The grumpy thread

[dozeydustman]

1 hour ago, wuvvum said:

Do bin lorries have cruise control nowadays?  Would have thought it would be of limited use in such an application...

Indeed they do. It’s quite useful for dual carriageways and motorway journeys to the tip

[iainrcz]

So nearly a month on from Knobhead's birthday and I've still not bought her a present. I'm hoping by ignoring it or offering to buy her a takeaway she'll forget about it.

It's the same every year, she just won't point at something and say "that"

I couldn't give a flying shit what I get or indeed if I get nothing, but then I'm not female.

 

[wuvvum]

3 hours ago, dozeydustman said:

Indeed they do. It’s quite useful for dual carriageways and motorway journeys to the tip

Do you not just sit on the limiter on such journeys anyway?

[Zelandeth]

10 hours ago, dozeydustman said:

That’s great.

 

Workshop reckon OMGHGF.

Were they not stunned by the concept of a driver actually paying attention to their instruments?

The guys at the garage back in Aberdeen were far more used to "it went bang and stopped" type defect reports!

[dozeydustman]

1 hour ago, wuvvum said:

Do you not just sit on the limiter on such journeys anyway?

Not all the time. Some dual carriageways in our area are 40 or 50mph limit. Plus it helps me get “thrifty driver of the week” regularly. I’ve had as much as 13mpg (combined) from a 26 tonner. They only do 3mpg while collecting, if that.
 

41 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Were they not stunned by the concept of a driver actually paying attention to their instruments?

The guys at the garage back in Aberdeen were far more used to "it went bang and stopped" type defect reports!

On this instrument panel it’s idiot light and a buzzer unless you manually select the temp gauge. Doesn’t even switch to this display when temp is getting high. Older ones have a proper dial. They don’t even have an air pressure gauge unless driver has selected it. Again older freighters do.

It only had a service last Thursday. This one and it’s 2 15-reg brethren have been unreliable from day one. If it’s HGF it’s the third time on this truck. I was running it out to a crew who had broken down - plenty of coolant on the morning check and plenty of coolant after it had cooled down. When I left work cab was up and one of the fitters stripping the engine down.

[Zelandeth]

12 minutes ago, dozeydustman said:

Not all the time. Some dual carriageways in our area are 40 or 50mph limit. Plus it helps me get “thrifty driver of the week” regularly. I’ve had as much as 13mpg (combined) from a 26 tonner. They only do 3mpg while collecting, if that.
 

On this instrument panel it’s idiot light and a buzzer unless you manually select the temp gauge. Doesn’t even switch to this display when temp is getting high. Older ones have a proper dial. They don’t even have an air pressure gauge unless driver has selected it. Again older freighters do.

It only had a service last Thursday. This one and it’s 2 15-reg brethren have been unreliable from day one. If it’s HGF it’s the third time on this truck. I was running it out to a crew who had broken down - plenty of coolant on the morning check and plenty of coolant after it had cooled down. When I left work cab was up and one of the fitters stripping the engine down.

That would drive me absolutely spare on a wagon...I want to know what's going on.  Especially when the potential bill is so big if it gets cooked!

What are they?  Don't immediately recognise the cluster... though admittedly 12 reg ADL buses are the newest things I've ever been behind the wheel of.  The E350H goes well up to the 45mph limiter though!

[dozeydustman]

34 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

That would drive me absolutely spare on a wagon...I want to know what's going on.  Especially when the potential bill is so big if it gets cooked!

What are they?  Don't immediately recognise the cluster... though admittedly 12 reg ADL buses are the newest things I've ever been behind the wheel of.  The E350H goes well up to the 45mph limiter though!

Euro 6 Merc Econics. Hateful things. They wallow along the road like cross-channel ferries. Give me a Dennis, DAF or Volvo any day.

[richardmorris]

On 10/11/2020 at 4:01 PM, chaseracer said:

41.6mpg

Filled up the merc last Friday at cheapest for miles - texaco in egham at 110.9. 26.9mpg!

[Zelandeth]

18 hours ago, dozeydustman said:

Euro 6 Merc Econics. Hateful things. They wallow along the road like cross-channel ferries. Give me a Dennis, DAF or Volvo any day.

Such a shame they've lost their way it feels in the last 20 years.  Merc stuff used to be decent, though I reckon Volvo always had the edge in the real world.  Definitely in the prime time of the B10 <insert suffix here> anyway.  Based on purely anecdotal experience in the bus world anyway.

First Aberdeen prove that the B10BLE was damn near indestructible anyway!  Even with their utter and complete lack of any maintenance they struggled to kill them.

[Parky]

Two months before emigrating, I lost my passport.  A massive pain in the arse as I needed it for visa and quarantine applications.

A quick chat with the passport office suggested an online application would be the way to go and as it’s merely a replacement for a lost passport it should be done in 2 weeks, maybe 3 at a push.  It’s now week 4 and I chased up the app today.

