The grumpy thread

[Borsuq]

On 17/09/2020 at 17:59, chaseracer said:

What IS that?  Looks like the bastard offspring of a drunken coupling between an Iveco Daily and an early Merc Sprinter...

It's an FS Lublin, successor to the good ol' Żuk.

Sorry for taking a little while to respond. 😅

[Remspoor]

21 hours ago, Jerzy Woking said:

Waiting for a skip to be dropped off so I can start clearing the garden, I went onto the BBC website and read this:

BBC News - Climate change: 'Dangerous and dirty' used cars sold to Africa
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54665545

Some of the laziest journalism I have seen lately (and there has been a lot).

Where did the figures for each "statement" come from? Who are the experts that are mentioned? Does he not think that demand dictates supply, and income dictates the supply that can be sold. I'm sure every African resident would love to be able to afford and drive a new Audi, but that's never going to happen.

I read that too.

It was based on  A Dutch report . Look at all of those nice new Chinese cars .

Nothing in the report about the standards of driving, roads, maintenance and crash repairs. All of these will have an affect on cars the local environmental impact. I will expect these countries will still be using ICE long after we have been obliged to change to EVs.

I like the photo heading this article on the same news. https://newmobility.news/2020/10/27/unep-wants-to-restrain-export-of-polluting-cars/

This website shows car that are of a different level to the ones in the report.

https://cars2africa.com/en/50-used-car-available-from-stock

Wonder if they will ignore all the old ambulances etc used in poorer countries?

https://www.autoblog.nl/nieuws/8-nederlandse-voertuigen-die-elders-nog-even-doorgingen-71454

 

[Zelandeth]

Oh FFS.  As mentioned above I'm currently doing a pretty wholesale rearrangement of my office/bedroom.  One of the thing I need to progress with that is a load of shelving.  Doesn't need to be fancy as it will likely be painted in due course anyway.  Last lot came from B&Q because they're less than a mile away and came in 3-packs of 1200*300*18mm pine shelf boards for £not much.

Of course they now don't have any shelving that's deeper than 230mm in stock.  Because why would I want a shelf that's deep enough to actually put anything bigger than a typical paperback book on?

Off to try Wickes.

[puddlethumper]

10 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Oh FFS.  As mentioned above I'm currently doing a pretty wholesale rearrangement of my office/bedroom.  One of the thing I need to progress with that is a load of shelving.  Doesn't need to be fancy as it will likely be painted in due course anyway.  Last lot came from B&Q because they're less than a mile away and came in 3-packs of 1200*300*18mm pine shelf boards for £not much.

Of course they now don't have any shelving that's deeper than 230mm in stock.  Because why would I want a shelf that's deep enough to actually put anything bigger than a typical paperback book on?

Off to try Wickes.

If it's getting painted why not get a sheet of 18mm MDF and get them to cut it to what width you need. Probably cheaper.

[Zelandeth]

6 minutes ago, puddlethumper said:

If it's getting painted why not get a sheet of 18mm MDF and get them to cut it to what width you need. Probably cheaper.

I've always ended up with MDF used like this sagging after a couple of years.  We tried a few projects at my parent's house and always wound up with the same issue.

Granted, the average ambient humidity in that house being about 95% due to the omnipresent damp ingress the council refused to do anything about probably didn't help.

[Parky]

18 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Oh FFS.  As mentioned above I'm currently doing a pretty wholesale rearrangement of my office/bedroom.  One of the thing I need to progress with that is a load of shelving.  Doesn't need to be fancy as it will likely be painted in due course anyway.  Last lot came from B&Q because they're less than a mile away and came in 3-packs of 1200*300*18mm pine shelf boards for £not much.

Of course they now don't have any shelving that's deeper than 230mm in stock.  Because why would I want a shelf that's deep enough to actually put anything bigger than a typical paperback book on?

Off to try Wickes.

The IKEA shelving system called Ivar is relatively decent and has some flexible options.  Might be worth a look?

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/cat/ivar-system-11703/

300mm deep too

 

[Jerzy Woking]

Was booked to go to the MotoGP in Sepang at the weekend. No GP, and not allowed to enter Malaysia. BA have given us vouchers for the price we paid for our flights, which is OK as they are very flexible. Had we booked our flights for either yesterday or tomorrow, we'd have received a refund as those flights are cancelled.

