The grumpy thread

[chadders]

7 hours ago, New POD said:

When they invoice you, knowing that they haven't done the job, isn't that attempted theft ?  I've never threatened any contractor with the police, but I have suggested that we (as in the massive corporate conglomerate I happened to be a small broken cog in) took that sort of thing seriously. 

Current place I work has been too cosy with a couple of companies  and have been really poor at defining the requirements, and I'm having to mop up the mess, so this approach doesn't work because what we were getting for £20k was a bit fucking vague.  I've been having to suggest that they think seriously about the spirit of the order.  Doesn't help that the guy that ordered the stuff, has gone to work for one of them. Wanker. 

You might want to bear in mind that the spirit of the order, whatever that is, is irrelevant. In addition their credit control department might block any future deliveries if you're considered a credit risk.

[Talbot]

1 hour ago, chadders said:

the spirit of the order, whatever that is, is irrelevant

Absolutely this.  If the scope of work and deliverables hasn't been clearly defined by the buyer, then that's their issue.  Or indeed if the scope of work defined in the quotation from the subcontractor doesn't match what the buyer wants, that is again the buyer's problem to sort out.  Scope of supply is absolutely critical to ensure a subcontract goes well.

[Zelandeth]

Yep, invoice going in was basically to get the tax point down in the books.  

The story I've been given (and I am taking this with a large pinch of salt) is that the foreman had a family emergency up in Yorkshire which meant that him and a large number of the company (they're a family owned and run organisation) were away from the area and indisposed as of mid October until a week or so back.  Which does tie in with what we saw.  Up till that point he had been dropping by every day or three to keep an eye on where the guys were up to with the job and keeping me in the loop.  Then they just seemed to evaporate.  Plus I know they'd been fighting a race against the weather and the same supply chain issues as everyone at the moment with some aspects.

It might all be waffle, but the timings and way stuff unfolded do fit the explanation I've been given.  We'll see on Wednesday if I continue to get sense out of them I guess.

[Bren]

No longer positive for covid. But still snotty and coughing up shite. Even after nine days.

Rona - get tae fuck.

[MikeR]

Is sat here watching a old dual core lappy  running makemkv on Linux , beat hands down a recent win 10 lappy that tried to do the same job !!! 

Technology ! 

[EyesWeldedShut]

6 minutes ago, MikeR said:

Is sat here watching a old dual core lappy  running makemkv on Linux , beat hands down a recent win 10 lappy that tried to do the same job !!! 

Technology ! 

I've just spent two months trying to run a lot of Python & R software on Windows 10 and/or WSL2 - no chance on either - very, very peeved.
New Year, New OS

[MikeR]

26 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

I've just spent two months trying to run a lot of Python & R software on Windows 10 and/or WSL2 - no chance on either - very, very peeved.
New Year, New OS

Now the Linux lappy is ripping the dvd using the external drive , so the win10 lappy or it's version of makemkv is suspect ! 

[Yoss]

On 1/6/2023 at 3:38 PM, Yoss said:

Just found this tied to a lamppost on my delivery. Don't try reading it, I'll summarise. 

 

It's about proposed 20mph speed limits in Southampton. It covers a big area as you can tell, most of western Southampton in fact. The 20 limit itself is not the main grump here, a lot of the above are small residential roads where you would struggle to reach 30 anyway. Although Shirley Road is the main bus route to the western side of Southampton and Hill Lane is a lovely straight wide road that has The Common on one side and big well spaced houses on the other so that seems daft to me. 

The grump is in the small print at the bottom that says any objections should be sent to the relevant address within 21 days of this notice, i.e. the 23rd of December, and sure enough the letter is dated 2nd December. This notice was printed on standard photocopier paper, not laminated or protected in any way. There is no way this notice has been here since the 2nd of January let alone the 2nd of December, it obviously hasn't been there any longer than since it last rained, in fact it has started raining again now so I imagine it is slowly dissolving as I write. 

I doubt any objections would make any difference anyway, they've decided they are going to to do it and that's that but they could have at least gone through the motions of doing it properly. 

