Did you folks hear the song, of (many) years gone by?

"Oh, there's no one with endurance

Like the man who sells insurance ...

... he gets us all ... in the end!"

My pet peeve? Don't think that I have much of one, really: life is pretty good. (I'm about to get the report on my biopsy done three weeks ago in a couple of hours).

I guess the (guys) who follow too closely in traffic, speed in busy traffic on the road, flout a number of the traffic rules, don't turn into the closest lane when turning into a multi-lane road, then change lanes later ... after having signalled, stuff like that.

A friend who rides with me sometimes says that I should get the brake pedal on the passenger side fixed, especially when I turn off the key when approaching a signal light, or going downhill, as it drives him bonkers. And he's not reassured when I assure him that I'm aware of the traffic around me ... and foreswear doing it if someone is about ready to crawl up my tailpipe, etc.

ole joyfuelled ... hey - the last of this name is lit by "led"s, right?

Ants. Small peeve compared to yours. And it's so annoying to call companies because you wait, press 2, press 5, suffer through automated responses then finally rep who makes you jump through hoops identifying yourself. Sorry you are struggling so much.

Thanks socks and joyfulguy ... you both cheered me up !! I used to spend $$$ on ant-traps with no luck, until my neighbor told me he bought TERRO liquid Ant Baits (sold at Walmart and HomeDepot) ... That works wonder !! One pack lasts for 3 months, zero ants. I have been using that for years and very happy with zero ants in the house.

Hi straw-person-in-the-neighbourhood-of-Chicago ...

... pleased to hear that your mood has improved!

Just remember ... tomorrow's another day ... and, as Grandma, who lived with us after Mom got long-term sick and Grandpa died, used to say (in the 1940s) ... "don't cross bridges ... till you get there!"!

And today's trivia quiz (or was it yesterday's?) tells one how to sweeten one's mood with a few minutes of ... whatever, in mid-day. I guess it was today's, cause I don't know the answer (or ... forgot it, already).

ole joyful

It was today's trivia oj. I think I'll skip doing either of my joke-y suggestions!

pet peeve? When airlines reschedule your flight without asking. My boss needed to get someplace in the northeast and was on a direct flight to get there around dinner. Instead, cancelled and put on a flight that first went to Miami, with the connection making it there at midnight. How is that similar?!!!!

Motorists who wait to turn on their signal light until they are making the turn.

I hear you, Rob. United in particular feels free to hugely change flights at the last minute and it peeves me no end. Are there no rules regarding this "inconvenience"??

They're reasonable when you say, if that's the way it is, give me back my money! If that counts? Not helpful since you typically have to get to where you're going. They should get punished? I dunno.

Midwestern drivers who sit behind the crosswalk while waiting to make a left turn. I trained with the local bus company here and we were taught to drive to the center of the street and wait for traffic to clear. I lived in California most of my life and always pulled out ahead of the crosswalk while waiting to safely make a left turn.

Arrrggg. Mine is....when you are driving on a 2 or more lane rd. You see a warning sign...merge left...most do as soon as possible. Now you're in a standstill mode, sometimes for quite awhile. What makes me wanna scream...are all those that continue down the right lane till they hit the barricade then force themselves into the left lane. Arrrgg....they are now 20 cars ahead of all those who are sitting at a standstill.

They charge you a $150 fee to make any change to your reservation. maybe you should invoice them $150 when they change the reservation.

At the end of a month-long trip in the Caribbean we ended in the Bahamas and found they had changed our 10:00 A.M. flight to 6:00 A.M.

Um, that is really not the same. Cutting the Bahamas short by that much is wrong on so many levels!!!!

People that won't turn on their lights when its raining, you can't see them coming! Not using the turn signals so you have to wait when they were going to turn anyway.
Annoying commercials that keep repeating every few minutes or right after they just aired.
the list is just too long!

The phrase "I am wanting to..." and other similar phrases. I hear it and I see it on the forums. It is NOT "I am wanting to buy a new mattress."
You can say: "I want to buy a new mattress."
"I'm looking for a new mattress."
"I want a new mattress."
Makes me want to slap someone with my Strunk & White, or at least bang knuckles a]with a ruler.

