The grumpy thread

[DodgeRover]

I had that when overtaking a fiesta ST which was doing 40 the other night when in the Leaf. Entertainingly he ran out of talent trying to follow me round a hairpin bend at 20, where most people come to a standstill. He got away with it, but only just, having to stop dead on the wrong side of the road before understeering into a ditch.

 

Mrs. L1 didn't notice anything, and the kids didn't wake up, so presumably my driving was either pretty smooth or they're all just used to it.

Did the handbrake come into play?

[loserone]

It's a foot operated parking brake, so no.

[purplebargeken]

Went to the International Stoneleigh MG & Triumph Spares Day yesterday. Seeing my mates was ace and had a greart day out in that respect, however, the show itself was shite in the spares availability and quality side of things for Triumphs. 

 

Apart from the very odd exception, the majority of stuff was vastly overpriced old tat. Probably the last time I will go. Sad, as the cars were lovely but overall the show was the worst one ever. 

[Cavcraft]

Biked in, nearly got ran over by a petrol tanker and then managed to poke myself in the eye with the label off my jumper.

[Sheefag]

I seek to avoid these irritants by frequenting licenced premises located in reception blackspots. Reception blackspots can be created where there are none by enterprising people willing to flout the Wireless Telegraphy Act.

 

Twatting someone in the pub toilets doesn't contravene the Wireless Telegraphy Act.

Hth.

 

[cort16]

In the centre of Edinburgh on Sunday there’s cars parked everywhere including in double yellows . There’s on space badly marked as being for hire cars. I’ll just be 10 minutes , come back to find a parking ticket . It’s obviously a little honey trap. My own fault I suppose , Edinburgh really hates cars it £30 to park for 24hr!

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

Middle stepson age 21 (my ex's son, but I'm the only dad he knew from age 8 ) asked if he could borrow 50 quid.

 

Issues with this are:

 

I don't have spare money this month, or any month really.

 

He only ever contacts me when he needs something.

 

He has a good job, his own place and earns a hell of a lot more than me.

 

He's just got back from an expensive Spanish holiday, blows silly amounts of money on clothes etc, while I shop at Primark etc and have never been abroad.

 

 

I said no of course, but where does parental responsibility end and telling them to man up begin? Am I going to get an earful from my ex for being a crap dad?

 

Simply put - he can FRO! No way you're in the remote postcode of being a bad parent - telling an earning, holidaying, money blowing ADULT he needs to sort himself out. That talk has to come at some point!

 

 

My younger sister is 25 and has rinsed my mum for tens of thousands of pounds over the last 5 years. 

When she is working, every month she'll get paid and spend all her money on going out on the lash etc. Three weeks later her rent needs paying and she'll go begging for money "to keep a roof over her head". My mum's the guarantor on the rent anyway so she's forced to pay it.

 

My sister is quite often out of work because she'll have quit after she decides that one of the managers is bullying her. By bullying, she means simply being reprimanded for calling in sick repeatedly, turning up late or being bone idle.

Every year or so she is "bullied" (her housemates will be sick to death of her stealing their food and leaving the place a mess) out of whatever shared house she's living in and my mum will stump up a deposit and be a guarantor for the next place.

 

It breaks my flipping heart to see it keep happening over and over again, and I refuse to even be in the same room as her. I get a load of grief for it because it makes christmas etc awkward.

 

I'm similarly stuck - which is a pain for munchkin mostly as he misses the cool grandparents they can be. But the staggering differences in approach and tolerance between myself and both sis and brother just got to be too much. I've bailed out the folks (dad never knew - as he'd have lost it!) countless times when mum bailed out either sis or brother to the point of leaving themselves short for some payment or other. But it's you who has to keep your opinion to yourself………. that works for a lot of things - but watching a family member fleeced repeatedly isn't one of them.

[Lacquer Peel]

An update on the Passat track rod end saga.

 

They've had the car since Friday, so more than one working day and didn't call me to confirm what they're doing. I had to call them and spoke to the receptionist who told me the track rod ends they'd fitted are "faulty" (wrong?) and the car will be ready by the end of the day.

 

If they replace like for like (shit for shit monkey metal) and the inner track rod ends are damaged I don't have much faith that these track rod ends are going to last for long.

[treehugger]

Teenagers here riding bikes sort of playing chicken with cars, acting the fool....too young to be car drivers.

FFS its not the best feeling, if you dont see one of the idiots you may clip one, thats going to be fun. Just to prove how much of a lad you are! Give me strength.

[DoctorRetro]

Fucking arsing Facebook marketplace.

