Pet Peeves IV

[Bridge hibs]

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Bit of a random one but when you watch news reports or features from care homes and there always seems to be someone signing Vera Lynn or other songs from WWII. Why?

My Grandad is 90 this year, he was 12 when WWII ended. He's got no more interest in Vera Lynn than someone who is 9 this year. He likes jazz as well as the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Matt Monro and Tony Bennett. He'd listen to a bit of Elvis, The Beatles or similar too.

You'd have to be pushing 100 for the likes of Vera Lynn, The Andrews Sisters or Tommy Dorsey to be your era.

I dread the music when I hit my care home, **** Slim Shady 🤣

[danhibees1875]

I guess everyone needs a hobby but people who stand feeding seagulls...

[overdrive]

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I guess everyone needs a hobby but people who stand feeding seagulls...

Not seagulls but when I was in Thailand recently, some birds flew into the semi-open area where breakfast was served. A woman started feeding them bread which then encouraged more birds to fly in! Just stop it or someone is going to get something nasty in their coffee or eggs.

[J-C]

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Bit of a random one but when you watch news reports or features from care homes and there always seems to be someone signing Vera Lynn or other songs from WWII. Why?

My Grandad is 90 this year, he was 12 when WWII ended. He's got no more interest in Vera Lynn than someone who is 9 this year. He likes jazz as well as the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Matt Monro and Tony Bennett. He'd listen to a bit of Elvis, The Beatles or similar too.

You'd have to be pushing 100 for the likes of Vera Lynn, The Andrews Sisters or Tommy Dorsey to be your era.

If he'd been alive today my dad would've been 96 and he was a massive, Sinatra, Martin, Nat King Cole fan, I can never remember him listening to Vera Lynne etc when he was younger.

[Pretty Boy]

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If he'd been alive today my dad would've been 96 and he was a massive, Sinatra, Martin, Nat King Cole fan, I can never remember him listening to Vera Lynne etc when he was younger.

It's just bizarre.

I think WWII is still so influential in the way Britain defines itself that there's a weird desire to cling onto it even as it passes from living memory. There will be folk in their late 70s/early 80s in care homes now, they'll have been 25-30 in 1970. They'll be wanting a bit of Led Zeppelin, T-Rex, Roxy Music and Queen not someone bleating about 'we'll meet again'.

[grunt]

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It's just bizarre.

There will be folk in their late 70s/early 80s in care homes now, they'll have been 25-30 in 1970.

Counter argument - there will be people in care homes in their 90s who were children during the war. Someone born in 1930 would be 92 now. For these people, Vera Lynn will have been very much the sound of their youth. My mum died in a care home in 2019, she loved Vera Lynn and her songs, and hearing them sung always brightened her day.

Give it 10 years, then I'll agree with your pet peeve.

[Pretty Boy]

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Counter argument - there will be people in care homes in their 90s who were children during the war. Someone born in 1930 would be 92 now. For these people, Vera Lynn will have been very much the sound of their youth. My mum died in a care home in 2019, she loved Vera Lynn and her songs, and hearing them sung always brightened her day.

Give it 10 years, then I'll agree with your pet peeve.

Tbf I'm probably a bit bias because both my grandparents had no time for the whole 'blitz spirit' thing.

As I said above my grandad is 90 this year so was just a boy
even when the war finished, even back in the 40s I don't think kids liked the same music as their parents. My Granny would have been 94 this year and whilst my grandad is a man for the crooners she was pure jazz. Peggy Lee, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan and Ray Charles were the staples whenever you visited. She did say seeing Sinatra in London was one of the best nights of her life mind you. She met my Grandad in the Palais as is classic Edinburgh and they were hugely into their dancing and fashion. I always got the impression the war was something they just wanted to forget as it had tainted a chunk of their childhood.

I think the politics of my Granny's dad in particular played a part in that too. He served in the RAF and was proud to have done his bit but as a man proud of both his Irish and working class roots he despised Churchill with a passion and never saw any glory in the war. Her Mother lost 2 brothers, both merchant Navy, at sea in the war as well. Her family was raised in abject poverty, she lost a sister in infancy at least in part, because the family couldn't afford to have a doctor visit. She had no time for reminiscing about the 'good old days'. Her view was it was hard being working class then and it's hard now. She wasn't bitter, she just didn't have rose tinted specs for a golden era that never existed in her universe.

Anyway I've taken this off topic enough.

[Berwickhibby]

I give up my time and play for a care home in Glenrothes and to be honest Elvis, Buddy Holly, Cliff Richard and Sinatra are the most requested and danced (well shuffled) tracks. Motown and 50s RnB also popular …. Trying to recall if I have ever played Vera Lynn.

