The grumpy thread

[MikeR]

1 hour ago, Wack said:

7 years ago I was a bit short of work, a company I worked for had been quoted £350 to knock down 6ft high weeds on an overgrown area at the side of the factory because it was seeding  farmers crops in the field next door, I had a petrol strimmer so thought easy money

 

It was July, hot, I was in my mid 50s , started off OK at 8am, by 11am I was absolutely fucked , then the horse flies started, they were like a squadron of stukas lining to to dive bomb me, fucking massive they were,

 

I had to go in the factory, get one of those paper spraying suits and tape it all up , wear gloves and a slit for my eyes

 

in the end it took me 2 days and was the hardest £350 I've ever earned in my life

 

next year they asked if I wanted to do it again, did I fuck

 

Still got an extra knuckle on my right hand and the palm is raised ..been stinging all night !! , Hope it caught somat off me and died .

[RoverFolkUs]

32 minutes ago, Talbot said:

That is a massive discrepancy in heights of pistons.  Are you sure you've not snapped the crank?

'Tis possible. I'd be impressed but it's among the worst hydrolocked I've seen. Had an Astra 1.6 petrol come in last year but there was only a 1cm or so disrepency between cyl 2 and 3! But I'm hoping it's "just" smashed a conrod and the piston is sitting static. Will find out when the sump is off, that's the first job!

I've had it turning over briefly so it's not totally locked solid. But I'm not going to be surprised if the bottom end is complete scrap, whether that's a snapped crank or hole through the block! 

[jakebullet]

Wow only 4p per serving! Hang on, serving size = one biscuit. What kind of pervert only eats one?

[cobblers]

10 minutes ago, jakebullet said:

Wow only 4p per serving! Hang on, serving size = one biscuit. What kind of pervert only eats one?

It's physically impossible to eat just one bourbon. 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

1 minute ago, cobblers said:

It's physically impossible to eat just one bourbon. 

My current body mass index is certainly evidence of this fact.

[High Jetter]

Surely that proves that BMI = Bourbon Munching Index?

[Talbot]

3 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

 a snapped crank or hole through the block! 

"Knock Knock!"
"Who's there?"

"Cylinder three!"

[Zelandeth]

Oh fuck off...

That was crystal clear blue coolant 48 hours ago.

[LightBulbFun]

1 minute ago, Zelandeth said:

Oh fuck off...

That was crystal clear blue coolant 48 hours ago.

Eeeep! I dont know if "condolences" is the right word, but you have it from me! especially as it looks like its the R25?

 

[Zelandeth]

2 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

Eeeep! I dont know if "condolences" is the right word, but you have it from me! especially as it looks like its the R25?

 

Indeed.  That's two cars I currently have with blown head gaskets.  This one will likely get chucked at a garage if they'll touch it as there are only so many hours in the day.

Not overheated or anything, just oil has suddenly started to find its way into the coolant.  I don't believe there's any oil cooler or anything like that on this engine so the head/gasket really is the most likely suspect.

[LightBulbFun]

8 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Indeed.  That's two cars I currently have with blown head gaskets.  This one will likely get chucked at a garage if they'll touch it as there are only so many hours in the day.

Not overheated or anything, just oil has suddenly started to find its way into the coolant.  I don't believe there's any oil cooler or anything like that on this engine so the head/gasket really is the most likely suspect.

Yeah, given all the shit that you have been through, I really do feel for you here! like Not the R25 damn it! why cant of it happened to the Caddy or something disposable like that LOL

 heres hoping it is just an easy fix failure that just looks like head-gasket failure, maybe a lump of rust/gunk thats dislodged itself from the water jacket of the engine or something like that inlet(?) gasket failure that can happen to K Series engines

 

[Zelandeth]

To be honest I'd rather it be this one!  If it were the Caddy it would both be far more urgent and *definitely* far more expensive to sort!

[Dyslexic Viking]

I hate Grass pollen allergy.

[Sham]

Well, I got an exhaust for the lads 125, thought I'd very gently try the bolts at the engine end, as they likely won't move and will need some very gentle persuasion.

 

Instantly snapped with next to no pressure. Fuck sticks.

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

I hate Grass pollen allergy.

Hey! It's a fever. Get down with the kids!

[Metal Guru]

The NC500. 
Here’s an idea. Instead of having people explore the vastness of the Scottish highlands independently and spread out, suggest a set route for everyone to follow likes lemming so it’s virtually a continuous traffic jam, just like SE England that you wanted to escape from .

