Things that annoy you beyond reason...(Vol. 7)
Discussion
Nimby said:
Cloudy147 said:
"We are experiencing unusually high call volumes".
I suggested some time ago that any organisation claiming this must publish their call volumes and call staffing numbers for the previous 12 months. 21st Century Man said:
With that message being the standard all year around message anyway, then they aren't experiencing unusually high call volumes, it's the usual call volumes. The message should be "We are experiencing unusually low staffing levels" but that wouldn't be the case either, it would be normal staffing levels that are simply inadequate.
So the message should say "We don't give a flying f
k about existing customers. However, if you're a new client/prospect please press #1 and you'll get a response straight away.".Nimby said:
Cloudy147 said:
"We are experiencing unusually high call volumes".
I suggested some time ago that any organisation claiming this must publish their call volumes and call staffing numbers for the previous 12 months. FiF said:
Actually some of the issues expressed on this thread about folks pushing buttons on pedestrian crossings annoy me beyond reason.
That reason is that it's all perfectly solvable by the powers that be. Round by us, on stand alone crossings or those associated with TL controlled junctions the lights never change and stop traffic for a green man * unless* someone presses the button. Which some might call pandering to motorists, I call it keeping traffic flowing unless there is someone actually needing to cross. These lights which automatically include a green man time even if nobody about is just pandering to the anti motorist yoghurt knitting wkers in society and creating congestion and pollution just to be an arse.
How I personally deal with this on foot is if it's one of the crossings at a time where you hardly ever get a gap and can't see potential for a gap, then press the button and wait. If it's one where you do get gaps or like the one on the high street where you hardly ever get a gap but you can see someone going for a parking space so they'll hold things up for a few seconds, no push, wait for the gap, cross. Sometimes admittedly you've pushed the button and a gap previously not evident appears, but the lights invariably change then anyway, so not much harm done, there might be other experiences on that side of things, see earlier comments re anti car youghurt knitting wkers. The only exception where I will always push the button and wait regardless is where there are young kids about, it's hard enough for the parents to get some road sense into them without other random adults setting a potentially bad example. Anyone with a problem with that general approach can FRO as you're clearly a bell end.
Now admittedly there are arses involved in the equation, those who are walking down the pavement no intention of crossing but still press the button just to be, well, an arse. Then you have those who park on the crossing or zig zags because they're too fecking idle to walk an extra 20 yds to pick up their takeaway, oh and taxi drivers too, you're supposed to be professional drivers, you do not stop and pick up / drop fares on crossings, double tts you lot.
:wanders off muttering generally about inconsiderate tts:
Confusing/conflating people who when they are walking, are "pro walking" with "anti car youghurt[sic] knitting wThat reason is that it's all perfectly solvable by the powers that be. Round by us, on stand alone crossings or those associated with TL controlled junctions the lights never change and stop traffic for a green man * unless* someone presses the button. Which some might call pandering to motorists, I call it keeping traffic flowing unless there is someone actually needing to cross. These lights which automatically include a green man time even if nobody about is just pandering to the anti motorist yoghurt knitting w
kers in society and creating congestion and pollution just to be an arse.How I personally deal with this on foot is if it's one of the crossings at a time where you hardly ever get a gap and can't see potential for a gap, then press the button and wait. If it's one where you do get gaps or like the one on the high street where you hardly ever get a gap but you can see someone going for a parking space so they'll hold things up for a few seconds, no push, wait for the gap, cross. Sometimes admittedly you've pushed the button and a gap previously not evident appears, but the lights invariably change then anyway, so not much harm done, there might be other experiences on that side of things, see earlier comments re anti car youghurt knitting w
kers. The only exception where I will always push the button and wait regardless is where there are young kids about, it's hard enough for the parents to get some road sense into them without other random adults setting a potentially bad example. Anyone with a problem with that general approach can FRO as you're clearly a bell end.Now admittedly there are arses involved in the equation, those who are walking down the pavement no intention of crossing but still press the button just to be, well, an arse. Then you have those who park on the crossing or zig zags because they're too fecking idle to walk an extra 20 yds to pick up their takeaway, oh and taxi drivers too, you're supposed to be professional drivers, you do not stop and pick up / drop fares on crossings, double t
ts you lot.:wanders off muttering generally about inconsiderate t
ts:kers"?Anyone
The bit in bold just proves the point. You've had it explained at least twice but you still don't get it. The traffic light you're waiting for in your car is ALWAYS going to be red for a period in a phase. Because it has to go red in order to allow drivers at other lights to go. Therefore it makes NO DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER to your wait time whether there's a green man on or not. The traffic lights follow exactly the same sequence no matter if there are no button presses or a hundred. So why withhold the "green man" when traffic will be stopped anyway? Well, as I said already, some drivers are simply too thick to work out the sequence of a set of traffic lights they probably use twice a day on most days, so they are pandered to and soothed by not showing that awful green pedestrian signal, even though it NEVER changes their wait time by a single second.
