The grumpy thread

[myglaren]

I have five soldering irons.  Three decent ones and two that are borderline scrap.

Have been looking for the crap ones for a couple of days now.  I was trying to put a new polystyrene insert into the case for a socket set.  The original insert long gone and have added another ratchet handle and some sockets to it.

tried to 'sculpt' it with a miniature blowlamp, OK for the handles but too imprecise for the sockets.  Wanted to use the soldering irons.  Not in the dozens of places they should be, nor the other dozens of places looked in.

They will of course reappear when I no longer need them.  I my sock drawer probably (yes, I have looked in there)

Looking like a big nail and the gas ring.

[beko1987]

15 minutes ago, myglaren said:

I have five soldering irons.  Three decent ones and two that are borderline scrap.

Have been looking for the crap ones for a couple of days now.  I was trying to put a new polystyrene insert into the case for a socket set.  The original insert long gone and have added another ratchet handle and some sockets to it.

tried to 'sculpt' it with a miniature blowlamp, OK for the handles but too imprecise for the sockets.  Wanted to use the soldering irons.  Not in the dozens of places they should be, nor the other dozens of places looked in.

They will of course reappear when I no longer need them.  I my sock drawer probably (yes, I have looked in there)

Looking like a big nail and the gas ring.

I splurged out £35odd a few years ago on a fancy Chinese soldering iron. Used it for years and it works well. Built in stand etc. 

The other month I wanted to change the tip to a smaller one, so I got the pack of tips it came with out of the place I'd stored them AND remembered the location of and... None bloody fit the iron 🤣

It's changed diameter over the years somehow, the tips are a fraction too small to go in. Not hacked them about yet, I'll have to buy another cheap Chinese soldering iron one day but rememebr to change the tips more often. This one is great for mains/appliance wires but a bit too big for some pcb stuff I tried to do (and succeeded but it was uglier than it could have been) 

[djoptix]

On 28/11/2024 at 12:46, Zelandeth said:

Removed, pipe deburred properly and a proper metal compression fitting blanking cap fitted.  Now I've got to fix the utility room ceiling.  Again.

To be honest you should probably cut back the dead leg altogether before you fix the ceiling. You're only meant to have dead legs of 1.5x the pipe diameter in length (ie on 15mm pipe the max permitted dead leg length is 22.5mm)

... which sounds ridiculously small, but if you'd seen the filth that comes out of a dead leg that's been there for years... and you know that it's been sitting on their drinking water the whole time... yuk.

[maxxo]

Just got clothes out the washing machine

ah that’s my wallet

ive got a soaking wet wallet, mushed up everything made of paper but the debit card seems to have survived

£10 note also survived!

[myglaren]

Done that many times when I was still working, discovered I had no wallet at the checkout .

Fortunately money in the car usually enough to pay for the shopping (found over £86 in the ashtray once and there was usually £40-ish in the sun visor).

But, it was an oxblood leather wallet and the paper money was ruined, had to send it to the Bank of England in Leeds who credited it to my bank account.

[Zelandeth]

4 hours ago, djoptix said:

To be honest you should probably cut back the dead leg altogether before you fix the ceiling. You're only meant to have dead legs of 1.5x the pipe diameter in length (ie on 15mm pipe the max permitted dead leg length is 22.5mm)

... which sounds ridiculously small, but if you'd seen the filth that comes out of a dead leg that's been there for years... and you know that it's been sitting on their drinking water the whole time... yuk.

It's on the hot circuit and I'm 90% certain that the the only thing on the line it's on feeds is the bath.  I'm long past the point of having enough give-a-damns left with this place to sort it properly.  If I start digging into that I'm just going to find a thousand other things that the previous owners have had hacked about by the lowest bidder they had do all their work, and I've just run out of patience with it by now.  Also to get to it properly I'd need to either remove a *large* chunk of the utility room ceiling or remove the bath.  Neither of these things are options that fill me with joy.   The new owner can chase that line most of the way back to the hot water cylinder if they feel so inclined.

The sheer level of bodgery I've uncovered over the last ten years has never ceased to surprise me.  Discovering the old bathroom lighting wiring just abandoned (live) in place stuffed under the loft insulation was a fun one!  How I didn't go through the ceiling when I got zapped by it I honestly have no idea.

[dozeydustman]

Took the C2 to work today as a colleague was interested in buying it. Came home to this. FFS. Parked on the driveway as well, hasn’t moved since Sunday. 

[High Jetter]

4 hours ago, myglaren said:

I have five soldering irons.  Three decent ones and two that are borderline scrap.

Have been looking for the crap ones for a couple of days now.  I was trying to put a new polystyrene insert into the case for a socket set.  The original insert long gone and have added another ratchet handle and some sockets to it.

tried to 'sculpt' it with a miniature blowlamp, OK for the handles but too imprecise for the sockets.  Wanted to use the soldering irons.  Not in the dozens of places they should be, nor the other dozens of places looked in.