Seems I wasn't paying attention. A quick browse of the council website shows this is going to cover almost the whole city and is being implemented in 14 sections. The first section has already been implemented but in an area I rarely frequent so hadn't noticed. 

Here's a map. 

I live just outside area 3 bit will have to enter it to go anywhere. Although in the spiel that went this map it said the major roads within each area would remain 30mph but Shirley Road is on the list and that is the A3057, the main road from Southampton to Romsey so that's a bit of a contradiction. 

Then in the paper at the weekend I read that Cornwall Council are planning to make every residential road in the county a 20 zone so it seems there's no escaping it. It's the future. I've been practicing driving round at 20 over the weekend to get used to it. 

[Remspoor]

3 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

The story I've been given (and I am taking this with a large pinch of salt) is that the foreman had a family emergency up in Yorkshire which meant that him and a large number of the company (they're a family owned and run organisation) were away from the area and indisposed as of mid October until a week or so back.

Just a shame they could not inform you at the time. Or even a week or two later.

[Remspoor]

1 hour ago, Yoss said:

Seems I wasn't paying attention. A quick browse of the council website shows this is going to cover almost the whole city and is being implemented in 14 sections. The first section has already been implemented but in an area I rarely frequent so hadn't noticed. 

Here's a map. 

I live just outside area 3 bit will have to enter it to go anywhere. Although in the spiel that went this map it said the major roads within each area would remain 30mph but Shirley Road is on the list and that is the A3057, the main road from Southampton to Romsey so that's a bit of a contradiction. 

Then in the paper at the weekend I read that Cornwall Council are planning to make every residential road in the county a 20 zone so it seems there's no escaping it. It's the future. I've been practicing driving round at 20 over the weekend to get used to it. 

I am so glad I do not live in the  UK these days. Tories and 20MPH zones , go to fuck.

[richardmorris]

15 hours ago, timolloyd said:

For lots of small businesses approaching their year-end, it’s helpful to have invoices raised, even when they have no intention of demanding payment. 
 

It helps to show what amounts will be due at a later date.

Yes. But my business doesn't send invoices out until the work is completed, even if the invoice itself has been generated at yhe end of the month. 

It could just be a simple mistake - eg press save and send  rather than save and new option.

[HarmonicCheeseburger]

34 minutes ago, Remspoor said:

I am so glad I do not live in the  UK these days. Tories and 20MPH zones , go to fuck.

@Kiltoxis this your doing to promote Amis?

[artdjones]

Wouldn't it make more pollution and emissions for cars to drive at 20mph in 3rd rather than 30mph in 4th?

[Metal Guru]

1 hour ago, Remspoor said:

I am so glad I do not live in the  UK these days. Tories and 20MPH zones , go to fuck.

Well the SNP have done it already in Scotland.

[Mally]

1 hour ago, Remspoor said:

I am so glad I do not live in the  UK these days. Tories and 20MPH zones , go to fuck.

I blame @Kiltox and AMI.

Hope he gets done for speeding.

[AndyW201]

Used the Merc at the weekend, parked on the drive yesterday, no problems.

Horrible grinding, scraping noise this morning when reversing off the drive,

Aye, that'll be why then.

Fucksakes...

[Yoss]

52 minutes ago, artdjones said:

Wouldn't it make more pollution and emissions for cars to drive at 20mph in 3rd rather than 30mph in 4th?

The Southampton City Council website makes no mention of emmisions, it appears to be merely on safety grounds. There's also no mention of how it might be enforced. 

Green Skoda with its 1.6 16v can comfortably do 20 in 3rd but blue Skoda which is standard would really rather be in 2nd. It will do it in 3rd but is labouring a bit but its happier in 2nd. So am I expected to drive round in 2nd gear? 

[HarmonicCheeseburger]

42 minutes ago, Mally said:

I blame @Kiltox and AMI.

Hope he gets done for speeding.

Getting a ticket for speeding in an Ami is the type of thing you request in A2 size format so you can frame it!

