Ugh, stone veneer. Can you talk him into hardiboard shingles at least?

 

Are the opening a wall between the kitchen and dining or did they make it one room? I've seen a few galley kitchens walls opened into a large formal dining rooms that worked well.

 

He might be kidding about the stone veneer thing.  He likes to try to get a rise out of people, so he might be saying that because he knows it's a terrible idea.  But, he claims he doesn't like the look of shingles/shakes, so I don't know.

 

I'm not totally sure what their plans are.  The wall between the kitchen and dining room was removed, and the wall between the dining room and living room was removed.  The new kitchen will go where the dining room was, but I'm not sure what is going where the old kitchen was.

I'm not sure I have a bigger pet peeve than measuring distance as time. 

 

"15 minutes away" could mean 12 miles driving on the freeway, 6 miles driving on city streets, 3 miles on a bus, or 1 mile on foot.

I basically prefer measuring distance as time. Ha.

I'm not sure I have a bigger pet peeve than measuring distance as time. 

 

"15 minutes away" could mean 12 miles driving on the freeway, 6 miles driving on city streets, 3 miles on a bus, or 1 mile on foot.

 

You can count?

I'm not sure I have a bigger pet peeve than measuring distance as time. 

 

"15 minutes away" could mean 12 miles driving on the freeway, 6 miles driving on city streets, 3 miles on a bus, or 1 mile on foot.

 

You can count?

 

Oh heck no, MTS.  You are not coming at me after all this time.  How's your hotbox up in Shaker Circle?

Oooh burn, circle got the square!

I'm not sure I have a bigger pet peeve than measuring distance as time. 

 

"15 minutes away" could mean 12 miles driving on the freeway, 6 miles driving on city streets, 3 miles on a bus, or 1 mile on foot.

 

You can count?

 

Oh heck no, MTS.  You are not coming at me after all this time.  How's your hotbox up in Shaker Circle?

Hunty, I bring it every time! OKAY!

 

I'm not sure I have a bigger pet peeve than measuring distance as time. 

 

"15 minutes away" could mean 12 miles driving on the freeway, 6 miles driving on city streets, 3 miles on a bus, or 1 mile on foot.

 

You can count?

 

Oh heck no, MTS.  You are not coming at me after all this time.  How's your hotbox up in Shaker Circle?

Hunty, I bring it every time! OKAY!

 

 

umm well yeah lowbrow gay gifs would be a peeve...

 

so is the also disturbing trend of putting yourself into old pictures of yourself when you were young:

 

 

Upon recontacting a former teacher on the Maple Heights alumni site, he sent me a picture he had of my high school self flipping off the camera, standing in front of his "All Ugly Hall of Fame", a bulletin board collection he had for his "Literature of Sports" class of particularly ugly baseball cards and other sports pictures.

 

The site being made up of Maple alumni, it was inevitable that smartassery and smack talk would reach the forefront, and I photoshopped a picture of one of the other posters onto the above mentioned display.  I still use that for #TBT on Facebook, which I assume is what you mean above....

New pet peeve, and one I have to deal with frequently at home:

 

Bars that don't take credit cards and/or refuse to give receipts. It's usually accompanied by terrible customer service- never hello or thank you. Damn SF hipsters.

Disclaimers at the end of commercials.  I think we can all agree that anything you ingest may cause you to have diarrhea.  Just let me know when that risk is significantly increased and/or has the potential to cause severe diarrhea.

New pet peeve, and one I have to deal with frequently at home:

 

Bars that don't take credit cards and/or refuse to give receipts. It's usually accompanied by terrible customer service- never hello or thank you. Damn SF hipsters.

in general, it's not a good idea to buy dope on credit

Are we allowed to see colors other than red, black, grey and white anymore in the USA? Or have all other colors been done away with?

Disclaimers at the end of commercials.  I think we can all agree that anything you ingest may cause you to have diarrhea.  Just let me know when that risk is significantly increased and/or has the potential to cause severe diarrhea.

