The grumpy thread

[richardmorris]

3 hours ago, Remspoor said:

Why not train it?

If you use a car you will need a Crit'Air

Have one of those. It’s £3.98 on my exchange rate for the life of the car.

[iainrcz]

On 17/10/2023 at 12:43, iainrcz said:

Someone decided to bump the side of the car today. Just sorting insurance out now. FFS.

Front wing is bashed to hell.

[Metal Guru]

2 hours ago, iainrcz said:

Front wing is bashed to hell.

Lucky bugger! Just what I need. (I have rusty wings , all 4 arches, could do with a couple of low speed collisions to get someone else to pay for them).

[goosey]

Sat waiting since 8am as I can’t get on-site till my RAMS are approved, and the only guy who can approve them won’t answer his phone.

[iainrcz]

8 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

Lucky bugger! Just what I need. (I have rusty wings , all 4 arches, could do with a couple of low speed collisions to get someone else to pay for them).

Come to Grimsby, look for an old guy in a white Ford Kuga.

[Rustybullethole]

Since when the fuck did you have to pay to park your bike up town. 

To be fair there was a sign though i didn't see it as never knew paying to park a bike was a thing. Arse. 

[alcyonecorporation]

21 hours ago, vulgalour said:

I wouldn't normally recommend it, but a little gaslighting might work here.  When he comes out to criticise you working on the cars just say calmly that you're not, while you are.  Everything he complains about you doing, just tell him you're not doing it, while you're doing it.  Ask him periodically if he's feeling okay and assure him that you're definitely not doing the thing you very clearly are.

That or just sadly and politely reject his advances that he hasn't made.  The more fuss he kicks up the louder you get about how you really aren't interested in him that way and would he please stop causing a scene.  If he wants to be a ridiculous old codger, just out-ridiculous him.  If nothing else it's a good giggle.

He's a miserable old cunt who will die soon. Just focus on that. 

[sheffcortinacentre]

No he won't his type thrive on this stuff.

[barefoot]

It appears that my central heating boiler has died.

Fuck sticks. 

[High Jetter]

Grim. Put slippers or socks on, deal with it tomorrow.

[Marina door handles]

For the last week or so my better half (Mrs Marina door latch obvs) has been haranguing the council about getting the road drain out side our house unblocked...... Last night it really through it down and has yet to stop.....

Could be a lot worse but the postie will be getting wet feet though....

And my pit is full and I have no were to drain it to... Yeah I know first world problems! 

On the plus side we now have a full RAC rally spec water splash just down the road from us...

I have my wellies on, just going for a quick paddle....

 

 

[New POD]

16 hours ago, Rustybullethole said:

Since when the fuck did you have to pay to park your bike up town. 

To be fair there was a sign though i didn't see it as never knew paying to park a bike was a thing. Arse. 

You can just say, that you did pay but someone stole the ticket. 

[purplebargeken]

Bastatd rain.... both side windows in the camper T4 are leaking. I have some Captain Tolleys but can't apply it.... cos its raining. FFS.

[Rustybullethole]

2 hours ago, New POD said:

You can just say, that you did pay but someone stole the ticket. 

In the old world yes. This may have something to do with me never paying to park a bike though did think all bike parks were free up town.  All on your reg these days pay by phone. Maybe i could say i don't have a phone and was walking around to find a phone box?

[Merryck]

Qashqai MOT today, passed with an advisory for front driver's tyre. I replaced the passenger side two weeks ago and I have no idea why I didn't do both at the same time. I usually do. No idea at all.

That's not the grump though, my wife let our four year old play with the controls for all of 20 minutes the other day and when she tried to drive it the next day the battery was flat. Time for a new battery.

£215!!

For a battery!

I'm only 36, but back in my day...

[dozeydustman]

On 16/10/2023 at 00:25, Mrcento said:

People fucking HATE to see people working on cars. Brings out the absolute worst in everyone and seems to be a magnet that attracts them over.

Can’t say I’ve experienced this. Normally I get people asking if I’m a mechanic, my normal response being I’m an idiot with some tools.

