The grumpy thread

[GrumpiusMaximus]

12 hours ago, Fumbler said:

Anyone familiar with Kent may know that the council goes gung-ho with roadworks on the holidays. They had closed Hawkhurst highstreet from the A21 junction to the crossroads in the centre of the town on Monday morning.

The diversion is no problem at all, but on the following day they've decided digging up and closing half of the (already) congested diversion is a smashing idea. Kent County Council never fails to surprise me.

Driving in (and out) of Sittingbourne along what used to be the A2 via Faversham, etc. has been a nightmare for the last two years.  Just as soon as they've finished one set of roadworks, they open another.  Except they seem to be having a competition to see how many simultaneous sets of temporary lights they can manage along with the roadworks.  The current record is four.  Not so bad when you don't have to do it every day but it makes going into Sittingbourne take well over an hour, when realistically it's less than 40 minutes from here...

[Zelandeth]

Many thanks to the Deliveroo driver who yesterday evening saw it fit to completely destroy three of the lights by our path (the third is halfway across the lawn) - which is where they "parked."

Thanks for that.  Yeah, I really did want to replace them...concrete post lights sound good.  Let me see you kick those over.

[loserone]

That's quite a lot of money for gardening isn't it? What was it to do? It'd be quite a lot of hedge trimming or leaf blowing

[barefoot]

Who is it? 

Capability Brown?

[Split_Pin]

5 minutes ago, loserone said:

That's quite a lot of money for gardening isn't it? What was it to do? It'd be quite a lot of hedge trimming or leaf blowing

Drainage, landscaping and slabbing.

[New POD]

18 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

I'm currently sitting here pondering on whether or not I've just been bumped for £2,365....

Gardener arrived yesterday, 3 hours late, dug up the garden, fucked off after an hour and never came back. Was supposed to be here sharp this morning, not answering any communication attempts thus far. 

His Facebook page has lots of polished pictures of nice gardens but no visitor posts and he has no presence on Google reviews. 

Thankfully I've not paid him everything but that's money I earn by sitting in a soul destroying job every day. 

I really hope I'm wrong.

You paid in advance ? Ouch.

A Bloke was putting leaflets through every door, pointing, roof repairs, brick laying, patios.  

I managed to catch him as had Walked past coming the other way out of the cul de sac.  Looks at the gabble wall, suggests £3k.  

I suggest that I could take 2 weeks off work, hire a scaffolding tower and I'd still be up in the deal, could he do a deal on 2 houses? 

Suggests he could do 2 for £4k 

I'm not going with that, not before I've had 3 quotes, inspected their previous work, and spoken to 3 happy customers.

So I say, right, well I'll need to save up, get me a written quote with your name address and I'll get back to you. 

Starts getting a bit vague.  Then I realise it's a mobile number, no address, no name, no trading name. 

I'm thinking he lives in a caravan, and his day job involves tarmac.  Still waiting after 6 months for that quote. 

[New POD]

6 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Drainage, landscaping and slabbing.

Did you get to view any previous work and meet reak customers 

[iainrcz]

Shed-gate update.

When we'd built it we were going to stick the hasp and staple (?) on with security screws.
Obviously being an arse I'd completely forgotten we hadn't.

We'd used normal screws. So out came the Lidl whizzer and we're in.

[Split_Pin]

4 hours ago, barefoot said:

Who is it? 

Capability Brown?

You obviously think this is funny.

I have no frame of reference when it comes to these , so yeah, fucking cheers for that, I already feel a fool. I was hoping for a bit of moral support.

Fucking ram it, the lot of you.

[Remspoor]

20 hours ago, Jerzy Woking said:

Been waiting a week for a skip to be dropped off at my place, 5 days for the gardener to come and spray my weeds (I cannot get a permit to buy proper weedkiller), and 4 days for the tree surgeon to come and prune the fir trees (for which you need a special permit).

The "manana" attitude here is pissing me off immensely once more.

You can purchase small bottles of Roundup without a licence. The agricultural supplier to me does. It is not great for your health if you do use it. Maybe purchase sprayer and make your own weed killer up using white vinegar, salt, washing up liquid, water. There is loads of info on the interweb.

