- People who leave shopping carts scattered in the parking lot. This has always bothered me as loose carts tend to block otherwise open parking spaces, and is just a sign of general laziness as a cart rack is usually no more than ten to twenty yards away. I can't say this is a totally unmet need as Aldi has come up with a good solution with their "Quarter Locks" as I like to call them. In order to get a shopping cart at Aldi one must put a quarter in the little receiver to unlock it from the rack. If you return it at the end you get your quarter back and from what I have seen this system works.
- People who do not use turn signals when turning or changing lanes. This is a safety hazard especially since the ones who never seem to signal are usually the ones distracted by their phones.
- Large brick power transformers. This is likely a common complaint. Most of or modern electronics run of of DC, which means in order to power our devices a transformer has to be used to convert line AC to DC. This often results in a large brick with the receptacle built in. These bricks can block multiple outlets on a power strip which limits its usefulness. The solution to this would be to include a small extension with the transformers similar to a laptop charger, although this of course would raise the cost of materials.
- People being generally rude. There simply is no excuse for it. Holding open a door for someone or returning a friendly greeting from a passer-by takes little to no effort. The world is a bad enough place as it is, being generally kind and respectful makes it a little more bearable.
- Stop lights without any sort of variable timing. Getting caught at a stop light late at night and sitting through a whole cycle with out a single car crossing your path is frustrating and wasteful. With cost of integrated electronics and the "Internet of Things" coming to fruition, it's high time our traffic control infrastructure was updated to keep pace. I would estimate that the cost to the public treasury would be offset by the overall savings to society.
- Click-bait trash. The internet was supposed to bring the combined knowledge of mankind to the masses. All it seems to bring anymore are selfies and click-bait trash. Finding legitimate, unbiased information seems harder now than ever before. "Journalists" no longer make their money by investigating and seeking the truth, they make it by throwing together fifteen screen shots of twitter that "Perfectly describe being a 90's kid", supported by ad's that are probably loaded up with Java exploits.
- Netflix asking if you are still watching. I understand this is a useful feature if you fall asleep, but Netflix has changed how we consume media. They should take that into account they next time they force you to move for the first time in three hours.
- People who bring their vehicles to get lettered without washing them first. This complaint is unique to my line of work, but if you want me to put a bunch of vinyl logos and lettering on your vehicle, wash it first. Otherwise you may not be happy with the result.
- Not having the ability to adjust alignment on cuts. Another specific of sign shops. When producing a large number of small decals, they are printed in one large sheet and run through a plotter to cut them to the desired shape. The problem is that sometimes the weight of the material causes the alignment to shift as it is run back and forth along the x-axis. There is no way to stop and change the alignment once it goes off and the result can be half or more of a run can be wasted.
- Chronic Procrastinators. Can be frustrating to anyone in any made to order industry. Being a small shop with relatively old equipment, we rely on our skills and customer service to stay competitive. This means if your deadline is tomorrow and you forgot about it until today, we will do our best, but the quality may suffer. Take your time and do it right.
- The line at the Chick-Fil-A on Causeway and Providence. About the only fast food i can eat without feeling greasy and ill, but the line is always stretching around the building at almost any hour of the day.
- Lack of public water fountains. Florida summers can be brutal, and with obesity at all time highs people could use some encouragement to leave their A/C'd comfort for a while to get some exercise. A refreshing water fountain can really help to offset the effects of our "Surface of the sun" ambient temperature.
- Ineffective and wasteful government. Has plagued man since the dawn of civilization and still no one has found the answer.
- Home owner's associations. While they personally don't effect me I have many clients that they do. To me the thought of paying someone to tell you what you can and can't do on your own property seems ludicrous. Those same people reserve the right to confiscate your own property for failing to pay their ransom. I suppose the comparison could be made to property tax, but at least property tax provides funding to local schools. The only thing HOA fees fund are gates, and guys like me to make more signs telling you what you can't do. I don't claim that their should be no organization on the neighborhood level, but many HOA's act like petty tyrants.
- Everyone has Fibre but me. Every other building in my complex has FIOS except mine. As a result i have VDSL, and am paying more for slower speeds than I was when I had FIOS.
- The 9 A.M. Lotto player. Usually retired, disabled, or simply out of work; They're in their pajamas going for the true variety pack of lotto tickets, and are keeping you from buying your coffee and getting to work on time. There is no solution to this problem that I can see other than adding another cashier.
- Poor service at retail stores. Not to say all retail workers don't care, but there are those who simply can't be bothered to help you. This problem has many causes beyond the individual. Working a menial job for little pay is hard, I know, but we all have to get through it. I have found that taking pride in your work can be difficult in circumstances like these, but it is necessary to get through it with some level of dignity intact.
- Celebrity gossip. As previously mentioned journalism is in a bad way. The situation is made worse when stories about celebrity gossip constantly overshadow coverage of major world events. When more people are concerned with what happens with the Kardashians than with Syria there is a serious problem.
- Double Parking. If you can't fit your Honda Civic in a single parking space in a crowded parking lot I don't think you need a license.
- Chronic Complainers. While ironic on a list of complaints, there are few things worse than a person that simply can't stop complaining. Life is hard, and all of us have to deal with things on a daily basis that make us want to pull our hair out. But everyone has problems and we are all in this together. I have found that once you stop complaining, the answer usually makes itself clear.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
My Bug List
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Week 2
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Hi Luke! I found it really cool that a few of the things that bother you come from your job. I think the fact that you can see problems and solutions to the problems at work makes you a great employee and shows how much you care about your job. Some of the things that bothered us were similar in that it was things about people, rather than physical and resolvable problems. If you want to check out how the things that bothered us were similar go to my blog: http://katieaustintx.blogspot.com/2016/01/my-bug-list.html
ReplyDeleteHey man! I see that you are bugged by some most of the things i get bugged too. There really is a lot of problems in our community and and you have identified them spot on. I really think that we can all do better as a community to make everything a lot better.
ReplyDeleteI found myself agreeing with a lot of the points on your bug list. Especially number 1 about the carts; I work at a grocery store and we all dread having to go out and get carts, especially since we don't have an automatic cart collector and only two cart corrals. I personally could not make a full list myself because I tried to stick to problems that could be solved by entrepreneurship in some way and I found it very difficult. You can check out my bug list on my blog here: http://kmorton-entrepreneurship.blogspot.com/2016/01/bug-list.html
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