The grumpy thread

[artdjones]

The cottage next door to me has been empty for a couple of years, but the owner has come back from the UK now.She is a sort of an innocent abroad, although she's about 60. She has a Jotul stove which cost her €2000 in 2008. A very sought after item However on the back of the stove are two removable plates that allow access to ducts in the stove back that allow them to be swept out, and one of those is broken. She got someone from the local stove installation company to look at it. He told her that the stove is too far gone to bother with and that those duct covers are €600 for a pair. So she's bought a Stanley stove of a similar 5kw size which your man is going to fit. I had a look today, and the stove just needs a few repairs. The duct covers cost £51 each in the UK. What's the betting that when he comes to fit the new stove he offers to kindly* take the Jotul away for free, so he can spend €200 on it and then sell it for €1000.

Anyway, she's now primed to tell him someone else wants it. Then I can get her to bring the parts back from England next time she goes over, I can fit them, and she can either put it back in and sell the Stanley, or get €750 for it herself.

[Rust Collector]

I did not enjoy changing the clutch cable on the turbo diesel BX. It feels like one of those jobs where it’s probably alright on the earlier cars with smaller engines, but with the turbo derv lump in there it leaves fuck all space to work. It’s finally in now and feels ok. Had to do it twice as the original cable was routed wrong and I didn’t realise until it was too late. Its a bit late to start it up and wake the neighbourhood with an XUD salute, so I will be left wondering if I’ve fixed it until the morning. Fingers crossed it’s all ok.

[Yoss]

38 minutes ago, artdjones said:

Don't I know it. The year I worked there my brother's walk was about 300 houses, the postwoman on the next walk less than 250, and mine about 450. It was a former council estate where everyone had bought there houses, so were now getting lots of post. They had to give me an hour's overtime every day just to get the delivery finished, and I went from 15 stone to 12 stone 4 in the year. The only time in my life I had a six-pack!

There was so much post at Christmas that I took out 2 bags some days, absolutely rammed with just cards and letters, and so heavy that I had difficulty carrying them together across to my car.

 

I've got about 660 drops on this delivery but it's easier than the other delivery I mentioned which only had 370, so there's more to it than just numbers. My current delivery starts right outside the office so there is no travelling time and most of the residential roads are Victorian terraces or small semis with no drives so you can get through them pretty quick.

Also I get lot more gaps on this one. A lot of the Polish people haven't been here long enough to get on lots of pointless mailing lists. On the other delivery full of well off pensioners with long drives they've lived there for decades and once you get on some mailing lists you're on them for life. So I reckon I only visit two thirds of my addresses each day whereas the other one is nearer 90%. So as hard as they try it is impossible to make all deliveries equal. In the time I've been there they've done several major revisions and each time they say they are going to even them out but it never works and it never will. They even had some fancy computer program to do it but that's only as good as the information that goes in. That's just how it is. 

[GrumpyCat]

On 10/27/2022 at 11:00 AM, Talbot said:

"...  Which he didn't, as he forgot to put the key in the ignition.  First bend we came to, his steering locked....Twazzock that he was.

Looks like this chaps steering locked too...

 

[High Jetter]

4 hours ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

It's not even fucking Halloween yet.

Uh. Don't get me started on crap yank pish. (Yes, I know it was originally Celtic)

[Lacquer Peel]

19 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Uh. Don't get me started on crap yank pish. (Yes, I know it was originally Celtic)

Capitalism was perfected on Britain, you can blame these islands for Halloween pish

[outlaw118]

Not entirely sure how it has happened but Micro_Outlaw has one of his friends over tonight for a sleepover.

The initial agreement, when Stepson_Outlaw was living "off grid" that myself and SWMBO would book into a Travelodge for the night, and the lad would take over the house and supervise etc.

He left us in charge* about 8.30pm and I want to kill everyone.

I'm not a massive fan of sharing my space with anyone, let alone two kids rushing off their tits on sugar, firing Nerf guns about.

[Popsicle]

Mrs Popsicle told me the indicators are flashing fast on the Vectra, no problem I'm painting a bumper in the garage, give me a mo and I'll sort it out. Front passenger side not working, opens the bonnet, no way my hands fitting in there. Unbolted the fuse box to gain more room, I can get my hand in and twist the bulb holder but it can't come out as the wings in the way, no access panel in the wheel arch liner, bugger, quick check on google, front pissing bumper has to come off to remove the headlamp unit 😡.

