Seemingly trivial things that annoy you

pangolin

briantrumpet said:

Pross said:

laurentian said:

Pross said:

Amateur organisations. We had an AGM at my choir a few days ago at which no-one new offered to take a place on the committee leaving us incumbents to have to keep running things for yet another year but now we're getting criticism from members who want a direct say in certain things.

See also rugby clubs!

Yeah, it's the same with all volunteer organisations but this one has really pissed me off as I think we've done a really good job between 6 of us in basically saving the choir since the end of lockdown with virtually no support from the other 30 odd members.

That's quite a small pool to recruit from. Who out of the six of you is the most devious/charming/persuasive?

If the committee were doing a better job there would be more members to pick from.

briantrumpet

pangolin said:

briantrumpet said:

Pross said:

laurentian said:

Pross said:

Amateur organisations. We had an AGM at my choir a few days ago at which no-one new offered to take a place on the committee leaving us incumbents to have to keep running things for yet another year but now we're getting criticism from members who want a direct say in certain things.

See also rugby clubs!

Yeah, it's the same with all volunteer organisations but this one has really pissed me off as I think we've done a really good job between 6 of us in basically saving the choir since the end of lockdown with virtually no support from the other 30 odd members.

That's quite a small pool to recruit from. Who out of the six of you is the most devious/charming/persuasive?

If the committee were doing a better job there would be more members to pick from.

If it's a chamber choir by choice, then the numbers would not be surprising. If it was the size of Huddersfield Choral Society before the pandemic, then things aren't looking so good...

First.Aspect

I just think it's a shame you aren’t all singing from the same hymn sheet.

Pross

briantrumpet said:

Pross said:

laurentian said:

Pross said:

Amateur organisations. We had an AGM at my choir a few days ago at which no-one new offered to take a place on the committee leaving us incumbents to have to keep running things for yet another year but now we're getting criticism from members who want a direct say in certain things.

See also rugby clubs!

Yeah, it's the same with all volunteer organisations but this one has really pissed me off as I think we've done a really good job between 6 of us in basically saving the choir since the end of lockdown with virtually no support from the other 30 odd members.

That's quite a small pool to recruit from. Who out of the six of you is the most devious/charming/persuasive?

My wife, she's our Chairperson. I think my diplomacy skills have poured oil on the water by effectively telling them if the want a voice stand up and be counted or otherwise STFU. I'm now going to apply for a role sorting out the NI Protocol.

briantrumpet

First.Aspect said:

I just think it's a shame you aren’t all singing from the same hymn sheet.

When did anyone sing from a 'hymn sheet'? They all come in books.

Pross

pangolin said:

briantrumpet said:

Pross said:

laurentian said:

Pross said:

Amateur organisations. We had an AGM at my choir a few days ago at which no-one new offered to take a place on the committee leaving us incumbents to have to keep running things for yet another year but now we're getting criticism from members who want a direct say in certain things.

See also rugby clubs!

Yeah, it's the same with all volunteer organisations but this one has really pissed me off as I think we've done a really good job between 6 of us in basically saving the choir since the end of lockdown with virtually no support from the other 30 odd members.

That's quite a small pool to recruit from. Who out of the six of you is the most devious/charming/persuasive?

If the committee were doing a better job there would be more members to pick from.

It's a fair point!

Post-lockdown it has been weird with both choirs I sing with. Getting people to turn up regularly is a challenge, some got used to having their evenings to themselves and never returned and a few died but in the depths of lockdown people were desperate to sing to the extent they tried doing it over Zoom which never really works due to different lag rates. We've tried to modernise (refreshed name and branding, young MD and accompanist, introducing a new repertoire) and encourage a few younger members but have lost more than we gained with men in particular being a scarcity. I think that the brief popularity from the likes of Gareth Malone has waned and some of the men have started singing with sea shanty groups as they became fashionable in lockdown (even though we're nowhere near the sea).

Pross

On the upside, I'm singing with the Welsh National Opera at the Bristol Hippodrome soon with the other choir.

de_sisti

In your car at traffic lights and they go green. You don't make a formula one-style start to get going and the car behind you beeps their horn loudly.

I can't help it, but I react instinctively and beep my horn twice as loud and for twice as long. On one occasion I even waited for the lights to change to red again (just to get my own back on the driver).

pangolin

de_sisti said:

In your car at traffic lights and they go green. You don't make a formula one-style start to get going and the car behind you beeps their horn loudly.

I can't help it, but I react instinctively and beep my horn twice as loud and for twice as long. On one occasion I even waited for the lights to change to red again (just to get my own back on the driver).

Can't help but suspect there is quite a gap between a "formula one-style start" and how long it takes you to get going, if this is a regular occurrence.

rjsterry

Pross said:

Amateur organisations. We had an AGM at my choir a few days ago at which no-one new offered to take a place on the committee leaving us incumbents to have to keep running things for yet another year but now we're getting criticism from members who want a direct say in certain things.

Standard OP for some people.

TheBigBean

Be grateful you have the right skin colour to volunteer!

Stevo_666

de_sisti said:

In your car at traffic lights and they go green. You don't make a formula one-style start to get going and the car behind you beeps their horn loudly.

I can't help it, but I react instinctively and beep my horn twice as loud and for twice as long. On one occasion I even waited for the lights to change to red again (just to get my own back on the driver).

Sounds like you're too slow away from the lights. People might assume you're a dozy old codger who hasn't spotted the lights changing and honk to let you know. Get going a bit faster and the problem will disappear.

Pross

TheBigBean said:

Be grateful you have the right skin colour to volunteer!