They will of course reappear when I no longer need them.  I my sock drawer probably (yes, I have looked in there)

Looking like a big nail and the gas ring.

Sounds like you've made the classic error of keeping all your irons in one place. Had they been scattered about, odd are that you'd have found at least one by now! 😀

[sheffcortinacentre]

7 hours ago, horriblemercedes said:

I wouldn't say I'm grumpy but I am perplexed.

 

I was sent an email last week (work) and while I was reading it, I got a phone call to ask if I had received the email. I replied that I had and we chatted about it and some other things. I also replied to the email.

Today, I've received a letter which is a printout of the original email with a handwritten note that reads, "I wanted to make sure you have a copy"

 

I just don't understand the point of it

Sounds like arse covering to me.

[Zelandeth]

4 minutes ago, sheffcortinacentre said:

Sounds like arse covering to me.

Or they just have that poor a grasp of how email works.  I worked with someone who despite the best efforts of a whole bunch of people who honestly believed that once an email disappeared off the bottom of their screen in the inbox, it was gone forever and nobody involved would ever be able to see it ever again unless they had a paper copy of it.  Likewise if they accidentally did scroll down, they were equally convinced their computer was broken and had lost all the recent emails.  The result was that they printed EVERYTHING.

Thankfully they left not long after I started, as I could do without having to deal with that or the data security issues arising from it.

[Lord Sterling]

9 hours ago, myglaren said:

Try your local dental hospital.

Yep, unfortunately, there isn't a 'local' one as such. Nearest one to me is Birmingham which is about 20 miles away.

There is a dentist in the town near me though so might re-register there instead.

[horriblemercedes]

18 minutes ago, sheffcortinacentre said:

Sounds like arse covering to me.

It can't be, really. It's not anything important or that would work for - I think she's just weird. 

 

 

[dozeydustman]

1 hour ago, dozeydustman said:

Took the C2 to work today as a colleague was interested in buying it. Came home to this. FFS. Parked on the driveway as well, hasn’t moved since Sunday. 

Further inspection is the front bumper was pulled somewhere near the middle. Both wheelarch liners are buggered, there’s some liquid pooling underneath (can’t tell what yet). Might be going to the bridge. As insurance is up for renewal in a couple of weeks I’ll probably declare sorn and either send it to a breaker or sell as spares/repairs.

[Floatylight]

27 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Or they just have that poor a grasp of how email works.  I worked with someone who despite the best efforts of a whole bunch of people who honestly believed that once an email disappeared off the bottom of their screen in the inbox, it was gone forever and nobody involved would ever be able to see it ever again unless they had a paper copy of it.  Likewise if they accidentally did scroll down, they were equally convinced their computer was broken and had lost all the recent emails.  The result was that they printed EVERYTHING.

Thankfully they left not long after I started, as I could do without having to deal with that or the data security issues arising from it.

I used to work with a bloke who spent most of each working day making a paper back up of the internet...

[myglaren]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

Or they just have that poor a grasp of how email works.  I worked with someone who despite the best efforts of a whole bunch of people who honestly believed that once an email disappeared off the bottom of their screen in the inbox, it was gone forever and nobody involved would ever be able to see it ever again unless they had a paper copy of it.  Likewise if they accidentally did scroll down, they were equally convinced their computer was broken and had lost all the recent emails.  The result was that they printed EVERYTHING.

Thankfully they left not long after I started, as I could do without having to deal with that or the data security issues arising from it.

My daughter worked in a hospital, she was librarian for all the medical books and journals for the doctors.

She inherited two members of staff.

Most of their work was on computers (that were never up to scratch) either receiving emails from doctors to see if x information was there and to get hold of it if it wasn't, responding to their queries, ordering in whatever materials the doctors needed.

Both of them were a bit hopeless, no good at timekeeping and lots of 'sick days'.  They had been there for over twenty years and part of the furniture and fixtures.

One in particular printed out every single email, sent or received, she thought they would just disappear into the aether otherwise.

Drove my daughter round the twist, literally, that and all the other political nonsense there.

[loserone]

3 hours ago, dozeydustman said:

Further inspection is the front bumper was pulled somewhere near the middle. Both wheelarch liners are buggered, there’s some liquid pooling underneath (can’t tell what yet). Might be going to the bridge. As insurance is up for renewal in a couple of weeks I’ll probably declare sorn and either send it to a breaker or sell as spares/repairs.

Wait, someone has written off your car whilst parked on your driveway?

[Agila]

4 hours ago, dozeydustman said:

Further inspection is the front bumper was pulled somewhere near the middle. Both wheelarch liners are buggered, there’s some liquid pooling underneath (can’t tell what yet). Might be going to the bridge. As insurance is up for renewal in a couple of weeks I’ll probably declare sorn and either send it to a breaker or sell as spares/repairs.

