The grumpy thread

[mercrocker]

Neighbour just phoned to say my door mirror's hanging off....So it is.  Bastard.....    This sort of thing happens nearly every school holiday - silly old git up the road has his grand-kids camping in the garden and then ignores what they do once he has gone to bed.    Apparently they were scooting round and round last night on their crappy little scooters.    Time for a broom handle through an alloy wheel slot, I reckon. 

 

 

NB - not really but I will be having a word or two....One of which will be "off"

[LightBulbFun]

Catholic church IS an insurance company. They are so rich they self insure. There is no organisation with more wealth.

 

this did get me thinking, why do they need state funding/donations to fix it?

 

(looks like im not the only one to think that https://twitter.com/IanCutress/status/1118085681404882944 )

[Datsuncog]

Fucking steam irons; things don't last 5 minutes! Will by a posh one next time instead of Chinese shit.

 

Don't, they're not any better. We spent a small fortune on a top-of-the-line Morphy Richards jobber a few years back, recommended by Good Housekeeping etc etc, and it was still crap.

 

We went back to using a mid-70s non-steaming Sunbeam electric iron, along with a greenhouse spritzer bottle, which does the job perfectly well. I put a new cord on and it's been great for several years now.

[Datsuncog]

Really sad to see the mess of Notre Dame. While my personal beliefs don't really chime with organised faiths, I've a lot of good memories of visiting the building over the years; and I think the last time I was there (2004) I was pleased to snap a spectacularly scruffy Peugeot 304 parked outside.

 

I'm drawing a little comfort from the concept that cathedrals are always a work in progress, that they're a repository for many centuries of craftsmanship, artistry and tradition. A huge amount has gone; but not all. There will be justified mourning for what has been lost - yet when that time passes, there will also be the opportunity for today's artisans to ply their skills in rebuilding, restoring and safeguarding the building for future generations.

 

The spectacle of this disaster has at least made people sit up and take notice; with hundreds of millions of Euros already pledged to the repairs, its future ironically appears more secure now than when concerns were being raised about the creeping cracks wending their way through the venerable structure. As others have said, one day the Great Fire of 2019 will be just one of many imperilments the building has survived through the ages. Not for a long time, granted, but one day.

 

Since the citizens of Belfast still can't shut up about the bloody Primark fire last year (also presumed caused by careless hot work in the roof), I can't begin to imagine how Parisians, people of faith, and those with strong links to Paris are feeling this morning.

 

Solidarité.

 

[MikeR]

got given a bike rack for the car ...

 

its got more straps than a bra !!

[theorganist]

this did get me thinking, why do they need state funding/donations to fix it?

 

(looks like im not the only one to think that https://twitter.com/IanCutress/status/1118085681404882944 )

I think the Cathedral is owned by the French state not the Catholic church. 

 

It was heartbreaking watching it yesterday, hopefully it was not a badly damaged as feared. The Cathedral has the largest pipe organ in France a 8,000 pipe Cavaille-Coll a very celebrated instrument which it looks like may not have been damaged by the fire as it is at the west end, although the intense heat would not do the lead pipes very much good.

 

For me the Crucifix at the east end still intact and shining through the devastation is quite symbolic.

 

I think we should look at fitting sprinklers to our historic buildings, not just churches. It reminds me of the medieval church at Ropley in Hampshire which was raised to the ground in 2014 by a fire. History not just in the form of the structure but in art and artefacts which are irreplaceable are lost forever.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Canterbury Cathedral will be having a review into their renovations now, I would imagine. They’ve had works going on there for ages.

[theorganist]

Canterbury Cathedral will be having a review into their renovations now, I would imagine. They’ve had works going on there for ages.

I would hope so. It only takes a moments lapse of concentration and disaster can strike.

 

Canterbury Cathedral would be a huge loss if the same thing happened there. 

[Sir Snipes]

Sprinklers (and most emergencey equipment like lighting) aren't usually designed to save the building. They're more intended to assist anyone trying to escape. It's als unlikely the fabric of the building would allow it, unless you want pipes and cables running up the side of it.

[theorganist]

Sprinklers (and most emergencey equipment like lighting) aren't usually designed to save the building. They're more intended to assist anyone trying to escape. It's als unlikely the fabric of the building would allow it, unless you want pipes and cables running up the side of it.

Fair enough I guess, I just thought it might at least slow the fire down. I think you could disguise cables etc quite well in a Cathedral to be honest, I don't think visually they would necessarily have much of an impact. We have quite a lot of cables for lighting etc in our church and it isn't too intrusive.

[Supernaut]

Nyphur, give the sniping a rest already.

 

HCB isn't the first person whose throat you've jumped down over nothing lately. Probably won't be the last either.

