The grumpy thread

[omegod]

Guess which knobhead went to the walk in center this morning with a very weird virus involving high temp, strange breathlessness + cough, Triage nurse was horrified that I hadn't had a PCR test prior to going in and had just done a negative lateral flow test.  She was even more horrified to find out I am a frontline NHS worker who should have known better, I even got a finger wagged at me when telling me to piss off put of the building   

I genuinely hadn't considered how stupid it was of me but been feeling terrible for a week, keep feeling much better then it dry bums me again, apparently I still have my huge and embarrassing gag reflex which the tester at the walk in testing station found amusing ! 

[Low Horatio gearbox]

Finalising  the modern/primary car insurance myself for the first time in 7 years... reasonable quote from  comparison site.

Go for the best (cheapest) one , fill in and check it's all correct... go to pay and get a 500 error and a suggestion to call them. Call them, recorded message saying high volume of calls and they are prioritising existing customers - please go to our website and then disconnects. Repeat... get fed up and frustrated and  sob quietly before starting over at the comparison site again, and paying £9 a year more for the same cover witha  courtesy car I'd never use 🤦🏻‍♂️🤷‍♂️

[BorniteIdentity]

  On 13/10/2021 at 13:47, DoctorRetro said:

Meeting with HR in a couple of weeks to battle going back to the office full time. 

There's absolutely no benefit in me being in office all the time, most of my meetings will still be video calls, but that makes no odds to certain people. 

 

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There’s going to be a lot of this over the coming months, and a lot of it powered by companies not being honest and transparent with their people. They are, however, within their rights to expect you back unless you’ve had a change of contract. Travelling to a place of work just to video call people who are, themselves, at home is a difficult one to justify - but it’s their gift to insist we all return. 

The longer it goes on, the more people assume they’re remaining at home, the more annoyed they are when they’re told to do what the company was going to tell them all along. What they should have been doing, almost weekly, is communicating the “pathway” to return. 

Good luck man. You will have a fight on your hands, but hopefully they will see that productivity and not presenteeism if the important indicator. 

[DoctorRetro]

  On 13/10/2021 at 17:51, BorniteIdentity said:

There’s going to be a lot of this over the coming months, and a lot of it powered by companies not being honest and transparent with their people. They are, however, within their rights to expect you back unless you’ve had a change of contract. Travelling to a place of work just to video call people who are, themselves, at home is a difficult one to justify - but it’s their gift to insist we all return. 

The longer it goes on, the more people assume they’re remaining at home, the more annoyed they are when they’re told to do what the company was going to tell them all along. What they should have been doing, almost weekly, is communicating the “pathway” to return. 

Good luck man. You will have a fight on your hands, but hopefully they will see that productivity and not presenteeism if the important indicator. 

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Annoyingly, even with everyone back in offices, it's still mostly Teams calls, because my role is at Divisional level (I cover the Stock analysis and Inventory for 68 branches ranging from Newquay, Northampton, Lewes, Ramsgate, Rayleigh, Great Yarmouth, to name a few).

The only benefit to being back in the office is to support my line manager in training new people. Which I don't get paid to do! 🤦🙄

The toilet facilities are crap, filthy and far away. Coffee/food facilities amount to a microwave and kettle shoved on a cupboard in the corner. I had to buy a fridge for the office! Plus boss likes to listen to the radio and I need complete silence to work. 

It's a losing battle, but the main goal is not to lose the flexibility of being able to have littlun as and when his mum snaps her fingers. 

[meggersdog]

Yesterday an old lady turns up for her car MoT " I'm a little early " she says ' erm your appointment is 4pm it is 12.30 now'  "I'll wait in the car, I'm not going all the way home"  we are about 3 miles from her house. Carrying on with the MoT we are already in the middle of I see her go back into the office then back to her car. When we'd finished the customer in the waiting area informs us the lady has gone home.

She turns up again at just after 2pm , still way too early "I've got my book, I'll sit in the car and read that"  ' yeah, don't leave it there infront of nextdoors entrance'  "well where can I park ?"  hmm maybe infront of my office where it says  mot parking only. Finish the 2 O'clock MoT and the 3 O'clock turns up "ooh do you want to do that retest first " he asks. Nope that's the 4 O'clock .. oh, bit early.

