The grumpy thread

[Parky]

Supposed to be on a plane to the Ukraine right now but instead am at home.  Haven’t got over my tonsillitis as quickly as I would have liked and as my temperature is up I will almost certainly get picked up by the Ukrainian medical testing at the airport and probably refused entry.

Coupled with border closures last night it’s too risky getting trapped there so my Chernobyl trip bites the dust.  Of course because I have elected not to go because of travel difficulties and Coronavirus it is classed as a personal choice so the travel insurance doesn’t cover any of it.  A country closing most of its borders isn’t classed as adequate enough excuse so bang goes my birthday present.....
 

in 2010 Mrs P was stuck in the US for three weeks because of the Iceland Volcano.  She had friends to stay with, but I have no contacts in Kiev so have no choice but to pull it.  Not repeating that

[omegod]

I've had 2 MOTs at different garages tomorrow cancelled due to the staff having to self isolate , what a pisser ! 

[Craig the Princess]

On 3/12/2020 at 2:56 PM, Wack said:

EXACTLY

A young girl in Blackburn died after eating nuts in a takeaway dish , why on earth you'd take that chance if your life was at stake I have no idea, somebody is in prison now

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-48300528

Probably because they want to have a life. Go to the pub or restaurants with friends? No, go and sit alone at home.

[Wack]

4 minutes ago, Craig the Princess said:

Probably because they want to have a life. Go to the pub or restaurants with friends? No, go and sit alone at home.

Perhaps you can see the irony in your post now I've quoted it

[clayts450]

11 hours ago, Wack said:

I did what you're doing in 2014 for 9 months , I hated going to London 

Final straw was when I picked up some IT equipment , the guy gave me an A4 sheet with a phone number on , ring him the second you get there 

Only is was the email from the courier co I was subbing for I read it after the delivery , they were charging over double what they were giving me so I fucked them off there and then 

Dont miss driving in london one bit 

I've had that happen twice to me this week where I've accidentally seen the actual end user price.  I'm quite philosophical about it - as long as they don't take the piss too much and pay the going trade rates (round about 65 to 70p per loaded mile) I'm happy. I'm becoming a hard negotiator. One company wanted me to go to Leominster for 57p a mile. Uh-uh, not on my watch. Made a counter offer which they reluctantly accepted. Companies do have overheads (staff, premises etc) so I don't begrudge them making money out of the deal, but not at my expense.

[Zelandeth]

01:56.  A fire alarm, smoke alarm... something like that...starts sounding in one of the houses off to the side of our property.

Gave it five minutes, still going...so time to investigate as it's obviously not just someone burning their toast.  Figure out which house it is after nearly breaking my neck peering over the fence in the pissing rain.

Can't see anything amiss, but can't see any signs of life either.  Went round and knocked on the door.  Unsurprisingly no answer.

At this point I called the fire brigade - it's now been 15 minutes and the alarm is still going off.  Probably a false alarm in an empty house...but I don't want to make that assumption when the cost is potentially someone's life.

Took longer to get the sodding address through to the operator than it did for a response to arrive.  Nearly ten minutes...is their address lookup system really that bad?!?  If I'm trapped in a burning building I really hope I don't need to explain how to get there from the main road step-by-step with my last breath!  We're in the middle of a major town...so the postcode alone will get you to within ten houses. 

I really don't want to come across as a xenophobic asshole, but seriously...if it's really blatantly obvious that English isn't your native language and isn't your strong suit...maybe an emergency services call handler, where every second can count, isn't the right job for you?  Or is that me just being cranky?

Six minutes after I put the phone down I got a phone from the response team who were on site (two streets away, having been given the wrong address...), and found exactly the same as I did.  Their investigation leads them to believe the property is empty and there's no visible sign of fire...so hopefully nothing more than a false alarm.

So cracking quick response from the fire department...just a shame the actual call handling was so poor. 

Now it's 3am and I'm still buzzing on adrenaline...so much for sleep.

Oh...and as I was about to click submit the damned alarm has just started going off again!

[Cord Fourteener]

@Zelandeth it's not going to help you get any sleep now but the emergency services use the What 3 Words app. In fact I only know of it because someone was calling emergency services as using it. It's a map that can be used offline edgers every 3mx3m area in the world has a unique name of the words so you just tell them what 3 words you or your neighbours house is in.

I hope you can get some sleep now anyway.

[bunglebus]

Fucking rain.

I've got front and rear pads and discs, a caliper, oil and fuel filters, gearbox oil, an engine mount and two CV joints to fit this weekend, flew around yesterday getting all the parts and tools ready.

No garage. 

[Jazoli]

A pop up gazebo is your friend, or just wait for the rain to stop, probably be August.

