The grumpy thread

[Pete-M]

Then I got to work to discover the MoT computer was down, Mick was in a flap and there were 3 people standing around waiting for tests Grrr.

 

Wasn't just you.... I was at an MOT station this afternoon watching the tester going ballistic because "IT'S NOT MY END... yet they're all gonna scream at me anyway".

[M'coli]

I almost squashed a cyclist this morning. Proper shook me up, I was turning left at a set of lights, second car in the queue. As I moved forward indicating left and just starting to turn a twit on a racing bike passed me on the nearside, then turned right across my path If I hadn't glanced in the passenger mirror and slammed the brake I would have run him over. He was wearing a hi-viz and a helmet though, so I suppose he's invunerable.

Fuxake, what an arsehole. I wear hi-viz when I go out on the bike these days - BS-standard saturn yellow t-shirt* with the reflective strips on - but am still ultra-cautious/ultra-assertive(but scared).

 

*I've walked into a shop wearing my T-shirt where people have sniggered until I point out that once I've been hit and am on the ground, I'm no longer a cyclist but a casualty, and if I wear this then any dependents hopefully have as good a chance of winning a legal case as a worker who wears this. What I don't understand is that the cycle clothing providers seem to think that a black jacket with a bit of Scotchbrite® piping at the seams is good enough for the winter is beyond me - I want to be seen or have no excuse for not being seen, i.e., you were texting at the time. Having been hit-and-run once already in the days before mobiles and sat-navs were common, cycling these days scares the shit out of me and thus I am very careful.

[DCLane]

I'm cycling most days atm - no hi-vis but I've got a white helmet with dayglo green stripes.

 

There's a few idiot cyclists who give the rest a bad name.

 

Yes, I do undertake in traffic and I'll go at the same speed as cars, but at least I check where the car next to me's going

 

Oh, and if any of the West Yorks peeps on here see me (grey bike, red rucksack, helmet as above) - no, I don't want knocking off

[scaryoldcortina]

TBH, the reason I was looking in the mirror is that I always do that before turning just in case I see something that means I shouldn't turn...

[eddyramrod]

That's a very ex-pat problem you have there Eddy. Still must be a ball ache, mind.

 

Agreed, and I do realise that not everyone will be able to relate, so have a slight apology for raising it at all. And yeah, it has been rather a ballache. While the pool's been empty we've had about 6 weeks of heatwave. On the bright side, I haven't had to pay the pool cleaner for all that time, nor do I have to pay for the repair or the refill.

 

I still have a 2000 euro bill for the water that I used, replacing what leaked out. Hope someone buys my pickup soon!

[M'coli]

I'm cycling most days atm - no hi-vis but I've got a white helmet with dayglo green stripes.

 

There's a few idiot cyclists who give the rest a bad name.

 

Yes, I do undertake in traffic and I'll go at the same speed as cars, but at least I check where the car next to me's going

 

Oh, and if any of the West Yorks peeps on here see me (grey bike, red rucksack, helmet as above) - no, I don't want knocking off

There's a diffence between filtering and being a knob, but the going at the same speed as cars does piss people off - as a cyclist you're not meant to be able to keep up and some motorists find this scary because they've passed you and are now obviously behind so they don't need to consider you in their next actions. As some silly bint told me in the work's carpark after I'd turned up at work at the same time as her despite her passing me half a mile ago, "You're dangerous on that bike, you know: you should be more careful." Perhaps you should look in your rear-view mirror occasionally, you condescending twat.

[Des]

I almost squashed a cyclist this morning. Proper shook me up, I was turning left at a set of lights, second car in the queue. As I moved forward indicating left and just starting to turn a twit on a racing bike passed me on the nearside, then turned right across my path If I hadn't glanced in the passenger mirror and slammed the brake I would have run him over. He was wearing a hi-viz and a helmet though, so I suppose he's invunerable.

 

I've had similar, becoming more frequent as well, I think an increasing amount of the idiot drivers we've all had to suffer of late are downgrading to pushbikes. It appears that maybe they weren't driving like shit because they were feckless, but actually are that stupid.