So when I get around to doing this ladys car MoT it fails. One headlight bulb not working so obviously headlamp aim not checked. If a car fails on bulbs and we have them we will fit them but if it also fails on something else we don't. Both outer cv boots were loose (metal bands had broken) and there was grease on the hubs and discs. Not the end of the world , advised on rear tyres being cracked and worn on the edges rear indicators discoloured and one exhaust bracket had corroded off. " My car has never failed an MoT . Are you going to fix it ? " Told her we only do MoTs not repairs. She booked it in with the garage nextdoor and left.

She turned up today and a member of staff spoke to her. I was polishing some headlights as there wasn't much of  a beam pattern. The nasty old bat pointed at me in the workshop " I want to see him" my staff explained that I was in the middle of an MoT "he's avoiding me " she hissed. I was summoned to the office  "you are really underhand, you've ripped me off " excuse me , holding the failure sheet she says "you've charged me for something you haven't done. I want my money back" tried to explained that I charged her for an MoT inspection and you have to pay whether it passes or fails. She was having none of it. "I'm going elsewhere and I'm not paying for another MoT "  Told her she can go where ever she wants even the ministry if she likes but unless it's fixed it will fail. Again the I'm not paying came back. Told her if she gets the failure items fixed within ten working days it is a free retest here. "I'll be back on Sunday"  I'm getting fed up with the old bat now so replied " bring some sandwiches with your book then as we won't be here until Monday, cheerio"

The MoT ran out in January and the tax ran out end of June so if she turns up again tomorrow and the work isn't done I'll dob her in to the law.Nasty old bat. 

[chaseracer]

  On 13/10/2021 at 13:47, DoctorRetro said:

Meeting with HR in a couple of weeks to battle going back to the office full time. 

There's absolutely no benefit in me being in office all the time, most of my meetings will still be video calls, but that makes no odds to certain people. 

 

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All the best with this - shout if you need any help.

https://www.acas.org.uk/working-from-home
 

[Dyslexic Viking]

I hate the times we live in.

[Spurious]

  On 13/10/2021 at 19:13, meggersdog said:

Yesterday an old lady turns up for her car MoT " I'm a little early " she says ' erm your appointment is 4pm it is 12.30 now'  "I'll wait in the car, I'm not going all the way home"  we are about 3 miles from her house. Carrying on with the MoT we are already in the middle of I see her go back into the office then back to her car. When we'd finished the customer in the waiting area informs us the lady has gone home.

She turns up again at just after 2pm , still way too early "I've got my book, I'll sit in the car and read that"  ' yeah, don't leave it there infront of nextdoors entrance'  "well where can I park ?"  hmm maybe infront of my office where it says  mot parking only. Finish the 2 O'clock MoT and the 3 O'clock turns up "ooh do you want to do that retest first " he asks. Nope that's the 4 O'clock .. oh, bit early.

So when I get around to doing this ladys car MoT it fails. One headlight bulb not working so obviously headlamp aim not checked. If a car fails on bulbs and we have them we will fit them but if it also fails on something else we don't. Both outer cv boots were loose (metal bands had broken) and there was grease on the hubs and discs. Not the end of the world , advised on rear tyres being cracked and worn on the edges rear indicators discoloured and one exhaust bracket had corroded off. " My car has never failed an MoT . Are you going to fix it ? " Told her we only do MoTs not repairs. She booked it in with the garage nextdoor and left.

She turned up today and a member of staff spoke to her. I was polishing some headlights as there wasn't much of  a beam pattern. The nasty old bat pointed at me in the workshop " I want to see him" my staff explained that I was in the middle of an MoT "he's avoiding me " she hissed. I was summoned to the office  "you are really underhand, you've ripped me off " excuse me , holding the failure sheet she says "you've charged me for something you haven't done. I want my money back" tried to explained that I charged her for an MoT inspection and you have to pay whether it passes or fails. She was having none of it. "I'm going elsewhere and I'm not paying for another MoT "  Told her she can go where ever she wants even the ministry if she likes but unless it's fixed it will fail. Again the I'm not paying came back. Told her if she gets the failure items fixed within ten working days it is a free retest here. "I'll be back on Sunday"  I'm getting fed up with the old bat now so replied " bring some sandwiches with your book then as we won't be here until Monday, cheerio"

The MoT ran out in January and the tax ran out end of June so if she turns up again tomorrow and the work isn't done I'll dob her in to the law.Nasty old bat. 

