The grumpy thread

[messerschmitt owner]

listening to Chris Evans this morning with the bloody stupid children in need auction for a drive in some tatty old Ferrari cars. The amounts of money some people were spending, they could buy a Ferrari or two with it - it's obscene!

 

Nah, I hate Children in Need, chuggers, those bloody adverts for Africans without water, the RSPCA, etc.

 

My charitable giving is anonymous and chosen wisely. I do not want to donate just £2 a month. Our government can spend some of the £7billion international aid money a little more wisely. Perhaps they could even sort out the corruption in the various countries it is given to so it gets to where it matters and not spent on fancy cars and houses for members of the local government.

 

Charity is now a huge industry, supporting tens of thousands of people, who all need paid before the charity spends anything on what it is collecting for in the first place.

 

Charity shops - hate them too - an insidious business that has done more to kill our high streets than almost anything else except for out of town retail parks.

[RedSparrow]

I'm with you all on most of these charity issues.

 

What I feel is worse than these is people going on 'Hikes for charity' in exotic locations. Seems a very cynical way of getting an otherwise unnafordable walking holiday.

[myglaren]

Autoshite will be good for this, I doubt many other forums would tolerate it.

 

Children In Need, basically the whole event from start to finish. I just don't enjoy people doing daft things for money, though I think it's a bit pathetic that people feel the need to see someone take a bath in baked beans before forking out for anything. I'm incredibly uncharitable to begin with, so it's not going to persuade me either way. Plus the whole thing is controlled by a very expensive admin operation which I understand soaks up a fair few million of donations in itself. No doubt there'll be some kind of lousy work tie-in, wherein you have to pay two quid to turn up to work in "casual wear", which I won't. And someone will whinge at me because I don't want to put two quid in the pot anyway, but I'll go out for my lunch and be confronted by tin rattling students in those stupid bloody tabbards, who'll give me more hassle. Just sod off!

 

^What he said!

 

I am quite capable of making up my own mind which charities I will support, thankyou. Performing like an idiot or rattling a tin in my face will not persuade me but will in fact have the opposite effect, rather like many adverts on TV.

[barrett]

Charity shops - hate them too - an insidious business that has done more to kill our high streets than almost anything else except for out of town retail parks.

 

I agree with what you've all said except this /\

 

I love charity shops, where else can you browse a natty selection of brown ties and second hand board games? Also the British Heart Foundation has a dedicated books and music shop in Brighton, which was for a while a best place to get vinyl at decent prices because it was in a slightly odd location. I once spend £80 in one day in there after someone donated their entire jazz collection to charity I'm talking about some incredibly rare and valuable stuff that was more or less sold for peanuts. Also great for picking up dog-eared Le Carre and Deighton paperbacks and (weirdly) pre-WW1 maps of Sussex.

Charity shops are the only 'chain' stores I ever go in, and I'm comfortable with that.

[ChinaTom]

Here's a top tip. Before boarding a long haul flight, resist calling in to parents house to eat a roast dinner that contains lots of cabbage and sprouts. The gasses built up in the digestive system will rival those of the Pratt and Whitneys.

 

Also, am I alone in thinking that our new future queen will look like Christopher Plummer when she's older?

[Guest]

 

Also, am I alone in thinking that our new future queen will look like Christopher Plummer when she's older?

 

Perhaps. Plenty of Mercs and plenty of tunnels available before that though.*

 

*Please note, WAT is not a royalist.

[Mr Lobster]

Agreed with the above re Children in Need / Chariteeee / Charity shops as well.

 

Children in Need is something I will endeavour to miss. This is one of the benefits of not 'going out' to work and not watching much in the way of TV. I'll probably get acosted in Tesco by some tosspot dressed up as a bear but i'll be telling them to get bent. I sometimes have the telly on in the background whilst I'm working though, and there are endless adverts urging me to donate £3 a month otherwise this could be the last polar bear / child in africa / tiger in the wild. Being the cold hearted, mean spirited critter that I am I find these deeply annoying rather than moving me to giving them my bank details.

 

I don't have an issue with the odd charity shop in town centres and I will admit that some (probably those in wealthier areas) might have some good stuff. But up here whenever anyt large retail space becomes available a charity shop has moved in. Yeh they are better than empty shops but they do nothing to attract more people to the town to spend money or attract a better standard of shops to the town.