But what pisses me off is Ryanair. I can change my flight (which was £41.99) but for the dates I'd like, they want an additional £16.49 to £46.99

I went on their website and I can book new flights for £13.49 and £21.99. So fuck them. I'll never fly with them again.

Easyjet have let me change my return flights from London free of charge.

If BA and Easyjet can do it, why can't Ryanair? Oh yes, they are thieving cun........

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, Parky said:

The IKEA shelving system called Ivar is relatively decent and has some flexible options.  Might be worth a look?

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/cat/ivar-system-11703/

300mm deep too

 

Thing is that involves going to IKEA.  Ours is currently an utter zoo.  Especially as it's now half term.

A friend went to pick up something yesterday and sent us a photo of the queue snaking about 1/2 the way around the car park.  Delivery is out if the question as they charge through the nose for it.

There will probably be a Kallax going on the back wall in this room at some point...but that's waiting until things calm down a bit.

Got what I was after from Wickes.  More expensive than the cheapy pack that B&Q used to do, but better finished and it's a vastly nicer place to shop.  Them and Toolstation have most bases covered for me...B&Q just are still a default for some stuff simply because they're so nearby.

Question I'm now asking myself is why the fluff did I wait this long to buy a laser level?!?  So much easier than juggling a spirit level and trying to line it up with the pencil mark you just smudged with your hand...

That will save me some time.

[mitsisigma01]

Has your friend been seen since 🤔

I'm sure Ikea are like blackholes, there must be thousands of people vanished forever in Ikea 

[inconsistant]

MDF doesn’t have the same structural rigidity as timber or ply because the fibres are mashed up and squashed back together again, so if you use the same thickness or the same support spacing it will sag. Only ever use 18mm mdf for shelves and don't do  massive spans between brackets and you’ll be fine. Most people save money by using 15 or 12mm and it always sags.

[wuvvum]

On 10/26/2020 at 4:10 PM, Jerzy Woking said:

Waiting for a skip to be dropped off so I can start clearing the garden, I went onto the BBC website and read this:

BBC News - Climate change: 'Dangerous and dirty' used cars sold to Africa
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54665545

Some of the laziest journalism I have seen lately (and there has been a lot).

Where did the figures for each "statement" come from? Who are the experts that are mentioned? Does he not think that demand dictates supply, and income dictates the supply that can be sold. I'm sure every African resident would love to be able to afford and drive a new Audi, but that's never going to happen.

From what I've seen of the standard of driving in Africa, the condition of the cars has very little to do with the accident rate.

[dozeydustman]

Shit day at work topped off with a migraine.

Gah

[Parky]

Finally got my new passport!  The move is back on.  Or is it?

NZ is being Uber careful at the moment so only residents and certain folk (such as I as the husband of a resident) are allowed in.  And what I need to do is get two things - an exemption visa and arrange quarantine.

Both were booked originally under my lost passport and need to be amended to show my new passport.  Apparently no problem in initial conversations so yesterday I was able to alter my quarantine so that’s sorted.  But the Electronic visa linked to my old passport?  Nope, I can’t alter that without filling in a form and sending it with my new passport to Auckland.  

I fly in two weeks.....

London Office can apparently do it But they are closed because of Covid so all I can do is get the forms and a copy of my passport to them ASAP and cross fingers they look at it.  I can’t speak to anyone there as the phones are closed and no appointments are available for discussions.  

I asked “if I turn up with a new passport but lots of evidence that I owned the last one and evidence it was reported lost and replaced, will that satisfy Immigration New Zealand?”  The answer to that was “nope, you’ll be on a plane home sunshine”.

Top tip - don’t attempt to emigrate during a pandemic....

I have found a shit Hyundai Lantra though for $1200 which is winking at me so there is definite shite potential once all this fucking nonsense gets sorted.  Right, off to London to plead desperately with an uninterested receptionist to pass my forms on as a matter of urgency.  Forward!!!!

 

 

[wuvvum]

F*ck me Parky, this whole saga is making me feel stressed and I've never even met you!

[Jerzy Woking]

Best of luck Parky. I found that a lot of the issues I had moving to Spain seemed to disappear once I actually saw someone face to face, even with the language barrier. I really hope you will find the same.