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And this is why I don't trust the whole "one lady owner" on adverts. Christ, "my car has never failed an MOT", the entitlement of some people, it's as if you snuck round to her house the night before and ripped the CV boots 

[sheffcortinacentre]

  On 13/10/2021 at 19:13, meggersdog said:

Yesterday an old lady turns up for her car MoT " I'm a little early " she says ' erm your appointment is 4pm it is 12.30 now'  "I'll wait in the car, I'm not going all the way home"  we are about 3 miles from her house. Carrying on with the MoT we are already in the middle of I see her go back into the office then back to her car. When we'd finished the customer in the waiting area informs us the lady has gone home.

She turns up again at just after 2pm , still way too early "I've got my book, I'll sit in the car and read that"  ' yeah, don't leave it there infront of nextdoors entrance'  "well where can I park ?"  hmm maybe infront of my office where it says  mot parking only. Finish the 2 O'clock MoT and the 3 O'clock turns up "ooh do you want to do that retest first " he asks. Nope that's the 4 O'clock .. oh, bit early.

So when I get around to doing this ladys car MoT it fails. One headlight bulb not working so obviously headlamp aim not checked. If a car fails on bulbs and we have them we will fit them but if it also fails on something else we don't. Both outer cv boots were loose (metal bands had broken) and there was grease on the hubs and discs. Not the end of the world , advised on rear tyres being cracked and worn on the edges rear indicators discoloured and one exhaust bracket had corroded off. " My car has never failed an MoT . Are you going to fix it ? " Told her we only do MoTs not repairs. She booked it in with the garage nextdoor and left.

She turned up today and a member of staff spoke to her. I was polishing some headlights as there wasn't much of  a beam pattern. The nasty old bat pointed at me in the workshop " I want to see him" my staff explained that I was in the middle of an MoT "he's avoiding me " she hissed. I was summoned to the office  "you are really underhand, you've ripped me off " excuse me , holding the failure sheet she says "you've charged me for something you haven't done. I want my money back" tried to explained that I charged her for an MoT inspection and you have to pay whether it passes or fails. She was having none of it. "I'm going elsewhere and I'm not paying for another MoT "  Told her she can go where ever she wants even the ministry if she likes but unless it's fixed it will fail. Again the I'm not paying came back. Told her if she gets the failure items fixed within ten working days it is a free retest here. "I'll be back on Sunday"  I'm getting fed up with the old bat now so replied " bring some sandwiches with your book then as we won't be here until Monday, cheerio"

The MoT ran out in January and the tax ran out end of June so if she turns up again tomorrow and the work isn't done I'll dob her in to the law.Nasty old bat. 

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Plod won't give a shit.

[BorniteIdentity]

  On 13/10/2021 at 19:15, chaseracer said:

All the best with this - shout if you need any help.

https://www.acas.org.uk/working-from-home
 

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The words "May" "Might" and "Should" come up 15 times in that article.  Excuse my ignorance on these matters (self employed since 16) but does a company have to formally acknowledge or recognise a union?  I remember when I first started out at work that commercial radio companies didn't recognise the NUJ, although that may have since changed.  

I've never been in one, so don't know how it works.

 

[Spurious]

  On 14/10/2021 at 08:37, BorniteIdentity said:

The words "May" "Might" and "Should" come up 15 times in that article.  Excuse my ignorance on these matters (self employed since 16) but does a company have to formally acknowledge or recognise a union?  I remember when I first started out at work that commercial radio companies didn't recognise the NUJ, although that may have since changed.  

I've never been in one, so don't know how it works.

 

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1. They can choose not to recognise a union for collective bargaining purposes. However theres legal means for forcing an employer to refuse recognition of a Trade Union through the Central Arbitration Committee. 

