The grumpy thread

[Noel Tidybeard]

yeah the council say Olton when you go on their website!

[meggersdog]

From my grump of the other day

The view from the road

the fresh tracks are mine

the devestation

 

Not sure what wires are affected but for now I can't switch the alarm off.

Oh and my mums last ever car (the Escort) had the sunroof ripped out so the roof is all damaged aswell.

 

 

[red5]

James Wong. W.t.f.

 

 

[Agila]

51 minutes ago, red5 said:

James Wong. W.t.f.

 

 

I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, to open my mind and learn etc. However while I can see some points regarding terminology the way it's been done just looks like ranting.

I'm not sure what the BBC will do about it or Kew Gardens and the RHS.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9047499/BBC-presenter-James-Wong-criticised-claiming-British-gardening-culture-racist.html

[somewhatfoolish]

People are racist, language can be anachronistic but not racist as that implies intent.

[castros_bro]

14 hours ago, Agila said:

I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, to open my mind and learn etc. However while I can see some points regarding terminology the way it's been done just looks like ranting.

I'm not sure what the BBC will do about it or Kew Gardens and the RHS.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9047499/BBC-presenter-James-Wong-criticised-claiming-British-gardening-culture-racist.html

He may or may not have a valid point(s) but Twittter and Daily MAil are two places where were a reasoned argument will not be read and debated  to see if they have validity. 

[Agila]

11 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

People are racist, language can be anachronistic but not racist as that implies intent.

According to the BBC his employer it can with the term "racist language" . https://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/guidance/racist-language

I've also checked ofcom and the words used "native" and "heritage" aren't in the racist list but not surprising the swearing he used would be in the swearing list.

 

[cort1977]

Reading what he actually wrote and he doesn't sound that unreasonable.

Being told you have a lot to learn about Britain when you're born and brought up in London must be particularly galling.

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, cort1977 said:

Being told you have a lot to learn about Britain when you're born and brought up in London must be particularly galling.

That bit I can understand.  The rest of the article though appears to be suggesting that UK gardeners are racist towards foreign plants, which just sounds completely batshit to me.

[cort1977]

I guess he's saying that it feels to him like one way people can express their sometimes unconscious racism is to focus on native plants without really understanding what plants are native and what that even means.  Ecosystems don't respect political borders after all, Kent has more in common with Northern France than Caithness.

Anyway, like I always end up doing I'm getting political on AS which annoys everyone and is a complete waste of time.

[artdjones]

1 hour ago, cort1977 said:

Being told you have a lot to learn about Britain when you're born and brought up in London must be particularly galling.

Most people born and brought up in London have a lot to learn about Britain.

[somewhatfoolish]

native plants=things that are here because they arrived without human intervention, notwithstanding that life is a continuum and seeds travel with the wind, birds, on the tide etc so 'things that are here' is not a fixed set.

non-native plants=everything else

Seems straightforward enough, little point in narrowing it down harder than that. Wong may or may not be wrong but a Daily Heil article will never elucidate, the Twitter is also a shit venue for elucidating subtle ideas and he's a naive eedjit for trying. His point seems centred more on people having very rigid and silly ideas about what 'proper gardening' is rather than racism but I got bored reading the twitterspat.

TL;DR calling people ignorant on Twitter is less likely to result in a Daily Heil assassination piece than calling them racist.

[Fumbler]

I'm not a racist gardener but Japanese Knotweed can FRO.

[New POD]

1 hour ago, artdjones said:

Most people born and brought up in London have a lot to learn about Britain.

Most people born in Britian, have a lot to learn about Britian. 

I know very little about London.  

I live in Merseyside, but until a few years ago very rarely went into Liverpool for a night out.   

[New POD]

20 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

I'm not a racist gardener but Japanese Knotweed can FRO.

It's a storm in a (China)tea cup with Indian tea. 

My mother randomly used to post wild flower seeds from Wales to my sister in the USA.  They have a very "Racist" and paranoid policy and laws about these things. The death sentence possibly.   My sister had to request that she stopped. 

[New POD]

I keep scattering seeds in @MikeR's back garden and stealing seeds off his plants.  I suspect his wife is confused where the new plants are arriving from. 