 

For sale, 4 alloys with decent tyres (my old Corolla ones) - £25.

 

- Is this still available?

- Yes

- What is your last price?

- £25

- Would you take £20?

At this point I give up and leave conversation

 

To be fair, the spelling, grammar and punctuation was fine.

[Supernaut]

Fucking arsing Facebook marketplace.

 

For sale, 4 alloys with decent tyres (my old Corolla ones) - £25.

 

- Is this still available?

- Yes

- What is your last price?

- £25

- Would you take £20?

At this point I give up and leave conversation

 

To be fair, the spelling, grammar and punctuation was fine.

People who try to haggle over something that's so cheap to begin with can just fuck off on principle.

[dozeydustman]

Had the kitchen ceiling repaired at last. Only taken since October.

 

Plasterers made the minimum attempts at clearing up their mess. I've spent since about 4 o'clock clearing plaster dust from the kitchen surfaces & cupboards, hallway, lounge, there's even dusty footprints going up the stairs and in the bog.

 

Bunch of arseholes.

 

Many photos taken and e-mailed to letting agent.

 

Why this couldn't wait 2 weeks for us to move out, they'd have had an empty house and no people to disrupt.

[DodgeRover]

Filled up with LPG, pump on motorway obviously cut off early on the last fill - I thought the mpg had suddenly improved, 142l almost a £100 worth! It must have been almost empty rather than having 20 or 30l left

 

Need to fit a bigger engine to improve fuel consumption.

[Tamworthbay]

Fucking arsing Facebook marketplace.

For sale, 4 alloys with decent tyres (my old Corolla ones) - £25.

- Is this still available?

- Yes

- What is your last price?

- £25

- Would you take £20?

At this point I give up and leave conversation

To be fair, the spelling, grammar and punctuation was fine.

It’s got so bad that I hesitate selling anything worth less than a few hundred unless it’s to people I know one way or another. It’s just asking for grief from the knuckle dragging brigade sadly.

[alcyonecorporation]

Fucking arsing Facebook marketplace.

 

For sale, 4 alloys with decent tyres (my old Corolla ones) - £25.

 

- Is this still available?

- Yes

- What is your last price?

- £25

- Would you take £20?

At this point I give up and leave conversation

 

To be fair, the spelling, grammar and punctuation was fine.

People want to haggle on principle; in this way, the actual figure/price is irrelevant.

 

I think my favourite contextual story was when WTC sold a car to a bloke, refused to budge on the price but the buyer thought he'd won because Warren bought him a bottle of Dr. Pepper.

 

I'm so far past dealing with twats like these that I've given up even being polite. Manners don't seem to have meaning any more.

[xtriple]

Decided to try and improve my (entirely bleak) mood today, tried to be nice to Ron (the chap with the collie pup) so gave him a ring, just to see if he was okay. Big mistake. Within ten seconds he was trying to get me to take the dog out for him and playing on his bad hip, no bugger gives a shit that I can barely walk myself or helps me with my broken dog. So I said yes...

 

He asked for ten minutes... after twenty-five I rang him and told him I was off out. See ya...

 

Had a shower and a shave when I looked in the mirror and saw just how close to a tramp I looked with a beard and unkempt hair and clothes that I have lived and slept in for a period of time I do not wish to tell to ANYONE as I am ashamed... just cannot be arsed, I have a black Lab, a half black Basset and another black dog that lives inside me.

 

Came home and did the hoovering. Now to express how bad I have become, the last time I hoovered was before Christmas! All of us with dogs know how much they shed over a couple of days so I guess it will come as no surprise to anyone that I had to empty the hoover three times for just one room...

 

Knew I was overdoing it and have pre-emptively taken MST as well as Fentanyl, already feel really ill but I'd rather feel ill than suffer the pain my body can inflict on me.

[drum]

^ dogs can make a mess.

 

This is what my kids came home to today

 

 

Daughter sent me that vid while i was still at work.

The pair of them cleaned it up before I got home.

I washed the floor and killed the dog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Not really)

 

 

 

 

 

 

(I let the wife wash the floor)

 

 

 

 

 

Don't worry, the dog is fine and I did wash the floor.

[Cheggers]

People want to haggle on principle; in this way, the actual figure/price is irrelevant.

 

I think my favourite contextual story was when WTC sold a car to a bloke, refused to budge on the price but the buyer thought he'd won because Warren bought him a bottle of Dr. Pepper.

 

I'm so far past dealing with twats like these that I've given up even being polite. Manners don't seem to have meaning any more.

