The grumpy thread

[Zelandeth]

37 minutes ago, colc said:

Ref visiting chemists/pharmacies....I have no idea why anyone would want to pick up prescription stuff, when there’s so many “ by post” alternatives 

Our pharmacy doesn't allow any outside agencies to order stuff.  You have to order stuff through their own (hopeless) web portal for transmission to the pharmacy for collection.

Given how regularly they foul things up I wouldn't want to be reliant on it turning up on the door.  At least when I get there and they've messed it up or lost it I can get the pharmacist to phone the surgery to straighten things out.

[richardmorris]

13 minutes ago, colc said:

Lloyds pharmacy deliver in Wales

The local pharmacy ( 100m away) will deliver but it’s the GP surgery that isn’t connected and won’t do postal prescriptions.

[Wack]

Will BBC HD ever be able to show local news in HD, it's been years now

 

 

[tooSavvy]

1 hour ago, Wack said:

Will BBC HD ever be able to show local news in HD, it's been years now

 

I saw a news piece today 'dump HD and Save the [insert preferred victim]!'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/technology-55164410

Back to Baird = disc full of holes + Archie Andrews' head... 😕

[strangeangel]

3 hours ago, colc said:

Ref visiting chemists/pharmacies....I have no idea why anyone would want to pick up prescription stuff, when there’s so many “ by post” alternatives 

 

Not round here, sadly...

 

[robinmasters]

5 hours ago, Wack said:

Will BBC HD ever be able to show local news in HD, it's been years now

 

 

Genuine question, why does it matter? You get the same news in HD. More generally, why is HD a thing for most programmes? Films I understand, but news? The Simpsons? Sport? Soap operas? Why does this stuff need to be viewed in HD? 

[Spiny Norman]

1 hour ago, robinmasters said:

 Why does this stuff need to be viewed in HD? 

I no longer have HD eyesight so I really DGAF one way or another.

[Spiny Norman]

My grump for today was that while my Freeloader doesn't seem to actually leak, the two glass 'targa' roof panels are utter bastards for collecting condensation which freezes overnight than dropping cold drips on my head as I'm driving along.

How the hell do people with these modern fully glassed roofed things cope with this kind of freezing-but-damp weather?

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, robinmasters said:

Genuine question, why does it matter? You get the same news in HD. More generally, why is HD a thing for most programmes? Films I understand, but news? The Simpsons? Sport? Soap operas? Why does this stuff need to be viewed in HD? 

For my part it's mainly because two out of the three TVs I pass by regularly (I seldom actually watch it myself!) do an absolutely awful job of upscaling SD video to the native display resolution - so it looks like you're watching video through NetMeeting from a webcam from 20 years ago.

[Wack]

5 hours ago, robinmasters said:

Genuine question, why does it matter? You get the same news in HD. More generally, why is HD a thing for most programmes? Films I understand, but news? The Simpsons? Sport? Soap operas? Why does this stuff need to be viewed in HD? 

You don't have to change channel on itv to watch the local news , I just wondered why the BBC is still in 2010 .

[anonymous user]

1 hour ago, Wack said:

You don't have to change channel on itv to watch the local news , I just wondered why the BBC is still in 2010 .

Local news? There is no local news around here, unless you're wanting to hear such things as "Dog gets head stuck in cat flap", "Mrs Jones still has her leg, she's been under the Doctor for weeks now", "Marcelle ripped her new jacket on the railings, again"

I'm sure when the world ends it will be weeks before we know about it where I live.

[goosey]

In a rush this morning, I went into my shed to grab some ratchet straps and knocked over my welding gas bottle and smashed the gauges off of the regulator 😤

the regulator still works but it looks like you can’t buy the gauges separately you have to buy a new regulator 😢

[MikeR]

Modern fuel gauges , used the wife's car for work whilst my booze laden wreck was being fixed , 2 segments on the c1 fuel gauge showing ...

That will be ok ......... Not 

10 miles later . Peep Peep Peep Peep , panic , U turn , find petrol station ...

I suppose a taxi would of cost me more than a15 squid top up .... 

[strangeangel]

2 minutes ago, MikeR said:

Modern fuel gauges , used the wife's car for work whilst my booze laden wreck was being fixed , 2 segments on the c1 fuel gauge showing ...

