The grumpy thread

[dean36014]

Van insurance renewal quote, double what I paid last year. Quick search on the internet to get better prices and then do the dance on the phone with current company. Why oh why do I have to do this every year with every type of insurance policy to get a decent price? I'm turning into a grumpy old man.

[Supernaut]

I put these on:

 

 

Which allowed me to get enough traction to walk round to where the car was parked...

 

 

Yeah... fuck that. That's not slush, it's all solid ice.

I walked round to the local shops and managed to get the basics. That'll do.

[Guest Hooli]

Looks cool.

[tooSavvy]

Those rubberband cleats are teh bollz, m8

 

Saves a trip(pun) to A&E + breakages :/

 

 

 

TS

[M'coli]

When Krispy Kreme donuts launched in Tesco it definitely wasn't* possible to pick a single generic pastry on a self service till and save a whole £1....

...or you could have bought a bag of 5 jam doughnuts for 65p and had something that's not an underwhelming disappointment instead?

[beko1987]

...or you could have bought a bag of 5 jam doughnuts for 65p and had something that's not an underwhelming disappointment instead?

Well, it would be a bit disappointing but at least you'd expect it!

[HH-R]

The self serves at an ASDA near me get in a weird loop with the first item where you scan it but when it's in the bagging area it says there's an unexpected item. Take it out and it tells you to put it in the bagging area, repeat ad nauseum. They don't do that in the other ASDA.

[dollywobbler]

At our local Tesco, there are always cashiers sitting doing nowt, so I go and say hello to cheer them up a bit. Self-service, I find, is only of use when there are queues to beat.

[panhard65]

Halfords trade card ! What is the fucking point in it. My other half has been moaning about the headlights on her car so I said I would try and get her some of these brighter jobbies. £39 fucking quid each, but they did buy one get one free. So I ask how much with the trade card, which got it down to about £22 which although still taking the piss I thought it would do as it is Sunday and the proper motor factors were shut. The assistant then goes on to say that the buy one get one free doesn't apply if I use the trade card making the bulbs 5 quid dearer than to a normal punter. I think what annoyed me most is I can buy normal 477 bulbs from GSF or Motor parts dierct for around £2 each. I think next time I am in Halfords I will tell them where to stick their trade card as it is totally pointless.

[cobblers]

Forget about halfords being "a place that you can buy car parts from" and you'll feel better for it.

Their "trade" card is an absolute fucking joke, nobody who actually works in the trade would bother with one, they'll just get the stuff from ECP at half the price instead of going to halfords - who will then order from ECP anyway, add 50-100% to the price, and a layer of confusion and delay to the process.

 

One exception is that the card will get you a bit of money off tools, providing they weren't already on offer anyway - No use on socket sets etc which are permanently 50% off, but if you need a rail or torx sockets or somert you might save a fiver.

[twosmoke300]

Trade card is good for tools and motorcycle batteries esp when you really want to go for a ride on a Sunday morning but your fucking Ducati wants its 3rd battery in two years despite being in regular use and / or life support

[xtriple]

Proper fucking grumpy here! Went out with the dogs, car pissed about (back brake sticking) and fuel light came on (Torquay the one place in the UK where every petrol station is ten miles away) and then when we got to the park, the dogs got me filthy dirty and Phoebe lay down in a muddy puddle then wagged her tail at me which showered me in muddy shit from head to toe! Got her back in the car by which time fat useless bastard (Chester) had legged it again... it was a REAL effort to NOT strangle the bugger.

 

It didn't get any better at home either and much ranting and swearing as done. I now feel guilty and am not shouting at Chester even though he is currently so 'in my face' he is almost part of my genome!

[Guest Hooli]

Ahh dogs, you have to love them!

[Pillock]

Aldi is fast because their cashier's are targeted (and perhaps even bonused) on items per minute. That's why they don't have the bagging area on the till itself and become visibly irate if you fumble with your shopping or debit card.

 

I find it works well, because then I can organise shopping properly into bags rather than have lots of mixed bags to sort out at home.

[AlabamaShrimp]

Aldis like what Kwik Save was years ago. Just shove it all back in the trolly and use the shelf thing at the back of the store.

 

Not as cheap though and no walk in fridge

[Timewaster]

In defence of the trade card, the discount on normal bulbs brings them down to around factor prices.

I'm not surprised that there isn't much saving on premium bulbs.

[Bren]

Sat navs.

Never had a car with one. Never had a stand alone one either.

Because I think they are about as much use as a cat flap in an elephant house.

Had the loan of one today while picking eldest up from scout camp - gave us abum steer and sent us back on to the motorway.

 

Today reinforced my belief. In terms of desirability they are on a par with conservative party membership or a sun holiday in Jaywick.

[eddyramrod]

Hmm, when the brochure comes I must have a look for Jaywick....

[richardmorris]

Aldi is fast because their cashier's are targeted (and perhaps even bonused) on items per minute. That's why they don't have the bagging area on the till itself and become visibly irate if you fumble with your shopping or debit card.

