Really trivial stuff that bugs you

[Noclevername]

Yes, but its a dry cold.

OK, I guess that only works for heat.

Powdered humidity at that temperature. It sure cuts down on the mosquitoes!

[ozduck]

And I dropped the wheel in today for the new spokes to be fitted - unfortunately a nearly two week wait. Ever since the current 'unpleasantness' started bike shops have been running flat out and stock levels have been very constrained. Luckily, we are going down south, to some cool weather, for a week so we would not have been able to ride anyway.

We are going to Albany which is the oldest permanent European settlement site in W.A. It was settled as a "military outpost" in 1826 in order to forestall any possible French claims. The French had done plenty of exploring around the South West coast and a number of locations and even a major townsite, Esperance, was named by them. It is pronounced Al - Bany here not All - Bany.

[Van Rijn]

Albany sure is a popular name. There are something like 18 Albanys in the US, the one in New York is probably the best known. I’m not sure if there is a standard pronunciation here. I believe I’ve heard it at least two ways.

On bikes: I have mildly considered a hybrid electric bike (I wouldn’t want to rely on muscle alone, but could see electric assist while still getting some exercise) but they’ve been extremely hot sellers during the CU, so there are lots of shortages for popular models.

[Jens]

Albany sure is a popular name. There are something like 18 Albanys in the US, the one in New York is probably the best known. I’m not sure if there is a standard pronunciation here. I believe I’ve heard it at least two ways.

Regarding the one in New York: when I lived in New York, the only way I ever heard it pronounced was ALL-bunee.

I wonder how it's pronounced in England or Scotland, as in the Duke of Albany.

[profloater]

Albany sure is a popular name. There are something like 18 Albanys in the US, the one in New York is probably the best known. I’m not sure if there is a standard pronunciation here. I believe I’ve heard it at least two ways.

On bikes: I have mildly considered a hybrid electric bike (I wouldn’t want to rely on muscle alone, but could see electric assist while still getting some exercise) but they’ve been extremely hot sellers during the CU, so there are lots of shortages for popular models.

We have the Albany theatre in London, and of course St Albans. As for bikes I made my own electric bike by adding a hub motor front wheel and a big battery. It is near perfect as you can ride normally then power up hills. It is a tad heavy. And still has original bicycle brakes so not suitable for downhill speed trials.

[ozduck]

Albany sure is a popular name. There are something like 18 Albanys in the US, the one in New York is probably the best known. I’m not sure if there is a standard pronunciation here. I believe I’ve heard it at least two ways.

On bikes: I have mildly considered a hybrid electric bike (I wouldn’t want to rely on muscle alone, but could see electric assist while still getting some exercise) but they’ve been extremely hot sellers during the CU, so there are lots of shortages for popular models.

This is the only Albany in Australia that I know of.

My bike is a Mountain Bike with an electric motor added. I only use the motor on steep hills or, like the other day, when there are 35 km winds in our face and we have a time limit. On a ride of 20 km I would usually only use the motor for a few hundred metres.

[grant hutchison]

Regarding the one in New York: when I lived in New York, the only way I ever heard it pronounced was ALL-bunee.

I wonder how it's pronounced in England or Scotland, as in the Duke of Albany.

There's nowhere in Scotland actually called Albany, though it's a common enough street name. It's rather different from Albany, New York--it's /ˈælbəneɪ/ in Received Pronunciation, /ˈalbəneɪ/ in Scots. So first syllable "Al" rather than "Awl", last syllable closer to "nay" than "knee".

Grant Hutchison

[The Backroad Astronomer]

When a certain letter won't work.

[Noclevername]

All-bunny?

ALL HAIL THE ALL-BUNNY

[schlaugh]

Around here it’s All-BANee.

[Gillianren]

This morning, somewhere around quarter to six, I got a text. Which I ignored and attempted to go back to sleep.

About fifteen minutes later, I got a phone call from the school district. We're expecting heavy-for-us snow, and they're putting school on a half-day today. Which doesn't change anything for us, as today is Simon's shortest distance learning day anyway. (Pre-K and kindergarten are already doing hybrid learning for parents who want to send their kids back; I think first grade and I know second grade start next week. And they're doing half-days for distance learning, too, as the teachers are in the classroom.) I could not go back to sleep.

When I finally logged into my e-mail, I had an e-mail saying exactly the same thing. And, yes, that's what the text had been.

[Extravoice]

Our COVID-19 vaccine registration system is a mess. Many entities are supposedly delivering them, but there is obviously an insufficient supply and nobody has appointments available.