 

You can thank the FDA for that.  Any symptom reported by a participant in a trial must be reported, including flatulence.  :?

New pet peeve, and one I have to deal with frequently at home:

 

Bars that don't take credit cards and/or refuse to give receipts. It's usually accompanied by terrible customer service- never hello or thank you. Damn SF hipsters.

 

We're well past the point of half our gross being in plastic, and this is a relatively recent phenomenon. There you would think it would be moreso, especially if the panhandlers are as aggressive as rumor has it.

 

Are they doing this because cards are getting declined?  Or because of the fees?

New pet peeve, and one I have to deal with frequently at home:

 

Bars that don't take credit cards and/or refuse to give receipts. It's usually accompanied by terrible customer service- never hello or thank you. Damn SF hipsters.

 

We're well past the point of half our gross being in plastic, and this is a relatively recent phenomenon. There you would think it would be moreso, especially if the panhandlers are as aggressive as rumor has it.

 

Are they doing this because cards are getting declined?  Or because of the fees?

 

Cash businesses usually evade taxes.

I offer a 5% cash discount, but that could get messy at a bar with each transaction resulting in an avalanche of coins.

New pet peeve, and one I have to deal with frequently at home:

 

Bars that don't take credit cards and/or refuse to give receipts. It's usually accompanied by terrible customer service- never hello or thank you. Damn SF hipsters.

 

We're well past the point of half our gross being in plastic, and this is a relatively recent phenomenon. There you would think it would be moreso, especially if the panhandlers are as aggressive as rumor has it.

 

Are they doing this because cards are getting declined?  Or because of the fees?

 

Reasoning is to avoid fees and to appear "authentic" or some other hipster crap. I think it's crazy because when you get a bunch of flush 20-somethings together, they will spend a lot more money if they can use their cards. It's usually a hipster bar thing (keep in mind the hipster bars are in the hottest, highest rent districts along tech shuttles). From a business standpoint, I just don't get it. Maybe it's some sort of protest against the tech industry? Some of these bars were around before tech employees moved into the neighborhood. It's very common to see card bans at trendier places in the Mission or Lower Haight, and a few of the bars on lower Polk (though places on Polk will give you a receipt if you need one and provide way better customer service). Traditionally in San Francisco, there were credit card minimums. That is changing as bars ban them entirely. Rents have gotten so high, some grocery stores now have credit card minimums (normally pretty low).

 

Most bars in the north side or west side still take cards, but with a $10 or $20 minimum. You can use credit cards almost anywhere in Union Square, FiDi, North Beach, Nob Hill, Pacific Heights, Russian Hill, or the Marina. If I were on business, I would stick to these areas.

Credit card fees went up a whole percentage point in the last year for me. Savvy businesses negotiate up front about credit card fees, but once you get going eventually they are going to raise your rates. The government lowered the max rate allowed by law yes, but to make up for it anybody who got dealz on their processing were lower than even the new maxes, us included.

 

You'd hate to see a credit card processing statement; I'm trained in finance and accounting and they still makes my head spin due to the complexity, different discount rates and different fees. You have to do a full financial analysis on order to determine if switching to another rep and company will help you even if some number they spit out is lower than some number you're paying. They can make it back a zillion other ways and more. With business accounts of any kind, you can throw all those consumer protection laws out the window since they don't apply.

 

So it's easy to see why a bar might do that but ONLY if they are hot enough and get enough foot traffic that they get to pull the somewhat arrogant move of rejecting all plastic. Or if the bar owner is so wealthy that it doesn't really matter how well the bar does. A business owner that is hungry does not reject plastic. Too many people have forsaken cash.

So it's easy to see why a bar might do that but ONLY if they are hot enough and get enough foot traffic that they get to pull the somewhat arrogant move of rejecting all plastic.

 

That is the case at the bars with card bans...at least on weekends. What's crazy is that these bans are in effect on slower weeknights too.

