The pet peeve thread

[gehringer_2]

6 hours ago, chasfh said:

I am constantly astounded by how other people seem to have no clue about effective and efficient driving techniques that are like second nature to me.

If you think about it, why would they?  Nobody teaches anyone to drive at anything more than the minimum level. Driver's ed schools are far more interested in getting their students licensed a easily as possible than undertaking any of the cost or risk associated with actually teaching them to drive well. Unless you had a parent who demanded you learn to do more than the absolute minimum behind the wheel, or grew up in a teenage performance car sub cohort (increasingly rare) where you self taught some higher level of car handling, or even more rarely got sent to a higher level driving school by your employer,  I don't know that one can fairly expect the average American driver to be better.

[LaceyLou]

16 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

 

I had a big bump on the back of my heel.   It became painful to wear shoes.   Dress shoes were impossible to wear.  

What they have to do is grind it away.  They do that by detaching the achilles tendon, grinding the bump away and then re-attaching the achilles.  They also took a small piece of the tendon on my big toe and stitched it to my achilles to lengthen it a bit.  But after that I could not put any weight on that foot for 2 1/2 months.    I really don't want to go through that again, but I am going to have to at some point.   

Knee Scooters Rule !    It was cheaper to actually buy one than to rent one, so I own it.   Wanna borrow it?   You in Michigan? 

Thanks! I have a knee scooter left over from the last time. I'm in Boston, actually. 

Something tells me you'll need it yourself soon. Good luck-that sounds way more complicated than mine. I actually watched one done on a video before going through it.

[Screwball]

11 hours ago, chasfh said:

I learned early on that the closer I followed them when they do that, the more likely one guy will slow down to the slower guy’s pace, and occasionally, they would both slow down to the 45 minimum, just for jollies, I assume. 

Driving... By the way, you did a drive from the coast back to Chicago. I expected a full report. 🙂 I'll bet there are some driving stories in there somewhere.

Don't we all crazy driving stories? It's crazy out there. I think about all the places I drove. Which one was the worse? I don't know. LAX area from Ventura on a Friday afternoon (took all afternoon and then some), or Boston downtown during the big dig.

If I had to pick one it would have to be the Craig bridge in Toledo, Ohio, route 280 north to the I-75 split. Big old ugly drawbridge with steel grated road surface that needed fixed 8 of the 10 years I drove across it - one lane of course - you can only imagine. Every summer it began - so did Mad Max. Then a big boat would come through and it wouldn't go down. They could be lined up to the Michigan line.

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, Screwball said:

If I had to pick one it would have to be the Craig bridge in Toledo, Ohio, route 280 north to the I-75 split. Big old ugly drawbridge with steel grated road surface that needed fixed 8 of the 10 years I drove across it - one lane of course - you can only imagine. Every summer it began - so did Mad Max. Then a big boat would come through and it wouldn't go down. They could be lined up to the Michigan line.

I'd only been commuting to Toledo for a short time when the shipping traffic stopped and the bridge was pretty much always down - so watched the new bridge go up behind schedule, overbudget, and with a major construction collapse disaster with few worker deaths added in, I remember they built a cement/fab plant a bit to the east of the bridge site where they cast the sections. I don't remember what I use to have to go over there for, but if you got stuck behind one of the ~30 axle flatbeds they used for moving the sections to the river you might as well have your lunch.

Edited Monday at 03:03 AM by gehringer_2

[oblong]

Going south on 75 thru Toledo I'm amazed at how quickly it turns into just flat farmland nothing... at the southern terminal of 475.  As a kid I hated that stretch but as a driver I love it.  Last week I encountered no construction hassles in OH. The only problem as always is crossing the river into KY. It took me 3 trips down this year to realize the trick is to not get over right away.  keep going until you get to exit 1G, then look for a slow moving truck that you can sneak in front of.  Half of the trouble are cars needing to get off the freeway, as well as those getting on, so you aren't really bothering anybody.  I shaved 7 minutes off my time.

[Edman85]

Atlanta Airport yesterday, there was a mother carrying her baby and a bag rushing to get to her connection using the moving sidewalk in lieu of the train to avoid somebody bumping into her baby.