Some entities have created giant waiting lists, which is actually the best solution from my standpoint- assuming the eventually contact me.

Others require you to repeatedly check for available appointments. One entity immediately says there are no appointments when I check. Not too bad. Another requires me to answer several questions every time I check. More annoying. Finally, one requires me to log into my account and then asks me three pages of questions every time I check. You’d think they could remember my ethnicity and such. Otherwise, why bother creating an account?

[KaiYeves]

Our COVID-19 vaccine registration system is a mess. Many entities are supposedly delivering them, but there is obviously an insufficient supply and nobody has appointments available.

Some entities have created giant waiting lists, which is actually the best solution from my standpoint- assuming the eventually contact me.

Others require you to repeatedly check for available appointments. One entity immediately says there are no appointments when I check. Not too bad. Another requires me to answer several questions every time I check. More annoying. Finally, one requires me to log into my account and then asks me three pages of questions every time I check. You’d think they could remember my ethnicity and such. Otherwise, why bother creating an account?

This sounds non-trivial.

[Extravoice]

The shortage of vaccine is non-trivial, but somewhat understandable. The hoops you have to jump through just to find out no appointments are available leans toward trivial for me, but certainly not for those with more limited computer skills or access.

[Van Rijn]

The shortage of vaccine is non-trivial, but somewhat understandable. The hoops you have to jump through just to find out no appointments are available leans toward trivial for me, but certainly not for those with more limited computer skills or access.

Yes, I think of my mother, long before the dementia kicked in - she was completely hopeless with computers, even on-screen TV or other AV hardware menus baffled her. She just couldn’t think that way. (Do understand she had many excellent skills, but she found this new technology to be baffling). I expect there are a fair number of older people that need assistance or would simply have no hope of jumping through those hoops.

[Gillianren]

My 81-year-old aunt can probably maneuver jumping through hoops herself, but I really hope my younger sister is fulfilling her expected purpose in my mom's house and doing it for her. Mom's younger, but Aunt Suzie seems more on top of things.

[Trebuchet]

Trivial but VERY annoying: A scam call at 6:10AM! Apparently from Poland. (+48 country code). I didn't answer but they left part of a message about my being wanted by US Customs and Border Protection, in a computerized voice.

[Trebuchet]

I went to fix dinner yesterday and "Hey, what's that on the cooktop? Water?!!" Apparently snow had blown into the vent on the roof, melted, and dripped down.
A bit less trivial: It's affected the light in the range hood. It refuses to turn completely off. I'm hoping it'll go back to normal when things dry out completely.

[Gillianren]

I managed to gash my finger open getting bread pans out yesterday; Simon gashed his palm open sliding down the hill in our yard on a piece of wood he'd gotten out of the shed. We agreed that my cut is worse, but his is in a more awkward place.

[Solfe]

I now work at a cable company. One of the more trivia calls is from consumers who report "No Signal" on their tv. The answer is usually that the cable box is off, but it can be other things. They want help to making the picture come back on the screen, they want help wanting their TV cable to work.

It's super silly, people mix up the words or purpose of "TV", "box", "line" and "cable", which makes the calls even weirder. Working at a cable company, I have been known to get tangled up in those words and say the wrong thing. Even worse, I have managed to press a button or combination button on a cable remote which caused a TV to turn to the wrong input. That should be impossible but the remote is throwing out a generic signal to any listening detector, it can happen. I've personally experienced it at work no less where everything is supposed to work perfectly, everytime.

I cringe when I hear coworkers getting frustrated with consumers over this issue. Yeah, it's baffling but the callers don't mean any harm. They just want their TV work. It really is a call that should go to the TV manufacturer, but the TV manufacturer doesn't slather their phone number all every piece of equipment like the cable company.

[Solfe]

I managed to gash my finger open getting bread pans out yesterday; Simon gashed his palm open sliding down the hill in our yard on a piece of wood he'd gotten out of the shed. We agreed that my cut is worse, but his is in a more awkward place.

Cuts on the hands are the worst! I hope you both heal up soon.

[grant hutchison]

Yeah, it's baffling but the callers don't mean any harm. They just want their TV work. It really is a call that should go to the TV manufacturer, but the TV manufacturer doesn't slather their phone number all every piece of equipment like the cable company.

