The grumpy thread

[saucedoctor]

The Russian "Army" couldn't beat eggs. One of my mates if a DPO with the FCO, and spends a lot of time in Moscow. His description of Russia as a "gangster state" sums it up nicely.

 

Spetznaz - Russian "Special Forces" - armed thugs

 

The FSB - A kind of Secret Police. Successors to the KGB and NKVD. All on the take, for sale to the highest bidder.

 

The sooner we get our nuclear power stations up, and the shale gas flowing, the better. Then the Russians can stick Sibneft/Gazprom up their arses.

[chaseracer]

Enough with the antisemitism please. 

 

Where was that, then?

[AnthonyG]

Palestinians have not had good leaders, ever. The situation is exploited by other Arab countries/Iran/Turkey for their own purposes, they couldn't give a shit about them and prefer the whole thing to fester because it keeps Israel occupied (no pun intended).

 

Hamas are merely the worst and most recent in a long line of terrorists and assorted chancers.

[saucedoctor]

^ absolutely. One of the many many things affecting Gaza at the minute is that the local authorities have not paid their staff, in some cases for months.

A more serious issue is the rockets. On the face of it, it looks like this: Hamas fire rockets at Israel, Israel hits back, Hamas goes whining to the UN. However, there's more to it than that. The rocket attacks are willy-waving by Hamas. Politically, they have serious, even more hardline opposition coming from within, looking to usurp Hamas, as they did with Fatah.

 

One of the chaps I know from Enelpower is a Jordanian, and I recall him telling me "Get any idea that the Palestinians are a noble and upstanding people right out of your head. We kicked them out in 1970 because they were trouble, and Kuwait did the same in 1991. They are like those pikeys that you British people are always complaining about."

[Rocket88]

I think the army although large is underfunded and using outdated equipment. Infact I think the whole of Russia is falling a part infrastructurally as all the money goes to the few chosen big wigs and not a hell of a lot of it makes it down to the ground. I wonder what Putin end game is or is he just rattling the sabre North Korea style?

 

I suspect that Mr Putin may fall victim to the more pragmatic of his associates. They have attempted to achieve domination by exploiting their vast mineral wealth, realising that it's more expediant [and cheaper] than doing it be military means. That means keeping on vaguely civil terms with one's "customers". That boat appears to be casting off, and heading for the horizon.

[Lankytim]

Is the reason the US is so behind Israel because there's loads of Jews living in America that have lots of influence? 

 

(I'm 10000% not anti Jew, or anyone, honest)

 

As far as the state of Israel being bullies, this is probably true but a guy with a machine gun and a big tank is by default hard and scary.

[AnthonyG]

People of Jewish descent are a powerful lobby group in the USA, particularly on the East Coast (New York) and the West (California). These are states you generally need to win in a presidential election.

[RedSparrow]

Anti Semetism and anti Zionism are two very different things.

There are a large number of Jews who think Israel shouldn't exist.

[Cavcraft]

How pissing difficult is it to use a 'buy it now' button and pay for something immediately, as requested? I don't think it should really entail a plague of emails, none of which fail to grab the point, none of which have grasped I ain't entertaining some (probably dodgy) Paypal address.

 

I've also had a few 'I want to buy the car, can you contact me please?' questions. Just use the bleeding buy it now, and it's yours FFS. I reckon if I start giving details out I'll just get bombarded with shit offers to take it off ebay, so bollocks to it.

[Cavcraft]

I don't know about anti-Semitism on this thread (I have to confess I haven't really read all of it) but in the highly unlikely event anyone wants to start some sort of race war, PLEASE don't.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

On here, we're all shite supremacists. 

[Lord Sterling]

One of the chaps I know from Enelpower is a Jordanian, and I recall him telling me "Get any idea that the Palestinians are a noble and upstanding people right out of your head. We kicked them out in 1970 because they were trouble, and Kuwait did the same in 1991. They are like those pikeys that you British people are always complaining about."

You need to be careful what people tell you, particularly when an Arab talks about his fellow Arabs. One of the things that makes me sick is, in Arab countries, most Arabs hate thier own neighbours, thier own fellow Arabs, yet in the west, many Arabs get on really well with thier own with all this '"brother" this and "sister" that. A real strange thing that annoys the fuck out of me.

 

Palestinians have had no choice but to be as fucked up as they are, from birth to death they nowt but destruction and death all around them. So, no, it's not the same as us British complaining about "pikeys"

 

If you want an opinion about Palestinians, go find a Palestinian person yourself and sit down and speak with them.

