I moved into a new apartment 3 months ago and the landlord left this ancient Maytag in the basement. It's this beige beast from like 1992 with physical dials and I swear it gets my clothes cleaner than the fancy digital one I had before. The design is awful though, the lint filter is impossible to reach without a flashlight and I nearly broke my back trying to move it. Has anyone else dealt with an old appliance that outlasts modern stuff?
Went to renew my license last Tuesday. The lot has one way arrows pointing every direction but they painted new lines over old ones. You can't see which lane is for exit or entry. Three cars almost hit each other in 10 minutes. I sat there for 5 minutes just trying to figure out where to go. Someone finally rolled down their window and yelled the entrance is on the back side. Has anyone else dealt with a parking lot that makes zero sense?
Was at Elm Park last Saturday for a neighborhood cookout. Sat down on one of those cheap folding chairs they set up near the concrete tables. Thing buckled sideways within two minutes. Took me down hard. Elbow hit the gravel. Spilled my BBQ sauce everywhere. Later I looked at the design. The legs were too short and the seat angle was all wrong. Folding chairs have been around forever. You'd think someone would have fixed this by now. Has anyone else noticed how bad these things are at public events?
I used to just grab my spare key off a magnetic box under the bumper. That worked fine for 5 years until last Tuesday when I hit a pothole on Main Street in Denver and the whole thing just fell off somewhere. Now I keep a spare in my wallet like a normal person. Has anyone else had one of those magnetic boxes fail on them at the worst possible time?
I used to think angled parking was fine, no big deal. Then last Tuesday I scraped my passenger side door on a concrete pillar at the grocery lot on 5th street in Denver. That same week, watched three different people nearly back into each other trying to pull out of those angled spaces. The angles just make people drive faster through the lot and block visibility. Has anyone else noticed way more near misses with angled vs straight parking?
At my apartment complex last week, I noticed one of the main entry doors has a handle that sticks out just enough so when you pull it open, your hand gets trapped between the handle and the frame. I watched three different residents all get their fingers pinched in the span of ten minutes. One lady actually yelped and dropped her groceries. Has anyone else dealt with a building fixture that seems designed specifically to injure people?
I had to use a ChargePoint station at a Shell in Tucson last week and it took 45 min to get 30 miles of range. My home JuiceBox 40 does that in like 10 min flat. Whoever designed those slow public units to be the main option for road trips needs to go back to drawing board.
I used to think all those painted arrows and lines in parking lots were fine until I went to Westfield Brandon last Saturday and couldn't figure out which way traffic was supposed to flow. The arrows pointed two different directions within 50 feet of each other and I just sat there for 5 minutes confused. Has anyone else dealt with a parking lot layout that made zero sense?
I moved into an apartment in Austin last February and the kitchen faucet was fine. Six months later it looks like it survived a war - the chrome is peeling off in chunks and there's this weird green crust around the base. My landlord says it's because hard water here is aggressive but I've never seen anything corrode that fast. Has anyone else dealt with a fixture just falling apart that quick?
I was measuring out a new backyard gate for a client in Denver and everything lined up perfect on paper... right up until I went to hang it. Turns out the concrete footer they poured was a full 2 inches higher than what I was told. Ended up with exactly zero inches of clearance between the bottom of the gate and the ground, and it scraped every time you swung it open. Has anyone else run into a surprise measurement that just killed your whole afternoon?
Went to grab my digital coupons last Tuesday at the Publix on 4th street. New layout put the barcode scanner behind three menu tabs. Had to stand in the aisle for 5 minutes just to pull up my loyalty card. Who approved this navigation flow?
I walked into a newly renovated diner in St. Louis last week and found the light switches upside down with the word OFF printed on top, plus the bathroom door handle was mounted at 24 inches off the floor. To use the light you had to flip it down to turn it on, and to open the door you had to bend over like you were bowing. Which design sin gets your vote for the most annoying to deal with daily?
I bought this fancy wifi coffee maker last month thinking it would change my mornings. The app takes 45 seconds to connect every single time and half the time it just brews cold water. The touchscreen is so dim I have to use my phone flashlight to see the buttons at 7am. Anyone else get burned by kitchen gadgets that try too hard to be smart?