Bell ends indeed...
Just to continue the crossings thing I'm "annoyed beyond reason" that the puffin crossings installed locally seem to have been setup by people with absolutely no idea about how they should work. Surely the whole idea of them is to keep traffic flowing as much as possible while allowing pedestrians to cross as safely as possible before switching back to giving cars priority with minimal delay? Why have all those sensors and buttons if they're just going to operate like regular "dumb" phased lights?
Around here they change to red for no reason as you approach to allow the zero cars waiting in the closed office park to not come out and to give the zero pedestrians chance to not need to cross before letting you stop and then immediately turning to green.
The sensors for pedestrians and for cars should be working together in a way that makes everyone happy, in reality they're just really ineffective and seem to introduce unnecessary delays for everyone.
I also have to agree with the poster above who suggested some zebras should be swapped out to crossings with lights (again, ideally properly setup puffin crossings) - there's a pair of zebras next to a mini roundabout outside a local school (as below) and at peak school times they cause chaos with the traffic as a slow tickle of people cross at intervals that don't allow cars to move again but also create frustration which often leads to near misses as drivers try to avoid the potential delay. Having two close to the roundabout also leads to a gridlock situation at times as people leave the junction thinking the road is clear ahead only for the car in front to suddenly stop for someone about to cross that wasn't in view previously.
Puffin crossings and some hatchings on the road (with enforcements) would strike a much better balance and keep things moving in groups.
yellowjack said:
FiF said:
Actually some of the issues expressed on this thread about folks pushing buttons on pedestrian crossings annoy me beyond reason.
That reason is that it's all perfectly solvable by the powers that be. Round by us, on stand alone crossings or those associated with TL controlled junctions the lights never change and stop traffic for a green man * unless* someone presses the button. Which some might call pandering to motorists, I call it keeping traffic flowing unless there is someone actually needing to cross. These lights which automatically include a green man time even if nobody about is just pandering to the anti motorist yoghurt knitting wkers in society and creating congestion and pollution just to be an arse.
How I personally deal with this on foot is if it's one of the crossings at a time where you hardly ever get a gap and can't see potential for a gap, then press the button and wait. If it's one where you do get gaps or like the one on the high street where you hardly ever get a gap but you can see someone going for a parking space so they'll hold things up for a few seconds, no push, wait for the gap, cross. Sometimes admittedly you've pushed the button and a gap previously not evident appears, but the lights invariably change then anyway, so not much harm done, there might be other experiences on that side of things, see earlier comments re anti car youghurt knitting wkers. The only exception where I will always push the button and wait regardless is where there are young kids about, it's hard enough for the parents to get some road sense into them without other random adults setting a potentially bad example. Anyone with a problem with that general approach can FRO as you're clearly a bell end.
Now admittedly there are arses involved in the equation, those who are walking down the pavement no intention of crossing but still press the button just to be, well, an arse. Then you have those who park on the crossing or zig zags because they're too fecking idle to walk an extra 20 yds to pick up their takeaway, oh and taxi drivers too, you're supposed to be professional drivers, you do not stop and pick up / drop fares on crossings, double tts you lot.