[dozeydustman]

On 3/13/2020 at 6:10 PM, Craig the Princess said:

Probably because they want to have a life. Go to the pub or restaurants with friends? No, go and sit alone at home.

 

On 3/13/2020 at 6:15 PM, Wack said:

Perhaps you can see the irony in your post now I've quoted it

Anyone who knows they have an allergy that is serious enough to hospitalise or potentially kill them should carry an epipen or know to avoid foods that “may contain traces of xxxxxx”. Did this young girl not have a pen? Can’t find anything to say she carried or used one. Would have saved her life (or given her a better chance of survival)

A lot of type 1 diabetics live normal lives when their insulin is under control so eat out, eat in, get drunk or veg out in front of the tv as they please. There’s no reason an allergy sufferer shouldn’t too if they’re carrying a pen.

I’m done with the matter now.

[Supernaut]

New cooker in the kitchen is shit.

I used to have a gas hob, and got a shiny new induction hob and electric fan oven. I just used the grill for the first time earlier, to make cheese on toast. The bloody heating element fell off! Luckily it missed the toast, and the cheese was melted just right at that point.

Still, I'll have to wait for it to cool down and see about re-attaching it. So much for a new cooker.

[New POD]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Fucking rain.

I've got front and rear pads and discs, a caliper, oil and fuel filters, gearbox oil, an engine mount and two CV joints to fit this weekend, flew around yesterday getting all the parts and tools ready.

No garage. 

Do it in the rain.  Or are you "nesh" ?

It's not snowing. Get out there. For safety reasons no electric welding in the rain.

Edited March 14, 2020 by New POD
Where are you in the country? It's sunny in Miseryside.

[New POD]

4 hours ago, Tim_E said:

@Zelandeth it's not going to help you get any sleep now but the emergency services use the What 3 Words app. In fact I only know of it because someone was calling emergency services as using it. It's a map that can be used offline edgers every 3mx3m area in the world has a unique name of the words so you just tell them what 3 words you or your neighbours house is in.

I hope you can get some sleep now anyway.

Quoted because great info. 

Edited March 14, 2020 by New POD
Example of where you can find my omega.

[Cord Fourteener]

3 minutes ago, New POD said:

Quoted because great info. 

Shame about my keypad-mashing typos though! It was during the night with a wriggly non sleeping baby. But yes, get the What3Words app.

[Zelandeth]

That's a good thought...though trying to get the words across would have still been a major sticking point.  It took six attempts to get her to recognise that Milton Keynes was in fact not Manchester or Middlesbrough or a suburb of Swindon (I have no idea either!).

If I didn't have the address I'd have thought to think more outside the box and might have thought about using something like the Just Three Words app (which is already on my phone)...just wasn't expecting a very ordinary and simple urban address to take so much effort to convey!

The damned alarm continued to sound roughly every 30 minutes all the way through until about 6 am.

[Cavcraft]

My daughter put her mobile phone on eBay (wish I knew, would have told her not to) and some fucking moron bid £60 (starting price) won it, then wanted it for £40. I replied for her (without swearing) and now it seems he's 'bid by mistake'. I hope his address comes through because that fucker is getting full on Argos catalogued. 

[Zelandeth]

Could be worse...it could have been Gumtree!

[outlaw118]

1 hour ago, Cavcraft said:

hope his address comes through because that fucker is getting full on Argos catalogued

Go to (or get Ms_Cav to) go to "send payment details" on the listing, and his address will come up on that.

[catsinthewelder]

Edit, found my keys ?

[Cavcraft]

59 minutes ago, outlaw118 said:

Go to (or get Ms_Cav to) go to "send payment details" on the listing, and his address will come up on that.

Thank you.

[Cavcraft]

1 hour ago, outlaw118 said:

Go to (or get Ms_Cav to) go to "send payment details" on the listing, and his address will come up on that.

Can't find that option sorry, Bobski, got 'mark as paid', 'mark as dispatched', 'add tracking number', 'contact buyer', 'relist item', 'sell similar item' and 'cancel order'.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Other half forgot her MOT was due.  Borrowing Dad’s Alfa.  He’s just had a knee replacement.  Nobody has bothered to start it in three weeks.  So of course I get pulled away from seeing some mates.

Flat as a fucking pancake.  And it’s cold.

[wuvvum]

Today has not been a good day from a fleet point of view.  After discovering this morning that the Merc is fucked beyond my ability to repair it, I then spent a couple of hours failing to fix the high level brake light on the Mondeo, and then later on in the afternoon I spent a happy* 15 minutes underneath the Innocenti poking holes in the front subframe with the ignition key.

