Pet peeves list: the things that annoy me the most

Some people like to moan.  Me, according to my friends.  I think I’m doing better in not moaning as much, but while I have a lot of gripes, I don’t tend to take them to heart. Mind you, when I moan about drivers and then hear N parroting back when he spots bad drivers, it shows I obviously do like to commentate on life and others a lot.  Maybe this is why I blog?

I recently re-read a blog post about a list of 10 things that annoy and thought I’d enter into the spirit and share my pet peeves list, if I can keep it to 10.

My top 10 pet peeves list

1, Poor drivers driving

I love driving, but so much is annoying about it.  Mainly other drivers, but also the state of the road.  People who don’t indicate, slow Sunday drivers who are oblivious to anyone else on the road. Inconsiderate parkers – people who can’t park straight or leaving enough space for other people; drivers who park in parent and child spaces who don’t have children with them; people who don’t reverse into spaces where there’s a wide unloading aisle between two rows of parking (ie supermarkets). Cycling groups who drive double abreast down rural roads and who don’t split up the group so cars can actually overtake without having to go past 5 double decker bus lengths to get past them. And of course councils who refill potholes time and time again but never resurface the whole road.

2, Forgetfulness while baking

I do like baking but I’m so forgetful when I’m doing it.  In the electric oven it’s not too bad, but in the Aga….I’ve ruined many a pyrex dish after forgetting about rhubarb (x2), rice pudding, and found black croissants I just popped in for warming. Oops.  I try and use a timer every time now!

3, TV channel hoppers

I can’t understand why people just flick through tv channels every time an advert comes on.  The OH is the worst. He flicks, then watches a minute, then moves again, watches, moves again and then back to the original programme or stays on something else. He doesn’t seem to realise that most channels have adverts so really he’s flicking through ads.  We get into a tv show, then he’ll flick to something else. Or we’ll not see the beginning of shows because he’s then chanced on something.

Why can’t people just hit ‘Guide’ and then work out what they want to watch and stick to it. If there’s something else they also want to watch, record it (we don’t have streaming due to number 4 so on demand isn’t feasible).

4, Poor internet

Now I have to admit, it’s not as bad as it used to be, and generally we can do a fair amount on our internet.  We can use 3 devices including youtube on one, but streaming isn’t going to work. And sometimes we struggle to access broadband when the whole world wants to get online at 7pm.  But it winds me up that everyone is speeding up the internet which is already amazingly fast, and out in rural areas (we’re in Oxfordshire not the Shetlands – although I bet they have better wifi than us) we’re still on speeds not much faster than broadband.  Despite paying for much faster speeds because that’s the way we get charged.

The alternative is paying for satellite broadband which for double the price is nowhere near double the speed and not without its own problems, so not really worth it.  One day, I long for the 10 mbps we’re paying for.

5, Poor mobile signal

Another downside of living in the sticks is that mobile signal is intermittent. Weirdly we’re in a strong 4G spot. However that doesn’t really help with phone calls.  Our phone signal used to be ok, but since last May, it’s been awful (and not just us but people we know in other rural areas). Unfortunately Vodafone say nothing’s changed, but it must have done.  My work phone on another network is terrible too.

6, Snow

Snow is really pretty, I’ll give it that. I like taking photos in it. But trying to get anywhere in it is a nightmare so we don’t.  It’s inconvenient and then it eventually turns to slush, gets icy and is just horrible.  And when it’s out of winter, that’s even more annoying.

7, Hot desks

I’m not a fan and never will be.  I think for people who work in one office 5 days a week they should be able to have a permanent desk with people who work out and about or from home, using a bank of hot desks. It works in companies I’ve worked in, and avoids a lot of stress and unproductiveness trying to find a desk that’s set up the right way.

8, People who stop to chat in the middle of busy pavements

And even worse, those who are totally unaware of people behind them who might crash into them, people who want to exit shops and can’t because they’re in the doorway.  And then they sometimes look at you as though there’s something wrong with you because you want to walk on the pavement.

9, Willpower (or lack of)

I like food, and especially sweet food. My body does not, and needs to get healthy. But blimey it’s hard to get the will power to start a diet.

10, People who ask questions without trying to help themselves first

This can apply to N (who can never find what he’s looking for without me standing virtually touching the item to show him). And the OH who always asks me how to spell things, when he could just try typing it and the ipad would probably autofill it.

New bloggers are getting worse at helping themselves because there are so many blogging groups available that they can just ask without thinking to try google first. But google has so many good articles which will solve most things. Or do a few courses, like the rest of us do (there’s plenty of free ones out there). Once you’ve got nowhere, then ask the question. Yes, it might be easier and faster just to ask. But if you’ve not googled, or searched the Facebook group files or discussion first, it gets annoying for everyone if they’re asking the same question that’s been asked and answered 200 times before.

Anyway, enough of my niggles.  What makes your pet peeves list?