So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[Edward]

I remember participating in one, and only one, "The world is coming to an end, the bombs are dropping, and the only thing that can possibly keep you alive is hiding under this piece of **** bought-on-a-budget desk that will act as kindling to make sure you kids ignite faster" drill when I was in elementary school. I'm pretty sure the only thing anyone learned that day was that the desks were too small for two elementary school students to take shelter under at the same time.

I'm a born cynic, but I tend to feel the same way about 99% of safety drills. I find the ones on aeroplanes especially egregious: that thing falls out of the sky, we're all dead. No need for a lifejacket and an inflatable slide... I can only tolerate them with a mix of a music player or newspaper and the knowledge that they probably only do them as an insurance requirement. I know the brace position is designed to preserve your teeth (to identify the body), and the thing about putting the shade up during landing and take-off (the most likely points at which to have a crash) is again so they can look in the window and see who they need to get to fast (i.e. anyone showing any signs of life).

 

[MisterCairo]

I remember participating in one, and only one, "The world is coming to an end, the bombs are dropping, and the only thing that can possibly keep you alive is hiding under this piece of **** bought-on-a-budget desk that will act as kindling to make sure you kids ignite faster" drill when I was in elementary school. I'm pretty sure the only thing anyone learned that day was that the desks were too small for two elementary school students to take shelter under at the same time.

Today, they would not be able to maintain the six feet of "social distancing" necessary to shelter properly...

 

[Zombie_61]

I'm a born cynic, but I tend to feel the same way about 99% of safety drills. I find the ones on aeroplanes especially egregious: that thing falls out of the sky, we're all dead. No need for a lifejacket and an inflatable slide... I can only tolerate them with a mix of a music player or newspaper and the knowledge that they probably only do them as an insurance requirement. I know the brace position is designed to preserve your teeth (to identify the body), and the thing about putting the shade up during landing and take-off (the most likely points at which to have a crash) is again so they can look in the window and see who they need to get to fast (i.e. anyone showing any signs of life).

Oh, I'm sure you're correct about the reasons for those airplane safety speeches and protocols. They aren't about saving lives as much as making it easier to identify remains after the burning twisted metal comes to a stop.

Today, they would not be able to maintain the six feet of "social distancing" necessary to shelter properly...

If nuclear warheads were on their way to my location I'm pretty sure the Coronavirus protocols would drop way down on my "priorities" list.

 

[AmateisGal]

Trivial...yet really ticks me off:

I moved to an apartment complex in April (selling my house after the divorce and it's time to move on), and two people in particular have seen fit to walk their dog RIGHT NEXT TO MY PATIO and let the dog pee where my birdfeeder is. My dog Blitz goes absolutely nuts when he sees them through the patio door. I just can't fathom how some people think that they should get that close to my patio when we have a HUGE commons area where they can go.

I'm approaching the "Get off my lawn!" stage and asked my apartment complex manager what to do. She said she'd take care of it, and both culprits have stayed away for now.

Another matter? People throwing their cigarette butts on my patio. GRRRR.

These are the things with apartment living that I do not enjoy, BUT, I sure do like not having to mow my own lawn, worry about fixing stuff that breaks down, and cleaning an entire house. I think these little bugaboo issues are worth it.

 

[tonyb]

...

Another matter? People throwing their cigarette butts on my patio. GRRRR.
...

I’m sure I’ve already mentioned this a time or ten, but back in my cigarette smoking days I tossed out god only knows how many thousands of butts here, there, anywhere, as did millions upon millions of my fellow nicotine fiends.

People take cues from their surroundings. Litter breeds litter. It took decades to get to this point, where smoking is anything but glamorous and tossing out cigarette butts is decidedly frowned upon by most of us.

 

[LizzieMaine]

People in my neighborhood let their elephantine dogs drop enormous love offerings in my front yard -- and only *my* front yard, no doubt figuring that since I can't and don't keep my grubby little patch of grass and dandelions finished pool-table smooth, it doesn't matter. None of my gentrified bourgie neighbors ever seem to have this problem, but it never fails that I do.

I have a great big bag of cat droppings I need to do something with today, and I'm just full of ideas.

 

[Trenchfriend]

@AmateisGal
Could it be helpful to mount a "Here's no ashtray/garbage can!!" warning sign on the fence? In Germany, I see people doing this everywhere and it seems to help.