[AnnoyingPentium]

1 hour ago, Metal Guru said:

Well the SNP have done it already in Scotland.

It's particularly bad in the Borders Council areas. At least over on the South West it's not as common, and only really for especially built up areas (say the centre of Ayr for example), with most still being 30mph zones thankfully, which means I can navigate them in 5th gear. A lot of these used to be 40mph zones before, and were, in my opinion, a bit better for it then.

[Metal Guru]

57 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

It's particularly bad in the Borders Council areas. At least over on the South West it's not as common, and only really for especially built up areas (say the centre of Ayr for example), with most still being 30mph zones thankfully, which means I can navigate them in 5th gear. A lot of these used to be 40mph zones before, and were, in my opinion, a bit better for it then.

There was some talk about making rural roads 40mph in Scotland. That would be a blanket 40 in the Borders apart from the 20s in towns.

[wuvvum]

4 hours ago, Remspoor said:

I am so glad I do not live in the  UK these days. Tories and 20MPH zones , go to fuck.

There's plenty of 30km/h zones in built up areas in That Europe.  No Tories though admittedly.

[Ghosty]

I'm a bit more broke than I thought, and if the MX5 fails an MOT and/or doesn't sell soon, I'm fucked - start of February I will have £0 to my name.

Fuck. Need to account for visiting Reb this month too which costs a fair bit in travel.

[LightBulbFun]

3 hours ago, Yoss said:

The Southampton City Council website makes no mention of emmisions, it appears to be merely on safety grounds. There's also no mention of how it might be enforced. 

Green Skoda with its 1.6 16v can comfortably do 20 in 3rd but blue Skoda which is standard would really rather be in 2nd. It will do it in 3rd but is labouring a bit but its happier in 2nd. So am I expected to drive round in 2nd gear? 

what about the Routemaster! that probably would be right at home bimbling along at 20Mph with its standard low speed diff

 

[Talbot]

8 hours ago, Yoss said:

So am I expected to drive round in 2nd gear? 

On a residential road, one assumes so.

TBH I don't see the issue with this.  As long as the more major routes remain at their current 30/40 limits, reducing the limit on a residential road to 20mph makes good sense.  It won't make a blind bit of difference to journey times, but might reduce the peak speeds that people are doing past houses.

What gear a car happens to achieve 20mph in seems somewhat irrelevant.  And no, I don't see how driving at 20mph can produce more emissions than driving at 30mph.  The power needed to achieve 20 is less than 30 (obvs!) so there should be lower CO2 emissions and probably fewer other emissions too.

The age of individual personal mobility will eventually draw to an end.  This is possibly the very beginning of it.

[Metal Guru]

1 hour ago, Talbot said:

On a residential road, one assumes so.

TBH I don't see the issue with this.  As long as the more major routes remain at their current 30/40 limits, reducing the limit on a residential road to 20mph makes good sense.  It won't make a blind bit of difference to journey times, but might reduce the peak speeds that people are doing past houses.

What gear a car happens to achieve 20mph in seems somewhat irrelevant.  And no, I don't see how driving at 20mph can produce more emissions than driving at 30mph.  The power needed to achieve 20 is less than 30 (obvs!) so there should be lower CO2 emissions and probably fewer other emissions too.

The age of individual personal mobility will eventually draw to an end.  This is possibly the very beginning of it.

Surely it’s the rpm of the engine that largely determines emissions rather than the actual speed of the vehicle? So if you have to drive in 2nd gear for 20mph at say 2000 rpm but 3rd at 30 would be 1500rpm, there will be more emissions at 20mph.

Also if you have to drive say 2 miles through a town, 20mph will take 6 minutes, but at 30 it will only take 4 minutes, again more emissions at 20 mph.

[Talbot]

16 minutes ago, Metal Guru said:

Surely it’s the rpm of the engine that largely determines emissions rather than the actual speed of the vehicle? 

No.