 

As an aside to this I do have a grump. End of September I got Covid. Again. 4th time. I am still absolutely banjaxed with brain fog and just cannot function much after lunchtime. Hoping this goes soon as I start doing something and get absolutely worn out within minutes. Used to last a good couple hours doing something before needing a rest.

[108]

23 hours ago, Rustybullethole said:

Since when the fuck did you have to pay to park your bike up town. 

To be fair there was a sign though i didn't see it as never knew paying to park a bike was a thing. Arse. 

It’s absolutely ridiculous that bikes have to pay for parking.
You can usually find somewhere to leave it that inconveniences nobody. 

 

What next? Charges for bicycles and mobility scooters? (Which are usually parked/dumped in even worse places).

[GrumpiusMaximus]

4 hours ago, Merryck said:

Qashqai MOT today, passed with an advisory for front driver's tyre. I replaced the passenger side two weeks ago and I have no idea why I didn't do both at the same time. I usually do. No idea at all.

I assume you go to Invicta Tyres, right?

[Mrcento]

3 hours ago, dozeydustman said:

Can’t say I’ve experienced this. Normally I get people asking if I’m a mechanic, my normal response being I’m an idiot with some tools.

It is constant here. Can't even wash a car without a neighbour coming out and making some sort of comment. 'It won't make that pile of shit look better'. etc etc.

The absolute worst ones though are at the council lock up i rent, if i do anything up there (including washing a car, there's a tap up there for that very purpose!), no matter what it is, anyone else that comes into the yard (mostly older people) results in a full on fucking red faced argument and a gestapo style interregation where they think they own the entire place, start asking who i am, where i'm from, if i have a garage there, what one, how long i've had it etc and ultimately demand i fuck off immediately regardless because i'll 'just make a mess and they'll report me'.

If i'm doing something more mechanical, they'll go off on one about oil everywhere, even if i'm not doing a thing with oil (last time i got this i was replacing a door lock ffs) ask if i have mechanical qualifications (i do, fwiw), where i work, why i have to do it there and why i don't just take it to a garage and pay someone 'like a normal person does'. etc etc.

Which probably explains (between that an insurance being wild for no apparent reason with me) why i've lost all motivation with cars. Joyless aggro.

[Rust Collector]

5 minutes ago, Mrcento said:

a neighbour coming out and making some sort of comment. 'It won't make that pile of shit look better'. etc etc.

‘Then why the fuck does your mrs have a wash each day m9??’

It definitely wouldn’t help, but most people who are that cuntish are just full of impotent rage.

In a previous house I had an elderly neighbour have a go at me for some drops of oil leaking out my old Xsara into my parking space and carried on to complain about me driving a knackered old car. She had a Ford Ka of a similar vintage outside her house, with an oil stain the size of a dinner plate under it. You couldn’t make it up.

[Mrcento]

2 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

‘Then why the fuck does your mrs have a wash each day m9??’

It definitely wouldn’t help, but most people who are that cuntish are just full of impotent rage.

The best example of some of my neighbours cuntishness definitely when i had the Cinquecento parked outside my house, in the allotted space, i got a letter posted on the windscreen calling me inconsiderate for parking outside my own fucking house because, and i quote

'Your car is very small and takes up space that could be used by a larger car'

I'm probably the only person on earth ever to get a complaint of my car not taking up enough space for a neighbours liking.....

And of course, when i ended up with a Discovery a year or so later, they didn't like that either and kicked the rear light in.

[Rust Collector]

I can’t remember if I posted this before, but a neighbour (who has since moved) was having a spat with another neighbour (who I think has also moved now as I don’t see her car anymore) as she would watch out the window constantly and if he moved his car from outside his house, she would move hers there. I know parking is a free for all, but she lived about 10 doors down, and would come out for no reason and move her car just to wind him up. I think she had a problem with him as his driveway was always full of cars (like mine).

