People who don't understand recycling.

You know what's crazy?  There's a ridiculously large amount of recycling bins in this world.  Now, most people would agree that this is a good thing.  But why does so much recyclable material still end up in landfills?  Because people don't really understand what is recyclable.  The other problem, people put so much trash in recycling bins.  They don't understand that food is not recyclable, and the same goes for most styrofoam.  I also don't understand why manufacturers don't make more things out of aluminum.  Although heavier and more expensive, aluminum will always be recyclable.  It doesn't rust (in the traditional fashion), it looks amazing, and is quite strong.

Auto-Resolution choosing video players.

So we've finally entered an era where most networks post their shows online to watch.  Great right?  I mean, you still have to watch ads, but we'll never get away from that.  So in this era, most people I know have broadband, and if they don't, they don't watch TV shows online.  So why then do the networks feel like they need to have auto-resolution choosing video players?  I feel they do a terrible job of choosing the right resolution.  Example:  I was catching up on this season's NCIS LA on cbs.com.  Their video player has the ability to show HD, but only when it chooses to.  Whenever I go to full screen, it goes to a higher resolution, but it would never go to HD.  A little background info: my school has 95 m/bits per second+ speeds.  And it's definitely not that my computer can't handle it.  And you know what, even if I do have to pause and let it buffer every once and a while, I'd still rather do that and be able to watch it in HD.  On a side note, ABC is the best with making all their shows available online, but their video player lacks volume control...

Fine Friday X: Rain.

Precipitation is a gray area for me.  It can either be something delightful, or it can ruin my day.  Example: my sister and I share a car back home. Said car is extremely temperamental. If it's raining out, the battery shorts out and loses its charge. But then again, I adore the smell of fresh rain on asphalt.  You already know my feelings on more extreme forms of precipitation, but sometimes I just like to look out my window and watch it fall.  Another example: today's forecast for campus? Rain with ice pellets. Not fun, especially when you have long uncovered walks to classes.

Things that all pile up on the same day.

You know what's funny?  I complain about being bored a lot.  I think I have finally discovered why I am bored so often.  First: when I do have things to do, I get them done extremely quickly.  I am extremely efficient when I put my mind to it.  Second: (and this one's the new discovery) Everything I do end up having to do piles up on one day.  Math Quiz?  Teacher makes it on Tuesday.  Broadcast test?  Hey, that class meets on Tuesday!  Laundry need to get done?  You run out of clean shirts on Tuesday!  Need to go to Wal*Mart (ha Jeremy), why not Tuesday?  NCIS and NCIS LA and Glee?  All on Tuesday.  I just wish things would space themselves out according to my boredom.  I almost wish I had a Saturday or evening class.  Almost.

ABC Family and straight-to-DVD movies.

You know what bugs me?  Wait, you do.  Ok, lame intro aside, I get terribly annoyed by ABC Family movies, and their predictable nature.  You can assume they took a good movie, example: Mean Girls, throw in similar characters (sometimes a near relative), and modify the plot a teeeeeensy little bit, and BAM! New made for TV movie!.  Even worse are the straight to DVD movies.  Although I have never seen a single one, I crown the worst offenders as Air Bud and the like.  They can't really make that much money on them, barely even breaking even seems impossible to me, but they keep making them!  They serve no purpose besides in-car entertainment for 5 years old on road trips.   They also suck with naming them.

Pointless sponsorships.

Wha? Huh?

Ever been watching some live sporting event or race and notice one of the sponsors?  Ever wonder why they are the "Official (enter product here) of the (event)"? I understand that they are advertising, and that it doesn't matter what event it is, but do they really feel like they need the endorsement of some self-proclaimed "offical group"?  Example: Goodyear is "The official tire of NASCAR."  That makes sense.  Tires and cars go together.  What doesn't make sense?  "Bridgestone is the official tire of the NHL."  Other than Zambonis, what in the NHL uses tires?  And tell me, what sport needs an "official" beer?  What I do like, how the Olympics control their sponsors, calling them "Proud Partners".  So much more class.

What's this?

*Alert* We are not going to be able to bring you today's normally scheduled complaint.  Instead, please enjoy the following post about something awesome and amazing.

You know what today is?  It's a big day.  No, I'm not talking about the Steve Jobs biography, who cares about that?  Today's the day Coldplay released Mylo Xyloto!  I have been listening to songs from this album non-stop now, and well, it's amazing.  I happen to call Coldplay one of my favorite (if not my favorite) bands/musicians of all time.  And the name is just fun to say.  

Sorry if you were expecting something annoying today, but I figured if I posted something nice once no one would get hurt.