So what should have been a 2 minute job took best part of an hour. At least it gave the paint a chance to dry before applying another coat or 5.

 

[barefoot]

18 hours ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

People getting excited about Christmas.  For fuck’s sake.

I'm getting excited...

I've given up drinking from September to December. The thinking is, if I only drink in December & from April to August, I'll be able to drink an absolute metric fuck tonne during the months that I do enjoy a little tipple.

[Fumbler]

15 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

I did not enjoy changing the clutch cable on the turbo diesel BX. It feels like one of those jobs where it’s probably alright on the earlier cars with smaller engines, but with the turbo derv lump in there it leaves fuck all space to work. It’s finally in now and feels ok. Had to do it twice as the original cable was routed wrong and I didn’t realise until it was too late. Its a bit late to start it up and wake the neighbourhood with an XUD salute, so I will be left wondering if I’ve fixed it until the morning. Fingers crossed it’s all ok.

If/when the speedometer cable snaps you're in for some fun*... No matter the engine size it's still a bitch to fit and make work.

[Rust Collector]

12 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

If/when the speedometer cable snaps you're in for some fun*... No matter the engine size it's still a bitch to fit and make work.

It will be finding a new home before then hopefully! 😅

[Fumbler]

Just now, Rust Collector said:

It will be finding a new home before then hopefully! 😅

Ohhhhh but you have not one but three! Three times the peril!

[Rust Collector]

Just now, Fumbler said:

Ohhhhh but you have not one but four! Four times the peril!

FTFY 😅

Luckily there’s no chance of me needing to address issues on 2 of them for a while lol

[Fumbler]

1 minute ago, Rust Collector said:

FTFY 😅

Luckily there’s no chance of me needing to address issues on 2 of them for a while lol

Oh god, I forgot you had four! I forgot to mention the cables come in two pieces as well. At least you've got spares.

[Rust Collector]

1 hour ago, Fumbler said:

Oh god, I forgot you had four! I forgot to mention the cables come in two pieces as well. At least you've got spares.

My goal is to get back down to one again. The 1.4 Leader and DTR Turbo will be finding new homes in due course. I’d like to repair and sell the TRS as well. The TZD is the keeper if all goes to plan and I manage to avoid buying any more!

[Fumbler]

1 hour ago, Rust Collector said:

My goal is to get back down to one again. The 1.4 Leader and DTR Turbo will be finding new homes in due course. I’d like to repair and sell the TRS as well. The TZD is the keeper if all goes to plan and I manage to avoid buying any more!

I can't find your thread at the moment but is the Leader like mine with the TU3 engine and is it structurally sound? Asking for a friend*

[Rust Collector]

3 hours ago, Fumbler said:

I can't find your thread at the moment but is the Leader like mine with the TU3 engine and is it structurally sound? Asking for a friend*

The only notable rot I could find was a small repair patch that had been done to one of the rear wheel tubs and looks to need attention again. Otherwise the usual areas in the front wings, sills, rear bumper bar all looked ok from what I could tell rolling round on the floor with the suspension lifted up.

I’ll update my thread with the pics from today, I’m a bit behind on BX related content currently! I’ve got a pic of the engine bay so hopefully that will reveal what motor it is - I don’t think it’s the suitcase lump but could be wrong as I often am.

[Fumbler]

5 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

The only notable rot I could find was a small repair patch that had been done to one of the rear wheel tubs and looks to need attention again. Otherwise the usual areas in the front wings, sills, rear bumper bar all looked ok from what I could tell rolling round on the floor with the suspension lifted up.

I’ll update my thread with the pics from today, I’m a bit behind on BX related content currently! I’ve got a pic of the engine bay so hopefully that will reveal what motor it is - I don’t think it’s the suitcase lump but could be wrong as I often am.

A good indication is if it's post 1986, it'll have a TU lump in it. I like those engines and drivetrains, because mine never gave me any real hassle.... unlike the rest of the car! It even swallowed bits of carburettor and still soldiered on.

[Rust Collector]

Just now, Fumbler said:

A good indication is if it's post 1986, it'll have a TU lump in it. I like those engines and drivetrains, because mine never gave me any real hassle.... unlike the rest of the car! It even swallowed bits of carburettor and still soldiered on.

It should be a TU then, it’s an ‘89!

[Fumbler]

2 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

It should be a TU then, it’s an ‘89!

That'll be definite then! Same year as mine. Oh happy days....

