The grumpy thread

[EyesWeldedShut]

19 minutes ago, New POD said:

Used to visit sister plants in Italy, Germany and France.  The canteens sold wine and beer.  Very relaxed. 

Lords Cricket Ground in the early 1980s - they'd have 20 or 30 plod in for traffic control/ ground security and, between the start and end of the days' events there was not a lot to do but watch cricket. Police room was above a bar on the south east corner of the ground. Had it's own (free) beer tap. Civilised.
We had to be a bit reserved though as getting back to base involved a No 16 bus down Baker Street.

[Pieman]

Over the last three days I have driven on the M42, M6, M1, M25, M20, M26 and M2.

ALL of them, for most of their length, were covered with 50mph average speed cameras. It actually felt unfamiliar when I went onto A-road dual carriageways and was able to do 70.

Shall we just give up and make the nationwide speed limit 50? Or is that the eventual plan?

[New POD]

1 hour ago, Pieman said:

Over the last three days I have driven on the M42, M6, M1, M25, M20, M26 and M2.

ALL of them, for most of their length, were covered with 50mph average speed cameras. It actually felt unfamiliar when I went onto A-road dual carriageways and was able to do 70.

Shall we just give up and make the nationwide speed limit 50? Or is that the eventual plan?

That would appear to be the plan.   My route to work involves has lots of 50 mph average speed on a dual carriage wayvthat used to be 70. If I go on the parallel road, a country road not quite of B road quality, I can do 60.  Despite the bends and the odd 30 zone, it's almost as fast. 

[Metal Guru]

1 hour ago, Pieman said:

Over the last three days I have driven on the M42, M6, M1, M25, M20, M26 and M2.

ALL of them, for most of their length, were covered with 50mph average speed cameras. It actually felt unfamiliar when I went onto A-road dual carriageways and was able to do 70.

Shall we just give up and make the nationwide speed limit 50? Or is that the eventual plan?

The obsession with speed per se is bad is what’s wrong. There’s so much bad driving around that goes unpunished because everything is geared to catching speeders.

I drive from Scotland to London a few times a year. Each time , I have to take emergency (life saving) action about half a dozen times on average and probably another 20 that would have caused damage and finished our journey, just because they are so many tossers on the road who either can’t drive or don’t give a fuck about anyone else. But go try doing 80 on a clear road and they have you.

[Yoss]

1 hour ago, Pieman said:

Over the last three days I have driven on the M42, M6, M1, M25, M20, M26 and M2.

ALL of them, for most of their length, were covered with 50mph average speed cameras. It actually felt unfamiliar when I went onto A-road dual carriageways and was able to do 70.

Shall we just give up and make the nationwide speed limit 50? Or is that the eventual plan?

You can add the M3 and M27 to that list down here too. They made it 50mph average speed cameras when they were converting them to smart* motorways. I think that took the best part of two years. 

Now they've decided to add more emergency layby's (or more like they've been told to because they didn't put enough in in the first place) and they've made the whole of the smart sections on both motorways in to one giant roadworks. You would think they could do one layby at a time and just put a 50mph section in around that, then move on to the next one. But no, they've cordoned off one lane along the whole length of each motorway. 

It's almost as if they're doing it on purpose to spite us all because somebody told them they'd fucked up and they are sulking. 

 

[Zelandeth]

3 hours ago, Yoss said:

It's almost as if they're doing it on purpose to spite us all because somebody told them they'd fucked up and they are sulking. 

You can guarantee there's an element of cost cutting and or laziness in there as well.

If they submit the paperwork for the scheme of works as one giant reduced speed/capacity/whatever of the road in question, that will be covered under a single temporary traffic regulation order (TTRO), single fee etc.

If they were to compartmentalise it, each work area would end up needing it's own TTRO, have it's own fees paid etc.

The back office side of things that handles that sort of thing is really outdated and just doesn't lend itself to handling large scale works in anything like a sensible way.

It's enough of a cack handed mess when you're just trying to take out a couple of parking bays for 24 hours to get the mangled remains of a bus shelter that was flattened by a bin wagon properly removed...

[Pieman]

Another grump or more of a confusion: why does every video published anywhere online suddenly seem to HAVE to have "POV" at the start of its title?

[reb]

6 minutes ago, Pieman said:

Another grump or more of a confusion: why does every video published anywhere online suddenly seem to HAVE to have "POV" at the start of its title?

