The grumpy thread

[Station]

I think a simple thing my mum said had some effect on me in that she didn't have time to be depressed. I was diagnosed in my teens with some bullshit prognosis that is meant to classify thousands of people, but since just got a grip and no longer get 'depressed'. I've met people who have been diagnosed and it's totally ruined their lives now that they have this tag, they take it as gospel as if this is now how they should lead their lives.

I get sad, but that's just a symptom of being a human being. If I feel some kind of bad day coming on I remind myself of how pathetic an emotion it is and practically thank some God I woke up in perfect health this morning. I may moan on here but I'm fairly positive.

I hear single mum's with too much time on their hands talking about 'being depressed', and it worries me how this is now so pandemic.

 

The best advice is give it time and treat every single morning as another day towards total recovery, it's really in your head and you can make a choice to wake up happy or not. It's easy for me to say, and I know this is a serious thing in some people (chemical imbalances as said above). The best thing is to just get outside and do 'stuff'. It gets easier to ignore the bad thoughts and they just disappear completely.

[Station]

autofive, have you checked the relief valve?

[scaryoldcortina]

Stattion, no he hasn't. It's sump off/engine out anyway to check, so it's on my garage floor (sulking)

 

I have recommended a different engine (based on the stripped oil pump drive, zero oil pressure and the fact that it ran like a tractor before it blew up I've had the recovery on standby for it all week!

[retrogeezer]

Compressed air (for the spiders) I use the garage air line to evict them.

 

Station, you will feel loads better when the ebay invoice for this month arrives and your "profit" vanishes again.

Funk! I forgot about charges! So they're taking 10% of my pound?

and don't forget about your time spent packing the stuff and time/fuel to get to the post office/stand in a queue.

 

Sorry Dave......

[whitevanman]

Trouble is WVM that if you get depressed it's actually extremely difficult to see that and not that easy to simplify.

If you're having an off day it's easy to snap out of it and be rational, if you're depressed that can seem like another twist of the knife and another thing to worry about.

 

When depression sets in it's not a case of just snapping out of it or thinking of orange Allegros.

Cav I do understand trust me....As I say my Daughters suffering and has got much worse thanks to drugs, as have quite a few other people I know who have it, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel is neigh on impossible...but with drugs it IS impossible from my bitter experience, I was diagnosed as clinically depressed a few years ago but I refused to take there damn drugs, or accept that I was ( typical bloke) I found my way out was inside me.

[Negative Creep]

Depression really is an evil thing but very hard to understand or to get across. Everyone has days when they feel like shit but clinical depression is something else. Problem is it's so easy to fake and miss-diagnose that a lot of people don't take it seriously with doctors just tending to prescribe various pills that may flatten things out but don't address the root causes. Speaking to a counsellor can help but there will be a very long waiting list. Yes, I know more about this than I wish I did.

 

Still trying to find a job over here, as the agency I was with sent the usual "thanks we've added your resume to or database if a job comes up blah blah blah". In the meantime I'm stuck in the van watching the money ebb away. Can't do anything that involves spending money as i don't want to waste a single cent so it's pretty much sitting around playing Starcraft or watching films. Plus since my travel partner has left I'm now on my own. If I don't find anything within the next 10 days or so I'm going to be in trouble but nothing is coming up. I could head up north but if I can't find anything there I will have wasted valuable petrol money. Did try speaking to my parents about this but just got the usual "you should of thought of that before you left the country". I'm 28 in less than a month and this really isn't the situation I wanted to be in at this age

[Cavcraft]

Trouble is WVM that if you get depressed it's actually extremely difficult to see that and not that easy to simplify.

If you're having an off day it's easy to snap out of it and be rational, if you're depressed that can seem like another twist of the knife and another thing to worry about.

 

When depression sets in it's not a case of just snapping out of it or thinking of orange Allegros.

Cav I do understand trust me....As I say my Daughters suffering and has got much worse thanks to drugs, as have quite a few other people I know who have it, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel is neigh on impossible...but with drugs it IS impossible from my bitter experience, I was diagnosed as clinically depressed a few years ago but I refused to take there damn drugs, or accept that I was ( typical bloke) I found my way out was inside me.

