Bug List

1.     Some bike racks around campus make it super inconvenient to securely lock your bike at the optimal place (through the back wheel and frame). WHY: poor design.

2.     My bike brakes will wear out to the point where they don’t slow me down at all. WHY: over usage causes them to lose its friction on the wheel.

3.     I have had so many pairs of headphones break on me for no apparent reason, whether it’s one of the sides not working or the cable needing to be in a specific position to work. WHY: either the companies are using cheap materials or they are just not made well.

4.     I hate when I put a poster up using some sort of tape or sticky material meant for hanging things and it falls down when a breeze comes in the door. WHY: perhaps the adhesive isn’t strong enough to hold the weight or it loses strength over time.

5.     When I’m playing a vinyl on my record player and it will start skipping back to the row before due to a speck of dust in the crevice. WHY: the record isn’t clean.

6.     When I’m showering and someone uses the faucet or flushes the toilet, the strength of the water gets much weaker. WHY: either a limited amount of water available or uneven distribution among the appliances.

7.     My laptop charger will slowly inch out of the outlet until I have to plug it in again because it’s so far out. WHY: the adapter that connects to the wall is too heavy. 

8.     Some AUX cords wont fit in my headphone port because my case blocks it. WHY: the case or the AUX is too bulky.

9.     When my bracelets get caught on a door handle or something protruding out like that and it breaks and the beads fly everywhere WHY: the elastic is too stretchy and thin.

10. When I’m finishing a bottle of toothpaste and there is a little left but it is impossible to get. WHY: there is too little left to push out.

11. When I try to charge my laptop and I have to flip it to the other side to work even though both sides should work. WHY: malfunctions with the chord.

12. When I send a video on my android to someone with an Iphone it comes out really blurry. WHY: the two operating systems aren’t very compatible.

13. When I’m sharpening my pencil in a manual sharpener and the point breaks off and gets stuck inside. WHY: the tip fits too tightly so when you take out the pencil the tip stays inside.

14. When I try to put my hair in a bun and my ponytail breaks. WHY: the elastic is weak.

15. Its really hard to wrap my bike light around my handle bars and it’s I have to redo the process every night I ride my bike because I’m afraid someone will steal it. WHY: the elastic is not stretchy or long enough.

16. I have notebooks that come with pockets for loose papers but its too small to fit any. WHY: it is only meant for the ripped out sheets from the notebook and not for the average 8x11 sheet.

17. When I turn on the garbage disposal, sometimes the food will shoot up out of the other side and dirty the clean dishes that are drying. WHY: The garbage disposal is too full.

18. The stoplight will signal the pedestrians to go but it also is green for the turning lane sometimes, so this will lead to drivers not paying attention to the people walking/riding and come very close to hitting them. WHY: they are supposed to wait for the people to cross but they aren’t focused on what’s around them.

19. I’ll make frozen food in my oven and follow the instructions exactly but it will still come out cold sometimes. WHY: the oven in my apartment doesn’t have a lot of power.

20. Ironically, certain types of deodorant will make my armpits sweat more so I am forced to buy a special brand. WHY: the ingredients affect people differently.

I enjoyed this exercise because it made me look at my daily life in a more critical way especially when I was figuring out why the “bugs” would happen. At first I found it easy but after I flushed out the main things that bothered me I had trouble finishing off the list.  I was coming up with a lot of them when I would choose a general topic (like my bike) and stem off of that. When I was out of ideas I found myself just walking around my apartment, looking for problems with any little thing.  This method eventually gave me enough ideas to complete the assignment.