The grumpy thread

[Rust Collector]

8 minutes ago, myglaren said:

Also need water pump pliers to remove the oil filler cap.  Stupid thing.

I don't know what it is with Hondas but they seem to like having their oil filler caps seize on. When I serviced the Insight I had to reach for the water pump pliers too.

[horriblemercedes]

11 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

I don't know what it is with Hondas but they seem to like having their oil filler caps seize on. When I serviced the Insight I had to reach for the water pump pliers too.

Happened to me on Saturday too. Adjustable spanner was what I used. 

[New POD]

On 29/08/2022 at 18:44, Dick Longbridge said:

Some classics would live to fight another day if it weren't for banger racing. 

I'll agree with some but replace Would with Could.  And add, If anyone beat them to it. 

[Noel Tidybeard]

1 hour ago, Rust Collector said:

I don't know what it is with Hondas but they seem to like having their oil filler caps seize on. When I serviced the Insight I had to reach for the water pump pliers too.

prolly cos the dont drink oil like a vag or toyota avensis so cap only nedds coming off at sevice time! 😁

[horriblemercedes]

12 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

prolly cos the dont drink oil like a vag or toyota avensis so cap only nedds coming off at sevice time! 😁

I thought that Hondas were renowned for oil consumption. My K20 certainly uses quite a bit, although not unreasonable 

[sierraman]

2 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

I think you hit the nail on the head in that the cars that are bought to race are most likely available to anyone who has both the money to buy them and means to collect them. If enthusiasts aren't buying these cars to save them from the circuit, then surely either they don't want to buy the car/take the project on, can't afford to buy the car, or can't sort the logistics. Or any combination of the above.

I can't remember if I mentioned this in my fleet thread or elsewhere, but one of the cars I picked up was a freebie. It had been advertised to the relevant model forum as a free car for parts or brave repair for a couple of months, and to be honest I was surprised it was still there when I enquired. I needed some parts for my other car and so I thought I'd break this one for the bits I needed and sell anything I didn't need to the owners group and hopefully make my petrol money back plus some money for beers/car parts.

I posted on the owners group that I now had it for breaking and to get in touch if people needed bits to keep their cars/projects moving, and all I got was a load of 'too clean to break!', 'don't scrap it!', 'nobody will  buy parts from it on this group' blah blah blah. Turns out it had been seen by the group already, noted for being an unusual example, and then all interested parties did the sum total of fuck all after that... anyone could have had it for free if they had of just bothered to come collect it/grind it along the floor and destroy it with an A-frame and the most hideously inappropriate tow car they could find.

The reality is everyone knew it was worthless despite being an early model, and they just wanted to tell me what to do with my own time and money instead of putting theirs into the ring. I saw it, I wanted it, I arranged a date to pick it up, I turned up with a trailer and collected it. They could have done exactly the same, they had the opportunity and didn't, so it's tough shit really.

After getting a couple of serious* enquiries for parts (can I have one bonnet hinge please mate/I need the plastic insert for the door handle, not the whole handle) I was reminded that breaking cars/dealing with people absolutely sucks and that I wasn't going to waste my time visiting the car and removing parts for a couple of quid a go. For my own enjoyment I got it running instead and drove it round the farm.

Between the hassle of breaking it and my back being put up by the owners group, I suspect that it will stay intact now but remain in my ownership and live behind the stables for the foreseeable - it'll make a nice toy for my boy once he's old enough to drive around a field. That's probably more than most of the people who felt the need to tell me what I should/shouldn't do probably would have done with it.

I'd apologise for this turning into a grumbling ramble, but this is probably the right thread for it to be fair 😅

I had that a while back on a breaker, wanted to buy a instrument cluster but wanted to return it if that wasn’t the fault. No. In a word.

[Noel Tidybeard]

2 hours ago, myglaren said:

Maybe that is what I have in my Civic.  Just checked and can't tell if there is oil in there or not.

First time I topped it up, when the low oil warning came on, I filled it to the little plip that I presumed was the max mark.

