The grumpy thread

[MikeR]

On 29/01/2021 at 4:23 PM, Zelandeth said:

Why have all search engines turned to utter and complete shit in the last few years?

Searching for anything vaguely technical and you're half a dozen pages in before you get anything that's even vaguely *related* to your actual search, much less actually being what you were looking for.

Walking away from this now as I'm going to end up hurling something through a window otherwise.

If anyone wants a challenge, I'm trying to find a replacement for this very dead blower motor.

Going to go and hide in the garage for an hour or two and hopefully lower my blood pressure.

Very much do not want to fail in finding a replacement for that motor as if I can't replace it that will write off £300 worth of dessicant dehumidifier.  Really well engineered and supremely effective unit let down by Amcor fitting the cheapest motors known to man.  I've already replaced both of the others!

Bodge in a 4 inch rack  cooling fan , easy to source and cheap .... ? 

[EssDeeWon]

Fcktards driving along in the dark with snow covered front headlights....

Buts ok, they have their muzzle on while driving so they are safe.

It can only be 2021.

[Bren]

The 545 needs a new battery. Leave it a few days - car starts but I have engine malfunction indicator. Battery voltage is low - 12v. Recharge battery = normal service resumed.

It will need to go somwhere as intelligent charger needs to be told battery is new. I have lubed up....

[MikeR]

3 minutes ago, Bren said:

The 545 needs a new battery. Leave it a few days - car starts but I have engine malfunction indicator. Battery voltage is low - 12v. Recharge battery = normal service resumed.

It will need to go somwhere as intelligent charger needs to be told battery is new. I have lubed up....

yeh what ? you  just cant just bung a new one in !!!  

[Bren]

6 minutes ago, MikeR said:

yeh what ? you  just cant just bung a new one in !!!  

You can but the car has IBS ( intelligent battery system - not a coughing colon). It needs to be made aware that battery is new so it can charge accordingly. Diagnostic is required.

[MikeR]

just watching this vid takes longer than the battery change on a Polo !!!

https://www.google.com/search?q=bmw+battery+change+reset#kpvalbx=_EpUhYJ3nEqeFjLsP2_6DqA85

 

[Talbot]

On 2/7/2021 at 10:02 AM, Talbot said:

Broken bit of plastic sheet.

Big sheet:

Hole punched clean through it:

Spoke to the supplier today:  "Can you send some pictures so we can arrange a replacement sheet".

Hence the pictures.  Refreshing attitude from the supplier.  It's still irksome that the courier wrecked it, but it sounds like a replacement sheet will be on it's way.

*slightly less grumpy*

[Wilko220]

Trying to pass some time by flicking through ads for old cars on ebay, and about one in three listings is some f&cking scam like this. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ABSOLUTELY-BREATHTAKING-ROVER/402681306482?hash=item5dc1ad1d72:g:dHsAAOSwYjdgH9R5

Given up bothering to report them, there are so many. 

[plasticvandan]

Had my first winter battery death experience,battery in my Yaris verso was very weak yesterday morning,and I had to bump.start.it captain 70s style to get home,new one ordered from tanya.then noticed my exhaust has finally started blowing due to beinf the original and crusty.Has anyone any experience of "cat back" exhaust kits? I've found a middle pipe and silencer and back box.with clamps etc on eBay,looks like I have to cut the old one after the cat and the new one slides over it as.thr original is one piece?

[New POD]

On 07/02/2021 at 22:05, New POD said:

 

 

Now then, I went with the first idea. (There's no diet, she is 7.5 stone, and needs to be Cup of tea with digestive biscuit. 

Seems to have worked.  That and she had a phone conversation with our daughter and was telling her how I was carrying a **list of meals we can have., and how it was irritating her, and daughter pointed out that if she was in a different mood, that would be reason to put me on a pedestal, so she should perhaps give me some credit. 

So proper tea, as in the northern meal at the end of the day, before supper, but after dinner, was made. 

