The grumpy thread

[High Jetter]

Full range of weather here today as mentioned above (high of 7 degrees) yet at lunchtime many persons could be seen shivering outside a pub clutching pint glasses containing extra-cold lager. Don't get me wrong, I love a drink, but I somehow prefer being  warm when supping and would quite like to stay alive.

[myglaren]

Trial run of my mandolin - a food slicer, not a stringed instrument.

Despite the warnings -

 

Much blood everywhere  

[anonymous user]

Mandolin - noun: instrument for ensuring that your sliced vegetable material contains human skin and blood (unsuitable for vegetarians/vegans)

[MikeR]

ouch , that might sting a bit , at least the nose picking finger is ok

[richardmorris]

  On 12/04/2021 at 18:39, myglaren said:

Trial run of my mandolin - a food slicer, not a stringed instrument.

Despite the warnings -

 

Much blood everywhere  

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This is why I don’t have one. Much / most of my cooking is done with the accompaniment of alcohol. The last thing it needs is blood.

[Leyland Worldmaster]

Public transport is shite. 😑 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

  On 12/04/2021 at 18:54, anonymous user said:

Mandolin - noun: instrument for ensuring that your sliced vegetable material contains human skin and blood (unsuitable for vegetarians/vegans)

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I didn't know "vampire cuisine" was a thing these days

[vulgalour]

[Mike Oldfield] MANdoLIN! [/Mike Oldfield]

[R1152]

  On 12/04/2021 at 22:42, Tadhg Tiogar said:

I didn't know "vampire cuisine" was a thing these days

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Well, you could (briefly) buy trainers allegedly containing a drop of human blood in them... 

[R1152]

Why do people send text messages to landlines? 

[Bren]

Queing at hairdressers/ primark /ikea etc.

I am absolutely convinced the average IQ in the UK is in double figures.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

  On 13/04/2021 at 07:57, Bren said:

....I am absolutely convinced the average IQ in the UK is in double figures.

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As much as that?

[Tickman]

  On 13/04/2021 at 07:46, R1152 said:

Why do people send text messages to landlines? 

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Because their phone has more than one number attached to a name and chooses to send it to the wrong number.

[R1152]

  On 13/04/2021 at 08:08, Tickman said:

Because their phone has more than one number attached to a name and chooses to send it to the wrong number.

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I'm not sure I'm going to give Enterprise Rent-A-Car the benefit of that doubt (for it was they).... 

[Bren]

I took a load of stuff to the tip. Some of it old oil and coolant.

While pouring away this stuff I realised how horrible it was - the smell, the texture.

I am not one for change - but I am beginning to think the electric revolution is a bit overdue.

[Tickman]

  On 13/04/2021 at 08:10, R1152 said:

I'm not sure I'm going to give Enterprise Rent-A-Car the benefit of that doubt (for it was they).... 

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Exactly the same for computer systems, your landline number is in a mobile number field.

#firstworldproblems

[Wilko220]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/apr/13/transport-for-london-retires-last-heritage-service-of-routemaster-buses?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1f381iBBAk8gDqHQxw28tpkT2pZFTP17j8hyDrNmIuKaAtd33PHt6OsYo#Echobox=1618294009

 

[LightBulbFun]

  On 13/04/2021 at 12:22, Wilko220 said:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/apr/13/transport-for-london-retires-last-heritage-service-of-routemaster-buses?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1f381iBBAk8gDqHQxw28tpkT2pZFTP17j8hyDrNmIuKaAtd33PHt6OsYo#Echobox=1618294009

 

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the fuckers!

I had heard rumblings they might, but I had really hoped they would not  

 

I also feel bad, as I have not had the chance to ride on one in many years now, and Had hoped to rectify that at some point and see who was still there

Mandy the driver and big paul the conductor are 2 people who where very nice to me and put up with me, as I would hop on and then spend the next 6 hours chatting away with Paul (and mandy at rest stops)

then ride back to the garage with them with my hi-vis donned  and I feel bad for just vanishing one day to never return!

I do hope they are well! the Garage staff at Both Bow and West Ham where also very nice, the main manager at West ham even gave me a bit of a guided tour once  (I must have pulled quite the face going by his reaction when I saw a Modern at the time Enviro 200 wearing a Routemaster plate VLT14! I was not very pleased about that, thankfully VLT14 has since been reunited with the Routemaster it was stolen from)

 

it is also very sad to see Routemaster operation come to an end in London in general  

[New POD]

  On 12/04/2021 at 17:03, R1152 said:

Because. 

I mean, was it really necessary for some pubs and shops to open at 00.01 this morning? 

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Was it necessary for the council to give the pubs temporary all night licence, or did they not bother to ask permission? 

[Wilko220]

  On 13/04/2021 at 12:35, LightBulbFun said:

had heard rumblings they might, but I had really hoped they would not  

 

I also feel bad, as I have not had the chance to ride on one in many years now, and Had hoped to rectify that at some point

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Yeah same - ages since I’ve been on a Routemaster.

