Minor annoyances

Discussion, in general

Re: Minor annoyances

Postby jbobsully11 » Wed Jun 10, 2020 11:28 pm

They’re mostly in strip malls, but even the ones that aren’t had the drive-thru closed early (because money is overrated, amirite?).
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Crimson847 wrote:In other words, transgender-friendly privacy laws don't molest people, people molest people.

(Presumably, the only way to stop a bad guy with a transgender-friendly privacy law is a good guy with a transgender-friendly privacy law, and thus transgender-friendly privacy law rights need to be enshrined in the Constitution as well)
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Re: Minor annoyances

Postby iMURDAu » Mon Jun 15, 2020 2:25 am

The person that ended up calling to schedule the appointment wasn't successful. Because they happened to be calling while I was at work and I have zero coverage inside the cooler. But hey I should be able to call them back right? No. The number they left just dropped me at the voice menu that we've already been calling into.

I emailed someone in the office to ask for their contact info and find out there is none because that person was just doing outbound calls to help in a pinch and doesn't have a direct number. So they gave me someone's direct number.

I felt like I was in a loop at that point but they answered and the appointment was scheduled.
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Re: Minor annoyances

Postby cmsellers » Mon Jun 15, 2020 2:41 am

I need more shelf space, and thought I'd look for something similar to that clear IKEA display case that all the pettubers use as a rodent habitat, only from Amazon. So I searched "display case," rather than bookshelf on Amazon, and found a modular cube thing that appeared to be defaulting to clear. The reviews were good, so I ordered two.

Then, I realized today, as the package was out for delivery, that the description said "white." So I took a closer look at the photos and realized "yep, it's white," it just defaulted to pictures on an extremely well-lit white background, which made it look clear. I absolutely hate white, especially when it's a bright white like this and not an off-white. It stains easily, and doesn't go with anything except other bright whites and chrome, and that's emphatically not my aesthetic.

So I tried to cancel the order, it showed as successful, and I took a nap, waking up to find that, nope, the white cases have been delivered after all.

"Fuck," I figure, "now I have to drag these packages to UPS." But nope, it's worse than that, if I use UPS, it will cost me $14 for each package, so I have to drag my ass all the way to Kohl's, and then probably wait in a return line, based on my experience returning things to Home Depot.

And yeah, I get that this is on me for not reading the description closely, but why the fuck would you stage white on white in photos? And why the hell do manufacturers think it's a good color anyways? And why is Amazon charging for UPS returns? They don't normally.
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Re: Minor annoyances

Postby cmsellers » Tue Jun 16, 2020 3:16 am

So, I've finally fallen for a Chinese shipment scam. For those of you who don't know how this works, they typically advertise things at extremely low prices, send something extremely cheap for tracking, and then demand that the wrong item be shipped back before they refund your money. They'll also often promise to send the right item, and send another wrong item. The idea is that on many platforms, international shipping takes so long that any resolution through the platform will be closed, and even if it's not, they'll have long absconded with the money.

In my case, I was buying on Amazon, and the items were the same price as you can get anywhere else, but the shipping was free. I was ordering bulbs, which are usually shipped expedited, and this was going to take 1-2 months. I just figured the bulbs were a little cheaper to grow in China, such that extra-slow, economy-class shipping, could be included for the price of the bulb in the US. I assumed the drawback was I was risking death of one or both of the bulbs I ordered, but for sixteen bucks, I'd risk it.

Because of how rigorously customer-oriented Amazon is, because the bulbs themselves are in line with US sellers, and because the seller had a bunch of good reviews, it didn't even occur to me that this would be a China shipment scam. Then, because of the shipping time and all the other insanity going on,

Today, I got a tiny package in the mail from Shenzhen, labeled as an ear stud, with a value of $3.25. I immediately thought "this looks like one of those Chinese shipment scams" followed by "what the fuck did I order from China?" Then I remembered the bulbs.

The funny thing is that the seller both labeled what is inside the package, meaning there's no way this is an accident, and sent it through untracked shipping, which kind of defeats the point of the scam? There's no way for the seller to prove I got anything, and I'm not going to make it easier by saying "oh, I did get this package from China, though." Also, in sending it, they reminded me that I hadn't gotten my bulbs. They're not only a shipment scammer, they're a remarkably incompetent shipment scammer. So I sent a message. I expect them to deny or ignore, at which point I'll escalate to Amazon and get my refund.

