Catching a cold

Catching colds that aren't life threatening have to be the most annoying thing ever. You know when you catch a cold because it's never really a surprise. You generally wake up with a soar throat. You try and carry on with your day, but you feel like you’ve been hit like a bus. You quickly realize that you are in the begining stages of a cold that might last a week or two. The first cough is always the worst because you know it's only the first of many more. As you start to notice you have the erg to cough, it's not long until you get the running nose. Now that you start getting the running nose, you'll notice that every minute of your day will be devoted to blowing you're nose, which will get annoying after the 5th time. Now that it’s confirmed you have a cold, your focus will be on trying to prevent coughing in public, and making sure your nose isn't leaking while talking to people. Now that you're whole day was pretty crappy you'll go home and look up every cure online. You'll put your personal trust into some complete stranger that probably has no medical background. Or, you can go to the clinic, wait 2 to 3 hours for a doctor to tell you to eat soup. Having a cold is a lose, lose situation. Once you’re better by getting the proper rest and eating the proper cold treating meals, you find yourself another cold the following week. Having a cold is annoying, something we all have to go through. Some make it out in a few days, and some and some in a few weeks. You can you wash you're hands 100 times a day, take you're vitamins and get the proper sleep because germs have no boundaries and they will get you when you least expect it. 

The nap cycle

The nap cycle is when you take a nap after a long day of school, work, or just really tired. Now, don't get me wrong, naps are great. The  problem with naps is when you have no control of how long you nap, and you end up sleeping for 3 to 4 hours.  Falling asleep at night is nearly impossible. You toss and turn, and before you know it, it’s late. By the time you fall asleep, it's 2 or 3 a.m.  The following day you're even more tired than you were the previous day, when you took the nap. This is where the cycle comes into play. If you don’t have any will power, you'll take your daily 3 to 4 hour power nap. This usually means  sacrificing homework, or other things that might seem meaningless because you're so tired. This has to be one of the most annoying cycles to get out of. It's hard to get out of it as well. For starters, you'll need to find the motivation to stay awake after school, struggling to keep you're eyes open. You can try to stay awake by listening to loud music, or watching TV, but both will at times make you even more tired. You could even try to move the nap to a later time, and sleep until the next morning, but this may not be that easy. You could find yourself waking up at 10 or 11 p.m., and staying awake until the next morning. I think the best way not to get stuck in a nap cycle is to not take a nap. If that doesn’t work for you, then try setting your alarm clock giving yourself a 15 or 30 minute nap.

Killing Brian Griffin on Family Guy

I'm sure that by now, most of you have heard that, the family dog, Brian Griffin, from the popular TV show, Family Guy, died. I for one,watched the episode the night it premiered, and like many people, was extremely out raged. Brian wasn't just any cartoon dog. He was a warm hearted, funny member of the Griffin family for 14 years. He brought many exiting episodes to me, and my family. I can’t wrap my head around why they decided to kill Brian. After all, we have seen him come close to death so many times, but never thought he’d actually die.  It’s just a cartoon. When cutting out a character, it would make more sense to kill off a character that has no real importance, like when they got rid of Cleveland Brown a few years ago. Rather than kill Brian, the character who gave so much to the show, like his fun adventure episodes with Stevie, or the very funny bar episodes with Peter, Joe and, Guigmir, or the episodes where we laugh at Brian’s secret crush for Louis. The chemistry with Brian and the other main characters was too good to disrupt.  The Family Guy writer must be crazy to throw it all  away. Even worse, the Griffin family went ahead a got a new dog called Vinny. This really frustrated me. Replacing something great with something new and unknown really sucks.  Fourteen years of memories, and now no Brian. I wouldn't be surprised if Family Guys TV ratings start to go down because Brian is gone.  The writer will need to be creative if he wants to bring him back. If they bring him back I, like many people would be a happier Family Guy fan but if they don't. I guess I will have to put with Vinny.