Nothing today.

It's homecoming, and I'm lazy.

Fine Friday IX: This Blog.

I am in a love/hate relationship with this blog.  I hate writing it, but I love seeing people's comments.  I hate coming up with topics, but I love when I find just the right one.  I really do have trouble finding the right things to post, and I feel like if I start taking suggestions that they wouldn't really reflect me.  But whatever.

P.S. You guys never comment on the stories I tell you to comment on, and it makes me sad.

Classic Games on Windows 7.

So lately, I have been breaking out the classic computer games from my childhood.  Just this morning, I tried to play Gizmos and Gadgets (in my opinion one of the greatest games ever created).  First I tried it on my desktop.  Sadly, I couldn't even run the installer because I run 64-bit.  Next I set up a virtual computer running 32-bit, but for some reason, it hated the video drivers, even when I set all the compatibility settings right.  I ended up having to use my netbook, run in 256 colors at 640 x 480, but let me tell you: It's worth it.  I also got the original Rollercoaster Tycoon running, but I have to exit Windows Explorer, run it at low resolution, and even then it randomly crashes sometimes.  Why can I run other 32-bit applications on my 64-bit computer, but old ones refuse to run?  Why even when I run things in 256 colors does Windows Explorer cause everything to be the wrong colors?  I believe some of these problems were fixed in the Developer Preview of Windows 8.... wow, look at me geek out.

Write Your-Own Wednesday: Second Attempt.

Inspiring huh?  Kinda emo too...

It's cold and rainy here, and I have some homework to do right now, but I want you guys to write your own story about something that annoys you.  Follow what I do, explain, example, reasoning (sometimes).  Hopefully we'll get some interesting stories, and maybe I'll get some inspiration.  I'd prefer if you at least put a first name or nickname of some sort to make responding easier.

Spray tans.

Luckily this doesn't happen much in California, but here in the South/Midwest, there are Oompa Loompas aplenty.  People look at Snooki on TV and think "Wow, I have never seen someone that orange."  I didn't expect to either.  But lo and behold, there are tons of people with the radiant orange glow.  Some of the apartment complexes around campus advertise as one of their top features: tanning salons.  I have seen people's key rings with frequent tanners club cards.  Do people here really not know how to get a real tan?  Suffer for it.  Go out in the cold.

Things that are announced too far ahead of time.

So you're a company, and you have an exciting new product.  Or maybe a band with a new album.  You need to learn something: patience.  This is probably the one thing I agree with Apple on.  Don't announce a product until it is ready to be put on store shelves.  No matter the amount of marketing hype you would like to generate, you need to hold back.  Example:  Motorola announced the Droid Bionic back at CES in January.  But the phone didn't launch until less than a month ago.  They had delays with the hardware, and that pushed the launch back by almost half a year.  Another example: Coldplay's new album, Mylo Xyloto.  Only 1 week left until it's released, but we've known about it since at least June.  You understand what I'm saying here?

I had no idea what to do for a picture here..... so enjoy this funny picture.  Click on it to make it bigger if you need to.

Song remixes that ruin the original.

I can appreciate a good remix.  But what annoys is when someone takes the song, adds 20 minutes of "wub", one line of the original, and calls it a remix.  I can't stand more than about 30 seconds of "wub" total for an entire song before I get annoyed.  Or when some rapper takes the beat from a track and gives no credit anywhere of where they got it.  I can't even think of an example.... my brain is dead right now.  Sorry for the short post.

How I'm early for everything.

My netbook.  Be jealous of the slime.

So I wake up at around 7:30am on most weekdays.  Why does this bug me?  Well my first class isn't until 9:10 (9:35 on Tuesdays and Thursdays).  I guess I just underestimate how efficient I am in the morning.  By 8:00 I have gotten up, changed my clothes, brushed my teeth, packed my backpack, checked Facebook, Twitter, and Google News, looked at the weather for the day, checked my Email, and eaten a Pop-Tart.  I leave my room and start walking to class and it's always a ghost town.  Then I sit in the hallway outside my classroom for almost an hour.  "Well Thomas, why don't you wake up later?".  I've tried.  My alarm clock is set to 8 am every day.  I wake up before it.  At least I have my netbook to keep me entertained for an hour+.

Fine Friday VIII: Electronic Music.