And my (continued) grump for today conerns the skip I first ordered three weeks ago. It's still not arrived as promised for this morning. And worse still, it is ANOTHER National holiday this weekend. And all their phones are ringing out.

Ideal day too for going out on the bike for a blast before the inevitable lockdown, but I have to stay here in case it actually turns up.

[wuvvum]

15 minutes ago, Jerzy Woking said:

I found that a lot of the issues I had moving to Spain seemed to disappear once I actually saw someone face to face, even with the language barrier.

Less of an issue with NZ - it's only the vowels that are f***ed up rather than the whole language.

[DVee8]

Second puncture  in as many weeks.

[Cavcraft]

Little Dave_Lee_Cartland isn't very well. Missus too him to the vets and they're keeping him this afternoon and possibly overnight. Suspected kidney problems, apparently 😢

[Parky]

5 hours ago, wuvvum said:

F*ck me Parky, this whole saga is making me feel stressed and I've never even met you!

What does my head in is one person says it’s not an issue, whereas the next one decides it’s a big fucking problem and you never really know where you stand.  I dropped my papers off to a security guy at the NZ Embassy this morning (thank god I live near London) who said he would pass it on.  Fuck it, it’s in the system now.  I couldn’t speak to anyone as the office is closed “Covid mate” which is something that the New Zealand team seemed to be unaware of.  Their suggestion last night was to pop into the London Embassy for a chat with an officer to get this sorted quick.

I watch a lot of Border Patrol type shows and seeing Thai prostitutes carrying steroids and £50k in the wrong currency being allowed in eventually makes me wonder why they would send me home?  I have done everything right (I used to be resident too) but have been fucked over by conflicting information from NZ and fuck ups from the UK passport office.  Wouldn’t be particularly fair to send me home and separate me from my family over Christmas because the London Visa Office has shut down for the Pandemic and I have been provided with duff info.

I also have a blue passport now.  I must say it looks shit and is cheaply made, pages are already coming away from the inside and I will be surprised if it lasts ten years

[Bren]

Some of you may remember I replsced the vectras' aux belt tensioner, belt and jockey wheels.

Today the car died. The belt looks like a cat o' nine tails. The fact the car refuses to start tells me the cambelt has moved.

I have had enough of old cars.

[montytom]

3 hours ago, Cavcraft said:

Little Dave_Lee_Cartland isn't very well. Missus too him to the vets and they're keeping him this afternoon and possibly overnight. Suspected kidney problems, apparently 😢

Fingers definitely crossed for you. Hate it when animals need the vets they seem so helpless.

[Spiny Norman]

Chuffing PayPal.

Every time I want to order some doo-dad or other in eBay or log into their website they're wanting to verify it's me by sending me a text message which I have to enter to continue.
EVERY FUCKING TIME!

GITFS.

 

[Fumbler]

Spent the entire day renewing the front brakes on brother's [ungrateful pile of shit] E91 BMW with father tagging along (we've been working on the fecking thing for 2 days already getting the bloody brakes apart, mind), only for the offside bleed nipple to shear trying to loosen it. WTAF at BMW thought it was a good idea to use steel bleed nipples on aluminium calipers!? Literally the last job to do before driving home too. Fuxake.

[loserone]

1 hour ago, Spiny Norman said:

Chuffing PayPal.

Every time I want to order some doo-dad or other in eBay or log into their website they're wanting to verify it's me by sending me a text message which I have to enter to continue.
EVERY FUCKING TIME!

GITFS.

 

Got a direct debit on your PayPal too?

Just set up TOTP already.  Authy preferably, Google Authenticator if you must.  They didn't know how to do it properly five years ago but they've caught up now.

 

People who winge on around MFA are always the same people with utterly shit passwords, shared across multiple platforms, saying they have nothing to hide or aren't a worthwhile target for a hooded figure near a green screen, who are invariably then complaining that xx system didn't do enough to stop them losing £500 before their rent came out and now they want someone else to take the blame.

 

I don't mean all of that at you directly, but jeez, give them half a chance.  

[Spiny Norman]

37 minutes ago, loserone said:

Got a direct debit on your PayPal too?

Just set up TOTP already.  Authy preferably, Google Authenticator if you must.  They didn't know how to do it properly five years ago but they've caught up now.