Basically they have everything and have had everything since the 18th September,  for some reason it’s sitting in a queue awaiting further info, even though none is required and I haven’t been asked for anything.  Shit.  The nice man said he will ask someone else to move it into a queue for checking but couldn’t say how long this would take.  And added that he doubted it would be sorted by the time we leave the UK.  And neither can I have it fast tracked because pandemic.

So as a result of uncontrollable bureaucratic bollocks I might have to rebook my flights, quarantine, and maybe even alter the date for completion of my house sale.  It’s not a simple case of my wife and kids go and I follow later as NZ won’t let me in without a citizen in tow.  It also means I can’t apply for my work visa in advance so can’t even look for work.

Fucking fuckity fuck fuck fuck with a bonus cunt for good measure.

EDIT - Passport office called me.  A jovial chap explained how someone there had inexplicably put me down as not having had a passport before.  Obviously the fact I requested a replacement passport and provided details of my lost document didn’t register with their processing person.  As a result the system was awaiting additional information but this field was blank as nothing was needed.  Basically someone ticked a box they shouldn’t have.  They can get things underway now but despite having had my details for four weeks it will take three weeks minimum to process so I might just get the passport before I travel, I might not.  Good job I hassled them though, if I had waited like a good boy it never would have arrived as it would never have been processed

Of course there is fuck all I can do.  Not as if I can use an alternative passport office in future is it?

[dozeydustman]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

Such a shame they've lost their way it feels in the last 20 years.  Merc stuff used to be decent, though I reckon Volvo always had the edge in the real world.  Definitely in the prime time of the B10 <insert suffix here> anyway.  Based on purely anecdotal experience in the bus world anyway.

First Aberdeen prove that the B10BLE was damn near indestructible anyway!  Even with their utter and complete lack of any maintenance they struggled to kill them.

The NG & SK series were pretty hardy old things and had a decent seat and driving position, but were painfully slow and (ones I have driven) have postcodes between gear ratios (5/6 speeds). The only 'normal' cab modern Merc commercial I have driven is an Atego plated at 14 tonnes, 2013 model. Wasn't impressed with it one iota - same bum-numbing seat of the Econic, the suspension was far too soft so again it lurched about unladen, and the interior quality of the dashboard and switchgear was horrifically cheap and fragile. Not what one would expect from a 'premium' marque.

Volvo trucks are brilliant. Had a lovely 14 plate one when I did a little bit of general haulage when I first moved down here; comfy seat, great visibility for a high cab, smooth ride, cruise, air con and a really good 8-speed auto. I think their engines can be fussy though.

[jakebullet]

Ma's been doing scorchio! on a plug.

Went with quite a bang. Plug innards are drunken fryup.

Lamp is eleventy million years old, and I can tell by the quality of the wiring my old man fitted it. Not sure why it should go so violently mind. Super safe* wylex fuse box wasn't bothered by a bit of arc welding and didn't blow the fuse.

Ma now giving me grade one evil eye. I must have missed out the chapter on how to react when your mother has a fireball erupt out of a shonky wired plug.

[Jerzy Woking]

On 10/11/2020 at 4:00 PM, hairnet said:

Shit Arona hire car did 250 miles used 6 gallons. ( Wasn't that bad was comfy and had not bad kit)

1.6 diesel vag

No motorways used and only a small.amount of dual carriageway

Does that sound shit?

 

That's the same 41.6 (ish) I got when I filled my 1.3 Fiat diesel. And that was a mix of town and motorway driving. So sounds brilliant.

[Fumbler]

24 minutes ago, jakebullet said:

 Super safe* wylex fuse box wasn't bothered by a bit of arc welding and didn't blow the fuse.

I doubt a breaker box would trip either for that, especially on a kitchen ring! Nice vintage plug and wire, it's a shame it exploded.

[hairnet]

On 10/11/2020 at 4:49 PM, chaseracer said:

Entirely possibly!  I was going on the gallery's blurb.  Despite @hairnet's claims to the contrary, I wasn't around at the time... 😉

reformation

[chaseracer]

Dark ages m8 😀

[Borsuq]

Gouda is a shit, disappointing cheese.

[hairnet]

half term can go fuck itself

where i was gonna go - places to stay are 65+(massive tourist hotspot also - trying not to stay in the main towns) the maddest one is 111.50 - ive not been down here for a holiday in an awful long time

skip it on a week and the most expensive of the same places is 38- 43 quid ffs

 

[richardmorris]

2 hours ago, jakebullet said:

Ma's been doing scorchio! on a plug.

Went with quite a bang. Plug innards are drunken fryup.

Lamp is eleventy million years old, and I can tell by the quality of the wiring my old man fitted it. Not sure why it should go so violently mind. Super safe* wylex fuse box wasn't bothered by a bit of arc welding and didn't blow the fuse.