I'm with many of you. My pet peeve is web cookies. You do a search for something, like a lamp, then all you see on every website are ads for lamps!! I'm with the dude that hates voice mail menus. OMG! Walgreens is the worst! You are calling in a prescription. Before they even tell you what to press, you must hear how flu shots are available, bla bla.. and then you have to listen to the auto renewal spiel, and finally, you are done!

"I would like to thank my colleague for ..."

Yeah ... you would like to thank that person ... if ... what ... cows had purple ears?

How about, "I would be pleased if Aunt Josie were to bring a casserole to the pot luck dinner".

If you want to thank someone ... then just thank her/him, O.K.?

ole joyful

A lot of police officers will ticket someone who is sitting in the middle of the intersection waiting for traffic to clear so they can make their turn. It's not legal everywhere. I think emergency vehicles have a big problem with them, too, adding to the danger in their response to a fire or accident.

My peeve, people who don't get close enough to the sensor to trip the traffic light. And people at the gas station who don't pull thru to the farthest pump. Common sense would solve both of them.

I think most of things I find most frustrating already have been mentioned...insurance companies, other drivers and insanely complicated automated customer service telephone menus. I would add junk phone callers and identity thieves.

AAA Highway traffic control experts actually say the right thing to do is wait until the end to merge in the situation you describe. Those that wait are doing it correctly. The reason is that it eases congestion by having all lanes in use until the end. It's called zipper merging. Where the lane ends each car lets one car in front of them allowing a smooth transition. The problem lies in cars not yielding to those that are actually trying to do the proper thing.

My traffic peeves...... people who leave a distance large enough to park a semi in front of them while waiting for a traffic signal forcing those behind them to block traffic in the through lane and often to miss their chance to get through the light, people who straddle the line between through traffic and turn lanes, people who don't understand that when merging onto a highway you are suppose to be going the speed of the traffic you are merging into, not the speed of a school zone and I believe those who don't yield to motorcycles who are legally lane splitting should have to do time. So there.

Found on Pinterest....pretty well sums it up for me.

Thanks, Marilyn_c, that made me laugh !! To solve telemarketers, Reader Digest suggested answer them, saying, "Please take our phone off your call list." That WORKED only for REAL-telemarketers, but NOT for automated messages. I reported "DONATE YOU CAR" to Do-not-call-complaints, but that didn't work. Anyone here know of a good solution to automated-junk-call? I already registered our number with Do-not-call-list years ago. Lots of friends & relatives no longer have fixed line, only cell-phones for that reason.

I don't have too much trouble with telemarketers, but I got hit with a nasty one last autumn. They called from three different numbers every day. I was able to block their calls from my landline, but I had to change my cell phone number to stop them from calling there...crazy!

One telemarketer called me 17 times in one week !! I told him, "I'm going to report you to the police, and he stopped." Regarding annoying insurance-customer-service: He didn't bother to confirm our name ... but kept asking for our phone number 3 times !! Yes, it's Aetna-number that I called from the back of my insurance card. My pet-peeve is customer service who don't bother to confirm the info., either by reading back the number, or "Are you Mr. & Mrs. so and so?" That happened at a dentist office, I witnessed an office worker who had to clear up insurance since she got the customer's Health-account-#. wrong. Right in the same day, I called her to give my Health-account charge card, and she got it wrong, since SHE DIDN'T BOTHER TO CONFIRM the name, nor reading back my NO. I had to ask her, "would you please read back my No.", and she got it wrong.

strawchicago--about ants--both you and rhizo have recommended Terro; I got it yesterday. I'll have to station stakes the under flower pots with a rock on top to keep the dog out. We're having a cool spell, so the ants aren't so active. I'll wait until it warms up to put them out. Thanks for the recommendation.

Terro is the best. It's the only thing that works for me. Just make sure to keep pets away from it.

I love this forum, with nice folks like bob_cville and watchme who present their views in a polite, and intelligent way. I respect BOTH of you for sharing your thoughts nicely. That's a welcomed contrast to other forums with ego-freaks or control-freaks who posted NOT to inform nor to share, but rather to nit-pick one another. The people who have nothing to share, tend to nit-pick and criticize others instead. My respect & thanks to both Bob and Watchme for sharing info. honestly and nicely.

Here is a new pet peeve. We have a company here called Southwest Fire Protection, and they do a radio commercial with a siren in the background. Every time I hear it on the radio, I think I should pull over. I think commercials with sirens in them should be outlawed.