Having to take the bus

Having to take the bus. I, like most kids, take the bus. For starters, I hate taking the bus. First of all, I have no friends on my bus. No one to pass the time with, it’s horrible. Having no friends on the bus is like being sent to summer camp with people you know, but nothing in common, and nothing to talk about. I don't know what it is about my bus, but most of the people don't know how to keep their thoughts to themselves, or keep their voices down. Most of them listen to their music out loud so that everyone can hear, rather than wear headphones. Further more, busses don't have seat belts, and my bus driver is a little on the reckless side. Anytime we hit a bump, I feel like I’ve been punched from my seat, which really annoyes me. Would it kill the bus company to hire a better bus driver, or install seat belts before some kid is killed. Our country makes it mandatory for children to wear seatbelts, but we seem to think it’s ok not to wear them on a school bus. I do however appreciate the no food rule, but when it’s broken, I'm ready to jump off the bus, and walk home, even if it means walking an hour, just to avoid the family stinky family recipe. Yes, the bus offers free service to kids, but there's so much that comes along with it and I don't like it. One other thing that drives me crazy is that you can’t get dropped off where you want. For example, my bus drives past my street, and continues three blocks before the driver actually drops me off. Even worse, I’m dropped off two blocks from my street. It makes no sense. Why would anyone want to drive a bus, winters are freezing cold, there’s too much rain in the spring, and summers are too hot to be riding around without air conditioning. Yes, the bus offers free service to kids, but there’s so much that comes along with it that I just don’t like.  

Winter, the season of annoying weather.

Winter, the cold and all it's annoying gifts that come along with its misery.  Unlike most Canadians, I hate the winter. It's extremely cold, sub zero temperatures are real issues that are impossible to resolve. Don't get me wrong, I love a cold, snowy Christmas day, and spending time with family, but I can do without the cold weeks before Christmas, they’re just a nightmare. I take no pride in being apart of a season where you rarely see the sun, and it always feel like its nighttime. What sane person want’s to live somewhere where it gets dark early, it’s grey and gloomy during the day, and to top it off, it’s frizzing cold and tones of snow. I feel at times that I'm losing my mind in the winter months. The cold makes me emotionless, and at times, very short tempered. I need to dress like an Eskimo everywhere I go. At times wearing two pairs of pants, a shirt, sweater, winter jacket, gloves and a toque. This is crazy compared to a warm climate country, where you can wear shorts and a t-shirts 365 days a year. Yes, they don't get snow, but who needs snow when you have the sun and warm weather. During the winter months, I spend too much time drinking warm beverages, and sitting 2 feet from the fireplace. It's a struggle living life during the winter months, especially when your car has been parked outside all night. Having to wait either 15 minutes for it to warm up, or suffering when you’re running late, and you have to sit in that freezer on wheels. I think the only good thing about snow is having it on Christmas morning, and having a snow day. Snow days are the best, you sleep in and are assured that you won't be in trouble for not going to school. In conclusion, life would be much better with out winter and all it's awful baggage that comes along with it. Winter is the season of misery and constant annoyances that I have no control over.

Uncomfortable things people do that make me uncomfortably annoyed

People will do some crazy things, but people who do crazy things to their bodies make me feel uncomfortably annoyed. Piercing on parts of the body looks painful, and unattractive. For example, lip and tongue piercings not only look uncomfortable, but also, I feel uncomfortable watching and listening to someone slur their words as they’re trying to talk to me. They fumble their words as they talk, and it usually sounds as though they are talking with a slip. I get so distracted by the piercings and slurs that I feel uncomfortably annoyed. I have to believe that the person wearing the lip or tongue piercing must feel uncomfortable as well. Let’s be honest, how could it possibly be comfortable, not to mention annoying. Then, why wear them. It must be for attention, because it’s certainly not attractive. If fact, I compare the piercings to a booger in your nose, it’s uncomfortable, distracting and annoying to look at.  Why pierce your lip or tongue in the first place? They’re not attractive. I have to believe it’s a way of getting attention, because there’s really no other explanation. If you’re reading this, and you have a lip of tongue piercing, or are thinking of getting them, don’t do it, it’s not attractive, or cute. I don’t want to be distracted or annoyed by something that makes no sense. When I talk to someone with a lip or tongue piercing I always clue off in the conversation and wonder how would they eat spicy food? What if that ring got caught on something? Now let me mention another uncomfortable thing people do to them self that are annoying and uncomfortable. Another uncomfortable annoying thing is wearing your baseball hat on sideways. They weren’t meant to wear sideways. Your head isn’t designed that way. Wearing it sideways must be uncomfortable, not to mention annoying to look at. When I’m talking to someone with his or her hat to the side I ask myself, Does their neck tan evenly? Do they know you can use a hat to keep the sun out of your face our hair? Do they that know that they just look really unattractive? In conclusion there are better ways to draw attention to yourself then looking dumb.      