Ever heard a really good song? Like one that is stuck in your head for a long time and has a great beat?  Yeah, me too. I don't follow traditional party lines with music.  Usually I will only like one or two songs from an artist (there are exceptions), and I use an evolving playlist.  I will listen to 2 or 3 songs on repeat until something new catches my ear.  Now to the meat of this post.   Ever heard an electronic song you liked? It seems as though I have never been able to find a good electronic song that I like that isn't 20 minutes long, or includes way too many repetitive sections.  I mean, I can like a good dubstep or trance song, but does it really need to be that long?  I think you can get your point across in around 4-5 minutes like any other artist.  Even worse?  When you find that same song that you like has a shortened version.  Success? No, its about 2 minutes long... but it's still a good song.

Poorly designed buildings.

Ever been travelling, and waiting in an airport?  Most of you have I'm guessing.  This being the 21st century, we all have some sort of mobile device or laptop that we use to entertain ourselves.  But said device runs on a battery that has (quite) a limited life.  So you need to find an outlet to charge it.  But, chances are that the airport you're sitting in was built before 2005.  Sadly, electrical outlets are scarce and widely spaced.  Either that or you have to go sit in a little "charging booth".  This post also covers buildings which are built in 2009 and don't have ethernet wiring in the walls (talking about you DP PAC).  Another example: my math class is in a brand new building, and the classroom is really nice.  It has 2 projector screens!  Right next to each other.  Want to lower just one because there's only one projector?  Too bad.  The switch lowers both.

People who add you to pointless Facebook groups and events.

Ever since Facebook remodeled how groups work, there has been the problem of adding people to groups.  With the changes, anyone could add you to any group regardless of your permission.  Considering how people already could not understand the difference between a page and a group, this led to countless groups about stupid topics such as someone's 'photography'.  Another thing that bugs me: Facebook events.  Creating an event for losing your phone and needing numbers is not ok.  My response to this used to be "www.facebook.com/phonebook", but for some stupid reason, they deleted the phone book feature.  Worst mistake of all time, considering how now you actually need to ask every single person if you want their number.  But an event is not the way to do it.  Also, apparently 'Maybe' is the new polite 'No'.

When they clean my dorm's bathrooms.

Another one about my dorm?  Geez Thomas, why don' you just switch dorms?  (I'll save that for a later post)  So it seems like everyday around 1 or 2 o'clock pm, I'm usually in my dorm and I have to go to the bathroom.  But you know what sucks?  They clean every bathroom in the building daily (thank God), starting with the girls floors.  Then they work down from the top to bottom.  When they get to the bottom, they start the guys floors working up.  So as far as I can tell, my floor is the last one to get cleaned.  What time do they end up getting to my floor?  Around 1 or 2 o'clock pm.  Know what else sucks?  If I have to go to the bathroom while they're cleaning them, that's a no.  The people who clean the bathrooms are only women.  So I have to go down either 3 stories to the next guy floor, use the lobby guest bathroom, or venture to the University Center.  Yesterday, it took them 2 hours to clean the bathroom because someone thought it would be funny to throw talcum powder everywhere.  They had to bring in a floor scrubber or something that was ridiculously loud.  I hate this dorm.

People in dorms who can't cook.

Last night, at around 9:30pm, the fire alarm with the creepy voice in my dorm went off.   Now at first we all just thought it was another drill, because when the first drill happened, the top 7 floor's alarms didn't work.  But as we started walking down the 26 flights of stairs, we started to smell smoke.  Around the 21st floor, the smell started to go away.  So we all get to the bottom, and walk the 100 feet away from the building and wait as the 5 firetrucks pull up and the firefighters go in... blah blah blah.  So 30 minutes later, the finally start to let us 850+ residents back in (remember, 4 elevators for 26 floors).  Later, on the class Facebook group, someone reveals that some guy on the 21st floor left his food on the stove, it burned to a crisp, and filled the 21st floor with smoke, thus setting off the alarm.  So the moral of the story is:  If you go to college, get a meal plan so you don't have to cook burn your own food.

The length of good movies.

Seen any big movies lately?  I'm talking about the huge blockbusters like Harry Potter, Inception, the like.  Nowadays, most of these movies are over 2 hours in length.  People complain that movie ticket prices are going up, but you really are getting more for your money.  But it is terribly uncomfortable to sit in a dark theater for that long without moving.  I say we go back to the days of movies with intermissions.  You're also lucky if your popcorn and soda last past the previews, so what are the chances of them lasting the whole movie?  None. What about going to the bathroom?  I don't want to miss the good part, so I have to carefully choose when I think I will miss the least.  Intermissions FTW.

Weed.

