Things that frustrate us all

[Lord Garth]

Nothing like my 67-year-old father proving the stereotype that senior citizens wake up at the crack of dawn without fail, even if they have no need to. He visited before it was even 9:00 in the morning. When he saw my car outside and found out I was still asleep, he said, "I thought you said you were going somewhere today!"

I am. Just later on in the day!

 

[DimesDan]

I've lost my Leap Card, I think it dropped out of my pocket! I had to get a ticket for the tram like a pleb.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

Garth, would you like to swap dads? My one wanted to go on a day trip to Austria with me the other weekend. While I was up and ready at 6, he got up at 8:30 and we started around 9:30. We reached the border by noon and then spent 8 hours driving through Austria with two 20 min coffee breaks. No lunch, no supper, no sightseeing (he had previousely asked me for suggestions, I gave him 18 and he turned every single one down).
Once this horrible heat wave has broken, I'll rent a car for a weekend and go on a sightseeing tour on my own along the route we took. Only this time with actually seeing the sights (there's a museum of illusions! How much cooler can it get? =) ) and trying the local food

 

[MacLeod]

So you don't confuse it with Paris, Ontario.

(Real place, BTW.)

Yes like I'm going to think of Paris, Canada, when I see a shot of the Eiffel Tower in a film or TV show.

 

[Qonundrum]

Those laser liposuction kits where you attach pads and lasers heat up the fat under the skin and then you have to go to a sauna or exercise for an hour after that for the fat to be burned off are a gimmick. Unless they're not. That's what's frustrating.

 

[Nyotarules]

The terms a certain male co-worker uses to describe the female co-workers, who incidentally make up a vast majority of the staff-- the "girls, gals and chicks." His response to my criticism was, " Hey, you ARE gals and chicks, so that's what I call you-- like in real life, like we would off-line. "

I'm almost 49 years old and I have never in my entire life been a "chick." I am, however, a " supervisor " who is very good at typing emails-- you know , like the ones that get sent to HR.

If he dates chicks I feel sorry for the female hens, hope the cockerels get him

 

[rhubarbodendron]

The terms a certain male co-worker uses to describe the female co-workers, who incidentally make up a vast majority of the staff-- the "girls, gals and chicks." His response to my criticism was, " Hey, you ARE gals and chicks, so that's what I call you-- like in real life, like we would off-line. "

Don't go for a battle of wits - it's against the rules of duelling to challenge someone who is unarmed. With such a guy there's only one way: target his male honour. Yes, admittedly difficult to hit such a tiny mark, but you might score if you address him as gelding

 

[Butters]

When the receptionist assures us confidently that the countryside and sea air would soon rob the kids of their energy and loud, That it seems true of the other kids, but ours are somehow invigorated, and still up at midnight.

It’s not like we can swap. They’d notice. I’m pretty sure they’d notice.

 

[Gary7]

I've had these really great Nikon sunglasses with titanium frames and polarized lenses. Got them for a great price on eBay about 2 years ago. This weekend, I made a fateful choice that went wrong.

I love to grill in the summer. I was wearing my sunglasses in the early evening sun and then rested them on the collar of my shirt as I grilled. Somehow I got sloppy and some greasy food gunk got on one of the lenses. I've always been careful with these sunglasses, using soapy water to clean them and micro fiber to dry. Well, I somehow thought that Windex (ammonia glass cleaner) would be a good idea.

Oh boy. Bad idea. Something about the chemical composition of this stuff reacted with the coating of the lens. It ended up getting spotty. And at first I thought it was the gunk just being stubborn, so I applied more. Well... they're not ruined, but one lens is now permanently spotty. It's only noticeable when looking in the general direction of the sun... off to the sides and they're clear. But I'm a little OCD and this kind of bugs me. I'll have to get used to it. But man oh man... I had perfect sunglasses for 2 years and thought I'd have 'em for at least another 10.

OK.... Syria. Aleppo. Immigrant children separated from parents. Fucking Trump. Spotty sunglasses is the least of problems one can have. It's all about keeping perspective, right?

 

[rhubarbodendron]

right but every argh counts. Besides, Trump's annoyance factor is hard to trump and definitely a proof of the proverb "practize makes perfect".
I totally feel with you, Gary! These polarized lenses are awesome. Wouldn't miss them. They make working in the water so much easier - even when the surface glitters like mad and the water is a bit murky, with these lenses you can always see the ground. Makes work a lot safer for me.