[scaryoldcortina]

Yeah, if it hadn't been me and had been someone less attentive he'd be in hospital now. That's what annoys me most. Keeping up with traffic while on the nearside is one thing, undercutting a queue at a red light then doing what he did is asking to die imo.

[RoadworkUK]

"Filtering"

 

Hah! Every time I'm static on the M25 I can guarantee that some bell-end on a crotch rocket will "filter" past at 60.

 

Or "filter" past me and the million other motorists waiting at the barriers for the Dartford crossing. That's not "filtering", that's "queue-barging".

 

And, while I'm at it, how about utter asshole bikers who streak up behind me when I'm doing 80, then pass and gesticulate at me for daring to interrupt their 120mph death race. And / or do just whatever the fuck speed they want through roadworks with average speed cameras.

 

And, yes, I'd probably do the same. I CAN HAS HYPOCRITE STATUZ?

[TimothyClaypole]

Ebay:

 

Your seller performance is below standard under the UK seller performance standards programme.

 

We noticed that you've improved your seller performance--that's great news. However, you'll need to continue improving to avoid limitations.

 

I feel such a failure.

[DCLane]

There's a diffence between filtering and being a knob, but the going at the same speed as cars does piss people off - as a cyclist you're not meant to be able to keep up and some motorists find this scary because they've passed you and are now obviously behind so they don't need to consider you in their next actions.

 

True, but in mitigation m'lud:

 

- The traffic going from Dewsbury into Leeds city centre's awful in the mornings. A bike is naturally faster.

 

- I've got much quicker now I've lost the 3 stone this year. The bike [a Ridgeback Platinum - http://www.ridgeback.co.uk/bike/platinum ] will clock 45 en-route, with the limit being 30/40 plus a chunk of scary 70 dual-carriageway. It's often the cars holding me up, not the other way round. However I don't speed, honest

[M'coli]

I understand - I used to be quite good on a bike! Filtering - if car drivers don't like proper filtering, i.e., not going through stationary traffic so fast that you'll end up 30 yards down the road if some twat/passenger chooses to open their door on you, then get your arse out of the car and onto the bike. What would they rather have - some smug dude on a bike, or another frustrated dude in the car in front of them?

 

There are some cyclists that are utter aunts* too, though - and give the rest of us a bad name.

 

*Damned predictive text.

[Lord Sterling]

Touch screen phones, why do people like these things? They're difficult, slow and unpredictable to use. I got given some LG touch screen phone, Fatha_Sterling said that there was something wrong with the screen but it seemed ok when I used it, until last night the when screen froze. I found it it'll probably need a new digitizer which is fair enough.

 

When it did work a few days ago, whilst out trying to spot some passing shite, it took ages to unlock the screen and load up the camera by which time the car had already passed. With my OMG! buttoned Nokia, it takes mere seconds to unlock the keypad and load up the camera, its also easier to use it stealth like. Sad really as I quite like this new LG.

[Negative Creep]

Get a HTC Desire Z - touch screen and a qwerty keyboard. Dismal battery life aside I really like mine

[Lord Sterling]

They look really nice, Fatha Sterling has the fully touch-screened one. The Desire-Z is probably something I'd have if I wasnt constantly skint. But being me, I dont think I've ever spent more than £40 buying a phone (Contract phones aside) The best one I've got is a Nokia 6500 slide, which I previously had on contract, its got everything I want, it looks great, its got a great camera etc... However its locked to the 3 network and no one seems willing to unlock it. Though I'm happy with the Nokia 5300 I was given recently, nice and slim lined (Although I am looking for a Nokia E71/E72, used to use one at work and I was quite taken with it)

[Negative Creep]

Plus you can play Angry Birds, which is worth £30 a month by itself

[Lord Sterling]

I was enjoying that pipe-game thing on the LG until it went tits-up. I'll have to hurry up and get it fixed I think.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

When buying a digitiser, make sure that you order from someone who ships from the UK, or at least somewhere in Europe. I ordered one last week and, being my usual idiot self, hadn't actually bothered to check shipping times and it turns out it's being shipped out of Guangzhou and "it'll only take 12 working days". Unless the customs people are having a slow day at work and decide to open the package and use a mountain of paperwork to record and justify a 93p charge in VAT.