A skip what for? Just pile the rubbish up before the skip and fill when it arrives.

The slower pace of life is not for everyone and now Covid is here some parts of the country seemly have gone to sleep.

 

[loserone]

4 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Drainage, landscaping and slabbing.

Probably reasonable then.  Hope it turns out OK.

[barefoot]

30 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

You obviously think this is funny.

I apologise unreservedly, it never occured to me that you wouldn't take it in the spirit it was intended. Here's a picture of a garden built by Brown in 1754.

[Crackers]

I have found the car I've been hunting for nearly 2 years. It's more or less perfect in terms of spec and condition, except for a couple of small mods that may make it more difficult for me to insure. 

It's also (just) within budget. 

I want to buy it. 

 

It's in Glasgow. 

I live in Chichester. 

We're in a national lockdown. 

 

Arse, balls, and other less polite angry words spring to mind. 

[Jazoli]

1 minute ago, Crackers said:

I have found the car I've been hunting for nearly 2 years. It's more or less perfect in terms of spec and condition, except for a couple of small mods that may make it more difficult for me to insure. 

It's also (just) within budget. 

I want to buy it. 

 

It's in Glasgow. 

I live in Chichester. 

We're in a national lockdown. 

 

Arse, balls, and other less polite angry words spring to mind. 

Just go and get it then, its not against the law to buy a car, or get it delivered.

[loserone]

Plenty trusted shiters in Glasgow who can help you @Crackers

 

@davehedgehog31, @jaypee, @320touring and @sdkrc for starters.  Or I think @SRi05.  Plenty more I've forgotten.  Just get it bought.

[Crackers]

2 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

Just go and get it then, its not against the law to buy a car, or get it delivered.

Supposedly it isn't permitted, that's what I've heard about private sales anyway. 

I can't really justify a flight to Glasgow and then a 9 hour journey home as an "essential" journey. 

[Jazoli]

Surely the cost of having it delivered won't be far off flight+fuel home costs anyway.

[Crackers]

Just now, loserone said:

Plenty trusted shiters in Glasgow who can help you @Crackers

 

@davehedgehog31, @jaypee, @320touring and @sdkrc for starters.  Or I think @SRi05.  Plenty more I've forgotten.  Just get it bought.

I appreciate the sentiment, but, and I truly mean this with no harm to anyone, when I'm going to be spending this kind of money (we're quite far out of shite territory here, I've been saving hard for 3 years to get to this point) I'd want to be there myself. 

[loserone]

3 minutes ago, Crackers said:

want

There's your choice though, you can either do the flight and the drive, trust someone else's eyes, or miss out.  Do you want it or no? 🙂

[SRi05]

4 minutes ago, loserone said:

Plenty trusted shiters in Glasgow who can help you @Crackers

 

@davehedgehog31, @jaypee, @320touring and @sdkrc for starters.  Or I think @SRi05.  Plenty more I've forgotten.  Just get it bought.

I'm a dodgy bastard m9

Where is the car @Crackers?  Is it a private sale or a dealer you're potentially buying from? 

[WillCarter]

17 hours ago, loserone said:

When I worked for a week at a small record store, we used to have chavs come in asking for the "nu monkey" tapes.  I was told to tell them they were in the window.  They would go out and look at them in the window, then walk off.

 

Not one was ever sold.

I work in a small record store. I can confirm that people still come in, ask for something specific, get shown specific item say 'cheers' and walk off. 

[Crackers]

5 minutes ago, loserone said:

There's your choice though, you can either do the flight and the drive, trust someone else's eyes, or miss out.  Do you want it or no? 🙂

Yes I do, but not enough to break the law and risk an encounter with Monsieur Le Gendarme. Another one will come along one day. 

3 minutes ago, SRi05 said:

I'm a dodgy bastard m9

Where is the car @Crackers?  Is it a private sale or a dealer you're potentially buying from? 

Private sale, all I know about the location is "Glasgow". 

[loserone]

5 minutes ago, Crackers said:

Monsieur Le Gendarme

You're thinking of the other place across the sea.  Budget £200 for a fine and be as safe as you can.