:wanders off muttering generally about inconsiderate tts:
Confusing/conflating people who when they are walking, are "pro walking" with "anti car youghurt[sic] knitting wThat reason is that it's all perfectly solvable by the powers that be. Round by us, on stand alone crossings or those associated with TL controlled junctions the lights never change and stop traffic for a green man * unless* someone presses the button. Which some might call pandering to motorists, I call it keeping traffic flowing unless there is someone actually needing to cross. These lights which automatically include a green man time even if nobody about is just pandering to the anti motorist yoghurt knitting w
kers in society and creating congestion and pollution just to be an arse.How I personally deal with this on foot is if it's one of the crossings at a time where you hardly ever get a gap and can't see potential for a gap, then press the button and wait. If it's one where you do get gaps or like the one on the high street where you hardly ever get a gap but you can see someone going for a parking space so they'll hold things up for a few seconds, no push, wait for the gap, cross. Sometimes admittedly you've pushed the button and a gap previously not evident appears, but the lights invariably change then anyway, so not much harm done, there might be other experiences on that side of things, see earlier comments re anti car youghurt knitting w
kers. The only exception where I will always push the button and wait regardless is where there are young kids about, it's hard enough for the parents to get some road sense into them without other random adults setting a potentially bad example. Anyone with a problem with that general approach can FRO as you're clearly a bell end.Now admittedly there are arses involved in the equation, those who are walking down the pavement no intention of crossing but still press the button just to be, well, an arse. Then you have those who park on the crossing or zig zags because they're too fecking idle to walk an extra 20 yds to pick up their takeaway, oh and taxi drivers too, you're supposed to be professional drivers, you do not stop and pick up / drop fares on crossings, double t
ts you lot.:wanders off muttering generally about inconsiderate t
ts:kers"?Anyone
The bit in bold just proves the point. You've had it explained at least twice but you still don't get it. The traffic light you're waiting for in your car is ALWAYS going to be red for a period in a phase. Because it has to go red in order to allow drivers at other lights to go. Therefore it makes NO DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER to your wait time whether there's a green man on or not. The traffic lights follow exactly the same sequence no matter if there are no button presses or a hundred. So why withhold the "green man" when traffic will be stopped anyway? Well, as I said already, some drivers are simply too thick to work out the sequence of a set of traffic lights they probably use twice a day on most days, so they are pandered to and soothed by not showing that awful green pedestrian signal, even though it NEVER changes their wait time by a single second.
Bell ends indeed...
On yer bike. Slightly more polite than FRO, but similar sentiment though.
Temporary traffic lights that are 3-way or 4-way unnecessarily - for example where the 3rd and / or 4th roads are either really minor roads with almost zero traffic, or really minor roads where that junction could be closed completely for the duration of the works and mean that the 6 people / day that use that route have to drive an extra 500yds - rather than holding up the 10,000 people using the main road for longer than is strictly necessary.
Not sure I've explained this very well - we'll see.
Not sure I've explained this very well - we'll see.
My rant involved a simple pedestrian crossing, this specific one triggered my desire to write about it:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.7218253,0.461425...
Indeed, there are several local junctions and crossroads I can think of with signal-controlled lights allowing 2-way flowing of traffic, with the timings seemingly altered by sensors and ground loops here and there. There are buttons for pedestrians that stop the traffic, so I'm not sure they can be called 'placebo' buttons seeing as they do actually trigger the pedestrian crossing signals, which aren't enabled if a pedestrian doesn't press the button.
With the crossings I had in mind, pedestrians should either press the button and wait, or don't press the button and instead wait for a gap and walk across. One or the other. Ultimately, it highlights the laziness and lack of awareness and consideration many people exhibit.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.7218253,0.461425...
Indeed, there are several local junctions and crossroads I can think of with signal-controlled lights allowing 2-way flowing of traffic, with the timings seemingly altered by sensors and ground loops here and there. There are buttons for pedestrians that stop the traffic, so I'm not sure they can be called 'placebo' buttons seeing as they do actually trigger the pedestrian crossing signals, which aren't enabled if a pedestrian doesn't press the button.
With the crossings I had in mind, pedestrians should either press the button and wait, or don't press the button and instead wait for a gap and walk across. One or the other. Ultimately, it highlights the laziness and lack of awareness and consideration many people exhibit.
omniflow said:
Temporary traffic lights that are 3-way or 4-way unnecessarily - for example where the 3rd and / or 4th roads are either really minor roads with almost zero traffic, or really minor roads where that junction could be closed completely for the duration of the works and mean that the 6 people / day that use that route have to drive an extra 500yds - rather than holding up the 10,000 people using the main road for longer than is strictly necessary.
Not sure I've explained this very well - we'll see.
Yep, that explanantion works for me and is a legitimate annoyance which I share with you.Not sure I've explained this very well - we'll see.
My annoyance for today is ASOS. I mentioned this elsewhere but a bit more detail necessary for this thread.
