The grumpy thread

[captain_70s]

3 hours ago, sierraman said:

I’m surprised they’re happy for you to make alterations especially of an electrical nature if you are unqualified. 

Is Maxxo not a house alarm fitter by trade?

I imagine many landlords would be happy for free works. Most I've encountered have simply used "handyman" type operations for as much work as possible.

Whoever wired our kitchen certainly wasn't an electrician...

[maxxo]

walked into town earlier today and then decided i wanted to do my weekly shop so ran back home to get the car

all is well

literally got round the corner from my house

and sat at some traffic lights behind a BMW 320D estate

i happened to note the driver seemed to be staring at the centre console, and the reverse lights kept coming on and going off

next thing i know the reverse lights are on and she's slowly creeping backwards

so i start repeatedly sounding the horn

no reaction

BANG

so i got out and had a look, she had absolutely no reaction at all by this point she had seemingly found the right gear and was happily sat there happy as larry

didn't even bother going up to her car, as no doubt she'd say i ran into her

just walked back to my car shaking my head, as was the driver of the van behind me who saw the whole thing

she has a nasty mark on her bumper and the towing eye cover has popped out

i have a slight mark and that's it

wonder what the hell Citroen made these bumpers from

[maxxo]

2 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

Is Maxxo not a house alarm fitter by trade?

I imagine many landlords would be happy for free works. Most I've encountered have simply used "handyman" type operations for as much work as possible.

Whoever wired our kitchen certainly wasn't an electrician...

indeed i am , self employed albeit not done much the past few months

i have a few electrical qualifications too

[loserone]

3 hours ago, sierraman said:

I’m surprised they’re happy for you to make alterations especially of an electrical nature if you are unqualified. 

My last landlord was very pleased to pay me £50 (call put charge)  plus parts to cover anything electric or water related, take a couple of photos, send them on WhatsApp with an amount and a cheque would arrive in a couple of days.  

 

Replaced an electric shower and the ceiling pull, upgraded the cable from the consumer unit, replaced taps, light fittings, a window pane, the roof of the lean-to, a structural wall in the garden which collapsed.. and often the cheque was for a lot more than I'd asked for.  He was 50 miles away and didn't really want a tenant, but the house hadn't sold in a year so we got in, and he was pretty pleased with the situation.  

[Zelandeth]

One of our neighbours has just got a new electric Hyundai thing.

They're one of those people who will never do a three point turn when 27 will do, so takes about five minutes to reverse out of their driveway every morning.  They're also the sort of person who gets into the car, starts it, puts it in gear and then sets about basically doing everything they really should have done before getting into the car before leaving.  The upshot of this is that for a good ten minutes every morning at about 6 am for the last week all I've been able to hear through the window is *Bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...*

It's a tiny grump in the grand scheme of things, especially in the last few weeks - but good lord it's like fingernails down a blackboard after about 30 seconds...

[beko1987]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

One of our neighbours has just got a new electric Hyundai thing.

They're one of those people who will never do a three point turn when 27 will do, so takes about five minutes to reverse out of their driveway every morning.  They're also the sort of person who gets into the car, starts it, puts it in gear and then sets about basically doing everything they really should have done before getting into the car before leaving.  The upshot of this is that for a good ten minutes every morning at about 6 am for the last week all I've been able to hear through the window is *Bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...bong...*

It's a tiny grump in the grand scheme of things, especially in the last few weeks - but good lord it's like fingernails down a blackboard after about 30 seconds...

Yep, dad's ioniq did that noise, I grew to hate it. I also hear it from the road behind my back gate where people turn round and why is it so loud outside the car 😡

[captain_70s]

Which of my cars ices up on the inside? All of them.

Including the 22 plate works van...