Edit…oh and Dean Martin

[WeeRussell]

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I give up my time and play for a care home in Glenrothes and to be honest Elvis, Buddy Holly, Cliff Richard and Sinatra are the most requested and danced (well shuffled) tracks. Motown and 50s RnB also popular …. Trying to recall if I have ever played Vera Lynn.

Edit…oh and Dean Martin

Quite like the sound of your gigs. I’ll just go for a pish when Cliff Richard is playing 😁

[Pedantic_Hibee]

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I give up my time and play for a care home in Glenrothes and to be honest Elvis, Buddy Holly, Cliff Richard and Sinatra are the most requested and danced (well shuffled) tracks. Motown and 50s RnB also popular …. Trying to recall if I have ever played Vera Lynn.

Edit…oh and Dean Martin

Do you ever feel like just skidding out and firing on Fatman Scoop - Be Faithful?

[Moulin Yarns]

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I give up my time and play for a care home in Glenrothes and to be honest Elvis, Buddy Holly, Cliff Richard and Sinatra are the most requested and danced (well shuffled) tracks. Motown and 50s RnB also popular …. Trying to recall if I have ever played Vera Lynn.

Edit…oh and Dean Martin

You surely have to play George ezra, Green Green Grass 😁

[The Modfather]

The new McDonalds advert. They are trying too hard to come up with a Budweiser “wazup” type of advert that everyone copies. There’s more to making and advert than simply using the Ferris Bueller “Oh Yeah” song and folk raising their eyebrows.

[overdrive]

Companies that don’t marry up their data. I go to Specsavers for my eye tests. I went to their North Bridge branch for my eye test three visits ago as it was handy for my work. I then went to their Leith branch during covid as it was handy for where I lived. I moved house last year and my eye test was due a few months ago so I went to their Gyle branch.

Despite the fact that a cheeky assistant made an observation that I was buying a pair of glasses less this time compared to last time so they obviously have me linked to my visits to their Leith branch, I’m getting texts from their Leith and North Bridge branches saying I’m overdue my eye test.

[McD]

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Companies that don’t marry up their data. I go to Specsavers for my eye tests. I went to their North Bridge branch for my eye test three visits ago as it was handy for my work. I then went to their Leith branch during covid as it was handy for where I lived. I moved house last year and my eye test was due a few months ago so I went to their Gyle branch.

Despite the fact that a cheeky assistant made an observation that I was buying a pair of glasses less this time compared to last time so they obviously have me linked to my visits to their Leith branch, I’m getting texts from their Leith and North Bridge branches saying I’m overdue my eye test.

I stopped using Specsavers for very similar reasons. Had 5 communications from them in 6 weeks, letters, texts and emails, all telling me if I didn’t get my appointment sorted they’d have my contact lenses stopped. Every time I went into the store to be told there had been a mistake and I didn’t need it yet (which I knew). Each time they blamed it on their head office system being different from the store system, when I asked them to get the systems updated to the same dates, the store staff just shrugged and told me to phone the head office to sort it. They weren’t pleased when I pointed out it was their system and their head office, and it was up to them to sort it, not me. Ended up just not going back and going to a different opticians, who despite being a bit more expensive are much more attentive and seem to give a toss.

[Jim44]

Recently had a dental check up. One tooth requiring a filling (urgent in my opinion). I thought it, as it used to be, might be done at the same appointment. I’m stunned to be told the earliest appointment is ten weeks later.
Tried to book my car in to check out two unwelcome noises coming from the rear of my car. Earliest available date is six weeks away.
Was in a big Tesco store which had about 20 checkouts……. only one was manned, yet there were long queues waiting to use the self checkout area.
That’s progress for you.

[NORTHERNHIBBY]

The new fad for plastic free six packs of beer, where the cans are stuck together with a blob of glue. Tried to separate one tonight and it ripped a hole in the side. Got sprayed rather than a drink..

[overdrive]

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Recently had a dental check up. One tooth requiring a filling (urgent in my opinion). I thought it, as it used to be, might be done at the same appointment. I’m stunned to be told the earliest appointment is ten weeks later.
Tried to book my car in to check out two unwelcome noises coming from the rear of my car. Earliest available date is six weeks away.
Was in a big Tesco store which had about 20 checkouts……. only one was manned, yet there were long queues waiting to use the self checkout area.
That’s progress for you.

The dentist thing annoys me. I was at the dentist a couple of weeks ago. I need a filling. “I’m afraid I’m leaving in a weeks time and we don’t know when the new dentist is starting. Maybe sometime in February or March. So you’ll need to wait for us to call you with an appointment”

To be fair, they phoned last week to say the new dentist is starting early Feb but they said that the dentist will have to see me to check it out first before I make an appointment for the filling.