For further idiocy ,get  everyone do it in a camper van including the most difficult section of road in the whole country. Big line of vans at the bottom of Bealach na Ba (Applecross) tonight , presumably all with cooked brakes.

And what is it with British people who can’t fathom how single track roads work when virtually every foreigner seems to be fine with them?

[Remspoor]

I do hope that these cars were well beyond saving. There are certainly some rare cars being used.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-somerset-65974392

Scrapped vintage cars have been used to recreate Stonehenge in an art installation at Glastonbury Festival.

Research shows that Mutoid Waste Company likes to use older cars in their art*

[MorrisItalSLX]

Looks to be mostly Jag XJs of the XJ40/X300/X308 vintage with a few oddities mixed in.

[Supernaut]

12 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

The NC500. 
Here’s an idea. Instead of having people explore the vastness of the Scottish highlands independently and spread out, suggest a set route for everyone to follow likes lemming so it’s virtually a continuous traffic jam, just like SE England that you wanted to escape from .

For further idiocy ,get  everyone do it in a camper van including the most difficult section of road in the whole country. Big line of vans at the bottom of Bealach na Ba (Applecross) tonight , presumably all with cooked brakes.

And what is it with British people who can’t fathom how single track roads work when virtually every foreigner seems to be fine with them?

I'm surprised you haven't seen a certain idiot in a black E36 the past few days...

I went over to Applecross the other day, but went to look at the harbour instead of going up and over.

[iainrcz]

Why can't I just do stuff?

I want to move my phone to an EE unlimited data contract and cancel my home broadband. I've been wanting to do it for months, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

[Zelandeth]

Just had a phone call from our old friends at Adrian Flux.  Which is never a good sign.

I had chased them up yesterday regarding a windscreen replacement.

Their nominated repairer has been (unsuccessfully) attempting to source a replacement windscreen for my VW Caddy for several months now following it getting cracked.  Which I attempted to resolve through the glass cover on my insurance, as any normal person would.

Apparently the screen has been on indefinite back order since the event, and there's no indication of when that might change.

They wanted to update me on things, because if they are unable to resolve things before it hits the six month mark since the case was opened, their policy is due to the age of the vehicle automatically to close the case and mark the vehicle as a total loss...

Yes, Adrian Flux want to write my car off because they can't find a windscreen for it.

Suffice to say I told them where to stuff their automated proceedure and would sort it out of my own pocket instead.  They are "Consulting with a manager" to see if it's possible to abandon a case in progress.

Give me strength...

[High Jetter]

What if  you find one, will they pay for it and the fitting?

[Zelandeth]

That sounds way to sensible for this mob...and likely far too complicated.

Just keeping my fingers crossed that they can cancel the claim procedure (since when was glass even dealt with through the main claims channels?) and just let me sort it myself.

Not holding my breath though given prior experience with this particular company.

[barefoot]

Problems with Adrian Flux, eh?

[High Jetter]

Am I missing something?

https://ukcarglass.co.uk/book/?window_id=5055&make=volkswagen&model=caddy&year=2002

[Zelandeth]

56 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Am I missing something?

https://ukcarglass.co.uk/book/?window_id=5055&make=volkswagen&model=caddy&year=2002

Yeah, it took me about 5 minutes to find one too.

They're just getting told to shove it and I'll sort it myself.  

Hopefully the supervisor I speak to on Monday will grasp that simple concept.

[High Jetter]

5? Took me less than 1, I reckon

[RoverFolkUs]

Sounds like they're looking through a drinking straw with 1 eye rather than a pair of binoculars, or indeed monocular, during their search for the windscreen.. 😆

[Zelandeth]

Had another call this morning, and after spending nearly 30 minutes on the phone transferred to four different people trying to get them to understand that there had been no accident and that this was an ongoing issue with a glass claim, I've got them to drop it.  Apparently whoever I spoke to yesterday had changed the claim type to being accident damage.

According to the "supervisor" they have no facility to cover costs if I arrange my own repairs, and to be honest after how much stress and hassle this has been so far it's just not worth even trying.  I'll just sort it myself out my own pocket.

Moral of the story: Adrian Flux are utter shit.  Oh, wait...I already knew that.  Never mind!

[cobblers]

Went over to our old house today to clear the last few bits out and cut the grass as it's hopefully gone next week. 

It's been empty about 7 or 8 months, the grass is pretty long. Nextdoors filthy fucking awful cat has been using the small lawn as it's personal litter tray, there's a massive pile of stinking turds on one corner. Horrible septic animals. 

If I was to let my dog wander across and shit on their lawn, I'd be the bad guy!