[chaseracer]

19 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

OOFT - 4000 pages of Grumps, we're a miserable bunch aren't we? 😄

The only thread NEVER to leave the first page! 😀

[richardmorris]

1 hour ago, chaseracer said:

The only thread NEVER to leave the first page! 😀

I have to go to Oxford tomorrow morning without actually going into it. Headington ish. One of our balances at work played up this afternoon- it’s the colour touchscreen I think as it has stopped responding to inputs but has a block of pixels tracking your finger. I was surprised to find we’d had it since 2013 and this is the first problem . Given that a replacement is £25000+vat  I am not couriering it to European instruments for repair.

[Split_Pin]

On 12/12/2023 at 19:39, Split_Pin said:

Just had a new thermostat:

Fucking bastards.

That "genuine" Gates thermostat I fitted 1 year ago has failed open again.

Fucking bastards.

[Rust Collector]

11 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

That "genuine" Gates thermostat I fitted 1 year ago has failed open again.

Fucking bastards.

I could be wrong, but I seem to recall that aside from their belts, Gates’ parts are just bought in kit from third parties and so the quality is a bit of a lucky dip.

[Split_Pin]

28 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

I could be wrong, but I seem to recall that aside from their belts, Gates’ parts are just bought in kit from third parties and so the quality is a bit of a lucky dip.

From what I have read that seems to be the case with a lot of brands*

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, richardmorris said:

One of our balances at work

Is that some very exspendy scales?

[sheffcortinacentre]

Think first part has been mentioned before,

Modern car adverts were small print says vehicle shown not UK  spec FFS you tight gits can't even be arsed to make a fucking ad for us.

But the one that takes the piss big time at moment is the vexhull grandland.

BRags about the new EV powered SUV, then small print says not nessescrally mileage you'll get but biggest is not avl to order til the first  quarter of 2025!

So it's so brilliant you haven't even made any yet incase you don't get enough orders & end up with compounds full of them like ford with the Capri & explorer EVs that looks like production is gunna stop as they say they can't run the lines any slower due to people waking up to dieselgate 2  EV' S that don't perform anywhere near the claims  forced on manufacturers by politicians that know sweet fa re vehicles , I believe vag have told the gnomes in Brussels a similar story. That they were all warned about re ev technology being unable to meets the pledges they were/are putting forward. But fear of economic crashes are being hushed up by governments.

 

[danthecapriman]

15 hours ago, captain_70s said:

Which of my cars ices up on the inside? All of them.

Including the 22 plate works van...

I used to get that in my Sprinter works vans (60 & 66 plate). They would freeze up inside then when you got in them to leave in the morning and started breathing they’d fog up which then froze! 
Combine that with a heater that wouldn’t do anything until you’d got 20 miles down the motorway, no air con and no heated screen because the (big) company I worked for were cheap and hated their staff! 
You’d be sat out in the street warming the damn things up for ages sometimes. Then get a bollocking for using too much diesel!😆

[beko1987]

16 hours ago, captain_70s said:

Which of my cars ices up on the inside? All of them.

Including the 22 plate works van...

Same with my Xsara! I've not driven it for 7 days now and don't need to until Thursday so it's going to be a grim damp mess in there! 

12v little heater? I've been tempted but dunno if their any good/non lethal

[myglaren]

If it is close enough to the house, chuck your vacuum cleaner in for ten minutes, warms it up a treat.

[jakebullet]

Just had the in person fuck you from Mad Jean. Went there to drop off crapmass stuff. Can see dad in the upstairs window. Knocked on door, he stands up and waves and then suddenly sits down and faces wall ignoring us. We phone up and he says "we're going out to doctors". Fine, your stuff is on the door step, goodbye.

I suspect Jean told him what to do. Why we're bothering I dont know. Mad Jean will no doubt carry on claiming nobody visits.

[Volksy]

2 hours ago, beko1987 said:

Same with my Xsara! I've not driven it for 7 days now and don't need to until Thursday so it's going to be a grim damp mess in there! 

12v little heater? I've been tempted but dunno if their any good/non lethal

When my heater fan seized up on the Merc I bought one of those little 12v car heaters from Argos. It was shit, and also kept blowing the cigar lighter fuse if used for more than a couple of mins.