[pogweasel]

No, you couldn't Norm.

Speculative landlords asking vast rents and exorbitant business rates mean that small shops simply cannot survive.

[retrogeezer]

British Gas serviced my boiler yesterday....today the thing won't frickin work!

[autofive]

British Gas serviced my boiler yesterday....today the thing won't frickin work!

 

check the water pressure

 

bleed the boiler

[AnthonyG]

What I don't understand about Chuggers, is - when all and sundry tell us not to give financial details out to anyone - why would you give them to some annoying twat with a tabard and a bit of laminated plastic as an ID? - You might as well give your details to a Big Issue seller.

 

I used to tell all the environmental ones I worked for BP when I worked in Piccadilly as their HQ was nearby. I didn't really but it was good to see the wanker's expressions!

[Justin Case]

Royal wedding They haven't even announced the date and some stupid women are already speculating what the dress will be like A wedding dress is long and white, end of story. Get a life and leave the rest of us in peace. And have the royal wedding at the same time as the Olympics, then I'll only need to leave the country once.

[Mr Lobster]

No, you couldn't Norm.

Speculative landlords asking vast rents and exorbitant business rates mean that small shops simply cannot survive.

 

Sadly, very true. That said, I really wouldn't want a high street shop. Far too much hard work!

[RedSparrow]

British Gas serviced my boiler yesterday....today the thing won't frickin work!

 

check the water pressure

 

bleed the boiler

 

If it's a combi boiler I have a handy tip. I live in a seafront flat which means sometimes the wind and rain gets in the flue and it wont fire up. Put an electric heater under it (not too close!) and warm the unit for about 20 mins, hey presto! the insides should be dry and warm enough for it to start.

 

Disclaimer:

Although I can't see any danger with this method I accept no responsiblity for it if you try it out!

[mattblack]

Stabbing myself (hard) in the forehead with a screwdriver at work...

 

Don't ask.

[retrogeezer]

boiler fixed - overheat stat had tripped.....not sure why, it did it a couple of times a year or so back too and then nothing for ages.

[maxpower]

as from today never being able to say i am forty odd years old

 

re: charity shops... the ones around here sell the items for double the original price! it's feckin cheaper using M&S

[Guest]

Really sorry matt, but that last bit of misfortune brought a smile to my face....

 

AND NOW ONWARDS WITH THE GRUMP.

 

Get a call today from work as I'm halfway up the M60.

 

'Don't bother coming in tonight', they say.

 

'We're not happy with your performance and you were acting strangely last night so you're dismissed because you're still in your probation period.'

 

This is the first I've heard of there being any problem. It continues. 'Yeah, the other staff don't like you and they say you weren't very enthusiastic in training.'

Well, I do apologise awfully if I'm not a bounce off the walls zany joie de vivre type of guy, but I seem to recall being the first to be able to make outbound calls and even got praised by the weekend manager for how good they sounded. I also seem to remember asking a great number of questions about how the system worked and how to do things further on from the training period. The fact that THEY didn't have enough space or staff to train me is now suddenly my fault.

 

Oh yeah, last night. The night I suggested that I come in and make up the hours lost from Monday because I felt utterly shit after the weekend. 'Well, you didn't do enough calls (so why wasn't I told?!) and you were asking too many questions'.

Yes, right, I see, I came in because I was anxious to make up and put right the fact that I wasn't in on Monday. I think that's called initiative rather than apathy. I tried my damdnest despite the fact I felt and sounded like shit.

 

You know what? My folks were right. It was too far and the pay was shit. I knew they were tits the minute there was confusion over my start date which one manager couldn't communicate to the other. I'm not letting a two bit tin pot shack of a job piss me off, and this is the last you'll hear of it. I needed to vent. University is more important anyway.

 

Ring up the employment agency. Oddly this is the first they've heard of it as well.

 

Soon be Christmas.

[Pete-M]

Well, if you're doin' fuck all tomorrow Jon, fancy a mission to sunny Norfolk?

[Polystratus]

You know what? My folks were right. It was too far and the pay was shit. I knew they were tits the minute there was confusion over my start date which one manager couldn't communicate to the other. I'm not letting a two bit tin pot shack of a job piss me off, and this is the last you'll hear of it. I needed to vent. University is more important anyway.

