The grumpy thread

[dollywobbler]

Or to move to Wales. The roads here are in remarkable shape! Sure, the odd pothole generated by winter, but otherwise, they're lovely.

[twosmoke300]

A couple of years ago (or more) a local car dealer brought a ten year old x-type Jaguar in for mot.Obviously both outer sills were non existent so it subsequently failed.He wasn't happy and insisted the sills were plastic so can't be rotten.I even showed him the gaping great holes you could lose an arm in but he was still unimpressed.Anyway, he's never been back since. I have heard he bad mouths me saying I'm too strict, too harsh on older cars but whatever.

 

Now this twat lives in a large village 3 miles away and for the last year has been selling cars from a forecourt of that villages garage (good customers of mine).They've told me before he said he won't come to me because I'm too strict.They were just fucking great holes in that Jag I didn't need to poke at it. So yesterday the garage man comes in for a test and says Paul needs a car testing but his mot station is booked until Wednesday told him to come and see me . Well I am booked up anyway but matey again says nah he's too strict.I don't want this twat as a customer but it got me thinking.How many people in his village has he been telling I'm too strict and how many customers have I lost because of him.

 

Today my assistant only went and booked him in for a test on Thursday.He slags me off one day then the next has the audacity to book a car in for an mot.My assistant couldn't understand why I was miffed.

 

It's a Citroen C1 and I can already see the failure sheet now.

 

Exhaust bracket corroded away = exhaust insecure....check

Anti-rollbar rubbers split and perished = excessive movement in a suspension bush....check

Three pot engine so = lambda reading excessive after second fast idle.....check

Cost of mot £54.85....check

You forgot front wiper split ( fiddly fucker to change ) and noisy rear wheel bearing .(always seized solid into the axle and about half an hour of beating with a slide hammer awaits )

[Guest Hooli]

Quite. You see it with some rogue protesters too, shouting in the face of riot police to try and get them to lash out, so they can record some brutality and post it on YouTube. It's about as sensible as poking a tiger with a sharp stick. There's just no need.

 

My gawd, a wobbly post I totally agree with.

 

What is the world coming too?

[SierraMikeHotel]

As you may know, I visited a car dealer today.  Now, the car was a "trade-in bargain" so I wasn't expecting them to roll out the red carpet, but it was a pretty crappy experience.

 

I rang yesterday to check the car was still there and that they'd be open, the guy was really short on the phone and just told me to ring when I was on the way.  So I rang when I was on the way, but they still had to move two other cars out of the way before I could even see the thing.

 

I brought up an advisory from the last MoT - "Oh, advisories are only minor and don't matter."

Pointed out the engine light was on - "Oh, those things are on all the time, it runs OK so I wouldn't worry."

 

Now, I'm absolutely not a car expert but I am capable of seeing through this level of bullshit.  It wasn't even competently done bullshit, just lazy bullshit.

 

If selling cars was my business I would at the very least have put a diagnostic computer on it so that I'd have a sensible answer to hand.  I'd have spent fifteen minutes cleaning it, too.

[bramz7]

That's Thornton Heath for you sadly.

 

A local dive dealer has a 53 plate Legacy for sale, and it's an estate. Want photos and a price? I might be able to help....

[mercrocker]

I iz Kriminal.....got a tug today for no seatbelt. 

 

Fucking annoyed, not with being busted its a risk you take.   

 

Neither am I looking for a sermon, I don't wear one and its to do with my own experiences in life.

 

No, what boiled my piss was I was two minutes away from swapping the Fester over with the Minor for the rest of this week.  Still, the nice policeman told me there is an offer on this week on seatbelt offences and I can simply pay £36 in 21st Century tax and do a naughty boy exam on-line.     

 

Think I need to stop driving this modern stuff for the rest of the year. 

[adw1977]

Sick of house hunting / mortgage bullshit / whatever already.

