First World Problems: Share the Silliest Things That Bug You!

[lisab]

This is a thread about silly problems. You know these things are silly, but they still bug you.

For example:

I hate it when I pull a tissue out of a box, and it doesn't pull up the next tissue. I have to go fishing for the next one, and inevitably I end up pulling out a clump of several tissues.

What silly things bug you?

 

[leroyjenkens]

I hate it when I type up a long post on a forum, hit backspace to delete a letter, and it goes back a page instead. Then when I go forward, everything I typed up is gone.

 

[dlgoff]

I hate it when I pull a tissue out of a box, and it doesn't pull up the next tissue.

I hate it when someone doesn't open a box the way it was designed to be opened. Must be an engineer somewhere crying.

 

[symbolipoint]

The piece of floss breaks before I'm finished.

 

[DaveC426913]

The gas pump demands I answer the question 'Do you have Air Miles' before it will let me pump gas.

 

[Astronuc]

I hate it when I type up a long post on a forum, hit backspace to delete a letter, and it goes back a page instead. Then when I go forward, everything I typed up is gone.

For a long post, one can use a text file like TextPad or WordPad, or just do ctrl+A, the ctrl+C to copy the entire post just in case. I too have been frustrated by stupid browsers that take the backspace as Alt+left or previous window.

 

[edward]

Now that my fingers are getting older I hate just about everything that comes in a clear plastic package. The newer plastics are just about impervious to human fingers. I had to get a knife and fight like heck to get the plastic top off of a pumpkin pie today.

 

[dlgoff]

Now that my fingers are getting older I hate just about everything that comes in a clear plastic package. The newer plastics are just about impervious to human fingers. I had to get a knife and fight like heck to get the plastic top off of a pumpkin pie today.

That runs a strong second for me. It's not the newer plastics. It's because no design engineering was involved.

I hate it when someone doesn't open a box the way it was designed to be opened. Must be an engineer somewhere crying.

 

[Drakkith]

I hate it when you can't find the droids you're looking for.

But really, I can't stand it when my the touchscreen on a phone or computer has slight lag.

 

[nuuskur]

Was looking for something in the drawers, sitting behind the computer and when I couldn't find it, I tapped Ctrl+F on the keyboard :D (still didn't find it though :( )

 

[Danger]

As of returning to PF to find this new format wherein I don't know how to do anything, the main thing that's irritating the hell out of me is that it keeps autocorrecting my words into something that I don't want. That's cutting my typing speed by half or worse. There must be some way to shut that off, but I don't know what it is. Also, I never did know how to multi-quote using the button. To do so, I would respond to one person with a quote, copy it, delete the draft text, respond to another quote and paste the whole first thing into it, and repeat the process as necessary. That doesn't work now. (Well, it sort of does, but the prior one comes up with just an arrow above the quoted section and no mention of who said it. I have to manually insert "{QUOTE}" and "{/QUOTE}" (using the square brackets, of course) to make it appear as a quote, and there's no way I'm going to take the time to type in the guy's handle and those numbers every time.
There are lots of other things not related to PF that get under my skin, but I figured that this was as good a time as any to bring those up.

 

[DaveC426913]

To do so, I would respond to one person with a quote, copy it, delete the draft text, respond to another quote and paste the whole first thing into it, and repeat the process as necessary. That doesn't work now.

1. Click the quote button on a post you want to quote.
2. Repeat step 1 at will.
3. At the bottom of the page will be an edit window for your response. Click 'Insert Quotes'.
4. A popup will show your quotes. Click 'Insert these quotes'.
5. Edit your post with gay abandon.

 

[Danger]

5. Edit your post with gay abandon.

I don't roll that way; I'll edit it with straight abandon if it's all the same to you.:p
(And of course the smilie I needed turned out to be pink... )
Thanks for the info, Dave. I'll give it a try the next time I have do multiple quotes.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Slow/poor internet connection, especially on my phone. I've had a smartphone for so long now that it's a pseudo-disability to not have it. I'm so used to looking up things the moment I wonder about them, getting directions, chatting with friends and checking up on my most used websites.

I firmly hope to one day be an old man who bores his grandchildren with stories of the dark ages where not only did terabit bandwidth not exist but you would regularly lose signal just walking down the road. Let alone going underground or traveling to the country side. I hope and expect they'll look at me with the same lack of understanding as I do to anyone describing a world before phones and computers.

