#305: TV Station Logo Promo

It's common practice for TV stations to have their little icon in the corner, and this is annoying on its own, but so common that I've accepted it. However, when they augment the logo with an even bigger distortion advertising some new show that is going to be on, and then in the other corner put the name of the show that you are watching, this is too much. I don't need to see that Dancing with the Stars is premiering the entire time I'm trying to watch my show. BBC America is guilty of this, though I'm sure other channels do this as well. Severity: 3

#304: Throat Clearing

Person at my work sitting near me who is everyday clearing their throat every 30 seconds. Real annoying. Severity: 4

#303: Axl Rose whining

On Guns N' Roses' Appetite For Destruction, Axl Rose is heard whining in foul-language at the close of some songs about a dissing that occurred in some rock magazine magazine and it takes away from the music. He should have realized that years later, no one would care about his beef and that it would appear stupid to have that on the recording. It does not withstand the test of time and takes away from some good songs. He could have done something a little more creative like what Lynyrd Skynyrd did in Sweet Home Alabama and turned a current event at the time (Neil Young's dissing of Southern culture in Southern Man) into the actual lyrics of their song which is more acceptable. Severity: 1

#302: "Good" penalty

I hate when in hockey the announcers commend a player for taking a penalty to stick up for their teammate. The purpose of the game is to win and if you have a penalty against your team resulting in a power play for the other team, I fail to see how this is good. If you want to show grit, there are plenty of legal ways to hit the other team during normal play. Severity: 2

#301: Privacy Notices

I'm tired of getting dumb mail containing privacy policies for various financial institutions that I deal with. Practically no one cares about this stuff, so make the 1% of people that care about this seek out this information rather than give it to everyone which creates a lot of waste. Severity: 3

#300: Low Flow Toilets

I'm all for conserving water and I think low-flow urinals are fine, but in the building I now work in, they use low-flow toilets that do not adequately WHOOOSH the offending item down enough and you see residue either from your own "dooings" or the previous patron and it's really not something that enhances the bathroom experience or it makes me feel bad that I will lessen the next person's experience. Severity: 2

#299: Online Statement Notification

When I get an email that I have a new statement online for one of my numerous credit cards that are idle, but they don't specify that there is no balance due. I have to go check it anyway, just in case there is some auto charge or fraud going on and it's a pain. They should specify in the email if there is no balance due so you don't have to log in to see the statement. Severity: 3

#298: Music Rights for WKRP

The WKRP in Cincinnati DVD is out, but they've had to cut out a ton of music from the background because they couldn't secure the music rights. The music rights holders are stupid in this case. They should realize there's special situation where a show like this has so much classic music playing in it and is such a big part of the show that they could never afford to pay the normal amounts and there should be special dispensation to give them a lower rate so they can afford to put out the DVD. Instead, the DVD gets put out in a sub par form. Severity: 3

#297: Building Security

The building in my new job requires you to sign up if you leave the building after 6:00pm which I think is way to early. I mean, I agree that people shouldn't work past 5, but 6 is really not all that late for shenanigans to be occurring and it's stupid to make everyone sign out that early. It should be 7:00pm. Also, they don't even check you ID so you could put fake information (unless they check your name in the computer while you walk out). Severity: 3

#296: Caldecott Tunnel Merging

I hate when the Caldecott Tunnel has only 1 bore open in your direction, and there's light traffic, but people in the lanes that need to merge don't get offer till the last second. It's like they have some perversion to cut over quick and cause some possible conflict when they could be continuing their same speed and just plan a little earlier to get over and avoid any possible merging problems. I don't have any problems with people merging at the last minute when the traffic is heavy, but when it's light, you should not wait till the last second. Severity: 2

#295: Voice Customer Service

I don't like when you call up customer service lines and they make you speak your information and don't give you a button-pressing option. I always feel like a fool when I'm at work that people hear me speaking odd words into the phone and I could just as easily and quickly type in the information. Severity: 2

#294: Another Dumb Thing Announcers Say

Usually in hockey, when the score is like 3-1 and the announcer says, "The next goal that's scored is REALLY big." I mean, of course it is; either it's 4-1 and the game gets almost out of reach, or 3-2 and then the other team has a definite chance to come back. Saying this statement is just stupid but the speaker thinks it sounds smart so they constantly spout it off. Severity: 2

#293: Gift Cards with Fees

Anyone that buys gift cards that have fees, annoys me. For instance, if you give someone a $25 American Express gift card, there is a $3.95 fee. I find it dumb pay a fee to give someone what is essentially cash. Even though I appreciate the fact I'm getting it, knowing this fee was paid makes me annoyed and I'd almost rather get just a store gift card which does limit where you can spend the funds but at least makes me know that no fee was paid. Severity: 1

#292: Cheap Mail-in Rebates

Mail-in rebates are already a scam in that they hope the hassle causes you not to apply for it or to mess up somehow and they take forever to send you your check. But what really gets me annoyed is when I see ads for products like Scotch tape that have some price listed which includes something like a $1.50 mail in rebate. Then, the hassle really isn't worth the trouble and the cost of a stamp alone takes 1/3 of the rebate away. These cheap mail-in rebates are simply scams so that ad pages like Walgreens can brag about low prices and hope no one notices that this price is after the mail-in rebate that is not worth doing. Severity: 3