The problem is you've only got to watch one of the many annoying antiques programmes on TV to see it's all "what's your best price?" and "will you take £18?" on a £20 item. The average daytime TV watcher (if I ever become one, shoot me on the spot) is just conditioned to shaving every last cent off as a matter of course.

[anonymous user]

A friend Annie who is an antique dealer was not happy on one of the tv shows (won't mention which one, or which tv dealer) where they had rehearsed the haggle (having agreed the price off camera) but then on camera the dealer decided to try to knock another £20 off. They had to reshoot because she said "That's not what we agreed".

[Mrcento]

Got news back of the workshop, it's a no go. Guys not willing to move enough on the rent, even with the offer of refurbing the interior, he's only willing to move 5% on price, even though my offer would have seen me add value to his property AND end up likely paying full rent via staggered increases over a year or 2. He doesn't give a shit about that, just wants as much possible as instantly as possible and will sit with it empty until he gets it.

 

As per usual with the local market.

 

Impossible.

 

Easy to see why anyone in vehicles as a startup is out of business within the year. The actual premises themselves are prohibitively expensive.

[Guest Hooli]

^ dogs can make a mess.

 

This is what my kids came home to today

 

 

Daughter sent me that vid while i was still at work.

The pair of them cleaned it up before I got home.

I washed the floor and killed the dog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Not really)

 

 

 

 

 

 

(I let the wife wash the floor)

 

 

 

 

 

Don't worry, the dog is fine and I did wash the floor.15499139017955366570479213394316.jpg

 

That reminds of years ago when I got home to the place I first lived in Donny & Lucky had decided to empty the bin & all the other rubbish bags she could find. The kitchen was about 6" deep all across the room! She was just sat in the middle of it looking so happy I struggled to tell her off.

 

I'm damned if I can remember why there were so many rubbish bags though.

[loserone]

Got some windows fitted which we ordered over the summer. They were ready in September, but the fitter couldn't fit us in until November.

 

Two went in on one day, then they left after lunch. Third one wouldn't have fitted in the van, they said. They then turned up a bit late the next day, got the third one and the boss left his lackey to clean up. They generally left a bit of a mess, didn't bring a windowsill to replace one they had cut out (fair enough) and left the plaster in a state. Packing pieces were left primed but not glossed, etc.

 

Then had someone else come in to do some other work, including a partition wall. He's had to be pretty clever with his windowsills and plastering to cover up how crooked one window was fitted.

 

The window fitter then came back whilst MiL was in her last week (i.e., Mrs L1 was in now state to argue), plonked a windowsill in with no more nails and scarpered. Fair enough, the windows are in, I can source and fit decent windowsills, fix the plaster, paint the outside, they've done a quick job to squeeze it in, had two half days at best and screwed up the level of one window, which I will have to live with.

 

Bill arrived at 50% more than their (verbal) quote. Kicked off a bit he's basically said "how much do you want off".

 

Have gone back using their own numbers, just with the hours they were actually here. It's still more than their estimate, but not horrendous.

 

I suspect I wouldn't have bothered,but the chap we had in to do the wall probably put half a day in covering up the crooked window, and grafted long days and did a brilliant job in two weeks for twice what this cheeky bugger wants for 20 hours shit work. And if we just paid him, it wouldn't seem fair.

[loserone]

"pay whatever you want, I'm honest and very sorry you're not satisfied but plastering is a decorators job and I don't paint things because I'm not a decorator. And windows are supposed to be crooked."

 

Now we've paid a handsome sum for some shit work AND I feel shit like I've diddled someone.

 

Fucksake

[vulgalour]

More news on the house front and it turns out my worst fears about what's been holding it all up are true.  I'm not wanting to go into massive personal details about it here, merely vent my frustration.  Estimated 1-5 years to find a suitable property and once found, it won't actually be home, it'll be somewhere I live.  That's not ideal, not even close to ideal.

 

In looking more at the rental market it's seriously depressing.  A single person trying to rent somewhere suitably sized for working from home and with a safe parking space for one car is difficult enough, finding that in a meagre budget is pretty much impossible outside of really incredibly shitty areas.  The ramshackle state of properties that landlords are wanting in excess of £600 pcm for is mind boggling.  Anybody would think the private rental market and the money charged wasn't regulated and people were just out to get as much money as they could for as little investment as possible...

 

Feeling pretty grumpy about the whole thing really.  Even house-sharing with friends isn't ideal because of the cost and the fact that it would be temporary, leaving them in the lurch when I finally do move on.  It just feels like a different sort of limbo now.  I'll do what I always do: sink into work and shut it all out.

