The grumpy thread

[Bobthebeard]

As a taxi driver in Lytham St Annes most of my customers are old and/or disabled. This means that I often have to drop them off or pick them up from places that inconvenience other drivers. The amount of verbal abuse I get for stopping in awkward places is incredible. Despite it being obvious that I am helping an elderly man/lady into a wheelchair and onto a footpath or into a shop  horns are tooted and I get yelled at and called a twat. Am almost immune to it now, but it still annoys me. 

[reb]

The starter on one of my kitchen lights has gone.

That's not the grump.

In the process of trying to swap the one from the other strip to check if it was definitely the starter the fitting disappeared into the housing necessitating taking it to bits to retrieve it.

That's not the grump either.

The grump is everywhere I can go and buy one from an actual shop want £3+ for one, or Screwfix wanting £5 for a 5 pack when the same (unknown to me) brand can be had from online suppliers for 50p each. Ended up ordering a 10 pack of Philips ones from Amazon for £5.95, that should last me a while.

Batteries too, why does a 30 pack cost basically the same as an 8 pack? I only wanted one for my kitchen timer!

Someone somewhere (possibly on here) once said that supermarkets/retailers are in the business of selling you packaging rather than the contents. I think it's even more true than I believed before.

 

Next time on "Robin moans about consumerism"; I try to buy decent kitchen knives.

[LightBulbFun]

8 minutes ago, reb said:

The grump is everywhere I can go and buy one from an actual shop want £3+ for one, or Screwfix wanting £5 for a 5 pack when the same (unknown to me) brand can be had from online suppliers for 50p each. Ended up ordering a 10 pack of Philips ones from Amazon for £5.95, that should last me a while.

 

happy to hear you went for some decent Philips (S10 im guessing?) starters in the end, Philips starters are pretty much the best starters you can get outside of something like an EFS600 Pulse starter 

the £3 Starters local shops sell you are an absolute rip off and are complete chinese junk

[reb]

3 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

happy to hear you went for some decent Philips (S10 im guessing?) starters in the end, Philips starters are pretty much the best starters you can get outside of something like an EFS600 Pulse starter 

the £3 Starters local shops sell you are an absolute rip off and are complete chinese junk

Yes, S10. I have to be honest I don't understand the difference, but the reviews seemed to suggest they start that bit quicker than the cheapo ones. My logic though is I'd rather do the fit and forget thing rather than burn through many many cheap ones. Still nice to have spares though.

[LightBulbFun]

2 minutes ago, reb said:

Yes, S10. I have to be honest I don't understand the difference, but the reviews seemed to suggest they start that bit quicker than the cheapo ones. My logic though is I'd rather do the fit and forget thing rather than burn through many many cheap ones. Still nice to have spares though.

out of sheer curiosity what fixture are these going into?  

yeah the Philips S10s are very good in that regard

(its not so much how quickly a starter starts a tube, but how well it preheats the electrodes before striking the arc, if you strike an arc with cold electrodes then you shorten the tube life)

[reb]

5 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

out of sheer curiosity what fixture are these going into?  

yeah the Philips S10s are very good in that regard

(its not so much how quickly a starter starts a tube, but how well it preheats the electrodes before striking the arc, if you strike an arc with cold electrodes then you shorten the tube life)

There's no branding at all on the fixtures, if the rest of the flat is anything to go by, probably the cheapest ones on the market.

[LightBulbFun]

4 minutes ago, reb said:

There's no branding at all on the fixtures, if the rest of the flat is anything to go by, probably the cheapest ones on the market.

Yeah thats a pretty "cheap and cheerful" fixture, not too surprising the starter failed as it was probably something cheap and nasty along with the rest of the fixture!

at least its magnetically ballasted which is always quite robust regardless of how cheap it is  

(side we have the same smoke alarms fitted around the house, council put them in a few years ago, when 1 goes off they all go off which is fun* when my mum or someone makes the mistake of trying to actually cook something in the kitchen  )

[BorniteIdentity]

3 hours ago, Bobthebeard said:

As a taxi driver in Lytham St Annes most of my customers are old and/or disabled. This means that I often have to drop them off or pick them up from places that inconvenience other drivers. The amount of verbal abuse I get for stopping in awkward places is incredible. Despite it being obvious that I am helping an elderly man/lady into a wheelchair and onto a footpath or into a shop  horns are tooted and I get yelled at and called a twat. Am almost immune to it now, but it still annoys me. 

Keep buggering on, Bob. It’s gestures like yours that give the rest of us hope. 

[sierraman]

Some absolute moron youths just chucked a brick at the bus breaking the window. What arseholes. In a fairer society they’d be taken away and quietly killed. 

