The grumpy thread

[DodgeRover]

She wants to persue cars as a hobby as opposed to a full time career, she has said she’d still help me with working on the cars we have, so her diploma isn’t going to waste. And she can go back on the course if new choice doesn’t work out. She has a natural talent at working on mechanics, so perhaps not challenging enough.

 

She doesn’t want a hairdresser car, she wants the Corolla, so I think she’s a natural shiterette.

Fair enough, can she finish the stage/ module that she is on to keep her credits or whatever so he can pick it up again should she choose to.

What does she want to do now?

[beko1987]

Oh yes, I remember the time I slowed to a posted 40mph whilst the 4 lanes of the M25 traffic continued at 60/70 and 80. I should have sued the bastards for trying to kill me. So there, I tried it once and it sucked. Smart motorways are not smart.

And then you feel bad for doing as you were told, but the penalty for ignoring it would be huge. I was on the m42 going to Tamworth (past the nec) on my pre shitefest errands and got so scared with the constant cameras and speed changes I did 55 behind a lorry the whole way. Other cars were bowling along in the other lanes braking for the odd gantry camera, but they do it every day (or are just idiots), it was my first ever time there!

 

I avoid the m25 wherever possible, think the last time I drove on it was a 3 junction hop on the way back from shitefest. Stayed in Lane 2 as l1 kept peeling off with short notice and I was worried about not being able to move over (and I wouldn't brake to find a gap on an mway) and being thrown into a congestion/low emissions zone, both of which I'd fail at...

[rainagain]

eBay is being a delight, as ever.

 

I listed a double DIN head unit ('as new'; it didn't fit in the SVX or the Impreza) on a three day auction with a very long dispatch lead time listed because of my working hours.

 

I list postage at £15 because it's a medium parcel over 2kg.

 

Buyer complains as he pays that the postage is too expensive. I explain why the postage is what it is and if there's any difference I'll refund him. There wasn't.

 

Two days later he asks for an update; I respond that day while I'm working over the weekend that it'll be Monday or Tuesday before I can send it out.

I receive nothing over the weekend, then on Monday night I get an angry message saying that I'm taking the piss and that he's: 'had stuff posted quicker from China.'

 

Er, no, my postage terms were clear; by posting it then, which I informed him of in advance, I was still well within my stated dispatch terms.

 

He then went on to demand a refund, which I read as I'd just happened to post it.

Scrambled to get the parcel back, sent him another message explaining that I'm not a Chinese sweatshop, I wasn't picking my dispatch terms out of my arse and that he can either have it sent tomorrow or have a full refund. He likes responding in the evening, which is nice. Working, eh? Funny, I do that too. No way you're having it while you mull over a refund, matey - I've been scammed that way before by a buyer in Italy who claimed I never sent the amp he paid for (and got refunded on). I don't send stuff to Italy any more as a result.

 

Companies like Amazon have made next day delivery an expectation even when people are dealing with private sellers. I'm pissed off with his sense of entitlement. If he can't be arsed to read the terms of postage then I really don't know what to say.

I just list all my stuff as free postage now and factor it into the starting price, as I got so sick of people moaning the parcel had £3.95 on it but I’d charged them £5 for p&p. After all the packing material, my time and my fuel for dropping it off at the post office all are all free.

[nebuchenezer]

I fell down some steps in Turkey and almost landed on some poor geezer who was sat a few steps below minding his own business texting on his phone. My ankle still hurts slightly now.

Last time I fell down some stairs this was the result:

 

 

By crikey it hurt for a while

[Guest Hooli]

You fell into a tattoo shop? I've heard they sting under arm.

[loserone]

That barbed wire is remarkably effective

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

Tired of drawing the short straw? Yes, being a man can suck sometimes. If the wife and/or Kidz have a hospital appointment, there's always a lift for them... There and back... Whenever they like...

 

Me? Oh, my hernias appointment is today and I have to cycle for an hour... And it looks like rain...

[Zelandeth]

Just had a phone call.

 

My other half, away on a work trip, has had a suspected stroke and is in hospital.  In Shanghai.

 

Only point of contact I have is the health insurance provider for the university - and they're proving as much use as a chocolate teapot and won't tell me anything "due to reasons of data protection" which is exceptionally unhelpful.

 

No idea what state he's in, no idea when/if he'll be able to come home.

 

I really didn't want him going on this trip in case something happened...guess I should have voiced that concern more.

[SierraMikeHotel]

Shit, I'm really sorry to hear that. Hope he's ok.

[oldcars]

Shit, really sorry to hear that. Hope he is ok and you get the information you need about him.

[mrbenn]

My God. Hope he’s going to be alright.

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

Ah fuck fella - obviously can't like at all....... best of luck! 