I know I've said this periodically in the past, but I really am spreading myself far too thin with the fleet.  This has never really stopped being true, but I go through periods of deluding myself that I am actually on top of things and I am going to get around to doing everything my cars need.  Occasionally I'll have a really productive day which reinforces the delusion, but just as one swallow doesn't make a summer (although it does make for a good blowjob), one successful day of fettling doesn't make me a master mechanic.

I have been listing out what needs doing on the cars, and it is a bit* overwhelming when taking into consideration how little time I actually have to work on cars and how limited my skills are.

 

Rover 75 - new rear half of exhaust, aircon belt (arsehole of a job), rear discs and pads, ATF change, fix nearside headlight which intermittently doesn't self level, and try and get the towbar electrics working properly (they work fine with my trailer board with its LED bulbs, but don't work with a "normal" trailer setup).

Toyota - rear tyres, new rear half of exhaust, strip and clean front wiper mechanism to try and stop grinding noises, tackle early signs of corrosion in various parts of the car.

Renault 6 - weld up front of driver's side floorpan (assuming there is enough sound metal to weld to), trace and fix water leak into cabin, exhaust blowing from joint between manifold and downpipe, offside front brake caliper sticking intermittently, fit non-return valve into fuel line.

Tempra - squealing fanbelt, power steering leak, rattle from nearside front suspension, knackered rear wiper.

Scudo - massive coolant leak from heater pipes which will need the dashboard completely removing to fix, driver's seatbelt knackered, front discs and pads, plus it now seems to be down on power when I last drove it.

Volvo V70 - at least two new tyres, exhaust back box fallen off, handbrake shite, nearside rear door won't open, seems to be losing coolant from somewhere, knackered offside CV joint.

Innocenti - new exhaust (probably a complete system as the current exhaust has been chopped about and welded up so a partial replacement won't work), new nearside front subframe (assuming I can actually get the old one off), clutch is slipping, headlight mountings rotten, possibly other welding required too.

Merc - knackered flywheel ring gear, complete brake overhaul, offside rear window regulator needs replacing, lots of bodywork.

CX - mainly just welding, but quite a lot of it.  Also central locking is draining the battery and a couple of the tyres are borderline, and the turbo isn't boosting properly.

Mondeo - high level brake light, whiny power steering (hopefully this will be sorted tomorrow as I've bought a replacement reservoir), knock from nearside front suspension.

Sonata - knackered clutch, rough idle, crap heater.

Volvo 164 - pretty much everything.

Rover 45 - hopefully not much, although the upcoming MOT might throw up some issues.

 

That's just the current position, and doesn't take into account the things which will undoubtedly go wrong on an ongoing basis with a fleet like mine.

The Merc is therefore going to have to go.  Very reluctantly, because I do like it, I went through a lot of hassle to buy it and I was really looking forward to driving it, but I don't have the facilites to start doing engine out jobs.

Equally reluctantly, I'm going to have to move the CX on.  I'd been hoping to keep this one as road legal CXs are starting to climb out of my price range, but there's too much welding for me to tackle (if it was my only project it might be feasible, but it ain't) and my mate who used to do my welding isn't in the best of health and probably wouldn't want to take it on either.  There's no way I can afford to pay a professional to do it, and not sure it'd be worth it given how battered the car is.

I'm also going to put a bit more effort into selling the 164 - I vaguely gave it a go last year but didn't advertise it anywhere other than here and Retro Rides.  I'm quite fond of it but at the same time I'm embarrassed by how much I've let it deteriorate, I don't think I'll ever get around to sorting it (having been telling myself for years that I will), and it deserves a chance at a better outcome.

I really don't want to sell the Innocenti.  I've found the bits that it needs on eBay - they're not cheap but they are available.  The hope is that selling off some of the other cars will raise the funds to get it back on the road and properly sorted.  Also the Renault 6 isn't going anywhere.  The 45 will be getting sold on once MOT'd (it kind of duplicates the Tempra in the fleet, and the Fiat is far more interesting).  The V70 will also be going at some point, although it's not worth much as it is now - it's only the fact that it's a manual T5 which is preventing me from calling Cartakeback to be honest.  I might also move the Mondeo on once it has a full test - again it's a nice thing but it doesn't really do anything that the 75 can't.

Then I can do a couple of buys - I want a small economical Japanese or Korean automatic to buzz to work in now I can park at the office and don't need to fit a pushbike in the back any more, and I want one half decent '60s / '70s "classic" which will obviously need the occasional bit of fettling but doesn't need a full resto job - probably something British to assist with parts availability.

 

TL; DR: I am an idiot with far too many cars and far too little time / skill.  Please buy some of my cars.

[paulplom]

I could be interested in ya t-5. Pm me the deets plz.

