You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

[Mr. DS]

When I'm obviously participating in a conversation whether it be on the phone or in person and a third party arrives and stares at me like I'm supposed to drop what I'm doing to pay attention to them.

Also, people who wander around the office looking to ask stupid questions about things.  For example, "Why is this door closed".  Isn't there better things to worry about.

[AndyC]

People who take and take and take, and think it's their right.

I've got a commercial tennant, a hairdresser who is just a snotty, entitled b!tch who mentally never left high school. I have, for the past year, been a pretty laid back landlord, and she's enjoyed a lot of bonuses I didn't have to give her, but I have since discovered that she has a real problem with boundaries as they apply to her. Encroaching on other spaces, sticking her nose into the doings of other tennants, taking all of the extras she's been given as part of her rent and demanding more. And lately, it seems to have come to a head because the air conditioner needs a new motor, and nobody else in the building has a problem with leaving it until it's less of an inconvenience financially. The upstairs apartment tennants bought their own window unit, and I personally prefer hot fresh air to cool recirculated air anyway. Her selfishness is really shining through, not to mention her contempt for people who don't measure up to whatever juvenile standards she's applying.

On the bright side, my wife is now in agreement with me that other means have been exhausted and it's time to bring out the big gun - threat of eviction. I am so looking forward to that, because I know this b!tch isn't even considering the possibility of being thrown out. Hell, you'd think she owned the place, the way she carries on. She's one of those people who assumes she has rights that don't exist. We've reviewed the relevant laws, and we don't have to provide anything but four walls and a roof if it isn't in writing. And if we want her out for any reason, she's entitled to nothing more than a month's notice. Plus, all of the fixtures she's installed (sinks, cabinets, counters, etc.) stay behind, so she pays a stiff penalty even if she wants to leave. And there really isn't another comparable storefront location available in this town, and certainly not for what she's paying. She's in for a rude awakening.

Just leaves me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

[bob]

People just dropping by my house unexpectedly. I know a few people who do this. They always come right when I'm in the middle of something either watching a movie, working (I work from my room), or working on any of my wiritng projects.

[venomx]

My neighbors surround sound system. It's like it was made by The Gods. Thunderous bass. We can't get any sleep.

[Flick James]

People who take and take and take, and think it's their right.

I've got a commercial tennant, a hairdresser who is just a snotty, entitled b!tch who mentally never left high school. I have, for the past year, been a pretty laid back landlord, and she's enjoyed a lot of bonuses I didn't have to give her, but I have since discovered that she has a real problem with boundaries as they apply to her. Encroaching on other spaces, sticking her nose into the doings of other tennants, taking all of the extras she's been given as part of her rent and demanding more. And lately, it seems to have come to a head because the air conditioner needs a new motor, and nobody else in the building has a problem with leaving it until it's less of an inconvenience financially. The upstairs apartment tennants bought their own window unit, and I personally prefer hot fresh air to cool recirculated air anyway. Her selfishness is really shining through, not to mention her contempt for people who don't measure up to whatever juvenile standards she's applying.

On the bright side, my wife is now in agreement with me that other means have been exhausted and it's time to bring out the big gun - threat of eviction. I am so looking forward to that, because I know this b!tch isn't even considering the possibility of being thrown out. Hell, you'd think she owned the place, the way she carries on. She's one of those people who assumes she has rights that don't exist. We've reviewed the relevant laws, and we don't have to provide anything but four walls and a roof if it isn't in writing. And if we want her out for any reason, she's entitled to nothing more than a month's notice. Plus, all of the fixtures she's installed (sinks, cabinets, counters, etc.) stay behind, so she pays a stiff penalty even if she wants to leave. And there really isn't another comparable storefront location available in this town, and certainly not for what she's paying. She's in for a rude awakening.

Just leaves me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

That's a rough one. I don't doubt you at all in regard to the immaturity of the tennant in question. My main question would be, and I'm asking because I don't know, is air conditioning an understood part of the contractual agreement? If it is, then, despite the immaturity of the tennant, I don't know that you can really avoid complying with the demand. And again, I don't know contractual law in Canada, so I may be completely taking out of my ass.

