The grumpy thread

[cobblers]

3 hours ago, New POD said:

How would "they" know? 

Well, that's the thing. The building is brand new so I'm unsure if it's been assessed by the council yet with regards to the business rates. Once it's been assessed it might be ten years before they ever check again.

We don't need the space imminently (it's already 4.5x the size of where we are at the moment) so I'll just build the offices as planned (non structural), then once we're in, settled and sure that the building has been assessed, I'll get the company to come and slap a mezzanine above them.

It seems mental - the current unit we have costs us £623 a month to rent, for 720 square feet, but to add 580 square feet of usable space to an existing building would cost us ~£600 extra rates! 

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, cobblers said:

Well, that's the thing. The building is brand new so I'm unsure if it's been assessed by the council yet with regards to the business rates. Once it's been assessed it might be ten years before they ever check again.

We don't need the space imminently (it's already 4.5x the size of where we are at the moment) so I'll just build the offices as planned (non structural), then once we're in, settled and sure that the building has been assessed, I'll get the company to come and slap a mezzanine above them.

It seems mental - the current unit we have costs us £623 a month to rent, for 720 square feet, but to add 580 square feet of usable space to an existing building would cost us ~£600 extra rates! 

If it hasn't been assessed, how do you know this? I've found council rating surveyors to be very fair and helpful, might be worth a phone call at least to check. It does sound like your making a big chunk of the space into offices, tbh.

[Markeh]

Got approached for my ideal job, at a great company and a step up from where I was. That was in the middle of June. After nearly 3 months of delays, different interview stages, having to chase to get updates, had the final stage last week, was promised I'd get a response by last Friday. I got a generic rejection email with no feedback at 5pm last night. Utter waste of time. How hard is it to spend 5 minutes writing some feedback? Demoralising as hell.

[artdjones]

2 hours ago, Markeh said:

Got approached for my ideal job, at a great company and a step up from where I was. That was in the middle of June. After nearly 3 months of delays, different interview stages, having to chase to get updates, had the final stage last week, was promised I'd get a response by last Friday. I got a generic rejection email with no feedback at 5pm last night. Utter waste of time. How hard is it to spend 5 minutes writing some feedback? Demoralising as hell.

I understand your pain, but if they are useless it's probably trouble avoided not to get a job with them. The really stupid part is them approaching you. 

[Markeh]

1 minute ago, artdjones said:

I understand your pain, but if they are useless it's probably trouble avoided not to get a job with them. The really stupid part is them approaching you. 

Yeah, in hindsight there's definitely been a few red flags about their recruitment process, so potentially a blessing in disguise. Maybe it'll either give me a kick up the arse to start properly searching for something or to keep arguing for promotion where I am at the moment.

[mercedade]

7 hours ago, cobblers said:

Well, that's the thing. The building is brand new so I'm unsure if it's been assessed by the council yet with regards to the business rates. Once it's been assessed it might be ten years before they ever check again.

We don't need the space imminently (it's already 4.5x the size of where we are at the moment) so I'll just build the offices as planned (non structural), then once we're in, settled and sure that the building has been assessed, I'll get the company to come and slap a mezzanine above them.

It seems mental - the current unit we have costs us £623 a month to rent, for 720 square feet, but to add 580 square feet of usable space to an existing building would cost us ~£600 extra rates! 

And apologies if this is egg-sucking advice, but there are firms who basically do consultancy work bickering with assessors on behalf of commercial clients about exactly this.

A mate of mine has done it, employing every ridiculous trick in the book - I've helped him lug those 1 tonne plastic water pallets from 'empty' office space to 'empty' office space, all as part of some elaborate demonstration of the usage (or otherwise) of the buildings.

[cobblers]

3 minutes ago, mercedade said:

And apologies if this is egg-sucking advice, but there are firms who basically do consultancy work bickering with assessors on behalf of commercial clients about exactly this.

A mate of mine has done it, employing every ridiculous trick in the book - I've helped him lug those 1 tonne plastic water pallets from 'empty' office space to 'empty' office space, all as part of some elaborate demonstration of the usage (or otherwise) of the buildings.

Nope, thanks mate, I'll look into it!

[Remspoor]

Does not affect me, so I am not so grumpy. It does not make me grin either. Just what were they thinking?

Southend United to rename stand

[New POD]

15 hours ago, mercedade said:

And apologies if this is egg-sucking advice, but there are firms who basically do consultancy work bickering with assessors on behalf of commercial clients about exactly this.