[Sheefag]

HCB was being a prick.

[Cavcraft]

Can we please keep personal spats to private messaging?

[BorniteIdentity]

Went to watch the Watford Rovers play the Arsenal Gunners last night. A414 unexpectedly shut, detour via old M10 and M1. Matrix signs suddenly reduce speed from 70 to 20. Then words that will fill even the bravest of souls with horror appear before me.

 

”Hazard - Oncoming Vehicle”. 

 

Having none of that, I performed an admirable 5 lane sweep to exit at 10. Got home at Midnight.

 

Heading back from work today, I was met with the sort of sight that helps explain last night. 

 

 

It took 5 vehicles and 3 separate people for the driver to finally accept defeat. I was careful not to be threatening, or frightening - expecting the elderly lady to feel embarrassment and possibly humiliation. It was more flippant disregard to be honest. 

 

I have alerted BCH road police, suggesting they go and check on her and have a chat about things. I doubt they have the resources or inclination.

[Mally]

 

That's broke then, slight flaw in the casting, or old crack.

Only lasted 10 years, they don't make them like they used to.

[wuvvum]

I have to say from the few pictures I've seen of the interior, the damage is not as bad as I'd feared.  I'm over the moon that the organ has survived - it was rebuilt by Cavaillé-Coll but parts of it are over 600 years old - if that had been lost it would have been an utter tragedy.  I was listening to Classic FM in the car on the way in to work this morning (before it was known what had or hadn't survived) and they played a recording of the Widor Toccata played on the Grand Orgue of Notre-Dame - it really does sound magnificent.

[New POD]

The National Trust can GTF.

I have a similar view to you, although I have a joint lifetime membership which my mother bought me for her 40th wedding anniversary.

 

What I needed at the time was not membership of the National Trust.

[wuvvum]

 

It took 5 vehicles and 3 separate people for the driver to finally accept defeat. I was careful not to be threatening, or frightening - expecting the elderly lady to feel embarrassment and possibly humiliation. It was more flippant disregard to be honest. 

 

This seems to be an increasingly common attitude among the older generation sadly.  Not entirely sure why.

[wuvvum]

Fair enough I guess, I just thought it might at least slow the fire down. I think you could disguise cables etc quite well in a Cathedral to be honest, I don't think visually they would necessarily have much of an impact. We have quite a lot of cables for lighting etc in our church and it isn't too intrusive.

 

That's a fair point - I would imagine Notre-Dame has a loudspeaker system installed, same as most large churches.  Not sure a sprinkler system would have been much help in this particular instance, given the scale of the fire and the fact that it started above where the sprinklers would have been, but it can't be a bad idea to have them in case of an incident in the cathedral itself.

[Supernaut]

Went to watch the Watford Rovers play the Arsenal Gunners last night. A414 unexpectedly shut, detour via old M10 and M1. Matrix signs suddenly reduce speed from 70 to 20. Then words that will fill even the bravest of souls with horror appear before me.

 

”Hazard - Oncoming Vehicle”. 

 

Having none of that, I performed an admirable 5 lane sweep to exit at 10. Got home at Midnight.

 

Heading back from work today, I was met with the sort of sight that helps explain last night. 

 

4C879B3F-0A2E-4D22-AAB0-343D61B457A3.jpeg

 

It took 5 vehicles and 3 separate people for the driver to finally accept defeat. I was careful not to be threatening, or frightening - expecting the elderly lady to feel embarrassment and possibly humiliation. It was more flippant disregard to be honest. 

 

I have alerted BCH road police, suggesting they go and check on her and have a chat about things. I doubt they have the resources or inclination.

 

Can you explain what's going on in that picture?

To me it looks like some people have decided to have a picnic around a Juke. I'm assuming the driver in question is in the Juke, but what were they trying to do that prompted people to surround them? Were they trying to turn right into the oncoming traffic that you're sat in?

[BorniteIdentity]

Can you explain what's going on in that picture?

To me it looks like some people have decided to have a picnic around a Juke. I'm assuming the driver in question is in the Juke, but what were they trying to do that prompted people to surround them? Were they trying to turn right into the oncoming traffic that you're sat in?

 

Sorry. It’s chaos.We are on a roundabout. The green Astra is trying to turn left into oncoming traffic on a dual carriageway. The fact the road is curved to prevent this from happening is of no concern or consequence; the driver just thinks it’s a bad road layout and must hairpin left to continue her journey.

[Supernaut]

Oooooh! Right.

 

Yeah, it's obvious now you mention it's the Astra at fault. Holy shit.

[Datsuncog]

Received a slightly worried-sounding text to say the Yaris' Engine Warning Light has come on, and won't go off again.

