The grumpy thread

[artdjones]

38 minutes ago, Mally said:

The actual Audiologists that you are involved with are the finest people I've ever dealt with in the NHS.

Waiting time is usually 10 mins, you used to drop in, its phone booking now since Covid, but still easy.

They listen to you, and fix your problem, but only have a limited time of 10? mins per person.

They tell you when you are due for review and often book you there and then.

In this case there was a long waiting list.

I know the way round the system, book an appointment with a broken tube, see  a real person, explain, and 99% they will just rebook me.

I don't need a GP referral.  I'm on their register,  with 2 hearing aids. I can get to see someone in Audiology if I have a problem any time I like.

It's a standard failed to show up letter. 

Worst comes to worst, I may have to mention vulnerable. It did hint that was a possible get out.

 

Clinicians are usually ok. Except that they don't control the clerical workers, who often aren't.

[Metal Guru]

5 hours ago, artdjones said:

Clinicians are usually ok. Except that they don't control the clerical workers, who often aren't.

There are too many who think because they work for the NHS they are superheroes. Yes some are, but lots aren’t , including GPs who basically shut up shop during covid . 

[sierraman]

16 hours ago, Bren said:

My local Halfords.

Hardly any staff. Angry looking blokes stood outside in small groups wishing they could change bulbs.

Customers inside asking staff where things were rather than just looking for themselves.

In the end I put my stuff back and left.

Halfords seem to just employ children, it must be a stipulation on the interview process ‘do you have no interest or knowledge of cars?’ to make the grade. I believe ECP have a similar question is that ‘can you demonstrate on a daily basis that you’d much rather be somewhere else and display a really unhelpful attitude?’ to get through their gates. 

[myglaren]

Flat panic as I consulted my spreadsheet and looked at the car sheet to find that it is over a year since I renewed my insurance. I never normally think about it as I get a reminder a couple of weeks in advance of renewal. Looks like I have been driving uninsured for a month http://unaboard.coalgoddess.net/images/smilies/eek.gif

And then it got worse. Unable to log in to the insurance company site.
Looked in saved emails and there was one saying that insurance had been declined and to download the .pdf, but there was no .pdf attached.

The only recourse was to phone them, something that I despise having to do. I have a number of calls that I should have made, going back six months, I just can't pick up the phone unless it is a dire emergency, which this was as my son uses my car more than I do.

Wound myself up and managed to press the buttons. Got a very pleasant young chap on the phone who looked at my account and said it wasn't due for renewal until June.

Panic over but does this mean that I will make those other calls. Probably not.

Still have to sort the boiler service, six months overdue, and three doctors appointments and MRI at the UK Biobank.  Tried to book a Covid re-jab, all the walk-in centres are over 70 miles away, despite the fact that I can practically see on from my house.  Same with pharmacies.  There was one five miles away but all booked up and I have lost the link to them, their own website offers nothing.

[Metal Guru]

46 minutes ago, myglaren said:

Flat panic as I consulted my spreadsheet and looked at the car sheet to find that it is over a year since I renewed my insurance. I never normally think about it as I get a reminder a couple of weeks in advance of renewal. Looks like I have been driving uninsured for a month http://unaboard.coalgoddess.net/images/smilies/eek.gif

And then it got worse. Unable to log in to the insurance company site.
Looked in saved emails and there was one saying that insurance had been declined and to download the .pdf, but there was no .pdf attached.

The only recourse was to phone them, something that I despise having to do. I have a number of calls that I should have made, going back six months, I just can't pick up the phone unless it is a dire emergency, which this was as my son uses my car more than I do.

Wound myself up and managed to press the buttons. Got a very pleasant young chap on the phone who looked at my account and said it wasn't due for renewal until June.

Panic over but does this mean that I will make those other calls. Probably not.

Still have to sort the boiler service, six months overdue, and three doctors appointments and MRI at the UK Biobank.  Tried to book a Covid re-jab, all the walk-in centres are over 70 miles away, despite the fact that I can practically see on from my house.  Same with pharmacies.  There was one five miles away but all booked up and I have lost the link to them, their own website offers nothing.

Put your insurance on auto renew, that way if you forget you’re still covered. You can still change it when they take the piss on prices but at least you’re not going to done for driving without insurance which will cost you a fortune in the long run.

[myglaren]

It is, I thought that they had forgotten.  Happens.

 

Also, it is taking about ten minutes to post.  Included a smiley from another forum that didn't work but the edit time was up so couldn't delete it.

[jakebullet]

The Mrs went to specsavers who dilated her eyes.  Which made the pressure go mad and a hospital appointment. They gave her some magic pills. Side effects include may* cause anger.

Oh yes! Went to asda and someone went in the trolley tills without a trolley. So she had a scream at them then shouted at till minder and was then giving the security guard the point n shout treatment that the sign needs changing if they allow people in without trolleys.

