Actually engineers do not sound two long and two short blasts on their horn, they sound two long, one short, and one long. They are also required to maintain the last long until the engine has crossed the roadway.

Why you ask?

Two long, one short and one long is the morse code signal for the letter "R"

Going clear back to the origin of railroads they have a set of codes for each activity which is expressed by the horn in morse code.

I know why they put headlights on vacume cleaners so you can have light to see under tables and dark areas.

What I don't get is the whole wearing your pants halfway down your Butt to show off your underwear, who really wants to see your underwear? I do not know how they do not fall off, bet they never had to run for their life!!
My husband has very little in the behind area, he cinches up his belt on his cargo shorts but on occasion his pants end up like that, he is threatening to get suspenders LOL
He HATES it when they droop.

I've been mowing in the rain this Spring for the first time ever. If I don't, the grass can grow a foot tall until there is another break in the weather. So far, I don't see any harm done to the grass - the mower I'm sure isn't too happy. It needs cleaned thoroughly after each mowing, and the blades are probably getting pretty dull. I can use the grass catcher on the Lawnboy walk-behind mower, but emptying the bag every two rows of mowed grass gets old fast.

I don't get why we are supposed to kowtow to the lowest common denominator these days. Bad behavior is acceptable under the banner of tolerance. Understanding bad choices and behavior is more important than respecting good choices and behavior. Yep I don't get it.

I also don't get why people don't just Google it.

I don't get why people look on celebrities as being informed and intelligent just because they are celebrities.

I don't get how it could be in this information age and with availability of real science people still get scammed by "woo" and people selling such things as "rapture".

lazypup I learned something from you, guess what, my husband was a railroad engineer and I didn't know this fact. Only time we went on the rails with him was the day he retired, and guess I didn't notice.

Yes, celebrity worship - I don't get that at all.

I don't get why the waitress has to use that nasty vacuum when I'm still eating. Please wait til I'm through.
I don't get all the paper in this world. With all the disasters happening and all the important papers missing why isn't there some system on-line to store all signed papers so we don't need to keep them in our homes. I'm sure there's a national archive somewhere for this. All we would need is a password to log in and pull it up when we need it.
And do we really need all these phone books? We could look anyone up on google for their phone number, address and sometimes their age.

I don't get ---why some seniors want to act and dress like their teens--white thin shorts are not the best not long straggly hair.
Why can't we accept people whom their are instead of whom we think they should be?

Funny you should mention the phone books, Linda 6. I saw in the newspaper this morning that someplace in California banned people leaving those pesky yellow pages on people's doorstep. Wish Florida would do that--we get 3 different ones.

There's a ton a stuff I don't get but one that comes to mind is hoarding. I just don't know how people can live with all that clutter.

I don't get why people walk right behind a moving car that is backing up or right out in front of traffic without even looking both ways. I particularly don't get it when people do this with their children. The only explanation I can think of is that they're morons.

Often the "pants on the ground" people wear suspenders. Fred Mertz would be so proud.

Mow when it's wet? Why not? I mowed when I needed to mow. I often tried to avoid when it's puddles but otherwise, no big deal. Sometimes there's clumps, mow over it a couple times or hit 'em next time. I'm not a prima donna on my lawn anymore. And I definitely have a nice crop of dandelions this year! I used to have none while my neighbors with the lawn services had tons. Now I don't care anymore. It's not a big deal.

I don't get why people have to "shop" for the sake of shopping. My old Gf was into that, and then it was the "well, I had to buy *something*!"... Why?

Why do so many fat people insist on wearing spandex? "Exercise" gear? Yeah right. For many of them, *less* exercise would be better. Quit powerlifting the cheesecakes to your mouth for starters...

Guys, it's the 21st century. Combovers are outdated. If you're so vein that you can't stand seeing yourself losing your hair, get a rug, get plugs or wear a hat. BTW, that combover... couldn't tell at all! I thought you had a full head of hair! Especially combing the hair from your ears over...

I don't get running to the store for one or two non-essentials.

Why do people think they're so important? Any petty thing goes wrong and it's invoke the squeaky wheel theory, and then try contacting a supervisor.

Why so many have no personal responsibility? Need I detail?

So many things I just don't get...

I don't 'get' why the railroad has to mandate 'quiet cars' -- where riders can't yell and yammer into their cell phones.

Why do people need to be forced to show consideration of others? (Wolves would have done a better job of raising today's crop of ME-ME-ME's.)

Why do some people borrow sugar, flour, butter etc. all the time and never replace it? If one does'nt have they go to another neighbour
Dolly

I don't get it, why it took AT&T 20 days, to let me know, my apartment can only get dial up. Sheeeeeeeesh!

