The grumpy thread

[mercrocker]

I know we had a grump about litter earlier but this is only kind of related..... 

 

There is a beautiful wooded hill near where I live, a dual carriageway cuts through it and either side is a rather lovely mix of deciduous and evergreen wild shrubbery. small trees and lush verges.   The middle strip is also nicely vegetated.   The verges are very wide, not suitable for walking along (don't ask me how I know...) and too high to pull a car up onto in any emergency.    

 

Today the council sent a side-winding helicopter along to smash the fuck out of every living thing and it now looks like a backdrop to some Nam movie.   Every tree is gashed and slashed to fuck, the verges look like they have been cut by an apprentice Native American scalper but worse, much worse is that every piece of plastic litter and junk that was hiding in the foliage is now hanging from twisted branches and scattered along a three mile stretch.  

 

This is all within catapult range of Forest villages wherein dwell coppicers, woodsmen and tree surgeons who could have done a better job from the back of a Commer pickup.   

 

First world problem, I know, but it boils my piss to see it done this way......

[Anthony]

Is it me, or does every fiat 500 seem to be driven by some maniac 17 year old girl, who thinks she's lewis hamilton, and who thinks indicating is for whimps.

Then proceeds to do her hair and makeup at every set of lights, whilst juggling her phone in the other hand and texting/tweeting/facebooking etc etc etc.

Seriously peed off with these idiots in the midlands.

I dunno, they all seem to be driven by middle-aged women with anger issues from what I've seen, seemingly all sharing the same scowl and over-styled hair.

[blackbart]

I dunno, they all seem to be driven by middle-aged women with anger issues from what I've seen, seemingly all sharing the same scowl and over-styled hair.

Yes, and them too lol

[chaseracer]

...occupational health ...phone interview ...type 1 diabetic ...joyless cunts ...big black mark on my permanent record.

 

Not if they're observing the fact that type1 diabetes is a 'protected characteristic' and as such, being a disability under the meaning of the Equalities Act 2010, should be disregarded for the purposes of considering a warning related to sickness absence.

[Craig the Princess]

Not if they're observing the fact that type1 diabetes is a 'protected characteristic' and as such, being a disability under the meaning of the Equalities Act 2010, should be disregarded for the purposes of considering a warning related to sickness absence.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why you should be in a union even if they aren't recognised by the organisation.

[alcyonecorporation]

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why you should be in a union even if they aren't recognised by the organisation.

 

Organisation doesn't have to recognise the union, m9. Anyone in a trade has a legal right to be a member of one, regardless of what the company thinks. 

 

I am currently a union member.

 

 

We have meetings about the best braziers to stand around to facilitate the resolution of any internecine conflicts. 

[Brodders]

Is it me, or does every fiat 500 seem to be driven by some maniac 17 year old girl, who thinks she's lewis hamilton, and who thinks indicating is for whimps.

Then proceeds to do her hair and makeup at every set of lights, whilst juggling her phone in the other hand and texting/tweeting/facebooking etc etc etc.

Seriously peed off with these idiots in the midlands.

That is not isolated to the Midlands. It is no coincidence that most of the Fiat 500s in the Sixth Form car park here have a few bumps on them.

 

Honorary 2nd and 3rd places go to Peugeot 206s and Minis.

[cobblers]

My Mrs has a Fiat 500 and drives everywhere too fast and too close. She's not a 17 year old lass which ^{most of the time} I'm glad about.

I've got an "Abarth 595" which is a totally different car. I drive like a twat occasionally but I will at least pay attention and leave plenty of room.

[MrDuke]

I spent hours yesterday trying to get my drawing mojo back, to no avail. I seem to have lost all sense of scale, and can't even use the right pencils in the right places FFS. I'm looking at a pic I did about 10 years ago in dumb wonder, genuinely unable to see how I did it. I'll attempt it once more, then burn everything.

[chaseracer]

Don't burn anything.  Put it in a box, park it on a shelf and come back to it at some point in the future.

[Bianconeri]

My Mrs has a Fiat 500 and drives everywhere too fast and too close. She's not a 17 year old lass which ^{most of the time} I'm glad about.

I've got an "Abarth 595" which is a totally different car. I drive like a twat occasionally but I will at least pay attention and leave plenty of room.

I made the mistake of getting a 595 for Mrs BN. She now has a normal one, she still terrifies me AND it's a crappy little car.

[Craig the Princess]

Organisation doesn't have to recognise the union, m9. Anyone in a trade has a legal right to be a member of one, regardless of what the company thinks.

 

I am currently a union member.

 

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. I meant where the organisation doesn't recognise the union it is still a good idea to be in one.

[AlabamaShrimp]

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why you should be in a union even if they aren't recognised by the organisation.

I've been in two unions. Both of them have been utter shit and a total waste of money. Neither were of any help either time I needed them and despite ton of stupid posters, pamphlets and the web site saying they'll support you with this and that they both did precisely fuck all then ditched me as soon as I left the job.

 

I understand why unions were formed and what they're meant to do but all I've ever seen is the same unless fuckers full of their own self-importance and generally pissing people off with strikes that don't achieve anything as in the end they always bend over.