I have absolutely fuck all idea of what the hell you're talking about but I've just discovered I can use a credit card directly on eBay now so bye-bye PP.
I'm waiting on a refund next week and when it comes the account will be getting emptied and binned. I only ever use it for eBay anyway so they can FRO.

As for passwords, anything vaguely security related, especially where money is concerned is 20+ characters of pure scribbledehobble. Anyone who uses their dog's name or 123456 gets what they deserve.

The annoyance was that A) this has just started in the last week or two, and B, It was every time, not just the odd random security check.

 

[Cavcraft]

On 10/30/2020 at 6:01 PM, montytom said:

Fingers definitely crossed for you. Hate it when animals need the vets they seem so helpless.

Thanks.

 

He's back home, had all kinds of expensive (but worth it, whatever the cost) treatment and tests. He looks a bit worse for wear and tried spitting his tablets out, but we managed to get them down him! 

Going to a specialist on Monday (the vet said their scans weren't as good as this other place)  to see what they think, and the results of his blood test should be back, too. They didn't think it was cancer, but could be kidney stones or pancreatitis. Fingers crossed for Monday! 

[omegod]

1 hour ago, Cavcraft said:

Thanks.

 

He's back home, had all kinds of expensive (but worth it, whatever the cost) treatment and tests. He looks a bit worse for wear and tried spitting his tablets out, but we managed to get them down him! 

Going to a specialist on Monday (the vet said their scans weren't as good as this other place)  to see what they think, and the results of his blood test should be back, too. They didn't think it was cancer, but could be kidney stones or pancreatitis. Fingers crossed for Monday! 

Hope you don't need them but Liverpool Uni's animal hospital in Neston are f*cking fantastic, I had a lengthy relationship when our pooch was very ill. Thank God we were well insured though! 

[New POD]

7 hours ago, Fumbler said:

Spent the entire day renewing the front brakes on brother's [ungrateful pile of shit] E91 BMW with father tagging along (we've been working on the fecking thing for 2 days already getting the bloody brakes apart, mind), only for the offside bleed nipple to shear trying to loosen it. WTAF at BMW thought it was a good idea to use steel bleed nipples on aluminium calipers!? Literally the last job to do before driving home too. Fuxake.

Given that the factory will use a vacuum fill system, it's amazing that calipers still have bleed nipples.  In future to save £0.50 in the factory, they won't bother to drill of tap that hole, and if you want to bleed the brakes you will have to get new calipers with bleed nipples. Or drill them your self. 

[motorpunk]

On 10/28/2020 at 4:33 PM, Jerzy Woking said:

Was booked to go to the MotoGP in Sepang at the weekend. No GP, and not allowed to enter Malaysia. BA have given us vouchers for the price we paid for our flights, which is OK as they are very flexible. Had we booked our flights for either yesterday or tomorrow, we'd have received a refund as those flights are cancelled.

But what pisses me off is Ryanair. I can change my flight (which was £41.99) but for the dates I'd like, they want an additional £16.49 to £46.99

I went on their website and I can book new flights for £13.49 and £21.99. So fuck them. I'll never fly with them again.

Easyjet have let me change my return flights from London free of charge.

If BA and Easyjet can do it, why can't Ryanair? Oh yes, they are thieving cun........

I have done the same. I’ll book the new flight and leave the original booking. Then I’ll check in for the flight I’ve no intention of takings just to annoy them on the day when they’re looking for a missing passenger. I used to fly probably twice a week, sometimes more, for work. Ryanair are complete and utter fucking scumbags at every level and I have no issue about mucking them about if I can. I once called the Police who then boarded the plane just before take off due to their staff ignoring a drunken maniac who was threatening passengers. Pilot had said “we don’t want to be late” (in broken English). Fuck Ryanair up the bum.

[Fumbler]

7 hours ago, New POD said:

Given that the factory will use a vacuum fill system, it's amazing that calipers still have bleed nipples.  In future to save £0.50 in the factory, they won't bother to drill of tap that hole, and if you want to bleed the brakes you will have to get new calipers with bleed nipples. Or drill them your self. 

You can tell that it's designed that way. Another slight annoyance is the solid union between the flexi pipe and the caliper, meaning you have to twist the massive caliper on on a really weird axis. Ho hum, not real user friendly but I'm fairly sure we can repair it some way or another.