The grumpy thread

[wuvvum]

My boss casually mentioned to me today that overtime is being stopped because apparently we don't need it anymore.  I've been kind of relying on overtime pay for the last several years to make ends meet.  With the cost of everything continuing to go up (my rent hasn't yet but I'm fully expecting it to at any time), unless I get a hefty pay rise this year I'm going to be in trouble.  There's an outside chance that I'll get a decent rise as I had a promotion last year and I haven't had my pay adjusted for that yet, but all the noises senior management have been making about "difficult economic times" and all that bollocks don't bode well.

I'm OK for a few months - I'll be getting December's overtime pay in this month's pay packet, then I have a few "easy" months as I don't pay council tax in Feb and March and I don't pay car insurance in April and May - but the upshot is that if I don't get a decent raise I'm going to have to find a new job.  Which I really don't want to do as 1. I like my current job and the people I work with and 2. I fucking hate job interviews.  Plus I've been in the industry I currently work in for 20 years and unless I find a job based in London but working remotely I'm never going to be rich, but then again I don't really want to start again from scratch at my time of life...

I'm just getting rather tired of the fact that every time I start to get a little bit of financial security life comes along and pulls the rug out.  It's surprisingly difficult to maintain a decent standard of living as a single person on an average wage these days.  Maybe I need to become an IT consultant - they always seem to be on decent money.  I know naff all about IT but I'm quite good at talking bollocks so I might be able to wing it...

[chaseracer]

18 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

...I had a promotion last year and I haven't had my pay adjusted for that yet...

What...??!

 

[wuvvum]

20 minutes ago, chaseracer said:

What...??!

 

I had an "extra" mid-year payrise the year before (Sept 2021) so when April 2022 came around and I got my promotion, I didn't get the payrise because I'd already had one within the last year.  My manager did make noises about me getting another mid-year rise this year, but that never happened.  She did give me a rather chunkier-than-normal bonus last April to try and make up for it but, nice as a bonus is, it doesn't carry forward into the next year.

[fairkens]

8 hours ago, somewhatfoolish said:

What's the beef? Is anyone who has been penalised by HMRC a criminal now? They're a shower of shite but this is thin gruel, much like the pant-wetting hysteria about the PM being fined for not wearing a seat belt. Oh noes! He got fined by HMRC, along with probably thousands of others.

I would google and read the Dan Neidle blogs on this if I were you. He lied about having outstanding tax and then negotiated his 'settlement' whilst he was in charge of HMRC at the exchequer.  The level of fine shows how culpable he was. One for the politics section I guess 

[Split_Pin]

I received my renewal quote for the red 93. Literally nothing has changed since last year!

They can get fucked with that!!

[Metal Guru]

3 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

I received my renewal quote for the red 93. Literally nothing has changed since last year!

They can get fucked with that!!

Worth a phone call, sometimes they will give you a much better quote. I had the same with my wife’s car, up by about £50 with Direct Line . One call and the reduced it by about £40. Admiral on the other hand put mine up by £75 despite being with them for 11 years , no claims, and the best they could offer was £10’lower.  Renewed with eSure , lower than last year with Admiral.

[iainrcz]

Yay. More shit to deal with.

[loserone]

Shit cement / gypsum skim fallen off?

[iainrcz]

3 minutes ago, loserone said:

Shit cement / gypsum skim fallen off?

I've a feeling it's damp. Bottom of the skirting is going a wee bit soft.

[loserone]

What I mean is that it looks like it's had a cold / condensation problem which has been hidden with an injected DPC and replacing the plaster up to a level with something non permeable. Which has now fallen off, as is inevitable.

 

It looks like the kind of part of a house it's difficult to keep warm and ventilated.

[hairnet]

currently barfing a lung due to viral (they said) laryngitis

would be ok but for the coughing (i coughed me ring on thursday and had to stop the van it was that bad)

was gonna hop a plane this evening due to good news but cant cos 16 h on a plane might not be a good idea

 

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, Metal Guru said:

Worth a phone call, sometimes they will give you a much better quote. I had the same with my wife’s car, up by about £50 with Direct Line . One call and the reduced it by about £40. Admiral on the other hand put mine up by £75 despite being with them for 11 years , no claims, and the best they could offer was £10’lower.  Renewed with eSure , lower than last year with Admiral.

Go compare has netted me £189 with Swinton. Not as good as last year but I doubt E sure could have beaten that. My brown 93 is also insured with Esure and I only renewed it in December. It was around £150 for the year and is almost identical to the red one save for being a manual.  How do they work out their quotes?!

[iainrcz]

23 minutes ago, loserone said:

What I mean is that it looks like it's had a cold / condensation problem which has been hidden with an injected DPC and replacing the plaster up to a level with something non permeable. Which has now fallen off, as is inevitable.

 

It looks like the kind of part of a house it's difficult to keep warm and ventilated.

Yeah there are a few places we struggle with. We've got some really cold walls with the inevitable sweating.

[sierraman]

46 minutes ago, loserone said:

Shit cement / gypsum skim fallen off?