On the moving sidewalk was a woman standing still leaning against one side with her bag intentionally blocking the sidewalk. As I walked by the mother off the moving sidewalk, I shook my head and we shared the same pet peeve at that moment.

[Screwball]

13 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

I'd only been commuting to Toledo for a short time when the shipping traffic stopped and the bridge was pretty much always down - so watched the new bridge go up behind schedule, overbudget, and with a major construction collapse disaster with few worker deaths added in, I remember they built a cement/fab plant a bit to the east of the bridge site where they cast the sections. I don't remember what I use to have to go over there for, but if you got stuck behind one of the ~30 axle flatbeds they used for moving the sections to the river you might as well have your lunch.

One morning I was going North.  Just ahead me not to far was a flatbad truck that came from somewhere loaded with a huge crucible of molten aluminum headed for the Hydramatic plant on Alexis Rd. Just before the Craig bridge he got in a wreck, jack-knifed, turned on its side and spilled all the AL on the road surface. Talk about a major CF and traffic jam. I only missed it by a few minutes. What a mess that was. 

[CMRivdogs]

We are currently living in the middle of what seems to be a major construction zone. The main interstate route between Richmond, Va and Norfolk/Virginia Beach as well as the NC beaches is under construction. As well as the main tunnel into Norfolk. 
My biggest issues are a couple of things 1) Container Haulers who seem to pay absolutely no attention to things like speed limits or other possible traffic hazards. 2) Dirt haulers who are worse. Most of these guys have no tags on their trucks and a stupid sign saying they are not responsible for damage to windshields because they don't cover their loads. Yet the buzz down the highway at at least 10 miles over the speed limit or limp but at 20 under.

To make matters worse, recently the second entrance to our community of over 1500 homes has been closed for widening of the interstate bridge over one of the main roads making getting in and out of here challenging. The county and state claims their traffic estimates indicate there isn't enough traffic to add a light at the remaining cross street.

Plus we're looking at another thousand or so homes being built in the next year or so. 

[chasfh]

Speaking of construction, I understand why this happens and that it's not going to change, but I really hate how all of a sudden, starting about late October and going through the first big snowfall, there is a rash of construction racing against the fiscal calendar to get completed, and streets get blocked just about everywhere as a result.

And then, once a street gets successfully repaired, we go into our harsh winter, and the combination of the freeze-thaw seesaw and the constant heavy traffic causes those same streets to significantly break up and develop potholes before spring springs for good.

[CMRivdogs]

When we lived in SE Michigan mine was always construction projects at the same time on the highways and the primary secondary routes at the same time. I275 has been in various stages of repair for about 15 years, or so it seemed. Meanwhile there was always repair on significant portions of Haggerty or Middlebelt or Novi roads

[LaceyLou]

These may be inner city things...

When utility companies suddenly start drilling in the street below your apartment before 7 am, or around/after 8 pm without any prior notice. I get that work needs to be done. It's just there are few things that give me a headache faster than a jackhammer.  Bonus points if whoever's drilling accidentally hits something that knocks out power. 

Thankfully this doesn't really happen near me, since my street doesn't have parking available, but there were people in one of my neighborhoods who would casually load up their cars without bothering to turn off the alarm-waking up everybody in the neighborhood because of course they'd do this around 5 am. 

 

[oblong]

36 minutes ago, LaceyLou said:

These may be inner city things...

When utility companies suddenly start drilling in the street below your apartment before 7 am, or around/after 8 pm without any prior notice. I get that work needs to be done. It's just there are few things that give me a headache faster than a jackhammer.  Bonus points if whoever's drilling accidentally hits something that knocks out power. 

Thankfully this doesn't really happen near me, since my street doesn't have parking available, but there were people in one of my neighborhoods who would casually load up their cars without bothering to turn off the alarm-waking up everybody in the neighborhood because of course they'd do this around 5 am. 

 

When we were in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago we noticed no parking signs by the door of the place we rented. At 6:30 we found out why.   This was an urban setting.  You walk out the door at street level and the trucks are right there. No lawns. No driveways.  Less than 10 feet away. 