Buy Streetwize 12V Auto Heater & Defroster With LED light | In-car accessories | Argos

However, these dehumidifier bags are ace. I have a couple in the car and they manage to keep the windows from fogging up, even today when I was getting in and out with snowy boots. 

Hillington Reusable Car Interior Dehumidifier Bag and Dashboard Mounting Anti-Slip Mat - Ideal for Use in Vehicles to Prevent Damp, Moisture, and Condensation (2 x 1KG) : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen

 

 

[richardmorris]

15 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Is that some very exspendy scales?

Very, sartorius cubis range. 7 decimal places so to 0.1 micrograms.

[dome]

54 minutes ago, Volksy said:

When my heater fan seized up on the Merc I bought one of those little 12v car heaters from Argos. It was shit, and also kept blowing the cigar lighter fuse if used for more than a couple of mins.

Buy Streetwize 12V Auto Heater & Defroster With LED light | In-car accessories | Argos

However, these dehumidifier bags are ace. I have a couple in the car and they manage to keep the windows from fogging up, even today when I was getting in and out with snowy boots. 

Hillington Reusable Car Interior Dehumidifier Bag and Dashboard Mounting Anti-Slip Mat - Ideal for Use in Vehicles to Prevent Damp, Moisture, and Condensation (2 x 1KG) : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen

 

 

I have the same van as @captain_70s and had the same thing yesterday morning. Ice on the inside of a 23 plate van with a bulkhead. I grabbed one of these from Halfords yesterday so will see how I get on with it. It was ok this morning but time will tell. 

 

 

[jakebullet]

Mrs. Has now decided Mad Jean reception is all my fault. Dad has seen me and that's why he's being a twat, not Mad Jean telling him what to do. 

Only flaw with this is earlier this year he didn't recognise me. So unless I've been added to the dart board why does he recognise me now?

[Pieman]

IF THEY ALL FUCKING HATE YOU SO MUCH, CUT THEM OFF AND DON'T TALK TO THEM.

[captain_70s]

[goosey]

1 hour ago, jakebullet said:

Mrs. Has now decided Mad Jean reception is all my fault. Dad has seen me and that's why he's being a twat, not Mad Jean telling him what to do. 

Only flaw with this is earlier this year he didn't recognise me. So unless I've been added to the dart board why does he recognise me now?

Can you not just drop her off at her place, drive away and switch your phone off for a few days then just have some time to chill on your own? 

[Rust Collector]

@jakebullet I think you should dress up as Jesus and go round Mad Jean’s house for a game of knock and run.

[jakebullet]

At least I've learned to go to Mad Jean's on the last day of the holiday. She really is a nasty piece of work, Mrs has put a lot of effort into crapmass gifts and won't get as much as a thank you. Jean would be getting a big box of fuck you if it was down to me. 

Jean has alienated herself from family, church, choir, banned from doctors etc. She won't last a week once dad dies, be nobody to stop her taking a month's worth of happy pills at once.

[maxxo]

central heating pumps gone

man can't come to mend it until friday

taken the jacket off the hot water cylinder and left the cupboard door open with the programmer set to hot water so at least the bedroom is warm

it's bloody cold i'll say that, but hey ho sat here watching telly with a blanket so it's tolerable

[myglaren]

If it is a Grundfoss pump you might be able to make a temporary fix.  There is a wide 'screwdriver slot' in the middle of the pump (axle) that can sometimes be pushed and turned a bit and the pump will come back to life for a while.

I'm sure that Paul will either confirm or shoot me down in flames.

[maxxo]

Just now, myglaren said:

If it is a Grundfoss pump you might be able to make a temporary fix.  There is a wide 'screwdriver slot' in the middle of the pump (axle) that can sometimes be pushed and turned a bit and the pump will come back to life for a while.

I'm sure that Paul will either confirm or shoot me down in flames.

already tried that, unfortunately it's jammed solid and absolutely stinks of burning when turned on so it's dead