 

On the subject of work, going into a 'normal job' sees me no better off financially and all of my experience as a self-employed person - accounting, planning work schedules, customer facing, retail, promotion, advertisement creation, project management, customer expectation management, hourly rates, meeting deadlines, use of various online services and computer programes - is discounted if I attempt to go into regular employment because for some bizarre reason, a self-employed person seeking a change of career is someone that doesn't know what they're doing and can't be trusted.  That in turn means the WORST sorts of jobs because apparently, none of my skills are transferable (bollocks to that) and I'll need training in how to push buttons and take abuse over the headset all day in whatever shitty call centre I'd end up in.  Maybe I'd end up in a warehouse and treated like dirt there on a zero hour contract instead.

 

*90s teenage nihilism increases*

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Sorry to hear that, mate.  Housing and property are a very sore subject for many and having been a recent renter, I completely agree with your assessment of the market.

 

The last place we rented had safe parking for two, was in a rural location and was £700 PCM and well-sized.  We were incredibly lucky.  It was down in Kent and I suspect it's neither available nor in an area you want to live, but I can always pass on the address via PM if it's any help.  The landlord was into cars and motorbikes, too...

[myglaren]

^ That's a very frustrating situation to have to deal with

My youngest daughter pretty much just walked into her house a year ago and now my youngest son has done the same with a house + garage & shed on the other side of this estate - less than a mile from me.

Both single.  Both in steady 'normal' jobs.  Not highly paid though.

[loserone]

Not in the Midlands or the south though.

[vulgalour]

Wouldn't be any point, Grumpius, though I appreciate the offer.  £700 is way beyond my meagre one-person budget and the South is too expensive for me to live on my own.  Midlands is as far south as I can afford to go and it's central enough that the long-distance relationship thing I've been doing for five years now will at least be less of a strain for the two of us.  I just have to accept I'm going to be stuck in the North East for some time to come and make the best of it.

 

It'll sort eventually, life is better now than it could be by quite some margin, Mike is fairly easy to live with for the most part (the same cannot be said of me), it's just the frustration of the situation and being promised such a big thing (a house with my bf that isn't rented!) and then finding that the original deal was actually very different to what was actually on offer.  I can't be too ungrateful, and indeed I'm grateful of the help, it's just the accidental dishonesty attached.  I like people to be honest and straight talking, I don't like to be protected from the truth of a thing.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Understandable.  Best of luck to you.

[Mrcento]

a self-employed person seeking a change of career is someone that doesn't know what they're doing and can't be trusted.  That in turn means the WORST sorts of jobs because apparently, none of my skills are transferable (bollocks to that) and I'll need training in how to push buttons and take abuse over the headset all day in whatever shitty call centre I'd end up in.  Maybe I'd end up in a warehouse and treated like dirt there on a zero hour contract instead.

 

*90s teenage nihilism increases*

 

Agree with the whole post RE property and employment, sorry to hear that,

 

I'm in similar boat on the job side too (hence above post looking for a unit to start my own thing up), i'm technically self employed at the moment but that leads to so many issues when looking to do something else more financially stable.

 

What i have qualifications for, nowhere will touch me because, frankly, i'm more qualified than the guys running the departments and too much of a threat to their own job. (i've been overlooked for even an interview on at least 4 occasions for jobs in digital media that went to boys who don't even own a computer) Other jobs, where i have clear experience and transferable skills won't touch me because of a gap on my CV and managerial experience = Bigshot they fear would come in and want to run the place. Apparently even the most basic of basic transferable skills like van driving (i regularly did it as part of my last job) suddenly isn't applicable to a van driving job, even when the job you have experience in is vastly more difficult than the job you're applying for, because it wasn't directly titled "Van driver".

 

I mean, ffs, i even applied for a job that was basically hygiene control at a local facility and was rejected on application because i didn't have relevant experience in following daily procedures required for cleaning protocols.... which is odd, because my previous job running a fucking animal rescue centre involved doing exactly that on a daily basis, including infection and outbreak control where i'd be fully suited and booted like a forensic coroner working in a nuclear war zone, dismantling and disinfecting areas roof to floor. Setting up quarantine zones, all the protocols required to keep the place open and stopping the spread etc. But apparently that's not good enough.

 

Applied for warehouse work. again "No experience, would need training", despite the fact i've also worked in stock control.

 

But, good news.... i might one day get that van driving job after all.

 

Providing i agree to do the job for free for 3 months trial/training to prove the minimum wage job i already have experience of doing is one i can handle. (newsflash, the job comes up every 3 months, i.e they takes a poor desperate sap on trial and let them go and take another, let them go....free labour).