Edit: Actually, it looks like I might have just coincidentally been the victim of a different kind of Chinese shipment scam, known as brushing. It's where sellers send unordered packages to real addresses which are either empty or contain low-value items, and them use that to leave verified five-star reviews. The scam itself is harmless to me, but it means that my name, address, and possibly phone number and email, are on a Dark Web list somewhere, which is pretty unsettling.
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Re: Minor annoyances

Postby cmsellers » Sun Jun 21, 2020 5:51 am

Me: Sees mosquito has somehow gotten into house, but figures that if it gets close to me when awake I can kill it, and at night I'm safe under a bunch of blankets.
Mosquito: Somehow gets under those blankets to bite me on an inaccessible part of my back. I can barely reach it with a spoon.

On the bright side, I haven't seen it flying around since, so hopefully it perished trying to get back out.
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Re: Minor annoyances

Postby Australia » Sun Jun 21, 2020 9:12 pm

I kept telling you, I'm not a mosquito.
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Re: Minor annoyances

Postby JamishT » Mon Jun 22, 2020 2:31 am

Australia wrote:I kept telling you, I'm not a mosquito.


That's something a mosquito would say.
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Re: Minor annoyances

Postby jbobsully11 » Thu Jun 25, 2020 12:54 am

So I mentioned a while back that my mom set up her 3D printer to print face shield housings. That was using a coworker's laptop, which he wants back. Apparently, you need Windows 10 to run the software for it, but I only have 8.1. My computer is good enough to install Windows 10 on it, and we have an ISO (from the aforementioned former coworker), but it's a bigger file than a blank DVD will hold.
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Crimson847 wrote:In other words, transgender-friendly privacy laws don't molest people, people molest people.

(Presumably, the only way to stop a bad guy with a transgender-friendly privacy law is a good guy with a transgender-friendly privacy law, and thus transgender-friendly privacy law rights need to be enshrined in the Constitution as well)
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Re: Minor annoyances

Postby cmsellers » Thu Jun 25, 2020 4:40 am

As someone who only uses Unix-based OSes, that would super piss me off, even though I know most regular printers only run on Windows. Which reminds me: at some point, I should buy a printer.
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Re: Minor annoyances

Postby jbobsully11 » Fri Jul 03, 2020 4:00 am

So it seems that I can’t copy folders onto my good flash drive anymore; they all keep coming up empty (both computers have Windows 10 now, if that matters). I’m trying to copy them from the (half-) backup of my old OS and move them back to my computer. I just tried to copy Google Chrome, and that folder came up empty. Thanks, Bill Gates!

Somewhat more seriously, though, I feel a little like this guy from XKCD.
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Crimson847 wrote:In other words, transgender-friendly privacy laws don't molest people, people molest people.

(Presumably, the only way to stop a bad guy with a transgender-friendly privacy law is a good guy with a transgender-friendly privacy law, and thus transgender-friendly privacy law rights need to be enshrined in the Constitution as well)
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Re: Minor annoyances

Postby cmsellers » Sun Jul 05, 2020 9:42 pm

So, when I set up my IRA, I did a bunch of transfers every few days until I got to $3k, then schedule a transfer of $500 every month, which I can keep going until Congress ups the IRA contribution limit, as they do every few years.

Unfortunately, I apparently scheduled a payment for July in June, probably meaning to set it up for June and assuming when it didn't go through that I must not have clicked the final button.

So I had two debits this month. Which given that I just transferred $3k to my IRA, and then spent more than normal last month (vet bills plus grief-shopping is apparently something I do) means that, by the time I pay my August rent, my emergency fund will be far smaller than I am comfortable with.

It also means that I had to cancel the pending transfer, and I'll have to set up a new pending transfer in September.

I mean, things could certainly be a lot worse, but I'm definitely pissed at myself here.
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Re: Minor annoyances

Postby jbobsully11 » Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:06 pm

I keep meaning to post this here, but I keep forgetting. My phone doesn’t get any reception at work, so I keep it on airplane mode. Breaks are so boring.
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Crimson847 wrote:In other words, transgender-friendly privacy laws don't molest people, people molest people.