If you are a commercial landlord, then I assume you know more about Canadian contractual law in those regards than myself, who knows absolutely nothing. I imagine, however, it's not totally dissimilar to U.S. contractual agreements in that regard. Is she doing something that warrants eviction? If so, then your simple solution to the problem is self-evident. I'm just wondering what the legal requirements are in Canada for evicting a tennant. I look forward to learning.

[AndyC]

People who take and take and take, and think it's their right.

I've got a commercial tennant, a hairdresser who is just a snotty, entitled b!tch who mentally never left high school. I have, for the past year, been a pretty laid back landlord, and she's enjoyed a lot of bonuses I didn't have to give her, but I have since discovered that she has a real problem with boundaries as they apply to her. Encroaching on other spaces, sticking her nose into the doings of other tennants, taking all of the extras she's been given as part of her rent and demanding more. And lately, it seems to have come to a head because the air conditioner needs a new motor, and nobody else in the building has a problem with leaving it until it's less of an inconvenience financially. The upstairs apartment tennants bought their own window unit, and I personally prefer hot fresh air to cool recirculated air anyway. Her selfishness is really shining through, not to mention her contempt for people who don't measure up to whatever juvenile standards she's applying.

On the bright side, my wife is now in agreement with me that other means have been exhausted and it's time to bring out the big gun - threat of eviction. I am so looking forward to that, because I know this b!tch isn't even considering the possibility of being thrown out. Hell, you'd think she owned the place, the way she carries on. She's one of those people who assumes she has rights that don't exist. We've reviewed the relevant laws, and we don't have to provide anything but four walls and a roof if it isn't in writing. And if we want her out for any reason, she's entitled to nothing more than a month's notice. Plus, all of the fixtures she's installed (sinks, cabinets, counters, etc.) stay behind, so she pays a stiff penalty even if she wants to leave. And there really isn't another comparable storefront location available in this town, and certainly not for what she's paying. She's in for a rude awakening.

Just leaves me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

That's a rough one. I don't doubt you at all in regard to the immaturity of the tennant in question. My main question would be, and I'm asking because I don't know, is air conditioning an understood part of the contractual agreement? If it is, then, despite the immaturity of the tennant, I don't know that you can really avoid complying with the demand. And again, I don't know contractual law in Canada, so I may be completely taking out of my ass.

If you are a commercial landlord, then I assume you know more about Canadian contractual law in those regards than myself, who knows absolutely nothing. I imagine, however, it's not totally dissimilar to U.S. contractual agreements in that regard. Is she doing something that warrants eviction? If so, then your simple solution to the problem is self-evident. I'm just wondering what the legal requirements are in Canada for evicting a tennant. I look forward to learning.

No mention of air conditioning in any agreement. She doesn't have a lease, just a month-to-month arrangement. And my understanding of Ontario law is that I am only required to give sufficient notice to terminate that agreement (in this case, 30 days).

Looks like it might not come to that, though. I'm kind of conflicted about that. On the one hand, I'm glad she seems willing to cooperate, and I can avoid the inconvenience of replacing a tenant. On the other hand, I'm disappointed.

[Flick James]

People who take and take and take, and think it's their right.

I've got a commercial tennant, a hairdresser who is just a snotty, entitled b!tch who mentally never left high school. I have, for the past year, been a pretty laid back landlord, and she's enjoyed a lot of bonuses I didn't have to give her, but I have since discovered that she has a real problem with boundaries as they apply to her. Encroaching on other spaces, sticking her nose into the doings of other tennants, taking all of the extras she's been given as part of her rent and demanding more. And lately, it seems to have come to a head because the air conditioner needs a new motor, and nobody else in the building has a problem with leaving it until it's less of an inconvenience financially. The upstairs apartment tennants bought their own window unit, and I personally prefer hot fresh air to cool recirculated air anyway. Her selfishness is really shining through, not to mention her contempt for people who don't measure up to whatever juvenile standards she's applying.

