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Old Man NobodysHome's Pet Peeve #1382: "Just look at the screen"
Before Impus Major left, I told him, "You need the person in the passenger seat to be watching the trip like a hawk, and to tell you what each upcoming turn is going to be, because Google Maps won't do that for you."
He didn't, and sure enough, his 20-minute delay on Geary Street turned out to be primarily caused by him turning into a narrow dead-end alley "because Google Maps told me to" and then having to do a "14-point turnaround" in front of a police officer in order to get back out again.
I've frequently complained to my friends about this: Sometimes Google Maps will say, "In 1000 feet, use the left two lanes to turn left."
However, most of the time it waits until you're on the same block as the turn, making it nearly impossible to get across all the lanes of traffic to take the turn if you happen to be on the wrong side.
My friends' response is a consistent, "But it shows you what your next turn will be on the screen, so it doesn't need to say it out loud."
If I've just turned onto a new street in heavy downtown traffic, the last thing I should be doing is taking my eyes off the road to look at my mapping app. That's how pedestrians and bicyclists get killed.
It infuriates me that even my friends whom I typically consider "good" drivers think nothing of taking their eyes off the road for a few seconds to look at their mapping app.
Nope. Not gonna do it. Google needs to get better at warning me what the next turn will be as soon as I turn onto the road.
(And yes, I also get incredibly frustrated with modern "navigators", because it seems like no one has the attention span to actually pay attention to where you're going. Impus Major could have easily avoided that alley if only one of his friends had been willing to watch the phone for him.)
EDIT: Oh, my. Just look at MY screen. :-P
This is why I use waze, despite my hatred of it.
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Old Man NobodysHome's Pet Peeve #1382: "Just look at the screen"
Before Impus Major left, I told him, "You need the person in the passenger seat to be watching the trip like a hawk, and to tell you what each upcoming turn is going to be, because Google Maps won't do that for you."
He didn't, and sure enough, his 20-minute delay on Geary Street turned out to be primarily caused by him turning into a narrow dead-end alley "because Google Maps told me to" and then having to do a "14-point turnaround" in front of a police officer in order to get back out again.
I've frequently complained to my friends about this: Sometimes Google Maps will say, "In 1000 feet, use the left two lanes to turn left."
However, most of the time it waits until you're on the same block as the turn, making it nearly impossible to get across all the lanes of traffic to take the turn if you happen to be on the wrong side.My friends' response is a consistent, "But it shows you what your next turn will be on the screen, so it doesn't need to say it out loud."
If I've just turned onto a new street in heavy downtown traffic, the last thing I should be doing is taking my eyes off the road to look at my mapping app. That's how pedestrians and bicyclists get killed.
It infuriates me that even my friends whom I typically consider "good" drivers think nothing of taking their eyes off the road for a few seconds to look at their mapping app.
Nope. Not gonna do it. Google needs to get better at warning me what the next turn will be as soon as I turn onto the road.
(And yes, I also get incredibly frustrated with modern "navigators", because it seems like no one has the attention span to actually pay attention to where you're going. Impus Major could have easily avoided that alley if only one of his friends had been willing to watch the phone for him.)
EDIT: Oh, my. Just look at MY screen. :-P
In days of yore, before the Internet was piped into yon olde automobile, there was traditionne of 'shotgunne'.
'Shotgunne' yey did haveth the benefite of ye olde Comfie Carre Seate, yet ye haveth obligatione to readeth navigationne to ye drivere.
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I have a photographic memory for plans and maps so I just have to look at a map for a few minutes and I can get anywhere.
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I have a photographic memory for plans and maps so I just have to look at a map for a few minutes and I can get anywhere.
When I was a wee Wei, my father took me along to help someone move about an hour away from our house.
I got horribly disoriented because it was night-time and didn't have the sun or a compass or any other things to help me get my bearings.
So he walked me through the turns, patiently reminding me of what direction we were heading through each of them, and then let me figure out what direction we were facing.
I think this sort of skill isn't being taught anymore... or viewed as important.
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In days of yore, before the Internet was piped into yon olde automobile, there was traditionne of 'shotgunne'.
'Shotgunne' yey did haveth the benefite of ye olde Comfie Carre Seate, yet ye haveth obligatione to readeth navigationne to ye drivere.
It's funny; I was just talking to Shiro about this. Back when I drove my friends around in a 1970 Volvo, anyone who called shotgun was also the navigator. Period. I think it's a lost art.
