The grumpy thread

[barefoot]

I picked up a mong on the ringroad this morning. There I was pottering along at the 40 limit, car hame hurtling down behind me & attached itself to my bumper. I dawdled around the next roundabout & exited it doing about 25. I continued at this speed for a surprisingly long time, some two or three hundred yards with speedy still stuck to my bumper. He finally roared past me in an original shape Ford Ka. The fucker must have been about 12.

[beko1987]

I used to get that on the a404 when I used to commute. Was 2 miles before coming off and always busy so I just kept left and chilled at 40 for a while. 

Could always tell the people trying to get ahead in l2, inevitably they'd never leave your sight and be trying to get in right on the hatchings for the off ramp to the m40 North. Oodles of fun being a cunt and blocking them so they have to waste a good 20 minutes at handy cross to get onto the motorway. Usually see them hammer past in l3 10 miles up the road 

If they'd just chilled out and waited they'd be in 5th at tickover happily moving along. L2 is stop/start as its London bound

[MikeR]

just found out my coffee cup shaped power distribution thingy in the car  has a damaged usb port ,probably  some clumsy bar steward in the drivers seat ...

end result is the car cam has not been recording all the time ...

[wuvvum]

Well, it's finally happened.  The Prime Minister is younger than me.  I am officially old.

[cort1977]

22 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Well, it's finally happened.  The Prime Minister is younger than me.  I am officially old.

Just had the same experience. 42.  Bastard!

[MiniMinorMk3]

43 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Well, it's finally happened.  The Prime Minister is younger than me.  I am officially old.

I felt old when Cameron got in, but then was young again when he went. But since BoJo I guess I will now be permanently old.

[Bren]

47 minutes ago, cort1977 said:

Just had the same experience. 42.  Bastard!

When people ask me how old I am I tell them old enough to remember Bruce Forsyth with sideburns.

[Wack]

Just took me 20 minutes to get through to the insurance, another 10 to go through the change of vehicle details and quote which I accepted , reading out the credit card details and I got cut off, no fucker rang me back so i'm back at the start of the queue😡

[High Jetter]

5 hours ago, Bren said:

When people ask me how old I am I tell them old enough to remember Bruce Forsyth with sideburns.

I remember when he was trying to grow them. Nice to grow you...

I'll forgo my coat

[Zelandeth]

Bloody used car prices for early Jeep Cherokees.  I really thought the current fuel pricing uncertainty would have hurt their values a bit... really doesn't look like it based on the prices they're still going for it seems.  Whole market is nuts at the moment, but I really thought thirsty motors like that might have dropped a bit.

Oh well...I can keep periodically window shopping I guess.

[goosey]

12 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Bloody used car prices for early Jeep Cherokees.  I really thought the current fuel pricing uncertainty would have hurt their values a bit... really doesn't look like it based on the prices they're still going for it seems.  Whole market is nuts at the moment, but I really thought thirsty motors like that might have dropped a bit.

Oh well...I can keep periodically window shopping I guess.

Banger racers are paying good money, so the cheaper ones disappear fast 

[Vantman]

6 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Well, it's finally happened.  The Prime Minister is younger than me.  I am officially old.

I am officially really old then, Clement Attlee was PM when i was born!

[Metal Guru]

2 hours ago, Vantman said:

I am officially really old then, Clement Attlee was PM when i was born!

Cameron, Boris and Liz Truss are all younger than me.

[Yoss]

6 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

Cameron, Boris and Liz Truss are all younger than me.

Liz who? I'd forgotten about her already!

Actually I think she may remembered for a very long time but not for the reasons she would have wanted. 

[myglaren]

14 hours ago, Vantman said:

Clement Attlee

Same here.  I don't remember him though

[horriblemercedes]

15 hours ago, Vantman said:

I am officially really old then, Clement Attlee was PM when i was born!

I thought you were going to say you're older than Attlee, until I got to the end of the sentence.

 

He'd be 140 next year if he was alive

[Cavcraft]

Wickes: absolute and utter c*nts. 

[Zelandeth]

Turns out that the frame of the roof light over our upstairs landing is rotten and needs to be replaced.  Great.  Plus despite being quite careful they managed to punch a couple of holes in the surrounding ceiling plaster when removing it to replace the surrounding roof.

Wonderful.

*Adds "get upstairs ceiling plaster repaired" to the never ending to do list.*

[chadders]

You've never had anything like this done before on an oldish house have you? Punching  a couple of holes is far better than the ceiling collapsing.

For example our kitchen ceiling was supported by 2 narrow gauge railway rails and we had cupboards mounted in front of other ones. That was just the beginning.

[Zelandeth]

7 minutes ago, chadders said:

You've never had anything like this done before on an oldish house have you? Punching  a couple of holes is far better than the ceiling collapsing.

For example our kitchen ceiling was supported by 2 narrow gauge railway rails and we had cupboards mounted in front of other ones. That was just the beginning.

Nope.

Well yes...but in >100 year old houses where we already had the ceilings down beforehand and everything was already being replaced wholesale anyway.  This is the first time we've had any substantial work done on something from the 80s.

It's a small niggle in the grand scheme of things, just would have been nice if the to do list wouldn't keep gaining additional items!

[Spurious]

Speaking of old houses. Got a knock in the kitchen as I was having my porridge early this morn. I live in a mid terrace 1890s build Yorkshire stone house

Neighbours are getting an extension done, which is fine, so have had the groundworkers out to do foundations and drainage. 

