The grumpy thread

[Agila]

12 minutes ago, sdkrc said:

Loaned my Insight out to someone whose car got stolen and it came back with a buttload more bonnet chips than it went out with. Not much you can do about that. The paintwork is pretty poor all round at this point. 

WTF.

What did the person have to say regarding that?

I'd be incredibly angry about that, well pure rage tbh.

[TataBobu]

2 hours ago, ruffgeezer said:

And what the fuck are these supposed to be? 

Solenoids! Sorry, can't be more specific, don't have access right now. The one in the middle might be boost pressure control, but I'm not sure.

[ruffgeezer]

13 minutes ago, TataBobu said:

Solenoids! Sorry, can't be more specific, don't have access right now. The one in the middle might be boost pressure control, but I'm not sure.

Thanks, I managed to refer back to an older diagram to get those. The latest version I have handily didn't have the codes/descriptions intact. 

I think I'd read the diagram the wrong way, the relay should have been supplying a fuse that powered those but isn't. 

 

Back to the drawing board. 

[Zelandeth]

Oh fuck off life.

Just clicked onto Twitter to reply to a comment.  First thing on my feed - a friend over in the US has just had an almost definitely terminal cancer diagnosis.

They're 32.

They don't have health insurance. 

That's four people I know in the last year who have had that news - two of whom have since passed away.  Plus three who have been taken out by COVID. 

Have really had enough of this now.

[LightBulbFun]

9 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Oh fuck off life.

Just clicked onto Twitter to reply to a comment.  First thing on my feed - a friend over in the US has just had an almost definitely terminal cancer diagnosis.

They're 32.

They don't have health insurance. 

That's four people I know in the last year who have had that news - two of whom have since passed away.  Plus three who have been taken out by COVID. 

Have really had enough of this now.

thats properly shit, you have you my condolences 

I would say if you need someone to chat bollocks with, you know I am usually awake until silly-o-clock in the morning so feel free to drop me a line if you want to,

but I know you dont like doing any sort of Telephony, so just letting you know that I am around if ya need me or something

[New POD]

5 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

 US

Terminal cancer 

They don't have health insurance. 

 

 

You see this is why i hate the USA.  

There seems to be a belief amongst the middle classes that a Nationally Funded free for all health service is basically communism. 

I hope your friend can still get the palliative care they need..

I assume it would be terminal even if they had health insurance ?  

My uncle has just come out of hospital with cancer.  With chemo, they think he has 6 months to a year, without it, 2 months. He has a hospital bed in the bedroom. 

 

[Tetleysmooth]

I attempted an oil and filter change on the CRV yesterday. Sump plug no problem. Filter, well that's a no go. They're in a pretty awkward place round the back of the engine. They're also quite a small filter. My three legged removal tool was too big for it, and it feels like it's welded on there. I reckon that hasn't been changed for a while due to the awkward position. I've ordered two new filter removers from ebay. I just put the new oil in and called it a day. Upside is it's going to get another oil change soon.

SCROTES.

While I was working round the car I noticed that some ne're do well has pinched one of my metal valve caps. No biggy really, just means I've got to order another set. Not a big deal, but bloody annoying none the less. I fucking hate thieves.

[Merryck]

43 minutes ago, New POD said:

You see this is why i hate the USA.  

There seems to be a belief amongst the middle classes that a Nationally Funded free for all health service is basically communism. 

There are few things that would cause me to get up off the sofa and start a riot, but you can rip my socialist medicine from my cold dead hands.

Healthcare for all is huge. Currently I’m paying something like £400 a month in private appointments and prescriptions to get this ADHD diagnosis sorted. Once my dose is correct they’ll send it all over to my GP and it’ll be £108.10 a year.

How people are able to survive in the US with the system they have is beyond me, the stress alone must be brutal.

@Zelandeth, my condolences. This year has been a particularly shit one.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

6 minutes ago, Merryck said:

There are few things that would cause me to get up off the sofa and start a riot, but you can rip my socialist medicine from my cold dead hands.

Healthcare for all is huge. Currently I’m paying something like £400 a month in private appointments and prescriptions to get this ADHD diagnosis sorted. Once my dose is correct they’ll send it all over to my GP and it’ll be £108.10 a year.

How people are able to survive in the US with the system they have is beyond me, the stress alone must be brutal.