On the bright side, my wife is now in agreement with me that other means have been exhausted and it's time to bring out the big gun - threat of eviction. I am so looking forward to that, because I know this b!tch isn't even considering the possibility of being thrown out. Hell, you'd think she owned the place, the way she carries on. She's one of those people who assumes she has rights that don't exist. We've reviewed the relevant laws, and we don't have to provide anything but four walls and a roof if it isn't in writing. And if we want her out for any reason, she's entitled to nothing more than a month's notice. Plus, all of the fixtures she's installed (sinks, cabinets, counters, etc.) stay behind, so she pays a stiff penalty even if she wants to leave. And there really isn't another comparable storefront location available in this town, and certainly not for what she's paying. She's in for a rude awakening.

Just leaves me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

That's a rough one. I don't doubt you at all in regard to the immaturity of the tennant in question. My main question would be, and I'm asking because I don't know, is air conditioning an understood part of the contractual agreement? If it is, then, despite the immaturity of the tennant, I don't know that you can really avoid complying with the demand. And again, I don't know contractual law in Canada, so I may be completely taking out of my ass.

If you are a commercial landlord, then I assume you know more about Canadian contractual law in those regards than myself, who knows absolutely nothing. I imagine, however, it's not totally dissimilar to U.S. contractual agreements in that regard. Is she doing something that warrants eviction? If so, then your simple solution to the problem is self-evident. I'm just wondering what the legal requirements are in Canada for evicting a tennant. I look forward to learning.

No mention of air conditioning in any agreement. She doesn't have a lease, just a month-to-month arrangement. And my understanding of Ontario law is that I am only required to give sufficient notice to terminate that agreement (in this case, 30 days). Looks like it might not come to that, though.

I was curious more than anything, but I also would hate to see a fellow member do something that got them into hot water legally. Looks like you're free to tackle it however you want. Rereading your initial post I see that I didn't even need to ask. Silly me.

[Flick James]

College professors that can't give a f***ing straight answer.

I'm in an MBA program, and my current professor awards a fairly hefty amount of points (more than usual) for participation. That is, showing up and contributing to class meetings. Okay. Great.

So, I'm in there last week, attending class even though I was pretty ill, because I am struggling a little with the class and need every point I can get. However, I was really feeling like dog s**t and was desperate to go home and get the rest I'd been struggling to get for a couple of days. So I pulled him aside and said "Yes. I really need whatever points I can get, so if I leave early will it affect my participation points for tonight? If I'm going to lose points, then I'm just going to tough it out." He basically said "No. You've got to take care of your health. Go for it. No problem."

I made it very clear that I didn't want to lose points. So, maybe I'm crazy, but I took his response as a reassurance that I wouldn't. So, I check out my points and he of course deducted some points for leaving early.

WTF! He is a bit of a hardass, but if he's actually misleading me intentionally and taking points away, what a dick! I emailed him and asked him respectfully if I misunderstood something. Hopefully it was just an oversight, but I doubt it.

A few classes ago I had a professor that was a total b***h. You go to talk to her about a legitimate problem you're having and she just dismisses it as a non-problem assuring you everything is okay, and then f**k's over your grade. Honestly. I don't expect much, just that you be straight with me. I am becoming increasingly confident that some master's professors intentionally sabotage grades. I never ran into this when I was in my bachelor's program. p**ses me off. Don't I have enough to contend with?

[Jack]

You know those adapters that let you plug a three prong cord into a two prong outlet?  We must have a half a dozen of those things.  When I don't need one, there's one in every damned drawer I open.  Now I need one.  It would be faster to drive to the store and buy another one than to try to find any of them around here.  I mean, where the hell do they all go?

That's what I hate - a 5 minute job turned into 30 minutes of searching the house.

[AndyC]

Malfunctioning machines that put up a fight.

Over the past week, I have been channeling Darren McGavin in A Christmas Story, as I've cursed and kicked and fought with the furnace at the shop. The blower motor finally burned out, leaving the building without air conditioning. With money being tight, and me being tight with money where professionals are concerned, a contractor was out of the question.

