Today's Petty Annoyances

Unlike readers of the Daily Mail, or indeed the people who write the rag, I don't go around looking for things to be annoyed about. Honestly, I don't. Some days, though things just won't be left alone.

First Today are all the people who drive through red lights. Today's shining example from my walk in to work is the bloke in a Mondeo who thought that him getting where he was going was more important than stopping at a red light, or indeed noticing that I had the green man showing in my favour (yes the lights had been red for that long). A while back I remonstrated with a bloke in a Mercedes who did the same and despite being half my size, he stopped and threatened me. Who's being the most unreasonable here I wonder? (maybe it's me).

The other is much less serious, but oddly more annoying - the need that some people seems to have to classify all music into a genre of some kind. Inevitably I disagree with whoever entered the genre in CDDB or wherever - but any case, in the words of Big Audio Dynamite "I don't care what key it's in, where it's come from, where it's been"

To highlight just how stupid and anoraxic this whole thing is, I cite exhibit A:

Booty bass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term booty bass can refer to several different, loosely related genres of music.

Miami bass - largely based in Miami and elsewhere in Florida. It is essentially the second form of Hip-Hop to come into existence, but wasn't known by the media until the 1990's, when the music had become stigmatised by explicit lyrics; includes performers like 2 Live Crew
Ghettotech - largely based in Detroit, Michigan, considered a fusion of Miami bass with new school Detroit Electro, despite it not resembling either. The tempos are far faster than either genre, and it maintains the repetitive nature of modern post-rave global electronic dance music.
Ghetto house - largely refers to later period Dance Mania Records recording artists. This is a brand of new school House music performers who loop often X-rated lyrics over House beats.
Baltimore Club - Also known as Baltimore Breaks, this genre popular mostly in Maryland, and sounds almost exactly like Ghetto house, with the exception of being based on breakbeats instead of House music.

British Gas

After months of me writing letters and reminders, British Gas have finally written back. They say they are sorry they couldn't be bothered to write back before and it's not typical.

They say they have tried to telephone me (I don't know what number they've been using but I haven't heard from them), and they cannot understand what my actual complaint is. They want me to phone them back.

My complaint was written in English, my native language. It was quite clear. It details the problems and what I would like British Gas to do about them, but apparently that isn't good enough. One of my complaints was that when I tried to phone before it was almost impossible to get through and after I spoke to someone who assured me she'd sort everything out, nothing was done, and a subsequent letter from British Gas denied that the phone call had even taken place. Not a good basis to be asking me to phone. When I have a moment I'll be writing again.

Edit: A little cursory googling indicates I'm not alone - indeed this guy's experience is near identitcal to mine.

Well, I've had my letter too

With credit and thanks for the idea to Longrider. I can't hope to match his hilarious riposte to the pathetic mangementspeak bollocks spouted in this standard letter the Labour Party has plainly sent to all former members, but I'm going to have a crack at it (the red is the letter, the rest my comments):

I’m going to get straight to the point - I want you to rejoin the Labour Party. I know we may have asked you to come back before, but now it’s more important than ever for the party to be strong so I’m asking you one more time. We need your voice, we need your ideas, and we need your suggestions.

Need in the sense of "not being in the least interested in" is that? If you were so interested, and you really wanted my support, why did it take three attempts to get any response at all after I sent my card back with detailed information about why I cannot support Labour any longer? You had a chance then.......oh hang on - I see; you're lying.

Let’s start off by being honest with each other.

I have been, you haven't.

So, you might wonder, how I’m going to persuade you?

I don't want to pre-judge the issue, but considering your opening salvo of lies, spin and utter bollocks, it's not looking good for you.

I thought at first I could try to arouse some memories of how it used to be. Remind you of how things were under the Tories – 3 million out of work, the miner’s strike, interest rates of over 15%? I certainly could mention these things, but it might not quite it the nail on the head.