Moni

I don't get why we have to be so politically correct all the time. It's tiring, and I'm always afraid of offending someone. One person likes being called an Indian, the next person wants to be called aboriginal. My husband just doesn't want to be called late for dinner.......

I don't get why customers don't hang up their cell phones when they get to the cash register. HANG IT UP! YOU'RE BEING RUDE! Or why customers talk on their phones in the store so loud, we can hear them in the back room.

I don't get why people use cryptic messages on the Facebook status lines. If you have a problem with your friends and/or family, talk to them about it.

I don't get why people complain about the six days of rain we're having here. At least it's not an earthquake. Not a tornado that wiped out 1/3 of the city. Not a fire that burned down 1/3 of the city. It's rain. It'll go away.

I could go on and on, but really? Does anyone really care? Oh, and trains are not allowed to blow their whistles inside Calgary city limits! Love it. The only exception would be if someone was on the tracks.

Shame on me,,,In my last post I stated that the sound signal two long blasts, one short and one long was the morse code signal for the letter "R"...Shame on me,,One would think that anyone such as I, who has been a practicing ham radio operator and communicationg in morse code at a rate of 35words per minute for 35 years should know better..LOL..

In fact, that is the sound signal for the letter "Q" but when sounded by a railroad locomotive it still means they are crossing the public thoroughfare.

For the record in morse code the letter "R" is the opposite of "Q", It is two dots one dash and one dot.

I don't get reality TV. There are so, so many reports that the scenes are staged and often re taken til they get what looks good on screen. I saw part of an expose about "Jon and Kate Plus 8" a nite or 2 ago. One of the former cameramen said that at one point they wanted to give Christmas Day off to the camera crew, so they put the kids to bed, set up the tree, decorations, all of the presents, in the AM they told the kids that Santa had come. After the taping they then told the kids that it wasn't Christmas after all , Santa hadn't come and the toys weren't theirs. This was pretty early on in the show, when they could still pull that one over on the twins. Just one of the examples of things I have heard about reality shows.

mare_wbpa, all reality shows are set up. From Survivor, Big Brother, Bacheleor/ette, you name it. When a camera is in front of a persons face and they have to 'vote' someone off, it's all set up. I HATE reality shows. They're NOT reality shows. Sure, there's no *real* script, per say, but they are 'scripted'.

Some excellent points made in the above posts.

I don't get this whole bottled water thing. We use to drink from the tap, or the drinking fountain. Now it has to be bottled? And, the same time bottled water started coming onto the scene all at once we have to drink 8 gallons a day or some crazy figure like that. Use to be when you were thirsty you got a drink. End of story. Now all at once my own body is too stupid to know when it needs a drink. If I force fed myself the way I'm suppose to force fluids into my system I'd weigh 600 pounds.

Ron

Debby, I agree. Whether there's a script or not, put a camera on someone and you don't get reality. Not meaning to step on any toes, I think what I don't get, is why people watch them, when it's pretty much no secret these days that they're not real.

In general, its a code requirement for a train to give 4 blasts on the horn when approaching a crossing. A few places are considering creating a "quiet" zone where locomotives engineers are not supposed to blow the horn except for an emergency. Our small town is considering creating a quiet zone. Meanwhile, the trains will still blow because without a quiet code, they and their insurer are held liable in case of a crossing accident if they did not blow the whistle soon enough. A quiet zone code would relieve that responsibility. There will be much debate before a quiet code will be adopted in my town.

This year, there has been two crossing crashes within 9 miles of my town - fatalities in both.

There are just so many things these days that I don't "GET"!

I have to agree with the pants down to the knees...this just shows me how utterly ignorant humans(some of them) really are!

I have to agree with the celebrity worship...what is up with that? I have a couple nieces that are totally obsessed with celebrities. It's like they have no other life except for carrying on about Britney Spear or Stevie Nicks...UGH! When did this celebrity obsession start? They'd all be standing in the welfare line if they had to depend on me to buy their CDs or watch their movies! HA! Who cares who is the star of the movie...just make a decent movie and I might watch it!

I don't get cell phone worship!

I don't get facebook worship!

I don't get the fascination of texting!

I don't get fake nails! Most of the time they look absolutely ridiculous with those white tips...GAH!

I don't get tattoos!

I don't get the high cost of coffee...each time I go to buy a jug of Maxwell House, it's gone up a $1 more! UGH!

I could probably go on and on...most of what people are doing these days I just don't GET the fascination with it!

I live in Minnesota....we have schools cutting budgets to the bone, many homeless people trying to get into a few shelters. Some roads, in bad shape, having to wait months for repair. Programs for the most vulnerable of our people being cut or eliminated. And all we seem to hear about is, it is imperative we build more and more stadiums for the millionaire team owners and ball jockies. Where have the values gone? I JUST DON'T GET IT!!!!