The motor started running slow and noisy and hot, and finally wouldn't start. Just sat there and hummed. I kept it going for one more day by taking the cover off and manually giving the blower a spin to get it started (yes, I know I shouldn't do that). When that stopped working, I tested the capacitor. It was fine. Not wanting to replace the motor right away, I tried switching a couple of connections to work around what was apparently a bad winding, and it ran reasonably well for a couple more days before going belly-up once again. Just as I was feeling pretty damned proud of fixing the furnace without spending a cent, and thinking it would last until fall, the %$$&$&$@#%$@ thing does it to me again. So, I had to buy a motor, a mounting bracket, a capacitor and miscellaneous bits and pieces - altogether about $250.

Which brings me to another thing that bothers me. Who decides what building stores carry and what they don't? If I wanted to install ductwork or gas pipe or any kind of electrical installation, a water pump or whatever, they have everything I could possibly want. A furnace blower motor? Nobody carries them. Which meant driving for an hour to the nearest heating contractor who actually has a small parts store.

Then the simple replacement ended up taking a lot longer than it should have, for the same reason most of my auto repairs do - the old parts are totally seized and stuck together, but still require care to separate without doing more damage. That and they're always in some spot I can't get a hammer or a wrench into very easily. But I finished it, and it started right up and ran just fine- I thought.

The past couple of days, I noticed it wasn't really moving a lot of air. So, I opened it up again to see if I could change the speed setting. And after wrestling with that, I finally stopped assuming the old motor was wired correctly in the first place and consulted the diagram on the inside of the cover, only to discover that it wasn't. Probably one of the reasons it burned out. Running at low speed with the AC, once the weather got really hot, it ran almost constantly and never did quite cool the building effectively, or move enough air to keep things from icing up and tripping the breaker for the compressor. There was condensation on that thing like crazy, which also couldn't have helped.

Now, I am once again covered in dirt and grease, but sitting in an office that is nice and cool. Finally.

Now I just have to address the computer that has defied every attempt at diagnosis, leaving a bad motherboard as the most likely candidate. Inconvenient enough without there being a RAID 0 array I'd rather not risk any more by using a different chipset that might not recognize it. This being about a five-year-old machine, there is just one such board still being manufactured, and it took some effort to find it.

Then maybe I can do something with that f**king lawnmower that runs like a bag of poo.

Did I mention the family car needed head gaskets and struts this spring?

There are times I absolutely hate machines.

[Flick James]

There are times I absolutely hate machines.

Yeah, it's just too bad they don't have feelings.

[AndyC]

There are times I absolutely hate machines.

Yeah, it's just too bad they don't have feelings.

Are you sure? There are times when I almost think they're conspiring against me.

[Flick James]

There are times I absolutely hate machines.

Yeah, it's just too bad they don't have feelings.

Are you sure? There are times when I almost think they're conspiring against me.

Well, maybe, but they don't have souls, so I'm guessing they also don't have feelings.

[Jack]

I love living in a house that was built in the '60s, and every time you want to fix something, you get a replacement part - but they've changed the spec's just ever-so-slightly since your original part was made.  Look at it in the store - identical to the old part.  Too bad the bolts - which have identical threads - have been increased in diameter by about 1/5th of a millimeter, just enough so they go halfway in and it would take 100 lbs of torque to get another turn out of them. 

Or the bathtub overflow thing, where you open and close the drain.  It goes over a metal plate which has got a couple of bumps on it - in just the right place to keep you from getting the new cover on it, so it's about 2 degrees out of alignment and you can't get the screws to go in all the way.  The old screws that is - the new ones that came with the part are three times too long   

I mean, would it really kill them to standardize this junk?  Is there any reason they have to change the size of the bolts that hold the faucets onto a laundry tub?  Was there a rash of breakages, and the industry decided to increase the bolt diameter by 1%?   

[Flick James]

I mean, would it really kill them to standardize this junk?  Is there any reason they have to change the size of the bolts that hold the faucets onto a laundry tub?  Was there a rash of breakages, and the industry decided to increase the bolt diameter by 1%?

Probably.