What is your pet peeve of the day?

[Sojourner]

OK, here's one that really irked me. I didn't have the cash on hand to pay for a couple tolls while driving in Florida recently, so at the toll plazas they gave me these little "insufficient funds notice" slips that said I needed to remit my payment within 10 days or face some manner of penalties or fines.

Well, when I got back home I looked more carefully at these things, and as I read through them the frustration and annoyance began to bubble up. First, neither one was payable online using a simple web interface or any sort of app. Check or money order by mail only. Then, to make matters worse, each payment had to be mailed to a separate address! And both of these were from toll booths on the same stretch of highway, not more than 3 miles apart! So I had to use two envelopes, two stamps, and make out two separate checks to mail in a grand total of $2.50 to the "cutting-edge technology" state of Florida.

 

[Just_Steve]

$2.50 and you didn't have cash on hand? Hilarious.

 

[Silver]

OK, here's one that really irked me. I didn't have the cash on hand to pay for a couple tolls while driving in Florida recently, so at the toll plazas they gave me these little "insufficient funds notice" slips that said I needed to remit my payment within 10 days or face some manner of penalties or fines.

Well, when I got back home I looked more carefully at these things, and as I read through them the frustration and annoyance began to bubble up. First, neither one was payable online using a simple web interface or any sort of app. Check or money order by mail only. Then, to make matters worse, each payment had to be mailed to a separate address! And both of these were from toll booths on the same stretch of highway, not more than 3 miles apart! So I had to use two envelopes, two stamps, and make out two separate checks to mail in a grand total of $2.50 to the "cutting-edge technology" state of Florida.

Florida likes to make things tough sometimes.

You can pick up a "FastPass" from any Publix for $5.00 and set up an account so cash is never needed, and you save about 5% off the toll cost. Plus...you feel so SPECIAL whizzing through the "FastPass ONLY" lanes.

 

[Sojourner]

Florida likes to make things tough sometimes.

Tell me about it. I usually have some cash on hand, but in this instance--due to having used every bit of it the previous night to pay for something else--I had exactly $0 in cash with me. And I had no idea whatsoever that some toll booths on my route were cash/coin only. I was thinking that might be a nice thing for the smart engineers at Google to add to their mapping app.

You can pick up a "FastPass" from any Publix for $5.00 and set up an account so cash is never needed, and you save about 5% off the toll cost. Plus...you feel so SPECIAL whizzing through the "FastPass ONLY" lanes.

The next time I go, I'll either do that or I'll use the PayTollo mobile app that lets you breeze through the fast lanes as if you had a SunPass or FastPass. Or I'll just bring a LOT of quarters and $1 and $5 bills with me.

 

[meierlde]

Florida likes to make things tough sometimes.

You can pick up a "FastPass" from any Publix for $5.00 and set up an account so cash is never needed, and you save about 5% off the toll cost. Plus...you feel so SPECIAL whizzing through the "FastPass ONLY" lanes.

Note that eventually the whole state will adopt the tech on the Miami Turnpike extension and other toll roads in the Miami area of toll by plate. They take a picture of the rear license plate and send you a bill with a service charge added for the tolls. Of course sunpasses can also be picked up at CVS or at the welcome centers on the freeways entering the state. $5 and then you need to set them up.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

OK, here's one that really irked me. I didn't have the cash on hand to pay for a couple tolls while driving in Florida recently, so at the toll plazas they gave me these little "insufficient funds notice" slips that said I needed to remit my payment within 10 days or face some manner of penalties or fines.

Well, when I got back home I looked more carefully at these things, and as I read through them the frustration and annoyance began to bubble up. First, neither one was payable online using a simple web interface or any sort of app. Check or money order by mail only. Then, to make matters worse, each payment had to be mailed to a separate address! And both of these were from toll booths on the same stretch of highway, not more than 3 miles apart! So I had to use two envelopes, two stamps, and make out two separate checks to mail in a grand total of $2.50 to the "cutting-edge technology" state of Florida.

I have at least $2.50 in change that people threw into my car for good luck. Doesnt anyone do that anymore, or is that a dying thing too?

 

[Nemo2]

I have at least $2.50 in change that people threw into my car for good luck.

For your good luck, or theirs?

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

For your good luck, or theirs?

My son bought a sports car I think maybe 3 months ago, I threw in some good luck change. It was always luck for me as a few times i needed to feed a parking meter and thats where I got the change from..

 

[FI by 2024]

I have at least $2.50 in change that people threw into my car for good luck. Doesnt anyone do that anymore, or is that a dying thing too?

I have never heard of this before. Do you just throw it in randomly, or do you mean they place in nicely into a cup holder? I'd be annoyed if people threw change all over my car.

 

[FI by 2024]

At the risk of being pedantic, neither XNA nor TLA are acronyms - they're initialisms. To be an acronym, it has to be pronounceable, like LASER or SCUBA.

Yes that is pedantic, but I'll forgive it. My pet peeve, now that your post has caused me to think of it, is people who spell out acronyms that are meant to be pronounced as a word. For instance, Subject Matter Expert is SME (smee) not S.M.E.

 

[Meadbh]

My pet peeve for today is people who toss out abbreviations and acronyms with abandon, on the assumption that their audience will know what they mean.