I've heard of credit card minimums, but rarely bans.  As C-Dawg points out, they want your business

New pet peeve, and one I have to deal with frequently at home:

 

Bars that don't take credit cards and/or refuse to give receipts. It's usually accompanied by terrible customer service- never hello or thank you. Damn SF hipsters.

 

We're well past the point of half our gross being in plastic, and this is a relatively recent phenomenon. There you would think it would be moreso, especially if the panhandlers are as aggressive as rumor has it.

 

Are they doing this because cards are getting declined?  Or because of the fees?

 

Cash businesses usually evade taxes.

 

Not bars.  The state very closely watches their purchases because it's traditionally such a cash heavy business.  Indeed, the main reason many bars go out of business so quickly is they "treat the cash like cash", then the taxes come due.    I can't imagine California being different in that regard.

 

Another possibility:  On site ATMs often pay the business owner a cut of the fee.

I didn't realize that not taking credit cards was a hipster thing.  The Golden Dawn, open since the 1930s here in Youngstown, doesn't take credit cards.  I was told the owners--who are both in their 90s, I believe--don't believe in those new-fangled things.

 

Are we allowed to see colors other than red, black, grey and white anymore in the USA? Or have all other colors been done away with?

 

I notice this with cars.  If I look at an aerial photo of a parking lot, the vast majority of the cars seem to be black, white, red, or some shade of silver/gold.

^ There's  a specific reason for that in the case of cars. Remember how in the '90s, car paint peeled off after a few years, but mostly on metallic and bright-colored cars? The water based paint they have to use today peels off like that unless it's one of those four standard colors. Especially out West. Cars that you see in brighter colors such as an orange Ford Focus ST have more expensive paint that raises the price of the car.

thanks GCrites, my sister was bitching & moaning about this recently. I don't drive anymore so I didn't even notice.

People who don't clear all the snow of their cars before heading out on the roads

Then the snow fly's all over the roads and onto your windshield.

People who don't clear all the snow of their cars before heading out on the roads

Then the snow fly's all over the roads and onto your windshield.

 

Let's start with the idiots that are too lazy to even clear their windows then drive!  :)

People who don't clear all the snow of their cars before heading out on the roads

Then the snow fly's all over the roads and onto your windshield.

 

 

^^This.

 

Especially those who drive around with a freaking glacier on the car roof....

So you guys all hate me.  ha.  I once got a ticket in CH (no surprise) for not clearing snow off my back window.  I was pissed and fought it.  I looked up the ordinance I was ticketed for and it referred to obstructed view of front window with no mention of back. I was all set to win my case.  I go to court - prosecutor offers me a plea deal and I said no, I think I have a good case.  The cop didn't show and I get off the hook. I thought it was a pretty dirty tactic on the prosecutor’s part who probably knew the cop wasn't going to show.  The funny thing is I got a speeding ticket in Shaker on my way to court which ended up being more expensive than if I just paid the original ticket.  ha.

As Smith's experience indicates, one can be ticketed for not clearing snow off their car, esp their car's roof, and it flies off into the roadway while the person drives as it's deemed a safety hazard for obvious reasons.  It's only a pet peeve, therefore, if the perp isn't caught.

Just because I was ticketed, doesn't mean it was a valid ticket (at least in CH).  I thoroughly reviewed the ordinance and I feel I would have won the case. 

 

Deserves some style/grooming points.

If you want to smoke, knock yourself out, but if you smoke a lot in your home, your car, or another confined space, please don't ride trains, buses, or planes, or eat out in restaurants, because you and everything you own smells like @ss. Everyone is hoping you don't sit near them and just wishes you staid at home.

That's the work of the new fire-safe cigarettes that kicked in in 2008. The smell is way worse and sticks around way longer. Also, cheap brands of cigarettes have gotten more popular as mainstream smokes rose to $6 a pack. Lifelong non-smokers think it was the smoking ban that led to a steep decline in smoking because they have no idea about the switch to fire-safe cigarettes that happened at the exact same time. Smoking fire-safe cigarettes is pure misery and led many people to quit after a short time. People who first smoked after the change have no clue either, except that they don't tend to stick with smoking for nearly as long as people who were teens in the '80s.