@Zelandeth, my condolences. This year has been a particularly shit one.

I find that the people that don't want a nationalised health system are almost invariably those that stand to profit from a private system.

The NHS is a wonderful thing and we are very, very lucky.  It certainly has flaws but it is by-and-large effective and surprisingly efficient.  If you want private care, fine, you have that option and you can pay through the arse through it but the fact that we have a system that will treat you regardless of your income or social status is brilliant.

[Zelandeth]

4 hours ago, Merryck said:

How people are able to survive in the US with the system they have is beyond me, the stress alone must be brutal.

 

@Zelandeth, my condolences. This year has been a particularly shit one.

Simple answer is that unless they're made of money, many simply don't.

You're talking about a country where people involved in an RTA have been known to be begging first responders not to take them to the hospital despite having open fractures and major burns, because they can't afford the inevitable five figure bill waiting for them.

Heaven help you if you are unlucky enough to be an insulin dependent diabetic.  $100+ per unit.

Yes, yes it has been exceptionally shit.

4 hours ago, New POD said:

You see this is why i hate the USA.  

There seems to be a belief amongst the middle classes that a Nationally Funded free for all health service is basically communism. 

I hope your friend can still get the palliative care they need..

I assume it would be terminal even if they had health insurance ?  

My uncle has just come out of hospital with cancer.  With chemo, they think he has 6 months to a year, without it, 2 months. He has a hospital bed in the bedroom.

Not a chance.  They'd literally just got moved into their own house when the pandemic arrived and have been scraping the bottom of the barrel to afford their mortgage repayments as it is.

In all likelihood they'll lose their house in a matter of weeks, never mind afford ongoing bills like that.

The invoice for treatment to date, figuring out why they collapsed, is already going to be in the region of $20K. 

[High Jetter]

That's really tough. Calling America 'the land of the free' is a tad ironic.

[PhilA]

5 hours ago, High Jetter said:

That's really tough. Calling America 'the land of the free' is a tad ironic.

Land of the fee, home of the broke.

[PhilA]

Washed the car.

 

Discovered a Builder's Bastard in the shoulder of the rear right tire. Arse.

Well, the tires at the back need changing, so I booked it in for Monday to have 4 new tires fitted (previous owner randomly fitted different brand tires and although the front 2 still have decent tread left it makes the car unpredictable, particularly in the wet).

The only good thing out of all this is that 4 BF-Goodrich tires came in at under a grand fitted.

Going fast costs money.

Phil

[Mally]

Today's Shit happenings.

Back box broke on the Saab, £70. Not much of a problem as the stock car pipe is same dia, so it's all welded up. just need a clamp from ECP Monday.

As I get home next door neighbour grips me, "having any trouble with the drains?"

Our drains are notorious for blockages  insufficient drop on the pipes, and tenants who can't afford toilet roll.

Everyone knows I have rods. Lived there 50 odd years on and off.

I take the manhole cover off, full up. Get the rods. Hit something solid. "shit a brick maybe".

Normally just use the end of the rod, but put a plunger on.

Shit comes out of a water drain 20 foot down the footpath, there's a river of it. Mixed in with it is lumps of rag, sort of thing you would have in the garage. By now It's a river, 2ft wide and 3" deep!  Open the next manhole down and sweep it in.

Best take the plunger off then. Put one of those screw things on, twist it in and pull it back, More rag, more shit,

People are crossing the road to avoid the smell, and the river.

I clear it. My drain and the one lower work, The ones higher up, 4 back to back rented don't seem to work.

The lumps of rag are coming from  the ones higher up. I cant rod backwards it won't go in.

I clean up, bleach, water, rags, tell next door I'll have a go tomorrow maybe. 

Took 3 hours, plus a shower and a bath.

 

[NorthernMonkey]

13 hours ago, Tetleysmooth said:

While I was working round the car I noticed that some ne're do well has pinched one of my metal valve caps. No biggy really, just means I've got to order another set. Not a big deal, but bloody annoying none the less. I fucking hate thieves.

Please take this opportunity to bin the other three useless fucking things off and replace them with plastic ones at your earliest opportunity.

They really are the work of the devil...the number of those I’ve come across that have seized to the valves due to corrosion within a remarkably short space of time.

Cost one of my regulars two new TPMS valves recently when her husband destroyed them trying to remove the funky metal valve caps with the Mini logo on.