A mate of mine has done it, employing every ridiculous trick in the book - I've helped him lug those 1 tonne plastic water pallets from 'empty' office space to 'empty' office space, all as part of some elaborate demonstration of the usage (or otherwise) of the buildings.

Office space or clean room for high tech manufacturing? Does that change the rateable value? 

In this new world, the rateable value, should be based on how much of the floor area is actually used for manufacturing stuff, and how much is a warehouse, of things already made, and there should be a massive discount based on the value exported. 

[Zelandeth]

Oh give me a fscking break.  

Have just spent the last week plus change prepping the house to receive guests, folks we've not seen in 5+ years.  House prep was a major undertaking because work from home has vastly altered how space is used.  

They arrived yesterday evening.  This morning have tested COVID positive.  Excuse me while I go find a wall to smash my head against until I pass out.

[Saabnut]

Locking wheel nuts. That is all

[sierraman]

Couple of days off to get jobs done and now I feel like I’ve got flu coming on. Fantastic. 

[AnnoyingPentium]

29 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Couple of days off to get jobs done and now I feel like I’ve got flu coming on. Fantastic. 

Hope you feel better soon.

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

This morning have tested COVID positive.

You, or them? Have you kicked them out yet?

[Zelandeth]

6 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

You, or them? Have you kicked them out yet?

Them, and we can't exactly kick them out telling them to go home given home is ~3,500 miles away.  One of those afflicted is in their mid 70s, so we're not about to cast them onto the street unless they're back to feeling well.  We're isolating within the house wherever possible - though downstairs being pretty much entirely open plan is unhelpful.

Know a lot of people would just shrug it off, but personally I'm taking it very seriously.  I got it back at the end of May and haven't made it even *vaguely* close to back to 100% from it yet.  So I'd really, really rather not get another dose.

[reb]

I've been in this house for nearly 4 years now, never had any problems except for some dodgy sockets that were fixed in the first year.

Went to wash my face and shave this morning (well, 2pm, but who's counting) and all that came out of the hot tap was a a small dribble of cold water then nothing.

No answer on the out of hours number for the letting agent, no way for me to troubleshoot myself because the extent of my knowledge of the water heater is there's a boost button and it's boxed in in the kitchen.

Chances of it being sorted so I can have my Sunday night bath? Absolutely zero.

Thankfully I have an electric shower that's independent of the water heater. I wonder if I can use it to fill the sink to shave without making a horrendous mess.

[Zelandeth]

15 minutes ago, reb said:

I've been in this house for nearly 4 years now, never had any problems except for some dodgy sockets that were fixed in the first year.

Went to wash my face and shave this morning (well, 2pm, but who's counting) and all that came out of the hot tap was a a small dribble of cold water then nothing.

No answer on the out of hours number for the letting agent, no way for me to troubleshoot myself because the extent of my knowledge of the water heater is there's a boost button and it's boxed in in the kitchen.

Chances of it being sorted so I can have my Sunday night bath? Absolutely zero.

Thankfully I have an electric shower that's independent of the water heater. I wonder if I can use it to fill the sink to shave without making a horrendous mess.

Silly question - have you checked it's all hot taps?  I've had a collapsed washer clog one up before resulting in next to no flow.

[Datsuncog]

Mission creep... when 'repairing that bad bit of wall' becomes 'new wall needed'.

Still, at least I can make sure the infill battening in the old doorway's actually secured to the rest of the framing - because it currently isn't...

 

[reb]

1 minute ago, Zelandeth said:

Silly question - have you checked it's all hot taps?  I've had a collapsed washer clog one up before resulting in next to no flow.

All hot taps are the same. If you leave them for a while they build up enough pressure* to drible for a time obviously proportional to the amount of vertical pipework for the trickle to build up a head in. If I leave it for about an hour I get 5 seconds of "flow" from the bathroom sink tap, bugger all from the bath and about 10 seconds from the kitchen tap.

[Fumbler]

Pulley misalignment by about 2 teeth.

Apparently all 850 PAS pumps aren't the same.

[reb]

9 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

Pulley misalignment by about 2 teeth.

Apparently all 850 PAS pumps aren't the same.

There's a lot more variation in parts for 850s than you'd expect. For example the thermostat housing on the NA 2.5 10v and 20v petrol engines is different despite being broadly the same engine, I believe it's different again on the turbo ones, naturally different again again on the TDI being it's a completely different engine.