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I have a photographic memory for plans and maps so I just have to look at a map for a few minutes and I can get anywhere.
My brain is terrible, but once I had to travel for a living I'd spend about an hour memorizing each route so I never had to consult a map. It was difficult, but I'm sure it was good for my brain and it got me where I was going flawlessly, even during snowstorms in Chicago and Ottawa.
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I do not drive (in part because not having license, in part because I'm so horribly distracted that I'd be in accidents every ten feet behind the wheel).
...and I realized that before the advent of smart phones, Google Apps, hands-free phones, etc.
As a result, I try to cover that lack of driving capability with other skillsets/resources.
If I'm a 'road trip' with someone:
1. At least one tank of gas is out of my pocket.
2. At least one sit-down meal of the driver's choice while on the road out of my pocket.
3. If I notice the driver showing signs of fatigue and we are not close to our destination the hotel room for the driver to crash (if desired) also out of my pocket. Trying to push through is NOT worth dying over.
4. If *I* am tired I check with the driver FIRST to make sure it's okay for me to nap.
EDIT:
About six months after that, someone I knew from a WoD LARP went off the road at an exceptional rate of speed. They weren't intoxicated, they had fallen asleep at the wheel in the area around Falls Church, VA. There was very little left of them or the car.
As an aside, I would do anything to bring back Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pies.
As an aside, I would do anything to bring back Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pies.
Have you checked their bathroom?
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As an aside, I would do anything to bring back Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pies.
Probably won't happen, I fear. There were only four of them, and you can't make many pies out of one Ninja Turtle, even if you bulk it out with filler.
Freehold can have mine if we manage to get any. I am not particularly inclined to a mutagenic sewer turtle pie.
Hmmm. Mutagens...
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Teensy Valeros and I tried out a new arcade in our neighborhood this evening. A good mix of new games (mostly Japanese imports, like one that was a lot like Street Fighter, except it was ultimate frisbee instead of kung fu) and classic games (because Galaga and Dig Dug are eternal). We spent a good 45 minutes on Gauntlet II, with each of us trying to run two characters at the same time.
I have yet to find an arcade that has Paperboy, which is the one I burned the most quarters trying unsuccessfully
to beat in high school.
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When I first started driving , I conked out about 10 miles from home. Next day a neighbor who behind me most of the way told me how nice it was to see a young man doing the speed limit and using turn signals.
Which is why I'll pull over at a rest stop and conk out on a picnic bench if I'm anywhere near that tired again.
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Nothing like sitting there hour after hour watching an IT guy who obviously knows less than you do trying to fix your computer.
Yesterday afternoon a very competent IT guy tried to help me from 3:00 - 5:30 pm, which was annoying, since it was supposed to be an early 3:30 pm day for me, but at least he clearly knew what he was doing. Unfortunately, at the end of the day he couldn't do anything unless we de-encrypted my drive, and the Global Megacorporation protections re-encrypted it every time he tried, so he eventually had to give up and escalate the ticket to someone who could de-encrypt the drive.
Of course, New Guy contacted me at 11:30 am, meaning I knew my lunch hour was shot. After about half an hour of poking around, he started trying to run a .bat file. About two dozen times. The error message was clear: "You must de-encrypt your drive before running this file." He ignored it, kept trying, then accused me of hitting keys to intentionally mess things up.
Finally, he opened the .bat file. The first 10 lines were basically, "If the drive is encrypted, post this error message and exit." Exactly what we were seeing.
He couldn't figure it out, ran the .bat file another dozen times (with expected results), and is now doing a bunch of other nonsense, none of which is working because... my drive is encrypted.
As much as I complain about some aspects of my job, I'd MUCH rather be doing it than watching an incompetent buffoon ignore the other IT guy, the guy he's talking to, and all the error messages, then wonder why things aren't working...
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I really do hate when our users go to reset the password, then tell me it didn't work.
"Did you get an error message?"
*user reads off the error saying verification didn't match or complexity requirements were not met*
-_-
"Read the smurfing error message" applies to all...
It's hazy today. And not in the good way.
It's hazy today. And not in the good way.
I saw the pictures. Not quite as bad as last year's "Apocalypse Day" in San Francisco, but surprisingly close...
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hazy?
when the Memphis skyline is obscured because of the same smoke, you know it's bad.
