The grumpy thread

[richardmorris]

Is it just me? ( I am for once, prepared to be told it is).

 

Went for lunch with my Girlfriend and daughter to a farm shop/cafe.  Chose a table outside as it's nice weather.  After we sat down I notice two powerfully built company directors huddled over a laptop.  Geoff's progress on the network issues is apparently good, but there are some other things that need addressing going forward etc.- yep, they are having a loud conference call at their table in the full sight and hearing of the whole yard.

 

I regard this as rude and arrogant in the extreme - if I wanted to be included in your fooking business meetings, I'd come and sit in your fooking office!

 

But maybe I am just getting old an grumpy.

 

If the other two hadn't been there, I'd have sat down at their table - since they obviously felt everyone should be included in their fucking business.

 

Definitely a breach of GDPR anyway.

[clayts450]

nPower advising me that I'm about £113 in credit on my leccy bill and suggesting I may want a refund. A grin surely ?

 

Computer says no - you need to provide us with an actual meter reading. Well why did you issue a bill on an estimated reading and get my hopes up. And why haven't you read the meter yourselves, you idle sods ? The meter is outside - I don't need to be here.

 

Be ages now before I get the (slightly reduced) refund due to underestimation.

 

Probably get about 12 pence instead.

[richardmorris]

I keep getting pestered by the electric co. To get a smart meter fitted. Can’t as it’s rented and the junction and meter is 100m from my apartment.

[Kiltox]

I keep getting pestered by the electric co. To get a smart meter fitted. Can’t as it’s rented and the junction and meter is 100m from my apartment.

Yeah I’m ignoring the fuck out of the same. Same reason.

[dave21478]

Electricity wankers.

They do a meter reading at the end of winter....

"holy fuck you have used tons of jiggwatts, we are cranking up your direct debit."

ugh, ok.

They do another reading at the end of summer.

"Actually you have used less than we expected, here is a refund and we are reducing your direct debit."

ugh, ok.

 

repeat every year. Really? you dont have the technology to work out an average over the year?

 

We were supposed to be getting some radical linked meters that send real-time readings back to the providers via the power lines, but that seems to have fallen through. My neighbour....the one with the literal, actual tinfoil hat....reckoned it was all a Big Brother scheme and the meters would be recording everyones every move and hackers would be able to..to....do stuff...... "oh, what would hackers do?".....well they would...hack your...electricity.... Aye, ok.

[Guest Hooli]

Back to PDRs, ours are the same every year -

 

I need the basic training to do my job, things like CCNA for networking.

 

Never happens, no training ever happens not even when projects are done to get new kit with training included in the project budget ffs.

[beko1987]

Electricity wankers.

They do a meter reading at the end of winter....

"holy fuck you have used tons of jiggwatts, we are cranking up your direct debit."

ugh, ok.

They do another reading at the end of summer.

"Actually you have used less than we expected, here is a refund and we are reducing your direct debit."

ugh, ok.

 

repeat every year. Really? you dont have the technology to work out an average over the year?

 

We were supposed to be getting some radical linked meters that send real-time readings back to the providers via the power lines, but that seems to have fallen through. My neighbour....the one with the literal, actual tinfoil hat....reckoned it was all a Big Brother scheme and the meters would be recording everyones every move and hackers would be able to..to....do stuff...... "oh, what would hackers do?".....well they would...hack your...electricity.... Aye, ok.

British gas did that. Was £44 a month when I joined in May. Come January it went up to £103 a month. The day I moved to a new supplier they reduced it back down to £60.

 

Tough,fuck off BG. Joined a new bunch of lads for £28 a month. Sounded a bit cheap, but after a full 12 month of a smart meter, I was able to pull a csv file of days. 2 readings every hour, 365 days worth. So when I joined they got the actual figures we use in an average year (and it was a cold winter so the gas was higher than it could have been), so if they pull the same trick, I'm going to refuse the direct debit change. Also went on a monthly contract rather than 12 months to try and avoid many headaches if they do turn out to be shit.

 

The smart meter still works too, well, the display in the kitchen still shows stuff.

[Stanky]

Electricity wankers.

They do a meter reading at the end of winter....

"holy fuck you have used tons of jiggwatts, we are cranking up your direct debit."

ugh, ok.