The last exciting bus I travelled on in London was during the Tube strike  a few years ago - they wheeled out all these classic buses (from god knows where) to lay on extra services, and I managed to get a ride on a 1970s Mk1 MCW Metrobus.
It was going in a completely different direction to where I needed to go so I ended up being late for work, but it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up!

[andy18s]

  On 13/04/2021 at 07:57, Bren said:

Queing at hairdressers/ primark /ikea etc.

I am absolutely convinced the average IQ in the UK is in double figures.

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Herd mentality=thinning the herd?

[LightBulbFun]

  On 13/04/2021 at 13:02, Wilko220 said:

Yeah same - ages since I’ve been on a Routemaster.

The last exciting bus I travelled on in London was during the Tube strike  a few years ago - they wheeled out all these classic buses (from god knows where) to lay on extra services, and I managed to get a ride on a 1970s Mk1 MCW Metrobus! 
It was going in a completely different direction to where I needed to go so I ended up being late for work, but it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up!

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Yeah! im one of the few Londoners who actually look forward to tube strikes for exactly this reason

as when they need extra services they almost always bring out all the old RMs RTs and the such like  (at least 1 person at TfL must be an enthusiast like us!)

I have sadly never been able to ride on one during a tube strike, but its fun seeing the pictures especially of them on Routes that have not normally seen Routemasters/RTs etc for many years and its fun seeing how people react to it on social media  

 

I did once ran across one on Route 8 once during a driving lesson and got told off by my instructor for waving at the conductor on the back  

(both hands on the wheel yada yada, bet they would hate to see a Tiller control invacar!)

[cort1977]

A few years ago I took my boys on the Routemaster service from Trafalgar Square to the Tower.  They didn't really 'get it' but I really enjoyed myself.

Sad to see the end of this.  Apparently passenger numbers were low but how well was it advertised?  Plenty of other tourist buses ripping off the gullible seem to do all right...

[LightBulbFun]

  On 13/04/2021 at 14:20, cort1977 said:

but how well was it advertised?  Plenty of other tourist buses ripping off the gullible seem to do all right...

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thats the thing, apart from adverts on the side of the last Routemasters in normal service during 2005

I have never seen it advertised anywhere, the nearest thing to an advert you would see is on the bus stops that the routes served it would say "Heritage route 15 from such and such time"

even I only found out about them after a chance encounter in 2006!

 

so yeah a lot of us do wonder if they actually advertised the fact they exist, if they would have done better!

 

I also hate the excuses they give, especially the not accessible part, one of the stipulations for when the 2 Routes where setup was that they simply ran along part of the same Route as regular buses did

so no one would be disadvantaged sitting a wheel chair at a bus stop where only Routemasters served (ie they never went anywhere a regular bus of the same route number did not go)

so I feel that excuse is a bit moot! since there will always be regular buses serving the same route so no ones at a disadvantage 

 

and then the Emissions things, well all the heritage RMs where sadly Dartmaster-ed examples with horrible Cummings engines and Hopper windows already so no one would scream bloody murder if they stuck some more modern engines in

which has already been done!

https://www.automotiveworld.com/news-releases/iconic-54-year-old-london-routemaster-joins-cummins-euro-6-clean-bus-lineup-iaa/

[R1152]

 

[bobdisk]

  On 13/04/2021 at 07:46, R1152 said:

Why do people send text messages to landlines? 

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If a text message comes to my land line, BT SMS Text (from 08456021111) asks if you want it read, saved, or deleted.  See here for BTs info on it:

https://www.bt.com/help/landline/set-up-and-use-bt-text

 Sounds like a nice girl!

[R1152]

  On 13/04/2021 at 16:39, bobdisk said:

If a text message comes to my land line, BT SMS Text (from 08456021111) asks if you want it read, saved, or deleted.  See here for BTs info on it:

https://www.bt.com/help/landline/set-up-and-use-bt-text

 Sounds like a nice girl!

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This I did: but first I had to plug in a tone-dialling phone... (yes, really)

Then the message contained a URL: the posh gel from BT had fun with that one! 🤣

[Heidel_Kakao]

  On 13/04/2021 at 09:41, Bren said:

I took a load of stuff to the tip. Some of it old oil and coolant.

While pouring away this stuff I realised how horrible it was - the smell, the texture.

I am not one for change - but I am beginning to think the electric revolution is a bit overdue.

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Making batteries has an environmental impact too.....

[bobdisk]

  On 13/04/2021 at 16:41, R1152 said:

This I did: but first I had to plug in a tone-dialling phone... (yes, really)

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Didnt think pulse dial phones worked these days 🤔

[Fumbler]

  On 13/04/2021 at 17:50, bobdisk said:

Didnt think pulse dial phones worked these days 🤔

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They do just fine, as it happens. You can try pulse dialling without a rotary phone by rapidly pressing the hang up switch on a landline phone to dial a number veeeeeery slowly.