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To be fair, trying to get [old codger voice] kids these days [/old codger voice] to understand what a paperboy even is would be tough.Teensy Valeros and I tried out a new arcade in our neighborhood this evening. A good mix of new games (mostly Japanese imports, like one that was a lot like Street Fighter, except it was ultimate frisbee instead of kung fu) and classic games (because Galaga and Dig Dug are eternal). We spent a good 45 minutes on Gauntlet II, with each of us trying to run two characters at the same time.
I have yet to find an arcade that has Paperboy, which is the one I burned the most quarters trying unsuccessfully
to beat in high school.
"So it's like DoorDash, but for your daily twitter feed?"
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Nothing like sitting there hour after hour watching an IT guy who obviously knows less than you do trying to fix your computer.
Yesterday afternoon a very competent IT guy tried to help me from 3:00 - 5:30 pm, which was annoying, since it was supposed to be an early 3:30 pm day for me, but at least he clearly knew what he was doing. Unfortunately, at the end of the day he couldn't do anything unless we de-encrypted my drive, and the Global Megacorporation protections re-encrypted it every time he tried, so he eventually had to give up and escalate the ticket to someone who could de-encrypt the drive.
Of course, New Guy contacted me at 11:30 am, meaning I knew my lunch hour was shot. After about half an hour of poking around, he started trying to run a .bat file. About two dozen times. The error message was clear: "You must de-encrypt your drive before running this file." He ignored it, kept trying, then accused me of hitting keys to intentionally mess things up.
Finally, he opened the .bat file. The first 10 lines were basically, "If the drive is encrypted, post this error message and exit." Exactly what we were seeing.
He couldn't figure it out, ran the .bat file another dozen times (with expected results), and is now doing a bunch of other nonsense, none of which is working because... my drive is encrypted.
As much as I complain about some aspects of my job, I'd MUCH rather be doing it than watching an incompetent buffoon ignore the other IT guy, the guy he's talking to, and all the error messages, then wonder why things aren't working...
I LOVE INCOMPETENCE!
Wait...no...that isn't me.
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"Buffoon" is a sadly under-used word.
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My birthday this year should be interesting. Impus Major is astonishingly interested in family history. He spent hours interviewing both of his grandmothers to find out about their lives, from where they grew up to when they got married to raising their kids to their lives now. He expressed an interest in doing the same with me and GothBard.
So my birthday weekend this year will be a "tour of NobodysHome's life". We finally worked out that a full tour would take 5-6 days, so this year it's going to be "NobodysHome's life up through grad school". We're going to start at the hospital where I was born, drive to my first couple of houses, wander my old hangouts, tour the UC Berkeley campus and Telegraph avenue, and finally head out to Davis to tour UC Davis and then visit the place GothBard and I got married. We're even booked to spend the night at the Motel 6 where I had my "bachelor party".
It should be tons of fun. I wonder what the kids will think of it...
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Just make sure that they buy you lots of books, mugs, random collectibles, and such. We know how much you love those.My birthday this year should be interesting. Impus Major is astonishingly interested in family history. He spent hours interviewing both of his grandmothers to find out about their lives, from where they grew up to when they got married to raising their kids to their lives now. He expressed an interest in doing the same with me and GothBard.
So my birthday weekend this year will be a "tour of NobodysHome's life". We finally worked out that a full tour would take 5-6 days, so this year it's going to be "NobodysHome's life up through grad school". We're going to start at the hospital where I was born, drive to my first couple of houses, wander my old hangouts, tour the UC Berkeley campus and Telegraph avenue, and finally head out to Davis to tour UC Davis and then visit the place GothBard and I got married. We're even booked to spend the night at the Motel 6 where I had my "bachelor party".
It should be tons of fun. I wonder what the kids will think of it...
I will track you down and hurt you...
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Speaking of "interesting", the Celica's AC hasn't been working in years, and since we're likely taking it to Davis and Sacramento in late June, I decided to take it in to the shop to see whether or not they can fix it.
My guess? They'll figure out the problem and either tell me that it'll be a $1500 repair job or that the part is no longer manufactured. Either way, it's more than likely the Celica will continue to be without AC for the rest of its life, but I figure it doesn't hurt to have them diagnose what's wrong.
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I had a friend in college with a car that had a busted A/C. His folks had never bothered getting it looked at, and he didn't for several years either. One day he took it to a mechanic to get the brakes looked at, and said "Hey, can you check the A/C, too" fully expecting to be quoted a complete replacement. Turned out, one of the wires on the switch was broken. The mechanic charged him $5 to fix the wire, and he had great A/C for 3 years. Then his fiancé totaled the car.Speaking of "interesting", the Celica's AC hasn't been working in years, and since we're likely taking it to Davis and Sacramento in late June, I decided to take it in to the shop to see whether or not they can fix it.