Afterwards she says do you think they're making me more angry? Just a little dear.

[sierraman]

Just seen another candidate for Co-op Funeral Care working on his car, sat on the trolley jack as he’s hammering the cunt out of something underneath. No stands or even wheel under the car...

[Jazoli]

2 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Just seen another candidate for Co-op Funeral Care working on his car, sat on the trolley jack as he’s hammering the cunt out of something underneath. No stands or even wheel under the car...

People are stupid really, I've had cars slip off jacks before but I've always had at least another prop and a wheel underneath, I have a huge 3t trolley jack now and 4 stands but send anything that requires getting fully under the car to the mechanic with a lift.

[Pat Earrings]

Wasted 2 hours of my life removing/refitting the bastard front bumper all to try and update the front indicators to LED. Only to realise this takes some obscure HP24W bulb and not the PWY24W that was suggested on the bulb checker sites. What an absolute fucker this is. You can’t even reach up from the arch liner side, as there’s nothing to really grab onto properly at that angle. 
 

I think I’ve reordered the correct kind but just in case they’re not I’ll visit a dealer. Seems like a dealer only part although a couple of reseller types do sell them online. What a waste of time.

plus point is managed to fit the EGR blanking plate though so all isn’t lost.

[cobblers]

it's a bit sunny now, so every single fairweather dickhead with a shiny sportsbike in a 200 mile radius has decided to come and just rev the fucker up at the traffic lights near my house.

It's a really lovely place to live for 8 months of the year.

 

[ruffgeezer]

My folks decided to take the aged Peugeot Expert (ex- @Alan_Green) to Bristol on Saturday,   they got 40 minutes unto the journey before the brake pedal went soft.

This is concerning as I had recently serviced the rears (drums; no leaks from the cylinders) to prepare it for it's mot.  When I finally got to see it the next day, the brakes were all behaving.

I can only wonder if somehow it'd boiled the brake fluid?

[Low Horatio gearbox]

The petrol station cash point eating my card  and the Volvo having 20 miles of range for 10 miles of journy tho it decided to go to  from  10 miles to zero miles  about 4 miles from home.  It was mostly downhill luckily  and even made it half a mile later once I'd begged some money off the GF.

 

[RoverFolkUs]

9 hours ago, ruffgeezer said:

My folks decided to take the aged Peugeot Expert (ex- @Alan_Green) to Bristol on Saturday,   they got 40 minutes unto the journey before the brake pedal went soft.

This is concerning as I had recently serviced the rears (drums; no leaks from the cylinders) to prepare it for it's mot.  When I finally got to see it the next day, the brakes were all behaving.

I can only wonder if somehow it'd boiled the brake fluid?

Does it have ABS?

There's a vague memory in my mind of a faulty ABS pump causing this, it intermittently malfunctioned and ran continuously - boiling up the fluid eventually. Can't for the life of me remember what car it was, and as I say, it's vaguely in the back of my mind from a quite a while ago! 

Anyway, more likely is aged fluid. When was it last changed? No signs of any corners binding? 

[Yoss]

On 4/29/2023 at 8:53 PM, Remspoor said:

Censorship of the Interweb is coming very very soon.

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_2413

It is all a bit odd. Some websites are not listed and some that are are hardly going to be allowing users to spread of disinformation or allow illegal content. So many questions that are not answered in this law. But don't worry the EU is leading the world in these matters. Only time before other countries follow suit. (according to the EU)

 

 

Why aren't we on that list? 

I'm on here longer than all of those put together. Are you telling me I'm in a minority? 

[horriblemercedes]

I've never heard of Zalando

[barefoot]

More ECO bullshit. - 'Plan A, because there is no plan B' -

Popular & well known brand M&S have an office in Nottingham. They've just invited 5 folk from where my wife works near Mansfield to a meeting  at their offices in Hong Kong.

[MikeR]

In Aintree hospital , stressed after using the multi story , spaces avb it said , took me 30 minutes to find one and only because I saw some one leaving . 

Never again , use the train next time or walk in ...

[Remspoor]

2 hours ago, Yoss said:

Why aren't we on that list? 

I'm on here longer than all of those put together. Are you tell me I'm in a minority? 

It is not 100% clear to me who is actually affected by this legislation. They are going to implement it for all "platforms" and the list is just a start.  I hope that the forum mods look into this to see if they are going to be affected. Maybe put an IP blocker on all of us who post from inside the block thus no users from the EU allowed. The likes of Booking are listed, but not AirBnB or Tripadvisor. The list  seems very random.

2 hours ago, horriblemercedes said:

I've never heard of Zalando

That is because they do not sell stuff that interests you. 😉

[Talbot]

22 hours ago, ruffgeezer said:

My folks decided to take the aged Peugeot Expert (ex- @Alan_Green) to Bristol on Saturday,   they got 40 minutes unto the journey before the brake pedal went soft.