Oh aye, we're all different. I found the 'happy pills' did help and got off them quite comofrtably twice (about a four year gap in between) but my mum was hooked on them.

It's possible ones state of mind dictates how easy it is to get off them, some people obviously suffer with worse states of depression/anxiety than others.

 

Talking also helps, I was cynical and not a little unworried about counselling and group help, thinking they were all right on weirdo lentil hugger types but couldn't be further wrong if I tried.

[whitevanman]

Talking also helps, I was cynical and not a little unworried about counselling and group help, thinking they were all right on weirdo lentil hugger types but couldn't be further wrong if I tried.

Aye, that and getting a hobby or exercise something else to focus on.

[whiskeyonesix]

I'm grumpy!

 

Just got done for speeding!

 

73kms an hour in a 60 zone... that'll be 150dollars fine and 2 points then! Driving 19 years and this is my first offence.

 

I wouldn't have minded so much if I was thrashing around in a HSV or XR6 or something but noooo...... 1986 Volvo GLT

 

 

Volvo.. truly the Hoons vehicle of choice.....

[eddyramrod]

Greengartside, as so many have said already, you are not alone!

I found isolation one of the worst elements of my depression (and I like "my own company"). Not wanting to leave the house, and consequently sitting around festering, doesn't help.

I did go to the doctor, he did put me on pills, but he was keen to get me off them as soon as possible, which I think was the right attitude.

Work was a major factor, and when I was able to implement a career change I did feel much better.

Talk to friends and family; about anything at all, you don't have to make every conversation about the problem. As time passes, you'll find you are dwelling on your troubles less and less. Counselling was a bit of a mixed bag, I think it depends on the therapists you meet. If your therapy is at some kind of day centre, see if they have any activity groups that take your fancy. You might be surprised how much they can help.

Avoid stressful situations. You'll learn to recognise them quick enough. I remember once abandoning a near-full trolley in Safeway, and I still have issues with crowds, nearly 20 years later.

Learn to count your blessings. It took me a long time, and you might find the same, but it's worth the wait. I can now take pleasure in ridiculously small things, and make it outweigh whatever might be troubling me. This doesn't always work, but it helps enough. I can cope with stuff now.

It might be worth setting yourself a project. I set about collecting books from charity shops and car-boot sales; books by authors I had already enjoyed, or tie-ins to movies and TV that I enjoyed. I spent very little and still have (and re-read, and enjoy) many of those books. I also made it my business to make contact with one author I had particularly enjoyed (good luck if your fave is Agatha Christie! ) and we exchanged a few letters. He was kind enough to send me (unsolicited) a signed set of his work. An incident like that can work wonders in restoring your faith. It's something to hold on to when you feel the ground tilting.

If you are able, take in a pet, preferably a "rescue" one. I know it isn't always possible, but they do give so much love back to their humans.

 

You can always talk to us! Good luck.

[Pillock]

It's also worth pointing out that happy pills don't solve the problem, they just alleviate the symptoms long enough for you to do something about it. You still need to find out the cause of your unhappiness and fix it, the pills will/might/could just lift your mood enough so you can see the light.

 

For me, I couldn't get out of bed some days without tablets but there was no way I was going to take them for the rest of my life, so I used them short term and then sorted my stuff out to help long term. Without the tablets I don't think I'd have had the motivation to do that.

 

IF you get into that situation though, DO NOT just stop taking the tablets point blank. I did. I regretted it, I fucked myself up bigtime for a while. Follow the advice of a trained healthcare professional

[Rusty Pelican]

Mrs RP has had depression for two years now but thankfully is just coming out the other end . Cause was simple to work out , both her parents died , her job in a nursing home was very stressfull and she frequently watched people die and got hit many times resulting in a slipped disc and loads of pain resulting in being unable to do anything , final straw was the loss of two of our three cats through ilness and old age .

Pills helped as did counciling but time has been the greatest healer as has finding a new hobby of cardmaking and light gardening .

I do hope all goes well , it really is a shit , missunderstood illness but you will get better ,A positive attitude helps but is often very difficult to do.