Edit - the hospitals out there are sodding amazing though to be fair! Top notch staffing and equipment...... he's in good hands I'm sure

[LightBulbFun]

As per what the others have said

 

really sorry to hear that Zel 

 

I hope he makes a swift recovery and if you need someone to talk to you have my number and im available 247

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

Bad news man. If you like, I can cycle over to there after i'm done. I'm sure me missis' wouldn't mind...

 

Seriously, hope it works out.

[Guest Slongchod]

By ignoring everyone, including the student newspaper.

 

 

Ah, refuting is proving something is wrong.

 

Ignoring, on the other hand, is shit behaviour.

 

Well done for doing something about it.

[Zelandeth]

Not to expect any update medically until tomorrow apparently.

 

Currently trying to untangle how long it will take me to get a visa to get there - and whether there's any point as as far as China is concerned I've no legal relationship to him. So also looking at getting his (elderly, and with health issues of their own) parents moving from the US as well.

 

For the same reasons I've been told there's no point in me trying to contact the hospital directly.

[New POD]

Not to expect any update medically until tomorrow apparently.

 

Currently trying to untangle how long it will take me to get a visa to get there - and whether there's any point as as far as China is concerned I've no legal relationship to him. So also looking at getting his (elderly, and with health issues of their own) parents moving from the US as well.

 

For the same reasons I've been told there's no point in me trying to contact the hospital directly.

Your partner is a university employee.

 

Ring up the vice chancellor on an hourly basis and mention that you expect his or her total commitment to making this right.

[Zelandeth]

To be fair, the university have thus far been really helpful. It's the middle of the night there now, so I'm not especially surprised it'll be a bit of time before we hear anything substantial from a medical perspective. It's more the not even knowing if I could see him if I got there that's the headache, and that's not something the university is likely to be able to help with.

 

It's the whole first 24 hours in a hospital not knowing what's going on - but amplified a million percent because it's on the other side of the planet.

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

Limited experience - but work colleague was victim of hit and run over there one night (years ago so may be changed now) - his long term GF - living together, kids etc.... was told Visa would be rushed - but still a week almost and she'd be on her own once there. Not legally recognised, so no option to help from the 'channels'.

 

Despite same sex legality since mid/late 90's - the social view if markedly different too bud. I'd be prepared for a shitstorm of opposition and even abusive contact if you do make the herculean journey....... don't want to be a downer - just what I saw and what friends over there have reported back.

[Zelandeth]

Limited experience - but work colleague was victim of hit and run over there one night (years ago so may be changed now) - his long term GF - living together, kids etc.... was told Visa would be rushed - but still a week almost and she'd be on her own once there. Not legally recognised, so no option to help from the 'channels'.

 

Despite same sex legality since mid/late 90's - the social view if markedly different too bud. I'd be prepared for a shitstorm of opposition and even abusive contact if you do make the herculean journey....... don't want to be a downer - just what I saw and what friends over there have reported back.

Precisely why I really didn't want him going over there in the first place.

[dozeydustman]

Fair enough, can she finish the stage/ module that she is on to keep her credits or whatever so he can pick it up again should she choose to.

What does she want to do now?

 

 

Some media course - magazine design, advertising and video editing is the basics of it. It's only the first few days back at college and has up to 3 weeks to change. I think she's worried that going into car mechanics would give her a dead end career, which I can't see. She's very good at making things, especially when one of her school projects a couple of years back was to craft something from metal and she was very good with an engineering lathe, so things like component design for a suspension module or similar.

 

She submitted the application yesterday, and got no notifications by phone, e-mail etc at all that she was due to attend an interview for the course at 10:15 this morning. So me, mrs D and stepdaughter are all pissed off.

[Coprolalia]

That's a bugger Zel. Shanghai's hospital should be pretty shit hot, they're pumping cash into healthcare.

 

My grump is fucking HR departments. I've changed from an NHS to a temporary Uni job before returning to the NHS. 6 months before changing I contacted both the uni and NHS HR, who told me the Uni would sucontract me. No worries they said, we've sorted all the paperwork and contracts between us, you just stay on your current NHS contract. Everything's sorted. I have this in writing.

 

2 weeks before I'm due to start I get a termination notice. The NHS have terminated my contact. Neither university or NHS HR know who I am or anything about any legal subcontract. The division never told them to actually set it up. Now it's too late.

 

Cue a week of tearing around like a blue-arse fly, working my way up the uni paygrades to someone who draws me up a contract on the spot. 48 hours after this, all ok. Paid a few weeks later.

 

Now returned to the NHS HR, as I'm doing some locum work. "No-one told us not to terminate you". But I have in writing, from the person I'm actually talking to a month before, that I won't be terminated and I'll be kept on an as-and-when contract. "Oh yes, but we didn't actually speak to payroll or central HR".