I'm a 42" chest and all my suit jackets fit just fine. I made sure I measured my chest on Sunday before placing an order for a 42" French Connection blazer from ASOS. It arrived yesterday and having squeezed my arms into the sleeves it, it came nowhere near meeting in the middle. It was more like a 38". I thought I'd send it back to be replaced by the next size up but they don't offer an exchange service. I had to send it back and if I want the next size I have to place a new order so that would be another hundred quid going on my card before I've had the refund for the first one. I'm in town on Tuesday so I'll have a mooch around some shops instead.
FatboyKim said:
My rant involved a simple pedestrian crossing, this specific one triggered my desire to write about it:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.7218253,0.461425...
Indeed, there are several local junctions and crossroads I can think of with signal-controlled lights allowing 2-way flowing of traffic, with the timings seemingly altered by sensors and ground loops here and there. There are buttons for pedestrians that stop the traffic, so I'm not sure they can be called 'placebo' buttons seeing as they do actually trigger the pedestrian crossing signals, which aren't enabled if a pedestrian doesn't press the button.
With the crossings I had in mind, pedestrians should either press the button and wait, or don't press the button and instead wait for a gap and walk across. One or the other. Ultimately, it highlights the laziness and lack of awareness and consideration many people exhibit.
If I can see a gap at a crossing I'll nip across - win/win.https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.7218253,0.461425...
Indeed, there are several local junctions and crossroads I can think of with signal-controlled lights allowing 2-way flowing of traffic, with the timings seemingly altered by sensors and ground loops here and there. There are buttons for pedestrians that stop the traffic, so I'm not sure they can be called 'placebo' buttons seeing as they do actually trigger the pedestrian crossing signals, which aren't enabled if a pedestrian doesn't press the button.
With the crossings I had in mind, pedestrians should either press the button and wait, or don't press the button and instead wait for a gap and walk across. One or the other. Ultimately, it highlights the laziness and lack of awareness and consideration many people exhibit.
If I don't see a gap I'll press the button and wait. In the interim, if I then see a gap I'll still nip across. Either way, the traffic was going to be halted anyway.
By nipping across early I might even cause the lights to reset and cancel the request - win/win!
With temporary traffic lights, the very worst ones at those set up for something like a minor pavement repair, that takes a parked van and not much else!
Saw one today, nice straight wide road, with 2 vans parked doing something to a streetlight and a bit of patching on the road. Had a full set of temporary lights including advance warning signs etc etc.
In a 30 limit road, with no parking restrictions - for what amounted to 2 medium sized vans parked.
The whole coned off area was smaller than that of a parked lorry! Completely over the top...
Saw one today, nice straight wide road, with 2 vans parked doing something to a streetlight and a bit of patching on the road. Had a full set of temporary lights including advance warning signs etc etc.
In a 30 limit road, with no parking restrictions - for what amounted to 2 medium sized vans parked.
The whole coned off area was smaller than that of a parked lorry! Completely over the top...
The time on my phone sets itself automatically.
The time on my alarm clock is also sets itself automatically as does the computer I'm typing this on.
They all show different times !
There's no way of changing one or knowing which is actually correct...
The time on my alarm clock is also sets itself automatically as does the computer I'm typing this on.
They all show different times !
There's no way of changing one or knowing which is actually correct...
Edited by S2r on Wednesday 22 June 19:04
FiF said:
Actually some of the issues expressed on this thread about folks pushing buttons on pedestrian crossings annoy me beyond reason.
That reason is that it's all perfectly solvable by the powers that be. Round by us, on stand alone crossings or those associated with TL controlled junctions the lights never change and stop traffic for a green man * unless* someone presses the button. Which some might call pandering to motorists, I call it keeping traffic flowing unless there is someone actually needing to cross. These lights which automatically include a green man time even if nobody about is just pandering to the anti motorist yoghurt knitting wkers in society and creating congestion and pollution just to be an arse.
I'll probably get laughed at and ridiculed in the replies, but this ^ was very high on my list of reasons for moving out of Glasgow to somewhere more sensible when it came to road design. Living up the far end of Clydebank and commuting to the other side of Glasgow meant twice a day on the Great Western Road, which has a set of lights of every one of its 300 junctions, all of which cycle through the ped crossing phase regardless of whether it's 2am and you're the only thing on the road or pavement for miles. What should realistically be a 10 min drive was minimum 30 minutes and it pissed me the fk off. This was when the Erskine bridge was still tolled so going the long way round wasn't any cheaper or quicker because the M8 regularly snarled up at Kingston bridge too.That reason is that it's all perfectly solvable by the powers that be. Round by us, on stand alone crossings or those associated with TL controlled junctions the lights never change and stop traffic for a green man * unless* someone presses the button. Which some might call pandering to motorists, I call it keeping traffic flowing unless there is someone actually needing to cross. These lights which automatically include a green man time even if nobody about is just pandering to the anti motorist yoghurt knitting w
kers in society and creating congestion and pollution just to be an arse.It wasn't just Gt Western Rd either, it's EVERY road in Glasgow. Every junction there's a set of lights and ped crossing phase with delays so long you can make yourself a brew while you're waiting. Definitely a firm contender for "things that annoy me beyond reason".