That will be ok ......... Not 

10 miles later . Peep Peep Peep Peep , panic , U turn , find petrol station ...

I suppose a taxi would of cost me more than a15 squid top up .... 

 

Still better than the Aprilia scooter I had about 10 years ago... on my way home from work one evening when the engine started to cough and splutter. I honestly didn't think the fuel had really got that low, and - as I looked down to check - I saw the fuel warning light come on, at the precise moment the engine cut out completely 🤣 Thankfully it wasn't heavy to push.

 

[strangeangel]

2 hours ago, anonymous user said:

Local news? There is no local news around here, unless you're wanting to hear such things as "Dog gets head stuck in cat flap", "Mrs Jones still has her leg, she's been under the Doctor for weeks now", "Marcelle ripped her new jacket on the railings, again"

I'm sure when the world ends it will be weeks before we know about it where I live.

 

It's not just me then. Last night's Look North included a piece on a woman whose house is in Tier 3, but her garden is in Tier 2. Groundbreaking stuff, it was.

 

[mitsisigma01]

9 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

My grump for today was that while my Freeloader doesn't seem to actually leak, the two glass 'targa' roof panels are utter bastards for collecting condensation which freezes overnight than dropping cold drips on my head as I'm driving along.

How the hell do people with these modern fully glassed roofed things cope with this kind of freezing-but-damp weather?

I expect the designers off such modern goldfish tanks expect owners to have a heated garage and that they use it for putting their car in at nighttime.... Crazy I know 😲😲

[New POD]

7 minutes ago, strangeangel said:

 

It's not just me then. Last night's Look North included a piece on a woman whose house is in Tier 3, but her garden is in Tier 2. Groundbreaking stuff, it was.

 

My grandmother liked to inform me that the people opposite didn't live in Solihul but actually lived in Olton. 

[MikeR]

My car is back home , spied it on the camera being dropped off .

I wonder if the booze is still in the boot ?

[myglaren]

On 05/12/2020 at 21:37, Zelandeth said:

Had to go into the Centre today to pick up a prescription.

Oh...my...F-ing...god.

Two metre rule?  You'd be lucky to have two inches of space.  Seriously, think first thing when the shops open for the Black Friday sales you see on the news, just with the odd mask thrown in.  I'd have felt crowded on a normal day.

Mask usage: ~50% max.

Common sense: zero.

Efforts being undertaken by staff to control the situation: zero

I actually bailed before I made it as far as the pharmacy.  So I'm now out of antidepressants (don't get me started on our GP who have made it so you can't get automatic repeats, and can't request a repeat until too late to get stuff before you run out). 

Have gone through the web portal to move my nominated pharmacy to another one well away from the town centre.

No bloody wonder Milton Keynes has been showing horendous infection rates.  The average behaviour I've seen around here since this started has been appalling.  The madness in there though today was downright disgraceful. 

I was in there for all of five minutes and was bodily shoved out of the way by at least two people.

Heard on Classic FM that the Co-Op are delivering prescriptions now.  May have an in-store pharmacy near you.

Co-Op here closed a while back but the in-store pharmacy was excellent

[warninglight]

4 hours ago, goosey said:

In a rush this morning, I went into my shed to grab some ratchet straps and knocked over my welding gas bottle and smashed the gauges off of the regulator 😤

the regulator still works but it looks like you can’t buy the gauges separately you have to buy a new regulator 😢

I did that on day 1 with a nice new R-Tech MIG and Hobbyweld cylinder. Thought I'd have a play with it, with my welding trolley due to arrive the next day. Didn't last 30 minutes before I knocked the freestanding bottle over, smashing the gauges to bits.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

4 hours ago, strangeangel said:

 

It's not just me then. Last night's Look North included a piece on a woman whose house is in Tier 3, but her garden is in Tier 2. Groundbreaking stuff, it was.

 

Reminds me of the time I was in Guernsey and the local news reported that a hamster had been found in St Peter Port.  Amazing stuff.

[PhilA]

On 12/5/2020 at 3:37 PM, Zelandeth said:

Had to go into the Centre today to pick up a prescription.

Oh...my...F-ing...god.

Two metre rule?  You'd be lucky to have two inches of space.  