Why? Does he not trust the previous dentist’s view that I need a filling?

[WeeRussell]

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The dentist thing annoys me. I was at the dentist a couple of weeks ago. I need a filling. “I’m afraid I’m leaving in a weeks time and we don’t know when the new dentist is starting. Maybe sometime in February or March. So you’ll need to wait for us to call you with an appointment”

To be fair, they phoned last week to say the new dentist is starting early Feb but they said that the dentist will have to see me to check it out first before I make an appointment for the filling.

Why? Does he not trust the previous dentist’s view that I need a filling?

Or not let you go to the original appointment if anything identified is going to have to be checked again anyway!

[Pretty Boy]

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The dentist thing annoys me. I was at the dentist a couple of weeks ago. I need a filling. “I’m afraid I’m leaving in a weeks time and we don’t know when the new dentist is starting. Maybe sometime in February or March. So you’ll need to wait for us to call you with an appointment”

To be fair, they phoned last week to say the new dentist is starting early Feb but they said that the dentist will have to see me to check it out first before I make an appointment for the filling.

Why? Does he not trust the previous dentist’s view that I need a filling?

I had a dentist appointment booked for today at 5, got a call on Monday to change it to 12 with another dentist as my dentist has flu. No problem, it happens. Got another call yesterday lunchtime to ask me to change to 10, bit of a pain but still no huge issue. Then a call at 6 yesterday evening saying that the other dentists now can't see me and they have booked me in for the next available appointment with my own dentist. On March 8th!

I would accept this if it was NHS but I'm paying these ****ers a direct debit every month for the privilege of having a check up, scale and polish. They must be hundreds, if not thousands of pounds up on me over the years and their service is consistently crap.

[overdrive]

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I had a dentist appointment booked for today at 5, got a call on Monday to change it to 12 with another dentist as my dentist has flu. No problem, it happens. Got another call yesterday lunchtime to ask me to change to 10, bit of a pain but still no huge issue. Then a call at 6 yesterday evening saying that the other dentists now can't see me and they have booked me in for the next available appointment with my own dentist. On March 8th!

I would accept this if it was NHS but I'm paying these ****ers a direct debit every month for the privilege of having a check up, scale and polish. They must be hundreds, if not thousands of pounds up on me over the years and their service is consistently crap.

That’s the other thing, I’m with Denplan and like you I pay a monthly DD. I’ve not needed anything other than check ups and scale and polishes done for years so they’ve probably made their money on me.

My dad goes to the same dentist. He’s subsequently found out the new dentist will only be working two days a week. That is really crap service!

[pollution]

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I had a dentist appointment booked for today at 5, got a call on Monday to change it to 12 with another dentist as my dentist has flu. No problem, it happens. Got another call yesterday lunchtime to ask me to change to 10, bit of a pain but still no huge issue. Then a call at 6 yesterday evening saying that the other dentists now can't see me and they have booked me in for the next available appointment with my own dentist. On March 8th!

I would accept this if it was NHS but I'm paying these ****ers a direct debit every month for the privilege of having a check up, scale and polish. They must be hundreds, if not thousands of pounds up on me over the years and their service is consistently crap.

This is the same as my wife's Denplan dentist. Paid monthly for year after year but unable to go due to Covid and new dentist's business takeover.

No question of a lull in payments, not a chance. They took the payments even though they knew they were not going to provide the service.

[RyeSloan]

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That’s the other thing, I’m with Denplan and like you I pay a monthly DD. I’ve not needed anything other than check ups and scale and polishes done for years so they’ve probably made their money on me.

My dad goes to the same dentist. He’s subsequently found out the new dentist will only be working two days a week. That is really crap service!

Sure there will be plenty of other private dentists happy to take your DD and provide a better service.

I’m the same re the DD thing. I’ve had some value out of it previously but the last 2-3 years they have defo been winners. BUT on the flip side they have always given me good service, instant help when it was needed and quality work so I’m happy to pay.

Certainly wouldn’t be paying for private treatment with some of the crap service called out in the last few posts that’s for sure.

[Moulin Yarns]

Enough of all the dentists talk! I've got a check up this afternoon and don't need reminding. What bugs me is the reminder from them with loads of online forms to fill in before you go.

[Northernhibee]

How every single Hibs player reveal video nowadays ends with a big smile and a thumbs up to the camera. It's cheesy, bordering on cringworthy.

[Bridge hibs]

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I had a dentist appointment booked for today at 5, got a call on Monday to change it to 12 with another dentist as my dentist has flu. No problem, it happens. Got another call yesterday lunchtime to ask me to change to 10, bit of a pain but still no huge issue. Then a call at 6 yesterday evening saying that the other dentists now can't see me and they have booked me in for the next available appointment with my own dentist. On March 8th!