There is sufficient oil, I'm told, and there is sufficient coolant. No abnormal noises bar the top end of the VVC 1.0 unit, which is a bit tappetty - but then it's been like that for the past 20k miles. Temp normal, no smoke (though a slight blow at the centre silencer which has developed over the last couple of days).

Ah great. I've advised that it's unlikely to explode imminently, and while I'm hoping it's the lambda sensor being over-dramatic, it's quite possibly something else. 

And there I was wondering what I was going to do tonight, having finally got the bathroom sorted...

 

Plus, the Forester has taken to popping headlight bulbs as a pastime. Two nearside H4s in as many days.

[somewhatfoolish]

 

Since the citizens of Belfast still can't shut up about the bloody Primark fire last year (also presumed caused by careless hot work in the roof), I can't begin to imagine how Parisians, people of faith, and those with strong links to Paris are feeling this morning.

 

Solidarité.

Probably more to do with it being a nice old building rather than Primark being inside it.

 

Sprinklers (and most emergencey equipment like lighting) aren't usually designed to save the building. They're more intended to assist anyone trying to escape. It's als unlikely the fabric of the building would allow it, unless you want pipes and cables running up the side of it.

Hi-fog/Water misting is less intrusive(smaller nozzles and smaller bore pipework) and retrofitting is probably easier if not cheaper; it effectively prevents any firespread and causes little damage to anything unless left running for days. It's commonplace on ships(although not mandatory which I think it should be, it would save pretty much every life lost to engine room fires) and the cost is now nugatory compared to the cost even of a few years maintenance never mind a total rebuild like the GSA or a partial rebuild like Notre Dame, insurance companies need to think very hard about encouraging owners to fit this stuff even if governments won't.

[Datsuncog]

Probably more to do with it being a nice old building rather than Primark being inside it.

 

I'd love for that to be the case, but no.

 

While the fire in August last year is constantly referenced with tears and sadness as if it's Belfast's own 9/11, I haven't heard many people express much in the way of actual sorrow for the building.

 

The folks I work with just keep bitching on about how the makeshift branch that set up in the ex-New Look store doesn't have the same range of cardigans. Although when this stop-gap store opened in December, you'd have thought it was the first Red Cross convoy into Basra, the way people were carrying on. 

 

Rather dispiritingly, the general consensus amongst shoppers and traders seems to be that the burnt out shell should be demolished ASAP, so that the adjacent branches of Zara and Tesco can re-open. But it's listed, so it can't. There's a campaign set up to de-list it so it can be flattened which, thankfully hasn't gained much traction.

 

I'm sad for the building. I'm not, apparently, in the majority.

[barefoot]

Insurance / Thatcham Grump...

 

For the last couple of years I've had the bay insured agreed value and with a 3,000 mile limit. This was always a bit tight and, as we're off to the Scotlands this year it seemed time to increase it. Not a bother said the nice folk at Lancaster, before imposing a most onerous list of conditions. 

The usual half a dozen photographs, but also proof of NCD, compulsory fire extinguisher, whether they'll ask me later for some kind of maintenance certificate remains to be seen, and a Thatcham cat 2 immobiliser. The premium is only a shade over £100, so I reasoned that the £200 for an immobiliser would probably be money well spent in the long run. I am not insured for theft until it is fitted.

Before renewing the policy, I sought an installer but sadly they  couldn't come until a week after start of policy - today in fact.

Half an hour before he was due to arrive, I got a call telling me he won't be there,

'All I can do is apologise' mumbled the half wit at the other end of the line.

An apology is frankly of no use whatsoever, what a chap like me needs is a 'don't worry, he'll be there at dawn tomorrow'.

But no, because of the bank holiday,

'is that the very bank holiday I'm booked into a campsite on, with no fucking theft cover?'

He won't be able to come until next Tuesday.

 

You can't beat good service, this incidentally from

www.tsnautomotive.co.uk

the company at the very top of Thatcham's list of approved installers.

 

Honest, I seem to spend half my life on trust a fucking trader dot com!

[Supernaut]

Go big or go home.

 

Not only have I started a block of 4x 12 hour shifts today, the second half of this block will be night shifts, I've just been informed.

 

I've never done 12 hour shifts before, and never done night shifts. Fuuuuuck me. This is going to be grim.

[Sheefag]

Ideal time to put on a stupid voice and ring every cunt who's pissed you off for the past ten years.

 

When the satellite internet company gives you lemons.... etc.

[anonymous user]

I always thought it was go broke, or go home. (Never go to a casino with me)

[somewhatfoolish]

12hr shifts are unremittingly grim; even with a good night's(well, day's as it was a nightshift) rest I was generally starting to nod by the end.