[mnde]

My dad was on anti-depressants for a while because he was really unhappy with the situation at home, in an unhappy marriage etc etc. It didn't seem to do him any good, with highs and crashing lows etc. He didn't feel himself. Even after he left and went to live in sunny Dodworth a few years back now, he would do really silly things. Like buy about 5 electric guitars and blow cash on having his TR7 professionally restored.... a long story.... they were quoting him for a full body respray inside and out, a new SD1 rear axle, V8 engine, power steering conversion etc. etc. It dragged on, he ran out of money because of the divorce, had to surrender the car as payment.......... I was gutted as I'd have had it off him just as it was. Y reg, Persian Aqua blue. Only thing really wrong with it, that I could see, was it ran rich from cold and had a noisy diff.

 

He's much happier now with his new wife in Cheshire, has been off the pills for quite some while.

 

My ex suffered from clinical depression. Which was really hard. The ups and black, black downs, low self esteem etc. She eventually went for counselling and CBT which began to help, but she left me before I could see the results. Long story again - it was the second time round for us - went out for a year then she left me for someone else, they got married, divorced 3-4 years later, we got back together for another year, then she left me again...

 

My grump for today is regarding the SHIT weather. My shite-owning mojo took a hit last night when I discovered that, following the rain at the weekend, the GSA had water in the footwells. It's not had front carpets for several years now because of a long term water ingress problem. Numpty here forgot that both front doors still had a leak, and also forgot that the slight slope in the drive meant that on the driver's side the water trickled under the seat and soaked the rear... that still has carpet and underlay down. Cue me undoing the driver's side seatbelt mounts so I could pull up the carpet. Sopping wet underlay Then ran out of time to do any more before I was called in for dinner. And now it 's pissed it down all day so the plan to get the car cover on it is well and truly scotched. Anyway, I turned it round so the rear is higher than the front and at least any water from today's deluge will remain in the front footwell only...

 

The floors and sills were replaced several years ago, but the specialist was unable to completely stop the water getting in which did for the original floors in the first place!!! I think the doors need new weather strips and those plastic bits that fit along the bottom of the window apeture with the rubber "wiper" that's pressed against the window - don't know the name. Because they've shrunk and don't reach the full length of the glass. Just not had time!!!

 

Also the underseal the specialist used was SHIT and it has peeled off in several places meaning I have surface rust. God knows what they painted the floor panels with before applying the underseal....

 

All in all the situation is a shitter. It's been out of MOT since March and is crying out for TLC, the BX has a problem that's either a wheel bearing or diff bearing that needs sorting..... And I have very little free time or cash at the mo. I may have to sacrifice the BX, *sniff*, so I can spend decent money on getting the G back on the road in time for our wedding, so it can join the Citroen convoy (we will have DS and Traction Avant wedding cars).

 

Rant over, time to go home in the BX in the rain... with yellow headlamps aglow

 

Mark.

[dollywobbler]

The 2CV has gone from a bit leaky to soaking my jeans on the way home. Water was pretty much pouring in. Not amused! Watertight BX tomorrow then. (CX away, Westie also leaks).

[greengartside]

wow, thanks for all the kind comments didn't think so many people had it as well.

 

I have officially been diagnosed with reactive depression - I managed to get a last-minute emergency appointment at 5:30 before they shut.

 

Went through with the doctor exactly what was going wrong in my life (family and money worries primarily) and he was incredibly sympathetic and praised me for how I had been so far. He has prescribed me some Citalopram tablets of which I take one a day. I was told they won't do anything positive for a couple of weeks but after that I should feel less unhappy and more 'neutral' - and a bit more myself than I have done for months and months.

 

I must say now big thanks to all of you - every single one of you on here I class as friends for helping me out and offering advice. Big Autoshite pat on the back for everyone

[AlsoMike]

Citalopram

Same as I had, they may take a few weeks like the Doc says, stay with it. And like Pillock says, when you are ready to stop taking them ween yourself off gradually.

 

My grump today is at myself, for being a spaz and taking ages to work out how to change the brake pads on my 205. Should've taken about 15 mins to do, took me approx 14 years. In the rain.