They do another reading at the end of summer.

"Actually you have used less than we expected, here is a refund and we are reducing your direct debit."

ugh, ok.

 

repeat every year. Really? you dont have the technology to work out an average over the year?

 

We were supposed to be getting some radical linked meters that send real-time readings back to the providers via the power lines, but that seems to have fallen through. My neighbour....the one with the literal, actual tinfoil hat....reckoned it was all a Big Brother scheme and the meters would be recording everyones every move and hackers would be able to..to....do stuff...... "oh, what would hackers do?".....well they would...hack your...electricity.... Aye, ok.

 

We sacked off the bi-annual bills because the May one was monstrous and the November one was tiny, and ended up opting for a pre-pay meter. We top it up every month on payday, the same amount each month so we get to a couple of hundred in credit by the end of summer which gets slowly used up over the winter. We also get perfect visibility of whats left and what you are using at any time of day or night.

 

Also actual lol at tinfoil hat man. £5 if you can get a picture of him wearing his hat

[Guest Hooli]

I think the problem with smart meters when you move suppliers is the new supplier can't remotely upload their tariff so it'll lie about the costs on the in house display. The units used will be correct though.

 

I'm on a variable DD so I pay what I use each month, oddly enough the winter months only just reach what they claimed I'd need to pay every month...

[Timewaster]

I once had to do a performance review complete with all the "career progression" "where do you see yourself in 5 years?" guff with a guy who had done the same job for 50 years

 

Yes. 50!

 

He wasn't impressed.

[dave21478]

 

 

Also actual lol at tinfoil hat man. £5 if you can get a picture of him wearing his hat

 

Its a woman and the hat is actually a head scarf that is woven with some fine aluminium thread. She got it from America...where else?

 

She apparently picks up wifi and phone signals and HT power line "waves" in her head and being near mains power lines causes her pain....if you have watched Better Call Saul, the spin-off from Breaking Bad, she has whatever Chuck had....ie completely mental.

They have internet, but their modem is wrapped in tinfoil. She has super-long keyboard and mouse wires so she is as far away as possible from the computer itself, Their morning routine consists of putting loads of those solar garden lights out in the garden to charge during the day so they can use them as indoor house lights in the evening.

[MarvinsMom]

I work in the most liberal, relaxed and cool place ever. But if you played that card, you’d be the first person to be fired in 8 years.

 

Why not actually play the game, be honest and straightforward and air any grievances in a sensible fashion? None of what you’ve said would get a laugh at a 5 year old’s Birthday party - never mind a professional environment.

 

Yes, some of it can be tedious. But your approach to stopping the tedium is certainly different to mine. Then again, yours may end up being supremely effective.

 

oh that is me been honest.....

 

i've done basically the same shit job for 20 years. i have no interest in "career progression", in fact as far as i'm concerned its just a job, and as will all jobs you are just a number and no one is irreplacable.

 

i've filled the forms in, so i am playing the game. and i've done the whole doing a job that is the next grade up from me (i'm just above the cleaning staff, thats how i like it) and i had a breakdown with it. besides i have no greivences/issues/suggestions to add, and even if i had, then i know what would come of them (bugger all, that is if i had any....)

 

so, no thank you, i turn in,on time every day, do what i need to do (with overtime too as required) and i go home/back to the digs/where ever and that is it, me done for the day.

 

plus i know for a fact that my gaffer plans on throwing in his current job in 3 years time to move down to the South West and NOT work in the construtiuon industry, ever again!

[Stanky]

Its a woman and the hat is actually a head scarf that is woven with some fine aluminium thread. She got it from America...where else?

 

She apparently picks up wifi and phone signals and HT power line "waves" in her head and being near mains power lines causes her pain....if you have watched Better Call Saul, the spin-off from Breaking Bad, she has whatever Chuck had....ie completely mental.

They have internet, but their modem is wrapped in tinfoil. She has super-long keyboard and mouse wires so she is as far away as possible from the computer itself, Their morning routine consists of putting loads of those solar garden lights out in the garden to charge during the day so they can use them as indoor house lights in the evening.

 

Blimey, does sound like a proper mental! At least you can point a satellite dish at her if she has an episode and starts coming at you brandishing a sharpened beetroot or whatever!