People who are mad at you for no good reason are rude people

There’s a good chance you know of one of these people. Most of us have a rude friend who gets mad at us for no good reason. I’m sure all of us get very annoyed when having to deal with a rude friend. He or she generally has a quick temper, and is usually disrespectful. He or she usually kills your spirit, and steals your happiness. You do your best to try and convince yourself that they’re your friend, but you realize deep down in your heart that you’re nothing more than a servant to them. You’re not happy with the situation, and you feel it every day. You don’t become any happier by trying to make things better because you know that you did not wrong, and don’t deserve this type of treatment. Having a conversation to try and figure them out is usually pointless because they recognize that they are mad and being rude. There’s really no point in maintaining a friendship. I would rather say bye bye, and let them go, get them out of our life. I like to compare these types of relationships with feeling sick, and you need to throw up. You usually don’t want to throw up because you don’t like the feeling, but you know that once you do, you’ll feel so much better. You really don’t want to walk away from this friend, but you know that you’ll feel better once you do. Having this person in your life just isn’t worth it. I am so tired of people making excuses for rude behviour. Excuses that include, “don’t mind him, he’s just wired, or just different, you need to get used to him.” This person will generally be quite, speaks rudely rude and will be analyzing your every move. Unfortunately when you say something to one of their friends about their behavior, they generally respond with, “you’ll get used to him, his got a weird personality.” At some point, you will start a friend ship because your first thought is, “Ok, he’s got an angry personality, but he or she seems cool.” To me, that’s so annoying. If someone tells you that, don’t believe it. Rude people need to be confronted. Let’s say, for example, if someone didn’t wear deodorant, and had body odor, it would not be tolerated. A friend would not tell say, “you’ll get used to him, he’s got bad BO.” They would likely tell him, “you smel,l do something about it.” But, we continue to excuses for angry, rude people. Why, because we’re afraid of the repercussions. Unfortunately, we need to be realistic, because at some point in our lives, we will encounter that angry, rude person, whether it’s a friend, coach, boss, or teacher.  

People who own a wild animals as pets

I'm not talking about animals who love companionship such as dogs, and cats. I'm talking about people who own snakes, mice, birds, and any other animal that needs to live in the wild, and not in a cage. For example, keeping a bird in a cage is ridiculous and just plain wrong. If you’re reading this, and have a pet bird locked in a cage, or thinking of becoming a bird owner, this blog is for you. First of all, what are you doing with the bird? Birds were meant to fly. There’s not a whole lot of flying going on in that cage. You’re not doing the bird any favours by keeping him locked in a cage. Think about it, the bird spends the entire day eating sunflower seeds, pooping on an old newspaper, and chirping. Yes, chirping, and why do you think the bird is chirping? I can definitely tell you he’s not thanking you for his wonderful home made of bars. He’s not thanking you for his lack of freedom, and boring life. Lets just say, he’s chirping something I can’t repeat. What kind of person keeps a bird for a pet? Does it make you feel good to hear people say, “what a cute little bird.” Here’s a thought, let the bird put you in a cage where he can feed you little pieces of hot dog, poop on old newspaper, and cry all day because you can’t go for a walk, or stretch your legs. Doesn’t sound good, does it. Let me guess, you’re the same person who keeps a pet snake in an aquarium. I’m not sure what’s worse, a bird in a cage, or a snake in an aquarium. Again, a wild animal living in prison thanks to you, yes you, the inhumane pet owner. So, what is so appealing about keeping these pets? In my opinion, nothing, nothing at all. Here’s a suggestion to those of you who love birds and snakes. Adopt a dog, and take him for long walks where you can enjoy watching the birds fly and snakes slither in the grass.  

Losing fun as we get older.