 

Found a property I want to buy but it’s a new build so I need to pay a reservation deposit and agree to exchange in 28 days even though the fucking thing won’t be finished until August

 

Could use an extra month and another months invoice paid to give some breathing room with the deposit money but if I wait I’ll risk losing the one I really want

 

Fuck off.

 

Are the builders committing to it being finished in August?  I looked at a Barratt new build a few years ago and they wanted me to commit to the contract ASAP but then the completion date would be whatever they felt like.  Bought a non-new build in the end.

[Cavcraft]

Solicitors, or at least one of them. Three months now to sort a few minor things out that could have been done in a day at most. Not a single objective achieved and we're still getting letters that they clearly haven' been arsed to deal with.

[Pillock]

not round here they don't.

 

on a general bin day or the recycling bin the following week, its the same bin lorry, with the same crew.

 

only difference been that the general bin in green and the recycling bin is blue.

 

what ever gets collected though may be sent to different places. i say that cos i dunno one way or the other.....

Yeah, so if they turn up on the same day they can't separate the rubbish and recycling if it's the same truck!

[cros]

I iz Kriminal.....got a tug today for no seatbelt. 

 

Fucking annoyed, not with being busted its a risk you take.   

 

Neither am I looking for a sermon, I don't wear one and its to do with my own experiences in life.

 

No, what boiled my piss was I was two minutes away from swapping the Fester over with the Minor for the rest of this week.  Still, the nice policeman told me there is an offer on this week on seatbelt offences and I can simply pay £36 in 21st Century tax and do a naughty boy exam on-line.     

 

Think I need to stop driving this modern stuff for the rest of the year.

 

That's a bastard. I often don't wear them, especially as I've 2 vehicles not fitted with belts. Its a pity effort can't be focussed on people whose behavior at the wheel threatens others. I consider a fucking great pothole or someone on the phone more of a danger to other motorists than the possibility of myself flying through the windscreen but, again, my friend and I are both probably in a minority on that one. Top or bottom bunk Merc?

[SierraMikeHotel]

That's Thornton Heath for you sadly.

 

A local dive dealer has a 53 plate Legacy for sale, and it's an estate. Want photos and a price? I might be able to help....

I would definitely be interested in looking at a Legacy, yes!

[MarvinsMom]

Yeah, so if they turn up on the same day they can't separate the rubbish and recycling if it's the same truck!

maybe i have not been clear.

 

this thursday (15/3/2018) they will come and empty our recycling bin.

 

then the following thursday (22/3/2018) the same bin lorry and crew will come and empty the normal household bin.

 

i dunno if the lorry than thakes its collection to the same place for disposal/incineration/land fill/sorting etc.

 

but it is the same lorry that comes for the bins every thursday. 

[M'coli]

I thought that this guy must have said something terrible, but apparently he shouted "2-1, 2-1 mate."

 

Is that really goading?! Really?

Possibly - I've not been taking an interest in this but perhaps the person being goaded has a "Desmond" or a "Douglas"?

[DodgeRover]

No fucking auto gas that I can find in Sussex or Surrey apart from one station with such a wierd pump it won't fit our vehicles, even they say they'll run out in 2 days.

Anybody know anyone private with their own tank who will sell me a fill up? Or a hand pump I can borrow and I'll fetch a 47kg bottle?

[mercrocker]

 Top or bottom bunk Merc?

 

Ooooh, I will have to do a risk assessment on that....

[Pillock]

maybe i have not been clear.

 

this thursday (15/3/2018) they will come and empty our recycling bin.

 

then the following thursday (22/3/2018) the same bin lorry and crew will come and empty the normal household bin.

 

i dunno if the lorry than thakes its collection to the same place for disposal/incineration/land fill/sorting etc.

 

but it is the same lorry that comes for the bins every thursday. 