I’d be more than happy to be excluded on any grounds.

Pross

Stevo_666 said:

de_sisti said:

In your car at traffic lights and they go green. You don't make a formula one-style start to get going and the car behind you beeps their horn loudly.

I can't help it, but I react instinctively and beep my horn twice as loud and for twice as long. On one occasion I even waited for the lights to change to red again (just to get my own back on the driver).

Sounds like you're too slow away from the lights. People might assume you're a dozy old codger who hasn't spotted the lights changing and honk to let you know. Get going a bit faster and the problem will disappear.

Worst ones are the drivers that take an age to pull off then eventually go through on leaving amber meaning you have to wait for another cycle.

Stevo_666

Pross said:

Stevo_666 said:

de_sisti said:

In your car at traffic lights and they go green. You don't make a formula one-style start to get going and the car behind you beeps their horn loudly.

I can't help it, but I react instinctively and beep my horn twice as loud and for twice as long. On one occasion I even waited for the lights to change to red again (just to get my own back on the driver).

Sounds like you're too slow away from the lights. People might assume you're a dozy old codger who hasn't spotted the lights changing and honk to let you know. Get going a bit faster and the problem will disappear.

Worst ones are the drivers that take an age to pull off then eventually go through on leaving amber meaning you have to wait for another cycle.

There's a special place in hell for drivers like that.

briantrumpet

At least in the UK, we've got a second or two of amber to put the mobile down, depress the clutch, put it in 1st gear, and release the clutch in time for the green. The barstewards in France don't even give you amber, so at least they've got a bit of an excuse.

drhaggis

Regarding traffic lights... there was this time a few years ago when I was stopped, on my bike, at an ASL waitng for the light to go green. Meanwhile, I notice how the car behind revs a bit, and starts moving forward little by little. I look back, and the driver lowers the window and says:

"Don't worry, I just want to overtake you quickly, before other cars come"

Really. What the hell did she think the ASL is for? Wasting red paint? And of course I was worried now, she clearly was happy enough to shove me to a side as soon as it was convenient for her.

morstar

Just planning a trip to London next month.

Can’t get either a return train ticket or a single back from London. Can buy one way to London.

Same situation last October for NFL game trip.

Constantly see tickets coming soon which at some point gets replaced by sold out.

The excuse was they couldn’t put timetables out last year, with the overtime ban. Now that they’ve adjusted to no overtime, the working out timetables excuse doesn’t work

It seems to be Arriva west coast specific. Managed to get a cheap west to east ticket as you can then get to London on the east side of the country. Far cheaper too but a lot slower.

drhaggis

Forgetting to check in the car at work's parking due to a very busy schedule, only to remember on the way out half a day later. With a £60 fine on the wipers.

TheBigBean

drhaggis said:

Forgetting to check in the car at work's parking due to a very busy schedule, only to remember on the way out half a day later. With a £60 fine on the wipers.

Just to trivially annoy you some more. There is a thread on here about a solution to that problem.

drhaggis

TheBigBean said:

drhaggis said:

Forgetting to check in the car at work's parking due to a very busy schedule, only to remember on the way out half a day later. With a £60 fine on the wipers.

Just to trivially annoy you some more. There is a thread on here about a solution to that problem.

All those that say "Don't pay, be taken to small claims"? I'm unsure all that trouble, together with issues whenever I want to "renew the parking permit", and with a potential cycle 2 work request later this year, is worth £30. I save more than that amount every fortnitght by not eating the crap food they serve, which is even worse after covid.

TheBigBean

I meant the give up your car thread.

briantrumpet

TheBigBean said:

I meant the give up your car thread.

You mean the War On Motorists thread, I think (© Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Daily Express etc.)

orraloon

The gang of hoodlum crows that keep having a go at the bird feeder, I'll have to get a different design to try to stop these big birds nicking the stuff meant for the hedge community. Plus one of them has just shat all over my window. Cheers for that.

drhaggis

TheBigBean said:

I meant the give up your car thread.

That's a good point. I'm 80% of the way there regarding work. I'd take the bus the other 20%... but anything that goes through Edinburgh city centre is just censored slow. Which is another annoyance for this thread.

First.Aspect

orraloon said:

The gang of hoodlum crows that keep having a go at the bird feeder, I'll have to get a different design to try to stop these big birds nicking the stuff meant for the hedge community. Plus one of them has just shat all over my window. Cheers for that.

https://www.arkwildlife.co.uk/product/the-squirrel-buster/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-aSZweif_QIVDO7tCh3lPQubEAQYASABEgJNn_D_BwE

This one is adjustable to the weight of an organism lighter than a squirrel.

https://petwell.co.uk/products/the-nuttery-classic-original-seed-squirrel-proof-wild-bird-feeder?currency=GBP&variant=41831329792176&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-aSZweif_QIVDO7tCh3lPQubEAQYAyABEgKYT_D_BwE

Or this one may inadvertently be crow proof.

pinno

orraloon said:

The gang of hoodlum crows that keep having a go at the bird feeder, I'll have to get a different design to try to stop these big birds nicking the stuff meant for the hedge community. Plus one of them has just shat all over my window. Cheers for that.

Jeezo. I thought one look of your face would scare them off for life.

kingstongraham

The posts on "protected" bike lanes always being on the bike side of the white line, making the lane narrower.

rjsterry

The whole hoo-ha about Roald Dahl. Sheesh.

TheBigBean

rjsterry said:

The whole hoo-ha about Roald Dahl. Sheesh.

Why amend books? There are all the people who don't like the Great Expectations ending and want it changed to the original unpublished draft.