The corollary to this is the endless list of obvious potential fixes that one needs to tick off when contacting the cable company about an actual fault.
Is the box turned on?
Yes.
Is the cable attached?
Yes.
Have you tried replacing the cable?
Yes.
Have you tried rebooting the box?
Yes.
OK sir, I'm just going to stay on the line while you check that the box is switched on.
It is.
Now can I ask you to check the cable connections?
They're tight and in the right place.
Now can you reboot the box for me?
OK. Still nothing.
Right sir, I'm just going to check your box remotely.
That's good.
I'm afraid there's a fault with your box sir, it needs to be replaced.
No kidding.

Grant Hutchison

[Gillianren]

It's not their fault how often that list solves the problem, alas.

[Solfe]

The corollary to this is the endless list of obvious potential fixes that one needs to tick off when contacting the cable company about an actual fault.
Is the box turned on?
Yes.
Is the cable attached?
Yes.
Have you tried replacing the cable?
Yes.
Have you tried rebooting the box?
Yes.
OK sir, I'm just going to stay on the line while you check that the box is switched on.
It is.
Now can I ask you to check the cable connections?
They're tight and in the right place.
Now can you reboot the box for me?
OK. Still nothing.
Right sir, I'm just going to check your box remotely.
That's good.
I'm afraid there's a fault with your box sir, it needs to be replaced.
No kidding.

Grant Hutchison

That is remarkably accurate checklist, but the remote check of the box is first, then sending a signal to turn the box on is second. This disrupts any potential disastrous faults, such as when a consumer takes the cable box on vacation and cannot figure out where the cable line is in their tent in wilds of Canada. That was an actual call last week.

Caller: "You don't have hookups in Algonquin Provincial Park?"
Me: "No, we don't."
Caller: "But I had a hook up in Yosemite..."
Me: "Americans and Canadians have different priorities."

Edit - Full disclosure. The consumer wanted me to troubleshoot a situation that was not actually happening at the moment. They took the cable box to Canada, then tried to call a US 800 number, which obviously didn't work. The consumer was of the opinion that our 800 number blocked all Canadian calls. While that is sort of true since we don't do business in Canada, I would think the bigger problem would the lack of cell towers in a vast and pristine nature preserve. I could go on for hours about the wonders of Algonquin, but have to admit the cable service is rather trash.

[Swift]

I could go on for hours about the wonders of Algonquin, but have to admit the cable service is rather trash.

Yes, when I visit US or Canadian National Parks, the thing I care most about is my cable service. The wifi stinks too.

I now have this image of a car full of people coming up to Canadian customs after crossing the border from the US, dragging a long co-axial cable.

[Solfe]

The bigger issue with TVs and cable is the invention of Smart TVs which have a built in portal to various ways of watching TV. Usually they label an external device like a cable box as "line" or "source", which most elderly people don't understand or care about. Since the Smart TV was purchased by the child of the caller to solve the problem of paying for TV which wasn't actually what the parent owner wanted, I blame the children.

On a more amusing note, I get a lot of calls about "X being canceled", where X is mostly Judge Judy but can be Fox News, CNN news, BBC news, MSNBC or whatever channel you happen to like as a news source. The real problem is the cable box is off.

The one that gets me the most is when consumer call about NPR being taken off the air. "Ma'am. Is the radio next to the TV? Yes? Well, let's turn that on."

[Solfe]

Yes, when I visit US or Canadian National Parks, the thing I care most about is my cable service. The wifi stinks too.

I now have this image of a car full of people coming up to Canadian customs after crossing the border from the US, dragging a long co-axial cable.

This one really baffled me as I cannot for the life of me, figure out how an average joe got over the border in the middle of a pandemic. But I could actually see the cable box was off line for a week. They really did take it someplace.

[grant hutchison]

That is remarkably accurate checklist, but the remote check of the box is first...

My provider now lets me trigger a basic remote check of the box via their website.
So the experience above actually followed on from their website telling me I had a faulty box and giving me a number to phone. Which I reported as soon as they answered.
But then we went through all the "Have you tried?" checks, and then we went through all the "Do this for me now" checks, and then we did the remote check.
Either the flow diagram for this call was designed by an insane person, or the person I spoke to actually wasn't doing his job properly.

Grant Hutchison

[schlaugh]

Trivial things that bother me.
Me: Calling the internet and cable provider to report the internet is out.
Provider recorded message: "You can find answers to most common questions on our website at www....blah blah blah".
Followed by 90 seconds or more of swell things to check on their website.
Which I can't access.

[Delvo]

Well, the questions you could find answers to there would indeed be the "most common" questions of people going to their website.

...just like the bullet holes on a returning WWII bomber show you where a bomber is most likely to get shot.

...and return.