[strangeangel]

10 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Rover 75 - new rear half of exhaust, aircon belt (arsehole of a job), rear discs and pads, ATF change, fix nearside headlight which intermittently doesn't self level, and try and get the towbar electrics working properly (they work fine with my trailer board with its LED bulbs, but don't work with a "normal" trailer setup).

Toyota - rear tyres, new rear half of exhaust, strip and clean front wiper mechanism to try and stop grinding noises, tackle early signs of corrosion in various parts of the car.

Renault 6 - weld up front of driver's side floorpan (assuming there is enough sound metal to weld to), trace and fix water leak into cabin, exhaust blowing from joint between manifold and downpipe, offside front brake caliper sticking intermittently, fit non-return valve into fuel line.

Tempra - squealing fanbelt, power steering leak, rattle from nearside front suspension, knackered rear wiper.

Scudo - massive coolant leak from heater pipes which will need the dashboard completely removing to fix, driver's seatbelt knackered, front discs and pads, plus it now seems to be down on power when I last drove it.

Volvo V70 - at least two new tyres, exhaust back box fallen off, handbrake shite, nearside rear door won't open, seems to be losing coolant from somewhere, knackered offside CV joint.

Innocenti - new exhaust (probably a complete system as the current exhaust has been chopped about and welded up so a partial replacement won't work), new nearside front subframe (assuming I can actually get the old one off), clutch is slipping, headlight mountings rotten, possibly other welding required too.

Merc - knackered flywheel ring gear, complete brake overhaul, offside rear window regulator needs replacing, lots of bodywork.

CX - mainly just welding, but quite a lot of it.  Also central locking is draining the battery and a couple of the tyres are borderline, and the turbo isn't boosting properly.

Mondeo - high level brake light, whiny power steering (hopefully this will be sorted tomorrow as I've bought a replacement reservoir), knock from nearside front suspension.

Sonata - knackered clutch, rough idle, crap heater.

Volvo 164 - pretty much everything.

Rover 45 - hopefully not much, although the upcoming MOT might throw up some issues.

 

 

As someone with a much, much smaller fleet which I struggle & fail to keep on top of... that does seem like a lot of old cars (and therefore work/£££) for one man to cope with.

 

Having read and enjoyed your threads, though, I would certainly not describe you as a man of limited skills! Hope the rationalisation goes well, and you can better enjoy the ones you decide to keep. Me? I'm off outside to try and fit a new* motor to the world's shittest electric car.

 

[Jerzy Woking]

Trip to the States at the end of the month is now off due to their ban on air travel from the UK

I can appreciate that this is very difficult for the businesses in Austin-having their massive music festival and the MotoGP cancelled must be extremely worrying to every single one of them.

I am now bracing myself for the upcoming fun contacting the businesses for refunds on flights, race tickets, accommodation and car hire. 

And now Spain is locked down. My moving date there is 12th April, but can't see that coronavirus will be eradicated by then.

But at least I'm packing up the house so not going out and about.

[MikeR]

Netflix scams . Anything goes for some scum to watch free telly ...

Just dont believe all the attempts at high jacking . 

[omegod]

Started stripping an Omega I'm breaking,I've never come across wheel nuts done up so tight , 15 stone bouncing on a 6 ft scaffold pole and fuckers still didn't want to shift, going to advise the previous owner to be wary of the garage that fitted tyre's as he'd be fucked at the roadside  

[outlaw118]

21 hours ago, Cavcraft said:

an't find that option sorry, Bobski, got 'mark as paid', 'mark as dispatched', 'add tracking number', 'contact buyer', 'relist item', 'sell similar item' and 'cancel order'.

Weird, I've just sold something, on the right of the sold item I've got "Sell similar" in blue, and then a sub-menu "More Actions".  (Don't know why the bit below is Smoll.... I R IDIOT)
 

Sell similar

More actions   The "Send payment details" thing should be in the drop-down there. Can't copy and paste it because my buyer has already paid!

[Parky]

5 hours ago, Jerzy Woking said:

Trip to the States at the end of the month is now off due to their ban on air travel from the UK

I can appreciate that this is very difficult for the businesses in Austin-having their massive music festival and the MotoGP cancelled must be extremely worrying to every single one of them.

I am now bracing myself for the upcoming fun contacting the businesses for refunds on flights, race tickets, accommodation and car hire. 

And now Spain is locked down. My moving date there is 12th April, but can't see that coronavirus will be eradicated by then.

But at least I'm packing up the house so not going out and about.

I am currently enduring the misery of travel insurance claims, including getting confirmation from Ryanair that I didn’t take the flight I was supposed to be on, what with the Ukrainian border about to shut and all...

Getting help from Ryanair is rather like trying to order a front displacers for a 1978 Princess in that it probably ain’t gonna happen