[MikeR]

mice have had a great time in the shed at the top of the garden ...... 

they found a box full of bean bags , made with real beans , I wondered where the mess was coming from and the empty bags .

and they also had a 2nd home in the outside winter drawer full of gloves and scarfs .

a trap is set and another 4 ordered ....

[MikeR]

29 minutes ago, MikeR said:

mice have had a great time in the shed at the top of the garden ...... 

they found a box full of bean bags , made with real beans , I wondered where the mess was coming from and the empty bags .

and they also had a 2nd home in the outside winter drawer full of gloves and scarfs .

a trap is set and another 4 ordered ....

Got one !!!! 

Big one as well , but the little nipper won ....

[Stanky]

51 minutes ago, NorthernMonkey said:

Please take this opportunity to bin the other three useless fucking things off and replace them with plastic ones at your earliest opportunity.

They really are the work of the devil...the number of those I’ve come across that have seized to the valves due to corrosion within a remarkably short space of time.

Cost one of my regulars two new TPMS valves recently when her husband destroyed them trying to remove the funky metal valve caps with the Mini logo on.

THIS. sack the fucking twatty things off and use plastic ones. ripping a valve stem in half trying to remove a corroded metal valve cap is soul-destoyingly dismal. it WILL be dark, raining and the friday before a bank holiday weekend when it happens.

[hairnet]

5 hours ago, PhilA said:

making sure the boss goes fast costs money.

Phil

oops - also read the numberplate as OMG - i need stronger [s]meds[/s] glasses

[R1152]

2 hours ago, Mally said:

Today's Shit happenings.

Back box broke on the Saab, £70. Not much of a problem as the stock car pipe is same dia, so it's all welded up. just need a clamp from ECP Monday.

As I get home next door neighbour grips me, "having any trouble with the drains?"

Our drains are notorious for blockages  insufficient drop on the pipes, and tenants who can't afford toilet roll.

Everyone knows I have rods. Lived there 50 odd years on and off.

I take the manhole cover off, full up. Get the rods. Hit something solid. "shit a brick maybe".

Normally just use the end of the rod, but put a plunger on.

Shit comes out of a water drain 20 foot down the footpath, there's a river of it. Mixed in with it is lumps of rag, sort of thing you would have in the garage. By now It's a river, 2ft wide and 3" deep!  Open the next manhole down and sweep it in.

Best take the plunger off then. Put one of those screw things on, twist it in and pull it back, More rag, more shit,

People are crossing the road to avoid the smell, and the river.

I clear it. My drain and the one lower work, The ones higher up, 4 back to back rented don't seem to work.

The lumps of rag are coming from  the ones higher up. I cant rod backwards it won't go in.

I clean up, bleach, water, rags, tell next door I'll have a go tomorrow maybe. 

Took 3 hours, plus a shower and a bath.

 

If that's a shared sewer running across your property, aren't they now your water board's problem? I only learned this after turning my back garden into a rice-less paddy field when my inspection chamber blocked up with items that shouldn't go down (like jamrags), plus prodigious quantities of semi-dissolved bog roll and a *lot* of shit.

[Inspector Morose]

On 29/03/2021 at 22:21, Inspector Morose said:

Waiting for ‘that’ phone call from the hospital about brother in law. 

He lives downstairs in the house after having a stroke a number of years ago. Early last week on a mission to the kitchen, I found him collapsed and barely  breathing  with foamy blood coming from his mouth. Rushed to hospital and in ICU on a ventilator ever since.

The dynamics of our family is, shall we say, strained - he used to call the police on us every time he never got his own way is amongst the many other ‘fun’ things but still, he is a member of the family and a close one at that.

The next few days/weeks are not going to be good.

Basil passed away last night at 22:40. Apparently he had another stroke on the right side of his brain before I found him on the floor. He had already had a stroke on the left side many years ago so by the  time he was found, he was basically running on auto with little or no cognitive function. 
Two days ago, the hospital moved him from ICU  after determining what had happened and removed assistance to his breathing. At that point he was only alive by the basic functionality of his brain stem; by last night it called enough and shut down for one final time.

Needless to say, it’s hitting us hard. Not only because he was a part of our household and a sibling but it’s a harsh reminder of our own fragility as we all grow older and move onward towards that inevitable conclusion. There’s a lot of unpicking of his life to do now to try and sort out everything but we’ll get through this.