[reb]

24 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

Yeah thats a pretty "cheap and cheerful" fixture, not too surprising the starter failed as it was probably something cheap and nasty along with the rest of the fixture!

at least its magnetically ballasted which is always quite robust regardless of how cheap it is  

(side we have the same smoke alarms fitted around the house, council put them in a few years ago, when 1 goes off they all go off which is fun* when my mum or someone makes the mistake of trying to actually cook something in the kitchen  )

The one that failed was a made in china General Electric branded one, the remaining working one is Osram branded and a similar tapered shape to the S10.

The only time I've ever managed to set the smoke alarm off was when I used the oven on full blast to burn off all the crap on my baking trays. Kind of predictable really.

 

I have to say this exchange is exactly why I like it here, I've found in real life in depth knowledge of something "mundane" elicits confused looks mostly.

[LightBulbFun]

12 minutes ago, reb said:

The one that failed was a made in china General Electric branded one, the remaining working one is Osram branded and a similar tapered shape to the S10.

The only time I've ever managed to set the smoke alarm off was when I used the oven on full blast to burn off all the crap on my baking trays. Kind of predictable really.

 

I have to say this exchange is exactly why I like it here, I've found in real life in depth knowledge of something "mundane" elicits confused looks mostly.

Yeah thought so, those Chinese GE starters are crap, the Osram ones (ST111) are pretty decent, but their 1 flaw is, the RF suppression capacitor in those can fail short from time to time, giving the appearance that the starter glow bottle has failed with the contacts welded shut which is the normal failure mode for a glow bottle starter when they do reach end of life (ie tube ends are glowing indfinantly)

when actually in those osram starters the glow bottle is normally fine, and if you open the starter up and lop the capacitor out there's a good chance the starter will work once more

[dollywobbler]

3 hours ago, Bobthebeard said:

As a taxi driver in Lytham St Annes most of my customers are old and/or disabled. This means that I often have to drop them off or pick them up from places that inconvenience other drivers. The amount of verbal abuse I get for stopping in awkward places is incredible. Despite it being obvious that I am helping an elderly man/lady into a wheelchair and onto a footpath or into a shop  horns are tooted and I get yelled at and called a twat. Am almost immune to it now, but it still annoys me. 

I bet they're the same dickheads who pretty much park in the door of the local supermarket when it so much as drizzles. Our Morrisons is a disaster area in such circumstances. If I'm on community minibus duty, I take great pleasure in blocking these lazy sods in while my passengers slowly get off. The bay is marked for buses, not lazy dickheads.

[meggersdog]

Chap in one of the units opposite pops in this morning asking if I can store his Ferrari overnight. No problem I've moved a few cars about to make room. Saw him drive off just before 4 O'clock and assumed he was going to collect it. We shut at 5 so I've sat here twenty minutes. Went over to his unit and one of the workers says "oh, it's got a flat battery.He found out at 1. O'clock.He's gone home now won't be back until tomorrow"

Thank's for letting me know pal.

 

Always assume everybody you meet is a dick-head until they prove otherwise

[Lord Sterling]

23 hours ago, Bobthebeard said:

As a taxi driver in Lytham St Annes most of my customers are old and/or disabled. This means that I often have to drop them off or pick them up from places that inconvenience other drivers. The amount of verbal abuse I get for stopping in awkward places is incredible. Despite it being obvious that I am helping an elderly man/lady into a wheelchair and onto a footpath or into a shop  horns are tooted and I get yelled at and called a twat. Am almost immune to it now, but it still annoys me. 

Because most people live in thier own world and thier own space. Get in their way and with a non-thinking knee-jerk reaction they'll toot thier horns or push past you or call you names.

The 'entitledness' of society is gaining momentum, getting stronger and becoming more popular as people think less and react more. We've lost that moment of pausing and thinking for a second before taking action.

Similarly in my job, people shout and yell down the phone at me because they didn't receive a battery within the (not guaranteed) 24 to 48 hours. 

Pausing for a moment and actilually thinking about how a large heavy plastic box filled with acid might be a bit delayed, before reaching that phone and dialing away to yell and moan down the phone at us is too difficult for many to comprehend. 

Everyone and thier dog expects you to work around thier schedule, move out of thier way and treat them like fluffy kings and queens they feel entitled to be.

We've lost that humbleness we once had because we want to be better, stronger and faster but at the cost of kindness and humility on which we end up with complete arrogant dickheads care not about thier fellow man.

