Really trivial stuff that bugs you

[Gillianren]

It's my fault, really; I forgot that, when you're six, "Run or you'll miss your bus" sounds exactly like "it's okay; you have all the time in the world." Fortunately, one of the other moms let the bus driver know he was coming.

[Torsten]

People who put their food in the microwave for a specific length of time, stop nuking their food with a few seconds remaining, and then take their food without clearing the microwave's timer.

I know what you mean. I don't know if it's more irritating to know or not know who the culprit is. I'm the sole resident of my home these days, and yet someone keeps doing that to me!

[Swift]

People who put their food in the microwave for a specific length of time, stop nuking their food with a few seconds remaining, and then take their food without clearing the microwave's timer.

YES! That really bugs me too. Happens all the time at work.

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

YES! That really bugs me too. Happens all the time at work.

Probably they don't like the beeping, but they could still reset the clock.

[KaiYeves]

Garments with pockets too small to fit my mobile phone, let alone a wallet or anything else. I sewed a pocket extension into my jacket today so that I could finally have enough space for my phone.

[Trebuchet]

Garments with pockets too small to fit my mobile phone, let alone a wallet or anything else. I sewed a pocket extension into my jacket today so that I could finally have enough space for my phone.

My 2011 Toyota has a little nook to put the phone in. It was already too small by the end of that year, I'd guess.

[grant hutchison]

My 2011 Toyota has a little nook to put the phone in. It was already too small by the end of that year, I'd guess.

If people just stopped buying huge unwieldy phones that problem would stop in the space of a year.
Women's clothing with inadequate pockets? Same solution, but so far no action on that, either.

Grant Hutchison

[profloater]

If people just stopped buying huge unwieldy phones that problem would stop in the space of a year.
Women's clothing with inadequate pockets? Same solution, but so far no action on that, either.

Grant Hutchison

Indeed you can buy a full function (ie a phone) international phone the size of a credit card. I have one in my wallet as an emergency, since i have been known to lose or let powerdown my other phone. The battery lasts at least three months without charge but i have to remember to make one call in that time to maintain my contract. It has been useful several times.

[Gillianren]

If people just stopped buying huge unwieldy phones that problem would stop in the space of a year.
Women's clothing with inadequate pockets? Same solution, but so far no action on that, either.

You obviously don't buy much women's clothing. Much of women's clothing doesn't have any pockets. I bought a pair of pants online because they looked nice and comfortable and were both reasonably priced and in my size. If I'd known they didn't have pockets, I might have made a different choice, but who knows? It's difficult to find pants in that style with pockets. It's not about adequacy for a phone; it's about having pockets at all. I have quite a lot of clothing where, if I wear it, I have to put my keys in my purse. I'm willing to accept that at Ren faire--though one of my favourite pieces of faire clothing has pockets large enough for a paperback--but in day-to-day life?

[The Backroad Astronomer]

My pants pockets when I go out have a wallet, a pen, change, for the mailbox and the mailbox, and the phone. Clothing without pockets not really a choice for me. Also this goes into what amuses me is latest Apple tax on the ult and it is their new credit card that can go bad if placed in demin, leather or can't be scratched completely useless.

[grant hutchison]

You obviously don't buy much women's clothing.

On the contrary, I've had to buy a lot of women's clothing in the last few years. I was just under the impression that "no pockets" was a subset of "inadequate pockets".

Grant Hutchison

[Gillianren]

Are you suggesting, then, that women stop buying clothing altogether? Because while the "it has pockets!" trend is increasing (I have a sundress that I bought in part because it has pockets), clothing manufacturers still somehow miss that women, too, would maybe like somewhere to put their keys. "Just stop buying clothing without pockets" is not a solution so long as so much of women's clothing comes with no pockets, fake pockets, or inadequate pockets.

[Trebuchet]

My pants pockets when I go out have a wallet, a pen, change, for the mailbox and the mailbox, and the phone. Clothing without pockets not really a choice for me. Also this goes into what amuses me is latest Apple tax on the ult and it is their new credit card that can go bad if placed in demin, leather or can't be scratched completely useless.

