GPS Hell! #HateTheSlash

Today, GPS systems, regardless of stand alone or via app are vital to our transportation needs and have become more and more robust over the years. It is an excellent tool that has made my family vacations and commutes to unfamiliar areas worry-free and making the big folding map and three feet by two feet Atlas book obsolete.   YEAH FOR THAT!!!

Sometimes this wonderful tool can be very ANNOYING.  Until recently the only thing that I personally thought to be bothersome, but excusable, about a typical trip using a GPS was that it could misinterpret where your vehicle was when you were too close to other streets or on big city interstate intersection like the famous Spaghetti Junction in Atlanta, Georgia, which is formally named the "Tom Moreland Interchange".  As you can see from the picture below, it is very easy and understandable for the confusion to exist.

Spaghetti Junction, Atlanta GA

Now that we have determined that there are excusable "glitches" lets talk about the annoying inexcusable glitches...

What is up with all these multiple street names for the same road????  On a recent commute to a larger city near me, while using my GPS, via Google Maps, I discovered the MULTIPLE STREET NAME GLITCH!  

Does this happen to you??????????????????

It makes absolutely no sense to me that the exit that I am about to take should have 5 names associated with it.  Will that street have five different names throughout the course of it's existence??? Sure that is most definitely possible! Do I need to know EVERY ONE OF THEM before they are even 5, 10 or even 20 miles from me??? NO, I DO NOT!!!

Help me spread the word to rid the GPS world of the INEXCUSABLE SLASH! #HateTheSlash

Why All The Damn Cups!!!!!

Can anybody else relate to this image???  
I cannot stand for different cups to be used throughout the day by ONE individual.
(image below says it all...)

It can get a little difficult keeping up with which cup belongs to who especially if everybody is drinking the same thing and all the cups are the same....

These are the glasses my family insist on using.

It is also difficult to determine who's cup belongs to who even if they all have a different drink when the cups they insist on using are glasses that are dark in color.  Can you guess what is in each of the glasses below???   Maybe it is water, kool aid, or lemonade.

Can you guess what is in each glass above?

I decided I was going to assign cups to everybody.  Many of the suggestions I discovered were to assign certain cup color to each person. I agree color cups are the best solution for most families but in my family I have 3 kids; my 40 year old husband, our oldest who is 20 and our youngest who is 10. Since our ages are spread across multiple decades and because the above glasses turned me away from any cup that has a color, I believe the best solution to be a Tervis design cup!

Perfect solution to unknown cups

You can buy them just about any department store and even Bed Bath and Beyond but I actually bought mine at the actual Tervis boutique store in downtown historic Savannah while on my mini honeymoon last month. It is right across the street from The Lady's and Sons restaurant owned by Paula Deen.  You can't miss it!!!

Top Three Annoying Things - May 2015

Pet Peeves.... the things that we just cannot tolerate and what annoys us the most.  We all have them, and some even more than others.  Trust me when I say; I have a lot of them.  The top most annoying pet peeves for this month are....

1. I cannot stand for people to ask nosey questions that have no rational or necessity for them to know the answer to it. 

Examples:
Q1: Why is that DVD in your car? 
Nice response:  Because I forgot to take it out.
What I thought:  Why are you asking me that? This is my car not yours and it is none of your business.

Q2 (Rebuttal to Q1): Why is the DVD even in the car?
Nice response: Because I took it to a friends house so they could watch it.
What I thought:  Ask me one more question about this and see what happens.  Nosey Ass! 

2. I cannot stand certain sounds. 

For some reason, I am sensitive to certain sounds sometimes only in certain situations.  I think there is an actual medical condition for it --- but I have not looked into it.

Examples:

• Potato chip bags - In my house, you have to put you snacks in a small container.  DO NOT EAT CHIPS OUT OF THE BAG!  Ugh!!!
• Repetitive tapping - Pens or fingernails tapping against books or tabletops over and over and over. 
• Toddler tantrums - Ugh --- I cannot stand when toddlers throw tantrums in the middle of the store.  Then the parents just ignore them and I have to tolerate it.  I just want to smack the parents and say --- Beat their butts or take your ass home and come back without your kid.  Don't get me wrong --- I understand people of all ages can have bad days but you know the difference between tantrum and moody.  Frankly tantrums are a failure of a parent not the child.
• There are so many more --- but this all I am going to include here.

3. I cannot stand bad tables manners. 
It amazes me how many children, teens and even adults have bad table manners - ESPECIALLY IN PUBLIC SITUATIONS.  I am not talking 5 star restaurants etiquette where you need to know the placement and usage for each of the 20+ in the place setting - I am talking table etiquette 101 basics.

Examples:

• Licking your fingers is just plain nasty.  Use a freaking napkin.
• Eating non finger food with you fingers.  I know there are some foods that are questionable and could be eaten either with fingers or utensils, but I have seen some inexcusable finger usage for entrees.  Have you seen someone eat pastas with their fingers (meat sauce and all)?  How about someone tear a piece of steak with their fingers, dip it in sauce and eat it? Neither are a sight that I particularly want to see.  I have even suggested to use the utensils in both of these situations and got a it's to much of a hassle.  Using a fork and knife is a hassle?!?!  (words I never thought I would hear uttered).
• Knife cutting skills that look as if you are auditioning for 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'.  It's more than likely already dead ---- ease up.
• Talking with your mouth full of food.  This is plain and simple---Do not talk with you mouth full.  I don't know how many times my mother reminded me of this when I was younger.  (Thank you Mom!)
• Chewing with your mouth open - Yuk.  I don't want to get front row seats to your "see food diet" so close your lips.  It is not that hard!  Reminder your self each time you take a bit.
• there are so many more --- but I will leave it for a later posts.

I will say this --- table manners are CRUCIAL in corporate America.  When you climb the corporate ladder and have executive lunch events or even interviews --- I guarantee, no matter how well written your resume is or how experienced you are, if you do not have basics table manners you will NOT be the chosen candidate.  Leaders are expected to be well rounded and that includes table manners.

So what are you thoughts?  What bugs you?

~BB

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