[Supernaut]

I've been in two unions. Both of them have been utter shit and a total waste of money. Neither were of any help either time I needed them and despite ton of stupid posters, pamphlets and the web site saying they'll support you with this and that they both did precisely fuck all then ditched me as soon as I left the job.

 

I understand why unions were formed and what they're meant to do but all I've ever seen is the same unless fuckers full of their own self-importance and generally pissing people off with strikes that don't achieve anything as in the end they always bend over.

 

Precisely my experience with unions so far.

[Guest Hooli]

I've been in two unions. Both of them have been utter shit and a total waste of money. Neither were of any help either time I needed them and despite ton of stupid posters, pamphlets and the web site saying they'll support you with this and that they both did precisely fuck all then ditched me as soon as I left the job.

 

I understand why unions were formed and what they're meant to do but all I've ever seen is the same unless fuckers full of their own self-importance and generally pissing people off with strikes that don't achieve anything as in the end they always bend over.

That is exactly how the unions have been everywhere I've worked too.

[DodgeRover]

Over an hour to do 1 mile from the M23 past Gatwick airport. Still could be worse according to the guys on the CB ( the mobile you can use whilst driving) Guildford was utterly buggered.

Why do all modern cars seem to emit a continous plume of vapour from the exhaust even if diesel and or stuck in traffic and definitely 100% warmed up

[Guest Hooli]

I think it's the cats, they absorb all the heat & the back of the exhaust takes forever to warm up. Plus something about what the cat does produces water vapour I think.

[scaryoldcortina]

Combustion creates water vapour, it's the only exhaust product that doesn't need treating and isn't a problem.

[beko1987]

I've noticed this sitting in traffic leaving work the last few days, modern petrols billowing out thick white smoke when cold yet my old diesel (not forum renowned for its lack of smoke) produces barely a whisper of the stuff

[Alfamale]

As a manager I've been in meetings with an employee and a union rep and there have been times I've slowed/paused the meeting to explain things or make sure they understood etc... even answered unposed questions I think needed bringing up as the union rep didnt seem interested.

[Guest Hooli]

I can sum up unions where I work now by mentioning the two 'tards in the department who deserve to be fired for being cunts bloody useless at their jobs are the only two in the union.

[saucedoctor]

BASTARD Vaillant boiler is leaking A-FUCKING-GAIN. Diverter valve, again. 2 and a half years old and that's no.3 valve kaput.

 

The old oil boiler in my mate's house is 27 years old, and was knocked up by a bunch of hillbillies in Portadown. Never gone wrong.

 

GAH.

[cobblers]

As we get better at making stuff, we also get better at making stuff last exactly as long as it has to and no more.

[saucedoctor]

How right you are. I still have the last diverter valve in the garage, and it's a plastic piece of shite. The boiler is insured, but it's the guts of £200 a year, and every time it leaks all of our clothes get soaked.

[Tamworthbay]

The joys of capitalism, if people don't continuously buy stuff the whole system goes tits up. So stuff is made shitter than it needs to be and people buy stuff they don't need and can't afford to impress people they don't like.

[FakeConcern]

The joys of capitalism, if people don't continuously buy stuff the whole system goes tits up. So stuff is made shitter than it needs to be and people buy stuff they don't need and can't afford to impress people they don't like.

I don't really like* this

[cort16]

 

 

4 branch manifold though

[saucedoctor]

The joys of capitalism, if people don't continuously buy stuff the whole system goes tits up. So stuff is made shitter than it needs to be and people buy stuff they don't need and can't afford to impress people they don't like.

 

I see where you're coming from. In the same vein, surely there's money to be made in designing one of these things so that doesn't shit the bed every 9 months.

 

I fired up AutoCAD before I remembered that I know shit all about hydrodynamics. Or boilers.

[Eddie Honda]

Ordered a few things from different vendors via AliExpress on 14th November last year.

 

All the stuff arrived before Christmas with the exception of 1 item (5 panel rocker switches). Time was running out on buyer protection, so I asked the vendor to extend it 14 days because Christmas/New year. Then that ran out, so I opened a dispute and the vendor offered €0.95 back on the €3.09 cost because of delay. I didn't respond (and it still hadn't arrived), so AliExpress stepped in and refunded the €3.09 back to my card.

 

Why the grump? So I order some switches from the UK on Fri 20th Jan and some electronics stuff from Mouser Inc. The Mouser stuff turns up from Texas, USA on Mon 24th. I only eventually get an invoice from the UK supplier on Fri 27th and it arrives yesterday. It's not that bloody far away!

 

Anyway, after buying these two switches, guess what turns up today? Yup, the packet from China with 5 switches - only taken 11wks to arrive.

 

TL;DR

 

1) Shipping stuff USA to Ireland or the other way round is quick.

2) UK to Ireland is shite slow.

3) Stuff from China eventually turns up after the PO here have probably sat on it for aeons.

[saucedoctor]

It does seem to vary a bit. I ordered a thing called a TURBO-SIM* from China, and it showed up in days, yet a battery conditioner for a DB7 coming from Enniskillen disappeared into the ether for a fortnight.

 

*TURBO-SIM is a thing that slips under a regular SIM card to defeat network locks. I got it for the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition that I bought in New York.