[Screwball]

I know some guys who do paving. These are the truck drivers hauling the loads and the ones who run the paving machines. They have told me over the years the quality of the asphalt has deteriorated. I wouldn't doubt that a bit. We can see it in town. They pave the main roads more often than they used to. I think they cheat buy using more grinding in the mix than they should. All about the money and the swindle. 

Edited Tuesday at 11:52 PM by Screwball

[gehringer_2]

14 minutes ago, Screwball said:

They have told me over the years the quality of the asphalt has deteriorated

I can't tell you what particular properties make for good paving asphalt, but I can tell you that the asphalt available on the market for pavers has changed a lot in recent years. The drive to recover more from every barrel of crude, and the pumping of lower and lower quality crudes, plus products like Canadian tar sands, have resulted in big changes in the composition of the 'bottoms' product from crude stills that used to be the traditional source of asphalt, And increasingly refineries have installed cokers - which consume the steams that would beome asphalt within the refinery, so little or no asphalt is produced at all. Since there is less around, you are perforce going to get less choice of quality. I suppose if and when the EV reigns supreme and oil production drops by large percentages, paving with asphalt may become a rarity altogether.

[Motor City Sonics]

Pet Peeve 

Chrysler's design for replacing their headlights on the Chrysler 200. 

I have to go in through the wheel well.  There's a little plastic screw.   I can't budge the screw because the tire is in the way and you can't get it straight on.   When I found a really small screwdriver it wasn't strong enough to budge it PLUS, the groove in the plastic screw is too shallow to get anything deep enough to have the power to move it.  

$18 bulb.   I have to take it to a mechanic.   That'll probably cost at least $80.  

 

****ing Stupid.  

[Screwball]

25 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

I can't tell you what particular properties make for good paving asphalt, but I can tell you that the asphalt available on the market for pavers has changed a lot in recent years. The drive to recover more from every barrel of crude, and the pumping of lower and lower quality crudes, plus products like Canadian tar sands, have resulted in big changes in the composition of the 'bottoms' product from crude stills that used to be the traditional source of asphalt, And increasingly refineries have installed cokers - which consume the steams that would beome asphalt within the refinery, so little or no asphalt is produced at all. Since there is less around, you are perforce going to get less choice of quality. I suppose if and when the EV reigns supreme and oil production drops by large percentages, paving with asphalt may become a rarity altogether.

Sounds legit to me, and not surprising. Add that in with poor prep (what they lay down first - that tar isn't what it once was either). The chemicals, or lack thereof, are a large part no doubt. I see it also like they used to do with plastic. You were allow so much re-grind in the recipe, but they would cheat. I'm guessing the roads are the same way.

[Screwball]

25 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Pet Peeve 

Chrysler's design for replacing their headlights on the Chrysler 200. 

I have to go in through the wheel well.  There's a little plastic screw.   I can't budge the screw because the tire is in the way and you can't get it straight on.   When I found a really small screwdriver it wasn't strong enough to budge it PLUS, the groove in the plastic screw is too shallow to get anything deep enough to have the power to move it.  

$18 bulb.   I have to take it to a mechanic.   That'll probably cost at least $80.  

 

****ing Stupid.  

The main ingredient is to make it easy on the assembly lines. Something has to happen every X amount of seconds. It also proves they are designed by people who probably never changed a tire.

[Motor City Sonics]

37 minutes ago, Screwball said:

The main ingredient is to make it easy on the assembly lines. Something has to happen every X amount of seconds. It also proves they are designed by people who probably never changed a tire.

The reason is so you have to take it to a dealer and make THEM do it and pay them.      

 

I remember the glorious days when you opened the hood, disconnected the wires and just popped out the whole headlight and popped a new one in.     

[gehringer_2]

6 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

The reason is so you have to take it to a dealer and make THEM do it and pay them.      

 

I remember the glorious days when you opened the hood, disconnected the wires and just popped out the whole headlight and popped a new one in.     

'Sealed Beam' headlights. DOT mandated them for decades. They had the one great advantage that they were all glass, so they did yellow or go opaque. And because there were only half a dozen standard designs, they were cheap. Of course they didn't light the road for **** either....