Hi Suzi: nice profile-pic. My first thought was, "wow! she looks like a movie star."

Why zipper merging is best.
Zipper Merging

Strawchicago, been asked for my autograph many times at airports, but this is not about me. I'm happily married and kinda a farmer but no movie star! Woo Hoo!!

I'm thinking Dolly Parton...

I adore Dolly! She has a unique voice that nobody else has.

My pet peeve is co-workers down the hall who seem to have all kinds of time to laugh and joke and giggle with other co-workers, relatives visiting them in their office, and on the phone. Don't they have work to do?

My solution? I'm retiring NEXT WEEK!!!! Yay!!!

Interesting article, but I am not convinced. To me the statement that the length of the backup can be reduced up to 50% seems unsurprising but not especially relevant. For any given number of cars the length they occupy in two lanes will be about 50% of the length the occupy when they are in a single lane.
The datum that zipper merging can improve overall traffic flow by maximum of 15% without also stating the average improvement in flow and the minimum improvement seems incomplete and makes me suspect that the average improvement is either 0% or perhaps actually negative. (Although it could be that it is a journalistic summary of the original studies)

Furthermore it notes that California DOT examined similar data and reached a different conclusion. Lastly the article also notes that even states that recommend the practice consider zipper merging is to be "not intended to be used when traffic is flowing briskly, with ample
distance between vehicles to move over earlier without causing a
slowdown. But when traffic is slow moving .... " it can be effective. This sounds to me like the practice is intended for city streets or more urban environments as opposed to the more rural 2-lane freeways I usually frequent.

Bob_cville That is correct. it is really intended for rush hour traffic in more urban areas. Our freeways in California are up to five or more lanes in one direction with a lot of other highways feeding into them. At rush hour, traffic comes to standstill in many areas. Cars squeezing in at random cause everyone to brake and IMO lead to more fender benders. It is in those instances that the zipper makes the most sense. I drove home today and actually was in the above situation. Even though our state doesn't promote it. It put a smile on my face and made me think of this thread when I counted five cars in front of me smoothly executing the zipper. Actually ten vehicles since the people allowing them to zip smoothly were doing their part flawlessly also. I and the next vehicle made 12 in a row. Woo-hoo! One vehicle taking offense and deciding to crowd them out or playing lane cop would have ruined the whole transition causing delay for everyone. On the interchange I was on we had four lanes, reduced to three, then two, then a merge onto a 5 lane roadway with the number 5 lane being an exit only for the next exit and the number 1 (and sometime #2) lane being a fastrack/carpool lane.

"Customer Service" reps at 1-800 numbers who are absolutely clueless, not at all helpful, who do nothing to actually understand a situation or help you resolve a problem, but repeat nice "customer service" phrases several times during the call. Maybe they are just robots....

Strawchicago,

I'm with you on insurance companies. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas send me a refund check for a premium I had overpaid. But just before I received the check, they also sent me a made-up invoice for a month of insurance, for a month that was AFTER I cancelled the policy. Amazingly, their invoice was identical in amount to the refund I was supposed to be getting.

Giving with one hand, trying to take back with another. When I mentioned that I would write the state insurance board to help oversee their invoice, I got a hasty apology and retraction of the bill.

Hi Lucille: Thank you, for the tip of "writing the state insurance board to complain". Reader Digest had an article on getting your money back when doc or insurance mess up: Hospitals sometimes charging an item twice ... mistakes occur when there are many parties involved. Plus people change jobs more often, and changes in insurance companies can create headaches, such as "pre-existing conditions" clearance.

I lived in rural areas (MI and IL), and I also lived in San Jose, CA ... so I agree with Bob and Watchme. There isn't enough room on CA highways to merge ahead of time, it's bumper-to-bumper, and it's actually safer in CA to merge at the FINAL point, rather than various points ahead of time.

I just remembered another one....
Toilet paper. You use a public restroom and they have these huge rolls that will not unroll, then you grab it an it tears and tears so all you have is a paper mess on the floor. Then its so thin you have to have a pile of it to do any good!

When a restaurant you love takes your FAVORITE item off the menu. I hate that. I can no longer go to Jack in the Box because they took the grease out of their cheap greasy tacos, which for years have been my go to, and they don't taste the same, so I'll never go back! Bye Bye Jack!