 

[DennisN]

Oh, this is so first world:
My HDTV tuner has somehow decided to always start on channel 12, when I usually want it to start on channel 1. So I always have to press "back" 12 steps or "dial" 12, very annoying. I can program a computer, by haven't felt inclined to fix this minor thing for a long time now. That's it, I'm going to do it right now!

EDIT: Two more annoying First World problems:

 

[wolram]

I hate it when there is just a few sheets of toilet tissue left and no one has thought to leave a spare.

 

[mfb]

Software that asks the same question every time it is used, without an option to disable it.

"An update is available! Do you want to update to the newest version which is known to have a bug that completely ruins what you want to do?"

 

[DennisN]

Software that asks the same question every time it is used, without an option to disable it.

"An update is available! Do you want to update to the newest version which is known to have a bug that completely ruins what you want to do?"

Oh yes...
+ small, barely readable print saying:

• stay updated with latest news letters
• stay updated with the latest campaigns and offers
• connect your account with service x, y, z
• connect with everyone? ("What do you mean everyone? - EVERYONE!")

 

[Danger]

I've had a smartphone for so long now that it's a pseudo-disability to not have it. I'm so used to looking up things the moment I wonder about them, getting directions, chatting with friends and checking up on my most used websites...
...I firmly hope to one day be an old man who bores his grandchildren

Don't worry about it. If you're that immersed in your tech gadgets, you'll probably never have a chance to reproduce, let alone have grandchildren.

Two more annoying First World problems:

No-brainer there. It looks as if you're labouring away with a Windows-burner. Wise up, get a Mac, and relax.

Dave! I just tried that multi-quote thing the way that you said and it's great! Thanks!

 

[DennisN]

No-brainer there. It looks as if you're labouring away with a Windows-burner. Wise up, get a Mac, and relax.

Now look what you made me do :L, a mac attack:

 

[wukunlin]

^^^
Haha, well that is my first world problem: When try to give people consumer advice, I tend to get some other random people spewing out their undying love for certain brands.

 

[dlgoff]

I hate it when there is just a few sheets of toilet tissue left and no one has thought to leave a spare.

Evidently they don't know it only takes one sheet.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Don't worry about it. If you're that immersed in your tech gadgets, you'll probably never have a chance to reproduce, let alone have grandchildren.

Funnily enough it's entirely possible to fully embrace "tech gadgets", have a fulfilling social life and find a partner with similar feelings ;)

 

[WWGD]

I hate it when there is just a few sheets of toilet tissue left and no one has thought to leave a spare.

Not even a square? Can't they spare a square?

How about Windows freezing your screen almost every day to ask you if you want to get
Windows 8.1 for free, and never giving you the option of " do not show me this again".

 

[phinds]

I hate it that paper towels are designed, apparently, to tear anywhere BUT on the perforations.

 

[dlgoff]

I hate it that paper towels are designed, apparently, to tear anywhere BUT on the perforations.

Ever pay a bill by mail? They always fold it so that the return portion tear-off perforations are close to the fold line.

 

[Danger]

Now look what you made me do :L, a mac attack:

If that was a Linux screen that you showed, I owe you an apology. My ex-wife was visiting last week and neglected to return my reading glasses when she left. So, to me, that looks like the kind of crap that I've seen on Windows-burners. I have trouble reading the regular stuff on here, never mind the screen-grabs. I can change the magnification of my screen, or have my computer verbalize the text, but it's a bit inconvenient considering other factors.
Mac OS is based upon Linux, which I figure is what makes it so vastly superior to that MS garbage. The first system that I used after school was actually Unix, followed about a year later by Multix. Although I've never studied the subject, I've assumed all along that Linux is a descendant of that family. (In high-school, we used "Student Language", which I suspect to be a variation of "PL 1". The "read" command was something like "[something that I can't remember]\\SLC EXECUTE GET EDIT" The print command was exactly the same thing except that it had "PUT EDIT" in place of "GET EDIT". In both cases, it referred to the next card in the Data Stack, which followed the Command Stack in the deck of cards. It was on pencil-cards, followed by punch-cards the next year.)
I could reconfigure my machine to run Linux, but I'm starting to get a handle on Mavericks so I'll continue along that road until convinced otherwise. I do readily admit that Linux is the superior OS; I just am not familiar with the details of using it. Why you would put Windows ahead of OS in that lineup is something that psychiatrists will be debating for decades. Windows is to computing what jellyfish are to structural engineering.