The word is "vain", Cynic.

I already posted this on another thread, but I don't get people who are fat and smoke, and then complain about their various and sundry health problems.

I don't get people who come to my little town to vacation at their lake home, and drive like bats outta hell while people are trying to walk their dogs, or their kids are trying to ride their bikes. I hate this time of year just because it's open tourist season.

I don't get people who abuse drugs, whether they be of the legal or the illegal variety.

I don't get why some people are in such a hurry they would risk their lives to go around the gates knowing a train is coming.

I don't get today's music and artists. Music has no beat and back up dancers are pretty annoying. Mostly a distraction from the artist who can't sing anyway.

I don't get how so many complain about the politicians they voted for in the first place.

I don't get people who complain about the six days of rain we've had when Joplin lost 1/3 of the city and over 100 people to a tornado. Slave Lake lost 1/3 of their small city to a fire. Japan lost so much with their earthquake. The rain will stop. We will dry up. It's no big deal. I just don't get how people can only dwell on their bad and not see how it's much worse for people elsewhere who have lost it all.

I don't get how people don't get Facebook. LOL

I don't get people who drive behind me when I'm doing the speed limit, then pass me only to get ahead by one car.

I don't get people who speed past me, because when the next set of lights turn red, we're sitting next to each other. Slow down. Save gasoline.

I don't get people who let their dogs outside and don't stop them from barking. For hours on end.

I don't get people who get handicapped parking signs on the public street, then NEVER park in their handicapped parking spots.

The pants to the knees thing.... I wish I were younger & could run.. any any sense of the word... cause I'd be walking up behind the individual & then yanking the pants down and running & laughing like a crazy woman.... Ahhhh. to be 40 years younger....

Cate52......that is so funny, and me too!!
I've heard of pants being sold that are sewn to the shorts, half way down, so they really are one garment. Which would make pulling them down even funnier, because then we would expose their....ummmmm...inadequacies. LOL

Never fear sleeperblues, there'll be far more than one typo in my posts! :)

Dotmom, it just goes to show, doesn't it, that the secret to making money is be a millionaire, billionaire and stand on the Capitol steps with a tin cup in your hands!

I also don't get how so many people get handicapped parking permits when they are clearly not handicapped.

And, in the same "vein", :D so to speak, I still wonder why all the handicapped spots at DIY stores. I have yet to see someone in a wheelchair toting out a 12' sheet of drywall. Not once! But clinics, hospitals and the like all seem to have a disproportionately small number of handi-spots. I don't get it.

Lol, Cynic, I just love veins because I'm always starting IV's. Don't so much love the "vains", though. But I collect "vanes", meaning old weathervanes.

Cynic, my mother in laws handicap isn't visible. She gets preferred parking. People give her dirty looks all day. But spend a day in her shoes and you'll understand why she has one.

I don't get people who think the only people in wheelchairs are handicapped and shouldn't park in permit spots unless they are in a wheelchair.

Cynic, You seem to forget not all physical impairments qualifying for a preferred Handicap Parking Permit are visible. Many people who have physical challenges can use tools and are allowed to shop at a DIY. Obviously you haven't visited my local home improvement store. We have a gimp squad bunch of friends and we take all kinds of classes at the local store to do our own Home improvement work. We may be slow and not get as perfect a job as someone with a contractors license (as if all of them are perfect) but we are getting some jobs done. My DH now uses a wheelchair, has parking permit and is often toting some major items out or the store. My disability isn't visible and I have a parking permit. I can be found shopping at a home improvement store as well but I usually get a nice strong young man to tote and lift my heavy items. Much easier on my body and especially the eyes. :)
Our local hospital has abundant disability parking. sometimes it is harder to find a not "permit only" space.

LIL

I don't get why I have to walk through the smokers to enter a store. Their smoking section is a few feet from the entrance and I have to start holding my breath well before I get to the door.

I really don't get the patients in hospitals, outside in their jammies, wheelchairs and IV poles smoking!! Geesh, when do you think it's time to quit???

Oh I fully understand that not all physical impairments require wheelchairs, but if they can hop out of a car, hustle into a store and run around in the store, they do *not* qualify for handicapped parking IMO. Maybe they've scammed the government into giving them one for politically correct reasons but the purpose of handicapped spots is for people who can't walk that far. It could be a wheelchair, have trouble walking or have breathing troubles for examples.

I don't understand why people can't comprehend that some people abuse the permits. We all know that some people use others' permits for themselves and such. Seems to me instead of going into hysteria over the mention of it, the effort would be better geared toward stopping some of that, but that's just my humble opinion.

