# Tiny, unimportant things that folks get all bothered about **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 22, 2022, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271 "2022-04-22T19:24:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/121 "2022-04-25T17:33:46Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Said cat passed away four years ago, but we’ve kept the lid-down policy, especially with the new feline residents, who are unpredictable about their play habits. I had to keep my toilet lid up for my cat who was a devotee of The Church of the Swirly Water. She never played in the toilet, but would come watch the swirly water go down every time I flushed. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/122 "2022-04-25T18:13:22Z")
That’s a paddlin’! At least you weren’t saying Will-uh-METTY, which is another variation that really sets our teeth on edge. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/123 "2022-04-25T19:20:35Z")
Thankfully I’ve never had to _say_ it, so I’ve been spared looking like an idiot IRL. About this, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/124 "2022-04-25T19:42:23Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I only need a TELEPHONE to make, wait for it…PHONE calls I occasionally encounter the opposite, and that’s what irritates me—people who genuinely need a smartphone, yet insist on sticking to their dumb phone. “My friends all use whatsapp, but I can only text” “I don’t have a phone that can run the required authenticator app” “I need to receive special notifications, so I’ll write a complex python application to always be running on a computer, scrape a website, and then use my carrier’s email-to-text gateway to send me notifications instead of just using the dedicated smartphone app that does push notifications” If all you need to do is make phone calls, a device that does just that is great. Simplicity can be its own reward. If you need to do other things, get over yourself as that “grad student proud to still be using a phone he got in middle-school, because it’s all you need” because it’s NOT all you need, and buy a smartphone instead of bugging me about ways to work around not having one. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/125 "2022-04-25T20:02:37Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > “Northern” is probably an example of L.A.-centrism. Nope, since Sacto and SF definitely consider themselves NorCal. CA has two main population centers- LA , San Diego, etc, and SF, Sacto, San Jose, etc. Not much going on north of Sacto. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > I think the point about beans, though, is that to some people, chili is basically a seasoned bean dish, and to others it’s fundamentally a meat dish. Close. There are three products. Chili Beans, which is seasoned beans. Chili, which is a seasoned meat sauce, and then Chili with beans, which is that meat sauce with beans added. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > A couple of times I have been places where they had chili competitions. They asked me to sit as one of three judges for a local one. My annoyance was that about half the contestants just went for hotter and hotter chili. Some went for weird meats, which was interesting. IIRC the winner was more less basic, but simmered for extra long and I would say one step more hot that the usual canned chili. The unami in that one was fabulous! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/126 "2022-04-25T20:16:53Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Nope, since Sacto and SF definitely consider themselves NorCal. CA has two main population centers- LA , San Diego, etc, and SF, Sacto, San Jose, etc. Not much going on north of Sacto. Just because people in San Francisco and Sacramento have adopted “Northern California” doesn’t mean the term wasn’t influenced by Los Angeles. There is still an awful lot of California that is north of S.F., whether there are a lot of people there or not. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Close. There are three products. Chili Beans, which is seasoned beans. Chili, which is a seasoned meat sauce, and then Chili with beans, which is that meat sauce with beans added. Where does Chili con Carne fit into this? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/127 "2022-04-25T20:25:44Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Where does Chili con Carne fit into this? That is > [@DrDeth](#): > > Chili, which is a seasoned meat sauce, “Chili” is a shortening of _Chili con Carne_. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/128 "2022-04-25T20:25:50Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Just because people in San Francisco and Sacramento have adopted “Northern California” doesn’t mean the term wasn’t influenced by Los Angeles. There is still an awful lot of California that is north of S.F., whether there are a lot of people there or not. Oh, no doubt about that. Northern CA wants it known we are NOT Southern CA. 😀 As a side, California is huge. I-5 runs the length of the state from Mexico to Oregon - the exits count up by mile from the southern border to Oregon - the last exit in CA northbound is exit #796 - nearly 800 miles (roughly the distance from Chicago to New York City). It’s always fun to define where the border between N and S CA is, but really difficult. Monterey is Northern CA, but Fresno? It does not feel like it, but is actually farther north than Monterey. Bakersfield is roughly the same latitude as San Luis Obispo, but is it SoCal? Some think there is a marker delineating North and South along Hwy 99 where the [Palm meets the Pine](https://www.mercedcountyevents.com/steve-newvine-1/on-the-99-the-palm-meets-the-pine). ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/129 "2022-04-25T20:30:18Z")