This is concerning as I had recently serviced the rears (drums; no leaks from the cylinders) to prepare it for it's mot.  When I finally got to see it the next day, the brakes were all behaving.

I can only wonder if somehow it'd boiled the brake fluid?

Some Peugeots of that era require plugging in to whatever-the-software-is-for-peugeot to activate the ABS pump to get all air out of the system.

In theory, it should be possible to change the fluid by simply ensuring you never draw air in, but if you do, the system simply will not work.  it will bleed as if it's fine, but there's trapped air in the ABS module that you *cannot* remove by conventional means.  The first thing you know about it is when you stamp on the brakes, the ABS activates and suddenly you have no brakes.

Not the best design.  Which is why it was changed fairly quickly.  Pre-facelift 405s suffer the same issue.

[Talbot]

On 4/30/2023 at 3:05 PM, sierraman said:

Just seen another candidate for Co-op Funeral Care working on his car, sat on the trolley jack as he’s hammering the cunt out of something underneath. No stands or even wheel under the car...

Whilst at face value, I'm inclined to say that's their own problem, my bigger concern is that if said dickhead kills himself, there's an increased risk that working on your own car will be seen as dangerous, so legislation will be brought in to prevent people from doing so.  "for your own good".  I don't want to be restricted in what I can do just because some brain-dead idiot hasn't a clue what he's doing.

[sierraman]

33 minutes ago, Talbot said:

Whilst at face value, I'm inclined to say that's their own problem, my bigger concern is that if said dickhead kills himself, there's an increased risk that working on your own car will be seen as dangerous, so legislation will be brought in to prevent people from doing so.  "for your own good".  I don't want to be restricted in what I can do just because some brain-dead idiot hasn't a clue what he's doing.

A chap across from me was doing some work on his car just resting on a scissor jack. I did offer him an axle stand but he decided against it so you can only suggest, I figure people think it will be fine. Which it probably will be, right up to the point when it won’t and it falls off the jack. 

[New POD]

2 hours ago, barefoot said:

More ECO bullshit. - 'Plan A, because there is no plan B' -

Popular & well known brand M&S have an office in Nottingham. They've just invited 5 folk from where my wife works near Mansfield to a meeting  at their offices in Hong Kong.

Business class.? 

I think I'd miss the flight back and have to stay another couple of days at the companies expense. 

[83C]

A couple of years ago I had a cheap 2t trolley jack fold in on itself just after I'd taken the wheel nuts off the o/s/f wheel on a 5 series, and was pulling the wheel off to put an axle stand under the hub. The wheel came down trapping the tip of my boot and the hub sat on the inside of the wheel trapping it in place. Very fortunately they were my steelies and I was able to undo the boot and slip my foot out without any damage, if my foot had been a few inches further under the wheel it would have probably crushed the boot. I don't take any chances now, bought a much better 3t jack, more axle stands and never put bits of myself under unsupported bits of car.

Don't dick about with crap jacks and inadequate kit.

[warch]

I don't even like working under cars on axle stands, my preference is for either the wheel I've just removed with a sheet of wood over it to protect the sill/wheel face when just working to the side of the car or some railway sleepers (spare ones, not from the adjacent railway line obviously) when working underneath. 

[83C]

35 minutes ago, warch said:

I don't even like working under cars on axle stands, my preference is for either the wheel I've just removed with a sheet of wood over it to protect the sill/wheel face when just working to the side of the car or some railway sleepers (spare ones, not from the adjacent railway line obviously) when working underneath. 

"Hello Signaller at Pantyffynnon, Driver of 2V10 here. Yes, I'm stuck because someone has borrowed a couple of sleepers and is using them to prop up their Land Rover while they work on it..." 

Wheels always go under the sill, without fail. Well, so long as I get chance to actually slide them under the sill in the first place. 

[MikeR]

3 hours ago, MikeR said:

In Aintree hospital , stressed after using the multi story , spaces avb it said , took me 30 minutes to find one and only because I saw some one leaving . 

Never again , use the train next time or walk in ...

3 quid to get out because the 30 mins 8 spent looking for a space took me over charge point ,blood test was a in and out job ,5 mins max , so I paid for looking for a parking space , many other unhappy drivers stood around the payment machine which did not take money , not good when it declines your card , f in stuffed then !!! 

[GagaStan]

Why does nobody ever change these??

At least now I know why the blower fan felt a bit asthmatic…

[artdjones]

16 minutes ago, GagaStan said:

Why does nobody ever change these??

At least now I know why the blower fan felt a bit asthmatic…

We once had a 12 year old K11 Micra come back with a complaint that it wouldn't demist. On Micras the dash panel is made with a panel that has to be cut out the first time the cabin filter is changed. This one still had it in place...

[mitsisigma01]

Where would that be 🤔🤔