[warren t claim]

Went to see my doctor about 12 years ago 'cos I was feeling pissed off.

 

He said I wasn't depressed but letting too many things get to me.

 

I asked if there was anything he could give me. He wrote me a prescription saying he wasn't sure whether the chemist next door would have the stuff in. I handed the script to the chemist and he just laughed and said he can't dispense this stuff. I then looked at what the doctor had written...

 

Lottery win. Once only to be taken saturday.

 

Page three girl. To be taken orally three times daily....

 

Shame my doctor retired recently. He had a sense of humour and is sadly missed. His replacement reminds me of Dougie Howser MD.

[Alexg]

Greengartside glad to see you've taken a possitive step towards controlling/ recovering from your situation.

 

 

My gripe today is free time. I sell cars for a living and work 6 days a week every other week, I have every wednedays off. I've resently moved out of home leaving my vvc tro on the drive and a room full of crap that looks like it's been detonated. My old man wants it cleared and that Metro off his drive. He's away all week back at weekends and I over promised what'll be done this week, 'tro will be gone, room will be cleared'. Achieved nought! Booked tro in for Mot tomorrow subject to me sorting it, pads done- check, thermostat done - check, throttle cable done - check, great! Take for a blast, indicators and speedo don't work So still on drive and nothing changed in my old room, que grief...[/code]

[mnde]

Greengartside: similarly I'm glad you've taken positive steps and wish you all the best.

 

Another rant I'm afraid:

 

I went out to the GSA earlier with the torch during a respite in the rain and the front passenger footwell had a small puddle of water in it again. Balls. Seems there's a hole again in the bulkhead up behind the dashboard in the LH corner. A hole in the bulkhead drain and in a panel under the top leading horizonal edge of the NS front wing was repaired some time ago but something else has rotten. That or there's a blockage and water is entering via the hole for the side air vent. I mopped up several flannel fulls of water. And also found pools of water in the recesses where the front subframe rear bolts are. Double balls. How's it getting in here??? Looks like I'll be out with a chamois on Saturday morning drying it all off so I can get the cover on before the next deluge. Got to sort the poor thing out soon!!!!

 

Mark.

[Lord Sterling]

GRRR! FUCKING INTERNET

 

For the past few days its been slipping into slow-GPRS mode, a bit of shaking around and it finds 3G, now it just absolutely refuses to let 3G in and is adamant on giving me the worst and slowest connection.

 

If you need temporary/cheap Internet, save yourself heartache and DO NOT buy the T-mobile dongle.

[scaryoldcortina]

AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH

 

scimitars

 

after a couple of weeks of not running right (now on my 3rd carb in this car) my se5 lurched out of a supermarket carpark late last night with no oil pressure. i stopped let it cool down for half a hour. turned the engine over, and still no movement on the gauge. this morning i changed the oil drive shaft, which looked worn, and still no oil pressure, When removed from the block, the pipe (to the gauge) doesnt even drip when engine turned over, so the engine has to come out

 

this was the scene at 6:30 tonight, and an hour or so later (and with scarys help, and violin accompaniment) the anchor was removed.

 

 

dont know whats going in yet, i may just be lazy and plonk the Zephyr engine in - i know its a good engine, and its handy.

Except...... oh no, it isn't. And we discover this after pulling it out of the zephyr I'm pretty sure there will be a thread about the last few days fuck on with essex engined shite, but I am going in the bath. PS I got a puncture too.

[Quintus]

I went out to the GSA earlier with the torch during a respite in the rain and the front passenger footwell had a small puddle of water in it again. Balls.

Water leaks really are a massive pain in the arse.

 

My record on leaky cars isn't proving great. My first car started leaking into the passenger footwell, which is partly what made me get rid of it.

 

Now the 323 is leaking rainwater into the driver's footwell. So that's two cars owned (thus far), and both have leaked. Magic

[autofive]

I'm pretty sure there will be a thread about the last few days fuck on with essex engined shite

just started one

http://www.autoshite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9127

 

PS I got a puncture too.

ggggrrrrrrrr

[trigger]

Glad to hear your feeling happier Greengartside and are getting help

[Richard]

I found my doctor was all too eager to give me happy pills.