Edited by r3g on Wednesday 22 June 19:13
r3g said:
FiF said:
Actually some of the issues expressed on this thread about folks pushing buttons on pedestrian crossings annoy me beyond reason.
That reason is that it's all perfectly solvable by the powers that be. Round by us, on stand alone crossings or those associated with TL controlled junctions the lights never change and stop traffic for a green man * unless* someone presses the button. Which some might call pandering to motorists, I call it keeping traffic flowing unless there is someone actually needing to cross. These lights which automatically include a green man time even if nobody about is just pandering to the anti motorist yoghurt knitting wkers in society and creating congestion and pollution just to be an arse.
I'll probably get laughed at and ridiculed in the replies, but this ^ was very high on my list of reasons for moving out of Glasgow to somewhere more sensible when it came to road design. Living up the far end of Clydebank and commuting to the other side of Glasgow meant twice a day on the Great Western Road, which has a set of lights of every one of its 300 junctions, all of which cycle through the ped crossing phase regardless of whether it's 2am and you're the only thing on the road or pavement for miles. What should realistically be a 10 min drive was minimum 30 minutes and it pissed me the fk off. This was when the Erskine bridge was still tolled so going the long way round wasn't any cheaper or quicker because the M8 regularly snarled up at Kingston bridge too.That reason is that it's all perfectly solvable by the powers that be. Round by us, on stand alone crossings or those associated with TL controlled junctions the lights never change and stop traffic for a green man * unless* someone presses the button. Which some might call pandering to motorists, I call it keeping traffic flowing unless there is someone actually needing to cross. These lights which automatically include a green man time even if nobody about is just pandering to the anti motorist yoghurt knitting w
kers in society and creating congestion and pollution just to be an arse.It wasn't just Gt Western Rd either, it's EVERY road in Glasgow. Every junction there's a set of lights and ped crossing phase with delays so long you can make yourself a brew while you're waiting. Definitely a firm contender for "things that annoy me beyond reason".
Edited by r3g on Wednesday 22 June 19:13
FiF said:
Oh no, now you've done it, you'll now get yellowjack gaslighting you and calling you an idiot and that your experience was incorrect and were actually never delayed for a single extra second.
I tend to switch off when I see his name tag appear on a post. I doubt I'm the only one. :|S2r said:
The time on my phone sets itself automatically.
The time on my alarm clock is also sets itself automatically as does the computer I'm typing this on.
They all show different times !
There's no way of changing one or knowing which is actually correct...
Old proverb say:The time on my alarm clock is also sets itself automatically as does the computer I'm typing this on.
They all show different times !
There's no way of changing one or knowing which is actually correct...
Man with clock always know time. Man with two clocks never quite sure.
droopsnoot said:
S2r said:
The time on my phone sets itself automatically.
The time on my alarm clock is also sets itself automatically as does the computer I'm typing this on.
They all show different times !
There's no way of changing one or knowing which is actually correct...
Old proverb say:The time on my alarm clock is also sets itself automatically as does the computer I'm typing this on.
They all show different times !
There's no way of changing one or knowing which is actually correct...
Man with clock always know time. Man with two clocks never quite sure.
All of my connected devices are in sync. The cloak on the microwave is another matter (one that I accept is just going to be an hour out for six months of the year) and I haven't even bothered setting the clock in my car.
Turtle Shed said:
The BBC's obsession with Glastonbury.
I got annoyed by a picture of Glastonbury goers who were clearly, at least judging by various things with logos they were carrying, were of the set who have been sitting down blocking traffic, picketing buildings and various businesses in the name of the usuals, XR, Insulate whatever, stop oil etc.All they needed was a scruffy dog on the end of length of hairy string and the pic could have been titled The Compleat Tossers. Grump.
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