My argh of the day is purely homemade for a change: I gave in to temptation and had a hawaii-pretzel (a large pretzel baked with ham, cheese and a slice of pineapple) for breakfast. Plus a huge half moon cookie. Not exactly the ideal diet for a diabetic but the scent when I tried to pass the baker was just too tempting.... Now I'll have to live with the consequences and have palpitations half of the day.

 

[DimesDan]

Not exactly the ideal diet for a diabetic.....

As a type 1, we are told we can eat what ever we want, we just need to Carb count and balance the Carbs with insulin, as you're type 2, I understand it is problematic as you control it through pills, exercise and diet, could you please say you're a type 2 and not just diabetic given there is a very big difference between the two.

 

[TrickyDickie]

The terms a certain male co-worker uses to describe the female co-workers, who incidentally make up a vast majority of the staff-- the "girls, gals and chicks." His response to my criticism was, " Hey, you ARE gals and chicks, so that's what I call you-- like in real life, like we would off-line. "

I'm almost 49 years old and I have never in my entire life been a "chick." I am, however, a " supervisor " who is very good at typing emails-- you know , like the ones that get sent to HR.

Everyone get together and smile and tell him he's unique.

Next day, have a sign waiting for him on his desk, with nice little smiley face and this:

We really mean it....you are very eunuch.

 

[Discofan]

Everyone get together and smile and tell him he's unique.

Next day, have a sign waiting for him on his desk, with nice little smiley face and this:

We really mean it....you are very eunuch.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[TrickyDickie]

In the movie 'Flashpoint':

"I suppose now you'll want us to donate to the Policeman's Ball...."

"We're Border Patrol, ma'am, we don't have any balls...."

 

[Avro Arrow]

I don't know where you all work, but I can honestly say I don't ever recall seeing an HR policy that said that if you're being harassed in the office, just up the ante by insulting and harassing them back, and it's OK because they started it...

 

[Butters]

Moving. Trying to move.

Frustrating when it all goes wrong again

 

[rhubarbodendron]

What went wrong? Is there any way we can assist you? If you're still in the looking-for-a-new-place phase, we could help you scan the internet and local papers for interesting offers.

I don't know where you all work, but I can honestly say I don't ever recall seeing an HR policy that said that if you're being harassed in the office, just up the ante by insulting and harassing them back, and it's OK because they started it...

You're lucky! At most offices I know you don't get the least bit of backup by bosses or even staff council. It's "everyone fight for themselves", usually. Seriousely, you're expected to fight verbal attacks back with verbal attacks. Only if the sexual harrassment gets physical you'll get help (and often not even then).

 

[Butters]

What went wrong? Is there any way we can assist you? If you're still in the looking-for-a-new-place phase, we could help you scan the internet and local papers for interesting offers.

We were at the drawing up contracts stage, but our survey found serious defects that we just couldn’t fix, so we’re back to viewing. Probably for the best, there were some compromises I probably shouldn’t have accepted, but finding somewhere that we can live, that also happens to be in our price range is a struggle.

 

[Avro Arrow]

You're lucky! At most offices I know you don't get the least bit of backup by bosses or even staff council. It's "everyone fight for themselves", usually. Seriousely, you're expected to fight verbal attacks back with verbal attacks. Only if the sexual harrassment gets physical you'll get help (and often not even then).

Wow, really? That sounds truly awful. I'm so sorry. A professional office environment should not be the same as a grade-school playground, or one of those post-apocalyptic worlds from the movies where the fabric of society has broken down.

I'm not going to sit here and claim everything is perfect in my office... there are rumours of times that we haven't lived up to our own ideals/policies, and of course fear of coming forward is an ever-present issue. But overall, I'd generally say we handle these things well. (At least now; I've heard some stories from back before I started that fall far short of what would be acceptable today.)

To be fair, I'm only talking about overt harassment here. There are still other issues around not getting invited to meetings, being talked over, having suggestions ignored, imbalance of representation at senior levels... well, I could go on (and on). I don't want you to think my office is a panacea; there is still progress to be made. However, based on what you've written, I think I'm going to file this under "count my blessings".

 

[feral.cherub]

Bad phone signal
Getting screwed in a real estate deal
People riding your bandwidth
GOOGLE KEYBOARD!
Clicking an area in a text box you want to type only to have an ad move down (seemingly like it's programmed that way)and take you to the ad and make you lose your place and your text.
Besides that? Don't get me started! :-p