 

A few years ago my work told me to get my allergies investigated if I wanted to keep my job, so I took time off unpaid to go to the doctor.

 

I explained to the doctor that I was managing the current inflammation fine but I wasn't going to have a job if I didn't find out exactly what was causing it. The doctor dismissed that suggestion, saying it wasn't useful to know. She prescribed antibiotics and an anti-fungal cream even though it clearly wasn't an infection.

 

Then she played her trump card. "I see your mother died recently, how are you feeling?"

"Fine" I said. "A bit sad obviously but no worse than I should be".

That was enough for this doctor, who I had never met in my life before, she gave me a prescription for happy pills.

 

All three prescriptions went straight in the bin and I didn't go back to the doctor for a long time.

[myglaren]

Greengartside: similarly I'm glad you've taken positive steps and wish you all the best.

 

Another rant I'm afraid:

 

I went out to the GSA earlier with the torch during a respite in the rain and the front passenger footwell had a small puddle of water in it again. Balls. Seems there's a hole again in the bulkhead up behind the dashboard in the LH corner. A hole in the bulkhead drain and in a panel under the top leading horizonal edge of the NS front wing was repaired some time ago but something else has rotten. That or there's a blockage and water is entering via the hole for the side air vent. I mopped up several flannel fulls of water. And also found pools of water in the recesses where the front subframe rear bolts are. Double balls. How's it getting in here??? Looks like I'll be out with a chamois on Saturday morning drying it all off so I can get the cover on before the next deluge. Got to sort the poor thing out soon!!!!

 

Mark.

Apologies if you have already done this but in the at the top of the inside of the wheel arch there is a rubber tit. Squeeze it a few times and it clears the windscreen drain that clogs up with dead leaves and spiderwebs that accumulate all sorts of crap.

I found mine by accident and half drowned myself but it stopped the water coming into the footwell.

[Station]

The amount of those programmes where a camera crew follow police around! There must be at least six different ones doing the rounds at the moment. Here we get the chance to follow Wazza and Dazza and Lloydy, etc demonstrate their lack of tact and subtlety as they confiscate and happily crush untaxed cars, speaking like monosyllabic robots with a maximum of 20 words programmed. Do they speak like this (ie. a complete tool trying to sound intelligent with long, inappropriate words)? Arseholes.

[Negative Creep]

I found my doctor was all too eager to give me happy pills.

 

Then she played her trump card. "I see your mother died recently, how are you feeling?"

"Fine" I said. "A bit sad obviously but no worse than I should be".

That was enough for this doctor, who I had never met in my life before, she gave me a prescription for happy pills.

 

All three prescriptions went straight in the bin and I didn't go back to the doctor for a long time.

 

Sadly that's the exact reason people don't take it seriously

[warren t claim]

The amount of those programmes where a camera crew follow police around! There must be at least six different ones doing the rounds at the moment. Here we get the chance to follow Wazza and Dazza and Lloydy, etc demonstrate their lack of tact and subtlety as they confiscate and happily crush untaxed cars, speaking like monosyllabic robots with a maximum of 20 words programmed. Do they speak like this (ie. a complete tool trying to sound intelligent with long, inappropriate words)? Arseholes.

+1.

 

Police Interceptors is about the most annoying. Follow the daily antics of Steve "Stevie" Stephenson (Likes cage fighting. Dislikes reading and writing) And Billy "Bonehead" Battersby (Likes the BNP. Dislikes funny coloured people) as they bravely sieze untaxed cars and write out fixed penalty tickets for incorrectly spaced numberplates.

[Negative Creep]

What infuriates me is the voiceover after a chase showing a stolen car committing all sorts of traffic offences "the charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence". Must be so frustrating being a copper and seeing guilty people get off on technicalities or through scumbag lawyers.

 

I'd still love to be a Traffic Officer though. Admittedly I wouldn't get much driving done as I'd be too busy lecturing front foglight wankers, middle lane morons and those retards who drive with their mirrors folded in (I mean seriously, how stupid can you be? It would be DWDCA in my book)