 

 

[Fumbler]

1 minute ago, New POD said:

It's a storm in a (China)tea cup with Indian tea. 

My mother randomly used to post wild flower seeds from Wales to my sister in the USA.  They have a very "Racist" and paranoid policy and laws about these things. The death sentence possibly.   My sister had to request that she stopped. 

Indeed, I believe the US has had their share of invasive non-native species being introduced over the years...

[cort1977]

Don't take a banana to Australia.  Or even across state lines. They get very shouty and cross.

[wuvvum]

That's an odd one.  It's not like you can plant a banana and grow banana trees.  Or does it have to do with parasites or something?

[MikeR]

1 hour ago, New POD said:

I keep scattering seeds in @MikeR's back garden and stealing seeds off his plants.  I suspect his wife is confused where the new plants are arriving from. 

 

 

I upset her by picking up and clearing the plants .........

[rusty_vw_man]

Oil change done on car a couple of days ago. Out yesterday in the rain and I’m leaving a rainbow behind me.

Sump plug is dripping and I’ve lost  500ml of oil. 

Gave it a nip up today which didn’t improve the situation, so dumped the oil (into a clean pan for reuse!) and found my new crush washer had failed to crush properly - no obvious dirt or anything that would have stopped it, but there’s clearly a bit which doesn’t seal.

real grump though is that it’s been sunny all day, expect for literally the 15 minutes of torrential rain and hail which started at the exact moment I released the sump plug and hence the point of no return. Bastard river formed in the gutter that added to the overall fun* I’m now soaked, looking out at a lovely sunny afternoon. 

[cort1977]

19 hours ago, wuvvum said:

That's an odd one.  It's not like you can plant a banana and grow banana trees.  Or does it have to do with parasites or something?

Parasites and fruit fly I think.  It's all a bit out of control over there, the FIL once nearly got arrested because the MIL had packed Marmite in his bag.

Most popular TV show in Australia is 'Border Security' which consists of shackle draggers shouting at confused Asians at the airport.

[wuvvum]

I do remember having to sling all my in-flight snacks in the bin when I arrived in Australia.  I don't recall being shouted at though...

[GBJ]

8 hours ago, cort1977 said:

Anyway, like I always end up doing I'm getting political on AS which annoys everyone and is a complete waste of time.

It doesn't annoy everyone.

[GBJ]

2 hours ago, wuvvum said:

I do remember having to sling all my in-flight snacks in the bin when I arrived in Australia.  I don't recall being shouted at though...

Are you Asian?

[wuvvum]

1 minute ago, GBJ said:

Are you Asian?

No.  That's probably the key.

[Supernaut]

2 hours ago, cort1977 said:

Parasites and fruit fly I think.  It's all a bit out of control over there, the FIL once nearly got arrested because the MIL had packed Marmite in his bag.

Most popular TV show in Australia is 'Border Security' which consists of a shackle draggers shouting at confused Asians at the airport.

I remember once watching a documentary about Australian truckers. One of them was transporting a piece of agricultural equipment.

The cleaning process the entire trailer and piece of equipment had to go through at a government-run checkpoint was fascinating and very very thorough.

[MikeR]

10000  mobile minutes in 3 weeks ...

333 minutes a week 

5 and a half hours a week gabbing ..could u gab for a whole afternoon ? 

And has had a busy day !!!

And wants me to up the safety buffer up  and add more call time .

Why me , Because I pay the bill ..

Bloody phones ....... 

[beko1987]

2 minutes ago, MikeR said:

10000  mobile minutes in 3 weeks ...

333 minutes a week 

5 and a half hours a week gabbing ..could u gab for a whole afternoon ? 

And has had a busy day !!!

And wants me to up the safety buffer up  and add more call time .

Why me , Because I pay the bill ..

Bloody phones ....... 

I don't think I've talked for 5 1/2 hours on my phone since getting it in May... 

With every phone deal going having unlimited minutes though, even cheap payg ones, can't be a problem? 

[red5]

9 hours ago, wuvvum said:

That bit I can understand.  The rest of the article though appears to be suggesting that UK gardeners are racist towards foreign plants, which just sounds completely batshit to me.

This - the first part  - yep, no problem, The rest? Just removes any actual credibility he has and trivialises the point.