WELL WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT EMAIL ABOUT THEN!

[chadders]

Just had a phone call.

 

My other half, away on a work trip, has had a suspected stroke and is in hospital.  In Shanghai.

 

Only point of contact I have is the health insurance provider for the university - and they're proving as much use as a chocolate teapot and won't tell me anything "due to reasons of data protection" which is exceptionally unhelpful.

 

No idea what state he's in, no idea when/if he'll be able to come home.

 

I really didn't want him going on this trip in case something happened...guess I should have voiced that concern more.

 

What about the UK Embassy - they'll probably be one in Shanghai and I guess that they deal with this sort of thing on a regular basis.

I guess that The Foreign Office would be the place to start.

[Zelandeth]

Right, there is someone on their way from the US Consulate (he's still a US citizen despite being resident in the UK - purely because there was no way for me to get into the US at the time), physically to the hospital to check in on his current status, and to generally repeatedly kick the various layers of beaurocratic nonsense until some sense drops out.

 

Thus far the UK consulate over there nor the Chinese Embassy here in the UK haven't even picked up their phones - so we're going with the US to fight our corner just now.

 

We're all agreed that until they've given us a better picture of what the current situation is, that there's no reason to really do anything here aside from wait.

 

Which while understandable, is a bit of a sod... especially as I can't really *do* anything in case I miss a call.

[Bobthebeard]

Next door at it again. Dozens* of kids squealing and leaping about on a trampoline. Kids seem shriller than they used to.

[dozeydustman]

Zel, sorry to hear of your OH's problems.

 

Another grump about my useless letting agency. Phoned them up Monday to chase up some issues.

 

"Your landlord is in the area this week as his daughter is going back to University and would like to meet you if possible" (Landlord is from Brum)

 

"Yes, that's fine as we'd like to meet him as well, though we'd prefer more than 2 days notice next time"

 

"Ok, we can arrange for him to come round, when is convenient for you?"

 

"Any time from 3pm, I should be home from work, and the wife can work from home in the afternoons when not busy"

 

"Ok, he'll be round between 3 and 5pm"

 

"yes that's fine, I would like to ask him in person if we can decorate, some of the walls need a lick of paint as they have furniture marks from previous tenant, and change the colours in one of the bedrooms if possible"

 

"Yes you can do that, but we'd need written consent from him"

 

"We would also like to put a dishwasher in the kitchen in an unused space"

 

"no you can't put in a dishwasher"

 

"why not?"

 

"You need to leave the kitchen as it was when you moved in"

 

"It's a freestanding machine, there is a space for it, it can easily be removed when we decide to move on"

 

"Can't fit it"

 

"Not even if we ask for permission from the landlord"

 

"No"

 

Had a mental session yesterday gardening and getting all the known issues so we could show the landlord.

 

2pm today phonecall from letting agents.

 

"Landlord's contractor is outside but can't gain access"

 

"I'm at work, wife's at work, stepdaughter is at college, I won't be in for half an hour or so"

 

Turns out they'd completely backtracked on what they told me Monday. I do want to meet our landlord and tell him what a complete and utter shower of shit Leaders Letting agents are. None of the issues we identified when we moved in have been resolved, now into 4th month of tenancy. I bet they've not even told the landlord of these, they're only minor things. Landlord's contractor agrees that Leaders are a complete waste of space as well.

[pandamonium]

People who pull up to a stationary line of traffic, and when you've pulled up behind them, stopped and applied the handbrake, then move forward another 6 feet, making you either have to move forward or look like an idiot...

[pandamonium]

Fucking speed cameras. Empty clear motorway with only one other car in sight. Gantry signs flick up 40 as I'm approaching so I slow gentley as there is obviously no reason for it and flash at about 47-48.

 

FFS!

 

I had this happen and in spite of a bum clenching month of waiting, I got nothing. Fingers crossed for you. 

[Guest Hooli]

I had this happen and in spite of a bum clenching month of waiting, I got nothing. Fingers crossed for you. 

 

Cheers 13 days left to watch the post...

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

Some media course - magazine design, advertising and video editing is the basics of it. It's only the first few days back at college and has up to 3 weeks to change. I think she's worried that going into car mechanics would give her a dead end career, which I can't see. She's very good at making things, especially when one of her school projects a couple of years back was to craft something from metal and she was very good with an engineering lathe, so things like component design for a suspension module or similar.

 

She submitted the application yesterday, and got no notifications by phone, e-mail etc at all that she was due to attend an interview for the course at 10:15 this morning. So me, mrs D and stepdaughter are all pissed off.

 

I'd fuck the motor trade off knowing what I know now, she's doing absolutely the right thing. It bought nothing but pain and misery to my life backed up by shit wages. Go and do something people want to spend their money on.