I hit 50 years old last month and suddenly my medicine cabinet looks like a puzzle collection. The childproof caps are so complicated I literally had to ask my neighbor's teenager to open my ibuprofen. I counted 12 different motions you have to do on some of them - push, turn, squeeze, align arrows, and hope the stars are right. Why can't they just make a simple flip top? Has anyone found a brand that actually follows through on the "easy open" promise?
Picked up a fancy universal remote from a store in Portland last week thinking it would simplify my setup. Turns out it can't even turn on my 5-year-old TV without going through a 10-minute setup menu every time the batteries die. I ended up digging my old remote out of the junk drawer and just using that again instead. Has anyone else had better luck with a specific brand or should I just accept the clutter?
I spent like 3 weeks designing my dream kitchen remodel and had this whole island with a big farmhouse sink right in the middle. My uncle Mike who's been a plumber for 30 years came over to look at it and just started chuckling. He told me I was building a wet zone right in the main traffic path and that every time I'd carry a pot of pasta across the room I'd drip on the floor. I thought he was just being an old guy who hates change. Well after 6 months of living with it I finally moved the sink to the perimeter wall last weekend. Nobody tells you that pretty design doesn't matter when you're mopping up water trails every single night. Has anyone else had a tradesperson call out your layout before you even built it?
I bought this filter pitcher last week at the Target on Elm Street. Every time I tip it to pour water, the lid pops off and splashes water all over the counter. I have to hold the lid down with one hand while pouring with the other. It completely defeats the purpose of a simple pitcher. I checked the seal and it seems fine, the latch just doesn't grip properly. For a 30 dollar purchase I expected more basic function. Has anyone else dealt with a lid that won't stay put on a kitchen gadget? I am this close to drilling a small hole and adding a bungee cord to keep it shut.
There's this place near my apartment in Austin that has a chalkboard menu where the drinks are listed in random order with no categories. I'd stand there for 5 minutes trying to find a latte among the smoothies and teas. Last week I just asked the barista to write me whatever she'd recommend since I couldn't figure it out myself. She laughed and said I was the third person that day to give up on the menu. Has anyone else told a business that their layout is impossible to read?
Last month I had five days in a row where my mudding felt like a dream. Every joint came out smooth, no bubbles, no ridges. I wasn't even trying hard, just had this old trowel that finally broke in right. Has anyone else had a spell where your tool just clicks and suddenly the work is way better?
I was talking to this plumber named Greg last Tuesday while he was fixing a leak in my basement. He mentioned he sees people install P-traps backwards all the time because the packaging shows a misleading diagram. That got me thinking about all the shower heads I've bought that had arrows pointing the wrong way for water flow. He showed me a photo from a job where someone used a flex hose that kinked so bad it reduced pressure to a trickle, like 0.2 gallons per minute instead of 2.5. It hit me that even simple things like faucet handles get designed with zero logic sometimes, like a cold hand shower that burns you if you turn it the wrong direction. Has anyone else had a pro point out a design flaw you never noticed before because you just trusted the instructions?
My toilet kept running after flushing (you know, that annoying hissing sound) and I was about to buy a $15 kit. I looked closer and saw the flapper chain was too long, so it got caught under the flapper. I just looped a zip tie through the chain to shorten it by maybe half an inch. Fixed the problem in 30 seconds for zero dollars. Has anyone else found a dumb plumbing shortcut that actually worked better than the real part?
Honestly, I don't get why everyone hates on those step-on garbage cans with the finger hole pull. My office got one of those new "no touch" sensor cans last month and it was a total pain. It kept opening at random times when I walked past it, and then it wouldn't close all the way, so the whole break room smelled like old coffee grounds for 4 days. Has anyone else had a smart can just completely fail at being a can?
I went with the crate because it was $3 at a flea market but now my books are all crooked because nothing is level. Anyone else regret chasing a cheap aesthetic over something that actually works?
I was at my buddy's house in Phoenix trying to turn on the porch light and there were three switches side by side, not one of them labeled. Took me flipping them all in different combos for almost an hour before I noticed one had a tiny barely visible indicator dot. Has anyone else dealt with a switch plate that just makes zero sense?