[Lord Sterling]

F*cking marvellous!

 

Whilst changing the face on the slim Nokia phone that my uncle gave me, I managed to severe a small cable that ran from the 'on' button because the screen cover was bonded to the phone not the cover, now it wont switch on at all. Brilliant

[overheadvalve]

Get a HTC Desire Z - touch screen and a qwerty keyboard. Dismal battery life aside I really like mine

I had a HTC Desire, dunno if it was a mk1 or a mk2, i hated it so i sold it on Ebay.I now have a Samsung Galaxy II GT 19100S (ffs , it's a 3 door sport model ) I like it, lots. It's never locked up and it's pretty useful unless you are in the sunlight. Then like all (not so) smart phones, super amoled or not it's fecking useless. Unless of course you want to maim someone with it.

My son has an i phone 4 and he says my Samsung is better, made me smile. I hate buying them because once you make a choice your stuck with it for at least a year, unless you can flog it and make enough to pay for the rest of the contract and are prepared to use an old phone or buy a cheap model thereby getting really free minutes.

 

Incidentally, i sent my old Nokia N95 to Envirophone, they quoted me £100 but because they didn't receive it within a month of giving me the quote i got significantly less monies....tossers

[Cavcraft]

Plus you can marry an angry bird, which is worth £3,000 a month in bills by itself

 

EFA, me old tater.

[overheadvalve]

Why do some of you people dick around with your phones so much? Skins, games, sim cards (whatever THEY are...), different plans, and so forth and so on. Don't you value stability and sureness in your lives? I know I'm getting screwed on my plan and that my phone is for an OAP, but fark it, I don't have to fill my brain with all this addle and crepe they rest of you forcefeed into your lives. It's JUST a GD MF-ing phone FFS! Talk on it, then hang up, then it rings, then talk on it, and then hang up. WTF is so complicated that you need to constantly dick with them?

 

Honestly.......

 

And then to tell all of us about your dickings......... FFS

 

Personally because i can use mine in the wife's BINI to play music, she does not have a cd player. I can use it as an alarm clock (like most i guess) a torch and i can see exactly what Jensen Button was doing on the track in MacHaterland at 11:00 this morning, the speed the revs the lap times etc ( i can't see into his girlfriends knickers with it tho' )

I can also read emails, buy things from most places including Ebay whilst on the move, assuming i'm not driving of course. It has an 8mp camera which means i don't gotta buy one of them, it has shat nav too (i guess that's for all the Audi and BMW drivers) It also has an application which enables me to watch 'stuff' on the BBC i Player.

It does not have as much radiation as an iPhone so it's not gonna kill me soon but then the schmoking might.

Oh and it's pretty good at being a phone too

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

In other words, because they are not really phones anymore- you can do everything short of preparing a fry-up on them.

[RoadworkUK]

In other words, because they are not really phones anymore- you can do everything short of preparing a fry-up on them.

 

And SONY even had a go at that, with their exploding battery shenanigans....

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

It was a good try...Give it a couple of years and you'll be able to do it on most phones on the market.

[ashmicro]

Haha! I know where Norm's coming from. I went to a Verizon shop in Noo Yoik and asked them could they get me a phone that took a SIM card as well as working on CDMA. The bloke just looked at me. "Hey man, what's a shim card?" I got a BlackBerry 8830 World Edition in the end. NY was class, loved it. A woman I got talking to in the hotel could say "turbo diesel" and make it sound sexy.

[RoadworkUK]

Time to dust off this little gem for the N Millionth time.

 

[ashmicro]

I'm a component type of guy too.

 

 

And the three screens are connected to one computer, CSI stylee

 

 

This is "Andrew's room" that my wonderful girlfriend has given me/allowed me to make a mess of/drill holes in for cables, and my little niece who is 2 and a half loves to have a look and press buttons.

 

"Hat Hat Hat, Uncy Andrew Hat!" Who could refuse?

 

 

I had to hold it up as it was falling down over her eyes and scaring her. "oooh lights out!"

[M'coli]

Bless!

[chaseracer]

Bless!

She's made my day!