I always felt like Southern California started at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo County. But that was just my own personal assessment. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/130 "2022-04-25T20:33:46Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > It’s always fun to define where the border between N and S CA is, but really difficult. Monterey is Northern CA, but Fresno? It does not feel like it, but is actually farther north than Monterey. Bakersfield is roughly the same latitude as San Luis Obispo, but is it SoCal? Yep. Bakersfield is most definitely SoCal. Whereas Slo is NorCal. In Marine Biology, the coast is divided at Pt Conception. Take a diagonal line from there, with Bako on the south for sure, and Fresno to the North. But where, exactly that line is- is a matter of much discussion. However, so argue for a middle CA. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/131 "2022-04-25T21:26:24Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > > [@pkbites](#): > > > > I only need a TELEPHONE to make, wait for it…PHONE calls > > I occasionally encounter the opposite, and that’s what irritates me—people who genuinely need a smartphone, yet insist on sticking to their dumb phone. > > “My friends all use whatsapp, but I can only text” > “I don’t have a phone that can run the required authenticator app” > “I need to receive special notifications, so I’ll write a complex python application to always be running on a computer, scrape a website, and then use my carrier’s email-to-text gateway to send me notifications instead of just using the dedicated smartphone app that does push notifications” > > If all you need to do is make phone calls, a device that does just that is great. Simplicity can be its own reward. If you need to do other things, get over yourself as that “grad student proud to still be using a phone he got in middle-school, because it’s all you need” because it’s NOT all you need, and buy a smartphone instead of bugging me about ways to work around not having one. Jesus Christ, you are over thinking this. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/132 "2022-04-25T21:50:59Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > But she stopped bugging me about it when I pointed out that she was right, and that I should use it more often. For example, I could get selections and commentary for all major North American racetracks from the Daily Racing Form, so I could use that knowledge at the betting window. Well played. 👏 ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/133 "2022-04-25T22:11:35Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Close. There are three products. Chili Beans, which is seasoned beans. Chili, which is a seasoned meat sauce, and then Chili with beans, which is that meat sauce with beans added. Okay, then explain to me the existence of the term “chili con carne”. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/134 "2022-04-25T23:13:19Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Jesus Christ, you are over thinking this. Oh yeah, I definitely am. Probably more appropriate for the workplace rants thread, but when somebody shows up in my office for the third time in a week asking how to do something that requires a smartphone, but without a smartphone, I get all bothered about it. Otherwise, I don’t care what kind of phone somebody has, until they try and make it my problem. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/135 "2022-04-26T00:20:04Z")
Just remember that this rhymes: “It’s Willamette, Dammit!” ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/136 "2022-04-26T00:57:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The unami in that one was fabulous! There were people in the chili? ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/137 "2022-04-26T01:12:47Z")
[Other posters’ avatars](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-pipers-avatar/963447). As long as it’s not flashing or animated, and not in-your-face intentionally offensive, who cares? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/138 "2022-04-26T03:04:54Z")
“chili con carne” is just chili’s full name. > [@kayT](#): > > There were people in the chili? Typo for Umami or savoriness. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/139 "2022-04-26T03:33:52Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Whereas Slo is NorCal. I lived in northern SLO (San Luis Obispo) County for 15 years. It’s southern California. I didn’t know of anyone who considered it northern Ca. I had to quit the Northern region of the Auto Club and join the Southern region. Along Highway 101, the divide always seemed to be north of SLO but south of Salinas – perhaps around King City? Along Highway 99, it seems the generally agreed-upon divide is at the Pine and Palm, north of Fresno and just a bit south of Merced. This is supposedly the geographic centroid of the state (which is actually farther east up in the mountains, but supposedly at that latitude). (ETA: Last time a drove past the Pine and Palm, which was not long ago, I thought the “pine” actually was some kind of fir tree.) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271/140 "2022-04-26T03:42:50Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Just remember that this rhymes: “It’s Willamette, Dammit!” This challenges my notion of how “Dammit” is pronounced. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-unimportant-things-that-folks-get-all-bothered-about/963271.md?page=8)