What's happening in the area, I.e. a view of the overall scenery. This vast perspective is different, and it's like looking at a live painting. When I'm on the move, such a observer perspective shrinks to few tens of meters, which kind of makes sense.
I don't think this is anything most people don't do however. I do remember places quite vividly though, and I practically never get lost. People however in the scenery, I forget in about a minute.
Typos in published books. Though it's involuntary. It's a bit of an (undiagnosed) OCD kinda thing.
But also, consciously, how much my presence affects others. I hold doors for strangers, I make space on sidewalks, I try not to talk loudly in public, etc. It's the people who don't notice these things at all about themselves that really drive me nuts. Like people speaking loudly on a phone that's on speaker. I hate that type of behavior.
Armor and clothing in movies and shows with historical settings. I really appreciate when they get the details right and it can be really jarring when it's bad. The Northman is a good example of what vikings probably dressed like, which is basically the same as how all medieval people dressed. Simple wool and linen tunics and big cloaks fastened with broaches. No fur capes or leather armbands or cornrows, looking at you Vikings on the "history" channel.
The total stairs a staircase has. I cannot walk up or down a staircase without counting, and it makes me satisfied when the number ends in an even number.
Fucking time zones and daylight saving/summertime. I live in a place that doesn’t change my clocks twice a year, but constantly deal with people that do. The number of times I have people say EST when they mean EDT is too damn high. Worse when they say MST, cause then I have to ask “are you in Arizona?” to which they look at me confused and say no. Then I about blow a gasket cause “then you’re not in MST!” If you’re going to live in a place that always changes your clocks, get your own terminology right dammit.
I never remember whether we're currently in daylight savings or not since it's so stupid. I just started saying 'eastern time' instead of the abbreviation to avoid getting it wrong
Fall back, spring ahead is how i was taught to remember.
But now that my phone updates time automatically i occasionally notice a couple clocks arent correct and dont know how long they have been wrong for lol
I base everything on GMT + X. When I’m inviting people to meetings. You work out your own Timezone. Also tell me when you want to meet in terms of GMT. It helps stop the summer / winter crap for both northern and southern hemisphere.
The types of shoes a person is wearing, and if they're polished or not. Forest Gump's mamma was right, you can tell a lot about someone by their shoes.
Camerawork in film and tv. I have been volunteering doing camerawork for a small broadcast tv station, so whenever I watch stuff I'm always teeing to see how all of the shots are taken, and also the color grading and stuff like that.
Any movie that is acting out one of my hobbys. I always appreciate it if the writers/producers actually took the time to research it. Stuff like:
-boardgame setups
-videogame gameplay
-musical instruments/singing being performed
I also always look in a carscene wether they are actually driving or if it's a video/screen playing
Basically I look a lot for clues behind the scenes with movies instead of enjoying the movie as is.
Head shape. Nose shape. I also pay attention to whether or not people have level collarbones, or collarbones that slope downward as they near the shoulders. I often notice what eye color people have. My eyes are grey, and not really a blue color. It’s really rare when I meet someone who has the same eye color as me.
You know when you are walking or doing stuff be it outside or indoors and you pay attention to that ceramic tile in the floor or the wall or you pay attention to that wooden veneer door or a tree or bit of paint or rust and you start noticing a pattern and you end up seeing a face?
I have gotten to know their makes and some models. I have developed preferences. When I go to a run down establishment and they have a nice reader, I am pleasantly surprised. I know that walmart uses ingenico isc250s, and they do not support tap. I know that dunkin has high quality readers, and sometimes tim hortons does too, but less frequently.
When leaving a place, I might say something like “damn, you don’t see that model of verifone very often”, and my friends will look at me funny.
Semi-related, did you know that most receipt printers have embedded telnet servers in them?
Agree in general, the problem is it's the only method those folks have to complete whatever their daily mission is.
So really, cars are great, they comfortably take you where you need to go, many miles away, pretty fast, relatively comfortably. But a robust public transit network is even better.