The grumpy thread

[Cavcraft]

Those stone chippings are a pain, I assume it's the cheapest way to 'repair' roads now?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

 

Relieved it was not something broken but I hate driving it now worrying something else will break. 

FFS, you got a stone stuck in your brake disc which you subsequently removed at no cost to yourself and with no damage done!!! Man up a bit. Or just stick to buses if that was too traumatic for you. Lamest grump evAr

[Jim Bell]

Adrian Flux insurance. As many have said before, are sea you ent E esses.

Policy cost - £205 annual.

Cancelation charge after 2 months - £102.

Though they did offer to split the cancelation charge into two easy to pay instalments. But each of the 2 easy to pay instalments would incur a £10 admin charge.

 

I have found them to be more like finance brokers rather than insurance brokers.

 

I shall never bother them again.

[drum]

I know it's for a good cause etc but chris Evans auctions bug me. Maybe it's because I couldn't dream of spending the sort of money others do.

Wow!, James from London has bid £46382 for a day with Eddie Jordan!

Show off.

[bub2006]

Gumtree bell end award goes to the dipshit who text me at quarter past 3 this morning to ask if i would want to swap my scooter for a Samsung z3. Admittedly i did put swaps considered for geared bike.

[Cavcraft]

The CIN thing is great, raises shit loads of money. I think for some of the real one off type things though they should have two of each, one can go to a big bidder, the other should be open up to a raffle of some sort where you can buy £10 tickets so us poor people can have a chance.

[EssDeeWon]

Adrian Flux insurance. As many have said before, are sea you ent E esses.

Policy cost - £205 annual.

Cancelation charge after 2 months - £102.

Though they did offer to split the cancelation charge into two easy to pay instalments. But each of the 2 easy to pay instalments would incur a £10 admin charge.

 

I have found them to be more like finance brokers rather than insurance brokers.

 

I shall never bother them again.

 

You and me both. They used to be really competitive when I was about 18 driving a MK1 Golf GTi, but now im getting abit older (in my 30s) with maximum NCB and driving a rather ordinary 318 they quote stupid prices. I dont bother getting quotes off them anymore, unless im really bored and fancy a laugh.

[Bren]

You and me both. They used to be really competitive when I was about 18 driving a MK1 Golf GTi, but now im getting abit older (in my 30s) with maximum NCB and driving a rather ordinary 318 they quote stupid prices. I dont bother getting quotes off them anymore, unless im really bored and fancy a laugh.

The sarcastic people they employ on the phones are enough to put me off ever taking out a policy with them.

[dugong]

Siblings: where the hell has this "want everything for free" culture come from?..... i have told my lot that their rent/housekeeping money is going up and if they don't like it they will all be getting suitcases as xmas present and address of nearest dosshouse.

 

i was delivering shopping to the house of a moron who informed me he would never do my job..."fuck that, humping other peoples shopping" were his exact words.. to which i reminded him if people like me didnt do that job he would have to drag his ass to the shops for his shopping or starve!!

though judging by the stench of skank/skunk or whatever they smoke.. i doubt it sank into his dope induced brain.

Why are you putting their rent up at Christmas?

[dugong]

Siblings: where the hell has this "want everything for free" culture come from?..... i have told my lot that their rent/housekeeping money is going up and if they don't like it they will all be getting suitcases as xmas present and address of nearest dosshouse.

 

i was delivering shopping to the house of a moron who informed me he would never do my job..."fuck that, humping other peoples shopping" were his exact words.. to which i reminded him if people like me didnt do that job he would have to drag his ass to the shops for his shopping or starve!!

though judging by the stench of skank/skunk or whatever they smoke.. i doubt it sank into his dope induced brain.

Why are you putting their rent up at Christmas?

[Craig the Princess]

Was meant to be having a pub lunch with the course tutor from guard school to have a good catch up. Coupe is in the garage, don't want to leave the Saab at the station without a window so was due to take the Metro but inbetween picking the keys up one minute before leaving and leaving I lost the keys. Now missed the train and 30 minutes later I still can find the sodding things.

 

Sometimes I wonder how I manage to get dressed in the mornings.