He says as he’s mixing up a batch of lime mortar 🤣

[Bren]

Ebay sellers.

Had my eye on a plastic kit before xmas - auction was finished suddenly.

Now back on at reduced price. Closer inspection shows it is likely incomplete.

Messaged seller to enquire. Pleaded ignorance. Just check - it's not hard.

[hairnet]

10 hours ago, hairnet said:

 

would be ok but for the coughing (i coughed me ring on thursday and had to stop the van it was that bad)

 

 

also they were told on sunday that the hossy told me to go to the gp and tell them it was urgent (for something that happened at the same time as the cough)

after telling the good news and them knowing i coughing my ring (tm) 

they texted back so does that mean youll be in tomorrow

i texted back only when the cough stops (the big boss was then texted a screenshot of their reply and asked will you be shouting at them or will i when im able)

big boss has been completely bang on the cunt in the department less so

verdict - cunt - they can now wait until im ready (cough) - head office will also be informed (after what ive been through cunts gonna get told some truths)

 

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, Bren said:

Ebay sellers.

Had my eye on a plastic kit before xmas - auction was finished suddenly.

Now back on at reduced price. Closer inspection shows it is likely incomplete.

Messaged seller to enquire. Pleaded ignorance. Just check - it's not hard.

Soft plastic?

[Metal Guru]

14 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Go compare has netted me £189 with Swinton. Not as good as last year but I doubt E sure could have beaten that. My brown 93 is also insured with Esure and I only renewed it in December. It was around £150 for the year and is almost identical to the red one save for being a manual.  How do they work out their quotes?!

The quotes system is a mystery. If someone tells you x company is cheap, you’ll probably get a really high quote even if your circumstances are similar.   
However the biggest mystery is how casual they are about losing existing customers  and then spend so much advertising for new ones.  However they are hardly unique in that approach.

[captain_70s]

7 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

However the biggest mystery is how casual they are about losing existing customers  and then spend so much advertising for new ones.  However they are hardly unique in that approach.

The standard focus on short term gains as it looks better on spreadsheets.

[cobblers]

15 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

The standard focus on short term gains as it looks better on spreadsheets.

See also: Every other company and most governments

[hairnet]

i wish to FOAD

can someone help with that

not even been a week

*whimper

[chadders]

59 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

The standard focus on short term gains as it looks better on spreadsheets.

It also has more of an impact on bonuses.

[chaseracer]

2 hours ago, hairnet said:

i wish to FOAD

can someone help with that

not even been a week

*whimper

You up for a visit?  Just to make things worse, like... 😁

[hairnet]

24 minutes ago, chaseracer said:

You up for a visit?  Just to make things worse, like... 😁

huuuuuurggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[Zelandeth]

Why does nobody write how to guides any more?

I don't want to watch a fscking video!

[Rust Collector]

Not a proper grump, more my lack of any patience whatsoever. I've ordered a throttle body for the Audi 100 after I spectacularly destroyed the original. The replacement is coming from Spain and whilst it has been shipped according to eBay, there is no tracking for the service and there is a huge spread on the estimated delivery dates given. It's somewhat frustrating not being able to see where it is or have an idea of exactly when I will receive it as now all I want to do is fit the throttle body and see if it solves the idle problem and gets the car running.

[Metal Guru]

41 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

Not a proper grump, more my lack of any patience whatsoever. I've ordered a throttle body for the Audi 100 after I spectacularly destroyed the original. The replacement is coming from Spain and whilst it has been shipped according to eBay, there is no tracking for the service and there is a huge spread on the estimated delivery dates given. It's somewhat frustrating not being able to see where it is or have an idea of exactly when I will receive it as now all I want to do is fit the throttle body and see if it solves the idle problem and gets the car running.

Good luck if Parcelforce are involved. Useless bar stewards.

[Rust Collector]

16 minutes ago, Metal Guru said:

Good luck if Parcelforce are involved. Useless bar stewards.

I don't want to jinx it but they're alright on my patch normally, but we use them (unavoidably) for some bits at work and they've been consistently awful in the places we regularly have shipments going to.

[chaseracer]

4 hours ago, hairnet said:

huuuuuurggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I'll bring a bucket... 😁

[Stanky]

Phone call from wife_Stanky earlier

"The car is shuddering really badly, I can't drive it and daughter_Stanky needs to be at school"

"can you take the Daihatsu? its a bit loud, but keep the revs down and its OK"

7 minutes later

"yeah, I'm not driving that, the police will pull me over"

And of course, the mercedes is in for an MOT tomorrow, so I currently have 0/3 cars which my wife is able to use. I suggested we buy another car. She wasn't impressed.

I think I might have finally reached the point in my life where I'm going to pull the trigger on something new/almost new, with an actual warranty. Life is fucking difficult enough without having to roll around in the dark and rain on a january evening fixing another ungrateful twat car. I'll have a look at it tomorrow in the daylight, might just be a duff spark plug, but I bet it'll have dropped a valve or the almost new cambelt will have skipped a tooth or something. I just despair sometimes.