The grumpy thread

[Weird Car]

2 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Unfortunate reality but cracking photo. That plate is a belter, too. Have you got a thread on it? 

Thank you, it’s my boyfriend’s plate, he’s getting it back soon to put on his 75 as I’m putting my ‘BUS YUM’ plate on the ZT 

 

Heres my thread if you’re interested in the fleet

 

https://autoshite.com/topic/54732-weird-car’s-weird-cars-now-with-added-bus-broken-rovers-oh-mg/page/6/

[Zelandeth]

Back in the summer we ripped out an absolute disaster of a hedge and replaced it with a fence.  Being really careful to be generous with how much room we were leaving because the plans we have showing the property boundary are fifth generation photocopies from the 80s which have been faxed a couple of times just for good measure.  We did try to get clarification from the council just to be sure, but they were totally non responsive.

Guess who just had a planning enforcement notice drop through the door this morning claiming the new fence is encroaching on amenity land?

Excuse me while I go find a wall to smash my head to a bloody pulp against.

[SunnySouth]

People playing music/video/noise out of their phone speaker on trains. WTF, is it just me who finds that unbelievably ducking antisocial?  

Usually it’ll be people somewhere under the age of about 30, but the most recent one was a perfectly respectable looking chap mid-50s, scrolling through YouTube ‘sharing’ the same AI-voiced nonsense that my 13 year old watches in the car. “How far are you going?”, I asked politely, and he tells me he’ll be on longer than the couple of hours that I will be. “Have you brought any headphones?”, I enquire. Of course not, but he looks embarrassed and asks is it “too loud”? Well, yes, because it isn’t coming through headphones is it, but through a sodding speaking into the sealed tube that you’re sharing with dozens of other people who have no choice but to put up with it.

Normally I say nowt, as it’s usually only a short trip and you can’t have a polite word with the yoof of today anyway due  to their rights, but is this sort of lack of awareness spreading to those of us who are old enough to know better now as well?!

Or am I just a miserable barsteward?! 🤷🏻‍♂️

[rattlecan]

28 minutes ago, SunnySouth said:

People playing music/video/noise out of their phone speaker on trains. WTF, is it just me who finds that unbelievably ducking antisocial?  

Usually it’ll be people somewhere under the age of about 30, but the most recent one was a perfectly respectable looking chap mid-50s, scrolling through YouTube ‘sharing’ the same AI-voiced nonsense that my 13 year old watches in the car. “How far are you going?”, I asked politely, and he tells me he’ll be on longer than the couple of hours that I will be. “Have you brought any headphones?”, I enquire. Of course not, but he looks embarrassed and asks is it “too loud”? Well, yes, because it isn’t coming through headphones is it, but through a sodding speaking into the sealed tube that you’re sharing with dozens of other people who have no choice but to put up with it.
 

Normally I say nowt, as it’s usually only a short trip and you can’t have a polite word with the yoof of today anyway due  to their rights, but is this sort of lack of awareness spreading to those of us who are old enough to know better now as well?!

Or am I just a miserable barsteward?! 🤷🏻‍♂️

Similar experience last week in the dentist waiting room. A woman in her 50’s playing some shit game on her phone with all the stupid noises that they have going on. 
I just looked at her & said ‘really!!’ She then turned the sound off, but it’s like, should you really need telling

[High Jetter]

On a quieter note, even hearing keypad tones annoys me if I can hear them. Why do you need a beep every time you type a character? But then, I also hate haptic feedback.

[Bren]

Grump 1.

Ordered leak off pipes from Ford for Mondeo - the clip on one broke as soon as I touched it. £80 and some change.

Was advised I would get a text when the arrived. Did I? No. Got through at third attempt to be told they were in. Thanks.

 

Grump 2.

Got injector out using my puller - I doubt it would have come out otherwise. What I found was grim. It has been leaking for quite some time. Suffice to say it's not finished.

[myglaren]

Fifteen minute trip to Newcastle to collect son and his girlfriend from the Arena.

Took fifty minutes, the road we took earlier was closed, as were many of the roads near the arena, but no-one had told Waze about it, magical mystery tour.

And the car kept trying to answer the phone but he couldn't hear me.

[beko1987]

Found out the other day my gran has cancer on her kidneys. Being 90 years old, it's not fixable, so that sucks 😭

[RoverFolkUs]

This is pretty alarming, I identified it as a deep fake pretty quickly but I think plenty of people would think this is real. 

I'll share the video for context: 

But incase it gets deleted, it basically consists of someone asking Elon for investing advice. Elon then directs them to a website to claim a free $10k... 

Ai is getting pretty scary

[GrumpiusMaximus]

If people are taking their investment advice from TikTok or consider Elon Musk to be a reasonable source of information then they really have it coming to them...

[rattlecan]

6 hours ago, myglaren said:

Fifteen minute trip to Newcastle to collect son and his girlfriend from the Arena.

Took fifty minutes, the road we took earlier was closed, as were many of the roads near the arena, but no-one had told Waze about it, magical mystery tour.

And the car kept trying to answer the phone but he couldn't hear me.