[Jazoli]

I'm especially grumpy today as step daughter has decided university isn't for her after all, this is 2 months after spending enough money to buy a new motorcycle furnishing her flat, plus I have the delights of a grumpy 18 year old back in the house, I was beginning to enjoy the peace and quiet and lack of mess, fucking arsebiscuits

[Craig the Princess]

Tell her from someone who dropped out, get the hell back there before reality hits and you are in a warehouse at 5am for mininmum wage in a month's time [personal experence]

[vulgalour]

But also remind her that her degree will be worth nothing in the real world but not to worry about her student debt as nobody else does.  Of all the folk I know that went to University and got degrees, only one has had the opportunity to use his for gainful employment.  All the rest are in jobs that have nothing to do with their degree and for the most part they're frustrated by this.

 

I better not get grumping about Universities, I tend to go on a bit.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Adrian Flux insurance. As many have said before, are sea you ent E esses.

Policy cost - £205 annual.

Cancelation charge after 2 months - £102.

Though they did offer to split the cancelation charge into two easy to pay instalments. But each of the 2 easy to pay instalments would incur a £10 admin charge.

 

I have found them to be more like finance brokers rather than insurance brokers.

 

I shall never bother them again.

 

I've cancelled two Flux policies with several months left to run, and there's never a refund (I don't expect one) but they've also never actually charged me the £25 cancellation charge. 

[fairkens]

Uni can be a bit of a culture shock once the novelty of getting pissed for a tenner wears off. Kids get spoonfed a lot at school so having to figure stuff out for yourself is a bit daunting

 

That said it's not for everyone, does she have a plan of what she wants to do?

[Cavcraft]

But also remind her that her degree will be worth nothing in the real world but not to worry about her student debt as nobody else does.  Of all the folk I know that went to University and got degrees, only one has had the opportunity to use his for gainful employment.  All the rest are in jobs that have nothing to do with their degree and for the most part they're frustrated by this.

 

I better not get grumping about Universities, I tend to go on a bit.

 

There's a lot of this about and lot of people who push their kids into going to uni, along with a lot of kids who feel pressured into it. It's not the be all and end all, many people have had decent careers after a shit education, or not being especially bright when it comes to exams etc.

[Craig the Princess]

I agree it isn't for everyone but I still have regrets 10 years on and I gave it a red hot crack for 2 years of the course.

 

I still say 18-20 is not a good age for such important decisons.

[inconsistant]

Uni is mega expensive now. It's only worth it if the experience is life changing.

[Jazoli]

Uni can be a bit of a culture shock once the novelty of getting pissed for a tenner wears off. Kids get spoonfed a lot at school so having to figure stuff out for yourself is a bit daunting

 

That said it's not for everyone, does she have a plan of what she wants to do?

Nope no plan that I am aware of, she says she doesn't like her course, I say she has only been studying a month in reality, I/we didn't put any pressure on her to go, she did it all herself, I think the reality of living in a dodgy area of Manchester (we live in the Lakes) having to cook and clean for herself and 'only' having 70 quid a week to live on has sunk in, she has been told in no uncertain terms that she can get a job and pay board, or she'll be in the shit.

 

I was made up when I drove away from getting her in her flat, it felt like we could have the house back and she could find her own way in life, it wasn't part of the plan, I am due to have an operation and be off work a couple of months, I do not want a lazy bone idle teenager hanging around when I'm house bound recovering.

[The Moog]

Reality with uni is that cost wise it hasn't changed that much in last 14 years.

 

All the loans are really a graduate tax which you only pay over a threshold. When comes to mortgages etc they are ignored.

 

There are still grants about but not as many as there were. Degrees really have become a benchmark rather something to make you stand out.

[saucedoctor]

One of my mates got a loan under some scheme run in the Republic of Ireland when he was a student. Apparently, the computer system containing all the records terminally shat itself, and the whole lot was written off.

[EssDeeWon]

But also remind her that her degree will be worth nothing in the real world but not to worry about her student debt as nobody else does.  Of all the folk I know that went to University and got degrees, only one has had the opportunity to use his for gainful employment.  All the rest are in jobs that have nothing to do with their degree and for the most part they're frustrated by this.

 

I better not get grumping about Universities, I tend to go on a bit.

 

Thousands of people graduate every year and many go on to good careers, the problem is some people study for pointless degree's where there is no real calling for in the Real World! And some people may be very clever and graduate with honours etc etc but cannot hack the day to day life on the job market. These are the people that end up in Tesco because they think having a degree means employers waiting outside their front door every morning with job offers. It aint like that!  Most grads however go on and get interns and do very very well.