I'd guess Grant's pants don't have pockets at all, since "pants" means "underpants" in the UK. Could be wrong, of course.

[The Backroad Astronomer]

I'm getting the itch to go for a walk but probably won't be able until next week.

[grant hutchison]

Are you suggesting, then, that women stop buying clothing altogether? Because while the "it has pockets!" trend is increasing (I have a sundress that I bought in part because it has pockets), clothing manufacturers still somehow miss that women, too, would maybe like somewhere to put their keys. "Just stop buying clothing without pockets" is not a solution so long as so much of women's clothing comes with no pockets, fake pockets, or inadequate pockets.

The market is that way for a reason, and (as you say) pockets are available. The situation is not going to change unless designers and manufacturers are rewarded for adequate pockets and penalized for no pockets. You bought a sundress influenced by the presence of pockets; I devoted time and energy to finding trousers for my mother which were in the right style, but which (at her stipulation) had pockets. If everyone did that, all the time, things would change very quickly - so I assume people aren't doing that, presumably because they value other aspects of style beyond pockets, and/or because they are not prepared to devote the necessary time, energy (and perhaps money). It's been like that for the last forty years, to my certain knowledge, so I doubt if it's suddenly going to change now - hence my light-hearted remark on the topic. I don't expect people to stop buying giant phones any time soon, either. It wasn't offered as a prescription for revolution.

We probably just need Gwyneth Paltrow to announce that absence of pockets leads to misaligned chakras.

Grant Hutchison

[Trebuchet]

We probably just need Gwyneth Paltrow to announce that absence of pockets leads to misaligned chakras.

Grant Hutchison

I wish we had a "nominate" button here so I could nominate that.

[Gillianren]

I mean, women have been complaining about the pocket issue for quite some time, but the fact remains that we do still have to, you know, wear clothing, and not everyone has my solution of just making our own if there's nothing suitable. (I'd note that pockets appear to be more common on patterns, too, but I'd have to really look into that to be sure.) Especially women in, say, the business world, who have to deal with incredibly strict dress codes--often, frankly, quite sexist ones--and have to deal with the fact that most manufacturers of women's business attire aren't women and don't consider women's needs.

[Hornblower]

Here is a bummer. When I Googled "steel history" I found a hodgepodge of conflicting or confusing opinions of when and where steel was first known and made into useful implements.
https://www.google.com/search?q=stee...hrome&ie=UTF-8

[grant hutchison]

I mean, women have been complaining about the pocket issue for quite some time, but the fact remains that we do still have to, you know, wear clothing, and not everyone has my solution of just making our own if there's nothing suitable. (I'd note that pockets appear to be more common on patterns, too, but I'd have to really look into that to be sure.) Especially women in, say, the business world, who have to deal with incredibly strict dress codes--often, frankly, quite sexist ones--and have to deal with the fact that most manufacturers of women's business attire aren't women and don't consider women's needs.

In the days when I used to examine for the Royal College of Surgeons, a woman turned up to her Physiology viva clutching her asthma inhaler. We asked if she was OK, and she said she was fine but liked to have her inhaler with her in stressful situations ... and had just realized she had no place to put it in her smart suit.

It's a little sad that there have been numerous start-up companies set up recently, specifically to sell women's clothes with pockets. Unfortunately, pockets need more material and labour than no-pockets, and small companies don't have the economy of scale that large manufacturers have - so their clothing is more expensive, which reduces their chance of success. So I'm sorta-kinda serious about the Gwyneth Paltrow thing - the problem needs an influencer who motivates women with relatively large amounts of disposable income, encouraging them to switch away from some pocketless designer label and to buy two sets of equivalent clothes with pockets instead. Companies which provide pockets then profit at the expense of companies who don't, and Adam Smith's invisible hand does the rest.
I'm not sure I buy the idea that men who design women's clothes don't consider women's needs - I think any man who has ever spent time in the company of women knows about the pocket thing, unless his head actually buttons up the back. They've just realized that they can manufacture clothes without pockets more cheaply, can avoid the design hassles of adding useful pockets to their garments, and still sell their stuff on the marketplace. Until money starts flowing away from them, they have absolutely no motivation to change, and if it means spending their evenings carrying around two tissues and a tube of lip salve for their female companion, then so be it.