Then they need to shut the shops and squarely blame it on the people not wearing masks or keeping their distance, and let the ensuing riots take care of the rest.

Here is mostly beardy thirty-somethings that have taken over the "I don't care" role in public spaces now. I had to go to the store and your think it was just a regular day in 2019

 

Phil

[MikeR]

FFS , Jag owner 2 cars in front of me dawdles up the slip road to join the M57 , me and car behind him realise he is a knob and hang back , as expected he went the full length of the slip road and went to drift into the motorway without filtering in  .....

Except 40 tons of girders and wheels went past his wing mirror , waking him up , he went onto the hard shoulder and then kicked up loads of gravel and shite as the lorry boxed him in for a few hundred yards .

Bet he will be checking his paintwork / pants when he gets home ......

[sdkrc]

Just got quoted £200 in labour alone for discs and pads all round on the Volvo V90 and £188 for 2x ARB ball joints.

Same garage quoted me £300 for a single engine mount in the Primera.

I admittedly don't understand the costs of running a large garage and employing people but fucking hell...I'd love to have a garage where I didn't feel the need to research typical costs the second after they quoted me. I've only had 1 place up here that hasn't tried ripping me off and they were up in Motherwell in the stix. 

[Jazoli]

14 minutes ago, sdkrc said:

Just got quoted £200 in labour alone for discs and pads all round on the Volvo V90 and £188 for 2x ARB ball joints.

Same garage quoted me £300 for a single engine mount in the Primera.

I admittedly don't understand the costs of running a large garage and employing people but fucking hell...I'd love to have a garage where I didn't feel the need to research typical costs the second after they quoted me. I've only had 1 place up here that hasn't tried ripping me off and they were up in Motherwell in the stix. 

It doesn't seem *that* unreasonable to me, a little on the high side maybe but not extortionate. 

[New POD]

3 hours ago, MikeR said:

My car is back home , spied it on the camera being dropped off .

I wonder if the booze is still in the boot ?

I'm taking the Astra for an MOT tomorrow so I'll ask if they found thier Christmas tip ? No ? 

[New POD]

28 minutes ago, sdkrc said:

Just got quoted £200 in labour alone for discs and pads all round on the Volvo V90 and £188 for 2x ARB ball joints.

Same garage quoted me £300 for a single engine mount in the Primera.

I admittedly don't understand the costs of running a large garage and employing people but fucking hell...I'd love to have a garage where I didn't feel the need to research typical costs the second after they quoted me. I've only had 1 place up here that hasn't tried ripping me off and they were up in Motherwell in the stix. 

I would have thought that discs and pads would take less than an hour if you have powered tools.  

I once swapped the front calipers, discs and pads in 2 hours on my drive, including bleeding them and testing them round the block.  £200 suggests 3 hours work plus VAT ? 

Most charge £50 plus vat around here, but screw you on parts prices. Really screw you. 

[sdkrc]

26 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

It doesn't seem *that* unreasonable to me, a little on the high side maybe but not extortionate. 

You're definitely right but the annoying part is that it's very close to being unreasonable which means I'm sceptical but not outright dismissive and now I have to do loads of research to understand whether it's unreasonable.

Slightly more and I'd walk away and not think twice. Slightly less and I'd get it done and think 'reassuringly expensive'.

Quote

I would have thought that discs and pads would take less than an hour if you have powered tools

My understanding is 2hrs for an apprentice

I'm very open to being wrong on all of this however.

[artdjones]

If it's the V90 that was out in the 90s the book time is 36 min for front pads and 30 min for discs. On the back ½ an hour for pads, ¾ of an hour for disc. Plus 0.1 of an hour to check and adjust handbrake shoes. But those are times for each operation carried out on its own. Unless everything is corroded badly 2-2½ hours should do it.

[Markeh]

15 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

My grump for today was that while my Freeloader doesn't seem to actually leak, the two glass 'targa' roof panels are utter bastards for collecting condensation which freezes overnight than dropping cold drips on my head as I'm driving along.

How the hell do people with these modern fully glassed roofed things cope with this kind of freezing-but-damp weather?

You just get alarming sounds of ice cracking from above as it thaws out in my panoramic-roofed modern. Not noticed any major condensation with it.