(Presumably, the only way to stop a bad guy with a transgender-friendly privacy law is a good guy with a transgender-friendly privacy law, and thus transgender-friendly privacy law rights need to be enshrined in the Constitution as well)
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Re: Minor annoyances

Postby jbobsully11 » Sun Aug 02, 2020 9:17 pm

Double post. Come at me.

I just had the online version of walking into another room and forgetting why. I was about to look something up on Knowyourmeme, and when I loaded the page, I forgot what I wanted to look up.


(EDIT: I remembered and found it, but not on Knowyourmeme. It was the origin of the Steve Buscemi “How do you do, fellow kids?” meme.)
  • 3

Crimson847 wrote:In other words, transgender-friendly privacy laws don't molest people, people molest people.

(Presumably, the only way to stop a bad guy with a transgender-friendly privacy law is a good guy with a transgender-friendly privacy law, and thus transgender-friendly privacy law rights need to be enshrined in the Constitution as well)
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Re: Minor annoyances

Postby cmsellers » Tue Aug 18, 2020 5:48 pm

So, I used to get my shirts at the fat section of JC Penny's. Then, about five years ago, they changed all of their t-shirts from 100% cotton to cotton-poly blend. And I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to polyester because it itches the fuck out of me. Couldn't find all-cotton t-shirts in my size anywhere else I looked except the specialty fat store, and those are so expensive I was like "nope." So, I hadn't gotten new t-shirts for years because I couldn't find any that were A. in my size, B. all cotton, C. had pockets, and D. didn't cost forty bucks or more. The ones I already had were stained or full of holes.

Well, a third-party Amazon seller drop-shipped me evaporated milk from WalMart.com, and I realized that "hey, if I'm using Amazon, there's no reason to avoid WalMart anymore." Now, I'd already tried physical WalMart for fat clothes on Tess's suggestion years ago, but physical WalMarts don't have sizes for those of us who reach circus-sideshow levels of fatness, something I find kind of amazing given their clientele.

Walmart.com does carry those sizes, however, and I ordered five shirts for between seven and twenty bucks, mostly towards the lower end of that. Three different brands, four different styles (I was so happy with one I ordered a second one in a different color), all cotton, all my size.

However, I've realized something about all of the pockets: they're sewn on with the stitching on the outside. I'm sure it's a cost thing, and at least I have decent-looking shirts with functional pockets, but before Penny's stopped carrying all cotton in plus sizes, I could get decent-looking, all-cotton t-shirts with pockets in my size for $12 each (if I went on Saturday: Penny's "discounted" their fat clothes by 40% every single weekend), and the pockets were properly attached.
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Re: Minor annoyances

Postby cmsellers » Sat Aug 22, 2020 11:35 pm

People selling plants on eBay typically approach it shipping in one of three ways:

1. They offer free shipping, charging about the same as other sellers by pot-size, but compensating by shipping bare root and selling slightly smaller plants for a given pot size.
2. They offer combined shipping, so that you get a discount on shipping as you order more plants.
3. They charge you the actual cost of shipping if you request an invoice (this will typically average around $.50 per additional plant, but not smoothly, there's steps when they need to go to a larger box size.)

I find #2 mildly annoying when they have policies like "first plant ships for $7, all additional plants ship for $2," because if that $2 shipping will be part of the price of the plant no matter how much you buy, I think you should include it in the plant cost. Just say "$5 shipping, all additional plants ship free." It's not like eBay doesn't include shipping when sorting by price anyways.

But what I find really annoying is that I found a seller with some plants I wanted which were too expensive for me to be willing to pay the $6-8 shipping per plant. However he doesn't combine shipping. Usually I add to cart, if it's not calculated automatically, I message, but I noticed that he disabled requesting a combined invoice, which means that he absolutely does not combine shipping. He's the only person selling some of these plants, so he can charge what he wants and someone will probably pay it. But, like be honest about it.

However, half his inventory is ZZ plants of various sizes, none of which are cheap for their size even before you factor in shipping. ZZ plants are ridiculously easy to keep alive and propagate, and therefore ridiculously common. You can get them in any hardware store, most plant stores, and many grocery stores, to say nothing of plenty of other sellers on eBay. Given he doesn't combine shipping, I'm wondering who on earth would pay the extra $6-8 to ship a ZZ plant when other sellers are offering it cheaper with free or combined shipping?
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