Ooops

Also need water pump pliers to remove the oil filler cap.  Stupid thing.

iirc the hatched area is where it should be- but yes the plip is prolly max

[Metal Guru]

8 hours ago, artdjones said:

Giving half the students a grade A is evidence that things in the world of education are continuously improving. The teachers are obviously better than ever, and all the students are above average.

Without boasting too much but I took my A levels 40 years ago. I was in the top 6 in my year at one of the best academic state schools in the county. I got AAB. Nowadays half are getting 5 A* at crappy comps. 

[Zelandeth]

Roofer failed to turn up about a week and a half back to do a survey and quote.  Phoned me up yesterday when I was in the middle of something and apologised profusely and promised they would be here today.

Guess what?  They never showed up again.  Am I surprised?  Not in the slightest.  Am I pissed of?  Yes, absolutely.  I've a thousand things to do this afternoon and really could have done without needlessly twiddling my thumbs for two hours for someone to not appear. Again.

[Pieman]

Seriously, just do what @puddlethumper has done and move into a motorhome, your house sounds like it's falling down.

[Datsuncog]

Does seem to be astoundingly difficult to get tradies to show up at the date and time they've suggested.

Currently being ghosted by our joiner, who showed up, measured everything, agreed a rate and a date - then cancelled, and now won't answer the phone to me.

I wouldn't mind so much, but Howden's is holding £800 worth of (paid for) doors and fixings under his trade account. And the garage is filled front to back with the lengths of timber I bought in for him to build the new doorframes.

[Zelandeth]

28 minutes ago, Pieman said:

Seriously, just do what @puddlethumper has done and move into a motorhome, your house sounds like it's falling down.

If it did that would greatly simplify things as the insurers could just bloody deal with it then!

[Back_For_More]

4 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Roofer failed to turn up about a week and a half back to do a survey and quote.  Phoned me up yesterday when I was in the middle of something and apologised profusely and promised they would be here today.

Guess what?  They never showed up again.  Am I surprised?  Not in the slightest.  Am I pissed of?  Yes, absolutely.  I've a thousand things to do this afternoon and really could have done without needlessly twiddling my thumbs for two hours for someone to not appear. Again.

I'm afraid once they'd stood me up the 1st time I'd tell them to show up at my convenience - fucked around once is enough.

They can lose their lunch or evening time or fucking do one..... 

[New POD]

5 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

Without boasting too much but I took my A levels 40 years ago. I was in the top 6 in my year at one of the best academic state schools in the county. I got AAB. Nowadays half are getting 5 A* at crappy comps. 

Without boasting, 37 years ago I got D, E and an O level pass in subjects I'd got As in at O level, so god knows what I did for 2 years. (Drinking and Fixing motorbikes mainly)

Didn't stop me getting into Polytechnic, or becoming a Chartered Engineer. 

[New POD]

19 hours ago, DavieW said:

And here's me thinking LED bulbs were energy efficient 😮

I noticed that the other day. 

[Lacquer Peel]

5 minutes ago, New POD said:

Without boasting, 37 years ago I got D, E and an O level pass in subjects I'd got As in at O level, so god knows what I did for 2 years. (Drinking and Fixing motorbikes mainly)

Didn't stop me getting into Polytechnic, or becoming a Chartered Engineer. 

Life has been easy for you eh. 

[New POD]

1 minute ago, Lacquer Peel said:

Life has been easy for you eh. 

Kind of easy.  In that I just had to turn up. 

Kind of not. In that I had to actually do some work, once I turned up. 

Doing shit in my A levels, kick started my paranoia about failing, so I've tried to do the best job in most things, and make sure I'm open to potential opportunities. 

I am.intrinsically lazy, so everyday, I have to have words with myself. 

 

[AnnoyingPentium]

44 minutes ago, New POD said:

so everyday, I have to have words with myself. 

I tried doing this, but apparently it can make the other shoppers in Tesco quite concerned.

[New POD]

30 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

I tried doing this, but apparently it can make the other shoppers in Tesco quite concerned.

Are you me? 

[AnnoyingPentium]

1 minute ago, New POD said:

Are you me? 