Pepper, black beans, onion, red cabbage, cail, with paprika and cumin, fried up in a pan served on a bed of mexican microwaveable rice, sitting on home made flat bread, with avacodo, and lettuce on the top, and garlic mayo.

**I've been through the cupboards and worked out 20 main meals we can have and wrote it on a list. 

Yesterday I made "Thick brown Stew" exactly to her nan's old method. But in the slo-cooker for 7 hours. Pur-fic. 

[New POD]

19 hours ago, Supernaut said:

Yeah, but if you got a red top you really did get the wrong colour of top.

150 BHp from the Red Top back in the day......what? This isn't a motoring forum for sporty Vauxhall lovers ? 

The only reason he needed milk was he failed to put a note out asking for extra from the milkman. 

[Supernaut]

5 minutes ago, New POD said:

150 BHp from the Red Top back in the day......what? This isn't a motoring forum for sporty Vauxhall lovers ? 

The only reason he needed milk was he failed to put a note out asking for extra from the milkman. 

I knew somebody would make a red top comment. Perfect for an undeclared engine swap in a Corsa, innit.

[New POD]

41 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

I knew somebody would make a red top comment. Perfect for an undeclared engine swap in a Corsa, innit.

Has anyone put an LET in an Omega ?  Same power as the 3.2 V6, half the weight ? 

Someone on mk2cav.com had the 2.5V6 mk3 cavalier engine and gearbox and was attaching the auxiliaries to a 3.2 engine, to stick in a mk2 cav, so anything seems to go. 

[Talbot]

2 hours ago, New POD said:

Someone on mk2cav.com had the 2.5V6 mk3 cavalier engine and gearbox and was attaching the auxiliaries to a 3.2 engine, to stick in a mk2 cav, so anything seems to go. 

That sounds every kind of awesome.  Given that a Mk2 Cav engine bay is pretty huge, especially by modern standards, that should fit in there like a glove.

Might have to go and search out that thread.

[somewhatfoolish]

On 2/7/2021 at 5:43 PM, Zelandeth said:

God I hate it when I get told I've got to make an effort to be sociable.

I have precisely zero common ground to contribute to the conversation, nor in playing those board games, and feel that I've utterly wasted an entire day.

Blarg.

Unless they're your houseguests that can fuck right off; an hour or two of taking part to contribute OK, but sucking a whole day is ridiculous and should not be expected.

[Zelandeth]

10 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Unless they're your houseguests that can fuck right off; an hour or two of taking part to contribute OK, but sucking a whole day is ridiculous and should not be expected.

They are a guest - and we are their entire support bubble.  I don't mind that, and I know we need to be there for them.  Their husband passed away from cancer last year when their treatment was stopped during the lockdown (they were beating it up until that point).  They were about the most devoted couple I've ever known, so that still stings.

They've known everyone else in the household a good few years longer than me, and everyone else is quite into their board games and similar.  I seriously struggle to find anything like that which holds my attention for more than half an hour or so.

Generally when they turn up I stick around for half an hour or so, offer coffee and once folks settle down to either natter or play something generally slink off to the garage or my room.  It's generally by far the best shot I have any day of the month to actually get a few hours of uninterrupted work done.

Just had it hinted at that I should make more of an effort to be sociable...and because of how my brain works that basically meant sitting around until an opportunity to actually contribute something to anything going on arose.  Except of course that point never arrived...which is why I usually vanish.  I don't really do small talk!  I'm absolutely happy to blether for hours with a willing participant if there's a common ground of some interest to base that conversation on...but that's really a prerequisite.

I probably just interpreted a passing comment too literally, but that's pretty much part of everyday life for me.

Also...my desire to socialise right now is about zero.  I have spent most of my life with plenty of space and time to myself.  Even when moving in here I generally had the house to myself while everyone was at work so I could actually Get Crap Done (TM).  Having now been in a house continually with another three people - who thanks to home working are all occupying a lot more space than usual and requiring noise and disruption to be kept to a minimum - I am about ready to start launching people's heads through walls.