[MarvinsMom]

Blimey, does sound like a proper mental! At least you can point a satellite dish at her if she has an episode and starts coming at you brandishing a sharpened beetroot or whatever!

 

i hope that she never, ever goes anywhere near Jodrell Bank......

[Parky]

Actually I rather hope she does! There is something quite appealing about these folk. Admittedly I prefer hearing about them rather than living amongst them but it is fascinating just how paranoid some people can be.

 

Ironically their attempts to go off grid and avoid governmental intrusion merely makes them far more visible and more likely to be observed by the local flics

[dozeydustman]

Not grumpy, more upset. Mrs D is watching an Emmerdale from either today or yesterday, Chas Dingle is about to lose a baby.

Today was the due date for the baby we lost at Christmas last year.

 

Meh.

[Pillock]

I used to take phone calls from field engineers repairing stuff for Dixons. There was a tale of an engineer that went out to a fax machine that was faulty to find everything electrical in the house covered in tinfoil, including the fax machine. Kettle, radio, lamps.... Fax machine wasn't working because the phone line had been chopped into little chunks.

 

Engineer pulled his mobile out to call for his next job and the guy went batshit and locked him in the house because now "everyone knew where they were" and they had to wait for "clearance".

 

Had to call the police on him in the end

[SiC]

Having been to EMC test labs (where you go for product certification and type approval) many times in my working career, I can say that tinfoil actually is very effective at blocking RF energy. Just you can't use it in a product so you use more professional* solutions like copper tape, shielding cans and conductive gaskets.

[clayts450]

oh that is me been honest.....

 

i've done basically the same shit job for 20 years. i have no interest in "career progression", in fact as far as i'm concerned its just a job, and as will all jobs you are just a number and no one is irreplacable.

 

i've filled the forms in, so i am playing the game. and i've done the whole doing a job that is the next grade up from me (i'm just above the cleaning staff, thats how i like it) and i had a breakdown with it. besides i have no greivences/issues/suggestions to add, and even if i had, then i know what would come of them (bugger all, that is if i had any....)

 

so, no thank you, i turn in,on time every day, do what i need to do (with overtime too as required) and i go home/back to the digs/where ever and that is it, me done for the day.

 

plus i know for a fact that my gaffer plans on throwing in his current job in 3 years time to move down to the South West and NOT work in the construtiuon industry, ever again!

 

This - each and every day of the week.

 

The annual wardance sees my colleagues getting into a tizzy cos performance related pay, whereas I'm completely 'meh' about it.

 

I'm brutally honest with my bosses at each and every annual review (usually a different boss each year) and the monthly 'one to ones' we have. I tell them 'not interested in a career, just want to clock in, do job to best of ability, fuck off at hometime'. They don't insult my intelligence by asking where I want to be in 5 years time. It helps that, even if I say so myself, I'm bloody good at what I do, and this is recognised by 'the bosses'. 

 

Weirdly my boss told me today that her recommendation I get the rare 'second highest performance rating increment' (no-one ever gets the highest) was approved by them upstairs. Gee thanks. I'm already at the maximum pay within my range, so this means fuck all - I merely get the standard 2.2% cost of living increase every other colleague gets and that's me lot - a whole £300 a year. Steady...

 

To be fair I only bother to work 28 hrs per week - I could earn shedloads more if I went full time, but fuck that for a game of soldiers - I earn enough to live comfortably (heck I can even afford to run three cars) thanks very much, no doubt helped by living in a cheap to rent hovel. Am I happy ? Yup. Am I concerned about 'career progression' - nope. In fact when it was announced we were entering into a partnership with another Hous. Ass. I pleaded with my boss for voluntary redundancy. Won't happen cos apparently I'm indispensible. We'll see.....

[chaseracer]

I once had to do a performance review complete with all the "career progression" "where do you see yourself in 5 years?" guff with a guy who had done the same job for 50 years

 

Yes. 50!

 

He wasn't impressed.

 

You have a very apposite name... 

 

[wuvvum]

There is a motherfucking mouse in my bedroom.  Really cannot be arsed trying to hunt the little bastard down at 4.30am on a school night so moving into the spare room.  No doubt an early birthday present from the cat - yeah, cheers puss.