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/26/schedule/1

2. You can still join a union. That's right with some heavy case law behind it. 

 

Lots of employment law is full of what's 'reasonable' which is why lots end up in before Labour relations tribunals etc. to interpret what's 'reasonable'

[Tigerfox]

  On 16/09/2021 at 07:14, Tigerfox said:

4 months now. Dealer and Lexus have no clue now. ECU reconditioned.

The Car (LS220d) was delivered running on a recovery truck, now they cannot even get it to fire.  

Hoping they buy the car or provide a similar replacement

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5 months now.

Would chase them, but have a 21 plate loan for all that time

[Tadhg Tiogar]

  On 14/10/2021 at 09:45, Tigerfox said:

5 months now.

Would chase them, but have a 21 plate loan for all that time

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The wonders of modern technology. 

[sierraman]

  On 13/10/2021 at 19:13, meggersdog said:

Yesterday an old lady turns up for her car MoT " I'm a little early " she says ' erm your appointment is 4pm it is 12.30 now'  "I'll wait in the car, I'm not going all the way home"  we are about 3 miles from her house. Carrying on with the MoT we are already in the middle of I see her go back into the office then back to her car. When we'd finished the customer in the waiting area informs us the lady has gone home.

She turns up again at just after 2pm , still way too early "I've got my book, I'll sit in the car and read that"  ' yeah, don't leave it there infront of nextdoors entrance'  "well where can I park ?"  hmm maybe infront of my office where it says  mot parking only. Finish the 2 O'clock MoT and the 3 O'clock turns up "ooh do you want to do that retest first " he asks. Nope that's the 4 O'clock .. oh, bit early.

So when I get around to doing this ladys car MoT it fails. One headlight bulb not working so obviously headlamp aim not checked. If a car fails on bulbs and we have them we will fit them but if it also fails on something else we don't. Both outer cv boots were loose (metal bands had broken) and there was grease on the hubs and discs. Not the end of the world , advised on rear tyres being cracked and worn on the edges rear indicators discoloured and one exhaust bracket had corroded off. " My car has never failed an MoT . Are you going to fix it ? " Told her we only do MoTs not repairs. She booked it in with the garage nextdoor and left.

She turned up today and a member of staff spoke to her. I was polishing some headlights as there wasn't much of  a beam pattern. The nasty old bat pointed at me in the workshop " I want to see him" my staff explained that I was in the middle of an MoT "he's avoiding me " she hissed. I was summoned to the office  "you are really underhand, you've ripped me off " excuse me , holding the failure sheet she says "you've charged me for something you haven't done. I want my money back" tried to explained that I charged her for an MoT inspection and you have to pay whether it passes or fails. She was having none of it. "I'm going elsewhere and I'm not paying for another MoT "  Told her she can go where ever she wants even the ministry if she likes but unless it's fixed it will fail. Again the I'm not paying came back. Told her if she gets the failure items fixed within ten working days it is a free retest here. "I'll be back on Sunday"  I'm getting fed up with the old bat now so replied " bring some sandwiches with your book then as we won't be here until Monday, cheerio"

The MoT ran out in January and the tax ran out end of June so if she turns up again tomorrow and the work isn't done I'll dob her in to the law.Nasty old bat. 

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There’s a select band of people that think the MOT is some sort of all encompassing free service that you don’t have to pay for if you fail. 

Probably same type of person who drives the Insignia I passed in the street yesterday, 4 bald tyres, not low but bald, you could barely see the tread. By rights that should be instant ban - 3 points per tyre. 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

  On 14/10/2021 at 10:41, sierraman said:

.... Probably same type of person who drives the Insignia I passed in the street yesterday, 4 bald tyres, not low but bald, you could barely see the tread. By rights that should be instant ban - 3 points per tyre. 

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Depends on how assiduous the local road traffic fuzz are. Clearly not very, if that Insignia has been slipping around like that for a while*. For bonus points, see if it has current VED/MoT, etc.

[sierraman]

  On 14/10/2021 at 11:14, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Depends on how assiduous the local road traffic fuzz are. Clearly not very, if that Insignia has been slipping around like that for a while*. For bonus points, see if it has current VED/MoT, etc.