Turn the Bluetooth off your phone then & fuck the car off out of the equation 

[goosey]

Keep seeing more and more people doing gas balloons while driving.

[rattlecan]

19 minutes ago, goosey said:

Keep seeing more and more people doing gas balloons while driving.

Wtf are they? Never heard of such things

[myglaren]

42 minutes ago, rattlecan said:

Turn the Bluetooth off your phone then & fuck the car off out of the equation 

Only just got it to work and no chance of turning it off while driving.

I don't get phone calls, they know not to phone me usually but he wasn't sure if I was on my way as he didn't get the text I sent him.

[rattlecan]

2 minutes ago, myglaren said:

Only just got it to work and no chance of turning it off while driving.

I don't get phone calls, they know not to phone me usually but he wasn't sure if I was on my way as he didn't get the text I sent him.

Oh great technology then!

[myglaren]

I despise phones but got the bluetooth to work to use it as an mp3 player.

[goosey]

7 minutes ago, rattlecan said:

Wtf are they? Never heard of such things

Nitrogen Cartridges, they fill into a balloon so it’s easier to inhale. Saw a Guy tonight with one, looked like he was trying to rip his own face off while sitting at the lights at the wheel of his A Class

[rattlecan]

1 hour ago, goosey said:

Nitrogen Cartridges, they fill into a balloon so it’s easier to inhale. Saw a Guy tonight with one, looked like he was trying to rip his own face off while sitting at the lights at the wheel of his A Class

Well let’s hope he dies around the next corner into a tree before he kills some innocent bystanders 

[Sheefag]

On 21/02/2024 at 17:42, drum said:

Some scamming bams in Glasgow have ripped off a friend of my daughter's. 

They phoned him up telling him the mileage etc of his car and how it needed a service. This would be £145 including collecting and dropping off. 

He's at uni on a visa and a bit naive, so thought this was normal practice in this country.

They wouldn't return his car until they paid this bill.

The invoice letter head is for a garage in Enfield London, who are no doubt oblivious to their name being used.

Dirty bastards

They've got form apparently:-

https://www.reviews.co.uk/company-reviews/store/servicing-stop

https://forum.rac.co.uk/threads/15767-Servicing-stop-is-a-scam!!!!!!!!!

https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/servicingstop.co.uk

 

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, rattlecan said:

Oh great technology then!

My phone connects seamlessly to my Kenwood stereo so I can answer calls. It is annoying when someone texts when they know I'm driving as I can read it on my watch, but have to park to reply. It did take a while to set up, tbf.

[MikeR]

Formby , home to the 2 foot pothole , as modeld  by my wife ... 

[Metal Guru]

14 hours ago, goosey said:

Nitrogen Cartridges, they fill into a balloon so it’s easier to inhale. Saw a Guy tonight with one, looked like he was trying to rip his own face off while sitting at the lights at the wheel of his A Class

I think you mean nitrous oxide beloved of Fast and Furious but now a common  way to get high without buying illegal drugs. Laughing gas and used in hospitals for pain relief. I didn’t know that it was used in whipped cream and addicts were targeting bakeries to get cans of it.

It’s is still legal to use it in your car, ( for power),so you can have a massive canister in your car and claim it’s legal use but get done for a small aerosol from the bakers.

As usual , poor research and ignorance of anything scientific by journalists, means any article about this will most likely say it’s nitrogen, which you breath in all the time.

[myglaren]

I read a few months back that it was going to be banned.

My mechanics in next to a pizza place and there are often dozens of empty cartridges outside.  I suspect someone is taking them out of the bins to see if they really are depleted then chucking them on the floor.  Recently there have been larger ones there, about the size of a 1½L bottle.

[mercedade]

16 hours ago, Sheefag said:

They've got form apparently:-

https://www.reviews.co.uk/company-reviews/store/servicing-stop

https://forum.rac.co.uk/threads/15767-Servicing-stop-is-a-scam!!!!!!!!!

https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/servicingstop.co.uk

 

Me, 8 years ago

 

EDIT: seemingly when punctuation characters were being given out as loss leaders

[LightBulbFun]

On 20/02/2024 at 00:45, LightBulbFun said:

I had one like this recently,

I picked up from Japan this cute little 4W T5 switch start (magnetic ballast) fluorescent batten

the 4W T5 fluorescent tube is the smallest normal fluorescent tube out there, but actual proper mains powered fixtures for them where never really made for them here in the UK sadly, hence why I went out of my way to import one from Japan

but the fixture being Japanese uses a special sort of stater, like so

however I know of a wide selection of specialist lighting wholesalers here in the UK so I do a quick check and find one that does the starters it requires, so I thought great, once the fixture arrives Ill order a couple starters for it and be on my way

 

but It took them well over a week just to dispatch the starters, let alone for them to then make themselves through the postal system, I legitimately would of probably been better off ordering the starters from Japan with the fixture, both time and price wise

to make matters worse, the lighting wholesaler also had another type of fluorescent starter I required, for some special high power fluorescent tubes which I have that I wish to start in the most gentle way possible,  so i thought great lets tag these onto the order as well while im at it

now I think you will all agree thats a fairly unique looking starter right? its fucking translucent purple has "EFS600UVX" written in fucking gold down the side of it

 

but this is what was in the bag instead, just regular old fairly generic glow starters

twenty fucking quid I had just spent with this wholesaler on some fucking fluorescent tube starters, that fucking stings in itself, so you think they could of done the decent thing and sent me the specialised starters that they had listed which I had explicitly ordered...

so now I have had to faff about sending them back asking explicitly for the right item, and only today in-fact several weeks later after placing the order have I got another order dispatch notification from them

fuck knows what will actually turn up this time!