I would accept this if it was NHS but I'm paying these ****ers a direct debit every month for the privilege of having a check up, scale and polish. They must be hundreds, if not thousands of pounds up on me over the years and their service is consistently crap.

Its not Craigentinny by any chance ? Ive been with them for a while, not really that local for me however my Wife is with them so I joined too on the plan. Theres actually more chance of myself booking a slot on a trip to the moon than getting treatment done.

I have needed a couple of fillings in which one was done pre covid. One of my teeth broke and has been giving me jip for two years, finally got an appointment, wanted it removed but they resisted saying they can save it with root canal treatment

They packed the tooth with some amalgum as a temp fix but 10 minutes later it fell out and my tooth was exposed again. Hey ho, I have a check up booked for early March, in the meanwhile Ive just got to get on with it. I want the ****ing thing removed but they said as its near the front it wont look good if theres a gap, I said it doesnt matter to me as I dont ****ing smile anyway 🤬

[Pretty Boy]

People who are disorganised and then try to blame their inability to be organised themselves on other people.

I work with a couple of people who never write anything down, they never flag emails, never set reminders, don't use a diary (either electronic or paper) etc etc. Now I know some people can work like that and have the ability to compartmentalise things in their head and organise their workload accordingly. I don't so I mitigate that by writing everything down and prioritising that way.

The stock response from the couple of people mentioned above when you chase them for anything is 'Oh I forgot' or ' did you ask me to do that?' That's not really OK but at least it suggests a hint of personal responsibility for their incompetence. But then the 'well it wasn't communicated very clearly' nonsense starts. I asked you verbally, sent an email with the request very specifically detailed then chased it up again verbally 2 days later. What more do you want from me? Reminders every hour until it's done like you are a 5 year old child? Then it would be 'oh don't be so patronising'. When you suggest they write things down or whatever it's 'oh that doesn't work for me'.

It's ****ing exhausting and I'm convinced it's primarily a means of facilitating their own laziness. They know that I'll end up just doing whatever task myself so if they can pull the daft 'I forgot' act they can chalk up another day of doing minimal actual work.

[speedy_gonzales]

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People who are disorganised and then try to blame their inability to be organised themselves on other people.
{much snippage}

I swear you've posted something similar to this in the past about lazy/disorganised co-workers.
I sympathise with you but, and I'm sure you already know this, it's not their problem, it's yours.
I've got about 15 years on you and it's taken me a really long time to figure out how intelligent and clever folk need to be to get through their working life acting the daft 'un and get away with it for so long.
We're in completely different sectors, but the point still stands.
A good few folk take pride in their work and not only "do their job" but go beyond. Investing themselves in to the role. But for others, it's nothing more than a pay-packet and if the options are to graft or hide, then the latter seems an acceptable and attractive proposition. The "problem" then lies with you. You care, they don't. These are folk that have "done" the job for years and if they showed half the endeavour you do, not only might they have excelled at their job, they might have even progressed, but progression might mean exposure, best they keep their head down and act daft whilst the other guy runs around and keeps everything moving in the right direction.
I sympathise, I really do, it can be very frustrating but nothing's gonna change.
I work in (pseudo) public sector and I reckon you'd have to be caught in bed with your boss's partner before there is any serious consideration given to poor performance management, and even then you'd probably only be sent on a training course.

[The_Exile]

I can confirm the above. I work for an NDPB/Quango and I could probably do all my work for the week in about 5 or 6 hours, there's no point busting my baws for anything or anyone as there's no career progression either. My pay is utterly pathetic so I have absolutely no shred of shame about anything. It gives me time to study (which will hopefully get me a better job soon) and spend time with my kids.

A lot of these fok might be quite intelligent and completely stuck in a job they can't get out of for whatever reason. I had my IQ tested as a teenager and it's high (I got to join Mensa). Circumstances early in my adult life led me to take and stick a rubbish job which I then became stuck in. There's nothing more frustrating than watching your colleagues fumble about and **** things up that are patently difficult for them but a walk in the park for you. It's demoralising doing such monotonous stuff day after day after day and eventually the wheels come off your professionalism and you absolutely go in to 'hiding mode' and end up doing just enough work to not get the boot.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

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The new McDonalds advert. They are trying too hard to come up with a Budweiser “wazup” type of advert that everyone copies. There’s more to making and advert than simply using the Ferris Bueller “Oh Yeah” song and folk raising their eyebrows.

Cannae escape this pish, it's on every ad break on itvx. 😠

On a similar note, I very much doubt simply adding bix to the end of every sentence is going to influence people to purchase Weetabix.

[nonshinyfinish]

Jonathan Pearce