[SRi05]

Link us to the car, if its over £500 none of us will be nipping in to steal it from under your nose anyway 😂

[Crackers]

8 minutes ago, loserone said:

You're thinking of the other place across the sea.  Budget £200 for a fine and be as safe as you can.

Sorry, not being funny but "budgeting for a fine" earns a solid 'fuck that' from me. 

4 minutes ago, SRi05 said:

Link us to the car, if its over £500 none of us will be nipping in to steal it from under your nose anyway 😂

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101158017976?atmobcid=soc3

Most people here will probably hate it, but i don't care. And yes I know the money is strong. #Haggle

[Jerzy Woking]

50 minutes ago, Remspoor said:

You can purchase small bottles of Roundup without a licence. The agricultural supplier to me does. It is not great for your health if you do use it. Maybe purchase sprayer and make your own weed killer up using white vinegar, salt, washing up liquid, water. There is loads of info on the interweb.

A skip what for? Just pile the rubbish up before the skip and fill when it arrives.

The slower pace of life is not for everyone and now Covid is here some parts of the country seemly have gone to sleep.

 

The cost of small bottles of Roundup to do about about 4000 sq ms is many more times than the cost of my gardener doing the whole lot, and the stuff he uses will (according to my neighbour) stop stuff growing this summer. 

I hadn't even considered making my own, and as I have a 10 litre sprayer, it makes sense to have a go in a few patches to work out what's best. Thanks.

All the stuff is piled up in the garden, and have left a gap so the skip can be dropped right in front, so I can just push everything in. Had one taken away before Christmas, but think he forgot to drop it straight back. The skips are bigger than the ones I had but even now i think i will need another one. This is the pile of stuff 4 weeks ago, and it's nearly doubled in size now:

I will chop some of it up so it's more compact. This is the the last skip I had, and I filled it to the top

 

28 minutes ago, Crackers said:

I have found the car I've been hunting for nearly 2 years. It's more or less perfect in terms of spec and condition, except for a couple of small mods that may make it more difficult for me to insure. 

It's also (just) within budget. 

I want to buy it. 

 

It's in Glasgow. 

I live in Chichester. 

We're in a national lockdown. 

 

Arse, balls, and other less polite angry words spring to mind. 

Modded cars have proved cheaper for me to insure than a standard car. Had a bog standard 1999 Saab 9-5 with the 2.3 turbo engine in sure through Sheilas Wheels. I replaced it with a 2005 2.3 turbo with mods to the engine, ECU, brakes, wheels, suspension, exhaust and stereo. Insurance fell by £75. And I got free handbag cover too🤢

[Stanky]

Can you not burn that if its garden trimmings? Or do they put you in prison for a thousand years if you do things like that there?

[SRi05]

31 minutes ago, Crackers said:

Sorry, not being funny but "budgeting for a fine" earns a solid 'fuck that' from me. 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101158017976?atmobcid=soc3

Most people here will probably hate it, but i don't care. And yes I know the money is strong. #Haggle

Nice car. Can see why you'd be reluctant to trust a random Scottish guy off the Internet with 13k worth of M1 🤣

If you were going to buy it I'm sure one of us could nip over and drool over it for you, and make sure it's as advertised 👀

[New POD]

1 hour ago, Crackers said:

I have found the car I've been hunting for nearly 2 years. It's more or less perfect in terms of spec and condition, except for a couple of small mods that may make it more difficult for me to insure. 

It's also (just) within budget. 

I want to buy it. 

 

It's in Glasgow. 

I live in Chichester. 

We're in a national lockdown. 

 

Arse, balls, and other less polite angry words spring to mind. 

You are allowed to travel for work.  Can get the vendor to offer you a job with company car and then sack you later ? 

[Alan_Green]

1 hour ago, Crackers said:

I can't really justify a flight to Glasgow and then a 9 hour journey home as an "essential" journey. 

My grump is I can't find anyone to do a welfare visit to my mother in Glasgow.  I'd go myself but I'm down here in Hampshire and look after my elderly father round the clock.  Wish I could find someone.