My guess? They'll figure out the problem and either tell me that it'll be a $1500 repair job or that the part is no longer manufactured. Either way, it's more than likely the Celica will continue to be without AC for the rest of its life, but I figure it doesn't hurt to have them diagnose what's wrong.
Yeah, we had a bad taillight and these guys saw that the wiring harness had rusted through and they couldn't order a replacement, so they charged me $0 for the diagnosis and handed me a page of eBay listings of old taillights.
Unfortunately, we quickly learned that NONE of the old taillights included harnesses, so Shiro and I built our own.
But yeah, a mechanic who'll be honest with you is worth their weight in gold.
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Unfortunately, we quickly learned that NONE of the old taillights included harnesses, so Shiro and I built our own.
All that time Shiro spends in Fallout 76 building things out of scrap finally paid out? :P
Two "I'm an adventurer" moments from yard work.
Walkings a bit of an issue sometimes, so I have a large sturdy denim sack full of tools. Brush. whack whack whack with the machete. Low stuff, pull out the manual wheed whacker. Roots. out comes the ditch axe.
Yup. ~Literal golf bag of murder weapons.
Mow the lawn. Get to the old mower. Push both lawn mowers at once... wonder if the DM would let me dual wield them.
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Two "I'm an adventurer" moments from yard work.
Walkings a bit of an issue sometimes, so I have a large sturdy denim sack full of tools. Brush. whack whack whack with the machete. Low stuff, pull out the manual wheed whacker. Roots. out comes the ditch axe.
Yup. ~Literal golf bag of murder weapons.
Mow the lawn. Get to the old mower. Push both lawn mowers at once... wonder if the DM would let me dual wield them.
"Hmm. Lawn mowers are Unweildy and normally require two hands but if you have Titan Grip and a Strength modifier of at least +3 under Remastered Rules (16 under 'original PF2') I'd allow it."
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Two "I'm an adventurer" moments from yard work.
Walkings a bit of an issue sometimes, so I have a large sturdy denim sack full of tools. Brush. whack whack whack with the machete. Low stuff, pull out the manual wheed whacker. Roots. out comes the ditch axe.
Yup. ~Literal golf bag of murder weapons.
Mow the lawn. Get to the old mower. Push both lawn mowers at once... wonder if the DM would let me dual wield them.
In the nominal time period most Fantasy RPGs are set in, I'd have thought a lawnmower would just be a serf called Ungerthrick holding a rusty sickle, or possibly a goat.
Spoilsport.
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Is there anything quite as nice as having a presentation to give in 5 minutes and getting the "No internet, secured" notification aince showing up early at 830 am?
No.
There is not. /s
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I really do hate when our users go to reset the password, then tell me it didn't work.
"Did you get an error message?"
*user reads off the error saying verification didn't match or complexity requirements were not met*
-_-
it doesnt help that most websites will tell you the password must be 10 characters long and an upper case and lower case letter.
Then the actual password must contain a special character.
But no not that one.
Oh and you can't use common words
Oh right and no sequences
And you can't make it anything like your last password
But you better remember it!
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it doesnt help that most websites will tell you the password must be 10 characters long and an upper case and lower case letter.
Then the actual password must contain a special character.
But no not that one.
Oh and you can't use common words
Oh right and no sequences
And you can't make it anything like your last password
But you better remember it!
Just. Don't. Get. Me. Started.
- Hyphenated names have been common since medieval England used them to track family lines. Too bad! Government web sites still don't recognize them.- Requiring frequent password changes has been proven to weaken security because users are forced to use easy-to-remember passwords. Too bad! Most companies still require you to change your password every 60-90 days.
- And yes, passwords that can't accept the entire ASCII set are unacceptable. Learn to parse strings or lose your job as a coder.
I don't care what they coded in as long as you tell when I'm picking the password. Putting it on the sign in thing would be handy too "hey, these are the rules we made you follow to make this password, whats your password under those rules?"
Otherwise people have to reset from their email every time, which makes their email a master key to get into everything. Its so safe its dangerous.
Who's the white with healthy bowels who serves surplus pulled chicken to his cat on a trowel?
Limey!
Right on.