If it had been about a year ago I could have chucked the PAS pump from my 2.5 10v in the post on the off chance it'd work, but alas it got sold to some dodgy scrapmen in order to clear space to put up a gazebo.

[Mr Pastry]

23 minutes ago, reb said:

All hot taps are the same. If you leave them for a while they build up enough pressure* to drible for a time obviously proportional to the amount of vertical pipework for the trickle to build up a head in. If I leave it for about an hour I get 5 seconds of "flow" from the bathroom sink tap, bugger all from the bath and about 10 seconds from the kitchen tap.

What sort of water heater is it?  If it's an immersion in a cylinder, then the cold water isn't getting in to displace the hot water.  There will be a header tank somewhere supplying it - either in the loft, or combined with the cylinder. 

[reb]

Just now, Mr Pastry said:

What sort of water heater is it?  If it's an immersion in a cylinder, then the cold water isn't getting in to displace the hot water.  There will be a header tank somewhere supplying it - either in the loft, or combined with the cylinder. 

I'm fairly sure it's an immersion, it's boxed in here:

With this on the wall next to it:

Which seems to be functioning as intended, if you put the timer on the light on the switch comes on.

You only need to put the timer on for large amounts of hot water, for example filling the bath. It seems to provide hot water for handwashing and dishes no matter the status of this. I am assuming it switches itself on in the dead of night or something to provide said water throughout the day.

I can't get at the tank itself without dismantling the box around it, which obviously has been painted over countless times so I can't get at the screws without damaging the paint because the caps are painted over.

Really I need the letting agent to do the job that we (me and the landlord) pay them to do.

[paulplom]

Sounds like an airlock if it is a gravity system.

Get a bit of short hose pipe force it on the cold and hot taps. Open the hot first then the cold and leave it to run for 30 seconds or so. The mains pressure will clear it.

[paulplom]

Or if you're really technical, pull your washing machine out and connect the cold hose to the hot valve and open both. Same principal.

[Fumbler]

54 minutes ago, reb said:

There's a lot more variation in parts for 850s than you'd expect. For example the thermostat housing on the NA 2.5 10v and 20v petrol engines is different despite being broadly the same engine, I believe it's different again on the turbo ones, naturally different again again on the TDI being it's a completely different engine.

If it had been about a year ago I could have chucked the PAS pump from my 2.5 10v in the post on the off chance it'd work, but alas it got sold to some dodgy scrapmen in order to clear space to put up a gazebo.

Seems I've found out the hard way. I now understand why Haynes says go to Volvo to get the pulley transferred over from the old pump to the new one- because it's pressed on.

[beko1987]

39 minutes ago, paulplom said:

Sounds like an airlock if it is a gravity system.

Get a bit of short hose pipe force it on the cold and hot taps. Open the hot first then the cold and leave it to run for 30 seconds or so. The mains pressure will clear it.

I once accidentally did this! 

I dont have an outside tap so creativity has always been needed. I once tried one of those tap to hose adapters upstairs on the bath mixer tap. 

Was working well for half an hour until suddenly a torrent of water shot out of the loft holding tank overflow pipe... Turns out I'd been doing just that by accident, pushing cold up the hot! Luckily no harm done and the overflow pipework is/was watertight

Now I disconnect the washing machine to use the hose and screw an adapter on 👍

[paulplom]

Aye, 30 seconds is long enough. 🤣

[Mally]

1 hour ago, Fumbler said:

Pulley misalignment by about 2 teeth.

Apparently all 850 PAS pumps aren't the same.

It may be possible to trim a couple of ridges off the belt so that it runs square.

No guarantees like, but I'd try it. 

[reb]

51 minutes ago, paulplom said:

Sounds like an airlock if it is a gravity system.

Get a bit of short hose pipe force it on the cold and hot taps. Open the hot first then the cold and leave it to run for 30 seconds or so. The mains pressure will clear it.

I don't have any suitable hose and the washing machine only has a cold feed.

I did however figure out I could force cold water into the hot feed by blocking my kitchen mixer tap and opening it biased towards hot. Done with the other taps closed it resulted in roughly the amount of water diverted coming out of the other taps when opened then nothing. I tried it with the bathroom sink tap open and the drain plug in, this resulted somewhat predictably in a sink full of water after about 30 seconds.

Think I need a plumber before I break something.