My End of the Year List

Every one does lists this time of year and I’m not gonna be any different. It’s a way to celebrate the ending of the previous year and beginning of the new. Except that my list really has nothing to do with last year and very little to do with next year. My list is just “What’s pissing me off right now.”

  1. My wife. You show me someone whose spouse doesn’t piss them off and I’ll show you someone living alone. Don’t get me wrong. I love my wife to death. I wouldn’t be able to find my socks without her. But my wife is always dragging me into the middle of some hair-brained scheme. It’s like living with Lucy Ricardo only with skills and I’m Ricky Ricardo only without the accent. But just like those two, we always hug it out at the end of the episode.

  1. Television Commercials. When I was a broadcaster the kids would complain about TV commercials. I would remind them that those spots paid my salary and kept them fed. So the saying became “Don’t complain with your mouth full.” I don’t have a problem with commercials as long as they are the least bit creative. The problem is most of them, sadly, are the least bit creative. My other problem is with shows where the same spot is played over and over each break. How many times in a row do you have to try to sell me something with the same cute dog until the story loses it’s cuteness? About three times. After that I get pissed off.
  1. Web Pages Loaded With Internet Ads. Hey, I have ads on this site, but so far they are only web optimized jpegs promoting my own products or affiliate programs of products that I use. They are only in two sections of the page and limited to way less than half a dozen. What pisses me off are those web pages with huge animated or video ads that start playing without permission so you wonder who the hell’s talking. And how ’bout those ads that come in late and actually change the layout of the page while you’re trying to read it. Besides being annoying and pissing me off they are taking up megabits of bandwidth that could be better used downloading videos of kittens.
  1. Wind Chills. “Feels Like Temperature” my ass. If it’s so cold outside that it feels colder than it really is then you don’t even need to assign a number to it. Let’s just call it “F-cking Cold” and be done with it. Putting extra numbers out there just confuses the issue. If the weather guys wanna be prudish they can just put the letters F.C. on the day instead of the temperature. That would convey the same amount of information as this “Feels Like” bullshit.
  1. And my number one thing that pisses me off right now is…! Drum roll please…!  End of the Year Lists! This kind of media filler-fluff only serves to remind people of the past and hold them there. Listing the highlights and lowlights of the old year is only OK if you can learn from it. Otherwise it’s just whining. Get over it and move on. You’re pissing me off.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR from the Curmudgeon!!