In a retaliation act of incredibly focused pettiness, he kept buying absolutely hanging end of life shitters, taxing and insuring them and then parking them outside his house permanently, then parking his daily outside her house whenever the space was free 🤣

[RoverFolkUs]

On the subject of neighbours, mine tend to leave me alone when it comes to cars, which is lucky. 

I've never announced it but word has got around all but one in the immediate vicinity that I'm handy with cars and in fact work at a nearby garage...  

The one that doesn't know - never spoken to them, they've never spoken to any of the others as far as I know. They very much keep themselves to themselves. Fair enough. 

All the others are aware in some capacity, two I try to swerve any dealings with, one always has a selection of council estate fresh heaps with bent MOTs and another has a strange circulation of modified detritus with cut springs and back boxes "deleted", with the odd (genuine) JDM import thrown into the mix. 

The others generally only ask for help/advice when it's service/MOT time

But there's this one guy. 

Now, he's actually a nice bloke. 

But, we have had the following conversation about 3 times..

I have a Ford Focus. He has a Ford Focus, albeit a newer one. You might be able to see where this is going. 

Neighbour - "I like your alloys, ever thought about selling them?"

[They're standard Ford rims, albeit a previous owner's choice of MK2.5 Zetec wheels fitted to my MK2 GHIA]

Me - "you mean swap?" 

Neighbour - "no I'd like to buy them but keep my wheels incase I sell the car" 

Ok, cool, you can buy my wheels and I'll just leave my car on axle stands then until you sell your car and I can have them back 🤣🤣

I'll happily help you source a like for like set, but you can't have mine! It hasn't ever registered with him, it'll only be a matter of time before we have the same conversation for a 4th time... 🤣

[RoverFolkUs]

7 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

On the subject of neighbours, mine tend to leave me alone when it comes to cars, which is lucky. 

I've never announced it but word has got around all but one in the immediate vicinity that I'm handy with cars and in fact work at a nearby garage...  

The one that doesn't know - never spoken to them, they've never spoken to any of the others as far as I know. They very much keep themselves to themselves. Fair enough. 

All the others are aware in some capacity, two I try to swerve any dealings with, one always has a selection of council estate fresh heaps with bent MOTs and another has a strange circulation of modified detritus with cut springs and back boxes "deleted", with the odd (genuine) JDM import thrown into the mix. 

The others generally only ask for help/advice when it's service/MOT time

But there's this one guy. 

Now, he's actually a nice bloke. 

But, we have had the following conversation about 3 times..

I have a Ford Focus. He has a Ford Focus, albeit a newer one. You might be able to see where this is going. 

Neighbour - "I like your alloys, ever thought about selling them?"

[They're standard Ford rims, albeit a previous owner's choice of MK2.5 Zetec wheels fitted to my MK2 GHIA]

Me - "you mean swap?" 

Neighbour - "no I'd like to buy them but keep my wheels incase I sell the car" 

Ok, cool, you can buy my wheels and I'll just leave my car on axle stands then until you sell your car and I can have them back 🤣🤣

I'll happily help you source a like for like set, but you can't have mine! It hasn't ever registered with him, it'll only be a matter of time before we have the same conversation for a 4th time... 🤣

Speaking of him has just reminded me - when he first bought the car new - a year or so later (whenever the first service light came on "oil change required") he decided to buy a 5 litre bottle of oil, and poured the lot in. 😐😂

He'd started it up, you can imagine the smoke. I looked out the window and thought "holy shit, what's he done" 

Went out to investigate/intervene... Drained the oil out for him, probably about 9 litres came out, capacity just over 4 litres ....

If you think I'm joking - seriously, I'm not! That's what he thought he needed to do... 

[GMcD]

2 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

I can’t remember if I posted this before, but a neighbour (who has since moved) was having a spat with another neighbour (who I think has also moved now as I don’t see her car anymore) as she would watch out the window constantly and if he moved his car from outside his house, she would move hers there. I know parking is a free for all, but she lived about 10 doors down, and would come out for no reason and move her car just to wind him up. I think she had a problem with him as his driveway was always full of cars (like mine).