[Mally]

2 hours ago, R1152 said:

If that's a shared sewer running across your property, aren't they now your water board's problem? I only learned this after turning my back garden into a rice-less paddy field when my inspection chamber blocked up with items that shouldn't go down (like jamrags), plus prodigious quantities of semi-dissolved bog roll and a *lot* of shit.

Yes it has been changed, afaik used to be your problem up to the main sewer. Now once outside your property its the Waterboard.

Much of the pipe area is on my deeds. There are 7 properties involved. 1 is empty, 4 owned by a Landlady, 1 industrial so on holiday, and me.

In the old days someone rang Dyno rod and the bill was split.

At the time landlady had 1 tenant in each house, I had 4 in my house. So she paid the same as me! I wasn't happy. That's when I got the rods.

Normally only takes half an hour, but not usually full of rag.

I'll contact Landlady if I can (never answers the phone) and tell her the story.

Tenants pipes are still blocked, so see who comes, and what they think about the rag.

[somewhatfoolish]

10 hours ago, PhilA said:

 

Discovered a Builder's Bastard in the shoulder of the rear right tire. Arse.

Well, the tires at the back need changing, so I booked it in for Monday to have 4 new tires fitted (previous owner randomly fitted different brand tires and although the front 2 still have decent tread left it makes the car unpredictable, particularly in the wet).

The only good thing out of all this is that 4 BF-Goodrich tires came in at under a grand fitted.

Going fast costs money.

Phil

Not lay down some rubber before they go? Or do the neighbours take a dim view of such juvenile behaviour?  

[Tetleysmooth]

8 hours ago, MikeR said:

Got one !!!! 

Big one as well , but the little nipper won ....

I used to use little nipper traps. Great little things, but I've just received some plastic traps. They're called 'splatter traps'. I tried one out using a screwdriver as the mouse. Jesus, it nearly broke the shaft of the screwdriver. By the way, what's the very best bait to use on a trap?

While I'm at it, Northern Monkey and Stanky, I hear you.

 

 

[MikeR]

1 hour ago, Tetleysmooth said:

I used to use little nipper traps. Great little things, but I've just received some plastic traps. They're called 'splatter traps'. I tried one out using a screwdriver as the mouse. Jesus, it nearly broke the shaft of the screwdriver. By the way, what's the very best bait to use on a trap?

While I'm at it, Northern Monkey and Stanky, I hear you.

 

 

for this one I pressed  a lump of butter on the trip , 2 hours later , result

[Merryck]

Peanut butter is also a good one.

[MikeR]

1 hour ago, Merryck said:

Peanut butter is also a good one.

just got the third one ... 2 females and a male so far , in 12 hours or so

still some butter left on the trap !!

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

18 hours ago, PhilA said:

Washed the car.

 

Discovered a Builder's Bastard in the shoulder of the rear right tire. Arse.

Well, the tires at the back need changing, so I booked it in for Monday to have 4 new tires fitted (previous owner randomly fitted different brand tires and although the front 2 still have decent tread left it makes the car unpredictable, particularly in the wet).

The only good thing out of all this is that 4 BF-Goodrich tires came in at under a grand fitted.

Going fast costs money.

Phil

Lovely car. 

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

On 4/3/2021 at 7:57 AM, GrumpiusMaximus said:

I find that the people that don't want a nationalised health system are almost invariably those that stand to profit from a private system.

The NHS is a wonderful thing and we are very, very lucky.  It certainly has flaws but it is by-and-large effective and surprisingly efficient.  If you want private care, fine, you have that option and you can pay through the arse through it but the fact that we have a system that will treat you regardless of your income or social status is brilliant.

The NHS is valuable and I wouldn't be without it, but it is deluded not to see that it has serious faults to the extent that the care it offers can be poor and when things go wrong its behaviour can be appalling. I have experienced this. Another thing it definitely is not, is efficient.  

[GrumpiusMaximus]

28 minutes ago, Magnificent Rustbucket said:

The NHS is valuable and I wouldn't be without it, but it is deluded not to see that it has serious faults to the extent that the care it offers can be poor and when things go wrong its behaviour can be appalling. I have experienced this. Another thing it definitely is not, is efficient.  

Have you seen the cost per capita of the American ‘system’?  Yeah.  It’s relatively efficient.