 

Ring up the employment agency. Oddly this is the first they've heard of it as well.

 

Soon be Christmas.

 

Sound like one of those shit call centre type places, exactly University is far more important.

[barrett]

what has the other staff liking you got to do with anything anyway? Even if the management hate you they can't use it as an excuse to give you the boot. they sound like a bunch of utter cockgobblers.

[Guest]

I don't have an issue with the odd charity shop in town centres and I will admit that some (probably those in wealthier areas) might have some good stuff. But up here whenever anyt large retail space becomes available a charity shop has moved in. Yeh they are better than empty shops but they do nothing to attract more people to the town to spend money or attract a better standard of shops to the town.

With regards to charity shops - on a personal level I like them, I buy all kinds of tat from them. There's a lot of items there which don't slot into any other niche - outdated media for example, VHS tapes, audio cassettes. Recently obtained the superb ATV Simulator for ZX Spectrum for something like 10p, where am I going to get that on any regular high street shop? Plus the clothes in there can be quite spectacular for the money, British-made shirts for a few quid, mad ties, etc. The charity angle is lost on me though, I'd still be happy if they were just a general junk shop owned by some mad old man.

 

The answer as to why any empty shop seems to end up as a charity shop is quite simple - it's to do with Business Rates. Landlords with an empty shop have to pay full whack, so rather than do that, they'd rather get a charity in there (often rent-free). The charity is then liable for the (minimum 80% discounted) rates. It's very easy for them. On that basis, an area with a lot of charity shops is generally a sign of low commercial demand and/or that the rates are set too high for a non-charitable business to be able to break even. So if they weren't a charity shop, it is much more likely that they would be a vacant unit - much worse for the surrounding businesses.

 

However, I imagine once the economy picks up, a lot of these charities will be turfed out for numerous badly thought-out startup businesses selling smoothies/candles/novelties.

 

Hey I feel dead smart now.

[Guest]

Well, if you're doin' fuck all tomorrow Jon, fancy a mission to sunny Norfolk?

 

Sorry matey, I'm otherwise booked. And will probably still be quite annoyed.

[Cavcraft]

I think it's finally dawned on me I'm not cut out to work with other people. I'm too much of a miserable twat and I'm not remotely interested in office politics or whether dickhead 'A' has had a worse day than simpleton 'B' or not.

[Guest]

I think it's finally dawned on me I'm not cut out to work with other people. I'm too much of a miserable twat and I'm not remotely interested in office politics or whether dickhead 'A' has had a worse day than simpleton 'B' or not.

 

Throw in 'OMG X FACTOR' or 'OMG SKY SPORTS NEWS' and you can see why I loved my previous two jobs.

[Cavcraft]

Another thing that pisses me right off is when people (usually at work) dump all their whiney little problems on you.

 

HAND/FACE/FUCK OFF.

[scaryoldcortina]

NOONE at work whines/bitches/moans at me, about personal problems, or talks balls about the X-factor, there is no "office politics" to worry about either. This is because I work for myself, unless I am testing, which actually gives me licence to be a miserable pedantic bastard. This suits me fine and I see no reason to change it.

Only downside is if I fail to make any money, we don't eat. But there is always some way to make money...

[Lankytim]

Hey WAT, you made the mistake of dealing with it on the phone! If I get a work call which I don't like the way is going I just tell them that i'm on the way over and we can discuss it face to face instead of messing about on the phone. When I get there they usually think I'm going to rip someones head off and the problem they have suddenly doesn't seem so important anymore. Probably wont work i'f you're getting sacked, though.

[eddyramrod]

I think it's finally dawned on me I'm not cut out to work with other people. I'm too much of a miserable twat and I'm not remotely interested in office politics or whether dickhead 'A' has had a worse day than simpleton 'B' or not.

 

+1! That's why I spent so long driving trucks, despite the valid grumps I've aired on the subject.

[seth]

Photobucket have changed things for no apparent reason other than "because". Now, instead of having all the photos links permanently on screen just below each picture, the links "appear" when you hover the cursor over the picture. But if I try and right click and select "copy" to copy the img tags the pop up goes so it doesn't copy anything. I can do ctrl c but I'd rather be able to just use the mouse. Why do they have to mess these things up and make you get used to a whole new layout again? Anyone got a way of getting the links displayed all the time again? I've been hunting and can't find anything.