 

Of course I am not speaking on behalf of every single graduate, but if you study for something 'worth while' and are prepared for hard work and maybe a few knock backs along the way then 99% of the time you will do very well.

[HillmanImp]

My old man really wanted me to go to uni as he didn't, not for the education just for the experience. 

 

If you are doing a mickey mouse degree like I did with no exams and no real vocational aspect of it (communications, tourism and so on) you will just leave and end up in the job queue behind everyone else but if you are doing a degree like that you can doss it off for 3-4yrs getting ripped to the tits in drugs n'shit and boffing a lot of lasses lasses in their late teens and early twenties. Afterwards a few might fall into a role associated with the degree but most will end up doing whatever job they can.

 

If you go to Uni doing a proper course with exams and shit and a proper vocation at the end (architecture, engineering etc) you might well get a pretty good placing at the end of it but you will have been busting your balls considerably more that the tossers on the other degrees for several years and really not enjoyed yourself as much.  You will still have done a fair bit of drink, drugs and boffing but probably not as much as the other lot. 

 

As inconsistant says, with the cost these days if your folks aren't footing the bill there is a risk you will leave with loads of debt and possibly have a crap job. My degree is shit but a lot of jobs I have gone for in the past have specified a degree level of education, they have not specified what degree thank god.

 

 

[alf892]

I am a dinosaur and look on the clamour to make uni 'accessible' to all as a political con trick. All it has done is reduce the value of a degree to a somewhat meaningless level for most. And left them in debt.

 

And the setting of a maximum fee just made them all set fees to a max. Fucking cynical that was.......provided a nice wedge for the senior management to pay themselves more than they deserve.

 

Uni should have been left for the clever with actual grants for the bright but potless. Colleges then pick up the level below this.......

 

I was chuffed when Miss Alf decided against uni and decided to get herself a start in the job market.......she did college and did well but then found herself an apprenticeship with a good company. I kept quiet about my feelings on uni other than saying she should go for it if she wanted to......in the end she deferred her place for a year and decided she would go if she could not find a decent job.

[anonymous user]

ebay grump, huge amount of classified ads listed, but they are guide price only, to advertise a big bucks classic car auction.

[inconsistant]

Reality with uni is that cost wise it hasn't changed that much in last 14 years.

In 2006 the gov tripled course fees from £1grand to £3 a year. 2 years ago the Tories tripled them again to £9 a year.

 

Worth noting as it wasn't widely reported or explained in the news, that the course fees that the Universities get didn't change 2 years ago, it was just who paid for them that changed. Universities get the same fees they got before the increase, but now the full £9grand comes from the student, whereas before they paid £3 grand and their education authority paid the remaining £6grand.

 

Students now (understandably) expect more because they are paying more, but the Unis still have the same income as before.

Most Unis set their fees at the max because anything less would have been a loss of income.

[drum]

17-18 is too young for most kids to know for sure what they want to do career wise. I recommend youngsters who want to go to uni get some experience under their belt first. Only when they know what they want to do with themselves should they go and study a relevant degree, or not as the case may be. There are some excellent apprenticeships in the oil industry up here that are a much better choice than university in many cases. I would imagine the same applies in other industries (it should anyway).

 

I've been to university twice. The first time I was 17, didn't know what I wanted to do but went to uni because I could. I might as well have stuck a pin in a prospectus. Inevitably, I didn't like the course, lacked motivation, farted about for a year and failed my exams. This could describe lots of school leavers.

The second time was three years later after I had worked in three different jobs and figured out what I wanted to do. Went back to uni and did the degree I needed.

 

I left school in '86 and got a grant for uni. Changed days now.

 

Jazoli, your daughter needs to discover what is she wants to do for a living.

[DS20]

It's been pointed out, and it's true: so many jobs now expect to recruit people with degree-level education completed. It's partly down to the first Blair government's randomly-formulated policy of getting 50% of school leavers into university; you now need to have Masters-level education in order to stand out in the job market.

 

By contrast: Pa_DS20 was an accountant, and when he left school at 18yo in 1959, he went straight to an accountancy firm as an articled clerk - it just was not necessary to go up to university to read accountancy beforehand. What a difference to today's situation.

[320touring]

When i grow up i want to be bruce springsteen or john cleland