[dozeydustman]

5 hours ago, Bobthebeard said:

As a taxi driver in Lytham St Annes most of my customers are old and/or disabled. This means that I often have to drop them off or pick them up from places that inconvenience other drivers. The amount of verbal abuse I get for stopping in awkward places is incredible. Despite it being obvious that I am helping an elderly man/lady into a wheelchair and onto a footpath or into a shop  horns are tooted and I get yelled at and called a twat. Am almost immune to it now, but it still annoys me. 

 

Got to sympathise with you here Bob, we get the same on the bins. This is despite within a couple of hundred yards all the beacons and strobes go on, signal to pull in, and we can't always get over as much as we'd like because narrow road, or pavement, or parked car &c. yet the bonnet of the car behind still gets between the guards around the bin lift, and when you creep up a yard so the blokes at the back can get a bin on or throw in a bag, the same car creeps up closing any workspace.

Even seen people swear and gesticulate at bus drivers who pull up at a stop, because they've had to wait.

One of the ballaches of being a professional driver.

[mrbenn]

My grump also involves people.

Fucking entitled, lying, scamming, devious, underhand, thoughtless, feckless bastards everywhere. I've actually had a break from forums/the net/FB in a bid to avoid some of these types (no-one on here, I hasten to add) but they're still waiting when you come back which in a way makes it even worse than if you'd just carried on.

I don't tar everyone with this brush by any means, but it feels like the sort of people who behave how they want, when they want and where they want - and if you don't like it you can fuck off - are quickly multiplying.

Perhaps I'm oversensitive, in fact I know I can be, but I find the attitude of these types of people really difficult to deal with. Perhaps I'm too nice. Perhaps I'm the dickhead. Maybe I am part of the problem.

Example: recently, a chap that looked to be wearing more makeup than his wife, jumped a red light on a pedestrian crossing and damn near ran me over. As he passed, I pointed at the red light and mouthed "the lights are red". This chap duly perfomed an emergency stop, reversed back at speed and had a massive go at me for apparently calling him a dickhead. There was no reasoning with him, nor was he interested in the traffic offences he'd just commited. I just stood there in dismay.

[Fumbler]

Engineer came round today. Of course I wasn't there because I is an suit-wearing sixth former. Apparently he was here for two hours and tried to restore our connection, but to no avail. Fortunately, he's diagnosed the problem. Unfortunately, said problem is underground in one of the underground junctions. Water ingress has corroded through some of the wires and is shorting them with other lines, hence why I was hearing an answer machine on repeat. Unfortunately again, he replaced the master socket in the house as a matter of course with a new one, thusly removing the integrated microfilter faceplate and everything, mistaking the Internet extension I made to the router in the loft as another wired telephone. Thankfully it hasn't damaged the modem which connects to the router at all, however the remedy is a bit of a mess, which should encourage the engineers tomorrow to refund us the relevant faceplates and stuff which we originally had when the fibre optic dodads were installed.

[beko1987]

8 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

Engineer came round today. Of course I wasn't there because I is an suit-wearing sixth former. Apparently he was here for two hours and tried to restore our connection, but to no avail. Fortunately, he's diagnosed the problem. Unfortunately, said problem is underground in one of the underground junctions. Water ingress has corroded through some of the wires and is shorting them with other lines, hence why I was hearing an answer machine on repeat. Unfortunately again, he replaced the master socket in the house as a matter of course with a new one, thusly removing the integrated microfilter faceplate and everything, mistaking the Internet extension I made to the router in the loft as another wired telephone. Thankfully it hasn't damaged the modem which connects to the router at all, however the remedy is a bit of a mess, which should encourage the engineers tomorrow to refund us the relevant faceplates and stuff which we originally had when the fibre optic dodads were installed.

I've got an nt5e with clarity filtered ADSL port knocking about if you want it for postage? If bt don't fix it that is

[Cavcraft]

I find it really difficult to go for a poo on a train. You have to hang off the bridge and time it perfectly.

[Fumbler]

Just now, beko1987 said:

I've got an nt5e with clarity filtered ADSL port knocking about if you want it for postage? If bt don't fix it that is

Thanks for your offer, however Mother Fumbler found one on Amazon with Brother Fumbler's help earlier this evening. Ordered and will be here by Friday. If BT don't fix it, at least we will have one ready to fit. I'm now reading up on these round and even more bulky sockets and how to wire them up so that a future BT engineer doesn't try and do the same thing!

[stuboy]

8 hours ago, Bobthebeard said:

As a taxi driver in Lytham St Annes most of my customers are old and/or disabled. This means that I often have to drop them off or pick them up from places that inconvenience other drivers. The amount of verbal abuse I get for stopping in awkward places is incredible. Despite it being obvious that I am helping an elderly man/lady into a wheelchair and onto a footpath or into a shop  horns are tooted and I get yelled at and called a twat. Am almost immune to it now, but it still annoys me. 

we get abuse at times, even with transfering patients on stretchers..