[Metal Guru]

5 hours ago, New POD said:

Without boasting, 37 years ago I got D, E and an O level pass in subjects I'd got As in at O level, so god knows what I did for 2 years. (Drinking and Fixing motorbikes mainly)

Didn't stop me getting into Polytechnic, or becoming a Chartered Engineer. 

D,E and O at A level would be worth at least A,B and a C today. Would get you into Oxbridge with a suitable sob story.

[New POD]

2 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

D,E and O at A level would be worth at least A,B and a C today. Would get you into Oxbridge with a suitable sob story.

😂

Given the amount of work my kids did to get As and A*s  I'd suggest more like C, D and E. 

 

[artdjones]

Just out of interest, here's the O level paper 2, set by the University of London in 1976. I took the Welsh equivalent the year before with grade B. No calculators or tables were allowed, and you were explicitly told that anything below a C was a fail.

fdocuments.in_o-level-mathematics-paper-2-june-76.pdf

[Metal Guru]

25 minutes ago, artdjones said:

Just out of interest, here's the O level paper 2, set by the University of London in 1976. I took the Welsh equivalent the year before with grade B. No calculators or tables were allowed, and you were explicitly told that anything below a C was a fail.

fdocuments.in_o-level-mathematics-paper-2-june-76.pdf 2.68 MB · 3 downloads

I took the same exam in 1977. I think calculators were allowed the year after. I got a fancy scientific one for passing my O levels. A couple of years before that , a basic 4 function calculator cost about £30, equivalent to about £230 today taking inflation although it would also have bought 100 pints of beer or 200 litres of petrol, 

[chadders]

7 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

D,E and O at A level would be worth at least A,B and a C today. Would get you into Oxbridge with a suitable sob story.

Do you have kids?

I have a pretty good idea how bright mine are and can therefore compare their results to my own A level results some 40+ years ago and totally disagree with your theory.

 

 

[Bren]

Clusters of blisters on my feet despite wearing same shoes. Also a couple on my head. The ones on my head disappeared after some steroids. Prior to this my skin had been itchy.

I let my consultant know. I have a feeling that my high eosiniphils are now on the move.

I think vasculitis is on the horizon.

[Metal Guru]

1 hour ago, chadders said:

Do you have kids?

I have a pretty good idea how bright mine are and can therefore compare their results to my own A level results some 40+ years ago and totally disagree with your theory.

 

 

OK , I exaggerated a bit , but how  do you equate that from 1993 to 2021 nearly all subjects had nearly double the number of A grades awarded.? Kids didn’t get twice as clever in 20 years , teaching certainly hasn’t improved, ( yes I know work load , extra curricula blah blah). A* didn’t even exist, they had to add it because A was no longer anything special. 

I see on the news kids getting 15A* GCSEs from a not very highly rated school in Carlisle. How do you even properly study 15 subjects ?  With other time table constraints, that’s less than an hour a week.

My son took his school exams 10 years ago but in Scotland so I can’t compare his results directly. Scottish results have been steadily rising year on year but not to the same extent as the English.

Im sure you’re kids are very bright. Many who get A and A* would have got them back then, but at least half wouldn’t have.

[inconsistant]

21 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

Without boasting too much but I took my A levels 40 years ago. I was in the top 6 in my year at one of the best academic state schools in the county. I got AAB. Nowadays half are getting 5 A* at crappy comps. 

But you've still ended up here with us.

[Metal Guru]

1 hour ago, inconsistant said:

But you've still ended up here with us.

Haven’t I joined an elite group of highly intelligent car enthusiasts?  ( well compared to Pistonheads anyway).

[High Jetter]

6 hours ago, artdjones said:

Just out of interest, here's the O level paper 2, set by the University of London in 1976. I took the Welsh equivalent the year before with grade B. No calculators or tables were allowed, and you were explicitly told that anything below a C was a fail.

fdocuments.in_o-level-mathematics-paper-2-june-76.pdf 2.68 MB · 13 downloads

You know I'm going to have to waste spend time attempting that? Do you know how long was allowed in that exam?