Once again, I’m sure most of you feel the same way I do when it comes to having fun. When you’re a kid all you want to do is play. Kids see the fun in everything, and play until they’re tired. That’s what being a kid is all about, playing and having fun. As we become older, fun time becomes restricted. We are given recess to have fun. Recess is the time where we are being told to, “go be crazy, have fun, this is the time to have fun.” We are programed to have fun at a certain time, and for a short time, then we are expected to be serious. We are not taught to have fun all the time. For example, we have all heard the phrase, “behave now and you will have time to play at recess on the jungle gym.” At a young age, we begin to process this message, and learn we can only be happy and have fun when we are told to, or given permission to. As we get older, we lose more playtime when we start high school, and the only time we have to be silly or have fun with our friends is while we eat our lunch and talk with out mouths full. As we get older we lose play time altogether. We become adults, work nine to five, and unfortunately don’t make or find time to play. We bottle up all this desire to have fun. When you’re an adult, you cant just stop to just stop what you’re doing and, and have recess, or play and enjoy life. The only time most adults get a sense of recess, or playtime is if they’re at a wedding, living in the moment, and just having fun. Dancing, laughing and having fun all night brings them back to there childhood where they were given time to have fun. Dancing at the office just doesn’t happen. Unfortunately, most adults wait for a wedding, or special occasion to have fun, like going out for recess and that is very annoying. It seems to be when you become older you put on a mask of maturity that falls off when you’re living in the moment and loving life. I will often times here people say“, sitting on my couch and watching the sun while listening to the birds chirp was a wasted the day.” Once again, that’s our inner kid feeling like we needed permission do that. The same goes for people who only think they have to be on vacation to sit around, relax and do nothing. I think if we want to sit around and do nothing for a few hours and live in the moment we should. From an early age we’ve been programed into thinking we have to wait for that right moment. As we get older, we think of what needs to be done tomorrow, or the following day. We need to start thinking like kids again, have fun now. and not wait for that wedding or vacation to enjoy life. 

Substitute Teacher

Substitute Teachers:  I’m sure that most of you feel the same way I do when it comes to having a substitute teacher. The frustrated thoughts that run through my mind when walking into a classroom and seeing a stranger with a stressed out, I don’t want to teach attitude, but I’m stuck here, and yes, you will have to look at me for the next hour. There are two kinds of substitute teachers. The strict one that got the wrong memo that said, he or she is coming to teach a classroom of military cadets or, the one who appears to have no clarification and is clueless when it comes to teaching a lesson for one hour. Lets start with the strict Military Colonel. He or she is going to make your next hour of class time miserable. He or she will treat your classroom like a bunker, and flip everything over for poor performance. Once that’s complete, and your bunker is ransacked, attendance will begin. As each name is called out your response should be a simple here. But, there’s always one soldier who responds with a “Yup”. Your colonel will hate that and punish you with an unspeakable letter to your teacher who will return knowing you were disrespectful. As the class rolls on your duties, or mission will be assigned, but the Colonel will turn every group mission into a solo mission that will require you to complete it at 1500 hours. If you fail, you will also receive a letter stating you didn’t complete the mission. Your punishment will include probation, to be served the next day during your lunch hour, minus your lunch. Secondly, we have the substitute teacher who appears to have no clarification, and is clueless. When walking into this classroom, we find a shy looking teacher who is normally dressed comfortably. This type of substitute is none assuming. What do I mean by that you might ask? Well for starters the classroom attendance will take two to three times longer then normal. When trying to pronounce a name such as mine, Couloufis, I typically get, “ is Chris Cou…ca… lou..F..I..S, Ca.. Lou Fus…Clueless, I give up here.” And the last name game usually includes 20 of the 30 kids who have uncommon last names. That adds up to 10 minutes of mispronunciations, and class work time that will turn into homework. Once attendance is over, and you’ve fallen half asleep, the teacher who has now forgotten the class needs to be taught, begins to talk about his or hers life. A life that includes there mother, father, kids, athletic injuries that cost them a chance to play pro ball, a dream of being a musician that failed so they became a teacher. Whatever the story, you find yourself asking, “What does this have to do with school work.”  Can we have the day off, what’s the point? When does the teaching start? When it does start, the students begin to ask questions. Questions the substitute cant answer. They stare at you with a blank look on their face, as if they’ve seen a ghost. We usually get stuck with homework that we don’t understand. Substitute teachers are impossible to work with.

Intro to Blog

Warring: This blog is not for you if you do not have a sense of humour. This blog is intended to make fun of what I find annoying. Join Chris weekly and relate to some of his biggest annoyances.