We share some of the common drainage system as there used to be a shared outhouse in neighbours garden. My sink drainage comes out of a Victorian glazed 6-7 inch pipe and merges into the common larger glazed clay waste pipe that drains to the street sewer. 

Turns out when the fence was done back a few years back pre-dating all our ownership, they drove the concrete fence post through our sink drain and filled it up with postcrete. My sink/washing machine now just drains into neighbours garden. 

Now left with a £600 bill to hand dig new drainage and install a better system for the front of the house. Surprise bills. Yay. Glad I'd a few pounds put away, rainy day funds. 

Couldn't really put this one off. Neighbours have the ground dug up waiting... 

I want to meet which cowboy who dug a fence hole, felt the drain and then continued to put a post through the drain and then concrete it up. Continued to cover that up and left it for someone else to find and fix. 😔

[maxxo]

https://youtu.be/CAIq20Lptg0

this is one i had today

two women, i'd say in their late 60s in the car.....couldn't get it into gear, i suspected the clutch has gone

anyway, look at all the people who just drove round them......they'd been there for 10 minutes at that point

sorry the camera cut off, but i helped them and pushed them to the side of the road

i feel quite bad as i didn't have a tow rope in the car, as i'd have towed them to the halfords autocentre down the road to get it sorted

but i feel quite good about it

i mean seriously, does no one help anyone?

it took me a few minutes and honestly, why wouldn't you

 

[Talbot]

1 minute ago, maxxo said:

i mean seriously, does no one help anyone?

The risk here is that you make yourself vulnerable to accusations by others.

Push a car to the side of the road?  "You've dented the body"

Tow a car to help someone out?  They fail to brake in time and smash into the back of you.  You now have endless shit to deal with and increased insurance premiums.

Car breakdowns are just nowhere near as common as they once were, meaning people are not attuned to helping others out, and if they do, they put themselves at risk.  I have to say, I'd think twice these days.

[maxxo]

1 minute ago, Talbot said:

The risk here is that you make yourself vulnerable to accusations by others.

Push a car to the side of the road?  "You've dented the body"

Tow a car to help someone out?  They fail to brake in time and smash into the back of you.  You now have endless shit to deal with and increased insurance premiums.

Car breakdowns are just nowhere near as common as they once were, meaning people are not attuned to helping others out, and if they do, they put themselves at risk.  I have to say, I'd think twice these days.

i just didn't think twice about it really

as i say i wish i'd have done more and maybe pushed them round the corner, but just wanted to help them quickly

i'll do it again tomorrow if needs be

[Talbot]

Don't get me wrong, I'd likely have assisted too.  I think the point I'm making is just be careful.  You don't want to end up liable for something that wasn't your fault or even your issue.

Thusly: https://www.thejournal.ie/crash-leitrim-emergency-services-car-paul-egan-3234577-Feb2017/

Not the first time I've heard of that happening.. it's a story that happens time and time again.

[Yoss]

13 minutes ago, Talbot said:

The risk here is that you make yourself vulnerable to accusations by others.

Push a car to the side of the road?  "You've dented the body"

Tow a car to help someone out?  They fail to brake in time and smash into the back of you.  You now have endless shit to deal with and increased insurance premiums.

Car breakdowns are just nowhere near as common as they once were, meaning people are not attuned to helping others out, and if they do, they put themselves at risk.  I have to say, I'd think twice these days.

I think you did the right thing, well done. Even if you had a tow rope handy I wouldn't have offered unless they were proficient in the art of towing. There is a knack to it and I wouldn't entrust it to somebody who's never done it. So I think you did the right thing just getting them out of the way.  

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, chadders said:

For example our kitchen ceiling was supported by 2 narrow gauge railway rails and we had cupboards mounted in front of other ones. That was just the beginning.

That sounds like ace bodgery! Got any pics?

[Zelandeth]

11 minutes ago, maxxo said:

i just didn't think twice about it really

as i say i wish i'd have done more and maybe pushed them round the corner, but just wanted to help them quickly

i'll do it again tomorrow if needs be

Last time I stopped to offer assistance to someone who had broken down (halfway round a busy roundabout), they threatened to "f**ing kill me if I didn't f*** off and mind my own f***ing business." at the top of their lungs. Several times over, and then followed me on foot gesticulating wildly at me as I left.

The other that springs to mind was a lady in a Range Rover Velar.  Again, awkward location.  Quick assessment - "Looks like you're out of fuel.  When did you last put any in?" Me wondering if the gauge could be on the blink.

"You have to put fuel in it?"

"Um...yes..."

"Oh, my husband does all that dirty stuff..."

"...Do you have breakdown cover?"

"No idea...what's that?"

This was about the point at which I noticed that the cords on the front tyres were visible.  At that point I politely suggested they phone their husband, excused myself and walked away.

I'm not getting any more entangled in that in case it turned out that her understanding of insurance, tax or MOT was as thorough as how to read a fuel gauge.  Plus it had an electronic handbrake which I had not the foggiest idea how to release without the engine running so couldn't have helped shift it anyway.

Did have one a year or so back which went okay - aside from not even getting a begrudging thank you for having given them a jump start on an absolute stinker of a January evening with sideways rain.

 

[maxxo]

they were both extremely thankful and offered me cash for doing it

obviously said no, but they were very thankful for it

[chadders]

6 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

That sounds like ace bodgery! Got any pics?

Sorry no, I never thought to take any at the time.