 

The only reason smoking sticks around is from the few who don't notice the grossness of having rollbar padding glue in the paper. Also here in Ohio there is a lot of night and weekend work that studies have shown leads to heavy smoking.

There's 9 million pictures on the intertubes of cute pets but whenever someone posts online about a lost pet - there seem to be no pictures available.....

They ran away because they weren't getting their picture taken enough!

 

Elvis with grey hair in the movie "Cars". 

 

And what's this about new cigarettes?  Get me up to speed.  EDIT: NM.  Thanks wiki.

People who can't keep their cel phones charged.

What else are you going to do when you are asleep?

I still can't get used to phones not being permanently plugged into the wall. And I hate how the cell phone doesn't go off all the house. I can't remember that I have to take it with me all over the house.

Going into a bar and seeing charger cables running across the table top to power strips seems pretty common now.  Alot of the nightclubs in Chicago have charger lockers near the bathroom.  For a $1 you can keep your phone plugged in a locked cabinet the time you are there.

Parents who treat youth sports leagues as babysitting services..... especially when your child is under 10 years old.  Practice and game time is not your opportunity to get your grocery shopping done.  When your kid misbehaves or gets hurt, you need to be there to support the coach.  At the very least, you should arrange something with one of the other parents so that somebody is there to deal with your kid when issues arise.  I find this issue is 10x worse in church leagues, compared to community leagues, for whatever reason. 

Going into a bar and seeing charger cables running across the table top to power strips seems pretty common now.  Alot of the nightclubs in Chicago have charger lockers near the bathroom.  For a $1 you can keep your phone plugged in a locked cabinet the time you are there.

 

It's very common.  When our side tables aren't in use, one will often see a phone on them that's plugged into the baseboard plugs.

Parents who treat youth sports leagues as babysitting services..... especially when your child is under 10 years old.  Practice and game time is not your opportunity to get your grocery shopping done.  When your kid misbehaves or gets hurt, you need to be there to support the coach.  At the very least, you should arrange something with one of the other parents so that somebody is there to deal with your kid when issues arise.  I find this issue is 10x worse in church leagues, compared to community leagues, for whatever reason. 

 

When my niece played CYO football, one of her parents or me had to be at every practice as well as the games.

Parents who treat youth sports leagues as babysitting services..... especially when your child is under 10 years old.  Practice and game time is not your opportunity to get your grocery shopping done.  When your kid misbehaves or gets hurt, you need to be there to support the coach.  At the very least, you should arrange something with one of the other parents so that somebody is there to deal with your kid when issues arise.  I find this issue is 10x worse in church leagues, compared to community leagues, for whatever reason. 

 

When my niece played CYO football, one of her parents or me had to be at every practice as well as the games.

 

Growing up I NEVER remember my parents hanging out at practices.  And today with cell phones we are more connected.  I don't see any reason why a kid can't function at practice, and a coach can't call the parent in case of emergency, or (oh the horror), act as an adult and make a decision of medical necessity.    We still have to fill out the permission forms granting them said right.

 

This is all part of the helicopter parenting that is taking over our society.  Let kids be kids.  They are going to get skinned knees, bruises and  maybe a broken bone.  I sure did.  As long as parents leave their phone on and show up on time to pick their kid up, I see no problem with dropping them at practice.

Parents who treat youth sports leagues as babysitting services..... especially when your child is under 10 years old.  Practice and game time is not your opportunity to get your grocery shopping done.  When your kid misbehaves or gets hurt, you need to be there to support the coach.  At the very least, you should arrange something with one of the other parents so that somebody is there to deal with your kid when issues arise.  I find this issue is 10x worse in church leagues, compared to community leagues, for whatever reason. 

 

When my niece played CYO football, one of her parents or me had to be at every practice as well as the games.