You know what smells like stale maple syrup, is illegal in most places, and annoys me?  Weed.  I'm not going to say I am some expert on drugs or smoking, but I do know one thing.  Breathing in anything but clean air is detrimental to your lungs, brain, and entire body.  So why do it?  It costs you a lot of money, makes you smell like a homeless person, and kills you.  Where's the draw?  Getting high?  C'mon people.  And if you claim that it's not addicting, then stop smoking it.  Don't wanna?  Fine, then die young somewhere else.  My 10th grade English teacher was quite the eccentric one, and I swear that every time I entered that class room it smelled of old burritos and stale maple syrup.  Blech.

Fine Friday VII: Google+.

So I got Google+ pretty early (I'm a social network hipster).  I set up my profile, added some people I knew to my circles, and that was that.  Problem is, the amount of people I have in my circles is less than 25.  Apparently, I never realized how many of my friends on Facebook were under 18 (and thus cannot use Google+).  Another problem is that my stream never changes.  Of the 25 or so people I have in my circles, no one uses Google+.  If they do, they post the exact same things on Facebook at the same time.  But it does have some nice features.  The photo viewer is much nicer, and Hangouts are a clever idea.  But as of right now, I see no reason to switch exclusively to one or the other, so I use Facebook and Google+.  (Also my dad uses Google+, so that's a negative.)

Another bad abbreviation.

Today's post is more of an extension of one I did before.  The short version of 'Rest In Peace' doesn't work for me.  Whenever I see R.I.P, I think of comic gravestones and a quite graphic animation of someone being ripped apart.  Now, this might just be my disturbed mind (not really), but I find it much more elegant and less tack to actually say Rest In Peace.  I feel that if you are going to take the time to remember someone or pay your respects, that you could at least have the decency to write out a full word.  I'm assuming that the only reason R.I.P ever became the norm was because gravestones were hand-carved an expensive (don't quote me on that).  It's almost like putting H.A.G.S in a yearbook.  It means you don't really care.

People who dress stupidly.

I'm not just talking about the people who don't check the forecast for the day, but the people with their pants on the ground.  This post covers those who wear socks with sandals, basketball sandals, shorts that definitely don't fit their body type, and other hideous wardrobe malfunctions.  I get that some people go for comfort or convenience.  That's why basketball sandal are popular here.  It is a college campus anyway.   But when I fell like not putting on shoes that tie, you know what I do?  Put on Puma El Reys.  They still look classy, but at the same time take no effort to put on.  Wanna know something that is totally inexcusable?  Sweatpants.  They are disgusting, not flattering, ugly, usually bad colors, and make you look like a slob.  What about t-shirts that reach your knees?  Yeah, those are included.  I guess my main concern here is: Do they think they actually look good?

YouTube reposts.

I don't get why there are multiples of most videos on YouTube.  Do people feel like they need to download, and re-upload a video that is already on YouTube, just to put in the description: "I didn't make this video, nor do I take credit for it.  Original video here: youtube.com/.......".  Does anyone know the point?  Are they just really self-centered and hope to gain more channel views?  Even worse than the reposts are the ad videos.  The ones that look real, you click them, and they are just a still image with an annotation with a link to a virus.  "View the full video here!"  Why not just put the full video on YouTube, huh?  Also pointless, YouTube comments.  The haven and breeding ground of trolls.

My terrible memory.

Something that bugs me so much that it almost causes me to pull my hair out is my memory.  I seem to forget things in an amazingly short time.  Sometimes I will come up with a great idea to blog about, but forget by the time I get the Word document full of ideas open.  I also fall under the category of entering a room but forgetting why I am there.  Example:  The other day I scheduled one of those terrible online math tests I told you about, and put it in my phone calendar so I wouldn't forget about it.  I was gonna go straight from my Government class up to the testing center.  As I was putting my laptop back in my backpack, I remembered about my appointment, put on my headphones, and left the classroom.  By the time I reached the staircase, I forgot about the test and starting walking back to my dorm (the complete wrong direction).  I will open a new tab in my browser and not remember what I was going to type in.  Probably the worst: I will close a Facebook tab, only to open a Facebook tab immediately afterward without realizing it.

I'm taking the day off.

So, comment with something that bugs you.  Or annoys you.  I won't judge (or will I?).

Tea.

There's nothing to like about tea.  Whether iced, hot, bottled, or bagged, tea is gross.  To me, tea tastes like watered down Gatorade.  I also don't believe in the rejuvenating powers of tea.  I will admit that I haven't tried every different flavor/style/plant of tea, but none of them sound appealing.  Literally, if someone handed by a cup of tea and a slice of lemon, I would eat the lemon first.  The aroma of tea also disgusts me.  It has a sweet smell, but it lingers and gets stale.  Also, the people who name teas did a pretty bad job.  Does anyone really want to drink something called Earl Grey?