 

at least the Japanese starters where correct so I was able to light the fixture

 

On 21/02/2024 at 11:54, LightBulbFun said:

I had to say something didn't I! 

 

this is what showed up, its like fucking play Goldilocks/whack-a-mole here

so the starters they sent this time *are* electronic, but they are *not* the high power sort, I specifically ordered high power, electronic starters, for some special VHO (Very High output) fluorescent tubes I have that operate in the 1.5A range, which will normally blow the arse out of any regular starter,

"4-125W" is not going to be any good for this *140W* 5ft tube I have for example

 

follow up to this! 3rd time round finally arrived, and whats in the fucking packet? the exact same fucking *glow bottle* starters as they incorrectly sent the first time round! so I call them yet again ,eventually I do get put through to one of their more knowledgeable people (relatively speaking here)

I get put through to the guy responsible  for handling the actual replacement starters, turns out he admits to not actually checking the datasheet of the  "MagicFlash" starters and realises only now upon checking said datasheet they are glow bottle starters not electronic starters, so it turns out they have no high power electronic starters in stock at all (this itself puzzles me if I sent them back the first time, why would you send them out again without checking the datasheet to confirm or deny their type, surely me sending them back with a cover letter asking for an electronic starter should of been a clue to check things?)

and it just really frustrates me when you specifically order from a specialist lighting wholesaler (TheLampCo in this case) you expect them to know their onions and dispatch the item they rather specifically list on their website

https://www.lampco.co.uk/products/st-efs600uvx-65-220w-single-200-260v-electronic-uv

and to know when they are dealing with a highly specialised item where any old random substitute wont do

(when I placed the order it also specifically said 2 in stock, so its not like I was ordering a back ordered item either)

 

at least hopefully now ill at least get a refund, but really I just want the  correct starters hence why I have danced this dance rather then just take a refund the first time they cocked up...

[goosey]

6 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

I think you mean nitrous oxide beloved of Fast and Furious but now a common  way to get high without buying illegal drugs. Laughing gas and used in hospitals for pain relief. I didn’t know that it was used in whipped cream and addicts were targeting bakeries to get cans of it.

It’s is still legal to use it in your car, ( for power),so you can have a massive canister in your car and claim it’s legal use but get done for a small aerosol from the bakers.

As usual , poor research and ignorance of anything scientific by journalists, means any article about this will most likely say it’s nitrogen, which you breath in all the time.

Yeah I stand corrected, don’t know why I just assumed Nitrogen. My sons got a new apprentice working with him at his work, for some reason the new kid thought it would be a good idea to show everyone a video of himself driving with his mates doing balloons while going 120mph plus in a 140I M sport. 

[rattlecan]

My other ayf’s nephew went to football training last night at a club not too far from us. Some total twat there didn’t bother to lock the barrier gate in the open position. Nephew drives in with two other mates in his car (so 3 up, as it turns out luckily so). Wind blows gate closed as he’s driving through. They were all ok, but it’s a wonder one of them wasn’t killed let alone injured

[Dick Cheeseburger]

16 minutes ago, rattlecan said:

My other ayf’s nephew went to football training last night at a club not too far from us. Some total twat there didn’t bother to lock the barrier gate in the open position. Nephew drives in with two other mates in his car (so 3 up, as it turns out luckily so). Wind blows gate closed as he’s driving through. They were all ok, but it’s a wonder one of them wasn’t killed let alone injured

Has the gate... gone through the car? How the hell wasn't one of them decapitated? Scary shiz right there. 

[junkyarddog]

38 minutes ago, rattlecan said:

My other ayf’s nephew went to football training last night at a club not too far from us. Some total twat there didn’t bother to lock the barrier gate in the open position. Nephew drives in with two other mates in his car (so 3 up, as it turns out luckily so). Wind blows gate closed as he’s driving through. They were all ok, but it’s a wonder one of them wasn’t killed let alone injured

HOLY SHIT!!!

[LightBulbFun]

36 minutes ago, rattlecan said:

My other ayf’s nephew went to football training last night at a club not too far from us. Some total twat there didn’t bother to lock the barrier gate in the open position. Nephew drives in with two other mates in his car (so 3 up, as it turns out luckily so). Wind blows gate closed as he’s driving through. They were all ok, but it’s a wonder one of them wasn’t killed let alone injured

bloody hell! final destination much?! 

impressive how its literally skewered the car, 

 

I bet whoever is responsible for the grounds is currently shitting bricks, or they should be! if that did kill someone, I imagine there would be a gross negligence charge or something along those lines against whoever is responsible for the grounds?