Probably someone doing a U-turn in your street, reversed into it and maybe a tow bar fitted caught under your bumper?

Terrible luck though😔

[dozeydustman]

4 hours ago, loserone said:

Wait, someone has written off your car whilst parked on your driveway?

Looks like it.

3 hours ago, Agila said:

Probably someone doing a U-turn in your street, reversed into it and maybe a tow bar fitted caught under your bumper?

Terrible luck though😔

The number of people who use the access road to the garage block next to my drive is quite high. Wouldn’t surprise me if it’s someone who’s used it to turn round.

I’m about to leave for work so when I get back I’ll have a better look, if it’s a non-vital fluid, or even just condensation buildup I’ll see if I can get the bumper back in place.

[paulplom]

Utter cunts.

[r.welfare]

My brother has something similar last year, Amazon van pulled up on the driveway next to his car, reversed out and pulled the front bumper off as they did so.  Didn’t stop.  They have a camera out the back now. 

[eddyramrod]

I came to this thread with the intention of posting something.  Can I remember what it was?

Guess.

Doubly grumpy now!

[ruffgeezer]

Just starting to enjoy the XC70 now it's settled in amongst the fleet...

Fucksticks

[dozeydustman]

21 hours ago, dozeydustman said:

Took the C2 to work today as a colleague was interested in buying it. Came home to this. FFS. Parked on the driveway as well, hasn’t moved since Sunday. 

Got the bumper clipped back in but it’s not very secure.

I noticed the bottom of the OS wheel arch has a tear in it. Possibly where it was caught?

Also some new scuffs on the bumper. Liquid underneath isn’t coolant nor windscreen washer fluid.

[MikeR]

I am pretty sure Tesco and such like are the new warm places , people just stood around , blank faces ,

all the trollies out but no one at the tills ..

stay away before you get drawn in ....

[IronStar]

It’s raining outside. Therefore, in some people’s heads, that means road is now ice, and you’re going to die a slippery death by sliding off a mountain on a straight road or something. Fine, whatever.
But what gives some of these cretins the idea that it’s suddenly acceptable to drive 80 in the overtaking lane of 130 speed limit motorway (overtaking thin air or driving in parallel with others of the 80-driving kind), and why are they acting confused and offended when someone doing the speed limit is flashing them to get the fuck out of the way? If you think you will be consumed by a black watery death if you drive over 80 because it’s raining, get out of the way and let others do their thing, you mouthbreathing fuckwits. 

[New POD]

That's kph right ? 

[IronStar]

Just now, New POD said:

That's kph right ? 

Yup

[alcyonecorporation]

Leonard has just cost me £717. 

The heater matrix was full of crud after the silica bag in the expansion bottle broke up and jizzed its remains up and down the cooling system. 
It had to be flushed 8 times and ended up needing a new core. 

If you have a VAG car with 'Mit Silikat' on the bottle, take the bag out of the bottle, and change your coolant every two years, rather than five. 
The bag (which is not a hat) is supposed to prolong the life of the coolant; regardless of how often you change said coolant, the bag will break up over time. 
I hate hidden failure points like this in moderns. 

I got the car back yesterday and it's clear (lol) that the heater had been deteriorating for a while. 
I panicked and got the car into the garage when it started to gurgle in traffic and gulp coolant. It was also overpressurising and the tank was working overtime to get ride of it. 

The bottle pictured above is the one you need to look for; the one below (very similar to much older VWs) does without the silica bag. 



While I'm also giving the VW Group a kicking, its replacement pressure caps are crap. 



The cap in my hand is of the original design: its ribs help you click the cap home and then unscrew it. The replacement item is shite, because you can't get enough purchase on the cap and end up smashing your hands on the bulkhead on the final snap. 


 

[richardmorris]

What scum steals a hospice charity van?

 

[jakebullet]

BOGOF today.

#1 Some git in Mrs's flats has decided it's a great idea 2 nights running to start drilling at 9pm. Or more like SDS chisel. For once it's not Phil upstairs, but can't work out who the twat is.

#2 After CND hit my disco with his pikey truck and gave me the smirk treatment of "not me m11 ha ha ha" I've been reviewing the camera covering disco footage every day. (I'd not been going down there frequently and footage of him hitting disco was overwritten).

Footage today shows 4 cunts and 2 pikey trucks. They come back for a lunch break and have a few cans each before driving off for round 2. This is not unusual cos drink drive laws don't apply to them. Dead hard you see so alcohol doesn't have any effect. 

Couple of weeks ago tried a crimestoppers report. Times / plates etc which should be enough to stop them but no action taken. Guess they just carry on until they kill someone.