POV: Forum User Confused!! Pieman (GONE WRONG!!1! (Watch til the end)) New Upload 2024

[jakebullet]

Ma's tv started going off again, so ahoy to heart foundation! Managed to find one that's the next size up, but still manages to fit into space due to thin bezel, and has a scart socket for Catherine Cookson's misery hour on vhs. Win!

Connected it up at home and it's got a blue tint in the corner that we didn't spot in the shop. Maybe as shop was running off antenna. But it's there on hdmi sources.

Why do I feel bad about taking it back?

[Pieman]

19 minutes ago, reb said:

POV: Forum User Confused!! Pieman (GONE WRONG!!1! (Watch til the end)) New Upload 2024

You forgot "smash that like button!" (a phrase which makes me want to smash said person in the mouth.)

[RoverFolkUs]

2 hours ago, Pieman said:

Another grump or more of a confusion: why does every video published anywhere online suddenly seem to HAVE to have "POV" at the start of its title?

It's been completely taken out of context but seems to be used primarily as a way to describe an event from the third person that isn't immediately apparent in the picture...

POV: you forgot to put the sump plug back in

[RoverFolkUs]

The sooner these fucking shitehawk private parking companies are banned from generating revenue by creating unfair terms in car parks, the better 

Euro car parks, £100 fine through my door today, reduced to £60 within 14 days. For staying 38 minutes in this car park. 

Fair and square, they've got me. I've contravened the rule on the sign that I drove past. However, I was misled by the headline "Maximum stay 2 hours", - I dont think the sign was lit up, I wrongly assumed that the time limit applies to the listed hours. I DID NOT expect there to be a maximum stay of 10 minutes outside of those hours.

WHY NOT JUST CLOSE THE FUCKING CAR PARK?? 

No, let's leave it open, impose an unfair time restriction and collect revenue from unassuming motorists instead. 

SHITCUNTS

[Zelandeth]

29 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

The sooner these fucking shitehawk private parking companies are banned from generating revenue by creating unfair terms in car parks, the better 

Euro car parks, £100 fine through my door today, reduced to £60 within 14 days. For staying 38 minutes in this car park. 

Fair and square, they've got me. I've contravened the rule on the sign that I drove past. However, I was misled by the headline "Maximum stay 2 hours", - I dont think the sign was lit up, I wrongly assumed that the time limit applies to the listed hours. I DID NOT expect there to be a maximum stay of 10 minutes outside of those hours.

WHY NOT JUST CLOSE THE FUCKING CAR PARK?? 

No, let's leave it open, impose an unfair time restriction and collect revenue from unassuming motorists instead. 

SHITCUNTS

Pretty sure that's the same mob that clobbered me with the "no return within 2 hours" clause in the car park of the B&Q that's 5 minutes from my front door.

Absolute scum of the earth the lot of them.

[Pieman]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

Pretty sure that's the same mob that clobbered me with the "no return within 2 hours" clause in the car park of the B&Q that's 5 minutes from my front door.

Absolute scum of the earth the lot of them.

How does that work if it's a tradesman doing a job that needs several trips there to get parts and equipment?

[Unlucky Alf]

Ive visited the Wickes a few times on that site.   Ive just checked the opening times, (as I was about to cross it off my list of places to buy from) but for wickes its all within the opening hours they list for hailsham, so a vist to them wouldn’t result in a parking charge from the scumbag low life companies.

What place were you visiting? 

[RoverFolkUs]

1 hour ago, Unlucky Alf said:

Ive visited the Wickes a few times on that site.   Ive just checked the opening times, (as I was about to cross it off my list of places to buy from) but for wickes its all within the opening hours they list for hailsham, so a vist to them wouldn’t result in a parking charge from the scumbag low life companies.

What place were you visiting? 

Just loitering in the area 😅

[High Jetter]

2 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Just loitering in the area 😅

Not advisable in Hailsham 

[RoverFolkUs]

6 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Not advisable in Hailsham 

The best bit was leaving!

[RoverFolkUs]

1 hour ago, Pieman said:

How does that work if it's a tradesman doing a job that needs several trips there to get parts and equipment?

