2A - Bug List

Every day I experience several nuisances that slow down my routine, kill my motivation, or just drive me nuts. Unluckily for me, today has been especially annoying, but the silver lining is it will make doing this assignment just that much easier.

I. 20 Bugs and Why They Exist

1. I bought several variations of hooks, velcro, and putty for hanging up photos and wall decors as I have just moved into a new apartment. Pretty much all have failed at doing their job properly, particularly the Command hooks.

Why?

My guess is to take a business approach as to why these wall hangers are so terrible. If I were comparing the cost of replacing a few faulty hooks versus paying for wall damages, I would likely choose to make the adhesive weak enough that it doesn't tear off paint or drywall. Most people would just throw the hooks away and bite the dollar, but if their wall is ruined, then they would be more likely to sue for damages.

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2. I have an over the door mirror for my closet, however, with the mirror on the door, it will not shut all the way.

Why?

My apartment is a bit older so the doors are already hard to shut. The additional centimeter of metal on the top blocks the door from fitting into the frame.

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3.  When doing laundry or re-wearing clothes (yes I do that), it's a bit of a nuisance to have to turn the sleeves or pant legs back to normal from inside out.

Why?

When taking off say a pair of jeans, it's much easier to just turn them inside out and wiggle out of them that way instead of pulling them from the bottom, but then you're left with a pair of inside-out jeans. Eventually, you'll have to take time out of your day to turn them back if you want to wear them again.

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4. It's too hard to peel off the shrink wrap from IKEA furniture or textbooks.

Why?

Companies shrink-wrap their products to keep it fresh and intact but when it comes time to open it, there's no grip. Using a knife risks damaging the product so usually you have to scramble to find a little leeway on the corners.

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5. Social Security cards are too small and easy to lose. I never carry it around with me because that's dangerous, so I can never remember where I left it. Even if I do remember, it could get jammed in with other papers and thus, avoid exposition.

Why?

The government makes Social Security cards small enough to fit inside of a wallet pocket when in reality, no sane person risks having their identity stolen on a day-to-day basis.

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6. iPhone chargers bend at the ends and break often.

Why?

A charger is necessary for an iPhone so a bad charger means more people buying new ones which means more revenue for Apple. Even off-brand chargers do not last longer than 3 months for me. The little rubber part at the end gets smushed and bends until it no longer protects the wiring underneath and it stops working.

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7. It's hard to get to my apartment at night via NW 17th street which connects directly to my avenue.

Why?

NW 17th street is home to many popular clubs, bars, and food places causing foot traffic, drunk jaywalkers, and Uber drivers who block the roads.

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8. Bed risers are nearly impossible to put on by yourself with a corner bed.

Why?

When I get one side up, then the other falls. Then, to move the bed back into position, they slide around and fall over causing me to readjust the bed again to get into the space where I can fix it. After several rounds of this, I give up.

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9. People go into the Express Line at Lucky foods even though they have full carts of food.

Why?

The sign on the Express line is super small and not visible until you're close to the cashier, and by then, you've probably already waited 15 minutes,

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10. When I microwave water for tea in a coffee mug, usually the handle absorbs all of the heat making it extremely uncomfortable to hold while the water barely heats up making for some gross luke-warm tea.

Why?

Something about the ceramic makes it a better conductor when it's not holding water. Maybe the outside is heating up too fast before it can heat the inside. 

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11. The spiraling of my notebook makes it hard to write on the back side of the notebook paper so I either have to write uncomfortably or waste entire pages of perfectly good worksheets.

Why?

Spiral notebooks are designed for right handed people using the right side of the notebook when opened. Your arm doesn't brush the spiraling when using the front of each sheet but when writing on the back, it does.

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12. Disposable water bottles are hard to refill. I usually end up spilling water on myself or my surroundings.

Why? 

The opening of the water bottle is small to fit your mouth but makes it hard for refilling. I believe this is the intention with the disposable aspect of a plastic bottle, however, some people may not feel comfortable causing so much waste.

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13. Once an eraser is used on a mechanical pencil, it is difficult to pull out to refill the pencil with lead. It also wastes half the eraser because half of it is still in the pencil.

Why?

It is difficult to pull out because there is nothing to grip once the eraser is level with its dispenser. Half the eraser stays in because it needs a strong base to stabilize the eraser so it won't break in use.

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14. I forgot my PNC debit card PIN number and can only change it at the bank counter.

Why?

I forgot my PIN number because I have been out of the country for 4 months and didn't write it down for security reasons. When I called the service number to change it, they told me only a teller is authorized to make the change for security reasons.

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15. When I went to the dentist in Gainesville, they had me take 18 x-rays which is super excessive.

Why? 

The mass amount of x-rays can be attributed to their out-dated technology which required me to bite down on a piece of metal in various orientations until a complete scan of my mouth could be done. Oddly enough, though, I also did a newer 360 x-ray which should have covered the same surface area.

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16. When I hit the unlock button on my car keys, it rolls down my windows too.

Why?

Frankly, I don't know why it does this. Maybe because it is an old car (1997 Nissan Maxima) and that is just an issue it has. Maybe it assumes I'm always in hot weather and it needs to air out the car before I get there.

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17. I have to change my UF email password each year but then it wants some weird combination of letters, numbers, and symbols that I always forget or mix up.

Why?

For security reasons, the password must change regularly and be strong enough to not get hacked as there is sensitive financial and grading information in each student's account.

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18. My glasses give me a headache if I wear them too often.

Why? 

I don't have this problem with contacts so it's not the prescription. It must be the frames and the way they rest on my nose.

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19. My Garmin fitness watch will buzz constantly if the battery is low but that just drains the battery even faster.

Why?

They want the user to be notified with enough time to find a charger. However, they notify too many times.

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20. When I restart my laptop, it opens up Spotify, Skype, and Skype for Business, all of which make the processor really slow and need to be manually shut down in the Task Manager.

Why? 

Businesses like Skype and Spotify have aggressive applications that constantly pop up to remind the user to use it. Spotify runs a "WebHelper" which makes my computer incredibly slow and probably just generates ads for their own revenue.

II. Reflection

This was difficult compiling 20 bugs because of the need to think on the spot. It always seems to be that whenever one is asked to compile a simple list of common occurrences, that they suddenly lack the ability to think creatively. The majority of the focus is spent thinking about the task on hand that the content gets forgotten and the memory feels blank. This was the case with this assignment. I had to separate it into two days of work simply because after feeling like I was on a roll for the first 10 bugs, I could not come up with any more no matter how hard I sat and thought. When I began, I just went through my day and thought about everything that had bugged me or gone wrong and I was focused on reliving my day. When I hit the halfway mark, my focus shifted onto coming up with 10 more bugs which took thinking away from actually remembering what had occurred that day and in previous ones. I began thinking of specific products or parts of my routine that could be improved, and when that didn't work, I searched for answers in the surroundings that encompassed me. I began looking for issues that weren't really that much of a nuisance to me. The difficulty, then, came down to finding 20 meaningful bugs in my life. Bugs that could be solved to make my life significantly better.