 

[GHT]

People in my neighborhood let their elephantine dogs drop enormous love offerings in my front yard -- and only *my* front yard, no doubt figuring that since I can't and don't keep my grubby little patch of grass and dandelions finished pool-table smooth, it doesn't matter. None of my gentrified bourgie neighbors ever seem to have this problem, but it never fails that I do.
I have a great big bag of cat droppings I need to do something with today, and I'm just full of ideas.

You could try a barrier, not necessarily a fence type, a good effective way is a border, but rather than flowers, fill it with sharp pebbles. Another way, one that I use to deter other's cats, is a hidden sprinkler, the connecting hose is buried so only the sprinkler is visible. It scares the cats off so it could be effective with dogs too. You can get repellents but anything pungent like vinegar, paprika, cayenne pepper or chilli powder will be enough to have any dog giving your dandelions a miss.

 

[AmateisGal]

@AmateisGal
Could it be helpful to mount a "Here's no ashtray/garbage can!!" warning sign on the fence? In Germany, I see people doing this everywhere and it seems to help.

I reported it to my apartment complex manager and asked if I could say something; she said that they generally encourage tenants not to deal with these problems themselves. She said she would send them letters (My daughter took pictures of the offenders because she was right there when they did it - and they even saw her through the window and SMILED at her). We don't have a fence to put any sign on.

 

[AmateisGal]

People in my neighborhood let their elephantine dogs drop enormous love offerings in my front yard -- and only *my* front yard, no doubt figuring that since I can't and don't keep my grubby little patch of grass and dandelions finished pool-table smooth, it doesn't matter. None of my gentrified bourgie neighbors ever seem to have this problem, but it never fails that I do.

I have a great big bag of cat droppings I need to do something with today, and I'm just full of ideas.

Oh Lizzie, I hope you do something because those people deserve it.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

People in my neighborhood let their elephantine dogs drop enormous love offerings in my front yard -- and only *my* front yard, no doubt figuring that since I can't and don't keep my grubby little patch of grass and dandelions finished pool-table smooth, it doesn't matter. None of my gentrified bourgie neighbors ever seem to have this problem, but it never fails that I do.

I have a great big bag of cat droppings I need to do something with today, and I'm just full of ideas.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Trivial...yet really ticks me off:

I moved to an apartment complex in April (selling my house after the divorce and it's time to move on), and two people in particular have seen fit to walk their dog RIGHT NEXT TO MY PATIO and let the dog pee where my birdfeeder is. My dog Blitz goes absolutely nuts when he sees them through the patio door. I just can't fathom how some people think that they should get that close to my patio when we have a HUGE commons area where they can go.

I'm approaching the "Get off my lawn!" stage and asked my apartment complex manager what to do. She said she'd take care of it, and both culprits have stayed away for now.

Another matter? People throwing their cigarette butts on my patio. GRRRR.

These are the things with apartment living that I do not enjoy, BUT, I sure do like not having to mow my own lawn, worry about fixing stuff that breaks down, and cleaning an entire house. I think these little bugaboo issues are worth it.

Last year we (temporarily: for ten and a half months) had to rent a house to live in after being homeowners for over three decades. The whole experience was a nightmare. I'll spare you the gory details, but I found that the transformation from homeowner to tenant was especially unsettling, particularly in light of the fact that at one point we were paying mortgages on two homes in addition to the rental of where we lived.

Finally sold our first home and, when my wife retired, we moved over 2,100 miles to our retirement venue. Townhome, and all landscaping and lawn care is covered through our HOA fees. It's as if I have died and gone to heaven, but I wonder if that rental interlude doesn't make me appreciate it even more.

 

[Touchofevil]

I am that guy who mows more often than most and keeps the sidewalk and gutter weed free and pretty darn clean of leaves and garbage so I too am annoyed greatly by dropped cigarette butts, dog poo, and all other garbage left in front and on my property. I was annoyed with the firework leavings left in the middle of the street in front of my house when we came back home the day after the Fourth of July. Pick up your crap people!

 

[Touchofevil]

People around here seem to burn something all year round. It is too hot and too dry to burn whatever it is that is being burned. And it stinks as well, idiots.

 

[belfastboy]

Last year we (temporarily: for ten and a half months) had to rent a house to live in after being homeowners for over three decades. The whole experience was a nightmare. I'll spare you the gory details, but I found that the transformation from homeowner to tenant was especially unsettling, particularly in light of the fact that at one point we were paying mortgages on two homes in addition to the rental of where we lived.