 

[Nemo2]

My pet peeve for today is people who toss out abbreviations and acronyms with abandon, on the assumption that their audience will know what they mean.

Especially when they toss them in your car along with loose change.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I have never heard of this before. Do you just throw it in randomly, or do you mean they place in nicely into a cup holder? I'd be annoyed if people threw change all over my car.

For as long as I remember, whenever anyone got a new car (it could be used but new to the owner showing it off), and they were showing it off you throw change, dimes , quarters, nickles, pennies, into the car on the mats. usually the owner then picks up the change and either puts the change under the mats, or nowadays in the arm rest,, ash tray if its not used. My mother and the older crowd sometimes gives you paper money (a 1 or 5) and writes something like "Good Luck, God watch over you in your travels". That is placed in the sun visor. Im in NY, maybe its a NY thing? Ill google it.

 

[HFWR]

I have at least $2.50 in change that people threw into my car for good luck. Doesnt anyone do that anymore, or is that a dying thing too?

I've had a couple of car stereos stolen...

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Update

For as long as I remember, whenever anyone got a new car (it could be used but new to the owner showing it off), and they were showing it off you throw change, dimes , quarters, nickles, pennies, into the car on the mats. usually the owner then picks up the change and either puts the change under the mats, or nowadays in the arm rest,, ash tray if its not used. My mother and the older crowd sometimes gives you paper money (a 1 or 5) and writes something like "Good Luck, God watch over you in your travels". That is placed in the sun visor. Im in NY, maybe its a NY thing? Ill google it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile_folklore
Hahhaha OMG< its a NY/NJ thing Car coining[edit]
There is a practice in New Jersey and New York of tossing a few coins onto the floor of a newly purchased car as a sign of good luck. This practice originated as a practical one. Because of the area's many toll roads, many drivers would carry change in their cars. The friends and family of the new car owner would throw coins onto the floor of the new car so if the driver ever ran out of his own money, he could always reach down and find some extra money on the floor.[6]

 

[aja8888]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile_folklore
Hahhaha OMG< its a NY/NJ thing Car coining[edit]
There is a practice in New Jersey and New York of tossing a few coins onto the floor of a newly purchased car as a sign of good luck. This practice originated as a practical one. Because of the area's many toll roads, many drivers would carry change in their cars. The friends and family of the new car owner would throw coins onto the floor of the new car so if the driver ever ran out of his own money, he could always reach down and find some extra money on the floor.[6]

Based on the bridge (any bridge) toll charges in NYC, it's probably better to throw a couple of $20 bills in for good luck.

 

[Moemg]

I used to live in New Jersey but I never had the new car coin toss so if you feel sorry for me you still have a chance . I just bought a new car and accept any coin tosses via pay pal .

 

[FI by 2024]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile_folklore
Hahhaha OMG< its a NY/NJ thing Car coining[edit]
There is a practice in New Jersey and New York of tossing a few coins onto the floor of a newly purchased car as a sign of good luck. This practice originated as a practical one. Because of the area's many toll roads, many drivers would carry change in their cars. The friends and family of the new car owner would throw coins onto the floor of the new car so if the driver ever ran out of his own money, he could always reach down and find some extra money on the floor.[6]

My mom is from NJ but this is news to me. She certainly never did it in my car. I'll have to ask her about it.

 

[braumeister]

I was born and raised in Brooklyn and I've never heard of the car coining custom (CCC (not a pronounceable acronym)).
So that means it probably only began in the 1970s.

 

[kcowan]

My pet peeve for today is people who toss out abbreviations and acronyms with abandon, on the assumption that their audience will know what they mean.

LOL...

 

[braumeister]

My pet peeve for today is people who toss out abbreviations and acronyms with abandon, on the assumption that their audience will know what they mean.

You would have hated some of the places I was assigned in the military. We often had to deal with "acronyms of acronyms" where each letter in the main acronym was the first letter of another sub-acronym. And yes, we all hated that too.

 

[redduck]

My pet peeve of the day (more like my pet peeve of the last hour):

When I go looking for a song on youtube to post, find the song, get the url, come back to the ER Forum and discover, after searching for awhile, that the thread has been pulled. (Anyhow, I think the thread was pulled (referring to childhood memory thread).

Heck, here's the song anyway:

 

[Just_Steve]

Grew up in "Da Bronx" and car coining seemed to be a thing with my Italian friends but not amongst my Irish friends and family.

 

[kombat]

My peeve: Auctions with reserve prices. In my opinion, that's not a real auction. A real auction goes to the highest bidder.


If you're not willing to take a penny less than $x, but you would sell it for $x, then just sell it for $x. If you choose to auction it, you should be willing to take a chance that nobody else considers it as valuable as you do.


"I tried to auction my ABBA album, but the highest bid was $200. Obviously, I didn't sell it. It's worth at least $1,000!"


Uh, no it's not. It's worth, at most, whatever someone else is willing to pay. That's how economics works.

 

[pb4uski]

I dunno.... what is wrong with someone saying I want to sell it but if I can't get at least $x for it then I'll just keep it... I see nothing wrong with that as long as the fact that there is a reserve is disclosed to bidders.