[Jazoli]

Get another cat to catch the mouse.

 

I've had rabbits in the house before, not pet ones but ones my 7kg ginger beast has caught and brought in.

[dave21478]

The mad neighbours house.....

 

It used to be quite a nice stone facade but they had it covered in this nasty aluminium cladding....something something faraday cage.....note also the addition of a braided earth strap all the way around near the ground, tied into the metal downpipe etc.

 

 

They moved here to the ass-end of nowhere to be away from cities and all the "electrical radiation". She is almost always barefoot as she wanders around the place as she needs to be "earthed", apparently.

Their car has that ultimate giffer accessory, the rubbery earth strap that dangles down from the rear and touches the ground.

 

I used to think her husband was normal, but he is well into conspiracy theories. His latest that gets him worked up into a proper rage when he talks about it is that apparently the government is going to introduce licences for chainsaws and it will be illegal to operate one without paying for a licence. "How would they enforce that though?" with drones, apparently. The government will be using drones to watch people and check that they dont use a chainsaw without a licence. "uh huh, really? well, I have to go now...."

 

 

 

 

[HH-R]

I hope they drive an old diesel with a starting handle and mechanical fuel pump. Wouldn't want any of those nasty ECUs...

[Kiltox]

I hope they drive an old diesel with a starting handle and mechanical fuel pump. Wouldn't want any of those nasty ECUs...

Laguna II. Electrics don’t work long enough to be a concern.

[AMC Rebel]

Electricity wankers.

They do a meter reading at the end of winter....

"holy fuck you have used tons of jiggwatts, we are cranking up your direct debit."

ugh, ok.

They do another reading at the end of summer.

"Actually you have used less than we expected, here is a refund and we are reducing your direct debit."

ugh, ok.

 

repeat every year. Really? you dont have the technology to work out an average over the year?

 

We were supposed to be getting some radical linked meters that send real-time readings back to the providers via the power lines, but that seems to have fallen through. My neighbour....the one with the literal, actual tinfoil hat....reckoned it was all a Big Brother scheme and the meters would be recording everyones every move and hackers would be able to..to....do stuff...... "oh, what would hackers do?".....well they would...hack your...electricity.... Aye, ok.

 

I don't understand why they can't use the direct debit to pay quarterly in arrears for what we have used - it's almost as if they are trying to rig the system to ensure they have a predictable income...... 

[SierraMikeHotel]

I'm with Ovo, have been for a few years now and I'm very happy with them. Prices are lower than the big operators, even though I choose to pay a little extra for the green tariff. I do my own monthly meter readings so I know they're accurate.

 

If you overpay they pay interest on the balance, so I choose to set the direct debit a bit higher than I actually expect it to be then request a refund if I need a little cash for something. Like a third of a Saab 9-5, for instance

[Captain Furious]

I had a smart meter fitted 18 months or so ago, mainly because I was fed up of them massively under-estimating my bills and then putting the actual meter readings in to find out I owed them a shit load of money.

 

I couldn't believe the number of people, who I'd previously considered to be quite normal, who were absolutely and utterly opposed to smart meters for reasons ranging from them costing too much (to roll out, obviously they're free to you as a customer) to Government spying and terrorists hacking your electricity and turning it into a bomb

 

We walk amongst them...

[Parky]

Yet these people probably have voice activated TV’s, Mobiles, Amazon Alexa, Social media accounts, national insurance numbers and bank accounts. And yet if they get a pop up ad about something relevant to them, they immediately blame the Government, the EU, MI6, and the Illuminati for spying.

 

My aunt is convinced the Government are watching us and plotting against us through social media. Apparently she learned that on Facebook which according to her is the only reliable information source these days. And that’s true, someone she hasn’t met before told her that in a Facebook post.

 

She also invested money with some chancer promising her mega returns from wind turbines in Saudi. A country full of oil and covered in sun apparently needs wind power. Oddly enough he isn’t replying to messages but he is probably busy. After all you can’t trust banks or the City, they are all Con men.

 

Mental.

[loserone]

Gov could already monitor energy usage if they wanted to; smart meters are generally poorly designed, badly maintained IoT devices which hold data about your household activity.

 

No thanks, I'll just read the numbers off the box once a month.