Finally sold our first home and, when my wife retired, we moved over 2,100 miles to our retirement venue. Townhome, and all landscaping and lawn care is covered through our HOA fees. It's as if I have died and gone to heaven, but I wonder if that rental interlude doesn't make me appreciate it even more.

We were single family home owners for 20+ years before we moved into our present townhouse. Our HOA fee is $325 per month and a big chunk of that is for gardening (we have beautiful grounds/flowers etc). The funny thing is I enjoy not having the yard work and do not hesitate to pay the HOA fee but NEVER would have thought or allowed myself to spend the same money on having someone do my yard work back when we owned a single family home. Weird how i manage to frame or compartmentalize expenditures for the same service and allow one to be OK and the other never considered.

 

[GHT]

Our HOA fee is $325 per month and a big chunk of that is for gardening (we have beautiful grounds/flowers etc). The funny thing is I enjoy not having the yard work and do not hesitate to pay the HOA fee but NEVER would have thought or allowed myself to spend the same money on having someone do my yard work back when we owned a single family home. Weird how i manage to frame or compartmentalize expenditures for the same service and allow one to be OK and the other never considered.

HOA fee was a new one on me, a quick check found it to be Home Owners Associations. Now I understand, and what you get for your money. My missus and I have never had any compunction about domestic help. We refer to them as fairies. We have a husband & wife team of gardening fairies, we also have an ironing fairy and we have a domestic help fairy, she is very good with a vacuum cleaner, duster and polishing spray can. Our cars are washed at a local hand wash centre, (car wash fairies) we employ painting and decorating fairies when the place needs redecorating and we have a number of others that we call upon like a carpenter, plumber, electrician, computer expert and so on. It seems like I'm boasting but truth is, I'm useless at DIY, in fact my missus has dubbed DIY as being: Don't Involve Yourself. So I don't.

 

[belfastboy]

HOA fee was a new one on me, a quick check found it to be Home Owners Associations. Now I understand, and what you get for your money. My missus and I have never had any compunction about domestic help. We refer to them as fairies. We have a husband & wife team of gardening fairies, we also have an ironing fairy and we have a domestic help fairy, she is very good with a vacuum cleaner, duster and polishing spray can. Our cars are washed at a local hand wash centre, (car wash fairies) we employ painting and decorating fairies when the place needs redecorating and we have a number of others that we call upon like a carpenter, plumber, electrician, computer expert and so on. It seems like I'm boasting but truth is, I'm useless at DIY, in fact my missus has dubbed DIY as being: Don't Involve Yourself. So I don't.

HOA is more a US term. In Canada we call them Strata Fees as the title of the land is held in Strata and we own a share but the grounds are managed by a council on behalf of the Strata Corp. Insurance, gardening, and the maintenance of the outside of the structure are all the responsibility of the Strata Corp not the individual owner. In British terms we are semi detached with the land in strata not freehold.

We have been very fortunate as we have had great volunteer councils in the 28 years we have lived here. Very cost conscious so our Strata fees are lower than average with a goodly amount of money in the contingency fund (for major repairs). It works well for us as we usually are travelling 4-6 months of the year so when we leave we just lock the door and go.

 

[Zombie_61]

People around here seem to burn something all year round. It is too hot and too dry to burn whatever it is that is being burned. And it stinks as well, idiots.

Wow, I wonder what that could be...

 

[Touchofevil]

That was actually one of the things burning and although I dislike that smell too, it wasn’t the one I was complaining about.

 

[tonyb]

Last year we (temporarily: for ten and a half months) had to rent a house to live in after being homeowners for over three decades. The whole experience was a nightmare. I'll spare you the gory details, but I found that the transformation from homeowner to tenant was especially unsettling, particularly in light of the fact that at one point we were paying mortgages on two homes in addition to the rental of where we lived.

Finally sold our first home and, when my wife retired, we moved over 2,100 miles to our retirement venue. Townhome, and all landscaping and lawn care is covered through our HOA fees. It's as if I have died and gone to heaven, but I wonder if that rental interlude doesn't make me appreciate it even more.

I’ve owned rental property, and I’ve been a renter. And I’ve owned a vacant property that threatened to bleed me dry if it remained unsold for long. It was a great relief to be rid of it.

I used to be baffled by the appeal of condos. It seemed to me a marriage of the worst of renting and homeownership.

But the older I get the more I understand it. At a certain point many just want a pleasant enough, relatively hassle-free, stable place to call home. And we’ve owned enough stand-alone property to know that even when you “own” it the bills keep coming. May as well pay a monthly HOA fee.