 

Yeah - if you put all your bins out on the same day, then they wouldn't be able to send the same truck. They'd have to send two trucks - one for rubbish, one for recycling, as it goes to different places. Plastic and metal get separated with magnets, our glass goes to a place near Mansfield where it's crushed by colour and turned back into glass (which is weird, as we're not far from Barefoot whose glass goes to Doncaster), the only things that are combined are garden waste and cardboard go in together - presumably to be turned into biomass pellets. Paper is recycled into paper.

 

Either way, having it all collected on the same day once per fortnight it's gonna cost you a fortune in wages, and then the next week they'd be doing chuff all because you've got no bins to empty that week.

 

That's why it's staggered, recycling one week and waste the other to avoid contamination.

[320touring]

maybe i have not been clear.

 

this thursday (15/3/2018) they will come and empty our recycling bin.

 

then the following thursday (22/3/2018) the same bin lorry and crew will come and empty the normal household bin.

 

i dunno if the lorry than thakes its collection to the same place for disposal/incineration/land fill/sorting etc.

 

but it is the same lorry that comes for the bins every thursday.

*Long post alert*

 

I worked in the waste sector up until about a year ago - I'll try to explain roughly what happens below. Each council/private contractor can be different though so things may vary

 

Usually it is the same crews that do recycling and residual (as in non recyclable) waste. More often than not, the collections follow the same pattern - so crews know the route and householders have a chance of understanding what gets put out when.

 

Although the trucks and crews may be the same, the location they tip at changes - recycling goes to an MRF (materials reclamation facility) if it is collected mixed - e.g. paper and plastic bottles in one bin or box. This is where the material is sorted into different types then sold on.

 

Increasingly, with cut budgets, councils are trying to get householders to sort materials out before they collect them - this avoids sorting costs, and usually means that each type of material is cleaner - (less wrong shit in each box). This better quality material is worth more. That's why you may have 4/5/6 different bins or boxes.

 

Lots of councils are moving away from mirroring recycling and residual rounds for cost reasons - you can collect more houses bins on a recycling round than you can on a residual (as the material weighs less, so more houses for the same weight (assuming the truck can handle the volumes of waste involved)).

 

The residual waste is often tipped at either landfill/mechanical treatment plant/energy from waste plant. More often than not, it goes through some sort of process to sort out any recycling that may be in it to maximise capturing things like bottles etc.

 

The public "tips" are an interesting area - there are a whole set of regulations that control things like how small electrical items/fluorescent tubes etc are disposed of. Sometimes this means stuff may appear clunky or nonsensical - such is the joy of working in a regulated industry.

 

Most tips have cameras etc for a couple of reasons - deterring antisocial behaviour against staff, and also protecting the value in what is collected there.

 

Scrap copper is currently trading £3700-4600 a tonne, and scrap textiles can be between £150-500 a tonne.

 

This means it's attractive for people to "acquire" these materials for selling on when the site is shut. It's also why cable theft is all to common on the rail network.

 

Interestingly, councils are having to run their waste services more and more like commercial enterprises, as the value of the materials collected can provide an income stream to support other services - e.g education or social work.

 

I could go on, but I won't:)

[Eddie Honda]

Yeah - if you put all your bins out on the same day, then they wouldn't be able to send the same truck. They'd have to send two trucks - one for rubbish, one for recycling

So what are 70/30 split bin lorries for?

 

[320touring]

So what are 70/30 split bin lorries for?

 

They have a couple of potential functions - you can collect residual waste and recycling at the same time in places where sending two separate trucks would be too costly - e.g. country routes with long distances but low number of houses.

 

Or it can be used to collect recycling that's been separated by the householder - e.g. glass/ cans in the 30%, paper/card/plastic bottles in the 70%.

 

You can get them in different splits depending on need like. 40/60 or 80/20

[dollywobbler]

Here, recycling gets collected every week, but residual only every two weeks. I've no idea what the residual crews do on the non-residual weeks. Our last residual collection was cancelled by snow, so we've got a fair bit now (well, a nearly full black bag rather than half a black bag). Wales seems to score highly on recycling rates, and there's now talk of going three-weekly on residual collections. We could pretty easily live with that, but I guess families with kids might struggle a bit more.