 

Anyway, fuck this shite before it turns into another arguement war. Lets talk about wank old cars, this is what this site is about.

 

Anyone tried the P12 Primera? I think I like them......

[Negative Creep]

yet in the west, we get on really well with all '"brother" and "sister" that. A real strange thing that annoys the fuck out of me.

 

 

 

 

Except the French. Got to have some standards.

[ruffgeezer]

I am finding that the shitness of my job is affecting other wards of my life, I try not to let it, but there it is, I am having to work hard at other things to keep my head on straight, which isn't good for family life.

 

I wish I could push on with getting out and doing something new, but the two recent rejection letters from the dame company in the space of a month dented my pride somewhat.

[maxpower]

 

 

A good friend had a lovely mk1 Escort. A lovely, well-preserved, mk1 Mexico with an injected 2-litre Pinto and 5-speed box in it. Some time in 2009, he fitted new (2.8 Capri vented) discs to the front:

 and photographed the engine bay:

Gav is very particular about stuff in a way that I envy, and also realise that i do not have his talent for attention to detail and cleanliness. There is no way I could come within 50% of the niceness that his cars come to, even if I bought well and spent twice the effort trying to keep them so. He just has a talent for it!

 

The next day whilst sat at a set of lights in Dewsbury - road conditions greasy, IIRC -  he noticed a Fiat Punto coming down the hill towards him.  Later on, he said he was glad of the modification regarding seats with head restraints...

The Punto driver's words were along the lines of, "Well, you can buy something new now, can't you..."  Gav is a nice guy with exceptional levels of self control, so I don't know how the Punto driver escaped a visit to the dentist.

 

This is what the driver of the Punto achieved:

 

 

Gav went on to buy another mk1 Escort, which he described as "spot on" - but sold it after a year or so because he couldn't face the prospect of another punter hitting it and not caring because it was just "an old car - you can buy something new now...!

if that had been me the paramedics would be bringing a dustpan & brush to scoop the punto driver up and take him to hospital

[saucedoctor]

I am finding that the shitness of my job is affecting other wards of my life, I try not to let it, but there it is, I am having to work hard at other things to keep my head on straight, which isn't good for family life.

 

I wish I could push on with getting out and doing something new, but the two recent rejection letters from the dame company in the space of a month dented my pride somewhat.

 

 

Keep on keeping on, old chap. Keep getting your CV out there.

 

Have a look online for tips on "Body language in job interviews". One of my mates is a bigwig in recruitment for Thales, and he tells me that this shit is big time in interviews these days, being almost as important as what you actually say. Preposterous, I know, but it seems to be a "thing" at the minute. My pal reckons it's stupid as some people will forget to say the right thing because they're so wrapped up in thinking about how to sit.

 

 

[Lord Sterling]

I am finding that the shitness of my job is affecting other wards of my life, I try not to let it, but there it is, I am having to work hard at other things to keep my head on straight, which isn't good for family life.

 

I wish I could push on with getting out and doing something new, but the two recent rejection letters from the dame company in the space of a month dented my pride somewhat.

 

As I've been told on numerous occasions - don't let the bastards grind you down. See it as a game, have a goal to work towards, never expect and you might just be surprised.

 

This time last year, my life was pretty shit, dead-end job, not really knowing what the future held, I got a job in France, got engaged and the future is looking brighter. Of course, I still don't know exactly what the future holds or where I'll end up, but things have been pretty good.

 

Do you not have a mate/neighbour/colleague in the similar situation? It's always good to have someone else to share ideas/work with.

 

Some shiters on here have changed jobs and seem happier, maybe you could ask for some advice from them? There are always ways to change your situation, sometimes it means just being brave enough to take the leap.

 

Good luck fella.

[TimothyClaypole]

Bought some stainless steel button headed bolts from Screwfix, they were ok for the job I needed them for but then bought some from Ebay that were cheaper in bigger quantities.

 

The Screwfix ones have lettering stamped in the head but the new ones were smooth - I went with those as they look nice when polished up.  

 

Ordered some more this week from same seller to build a stock up, they've sent ones like the Screwfix ones with writing stamped in the head... ffs. 

 

So much for sticking with the same style. 

[Caffiend]

I am finding that the shitness of my job is affecting other wards of my life, I try not to let it, but there it is, I am having to work hard at other things to keep my head on straight, which isn't good for family life.