Edit- I didn't notice this was the grumpy thread until a few minutes ago. I fear I'm risking making the thread too happy.

[cobblers]

My wife's best mate was moving house but needed somewhere to stay for a few months to keep the chain working. Not short of a few quid, they were buying a £500k place cash. This was just as we moved out of our old terraced house, so we said "ah, stay there a few months, just pay the mortgage (£200 a month)". Chain fell through, and 11 months later we finally asked them to leave because we just want rid of the place. 

They asked if they could "put a couple of shelves up" I said yep no problem just put it right when you go. We took all these rawl plugs out JUST IN THE KITCHEN! They moved some free standing shelves out of an alcove, then spend hours making their own.

 

Leaving us with this fucking mess:

Every single room has at least 6 holes in it to hang useless shit on the walls, towel rails, pointless shelves etc - they were only supposed to stay a few months! Does this bloke take tools to hang a picture on the wall when he goes to a hotel for a week?

I mean look at this - we thought they would decorate the hall/stairs as a bit of a "thankyou" for us getting them out of the shit and saving them from being homeless. Nope, but he did take the time to install an utterly pointless shelf

The shower needed a bead of silicone round it. No problem - The guys a builder!

Nope - just let it leak, here's the kitchen ceiling below:

The rest of the house is left pretty filthy too. We're not the tidiest and we have dogs so we spent 4 days absolutely blitzing the place and then paid £200 for a professional clean after we'd done our best.

They left us with a tide mark and pubes in the bath, filthy walls and floors in the bathroom, they'd been drying clothes in the attic so the walls were mouldy. Fuck's sake!

TL:DR - Seemingly respectable, well do to grown adults are actually really strange nobheads. 

I'm still trying to understand why you'd spend hours making some DIY shelves in someone elses house instead of just spending £25 at ikea! We're renting at the moment and I won't even put a picture up FFS!

[ruffgeezer]

Turned down an early shift today because the missus wanted to spend more time together before she goes back to work again next week (we've had all of the last week off together.)  Today she has spent on her coursework, at the computer almost all day, which I don't resent, but I might as well have done the shift this morning for what little we saw of each other.

[mitsisigma01]

45 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

fear I'm risking making the thread too happy.

Just get 1 bought then , that'll bring back the grumpiness 😉

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, ruffgeezer said:

Turned down an early shift today because the missus wanted to spend more time together before she goes back to work again next week (we've had all of the last week off together.)  Today she has spent on her coursework, at the computer almost all day, which I don't resent, but I might as well have done the shift this morning for what little we saw of each other.

Yep, but you were there. That's Important*

[reb]

The keyboard on my surface pro seems to have stopped working. How fucking useful.

[twosmoke300]

On 28/10/2022 at 21:56, Rust Collector said:

I did not enjoy changing the clutch cable on the turbo diesel BX. It feels like one of those jobs where it’s probably alright on the earlier cars with smaller engines, but with the turbo derv lump in there it leaves fuck all space to work. It’s finally in now and feels ok. Had to do it twice as the original cable was routed wrong and I didn’t realise until it was too late. Its a bit late to start it up and wake the neighbourhood with an XUD salute, so I will be left wondering if I’ve fixed it until the morning. Fingers crossed it’s all ok.

100% correct . Piece of cake on a 1.4 TU motor one but a twat of a job on a TD .

[ruffgeezer]

12 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Yep, but you were there. That's Important*

Aye,  it's a minor grump in reality but I feel better for having expressed it somewhere, and that's what this thread is for.

As it stands, I've just been offered another 2 shifts next week, and I'll take then option on 1 of them to read up for my next round of training.

[Crackers]

Twice I've tried bringing a classic to the Watercress Line, and twice they've let me down and left me waiting at the same Shell garage in Ropley. 

(S1 belongs to a mate and is lovely) 

[Borsuq]

Some fuckwit ripped my star off. 🤬

[hairnet]

medical might not just be physical

ffs

youd think having lots of time to fart/scratch balls/daydream/look at holidays/sleep/eat

would be fun

cant sleep cos not eating enuff/thinking too hard about stuff/wondering so  brain is whirring

sleep is all over cos not doing anything to be tired - trying not to watch much tv but cos daytime tv is shit radio wins anyway

cant/dont wanna do stuff cos might hurt whats healing

sake

'waiting sweetheart.........waiting.....'

actually cant complain about that cos thats the way things happen (they said)- cant argue with them they professional - just have to hang