Logan Russell's Bug List

Logan Russell’s Bug List

#1 I live in a gated community and in order to get in there is a machine that scans a barcode that is pasted to your window. This machine often cannot or does not scan the barcode, which means I get trapped in front of a line of angry cars thinking I’m in the wrong lane. Sure I get through eventually, but it is a huge hassle and causes me a great deal of stress. Why?I’m pretty sure the machine is just faulty, as I constantly see guys opening it up and fiddling with its wiring and such.

#2 Sometimes I will tie my shoes really, really tight, and then when I try to undo the tie, the laces turn into the most frustrating and impossible to solve knot. I will literally spend days trying to wiggle my fat fingers into the knot hoping that a miracle happens, but alas, it rarely ever does. Why?Well obviously it has something to do with how I’m tying my knots. Apparently there’s just something wrong with my technique; there is no one to blame but myself. 

#3 Something that absolutely unnerves me is the UF Wi-Fi. It is hardly ever consistent, meaning if you move around campus even a little ways, you are likely to lose your connection, and getting it back can be a huge challenge. Why?I would definitely attribute this to the overwhelmingly large volume of people using it at once; it must have trouble accommodating the population. 

#4 Something that really bugs me is when I am driving in the rain, which is often considering I live in South Florida, I find that breaking and turning are incredibly hard for my car. Like my car will sometimes not even break at stop lights or signs and the car somewhat buckles when making a turn. Why?Well the roads getting slick most likely have something to do with it; I’m sure breaking in particular is effected by this. And my car most likely needs to get looked at too, which is bizarre considering it’s a newer model.

#5 I often make myself eggs in the morning, and when I do this I frequently find that, even when using “nonstick” pans, there is a gratuitous amount of hard to clean residue left behind. Now I always use butter or Pam to coat the pan as an extra precaution, but even then the problem remains; it takes time out of my morning and is just a hassle plain and simple.Why? It could just be the product not being able to deliver on its promise, and if that is the case then there is something seriously wrong with the pan brand I use. I am more inclined to believe that the repeated use of the pan makes the nonstick less effective. 

#6 I often keep pens inside of my pockets just to have them on me, and what almost always ends up happening is somehow the business side of the pen will bleed all over my pants from the inside of my pocket, totally ruining my pants. I cannot exaggerate to you how many pants I have ruined due to massive ink spots. Why? Well obviously by putting the pens in my pocket I automatically run the risk of this happening, so I have to take some of the responsibility for it. But I would like to focus on the design of the pens I most frequently use; they have those ends that you click to let the pen side out, so I guess me moving around somehow activates that. 

#7 It seems that half of the time I make toast, it comes out burnt. This is frustrating because the toast is always in there for the same amount of time, so its totally random whether or not the toast will end up burnt or ok. Why? It must have something to do with the toaster obviously, but I cannot seem to understand what it is specifically. It could have something to do with how the bread itself is placed inside of the toaster. 

#8 Sometimes I’ll be on my computer and it will totally freeze up and I will have to restart it and then for some reason the computer’s internal clock will reset, which requires me to have to fix that and it ends up being a massive hassle. Why? It could be because my computer is an older model, or because I probably don’t treat it as delicately as I should, but I would like to think its more of the first option. 

#9 What really sets me off is when I’m standing in line at fast food restaurants and the person at the front at the line places their order, and then at the very last second, decides to scrap their order and start all over again. Or similarly when someone can’t make a decision picking an item and needs allof the options explained to them. Why?I honestly wish I knew. Maybe its just that certain people lack common sense. Maybe it’s because some people are genuinely unaware and need to be informed. 

#10 Sometimes when in a movie or watching some sort of performance, somebody in the middle of the row of seats I’m sitting in will get up at a very inopportune time and walk to the end of the row, past me, to excuse themselves. This is an issue for me because having to adjust myself so somebody can pass by really takes me out of the experience I am immersed in. Why? Now obviously there is no singular reason why people leave their seats during shows, and granted some people have to deal with genuine emergencies, but I can confidently say that the majority of people simply didn’t have the foresight to relieve themselves before the performance or during the intermission if that applies. 

#11 When I get books that have been used by other people, particularly textbooks and the like, and I see that they are all marked up it really grinds my gears. This is due to the fact that because the book is so marked I can either not read some of the contents or my eyes are totally distracted all the underlining and highlighting that I miss pertinent information. Why?Well the problem exists because I came into possession of a book somebody else decided to thoroughly mark up.