I'm not sure if this applies to all instances but there's a car park near me for a convenience store and charity shop which is a 40 minute maximum stay, with no return in 2 hours. If you wish to stay for longer, or return, then you just need to give your number plate to any of the shops who will "sign you in"

[hairnet]

Bull ring can fro

New st can fro

[Markeh]

11 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

I'm not sure if this applies to all instances but there's a car park near me for a convenience store and charity shop which is a 40 minute maximum stay, with no return in 2 hours. If you wish to stay for longer, or return, then you just need to give your number plate to any of the shops who will "sign you in"

This happened to my folks recently - the car park signs said register your car inside at the tablet on the bar (this was for a pub), they go inside and no tablet - they asked about it and were told oh there's no need. So imagine their surprise when they got a ticket.

Turns out the truth is you don't need to register for less than 3 hours, if you're staying longer you have to scan a QR code and register there.

[captain_70s]

Pulled over by the police last night, for the second time ever. (First time was a decade ago when I was driving around Aberdeen at 1am with my lights off. A common occurrence for Mk2 Yaris drivers due to the permanently lit digi-dash according to the copper).

Namely as the Acclaim flagged as having not had an MOT for a year.  It is MOT/tax exempt, of course, but the coppers had never dealt with a car registered as "historic" before and it still comes up on the system as "MOT expired" despite still being taxed at a cost of £0.

Luckily I know the rules pretty much off by heart so could explain my position and am not the sort to get flustered easily, despite being on the hard shoulder of the M80 at 1am, and they radioed into the station to confirm everything.
I'd be concerned about folks not being as clued up though, as I was told by the copper that my car should have black/silver numberplates if it was historic. Not correct, but something that would have easily tripped up Girlfriend_70s if she was driving, as she isn't a terminal numberplate bore. 

The offices were nice enough fellas and everything was wrapped up in 10 mins and we were back on our way but I still feel vaguely irritated for having laws that don't exist quoted at me by somebody in a position of power which I had to politely correct. Obviously the laws are a bit of a clusterfuck, as MOT exemption and the laws around numberplates have been in flux and are pretty unclear at the best of times, generally just a crap system...

[Zelandeth]

13 hours ago, Pieman said:

How does that work if it's a tradesman doing a job that needs several trips there to get parts and equipment?

Not a clue.  Guessing the answer is simply that it doesn't.  Unless there's some registration done at the trade counter I guess.  I rarely use the place anyway unless it was one of those cases where I wasn't sure exactly what I actually needed so wanted to go have a rummage in the aisle with the fasteners and such like.  Plus being so close it was useful for those situations where you get halfway through something and then realise you can't find exactly the right drill bit or something daft like that.  

Toolstation and Screwfix now get 99.99999999% of my business.  

[horriblemercedes]

10 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

I was told by the copper that my car should have black/silver numberplates if it was historic.

WTF...that's a very odd claim for the officer to make. Any car can wear white/yellow plates with black characters, only some can wear black plates.

 

You don't have to be a number plate bore....it's just common sense that the newer style can be applied to older cars but not vice versa as the new style superceded the old.

[cobblers]

30 minutes ago, horriblemercedes said:

WTF...that's a very odd claim for the officer to make. Any car can wear white/yellow plates with black characters, only some can wear black plates.

 

You don't have to be a number plate bore....it's just common sense that the newer style can be applied to older cars but not vice versa as the new style superceded the old.

I was pulled over in my old T25 about 5 years ago, they dipped me for red diesel despite it being a petrol van 🤷‍♂️ 

Then they went sniffing round it and moaned that the number plates didn't have the makers postcode on the bottom or a BS mark, so they were illegal. They were the original dealer plates, fitted when the van was new.

 

[Cavcraft]

Without wishing to make light of anyone's situation, getting a fine for parking at B&Q is still going to be a whole lot better, cheaper and more pleasurable than having any dealings with those thundercunts Wickes.

 

In other news, Mrs Can'tBeArsed at everyone's favourite* car parts supplier 'cheerfully' informed me that the popular sized battery I wanted wasn't available,  that there were none in stock anywhere and they 'might be able to get one in at a minimum 14 days time, but only if enough other people want one.  And even then, maybe not' 

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, captain_70s said:

The offices were nice enough fellas and everything was wrapped up in 10 mins and we were back on our way but I still feel vaguely irritated for having laws that don't exist quoted at me by somebody in a position of power which I had to politely correct. Obviously the laws are a bit of a clusterfuck, as MOT exemption and the laws around numberplates have been in flux and are pretty unclear at the best of times, generally just a crap system...

thats quite shit! it annoys me, just from me myself being a number plate bore, what if that was someone else who got spooked by it, and chucks away their lovely 40-50 year old original pressed or raised digit retroreflective plates for some cheap awful eBay non BS145 marked silver on black plates?