Ma now giving me grade one evil eye. I must have missed out the chapter on how to react when your mother has a fireball erupt out of a shonky wired plug.

My parents had a new consumer unit, fuse board etc a year or two back. Whole house checked at the same time. It was re-wired in 1972 as a condition of their mortgage. Not horrendously expensive and worth it for peace of mind. That plug, by the look of it, is decades old.

[wuvvum]

54 minutes ago, Borsuq said:

Gouda is a shit, disappointing cheese.

And you can't even pronounce the name unless you have a heavy cold.

[wuvvum]

The weather forecast is making me grumpy at the moment.  I've lost count of the number of times recently when it's been forecast to be dry and bright on a certain day so I've planned to do things on that day, only for the forecast to then get progressively shitter as the day approaches.

They've excelled themselves today though.  I checked the forecast at 6pm - it said that it would be dry this evening and at 10pm the chance of rain in Norwich was something like 7%.  So I cycled into Norwich to retrieve the Mondeo - left mine at 9 and hit the outskirts of Norwich at bang on 10, and would you Adam & Eve it it was pissing with rain.  If they can't even predict the weather accurately four hours away they might as well give up altogether.

[wuvvum]

Oh, and my face mask fell out of my pocket somewhere along the way.  I have a spare at home thanks to Slowsilver but it meant I wasn't able to stop off at Tesco so I have nothing for my lunch tomorrow.

[wuvvum]

Also, I bought some special Loctite superglue for sticking glass to re-attach the quarterlight catches on the Volvo.  It's fucking useless.  The catch pulled off in my hand as soon as I tried to twist it into the closed position.  WTF did they use to stick the things on at the factory?  I've not been able to find anything that'll hold the bloody thing together for more than about 30 seconds.

[eddyramrod]

I feel your pain there!  I haven't found anything that'll stick the rear-view mirror to the windscreen on the Cadillac.... in three years of looking!

 

In other news, Volvo have a lovely new ad running  on the telly, highlighting some sort of radar on their SUVs that tells you if there's traffic coming across your path as you reverse out of your drive.  The strapline is "We're as concerned about your safety as you are" which is a very Volvo thing to say.  Except... if you're even slightly concerned about your safety at all, using as many as one brain cell, you'd be doing what your instructor taught you and reversing INTO your fucking drive!  If you're reversing out you are clearly not concerned with your own or anyone else's safety!  Well done  Volvo, bullet/foot interface there.  Go on, try it in front of Huggy, see what happens.

[Out Run]

9 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

I feel your pain there!  I haven't found anything that'll stick the rear-view mirror to the windscreen on the Cadillac.... in three years of looking!

 

In other news, Volvo have a lovely new ad running  on the telly, highlighting some sort of radar on their SUVs that tells you if there's traffic coming across your path as you reverse out of your drive.  The strapline is "We're as concerned about your safety as you are" which is a very Volvo thing to say.  Except... if you're even slightly concerned about your safety at all, using as many as one brain cell, you'd be doing what your instructor taught you and reversing INTO your fucking drive!  If you're reversing out you are clearly not concerned with your own or anyone else's safety!  Well done  Volvo, bullet/foot interface there.  Go on, try it in front of Huggy, see what happens.

Tried the sealant used to bond in windscreens?

I reckon if you T-Bone that modern in your Caddy, you’re getting a lap dance from the engine, mate.

[eddyramrod]

22 hours ago, Out Run said:

Tried the sealant used to bond in windscreens?

No, that's a thought.  I'll see if I can get some.

[myglaren]

10 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Also, I bought some special Loctite superglue for sticking glass to re-attach the quarterlight catches on the Volvo.  It's fucking useless.  The catch pulled off in my hand as soon as I tried to twist it into the closed position.  WTF did they use to stick the things on at the factory?  I've not been able to find anything that'll hold the bloody thing together for more than about 30 seconds.

I used Gorilla Glue to clag the oven door glass back on and it seems to be holding.

I used the stuff in the 'sealant' type tube a while back, didn't work at all but the usual stuff in the small bottles has done the trick .

[Talbot]

14 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Oh, and my face mask fell out of my pocket somewhere along the way.  I have a spare at home thanks to Slowsilver but it meant I wasn't able to stop off at Tesco so I have nothing for my lunch tomorrow.

If you ask in most tesco shops they will give you a complimentary disposable mask.

[Zelandeth]

Council came round here yesterday (of course right as we were trying to leave) to repair the cracked slabs on the footway.

Less than 24 hours later, all but one of the replacement slabs are cracked in exactly the same place as the old ones.

Yep...that's about the level of quality of repair work I have come to expect of MK Council's contractors.

[dozeydustman]

Guess who forgot to pay a Dart Charge the other day and now has a penalty charge notice to pay.

Arses.