 

I wish I could push on with getting out and doing something new, but the two recent rejection letters from the dame company in the space of a month dented my pride somewhat.

Sympathies, it took me a year of rejections/non responses to move from a shit job to a better one and had to relocate for it too. There are so few jobs and so many people out there that all I can really say is *try* not to take rejections (or worse, non-responses) to heart. If you're able to do the job and don't pick your nose or fart at the interview* then it's a numbers game. Can you - at least occasionally - treat yourself to doing some really nice stuff on your off work days to remind yourself why it's probably still just about worthwhile hanging in there - and hang in there, best of luck.

 

*Loads of good application/interview advice resources out there.

[beko1987]

Fucking skint, and my fuel lights just about to come on. Will I make it until Friday when hopefully I can magic some money up? Place your bets now!

[beko1987]

 

 

A good friend had a lovely mk1 Escort. A lovely, well-preserved, mk1 Mexico with an injected 2-litre Pinto and 5-speed box in it. Some time in 2009, he fitted new (2.8 Capri vented) discs to the front:

 and photographed the engine bay:

Gav is very particular about stuff in a way that I envy, and also realise that i do not have his talent for attention to detail and cleanliness. There is no way I could come within 50% of the niceness that his cars come to, even if I bought well and spent twice the effort trying to keep them so. He just has a talent for it!

 

The next day whilst sat at a set of lights in Dewsbury - road conditions greasy, IIRC -  he noticed a Fiat Punto coming down the hill towards him.  Later on, he said he was glad of the modification regarding seats with head restraints...

The Punto driver's words were along the lines of, "Well, you can buy something new now, can't you..."  Gav is a nice guy with exceptional levels of self control, so I don't know how the Punto driver escaped a visit to the dentist.

 

This is what the driver of the Punto achieved:

 

 

Gav went on to buy another mk1 Escort, which he described as "spot on" - but sold it after a year or so because he couldn't face the prospect of another punter hitting it and not caring because it was just "an old car - you can buy something new now...!

I hope your friend had a massive case of whiplash and other compensationable issues due to it? I'd rinse the fucker for all it was worth, especially after the remark at the end!

[Negative Creep]

That would make no difference to the Punto driver whatsoever, except we'd all be paying for it via increased premiums

[saucedoctor]

I'd like to think the Police were at least thinking about reporting the Punto driver for careless driving. That's been a right old impact. If that's the case, Punto driver will feel the heat in increased premiums, should they get a Careless conviction..

[320touring]

Fucking skint, and my fuel lights just about to come on. Will I make it until Friday when hopefully I can magic some money up? Place your bets now!

Scrape the frying pan once the sausages are cooked, empty the deep fat fryer, wring out the greggs sausage roll and bung it all in with some 2 stroked per from the mower.

 

Bosh-you haz fuel to payday!

 

 

No this is not to be taken seriously and I accept no liabilities for buggered engines or detached wheels should you choose to follow this obviously* tongue in cheek post.

 

Ahthangue

[beko1987]

Scraped some together now! Amy said did I want some oil or derv, I said Derv for now as I get slightly better MPG from it, so a tenner of derv will go further than a tenner of oil.

[Richard]

If DERV gives more miles per £ is there any point in pissing about with new oil?

[beko1987]

Of course, because I can! I think it makes sense if I put 20-30l in ontop of a tenner of derv, but not if I'm only putting a tenner in and having to make it last.

 

There's no scientific reasoning behind my more miles theory, but the needle moves about less going round corners on derv. Plus our local small asda doesnt do the big bottles of oil, I'd (SWMBO) would have to drive 17 miles to our nearest big asda, and we both cant be arsed with that, so I'll pop 4 miles to our cheaper petrol station and do the deed.

[320touring]

If DERV gives more miles per £ is there any point in pissing about with new oil?

Pence per mile:) 2p reduction per mile is 500 quid per year If doing 25k (as I was when driving to my old job)

 

That's 3 nights in a decent hotel and numerous brownie points from swmbo; )

[Cavcraft]

Veg oil is cheaper than diesel though so your money will go further.

[beko1987]

I think my issue is that I havent filled her up on payday yet, so am always running out at an inconvenient time of the month! Plan is on payday to put £20 derv in then 40 litres (£32) oil in and make that see me through so I run out on payday next month.

 

I;ve also got over the initial joy of being able to twat it about and not rinse fuel, so sensible driving moving forward should see it do maximum MPJEEZ!

 

If I was in the XM still I'd be fucked, so it could be worse.