also the laws around number plates have thankfully been clarified in frozen years and they froze white on black plates to 1979 or older IIRC (even tho I dont quite understand how it got unfrozen from 1973 in the first place) but yeah, now it is frozen again, so it would not even have been legal for your acclaim to wear them, so the copper is giving *entirely* false information, which is rather worrying!

https://www.mgcc.co.uk/dvla-release-new-laws-on-black-and-white-number-plates/

[Yoss]

5 hours ago, captain_70s said:

Pulled over by the police last night, for the second time ever. (First time was a decade ago when I was driving around Aberdeen at 1am with my lights off. A common occurrence for Mk2 Yaris drivers due to the permanently lit digi-dash according to the copper).

Namely as the Acclaim flagged as having not had an MOT for a year.  It is MOT/tax exempt, of course, but the coppers had never dealt with a car registered as "historic" before and it still comes up on the system as "MOT expired" despite still being taxed at a cost of £0.

Luckily I know the rules pretty much off by heart so could explain my position and am not the sort to get flustered easily, despite being on the hard shoulder of the M80 at 1am, and they radioed into the station to confirm everything.
I'd be concerned about folks not being as clued up though, as I was told by the copper that my car should have black/silver numberplates if it was historic. Not correct, but something that would have easily tripped up Girlfriend_70s if she was driving, as she isn't a terminal numberplate bore. 

The offices were nice enough fellas and everything was wrapped up in 10 mins and we were back on our way but I still feel vaguely irritated for having laws that don't exist quoted at me by somebody in a position of power which I had to politely correct. Obviously the laws are a bit of a clusterfuck, as MOT exemption and the laws around numberplates have been in flux and are pretty unclear at the best of times, generally just a crap system...

A late friend of mine ran a small bus company with a few Routemasters. He did a deal to loan a couple out to another company in Bournemouth, one of which had no MOT so he booked it in for an MOT in Bournemouth (he was based in Watford). We had arranged to meet at Rownhams Services and I was going to follow in the car and give him a lift back. 

I arrived at Rownhams to find a couple of policemen looking round the buses. They had found one had no MOT but was quite legitimately booked in for one. They then started giving them the once over determined to find something that they could throw the book at him for and when they couldn't Colin told them it was their job to enforce the law as it stands, not make up new ones as they see fit! 

They didn't like that but there was nothing they could do. I've always remembered that quote word for word and wished I could use it myself but the situation has never arisen to do so. 

[richardmorris]

7 hours ago, Cavcraft said:

Without wishing to make light of anyone's situation, getting a fine for parking at B&Q is still going to be a whole lot better, cheaper and more pleasurable than having any dealings with those thundercunts Wickes.

 

In other news, Mrs Can'tBeArsed at everyone's favourite* car parts supplier 'cheerfully' informed me that the popular sized battery I wanted wasn't available,  that there were none in stock anywhere and they 'might be able to get one in at a minimum 14 days time, but only if enough other people want one.  And even then, maybe not' 

Tayna.co.uk

[sheffcortinacentre]

9 hours ago, captain_70s said:

Pulled over by the police last night, for the second time ever. (First time was a decade ago when I was driving around Aberdeen at 1am with my lights off. A common occurrence for Mk2 Yaris drivers due to the permanently lit digi-dash according to the copper).

Namely as the Acclaim flagged as having not had an MOT for a year.  It is MOT/tax exempt, of course, but the coppers had never dealt with a car registered as "historic" before and it still comes up on the system as "MOT expired" despite still being taxed at a cost of £0.

Luckily I know the rules pretty much off by heart so could explain my position and am not the sort to get flustered easily, despite being on the hard shoulder of the M80 at 1am, and they radioed into the station to confirm everything.
I'd be concerned about folks not being as clued up though, as I was told by the copper that my car should have black/silver numberplates if it was historic. Not correct, but something that would have easily tripped up Girlfriend_70s if she was driving, as she isn't a terminal numberplate bore. 

The offices were nice enough fellas and everything was wrapped up in 10 mins and we were back on our way but I still feel vaguely irritated for having laws that don't exist quoted at me by somebody in a position of power which I had to politely correct. Obviously the laws are a bit of a clusterfuck, as MOT exemption and the laws around numberplates have been in flux and are pretty unclear at the best of times, generally just a crap system...

But remember there cop out ( no pun intended) ignorance of the law of no defence.