I don't get why people throw temper tantrums, exaggerate things and then can't even give an example or two to back up their tirades either if they're trying to persuade someone to see their point of view. I do understand it when they throw a fit for the sake of throwing a fit though.

I don't understand people who are so thin-skinned they have to take every opinion personally and go off the deep end in a conversation.

I also don't get paying $50 to shop and a cost club store just to pay more for many things.

I don't get paying $5 for a cup of coffee.
Boy the thin-skinned, coffee-drinking cost-clubbers are gonna be ticked now, huh? :)

I don't get backyard fire pits/chimnea-thinga-ma-jigs. It's summer, and we open our windows in our house to get fresh air. Why would neighbours (in really close proximity in a subdivision) want smoke in their houses? If you want to sit around a smokey fire, go camping, imo.

"It's like they have no other life except for carrying on about Britney Spear or Stevie Nicks...UGH! When did this celebrity obsession start?"

I'm not sure, but I know it has been going on for a long time. I recall the mania over Elvis Presly and other rock-n-rollers in the 1950s, and then the swoons over the Beetles. The music back then did have some redemming qualities: it was danceable, had a reconizable tune, and had harmonies. I observed the phonomona with "shock and awe". I did not understand it either.

I don't get how people are so selfish and rude nowadays. People suffer from road rage to hitting someones grocery cart very hard who got in the checkout lane first. My granddaughter was taught in home ec. that if you babysitter that you did not do any extra in the persons home except take care of the children. She was taught not to clean up after the children or wash dishes after the children had ate...Her home ec teacher told the students that if they did one bit extra in someones home that they should get compensated for it, and not be shy about asking for more money. I had to go check this new home ec. teacher out. Yep, she was for real. I told her I respectfully disagreed with her. I was always taught to go the extra mile, and then you would probably be ask back to babysit, or in a regular job. I cannot stand this "get by with as little as you can" attitude that is so popular today.

Wow, thistledew, what an attitude!! It reminds me of a neighbor I once had. I had had a family emergency in the spring which caused me to have to be out of town. When I got back, my lawn was a mess. I was out raking up after double mowing my yard. My neighbor's 7 yr old came over and asked if he could help by putting it into bags for me. After just a few minutes, his dad called him home. He came back over later and said "My dad says I can come over but I'm not allowed to help you because this is woman's work".

Shirley

a couple of my favorite funnies.

Why do we park on a driveway and drive on a parkway?

Why do we have a pair of panties, but only one bra?

But seriously, one of my big pet peeves is adoration of professional athletes. They get paid a gazzillion dollars, have kids look up to them, buy their cr*p with the players names, wait in line for an autograph copy of their autobigraphy only to find out they took steroids to get ahead. And still, with all the admission of guilt, nothing has really changed and there are no standardized testing or penalties. (maybe bike racing is the only exception I can think of off the top and even then, there is tons of shenanigans)

I "don't get" our unwillingness to "live and let live" ...

... or, even better, "live and help live".

We've become so individualistic ... and greedy.

Nationalistic, as well: if we don't learn to work together to keep this world in shape, we'll exterminate ourselves.

And many of the plants, animals and beetles (the ones that survived man's depradations) would say, "Good riddance!".

ole joyful

I ride public transportation every day to and from work, and wherever else I usually want to go.

I don't get how I am almost the only person to ever let an elderly person have my seat when the bus is full. Happened again this morning and I thought steam was going to come out my ears. Don't tell me it's "this generation" or "kids these days" because the age range on this bus was 20-60 and not a single one of them offered this lady (probably 75-80ish) a seat. I had to get up, tell the other people standing near my seat to not sit, go get the woman to bring her back to my seat.

I've seen the same done with pregnant women and disabled folks. I don't know what the *#%& is wrong with people, but I've seen this time and time again and I've been fuming about this all day.

Arkansas_girl you sound like you could be my twin. I agree with everything you said except I dont drink coffee

Don't get the parents who DON'T watch their young children while at play or 10 times worse the pool!! Witnessed a young boy (maybe 4yrs old) who was not a strong swimmer nearly get pulled out of the water by 2 lifeguards. Mother nowhere near. She walked over a few minutes later!!! Your son could have been dead by the time she saw him! Luckily he righted himself, but the 2 lifeguards jumped into the water to help him obviously thought he was in danger!

I also don't get the people that walk right next/in back of to cars backing out in a parking lot. I've had a couple that I could have nearly hit and they didn't even seem to be paying attention! Don't assume I can see every blind spot! You play a part in your responsibility!

Don't get the again "alledged" parents who complain about their kids not being healthy and they are feeding them junk food and sodas (soda to toddlers!!) You are the parents and you can and should say NO to them! My kids would love junk food and crap all the time, but I say NO! Of course we get treats, but not all the time!