Things that p*&s me off - part 1

There's many things that p*&s me off but I suppose I can start with a select few:

• Since this is online - the New York Times. It's a great paper, a great website, but do I really need a pop up definition of every word I click on in an article? Maybe the NY Times thinks Americans can't spell? Well...


• Car drivers that don't indicate their turns - or if they do, they do it right as they are turning. How hard is it? Grrrr! Related group - who are these idiots that get hit by trains at level crossings? Usually having ignored flashing lights, ringing bells and sometimes driving around the barriers - what are these people like driving in cities? "Oooh, look at those pretty lights!" [If you want to commit suicide, do it where you're not going to stop a train full of travellers - suicide should be solitary]


• Overall group - British plumbing. Careful flat searching can avoid this but Britain seems to have a lack of: reliably flushing toilets (a button flush? How hard is this?!); water pressure in taps (and notably showers); a lack of mixer taps (and some that look like them but don't actually mix!); crappy electrical in-shower heating (power shower my foot!); and unreliable water heating. How hard is it to have a good shower here?! [touch wood, my flat seems OK at the moment]


• People who use the speaker phone capability of their mobile phones in public. Not only do we not want to hear who you're talking to (anything really interesting is probably being whispered into a phone) but it's a speaker phone - you don't need to speak louder - that's the point of a telephone!


• British bureaucracy (well, some noticeable examples of it) that, by default, will say no to any question if they don't know the answer rather than finding out if they can say yes. If you don't know, say so and find out. Rare but notable exception - the Post Office, despite being unglamorous, usually seems to actually have lots of answers (and help) once you've made it to the front of the queue.


• Tourists who come to London and complain about the weather - if you want sun go to Greece.

I'll need to post a things that make me smile to balance this :)