Maybe a slight exaggeration...but lack of peace and quiet and having to structure my entire life around staying out from under people's feet are factors that are slowly driving me utterly insane.

Really miss being able to properly listen to music too.  Yes I have headphones... it's not the same though! 

Think today's one was making the mistake of looking at the work in progress/waiting to be written folder for my website.  There are a couple of things in there which I really need to get done.  One in particular I started writing in November 2015 and stalled about 30% of the way through.  I must have re-written the first few thousand words a dozen times now.

Really want to get it finished as it's relating to a topic quite close to my heart and which has been an absolute life saver (literally) during some of the darker hours of my life.  However managing to find time where I both have the time to work on it *and* am in the right sort of head space seems to be nigh on impossible.  Which is frustrating as hell to be honest.

All feels utterly inconsequential whining compared to 90% of what I see on here though, which makes me feel guilty for the pointless rant...

[somewhatfoolish]

It's the grumpy thread, grump away.

[MikeR]

little dogs cant half drop their guts ...

I cant breathe !

[Supernaut]

I feel that all I'm really learning from this postgrad in GIS at the moment is how much I don't want to do it as a job.

It feels as though every piece of GIS-related software ever invented is a finicky, difficult to use, awkward pile of utter horse shit. I spend more time troubleshooting software than actually using it ffs!

The latest wonderful pile of crap we have to use is Idrisi Terrset and it keeps losing folder paths and forgetting where it saved files that are dependencies for other files... causing a cascade of errors and nothing ends up working.

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH

[Wilko220]

^ Not that “clever” when you don’t get the car, and manage to do the whole thing in front of a CCTV camera!

[beko1987]

1 hour ago, Supernaut said:

I feel that all I'm really learning from this postgrad in GIS at the moment is how much I don't want to do it as a job.

It feels as though every piece of GIS-related software ever invented is a finicky, difficult to use, awkward pile of utter horse shit. I spend more time troubleshooting software than actually using it ffs!

The latest wonderful pile of crap we have to use is Idrisi Terrset and it keeps losing folder paths and forgetting where it saved files that are dependencies for other files... causing a cascade of errors and nothing ends up working.

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH

+1 and I'm not even doing a course! I've got to make our new 2021 paf data into layers and geodatabases before I can amend and run the many alteryx flows we have to process it all and make new datasets.. 

I've got a 40 minute teams call that briefly explains it all in zero detail. 

It all starts with an output made in arcmap though which I don't kmow how to do. 

I'd hang in there though, its fascinating when it all works. 

[Supernaut]

3 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

+1 and I'm not even doing a course! I've got to make our new 2021 paf data into layers and geodatabases before I can amend and run the many alteryx flows we have to process it all and make new datasets.. 

I've got a 40 minute teams call that briefly explains it all in zero detail. 

It all starts with an output made in arcmap though which I don't kmow how to do. 

I'd hang in there though, its fascinating when it all works. 

Yeah, got it going and completed a decent amount of tutorials for today.

The problem is that I'm using the Terrset on the university's virtual desktop, so all my stuff is saved to my network drive share. I just had to copy a few files into their proper location and make properly sure I knew where I was saving each and every vector and raster layer I created so it could find them again. Much more diligence shall be used in the save location field from now on.

Conversely, I have no idea where I saved the layers I created last time I was logged into it. They've probably vanished into the digital ether. Only took a few minutes to recreate them though.

[wuvvum]

2 hours ago, Rovorsche said:

I dont know if this is a new thing, some buyers poured oil into the coolant of a car and tried to haggle a £200 purchase on a car up for £8995.

https://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/19076501.police-investigate-car-scam-nearly-lost-steventon-couple-9-000/

 

 

Thinking back a couple of years, I went with a friend to view a cheap Focus from a Trader, his yard was on a farm with cars undergoing surgery in various shonky sheds and barns.