In a retaliation act of incredibly focused pettiness, he kept buying absolutely hanging end of life shitters, taxing and insuring them and then parking them outside his house permanently, then parking his daily outside her house whenever the space was free 🤣

🤣I like his style! 

I've said before I think. My neighbour likes to park on the pavement across my steps, sometimes leaving a bawhair to squeeze past and walk up to them, which I think is just plain rude.

No objection to them parking on the road, but the pavement is a red line.

My wife snapped and barked at them yesterday (my wife is normally lovely, but when she bites - run and take cover! 😂) to move their car and in fairness they did, but I am finding it extremely difficult to resist the urge to buy an old van and park it a bawhair from their driveway just to make it awkward AF for them to get in and out. 

Or obtain an MOT exempt and pretty thing (as it's in my eyeline) to park and permanently bag the space. 

Petty but I can live with petty.  

[Mrcento]

21 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

I can’t remember if I posted this before, but a neighbour (who has since moved) was having a spat with another neighbour (who I think has also moved now as I don’t see her car anymore) as she would watch out the window constantly and if he moved his car from outside his house, she would move hers there. I know parking is a free for all, but she lived about 10 doors down, and would come out for no reason and move her car just to wind him up. I think she had a problem with him as his driveway was always full of cars (like mine).

In a retaliation act of incredibly focused pettiness, he kept buying absolutely hanging end of life shitters, taxing and insuring them and then parking them outside his house permanently, then parking his daily outside her house whenever the space was free 🤣

The watching and car moving thing 100% happens here too (though not to that extent 😂), the spot in the residents bay at the end of the path is like gold dust, if you have it and a neighbour sees you getting in the car, they're out. and within 30 seconds of the space being vacated, they're in it, even if they were parked 1 over, literally 5 steps away, they HAVE to have the number 1 spot like some sort of status symbol, it's fucking bizarre.

I should probably add though, they aren't all like that, my actual neighbour is pretty sound, into his older rot prone stuff as well.

[horriblemercedes]

Parents' garage flooded overnight. My Jaguar was in there, which luckily is fine! 

 

Spent the day clearing it up. Still stuff to do but it seems that quick action prevented anything too bad from happening. Fingers crossed!

 

Got a big demudifier from a plant hire place in there now to dry it out before finding some way to clean out the silt 

[Markeh]

Reading these comments and knowing what the parking is like on my road is really making me look forward* to trying to find somewhere to park an LWB van on Sunday night.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

1 hour ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Speaking of him has just reminded me - when he first bought the car new - a year or so later (whenever the first service light came on "oil change required") he decided to buy a 5 litre bottle of oil, and poured the lot in. 😐😂

He'd started it up, you can imagine the smoke. I looked out the window and thought "holy shit, what's he done" 

Went out to investigate/intervene... Drained the oil out for him, probably about 9 litres came out, capacity just over 4 litres ....

If you think I'm joking - seriously, I'm not! That's what he thought he needed to do... 

My Great Uncle (90 this year) tells a good story from about 50 years ago.  A young lady knocks on his door during a storm at about 1AM and asks if she can use his telephone as her car has spectacularly broken down.  Of course, he obliges and asks her what happened.  She said it just stopped and the engine wouldn't start again.  Apparently it was fairly new.

He asked if any work had been done on the car.  She said:

'Yeah.  I drained the oil.  The handbook said that every 6,000 miles, I should drain the oil.'

Unfortunately the handbook apparently didn't say that it needed to be filled up again.

[Wibble]

10 minutes ago, horriblemercedes said:

Parents' garage flooded overnight. My Jaguar was in there, which luckily is fine! 

 

Spent the day clearing it up. Still stuff to do but it seems that quick action prevented anything too bad from happening. Fingers crossed!

 

Got a big demudifier from a plant hire place in there now to dry it out before finding some way to clean out the silt 

You need to add air movement with that dehumidifier. Some high speed blowers/fans will speed up drying massively, as it increases evaporation rates, allowing the dehumidifier to collect more moisture laden air. Speaking as a fire and flood restorer!