[wuvvum]

8 minutes ago, stuboy said:

we get abuse at times, even with transfering patients on stretchers..

If memory serves, Outlaw118 hs a friend* who is quite good at dealing with people who abuse ambulance drivers.

[GBJ]

19 hours ago, MarvinsMom said:

in my own limited experience, all  zee  germans i've come across are indeed cunts, and arrogant fuckers with it. even more so  than parisiens,  which i didn't think was possible!

I've found the same to be true of all women from North Yorkshire.

[timolloyd]

12 hours ago, Tetleysmooth said:

Mrs Tet sent to Barts hospital today for a specialist scan. I think this is more serious than we both thought.

If she's suitable for a stent to be fitted, she may possibly be home soon, the other possibility is a heart bypass.

She's been categorised as high risk.

Bloody, bloody hell.

Thinking of you and your wife. My office is next door to St Barts and I’m there 2-3 days a week. If you ever want a friendly face to share a sandwich or a pint with while your visiting, let me know

[EssDeeWon]

1 hour ago, mrbenn said:

Example: recently, a chap that looked to be wearing more makeup than his wife, jumped a red light on a pedestrian crossing and damn near ran me over. As he passed, I pointed at the red light and mouthed "the lights are red". This chap duly perfomed an emergency stop, reversed back at speed and had a massive go at me for apparently calling him a dickhead. There was no reasoning with him, nor was he interested in the traffic offences he'd just commited. I just stood there in dismay.

So it isn't just me then.  Zebra crossings are optional around here too it seems, the one by where I used to live lead to me punching the side window of a few cars driving across when I had already entered the crossing and after the driver had eyeballed me and seen me at the crossing as they approached, tossers. Did that on about three occasions, not the right thing to do but it was blatant and dangerous.  Now I am an experienced driver and I do not expect people to stand on their brakes but on some occasions it was a blatant 'Up yours pal'

Last Monday there was a minor bump on the Hockley Road, single carraigeway. It was on my side of the road and im sat there in the Rover waiting to pull round the bump, whilst mr white van comes from the opposite direction to an almost standstill to rubber neck, there really was not much to see just some paint removed from a rear bumper of some modern.  Anyway there is a gap in the traffic whilst he stops for a look so I gesture to him to drive through with my right arm out the window, whilst there is traffic tailed back behind me, Guess who got a mouthful? Yes me.  FFS pal yes we'll all sit here and miss a gap in the traffic so you can look at nothing, ya nosey twat.  He didn't like being called out for being a nosey twat, thats what it was. 

[mrbenn]

Funny how the party in the wrong are always massive gobshites....

[sheffcortinacentre]

No they've been a pound for at least a year if not a bit longer. No special offer type promo.

[reb]

I'm not a proper professional driver really, but still spend enough time on the road at work to see a lot of cuntery.

I once had a dog walker have a proper raging go at me for "blocking the road" when I ditched whatever I was driving at the time at the side of a mini roundabout across the door of the house I was delivering to.

At the bottom there.

I'll be the first to admit that it's not the optimal parking place, but I wasn't parked. I was out of the car for all of 10 seconds, engine running and hazards on. It was however nearly 11 at night and there were no other cars around, even if there were they'd have no issue getting past. In fact a bus could easily get past! I spent longer listening to him telling me how stupid and irresponsible I was than I did actually doing the drop.

This was probably over two years ago and it still boils my piss.

I think that was the same week some drunk cunt tried to drag me out of the car because I told him I didn't have any pizza for him.

[New POD]

I do alot of driving and am now at that age where slower is quicker. 

And polite gets you there no slower. 

I have noticed that the drivers around Uttoxeter are very aggressive. Low gears high revs and foot to floor around town and lots of unnesseccary braking and angst. 

And tailgating on the A50.  Coming 2 foot from my bumper isn't going to make me move out of the fast lane, whilst we all wait for the trucks to overtake each over at 56 mph, so just leave a safe gap.  I've stopped brake testing people years ago. But I'm tempted to start again. 

[taxi paul]

So my jap bus had a rattle when turning left. Self diagnosed then confirmed by garage has a cv joint. Cue three weeks of fucking about getting the right one fitted. Ended up costing just on a grand with hire car costs. Fast forward a couple of weeks and the rattle is still there. After a bit of detective work and monitoring it turns out that the rattle is off the TEMS suspension. So it has suspension settings that are comfort , none and sport. The rattle appears when it's in comfort. Not has noisy in sport and seems to disappear when nothing is selected. So the grumpy is a grand for fuck all.