Grant Hutchison

[The Backroad Astronomer]

Kind of reminds of a story. My grade 7 french teacher was talking about cheating techniques. One guy who never wore a tie before wore one to his exam, with all the answers writing on the other side.
ETA: changed grade 6 to 7.

[Extravoice]

Kind of reminds of a story. My grade 7 french teacher was talking about cheating techniques. One guy who never wore a tire before wore one to his exam, with all the answers writing on the other side.
ETA: changed grade 6 to 7.

Wearing a tire would certainly draw attention

[The Backroad Astronomer]

Fixed.

[DonM435]

Wearing a tire would certainly draw attention

Did I ever mention that when I took a class at6 Roosevelt University in downtown Chicago, I encountered some students carrying wheels along with their bags and books. I wondered if it were some strange religious rite. It was explained that doing this reduces the chance that one's parked bicycle will be stolen.

[Gillianren]

Women on the red carpet have started announcing when their dress has pockets. For some reason, when women tell you that their clothing has pockets, we cannot resist the urge to show you.

[grant hutchison]

Did I ever mention that when I took a class at6 Roosevelt University in downtown Chicago, I encountered some students carrying wheels along with their bags and books. I wondered if it were some strange religious rite. It was explained that doing this reduces the chance that one's parked bicycle will be stolen.

The secretary's office in my place of work generally had a couple of bicycle front wheels propped against the wall at most hours of the day or night (shift work). She had an aeroplane propeller in there for a week, once, but that was because the guy involved couldn't be home to sign for it.

Grant Hutchison

[pzkpfw]

Women on the red carpet have started announcing when their dress has pockets. For some reason, when women tell you that their clothing has pockets, we cannot resist the urge to show you.

Isn't this a good thing?

You've been noting the annoyance of lack of pockets.

Half the point of "fashion" (red carpet etc) is to create trends. If they announce the pockets on the red carpet (being something you might not otherwise notice), and they're shown, wouldn't it hopefully lead to a trend of more pockets, and so solve the lack of pockets issue?

[Gillianren]

Isn't this a good thing?

You've been noting the annoyance of lack of pockets.

Half the point of "fashion" (red carpet etc) is to create trends. If they announce the pockets on the red carpet (being something you might not otherwise notice), and they're shown, wouldn't it hopefully lead to a trend of more pockets, and so solve the lack of pockets issue?

No, that's definitely a good thing; I'm more pointing out that trendsetters are talking about the pockets, but fashion for women doesn't seem to be keeping up with it. Or at least not fast enough. I could probably go to my local stores right now and find a dozen or more pairs of pants with no pockets. Or, worse, fake pockets--women's clothing often has the appearance of pockets without actually having any there. Supposedly, it's to keep us from disturbing the lines of our clothing.

[grant hutchison]

No, that's definitely a good thing; I'm more pointing out that trendsetters are talking about the pockets, but fashion for women doesn't seem to be keeping up with it. Or at least not fast enough. I could probably go to my local stores right now and find a dozen or more pairs of pants with no pockets. Or, worse, fake pockets--women's clothing often has the appearance of pockets without actually having any there. Supposedly, it's to keep us from disturbing the lines of our clothing.

I once had an amusing conversation with a younger colleague, who was complaining that the pockets in her new trousers were fake.
"They're not just closed with tacking thread, are they?" I asked.
This possibility seemed not to have occurred to her, so she had a frowning rummage around her trouser legs, and then went off into the changing room to check the insides - and came back the proud owner of two pockets. The next day she had three more pockets, after going through her wardrobe checking all her "fake pockets". (She was, of course, left with a residuum of "real fakes".)

Grant Hutchison

[Gillianren]

Oh, yes. I have one pair of pants where I could probably remove the tacking threads and have a pocket, but I think it would also gape open if I did that and show the thin pocket fabric . . . and it's on the back of the pants, of course, so who knows if, shall we say, fabric under them could be seen.

[Trebuchet]

News reader on the local TV this morning said that due to the rain, the fall foilage would be less impressive than usual. That's not a typo, it's how he pronounced it. "Foilage".