The Room 101 thread - for things you hate or just having a bloody good moan

[Drarok]

People doing shitty-ass, half-arsed jobs. Either fuckin' quit, or do it properly you absolute arse!

[Snowy]

DHL and their shonky practices.

Ordered a thing, said thing dispatched by DHL from Sweden and delivered without issue.

"But Snowy, room 101..."

I happened to be making a cup of tea when the driver showed. Opened the door and took the parcel from the guy. Saw a notification on my phone which I opened later in the day, to see that they had sent me a photo of a box on the doorstep of house 15. I live in house 15. Not my box, not my doorstep in the picture.

[Raid]

Have you seen those "5 minute crafts" type videos that circulate on facebook? This sort of thing; quickfire shots of supposedly useful "hacks" or ideas for crafty types. They're a guilty pleasure of mine because they're often so preposterously stupid that I can't help but watch to see what they're suggesting. They frequently don't even let you know what problem they're meant to be solving; the one above suggests using rubber bands to secure your phone to your foot.

Anyway, they're worthy of an inclusion in this thread regardless, so is my inability to look away from them, but today one came up that suggested creating a hot wire cutter (for foam) by creating a y-shaped bit of wood, stringing a bit of exposed wire between the prongs and... connecting it directly to the mains. Like, they strip a wire, connect it to the tool, and show it being plugged in at the socket.

And that's how I found out Facebook doesn't have a report option for "this will get some impressionable idiot killed."

[Wrathbone]

Do they have other videos, like "Why pay for scaffolding when you have furniture?"

[eny]

I recently had a spate of recommended videos about how to repurpose a microwave transformer to create a fractal wood burning tool...when you consider that the one half that isn't protected by RCD devices is the half that has more voltage than is used for electric chair executions, and using said tool involves covering the wood you want to make art out of with saline fluid, it really is diabolical.

This guy did a great video on how monumentally stupid an idea it is:

[Raid]

Jesus christ. I thought my example was bad. I'm just glad I learned about this stuff when I was fairly young (not via an accident, I just had an interest in electronics as a kid so read a lot about it), and know you do not fuck about with electricity.

[Wrathbone]

Wind chimes. Thankfully not a problem I'm currently dealing with, but my parents are on holiday in a cottage and someone has some up nearby and it's driving them mad. A neighbour of mine put some up a few years back and they lasted all of two days before they realised what a stupid idea it was. What sort of antisocial lunatic puts wind chimes up in a suburban environment? Or anywhere, frankly?

[Raid]

I absolutely detest wind chimes. They make a noise that's difficult to ignore and there's no respite from.

The only use case I think I might find them acceptable is on Halloween, it's somehow both foggy and slightly breezy, and they ring in a low enough note to sound ominous. And they have to be placed at least a minute's walk away to give the proper atmosphere.

Wait, no, I'm describing distant church bells aren't I. Wind chimes have absolutely no use cases.

[Snowy]

In a similar vein, pan pipes.

It thankfully seems to be a thing of the past but it used to be you couldn't walk through a town centre without a group of fake Aztecs tootling away on the bastard things while hawking CDs of more of their inane tootlings.

[Raid]

I've been waiting in all day for a call from my GP, making sure my phone is with me at all times, set out so I can see if it rings etc. At 4pm I got a notification that I have a new voicemail. The phone did not ring. The voicemail was not from my GP. I have no way of knowing for how long my phone hasn't had a signal capable of receiving calls, or whether my GP has even tried to call (missed call notifications are from the phone itself, not the network). Now I'll have to waste another morning tomorrow calling the surgery at precisely 8:00:00 to try and be at the front of the queue, and then waiting for the entire morning for a call that I may or may not be able to receive. I can't book an appointment to actually go to my GP in person unless I want to wait 4 weeks for it.

[Raid]

This has made me irrationally angry:

https://www.theofennell.com/product/sil ... up-sleeve/

What you're looking at there is a £1500 silver accessory for a £2 mass produced condiment. It's referred to as "quirky". I know the kind of people that might buy such a thing aren't likely to be the type that would donate to their local foodbank as an alternative, but it's just about the tackiest display of class-less wealth I've seen all morning. I bet Donald Trump has a thousand of these.

[Wrathbone]

I like how they've gone for the classic marketing tactic of dropping it to £1495 rather than £1500, as though that would be the straw that broke the camel's back.

[Snowy]

Fuck me ragged.

Where do I start. Wit? The only wit involved would be any fuckwit who bought the bloody thing. Theo Fennell? Might as well just call yourself Edwin Edwin and be done with it.

I wonder if they have licensed Heinz intellectual property on said item. I feel an email coming on...

[Animalmother]

I seem to developing a rather unfortunate tendency to get mild anxiety attacks. It only ever seems to happen when I'm too warm but by Christ it's a genuinely fucking horrible sensation.

Went to get my haircut last week on a very warm day and while I was waiting my turn it creeped in and I had to get up and go home. Luckily the times it's happened I've just been able to get up and leave or get off the train at the closest station (also happens mostly on a crowded train). Other times I'm perfectly fine in similar situations. Worst was when I went to the cinema for the first time since Covid and had to walk out midway through film as I thought I was going to pass out.

I've never really been able to deal with heat and often feel faint if I stand up too quick, no idea if it's all linked. Anyone have this or advice on dealing with it?

[Wrathbone]

First and probably most importantly, I'd go talk to a doctor to get advice on the best way to approach it, as there are various ways to deal with anxiety that work better or worse for each person. They'll likely suggest cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT (either by yourself or in a group), or one of several medications. I have a prescription for propranolol, which I can take as and when needed if I know I'm going to be in a situation that induces high anxiety, and it sort of flattens me out for a few hours, though I've not needed to take one for several years. I also use CBT techniques during anxiety or panic attacks to get through them more easily.

I've never really been able to deal with heat and often feel faint if I stand up too quick, no idea if it's all linked. Anyone have this or advice on dealing with it?

It could well be linked. As much as anxiety is a mental health issue, it can and does have physiological causes and effects. I worked out that my anxiety started after a growth spurt when I was 14 and I had a year of frequent passing out in random places because my heart hadn't grown as fast as my body and literally couldn't get blood to my head fast enough sometimes. I started getting really paranoid about dropping unconscious, which led to panic attacks, which led to a greater feeling that I was about to pass out, etc. Anyway, the point is that feeling faint from the heat could certainly have a similar effect.

The most effective way I've found of dealing with anxiety is a CBT technique called the DARE response, which is a 4-step process that lets you acknowledge and accept the anxiety and then trick your brain into turning off the fight-or-flight response by telling yourself it's excitement you're experiencing, not fear of a perceived danger.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dare-Anxiety-S ... 148&sr=8-1