There was an oily film in the header tank but the seller claimed the car had belonged to an old feller that had confused the expansion tank with the oil filler, on a one owner 14 year old car.

The above story sheds a different light on this oil contamination.

That scam has been going on for years - usually carried out by Romanians from what I've read (if that's not too politically incorrect a thing to post on AS these days).

[Cavcraft]

CTB have been using a firm in Liverpool and Manchester. They tell you a price based on location and reg number and if you accept, the whole thing goes swimmingly. Effortless contact, very polite service and most importantly they turn up when they say they will, pay what they said they would and do all the paperwork.

 

Now it seems they've got Copart involved and they seem to be treating scrap cars as if they're some sort of lovechild of Gumtree and WeBuyAnyCar, lots of questions about service history, keys, damage, price wanted etc. They can GTF with that sketch. 

[Minimad5]

Just got home from dog walk and essential shopping.... Volvo has had a little wee.

Check header tank and level a smidge below maximum, so get home and notice this wee has decided to become more apparent. Inspection shows small crack in radiator- Shit sticks. Quick brew and strip down me thinks.

Might have to freeze my ass off and use the bike in the morning (5am so guaranteed icy roads)

[New POD]

3 hours ago, wuvvum said:

That scam has been going on for years - usually carried out by Romanians from what I've read (if that's not too politically incorrect a thing to post on AS these days).

It's not politically incorrect. I would use sometimes or often rather than usually.  We don't know how many of "Them" are doing it and how many are not doing it.  

I'm sure for every scammer there's 100 perfectly honest buyers.  I sold a car to an East European family and they were a delight to deal with. 

 

[New POD]

On 09/02/2021 at 13:19, Talbot said:

That sounds every kind of awesome.  Given that a Mk2 Cav engine bay is pretty huge, especially by modern standards, that should fit in there like a glove.

Might have to go and search out that thread.

I was looking, but it seems that since I was a member in 2009 and earlier, they've moved forums, and are mostly on Facebook. I couldn't find 10% of what I remembered? 

[Kiltox]

2 hours ago, Cavcraft said:

CTB have been using a firm in Liverpool and Manchester. They tell you a price based on location and reg number and if you accept, the whole thing goes swimmingly. Effortless contact, very polite service and most importantly they turn up when they say they will, pay what they said they would and do all the paperwork.

 

Now it seems they've got Copart involved and they seem to be treating scrap cars as if they're some sort of lovechild of Gumtree and WeBuyAnyCar, lots of questions about service history, keys, damage, price wanted etc. They can GTF with that sketch. 

Highly area dependant. Try ringing whoever was coming to you directly. 

RemoveMyCar might also come up with the goods. 

[Minimad5]

1 hour ago, Minimad5 said:

Just got home from dog walk and essential shopping.... Volvo has had a little wee.

Check header tank and level a smidge below maximum, so get home and notice this wee has decided to become more apparent. Inspection shows small crack in radiator- Shit sticks. Quick brew and strip down me thinks.

Might have to freeze my ass off and use the bike in the morning (5am so guaranteed icy roads)

A quick look in the massive stash of spares, and a radiator has been found.

Fitted and half bled- time for a quick wash and test drive up to operating temperature.

[cort16]

I bought a chair for my daughters bedroom.  We also got a new dining room set so spent a few hours dismantling the old one and building the new one so the chair was the last thing I did.

I got to the last chair leg and I don't know if the nut insert had a cross thread or I'm just a hamfisted bastard (probably the later) but the thread crossed.  I then had to spend ages knocking out the nut insert and trying to find another nut and bolt that fitted. I eventually got the leg on and it finally dawned on my it's about 50% of the size I expected. This wasn't advertised as a child chair  but she's only 6 and is pretty much too small for her to sit on.

Look at the size of it!