[Pillock]

So what are 70/30 split bin lorries for?

 

Well, if you have one then great.

But if not then it's a big expense to buy that instead of just alternating collections and using one truck. And then if you collect both recycling and rubbish in the same week in your fancy truck, it sits idle the next week because you still.only need a fortnightly collection.

[Louise2cv]

We are on weekly recycling and 3 weekly "black bags" collection. They also take food waste every week.

 

We never have a full wheelie bin when the 3 weekly collection comes, even at Christmas we missed the collection and still had space in the in at 6weeks. It doesn't smell because the food goes weekly (they collect raw and cooked waste, everything except fats and oil), and the bulk of what we produce goes in.the recycling bin.

 

Occasionally we get moans in the local paper, sometime with photos of overflowing residual wheelie bins. All of these pictures show the bin overflowing with stuff that could go in.the recycling collection. So I think a number of those who can't cope or complain about 3 weekly collections are either not aware of what goes in the recycling boxes or can't be arsed.

 

I do sympathise with people with space constraints though. My back yard is full of ugly bins and boxes. We got rid of the garden waste bin when they started charging for that collection, but still have a wheelie bin, a recycling trolley, a food waste bin and 3 recycling boxes that were standard issue before the trolley came last year.

[Slartibartfast]

We would struggle with a three weekly collection. Our two allocated bins are overfull as it is and we recycle everything that our council collects (which for some insane reason doesn't include glass).

 

There are quite a lot of us though.

[Mr A Lawrence]

Mums funeral tomorrow. 

 

Not looking forward to it in the slightest.

[Kiltox]

So what are 70/30 split bin lorries for?

 

Posh cunts who you wouldn’t catch in a bASe

[cros]

No fucking auto gas that I can find in Sussex or Surrey apart from one station with such a wierd pump it won't fit our vehicles, even they say they'll run out in 2 days.

 

 

Anybody know anyone private with their own tank who will sell me a fill up? Or a hand pump I can borrow and I'll fetch a 47kg bottle?

 

They got too much money to bother with autogas methinks. The BP garage on the A3 near M25 had just stopped selling it when I was there a in December and the next nearest, a Sainsburys pump wouldn't work. No interest in cleaner fuels really is there?

[Sir Snipes]

I'd say it's even lower to constantly goad an ex-footballer (or anyone) on a motorway, recording it, while driving, with children in the car. Not excusing his behaviour, but I have a special kind of hatred for ANYONE who goads people because they want a reaction, especially while videoing it.

Not quite the same but that reminds me of those pricks who filmed the asda staff having sex. True enough the manager and that girl were stupid for getting caught but they just had to watch didn't they? And they had to film it. And they had to put it up on the net. I don't really care about most antisocial phone behaviour but this modern compulsion to whip the phone out and film stuff really pisses me off.

[SiC]

I always fear myself being the Focus driver in this scenario:

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/watch-queue-jumping-audi-ford-14399554

 

I see that type of cutting in and queue jumping all the time in Bristol. A few places where it happens all the time but the police do nothing about it. If they just monitored a few areas at rush hour, they'd be able to issue quite a few driving tickets. The only time I've seen them do it is when they're enforcing 2+ lanes. If you're not 2+ they pull you over for a £30 fine. If you see what they're doing and try cutting back into the queue, they issue a larger fine and/or points.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I noticed on the local news last night that Derby council are blitzing £35k on clearing up all the shite from the sides of the A38, thanks fellas if you’re reading

[AMC Rebel]

They got too much money to bother with autogas methinks. The BP garage on the A3 near M25 had just stopped selling it when I was there a in December and the next nearest, a Sainsburys pump wouldn't work. No interest in cleaner fuels really is there?

 

This is a worrying trend since Jaggy runs on LPG