I find it works well, because then I can organise shopping properly into bags rather than have lots of mixed bags to sort out at home.

I visited both Aldi and lidl this morning ( after the farmer’s market in Ascot - I’m not easy to pigeonhole!). I find the lidl checkout people friendlier but there’s not a lot in it. Lovely things in lidl today - got a hazard flashing light thingy, some salami and bresaola, Brie and Parmesan, olive oil, cough medicine and cold and flue pills. Had hoped to find their super conc screen wash but no joy. Popped over the road to Aldi and bought some de icer.

 

Oddly the meadows roundabout traffic lights in camberley weren’t working, and everything was moving a lot better!

[DeeJay]

I walked to the chippy tonight too.  Fish and chips is one thing we (oh all right, I) really missed in Cyprus, so I was delighted to find a chippy round the corner, three streets away.  And it's a bloody good one too.  Chippy tea is ALWAYS the answer!

[panhard65]

Sat navs.

Never had a car with one. Never had a stand alone one either.

Because I think they are about as much use as a cat flap in an elephant house.

Had the loan of one today while picking eldest up from scout camp - gave us abum steer and sent us back on to the motorway.

 

Today reinforced my belief. In terms of desirability they are on a par with conservative party membership or a sun holiday in Jaywick.

It all depends what sat nav. I have had a Garmin for years and well over 100,000 miles. Yes it does fuck up occasionally but it has found addresses in the middle of nowhere in France spot on better than a map. You do need to have a rough idea where you are going but for getting you to the door I won't be without one now

[Timewaster]

Sat navs.

 

I couldn't get anywhere without mine. My job entails getting to some pretty well hidden places so it is invaluable.

 

However, I went on a road trip with my mate in his 65plate A6 (he isnt as much of one as this would suggest) and the built in sat nav was utterly useless.

Missed junctions, endlessly recalculating and giving instructions to take exits as we sailed past them.

He blames the iPhone (yes I know, it gets worse) that connects to it for live travel info.

 

If that were my first introduction to sat navs then I would buy a map.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Halfords trade card ! What is the fucking point in it. My other half has been moaning about the headlights on her car so I said I would try and get her some of these brighter jobbies. £39 fucking quid each, but they did buy one get one free. So I ask how much with the trade card, which got it down to about £22 which although still taking the piss I thought it would do as it is Sunday and the proper motor factors were shut. The assistant then goes on to say that the buy one get one free doesn't apply if I use the trade card making the bulbs 5 quid dearer than to a normal punter. I think what annoyed me most is I can buy normal 477 bulbs from GSF or Motor parts dierct for around £2 each. I think next time I am in Halfords I will tell them where to stick their trade card as it is totally pointless.

We paid £40 odd for my fiancées pair of ‘150% brighter’ H7’s a few weeks back at Halfrauds. I wish we’d sourced them more cheaply elsewhere, but she was getting her knickers in a twist about how shit her standard bulbs were, and wanted them there and then. I tried my trade card and they came out more expensive as well.

In all fairness, she hasn't moaned about the new ones at all, and reckoned they’re definitely better.

Job jobbed.

[Cavcraft]

Halford's Trade Card is mostly very, very good.

[Pillock]

Having used Satellite Navigation for years, and so knowing quite a few scout camp sites, I reckon you probably had a duff postcode or perhaps a postcode that covers a massive area. We have to guide emergency services into our site by grid ref as the postcode just doesn't work.

 

Smartphone satnavs are great, obviously you need to sensibly interpret what it's telling you to do as a server in California won't know that the B5572 past Lower Whallop is a bit treacherous this time of year. But that's only the same as a map.

 

Built in satnavs are dogwank and serve only for a nice big screen to blu-tack your phone in front of. BMW want £275 for the live traffic and map updates to mine, a service that Google give at no cost.

[Guest Hooli]

Google maps hate birmingham. When I was trying to meet people there last weekend it turned me around three times to go back & join the same queue further away....

[Mally]

Can't work the Sat Nav in my wife's new car. 

Just plug the Garmin in that I've had for years.

They are not perfect, but easier than reading a map when driving.

[beko1987]

Google maps here! After a quick reccee of the map to know which direction to roughly go.

 

Just popped to bicester to fetch a hoover, and the check injectors light came on. Went away when I turned the car back on to leave, and didn't come on again (I went a different, less horrible way home though) so I'll file that under French and hope me investigating the lumpy idle sorts that out!

[Jazoli]

Sat Nav's are great, I have been using them since they first appeared and were hugely expensive, the time saved trying to fuck around with maps and work out routes whilst trying to get around my jobs more than paid for it, google maps is as good as any 99% of the time.

 

Halfords trade cards are also great, mainly because I live 300 metres away from one, it means I pay trade prices for bulbs/oil/filters/tools whilst not having to go to ECP on the other side of town.

[Pillock]

You should have seen the TomTom share price when Google announced that Maps now did navigation.

 

I can't work out why anyone would buy a £150 wide-screen satnav without traffic, when you can buy a £50 phone and just lob a free SIM in it.