It's the load on the engine.  RPM is largely not relevant at very light throttle openings.  It makes a bit of a difference at WOT, but the difference between 20 and 30mph is 2/10ths of very little.

Also... why on earth would you be at 2000rpm in any gear?  3rd at 1200rpm would be fine.  The engine is only making about 3-5hp to make the car move at 20mph.  Even if you did decide to be at 2000rpm in second, that would still be using less fuel than to travel at 30mph.

Also.. this is only being done on residentail roads.  You wouldn't be driving for 2 miles on a residential street.  Even if you were, you'd never maintain 30mph for it the whole time.  Average speed in a residential area is about 15mph if you're lucky.  The plan here is to clip the top off the maximum speed, which will make very little difference to journey times.

Your theory that the longer a journey takes means higher emissions is completely wrong too.  CO2 emsissions are based on the amount of hydrocarbon burned.  NOx emissions will be almost non-existant at such low power, and other emissions will depend far more on the engine than the manner of driving.

[Yoss]

5 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

what about the Routemaster! that probably would be right at home bimbling along at 20Mph with its standard low speed diff

 

Ha ha, yes it was very short sighted of me to sell it. On the way up the gears I would change in to fourth at 20 and wouldn't change down until 15mph. At 20 in third you were revving the nuts off the thing. 

1 hour ago, Talbot said:

On a residential road, one assumes so.

TBH I don't see the issue with this.  As long as the more major routes remain at their current 30/40 limits, reducing the limit on a residential road to 20mph makes good sense.  It won't make a blind bit of difference to journey times, but might reduce the peak speeds that people are doing past houses.

What gear a car happens to achieve 20mph in seems somewhat irrelevant.  And no, I don't see how driving at 20mph can produce more emissions than driving at 30mph.  The power needed to achieve 20 is less than 30 (obvs!) so there should be lower CO2 emissions and probably fewer other emissions too.

The age of individual personal mobility will eventually draw to an end.  This is possibly the very beginning of it.

In pure mathematical terms it should by your logic produce less emmisions at 20mph but at the same time will do so for 50% longer but real world driving is not led by maths (I know, before anyone jumps in, everything in the universe can be explained by maths).

I guess once we're all driving electric cars the problem of what gear to be in will be irrelevant. 

As I said originally it won't make much difference round the residential roads but I'm surprised that Shirley Road and Hill Lane weren't excluded as major routes. Some other roads are exempt. Winchester Road and Burgess Road which are technically the A35 and link the M27 to the west and east of the city but ironically have so many traffic lights 30mph is virtually impossible. Perhaps that's why they exempted them, they are naturally 20mph roads anyway. 

Another major route is The Avenue, the main route off the end of the M3 to the city centre. It was reduced to 40mph to 30mph at the start of covid to, try and encourage cycling apparently, and it seems to have made little difference. Most people still travel between 30 and 40. I just go with the flow. I suspect in reality the 20 zones will be the same. 

[Mally]

I seem to recall others with similar Builders problems.

I had my house re roofed 14 months ago, all is was well.

This morning there's water running down my downstairs wallpaper.......and upstairs when I check........and in the loft.

Leak at the joint of mine and next door, but I've got the water.

To his credit, builder turned up in half an hour. It's bouncing down.

Hmmmm. Been OK  last winter, there's a chimney next door at the point of the leak. May be something amiss on their half.

Might need scaffolding, leave it with me until the rain stops.

I feel another bill coming on. Rest of the block is tenanted. I'm not  well in with their landlord, and their roof was redone 5 years ago.

[somewhatfoolish]

18 hours ago, Remspoor said:

I am so glad I do not live in the  UK these days. Tories and 20MPH zones , go to fuck.

Soton got rid of their tory council in May and replaced it with a labour one; I'd assume this was the new lot's doing. Still a shit idea, mind.

[cobblers]

I'm lucky enough to only ever have had to drive in one 20mph limit and that's the one going into Matlock. If you actually slow down to 20mph there, someone will crash into you. Anyway, that's my anecdote, please subscribe for more useless motoring observations.