 

[phinds]

Ever pay a bill by mail? They always fold it so that the return portion tear-off perforations are close to the fold line.

Yeah, that too !

 

[DennisN]

If that was a Linux screen that you showed, I owe you an apology.

No apology needed at all, I was just having fun :). It's probably a Windows screen, I just linked to a failed burn notice on the net. It's been a long time since I used/programmed for Unix or Mac (I've never used Linux), so I really can't do a proper comparison that's up-to-date. But I remember I thought it was pretty awkward programming for Mac, but it is most likely much better nowadays. Otherwise I thought the Mac was quite ok. But it's not my weapon of choice at the moment :).

 

[jtbell]

I hate it when someone doesn't open a box the way it was designed to be opened. Must be an engineer somewhere crying.

In an old Peanuts cartoon strip, Charlie Brown watched Linus rip off the top of a new box of breakfast cereal.

Charlie Brown: "How can you do that after the Snicker-Snack cereal company spent all that money designing a new improved easy-to-open box?"

Linus (superciliously): "My heart bleeds for the Snicker-Snack cereal company."

 

[jtbell]

Back in the days when people actually bought music CDs in stores, the new ones that I bought were often sealed with adhesive cellophane labels along the top of the jewel box. No matter how carefully I tried to peel those labels off intact, they always shredded into small sticky bits that stuck to my fingers and the top and sides of the jewel box.

 

[Danger]

Oh... one just occurred that makes me furious every time it happens, which is far too often. I'm surprised that there haven't been major lawsuits over it. I don't know how prevalent it is in other places, since it seems to be at the whim of the individual networks. They insist upon placing banner ads across the bottom 1/3 of the screen during the opening sequences (the actual show, not the title shots). This makes it impossible to read the opening credits such as guest stars and who wrote and directed it. I like to know that stuff. At the end, they either scroll the credits so fast that a laser scanner couldn't read them, or shrink them down to an illegible square in the top right corner of the screen and run previews of other shows on the main part.
Why I've expected (in fact hoped for) a lawsuit is that entertainment industry unions have rules in their contracts about how people are credited for their contributions to the project. (I remember way back when we writers finally were given billing priority over directors for a TV show or movie. It was a huge victory, even though it simply meant that our names would appear one screen ahead of theirs.) I would expect that one of the conditions would be the ability of the credit to be seen.

 

[jbunniii]

It's 2014 and Microsoft still hasn't fixed this annoying "you can't delete this because some application is using it, and we won't tell you which one it is" message. Often, nothing that I can control is using it, and only a reboot fixes it.

 

[Danger]

It's 2014 and Microsoft still hasn't fixed this

As much as I'm loathe to admit this, it might not be a Windows fault as opposed to an application one. The only reason that I say that is because I've encountered similar, but different, on several of my Macs when dealing with particular pernicious programs, but in my case rebooting doesn't help. (In the exact situation that you cited, Mac OS gives the clickable option of "save and close", "close without saving", or "cancel", the latter of which just puts you back where you started.) The one that I can't handle is, specifically but not exclusively, MacKeeper. I once made the mistake of downloading a free trial version, and now it's impossible to get rid of it. It even followed me to my new computer by sneaking onto the thumb drive that I used to transfer my files from the old one. In this particular case, I wish that computer components were so large that I could go in with a pair of Vise-Grips and yard the bastard out by hand. (I've tried the "unsubscribe" or "uninstall" or whatever options, and all that they do is either ignore me or download a new and more irritating version.)

 

[russ_watters]

It's 2014 and Microsoft still hasn't fixed this annoying "you can't delete this because some application is using it, and we won't tell you which one it is" message. Often, nothing that I can control is using it, and only a reboot fixes it.

View attachment 74861

We could do an entire thread on computer problems. My most annoying is how that rat bastard Bill Gates dares tell me I can't have my USB flash drive back even when no programs are running.

As much as I'm loathe to admit this, it might not be a Windows fault as opposed to an application one.

The OS can do whatever it wants to restrict the way programs get to access files or keep bits of them running when they are supposed to be closed. This is a purposeful trade-off between a certain feature and a related bug. Certain related problems have gotten better, such as windows memory "leaks". Certain poorly written programs would use a chunk of memory, erase it, then use another chunk, etc as they ran. Fine...except they didn't actually release the first chunk and after a few minutes they'd use up all the memory on the computer and crash it. Used to be a big problem, but re-writing the OS to better control how applications used memory fixed it.