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I don’t know if it’s people’s attitudes or whether the police take a more laid back approach to roadworthiness but you see it quite a lot. 

[chaseracer]

What police?

[New POD]

  On 14/10/2021 at 09:06, Spurious said:

1. They can choose not to recognise a union for collective bargaining purposes. However theres legal means for forcing an employer to refuse recognition of a Trade Union through the Central Arbitration Committee. 

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/26/schedule/1

2. You can still join a union. That's right with some heavy case law behind it. 

 

Lots of employment law is full of what's 'reasonable' which is why lots end up in before Labour relations tribunals etc. to interpret what's 'reasonable'

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I was in a union. The only person in a factory of 450 in a union.  I was staff. 

They management seemed surprised when I told them i was bringing a friend to a redundancy meeting. 

The union rep I bought had been negotiating the redundancies of 3000 biscuit workers a couple of hours earlier as the regional negotiator. 

[Low Horatio gearbox]

  On 13/10/2021 at 13:47, DoctorRetro said:

Meeting with HR in a couple of weeks to battle going back to the office full time. 

There's absolutely no benefit in me being in office all the time, most of my meetings will still be video calls, but that makes no odds to certain people. 

 

Expand  

I remember eons ago asking to work from home 2 maybe 3 days a week for childcare reasons. My wonderful* managers line was  .."but if j let you work from home ther others will want to too"  ... and?  That's your issue not mine.   To be fair she was so used to working for a huge American  corporation in fredomland with their company friendly but worker not legislation.  As per your line it wasnt that I or anyone needed to be in the offices all day everyday but that out manger wanted us there. Strangely that rule never applied to her - she WFH for 3 days once as she had a slight cold.     Hope it goes they way you want it.

 

 

 

Today's first world problem for  me... this box contains 4 spark plugs and 2 gallons of 20w/50 allegedly..

[outlaw118]

[Low Horatio gearbox]

Just the plugs. Tho the box is ten times to big for the 4 of them.. and 10 times to small for the oil. 🤷‍♂️

[anonymous user]

  On 14/10/2021 at 12:53, chaseracer said:

What police?

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Well there was a police car with flashing blue lights just off J16 of the M4 yesterday which caused a mild panic, as I was being taken out on a test run in a car that was on sorn, the chap had forgotten to put his trade plates on.  Luckily police car wasn't after us.

[chaseracer]

CRIM 😉

[Bren]

I have lost power to some of my kitchen sockets. Nothing tripped - one double gang still works but not others.

I have a front door that we cannot use because the latch is knackered.

Sick of bastard houses.

[3VOM]

  On 14/10/2021 at 18:07, Bren said:

I have lost power to some of my kitchen sockets. Nothing tripped - one double gang still works but not others.

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I suggest the kitchen is on a radial circuit and the connection in the back of the working socket or the next non-working socket is broken.

[Fumbler]

  On 14/10/2021 at 18:07, Bren said:

I have lost power to some of my kitchen sockets. Nothing tripped - one double gang still works but not others.

I have a front door that we cannot use because the latch is knackered.

Sick of bastard houses.

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I'd imagine the plug scenario to be something along the lines of the the outgoing conductors have fallen out or lost connection with the terminal for whatever reason. They can melt too which causes a horrible mess.

EDIT- @3VOM beat me to it!

[eddyramrod]

While I was walking the dog this morning I had what seemed like a good idea for a thread, probably for the Open side.  Can I remember it now?  Guess!

[Supernaut]

  On 15/10/2021 at 08:52, eddyramrod said:

While I was walking the dog this morning I had what seemed like a good idea for a thread, probably for the Open side.  Can I remember it now?  Guess!

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Was it going to be a thread about short-term memory loss?

[Remspoor]

  On 15/10/2021 at 08:52, eddyramrod said:

While I was walking the dog this morning I had what seemed like a good idea for a thread, probably for the Open side.  Can I remember it now?  Guess!

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One asking for favourite dog walks?

[High Jetter]

Animal roffle? Wanted ads for dog walkers? Something related to picking up shite? (The doggy kind)