#421:Urban Deforestation

For a variety of reasons, vegetation is being cut down in and around cities.  Whether due to people being overly scared about fire, homeowners being overly concerned about conserving water or too lazy to rake leaves, or just a general aesthetic to want nature to be "tamed", a lot of the nice greenery that I enjoyed around my house in Oakland is being thinned out and I find it sad.  It takes away from privacy and make it less peaceful.  Especially along Highway 13, the removal is dramatic, causing noise pollution in the surround hiking trails and for the unfortunate people living near the freeway that used to have a natural sound barrier.  I think it's some economic reason too that the tree cutting companies have incentive to keep working so recommend more than necessary and Caltrans has a budget they have to spend or lose it.  Severity: 5

#420: Drivers moving over for motorcycle slot riders

I actually am in favor of the CA law allowing lane-splitting so motorcycles can benefit in slow traffic.  I do think that there should be a speed restriction to around 40 MPH or so for the traffic to be at for them to do it.  But in any regard, my annoyance is at the drivers who, when they see a motorcycle coming up behind them splitting the lane and they are in the far left lane, move WAY over to the left to give them more room.  Don't coddle these guys.  They are big boys and know you should be going out of your way to make it easier for them.  I'm not going to purposely block them, but I will not cater to their whims, especially given they do it often when traffic is already moving a nice pace.  Severity: 5

#419: Bubble Tea

No comments, just dislike it.

#418: Sign Language "Interpreters" for National Anthem

I'm all for being inclusive, but I see no point in having someone sign the national anthem when it's the same song every time.  If you are deaf, you know what the person is saying, so what purposes does the signer have unless they are able to accurately convey the screech of Rosanne Barr's version but I think her crotch-grab got the picture across on that rendition.  Severity: 2

#417: Can't Cancel Online Orders

Lately, I've had a few incidents with Amazon and Home Depot where I placed an order and then immediately wanted to either change the payment used or cancel an order (on a weekend so before it was shipped) and they don't allow it.  I understand that for efficiency if an item is shipped super fast like at Amazon, this might be the case that technically they can't stop or change an order, but it's stupid to be so inflexible, especially with Home Depot where I had an item that is not scheduled to ship for 2 weeks yet they say they can't stop it.  And with Amazon, why can't I change the payment method?  They said to do so, I'd have to actually send it back and reorder it.  Idiotic.  Unless it's intended so you just keep things you don't want, then it's good business, but dishonest.  Severity: 5

#416: Crowd Noise as an Advantage

I don't like that crowds yelling at an NFL game can actually affects the game.  It's not like I think there should be a rule against it, I just don't like it because to me it's no different than throwing snowballs at the players to mess them up.  Also, it encourages fans to be quiet during the home team's offensive drives which stifles excited fans.  The solution will be for offenses to adapt so that they can run plays fine without being about to communicate audibly, but in the meantime, I think it's dumb that games might be decided because the scoreboard tells fans to yell and makes them feel like they have some purpose in life being the "12th man".  Severity: 3

#415: Too many NFL Analysts

I never watch them because they annoy me, but I find it rediculous that Fox needs 5 windbags competing for laughs on their pre-game / halftime NFL shows.  They just talk over each other and compete for biggest goofball awards.  Get rid of at least 2 of these fools.  Severity: 2