Wasn't that all quite a long time ago now? I mean it was bad, and don't get me wrong, I loathe Mrs Thatcher to this day for the lasting divisive effect her amoral and philistine policies had on this country, but Tony Blair has said he admires her.

Perhaps I could tell you about all the new hospitals? How we’ve built or started to build over 100 hospitals in the last 10 years, and that the Tories only built one in their 18 years in government.

Using PFI, mostly, a Tory policy that means we'll all be paying over the odds for evermore for them. Wasn't it also on your watch that what was then the Inland Revenue sold all its buildings to a tax-avoiding offshore private company? What benefit did I get from that?

No? Have you got children?

No, next question.

Then I could tell you all about family tax credits, SureStart, paternity leave and trust funds. But maybe that doesn’t fit with you and your life.

Actually, it doesn't fit with my life, but I see you adopt the Thatcherite view and assume I only care about myself.

Not every issue or story resonates with every person, and just listing things that we’ve done is a bit of an insult to your intelligence. So what else can l tell you?

A bit of an insult? a bit?

The truth of it is, I can throw all manner of statistics at you, but you might not believe me because whatever I say won’t beat your first hand experience,

That's true - seen any worthwhile Policing or a decent Train service lately?

These days it is so easy to be cynical about things - politics, in particular.

Correct, it's a piece of piss - what with politicians claiming they'll clean things up and then selling honours, starting illegal wars and so on, it's a blinkin liberty if you ask me.

It’s easy to demonise people for one mistake, or to reel off powerful sounding headlines about one new ‘crisis’ or another, without thinking about the bigger picture. It’s easy to isolate the negative, whilst we take the positives for granted. What I’m trying to say, is that it can be easy to forget.

You seem to find it very easy to forget a lot of things - like why we supported you through thick and thin during the Thatcher/Major years - it certainly wasn't so you could saddle us all with ID cards.

People complain that political parties aren’t in touch with the local people, that we are only interested in you when we want your vote, and that what you really want from us is sincerity and honesty - to talk to you when there isn’t an election, when we don’t want something. You just want us to take an interest.

Well, we’re trying. We can’t do this all on our own. Those who criticise have to take some responsibility towards finding a solution.

Very bad (and piss-weak) argument I have tried to "engage" until I was (metaphorically speaking) blue in the face and with no worthwhile result. My Labour MP (who has now thankfully had the smug grin wiped off his face and lost his seat) was rude, patronising and sarcastic (bear in mind this was to someone who supported and voted for him) in response to my polite contributions to his website ID cards Poll.

He made comments on a local planning issue beyond what was reasonable for an MP, and members of his party (together with the Tories) made sure that the planning determination drove a coach and horses through the local structure plan (what the hell did we pay for that for?).

Their determination of the planning application entirely on party political lines (despite Lord Faulkner's claim that this doesn't happen) will cost the local environment dear.

The results will be destruction of a green field site which will be turned into a 24 hour lorry park and fast food outlet - all very "green". The main beneficiaries will be multi-nationals, a US one in particular (probably not the one you're thinking of).

My former MP's proud boast was of 1000 jobs to be created by all this environmental destruction. He made this claim in the local paper more than 4 years ago, and to date, guess how many jobs have been created? - Yep, zero.

People’s interest in, or connection to politics is
waning. For us to be effective, insightful grounded and ‘real’, we need your help. You need to tell us how to be better, critically and constructively. If you talk to us, we can listen. If you ignore us, we both lose out.

I talked, and talked and then some - you aren't interested, stop pretending you are.

Change can be difficult, and it is sometimes easier to say ‘I don’t care’. But apathy doesn’t stand for election. Apathy doesn’t ask you for your opinion, your hopes, concerns and fears.

And niether do you lot, you lying bastards.

Apathy doesn’t give you the chance to make things better, or to do anything.

And nor do you, my database-generated standard-letter nuspeak "friend"

To join, either complete and return the enclosed form, visit labour.org.uk/joinus or call our membership team on
08705 900 200.

Hang on, I've just got to stick these pins in my eyes - it's what I prefer.