 

Growing up I NEVER remember my parents hanging out at practices.  And today with cell phones we are more connected.  I don't see any reason why a kid can't function at practice, and a coach can't call the parent in case of emergency, or (oh the horror), act as an adult and make a decision of medical necessity.    We still have to fill out the permission forms granting them said right.

 

This is all part of the helicopter parenting that is taking over our society.  Let kids be kids.  They are going to get skinned knees, bruises and  maybe a broken bone.  I sure did.  As long as parents leave their phone on and show up on time to pick their kid up, I see no problem with dropping them at practice.

 

There usually weren't than many parents at practice.  Eva, being the only girl on the team in a contact sport, was a special case.

Parents who treat youth sports leagues as babysitting services..... especially when your child is under 10 years old.  Practice and game time is not your opportunity to get your grocery shopping done.  When your kid misbehaves or gets hurt, you need to be there to support the coach.  At the very least, you should arrange something with one of the other parents so that somebody is there to deal with your kid when issues arise.  I find this issue is 10x worse in church leagues, compared to community leagues, for whatever reason. 

 

When my niece played CYO football, one of her parents or me had to be at every practice as well as the games.

 

Growing up I NEVER remember my parents hanging out at practices.  And today with cell phones we are more connected.  I don't see any reason why a kid can't function at practice, and a coach can't call the parent in case of emergency, or (oh the horror), act as an adult and make a decision of medical necessity.    We still have to fill out the permission forms granting them said right.

 

This is all part of the helicopter parenting that is taking over our society.  Let kids be kids.  They are going to get skinned knees, bruises and  maybe a broken bone.  I sure did.  As long as parents leave their phone on and show up on time to pick their kid up, I see no problem with dropping them at practice.

I grew up in a neighborhood adjacent to the park where soccer practice was held.  I never even got dropped off, just walked over and back when they were done.  And for the most part there were never any parents there anyway.  If there were when my father was coaching us we never would have gotten away with ending a few practices by playing a little rugby.  Of course this was all instituted by my father who was an ex rugby player (he may have still be playing around with it when coaching us kids).

E rocc, Eskimos have 50 words for all nouns because they combine verbs with nouns to make words. So it's not just for snow.

Growing up I NEVER remember my parents hanging out at practices.  And today with cell phones we are more connected.  I don't see any reason why a kid can't function at practice, and a coach can't call the parent in case of emergency, or (oh the horror), act as an adult and make a decision of medical necessity.    We still have to fill out the permission forms granting them said right.

 

This is all part of the helicopter parenting that is taking over our society.  Let kids be kids.  They are going to get skinned knees, bruises and  maybe a broken bone.  I sure did.  As long as parents leave their phone on and show up on time to pick their kid up, I see no problem with dropping them at practice.

 

I think it depends (a) on the age of the kid; and (b) what type of youth league it is.  Most leagues we involve our son in are community leagues, run and coached completely by volunteers.  When you have 12-15 seven year olds at practice, it can be difficult for a single coach to attend to all the needs which arise as well as keep all the kids in line.  I drop my kid off too sometimes in the sports that I don't coach, but I always check with another parent who is going to stay..... and, with our community leagues, most of the parents do stay, not to 'helicopter' or whatever you want to call it, but to actually.... gasp.... spend some time with your kid in the precious hours between getting home from work and the kid going to sleep.  It's also a good way to socialize with the community.  I still remember all the Dad's drinking beer on the sidelines of my youth football practices back in the 80's.

 

My original post was spurred particularly by this youth basketball league my kid is involved with right now at an area church.  His team is full of obnoxious brats (I suppose HIM will forgive) and the coach has no control over them.  They seem like the type of kids who just get shuttled from one activity to the next.  The church is in a wealthier community, so that's not that surprising.  Nothing gets done at practice because the coach is constantly and miserably failing at keeping their attention.  Part of it is his fault for not being a good enforcer, which led me to have to step in and give the kids an earful, which embarrassed my kid I'm sure.