. It's a great way to force yourself to do a blog entry.

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  18. There's one clerk at the local grocery who asks me three times per visit if I'm having a nice day. It's clear that she's running on automatic, but I don't have the heart to scream at her to stop asking already, I'm STILL fine.

    I don't go to her anymore.

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