#12 I find that with certain shoes, even when wearing socks, I seem to get massive and painful blisters on the backs of my heels. Whether it be sneakers, loafers, or anything in between, the blisters persist. Why?I could see how not wearing socks would be a likely reason why this problem occurs, but that is called into question when I get blisters while wearing socks. The only other thing I could imagine being the problem is that the shoe is too tight against my foot. 

#13 I live on campus in Beaty Towers and the elevators in there, which are the primary method of moving between floors since there are 14 them, are always breaking down. They will stall between floors, not respond to the floor they are requested to, and sometimes will just freeze up on the lobby for days at a time. It disrupts peoples’ daily commute, especially those that live on the 14^thfloor, a group I am happy to say I am not a member of. Why? The elevators are as old as the building itself, and its problems could easily be attributed to that. The elevators are so old, that they were quite literally supposed to be replaced by August 2017. If the elevators truly haven’t been replaced for as long as everyone thinks, its easily why they behave the way they do. 

#14 Whenever I use an umbrella, no matter how matter big it is, I always seem to get drenched. Even when the rain isn’t that torrential, it seems that the umbrella is useless in its job. Why? Most likely this could be attributed to wind speed and direction making the rain hit at a direction my umbrella cannot deflect. But I promise there have been instances where the wind was mild and I still got poured on with an umbrella in hand. 

#15 I work at the O’Connell Center, and, like I mentioned before, live in Beaty Towers, so the walk too and from, which takes between 15 and 20 minutes, can become a little aggravating. This is compounded by the fact that I work multiple shifts a week, and sometimes even multiple shifts a day. I am profoundly grateful for my job, but that commute has left something to be desired. Why?The problem exists simply because of the distance; if the O’Connell Center was only a 5 or 10 minute walk I would have absolutely no reason to discuss it on this post. This is not the reason why it bothers me, it’s the reason why the problem exists. 

                                 

#16 Whenever I drive a distance of more than 15 or 20 minutes, my back becomes horribly uncomfortable. This instance is practically an inevitability for me, I can count on feeling the same pain every time if my time driving exceeds a certain amount. Why?I have been asking myself this question for as long as I have been feeling the pain. Perhaps it is my posture behind the wheel. Perhaps its just the fact that the seat doesn’t agree with my back. I honestly cannot say why the problem occurs. 

#17 Another bug I have whilst driving in the rain is that I find that people love to use their hazard lights behind me, which is not only illegal I’m pretty sure but also incredibly dangerous and blinding. Even if the rain isn’t coming down that hard, I can always count on coming across at least one driver with their hazard lights on. Why?This most likely stems from people being nervous about driving in inclement weather.

#18 What really bugs me is how Double Bubble Bubble Gum, my favorite gum brand, uses a formula that makes the gum lose its flavor after only a few minutes of chewing. From a business standpoint its smart, because it gets people to chew more gum, but it bugs me that it takes no time at all for the gum to lose the flavor. Why? Like I said before, I bet the company makes the gum this way to get people to chew more of this. I know enough people who think the same way I do about Double Bubble, so the company must just not care.

#19 Speaking of bugs, why on earth does bug spray make skin so smelly and sticky when using it? You would think that since we’ve sent men to the moon and created artificial intelligence that we could also create non-sticky, non-smelly bug spray. Why?The problem exists solely because no one has found a solution to it, or really cares about finding one. Maybe the smell and the stickiness is what we must compromise for an effective product. 

#20 What bothers me to no end is when I am at a restaurant and I’m sitting at my table and a waiter or waitress comes over to take the order and whatnot and then I literally never see them again. It feels as though days go by until I see him or her again. I find it happens even in restaurants that aren’t even that busy, it’s the bizarre mystery of the vanishing restaurant employees. Why?Well I would easily attribute this to understaffing at busy restaurants and bad customer service at empty ones. 

Reflection: I, just like the assignment predicted, had a really tough time coming up with 20 things that genuinely bug me. I am a very passive and benevolent person and honestly there are very few things that get under my skin. Once I reached the last ten or so I really had to think long and hard about things that I found bothersome, and what I came up with was somewhat scrapping the bottom of the barrel. But I will say that this assignment really made me think about my peeves in a way I hadn’t done previously, and for that I am proud I stuck it out.